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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of
+III), by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III)
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+        Susan B. Anthony
+        Matilda Joslyn Gage
+
+Release Date: April 11, 2009 [EBook #28556]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Richard J. Shiffer and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this
+text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant
+spellings and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to
+correct an obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook.
+
+Also, many occurrences of mismatched single and double quotes
+remain as they were in the original.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Phoebe W. Couzins.]
+
+
+
+
+  HISTORY
+
+  of
+
+  WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
+
+
+  EDITED BY
+
+
+  ELIZABETH CADY STANTON,
+            SUSAN B. ANTHONY, AND
+                        MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE.
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED WITH STEEL ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+  _IN THREE VOLUMES._
+
+
+  VOL. III.
+
+  1876-1885.
+
+
+  "WOMEN ARE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, ENTITLED TO ALL
+       THE RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES GUARANTEED
+          TO CITIZENS BY THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION."
+
+
+  SUSAN B. ANTHONY,
+  17 MADISON ST., ROCHESTER, N. Y.
+
+
+  Copyright, 1886, by SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The labors of those who have edited these volumes are not only
+finished as far as this work extends, but if three-score years and
+ten be the usual limit of human life, all our earthly endeavors
+must end in the near future. After faithfully collecting material
+for several years, and making the best selections our judgment has
+dictated, we are painfully conscious of many imperfections the
+critical reader will perceive. But since stereotype plates will not
+reflect our growing sense of perfection, the lavish praise of
+friends as to the merits of these pages will have its antidote in
+the defects we ourselves discover. We may however without egotism
+express the belief that this volume will prove specially
+interesting in having a large number of contributors from England,
+France, Canada and the United States, giving personal experiences
+and the progress of legislation in their respective localities.
+
+Into younger hands we must soon resign our work; but as long as
+health and vigor remain, we hope to publish a pamphlet report at
+the close of each congressional term, containing whatever may be
+accomplished by State and National legislation, which can be
+readily bound in volumes similar to these, thus keeping a full
+record of the prolonged battle until the final victory shall be
+achieved. To what extent these publications may be multiplied
+depends on when the day of woman's emancipation shall dawn.
+
+For the completion of this work we are indebted to Eliza Jackson
+Eddy, the worthy daughter of that noble philanthropist, Francis
+Jackson. He and Charles F. Hovey are the only men who have ever
+left a generous bequest to the woman suffrage movement. To Mrs.
+Eddy, who bequeathed to our cause two-thirds of her large fortune,
+belong all honor and praise as the first woman who has given alike
+her sympathy and her wealth to this momentous and far-reaching
+reform. This heralds a turn in the tide of benevolence, when,
+instead of building churches and monuments to great men, and
+endowing colleges for boys, women will make the education and
+enfranchisement of their own sex the chief object of their lives.
+
+The three volumes now completed we leave as a precious heritage
+to coming generations; precious, because they so clearly
+illustrate--in her ability to reason, her deeds of heroism and her
+sublime self-sacrifice--that woman preeminently possesses the three
+essential elements of sovereignty as defined by Blackstone:
+"wisdom, goodness and power." This has been to us a work of love,
+written without recompense and given without price to a large
+circle of friends. A thousand copies have thus far been distributed
+among our coadjutors in the old world and the new. Another thousand
+have found an honored place in the leading libraries, colleges and
+universities of Europe and America, from which we have received
+numerous testimonies of their value as a standard work of reference
+for those who are investigating this question. Extracts from these
+pages are being translated into every living language, and, like so
+many missionaries, are bearing the glad gospel of woman's
+emancipation to all civilized nations.
+
+Since the inauguration of this reform, propositions to extend the
+right of suffrage to women have been submitted to the popular vote
+in Kansas, Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska and Oregon, and lost by
+large majorities in all; while, by a simple act of legislature,
+Wyoming, Utah and Washington territories have enfranchised their
+women without going through the slow process of a constitutional
+amendment. In New York, the State that has led this movement, and
+in which there has been a more continued agitation than in any
+other, we are now pressing on the legislature the consideration
+that it has the same power to extend the right of suffrage to women
+that it has so often exercised in enfranchising different classes
+of men.
+
+Eminent publicists have long conceded this power to State
+legislatures as well as to congress, declaring that women as
+citizens of the United States have the right to vote, and that a
+simple enabling act is all that is needed. The constitutionality of
+such an act was never questioned until the legislative power was
+invoked for the enfranchisement of women. We who have studied our
+republican institutions and understand the limits of the executive,
+judicial and legislative branches of the government, are aware that
+the legislature, directly representing the people, is the primary
+source of power, above all courts and constitutions. Research into
+the early history of this country shows that in line with English
+precedent, women did vote in the old colonial days and in the
+original thirteen States of the Union. Hence we are fully awake to
+the fact that our struggle is not for the attainment of a new
+right, but for the restitution of one our fore-mothers possessed
+and exercised.
+
+All thoughtful readers must close these volumes with a deeper sense
+of the superior dignity, self-reliance and independence that belong
+by nature to woman, enabling her to rise above such multifarious
+persecutions as she has encountered, and with persistent
+self-assertion to maintain her rights. In the history of the race
+there has been no struggle for liberty like this. Whenever the
+interest of the ruling classes has induced them to confer new
+rights on a subject class, it has been done with no effort on the
+part of the latter. Neither the American slave nor the English
+laborer demanded the right of suffrage. It was given in both cases
+to strengthen the liberal party. The philanthropy of the few may
+have entered into those reforms, but political expediency carried
+both measures. Women, on the contrary, have fought their own
+battles; and in their rebellion against existing conditions have
+inaugurated the most fundamental revolution the world has ever
+witnessed. The magnitude and multiplicity of the changes
+involved make the obstacles in the way of success seem almost
+insurmountable.
+
+The narrow self-interest of all classes is opposed to the
+sovereignty of woman. The rulers in the State are not willing to
+share their power with a class equal if not superior to themselves,
+over which they could never hope for absolute control, and whose
+methods of government might in many respects differ from their own.
+The annointed leaders in the Church are equally hostile to freedom
+for a sex supposed for wise purposes to have been subordinated by
+divine decree. The capitalist in the world of work holds the key to
+the trades and professions, and undermines the power of labor
+unions in their struggles for shorter hours and fairer wages, by
+substituting the cheap labor of a disfranchised class, that cannot
+organize its forces, thus making wife and sister rivals of husband
+and brother in the industries, to the detriment of both classes. Of
+the autocrat in the home, John Stuart Mill has well said: "No
+ordinary man is willing to find at his own fireside an equal in the
+person he calls wife." Thus society is based on this fourfold
+bondage of woman, making liberty and equality for her antagonistic
+to every organized institution. Where, then, can we rest the lever
+with which to lift one-half of humanity from these depths of
+degradation but on "that columbiad of our political life--the
+ballot--which makes every citizen who holds it a full-armed
+monitor"?
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
+
+VOL. III.
+
+
+  PHOEBE W. COUZINS         _Frontispiece._
+  MARILLA M. RICKER                 page 112
+  FRANCES E. WILLARD                     129
+  JANE H. SPOFFORD                       192
+  HARRIET H. ROBINSON                    273
+  PHEBE A. HANAFORD                      337
+  ARMENIA S. WHITE                       369
+  LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE                  417
+  RACHEL G. FOSTER                       465
+  CORNELIA C. HUSSEY                     481
+  MAY WRIGHT SEWALL                      545
+  ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT              592
+  SARAH BURGER STEARNS                   656
+  CLARA BEWICK COLBY                     689
+  HELEN M. GOUGAR                        704
+  LAURA DEFORCE GORDON                   753
+  ABIGAIL SCOTT DUNIWAY                  769
+  CAROLINE E. MERRICK                    801
+  MARY B. CLAY                           817
+  MENTIA TAYLOR                          833
+  PRISCILLA BRIGHT MCLAREN               864
+  GEORGE SAND                            896
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE CENTENNIAL YEAR--1876.
+
+The Dawn of the New Century--Washington Convention--Congressional
+Hearing--Woman's Protest--May Anniversary--Centennial Parlors in
+Philadelphia--Letters and Delegates to Presidential
+Conventions--50,000 Documents sent out--The Centennial Autograph
+Book--The Fourth of July--Independence Square--Susan B. Anthony
+reads the Declaration of Rights--Convention in Dr. Furness' Church,
+Lucretia Mott, Presiding--The Hutchinson Family, John and Asa--The
+Twenty-eighth Anniversary, July 19, Edward M. Davis,
+Presiding--Letters, Ernestine L. Rose, Clarina I. H. Nichols--The
+_Ballot-Box_--Retrospect--The Woman's Pavilion                       1
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+NATIONAL CONVENTIONS, HEARINGS AND REPORTS.
+
+1877-1878-1879.
+
+Renewed Appeal for a Sixteenth Amendment--Mrs. Gage Petitions for a
+Removal of Political Disabilities--Ninth Washington Convention,
+1877--Jane Grey Swisshelm--Letters, Robert Purvis, Wendell
+Phillips, Francis E. Abbott--10,000 Petitions Referred to the
+Committee on Privileges and Elections by Special Request of the
+Chairman, Hon. O. P. Morton, of Indiana--May Anniversary in New
+York--Tenth Washington Convention, 1878--Frances E. Willard and
+30,000 Temperance Women Petition Congress--40,000 Petition for a
+Sixteenth Amendment--Hearing before the Committee on Privileges and
+Elections--Madam Dahlgren's Protest--Mrs. Hooker's Hearing on
+Washington's Birthday--Mary Clemmer's Letter to Senator
+Wadleigh--His Adverse Report--Thirtieth Anniversary, Unitarian
+Church, Rochester, N. Y., July 19, 1878--The Last Convention
+Attended by Lucretia Mott--Letters, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell
+Phillips--Church Resolution Criticised by Rev. Dr.
+Strong--International Women's Congress in Paris--Washington
+Convention, 1879--Favorable Minority Report by Senator Hoar--U. S.
+Supreme Court Opened to Women--May Anniversary at St.
+Louis--Address of Welcome by Phoebe Couzins--Women in Council
+Alone--Letter from Josephine Butler, of England--Mrs. Stanton's
+Letter to _The National Citizen and Ballot-Box_                     57
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS AND CONVENTIONS.
+
+1880-1881.
+
+Why we Hold Conventions in Washington--Lincoln Hall
+Demonstration--Sixty-six Thousand Appeals--Petitions Presented in
+Congress--Hon. T. W. Ferry of Michigan in the Senate--Hon. Geo. B.
+Loring of Massachusetts in the House--Hon. J. J. Davis of North
+Carolina Objected--Twelfth Washington Convention--Hearings before
+the Judiciary Committee of both Houses, 1880--May Anniversary at
+Indianapolis--Series of Western Conventions--Presidential
+Nominating Conventions--Delegates and Addresses to
+each--Mass-Meeting at Chicago--Washington Convention,
+1881--Memorial Service to Lucretia Mott--Mrs. Stanton's
+Eulogy--Discussion in the Senate on a Standing Committee--Senator
+McDonald of Indiana Champions the Measure--May Anniversary in
+Boston--Conventions in the chief cities of New England             150
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES AND CONVENTIONS.
+
+1882-1883.
+
+Prolonged Discussions in the Senate on a Special Committee to Look
+After the Rights of Women, Messrs. Bayard, Morgan and Vest in
+Opposition--Mr. Hoar Champions the Measure in the Senate, Mr. Reed
+in the House--Washington Convention--Representative Orth and
+Senator Saunders on the Woman Suffrage Platform--Hearings Before
+Select Committees of Senate and House--Reception Given by Mrs.
+Spofford at the Riggs House--Philadelphia Convention--Mrs. Hannah
+Whitehall Smith's Dinner--Congratulations from the Central
+Committee of Great Britain--Majority and Minority Reports in the
+Senate--E. G. Lapham, J. Z. George--Nebraska Campaign--Conventions
+in Omaha--Joint Resolution Introduced by Hon. John D. White of
+Kentucky, Referred to the Select Committee--Washington Convention,
+January 24, 25, 26, 1883--Majority Report in the House.            198
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+The Woman's Hour--Lydia Maria Child Petitions Congress--First New
+England Convention--The New England, American and Massachusetts
+Associations--_Woman's Journal_--Bishop Gilbert Haven--The
+Centennial Tea-Party--County Societies--Concord
+Convention--Thirtieth Anniversary of the Worcester
+Convention--School Suffrage Association--Legislative Hearing--First
+Petitions--The Remonstrants Appear--Women in Politics--Campaign of
+1872--Great Meeting in Tremont Temple--Women at the
+Polls--Provisions of Former State Constitutions--Petitions,
+1853--School-Committee Suffrage, 1879,--Women Threatened with
+Arrest--Changes in the Laws--Woman Now Owns her own
+Clothing--Harvard Annex--Woman in the Professions--Samuel E. Sewall
+and William I. Bowditch--Supreme-Court Decisions--Sarah E.
+Wall--Francis Jackson--Julia Ward Howe--Mary E. Stevens--Lucia M.
+Peabody--Lelia Josephine Robinson--Eliza (Jackson) Eddy's Will     265
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+CONNECTICUT.
+
+Prudence Crandall--Eloquent Reformers--Petitions for Suffrage--The
+Committee's Report--Frances Ellen Burr--Isabella Beecher Hooker's
+Reminiscences--Anna Dickinson in the Republican Campaign--State
+Society Formed October 28, 29, 1869--Enthusiastic Convention in
+Hartford--Governor Marshall Jewell--He recommends More Liberal Laws
+for Women--Society Formed in New Haven, 1871--Governor Hubbard's
+Inaugural, 1877--Samuel Bowles of the _Springfield
+Republican_--Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Chaplain, 1870--John Hooker,
+Esq., Champions the Suffrage Movement--The Smith Sisters--Mary
+Hall--Chief-Justice Park--Frances Ellen Burr--Hartford Equal Rights
+Club                                                               316
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+RHODE ISLAND.
+
+Senator Anthony in _North American Review_--Convention in
+Providence--State Association organized, Paulina Wright Davis,
+President--Report of Elizabeth B. Chase--Women on School
+Boards--Women's Board of Visitors to the Penal and Correctional
+Institutions--Dr. Wm. F. Channing--Miss Ida Lewis--Letter of
+Frederick A. Hinckley--Last Words of Senator Anthony 339
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+MAINE.
+
+Women on School Committees--Elvira C. Thorndyke--First Suffrage
+Society organized, 1868, Rockland--Portland Meeting, 1870--John
+Neal--Judge Goddard--Colby University Open to Girls, August 12,
+1871--Mrs. Clara Hapgood Nash Admitted to the Bar, October 26,
+1872--Tax-Payers Protest--Ann F. Greeley, 1872--March, 1872, Bill
+for Woman Suffrage Lost in the House, Passed in the Senate by Seven
+Votes--Miss Frank Charles, Register of Deeds--Judge Reddington--Mr.
+Randall's Motion--Moral Eminence of Maine--Convention in Granite
+Hall, Augusta, January, 1873, Hon. Joshua Nye, President--Delia A.
+Curtis--Opinions of the Supreme Court in Regard to Women Holding
+Offices--Governor Dingley's Message, 1875--Convention,
+Representatives Hall, Portland, Judge Kingsbury, President, Feb.
+12, '76--The two Snow Families--Hon. T. B. Reed                    351
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+NEW HAMPSHIRE.
+
+Nathaniel P. Rogers--Parker Pillsbury--Galen Foster--The Hutchinson
+Family--First Organized Action, 1868--Concord Convention--William
+Lloyd Garrison's Letter--Rev. S. L. Blake Opposed--Rev. Mr. Sanborn
+in Favor--_Concord Monitor_--Armenia S. White--A Bill to Protect
+the Rights of Married Men--Minority and Majority Reports--Women too
+Ignorant to Vote--Republican State Convention--Women on School
+Committees, 1870--Voting at School District Meetings, 1878--Mrs.
+White's Address--Mrs. Ricker on Prison Reform--Judicial Decision in
+Regard to Married Women, 1882--Letter from Senator Blair           367
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+VERMONT.
+
+Clarina Howard Nichols--Council of Censors--Amending the
+Constitution--St. Andrew's Letter--Mr. Reed's Report--Convention
+Called--H. B. Blackwell on the _Vermont Watchman_--Mary A.
+Livermore in the _Woman's Journal_--Sarah A. Gibbs' Reply to Rev.
+Mr. Holmes--School Suffrage, 1880 383
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+NEW YORK--1860-1885.
+
+Saratoga Convention, July 13, 14, 1869--State Society Formed,
+Martha C. Wright, President--_The Revolution_ Established,
+1868--Educational Movement--New York City Society, 1870, Charlotte
+B. Wilbour, President--Presidential Campaign, 1872--Hearings at
+Albany, 1873--Constitutional Commission--An Effort to Open Columbia
+College, President Barnard in Favor--Centennial Celebration,
+1876--School Officers--Senator Emerson of Monroe, 1877--Governor
+Robinson's Veto--School Suffrage, 1880--Governor Cornell
+Recommended it in his Message--Stewart's Home for Working
+Women--Women as Police--An Act to Prohibit
+Disfranchisement--Attorney-General Russell's Adverse Opinion--The
+Power of the Legislature to Extend Suffrage--Great Demonstration in
+Chickering Hall, March 7, 1884--Hearing at Albany, 1885--Mrs.
+Blake, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Howell, Gov. Hoyt of Wyoming
+                                                                   395
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+Carrie Burnham--The Canon and Civil Law the Source of Woman's
+Degradation--Women Sold with Cattle in 1768--Women Arrested in
+Pittsburg--Mrs. McManus--Opposition to Women in Colleges and
+Hospitals; John W. Forney Vindicates their Rights--Ann
+Preston--Women in Dentistry--James Truman's Letter--Swarthmore
+College--Suffrage Association Formed in 1866, in Philadelphia--John
+K. Wildman's Letter--Judge William S. Pierce--The Citizens'
+Suffrage Association, 333 Walnut Street, Edward M. Davis,
+President--Petitions to the Legislature--Constitutional Convention,
+1873--Bishop Simpson, Mary Grew, Sarah C. Hallowell, Matilda
+Hindman, Mrs. Stanton, Address the Convention--Messrs. Broomall and
+Campbell Debate with the Opposition--Amendment Making Women
+Eligible to School Offices--Two Women Elected to Philadelphia
+School Board, 1874--The Wages of Married Women Protected--J. Edgar
+Thomson's Will--Literary Women as Editors--The Rev. Knox
+Little--Anne E. McDowell--Women as Physicians in Insane
+Asylums--The Fourteenth Amendment Resolution, 1881--Ex-Gov. Hoyt's
+Lecture on Wyoming                                                 444
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+NEW JERSEY.
+
+Women Voted in the Early Days--Deprived of the Right by Legislative
+Enactment in 1807--Women Demand the Restoration of Their Rights in
+1868--At the Polls in Vineland and Roseville Park--Lucy Stone
+Agitates the Question--State Suffrage Society Organized in
+1867--Conventions--A Memorial to the Legislature--Mary F.
+Davis--Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford--Political Science Club-- Mrs.
+Cornelia C. Hussey--Orange Club, 1870--Mrs. Devereux Blake gives
+the Oration, July 4, 1884--Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's Letter--The
+Laws of New Jersey in Regard to Property and
+Divorce--Constitutional Commission, 1873--Trial of Rev. Isaac M.
+See--Women Preaching in his Pulpit--The Case Appealed--Mrs. Jones,
+Jailoress--Legislative Hearings                                    476
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+OHIO.
+
+The First Soldiers' Aid Society--Mrs. Mendenhall--Cincinnati Equal
+Rights Association, 1868--Homeopathic Medical College and
+Hospital--Hon. J. M. Ashley--State Society, 1869--Murat Halstead's
+Letter--Dayton Convention, 1870--Women Protest Against
+Enfranchisement--Sarah Knowles Bolton--Statistics on Coeducation by
+Thomas Wentworth Higginson--Woman's Crusade, 1874--Miriam M.
+Cole--Ladies' Health Association--Professor Curtis--Hospital for
+Women and Children, 1879--Letter from J. D. Buck, M. D.--March,
+1881, Degrees Conferred on Women--Toledo Association, 1869--Sarah
+Langdon Williams--_The Sunday Journal_--_The
+Ballot-Box_--Constitutional Convention--Judge Waite--Amendment
+Making Women Eligible to Office--Mr. Voris, Chairman Special
+Committee on Woman Suffrage--State Convention, 1873--Rev. Robert
+McCune--Centennial Celebration--Women Decline to Take
+Part--Correspondence--Newbury Association--Women Voting,
+1871--Sophia Ober Allen--Annual Meeting, Painesville, 1885--State
+Society, Mrs. Frances M. Casement, President--Adelbert College     491
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+MICHIGAN.
+
+Women's Literary Clubs and Libraries--Mrs. Lucinda H.
+Stone--Classes of Girls in Europe--Ernestine L. Rose--Legislative
+Action, 1849-1885--State Woman Suffrage Society, 1870--Annual
+Conventions--Northwestern Association--Wendell Phillips'
+Letter--Nannette Gardner votes--Catharine A. F. Stebbins
+Refused--Legislative Action--Amendments Submitted--An Active Canvas
+of the State by Women--Election Day--The Amendment Lost, 40,000 Men
+Voted in Favor--University at Ann Arbor Opened to Girls,
+1869--Kalamazoo Institute--J. A. B. Stone--Miss Madeline Stockwell
+and Miss Sarah Burger Applied for Admission to the University in
+1857--Episcopal Church Bill--Local Societies--Quincy--Lansing--St.
+Johns--Manistee--Grand Rapids--Sojourner Truth--Laura C.
+Haviland--Sybil Lawrence                                           513
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+INDIANA.
+
+The First Woman Suffrage Convention After the War, 1869--Amanda M.
+Way--Annual Meetings, 1870-85, in the Larger Cities--Indianapolis
+Equal Suffrage Society, 1878--A Course of Lectures--In May, 1880,
+National Convention in Indianapolis--Zerelda G. Wallace--Social
+Entertainment--Governor Albert G. Porter--Susan B. Anthony's
+Birthday--Schuyler Colfax--Legislative Hearings--Temperance Women
+of Indiana--Helen M. Gougar--General Assembly--Delegates to
+Political Conventions--Women Address Political Meetings--Important
+Changes in the Laws for Women, from 1860 to 1884--Colleges Open to
+Women--Demia Butler--Professors--Lawyers--Doctors--Ministers--Miss
+Catharine Merrill--Miss Elizabeth Eaglesfield--Rev. Prudence Le
+Clerc--Dr. Mary F. Thomas--Prominent Men and Women--George W.
+Julian--The Journals--Gertrude Garrison                            533
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+ILLINOIS.
+
+Chicago a Great Commercial Centre--First Woman Suffrage Agitation,
+1855--A. J. Grover--Society at Earlville--Prudence
+Crandall--Sanitary Movement--Woman in Journalism--Myra
+Bradwell--Excitement in Elmwood Church, 1868--Mrs. Huldah
+Joy--Pulpit Utterances--Convention, 1869, Library Hall,
+Chicago--Anna Dickinson, Robert Laird Collier Debate--Manhood
+Suffrage Denounced by Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony--Judge Charles
+B. Waite on the Constitutional Convention--Hearing before the
+Legislature--Western Suffrage Convention, Mrs. Livermore,
+President--Annual Meeting at Bloomington--Women Eligible to School
+Offices--Evanston College--Miss Alta Hulett Medical
+Association--Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson--"Woman's Kingdom" in the
+_Inter-Ocean_--Mrs. Harbert--Centennial Celebration at
+Evanston--Temperance Petition, 180,000--Frances E. Willard--Social
+Science Association--Art Union--Jane Graham Jones at International
+Congress in Paris--Moline Association                              559
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+MISSOURI.
+
+Missouri the first State to Open Colleges of Law and Medicine to
+Woman--Liberal Legislation--Harriet Hosmer--Wayman Crow--Dr. Joseph
+N. McDowell--Works of Art--Women in the War--Adeline
+Couzins--Virginia L. Minor--Petitions--Woman Suffrage Association,
+May 8, 1867--First Woman Suffrage Convention, Oct. 6, 1869--Able
+Resolutions by Francis Minor--Action Asked for in the Methodist
+Church--Constitutional Convention--Mrs. Hazard's Report--National
+Suffrage Association, 1879--Virginia L. Minor Before the Committee
+on Constitutional Amendments--Mrs. Minor Tries to Vote--Her Case in
+the Supreme Court--Mrs. Annie R. Irvine--"Oregon Woman's
+Union"--Miss Phoebe Couzins Graduates From the Law School,
+1871--Reception by Members of the Bar--Speeches--Dr. Walker--Judge
+Krum--Hon. Albert Todd--Ex-Governor E. O. Stanard--Ex-Senator
+Henderson--Judge Reber--George M. Stewart--Mrs. Minor--Miss Couzins
+                                                                   594
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+IOWA.
+
+Beautiful Scenery--Liberal in Politics and Reforms--Legislation for
+Women--No Right yet to Joint Earnings--Early Agitation--Frances
+Dana Gage, 1854--Mrs. Amelia Bloomer Lectures in Council Bluffs,
+1856--Mrs. Martha H. Brinkerhoff--Mrs. Annie Savery, 1868--County
+Associations Formed in 1869--State Society Organized at Mt.
+Pleasant, 1870, Henry O'Connor, President--Mrs. Cutler Answers
+Judge Palmer--First Annual Meeting, Des Moines--Letter from Bishop
+Simpson--The State Register Complimentary--Mass-Meeting at the
+Capitol--Mrs. Savery and Mrs. Harbert--Legislative
+Action--Methodist and Universalist Churches Indorse Woman
+Suffrage--Republican Plank, 1874--Governor Carpenter's Message,
+1876--Annual Meeting, 1882, Many Clergymen Present--Five Hundred
+Editors Interviewed--Miss Hindman and Mrs. Campbell--Mrs. Callanan
+Interviews Governor Sherman, 1884--Lawyers--Governor Kirkwood
+Appoints Women to Office--County Superintendents--Elizabeth S.
+Cook--Journalism--Literature--
+Medicine--Ministry--Inventions--President of a National Bank-- The
+Heroic Kate Shelly--Temperance--Improvement in the Laws            612
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+WISCONSIN.
+
+Progressive Legislation--The Rights of Married Women--The
+Constitution Shows Four Classes Having the Right to Vote--Woman
+Suffrage Agitation--C. L. Sholes' Minority Report, 1856--Judge
+David Noggle and J. T. Mills' Minority Report, 1859--State
+Association Formed, 1869--Milwaukee Convention--Dr. Laura
+Ross--Hearing Before the Legislature--Convention in Janesville,
+1870--State University--Elizabeth R. Wentworth--Suffrage Amendment,
+1880, '81, '82--Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine, 1877--Madam
+Anneke--Judge Ryan--Three Days' Convention at Racine, 1883--Eveleen
+L. Mason--Dr. Sarah Munro--Rev. Dr. Corwin--Lavinia Godell,
+Lawyer--Angie King--Kate Kane                                      638
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+MINNESOTA.
+
+Girls in State University--Sarah Burger Stearns--Harriet E. Bishop,
+the First Teacher in St. Paul--Mary J. Colburn Won the Prize--Mrs.
+Jane Grey Swisshelm, St. Cloud--Fourth of July Oration, 1866--First
+Legislative Hearing, 1867--Governor Austin's Veto--First Society at
+Rochester--Kasson--Almira W. Anthony--Mary P. Wheeler--Harriet M.
+White--The W. C. T. U.--Harriet A. Hobart--Literary and Art
+Clubs--School Suffrage, 1876--Charlotte O. Van Cleve and Mrs. C. S.
+Winchell Elected to School Board--Mrs. Governor
+Pillsbury--Temperance Vote, 1877--Property Rights of Married
+Women--Women as Officers, Teachers, Editors, Ministers, Doctors,
+Lawyers                                                            649
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DAKOTA.
+
+Influences of Climate and Scenery--Legislative Action, 1872--Mrs.
+Marietta Bones--In February, 1879, School Suffrage Granted
+Women--Constitutional Convention, 1883--Matilda Joslyn Gage
+Addressed a Letter to the Convention and an Appeal to the Women of
+the State--Mrs. Bones Addressed the Convention in Person--The
+Effort to get the Word "Male" out of the Constitution
+Failed--Legislature of 1885--Major Pickler Presents the
+Bill--Carried Through Both Houses--Governor Pierce's Veto--Major
+Pickler's Letter                                                   662
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+NEBRASKA.
+
+Clara Bewick Colby--Nebraska Came into the Possession of the United
+States, 1803--The Home of the Dakotas--Organized as a Territory,
+1854--Territorial Legislature--Mrs. Amelia Bloomer Addresses the
+House--Gen. Wm. Larimer, 1856--A Bill to Confer Suffrage on
+Women--Passed the House--Lost in the Senate--Constitution
+Harmonized with the Fourteenth Amendment--Admitted as a State March
+1, 1867--Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony Lecture in the State,
+1867--Mrs. Tracy Cutler, 1870--Mrs. Esther L. Warner's
+Letter--Constitutional Convention, 1871--Woman Suffrage Amendment
+Submitted--Lost by 12,676 against, 3,502 for--Prolonged
+Discussion--Constitutional Convention, 1875--Grasshoppers Devastate
+the Country--_Inter-Ocean_, Mrs. Harbert--Omaha _Republican_,
+1876--Woman's Column Edited by Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks--"Woman's
+Kingdom"--State Society Formed, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks
+President--Mrs. Dinsmoor, Mrs. Colby, Mrs. Brooks, before the
+Legislature--Amendment again Submitted--Active Canvass of the
+State, 1882--First Convention of the State Association--Charles F.
+Manderson--Unreliable Politicians--An Unfair Count of Votes for
+Woman Suffrage--Amendment Defeated--Conventions in Omaha--Notable
+Women in the State--Conventions--_Woman's Tribune_ Established in
+1883                                                               670
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+KANSAS.
+
+Effect of the Popular Vote on Woman Suffrage--Anna C. Wait--Hannah
+Wilson--Miss Kate Stephens, Professor of Greek in State
+University--Lincoln Centre Society, 1879--The Press--The Lincoln
+_Beacon_--Election, 1880--Sarah A. Brown, Democratic
+Candidate--Fourth of July Celebration--Women Voting on the School
+Question--State Society, 1884--Helen M. Gougar--Clara Bewick
+Colby--Bertha H. Ellsworth--Radical Reform Association--Mrs. A. G.
+Lord--Prudence Crandall--Clarina Howard Nichols--Laws--Women in the
+Professions--Schools--Political Parties--Petitions to the
+Legislature--Col. F. G. Adams' Letter                              696
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+COLORADO.
+
+Great American Desert--Organized as a Territory, February 28,
+1860--Gov. McCook's Message Recommending Woman Suffrage,
+1870--Adverse Legislation--Hon. Amos Steck--Admitted to the Union,
+1876--Constitutional Convention--Efforts to Strike Out the Word
+"Male"--Convention to Discuss Woman Suffrage--School Suffrage
+Accorded--State Association Formed, Alida C. Avery,
+President--Proposition for Full Suffrage Submitted to the Popular
+Vote--A Vigorous Campaign--Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Patterson of
+Denver--Opposition by the Clergy--Their Arguments Ably Answered--D.
+M. Richards--The Amendment Lost--_The Rocky Mountain News_         712
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+WYOMING.
+
+The Dawn of the New Day, December, 1869--The Goal Reached in
+England and America--Territory Organized, May, 1869--Legislative
+Action--Bill for Woman Suffrage--William H. Bright--Gov. Campbell
+Signs the Bill--Appoints Esther Morris, Justice of the Peace,
+March, 1870--Women on the Jury, Chief-Justice Howe, Presiding--J.
+W. Kingman, Associate-Justice, Addresses the Jury--Women Promptly
+Take Their Places--Sunday Laws Enforced--Comments of the
+Press--Judge Howe's Letter--Laramie _Sentinel_--J. H.
+Hayford--Women Voting, 1870--Grandma Swain the First to Cast her
+Ballot--Effort to Repeal the Law, 1871--Gov. Campbell's Veto--Mr.
+Corlett--Rapid Growth of Public Opinion in Favor of Woman Suffrage
+                                                                   726
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+CALIFORNIA.
+
+Liberal Provisions in the Constitution--Elizabeth T. Schenck--Eliza
+W. Farnham--Mrs. Mills' Seminary, now a State Institution--Jeannie
+Carr, State Superintendent of Schools--First Awakening--_The
+Revolution_--Anna Dickinson--Mrs. Gordon Addresses the Legislature,
+1868--Mrs. Pitts Stevens Edits _The Pioneer_--First Suffrage
+Society on the Pacific Coast, 1869--State Convention, January 26,
+1870, Mrs. Wallis, President--State Association Formed, Mrs.
+Haskell of Petaluma, President--Mrs. Gordon Nominated for
+Senator--In 1871, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony Visit
+California--Hon. A. A. Sargent Speaks in Favor of Suffrage for
+Women--Ellen Clark Sargent Active in the Movement--Legislation
+Making Women Eligible to Hold School Offices, 1873--July 10, 1873,
+State Society Incorporated, Sarah Wallis, President--Mrs. Clara
+Foltz--A Bill Giving Women the Right to Practice Law--The Bill
+Passed and Signed by the Governor--Contest Over Admitting Women
+into the Law Department of the University--Supreme Court Decision
+Favorable--Hon. A. A. Sargent on the Constitution and
+Laws--Journalists and Printers Silk Culture--Legislative
+Appropriation--Mrs. Knox Goodrich Celebrates July 4, 1876--Imposing
+Demonstration--Ladies in the Procession                            749
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
+
+The Long Marches Westward--Abigail Scott Duniway--Mary Olney
+Brown--The First Steps in Oregon--Col. C. A. Reed--Judge G. W.
+Lawson--1870--The New Northwest, 1871--Campaign, Mrs. Duniway and
+Miss Anthony--They Address the Legislature in Washington
+Territory--Hon. Elwood Evans--Suffrage Societies Organized at
+Olympia and Portland--Before the Oregon Legislature--Donation Land
+Act--Hon. Samuel Corwin's Suffrage Bill--Married Woman's _Sole_
+Traders' Bill--Temperance Alliance--Women Rejected--Major Williams
+Fights Their Battles and Triumphs--Mrs. H. A. Loughary--Progressive
+Legislation, 1874--Mob-Law in Jacksonville, 1879--Dr. Mary A.
+Thompson--Constitutional Convention, 1878--Woman Suffrage Bill,
+1880--Hon. W. C. Fulton--Women Enfranchised in Washington
+Territory, Nov. 15, 1883--Great Rejoicing, Bonfires, Ratification
+Meetings--Constitutional Amendment Submitted in Oregon and Lost,
+June, 1884--Suffrage by Legislative Enactment Lost--Fourth of July
+Celebrated at Vancouvers--Benjamin and Mary Olney Brown--Washington
+Territory--Legislation in 1867-68 Favorable to Women--Mrs. Brown
+Attempts to Vote and is Refused--Charlotte Olney French--Women Vote
+at Grand Mound and Black River Precincts, 1870--Retrogressive
+Legislation, 1871--Abby H. Stuart in Land-Office--Hon. William H.
+White--Idaho and Montana                                           767
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+LOUISIANA--TEXAS--ARKANSAS--MISSISSIPPI.
+
+St. Anna's Asylum, Managed by Women--Constitutional Convention,
+1879--Women Petition--Clara Merrick Guthrie--Petition Referred to
+Committee on Suffrage--A Hearing Granted--Mrs. Keating--Mrs.
+Saxon--Mrs. Merrick--Col. John M. Sandige--Efforts of the Women all
+in Vain--Action in 1885--Gov. McEnery--The _Daily Picayune_--Women
+as Members of the School Board--Physiology in the Schools--Miss
+Eliza Rudolph--Mrs. E. J. Nicholson--Judge Merrick's Digest of
+Laws--Texas--Arkansas--Mississippi--Sarah A. Dorsey                789
+
+
+CHAPTER LV. (CONTINUED).
+
+DISTRICT OF
+COLUMBIA--MARYLAND--DELAWARE--KENTUCKY--TENNESSEE--VIRGINIA--WEST
+VIRGINIA--NORTH CAROLINA--SOUTH
+CAROLINA--FLORIDA--ALABAMA--GEORGIA.
+
+Secretary Chase--Women in the Government Departments--Myrtilla
+Miner--Mrs. O'Connor's Tribute--District of Columbia Suffrage
+Bill--The Universal Franchise Association, 1867--Bill for a
+Prohibitory Law Presented by Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, 1869--A Bill for
+Equal Wages for the Women in the Departments, Introduced by Hon. S.
+M. Arnell, 1870--In 1871 Congress Passed the Organic Act for the
+District Confining the Right of Suffrage to Males--In 1875 it
+Withdrew all Legislative Power from the People--Women in Law,
+Medicine, Journalism and the Charities--Dental College Opened to
+Women--Mary A. Stewart--The Clay Sisters--The School of
+Pharmacy--Elizabeth Avery Meriwether--Judge Underwood--Mary Bayard
+Clarke--Dr. Susan Dimock--Governor
+Chamberlain--Coffee-Growing--Priscilla Holmes Drake--Alexander H.
+Stephens                                                           808
+
+
+CHAPTER LV. (CONCLUDED).
+
+CANADA.
+
+Miss Phelps of St. Catharines--The Revolt of the Thirteen
+Colonies--First Parliament--Property Rights of Married
+Women--School Suffrage Thirty Years--Municipal Suffrage, 1882,
+1884--Women Voting in Toronto, 1886--Mrs. Curzon--Dr. Emily H.
+Stone--Woman's Literary Club of Toronto--Nova Scotia--New
+Brunswick--Miss Harriet Stewart                                    831
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+Women Send Members to Parliament--Sidney Smith, Sir Robert Peel,
+Richard Cobden--The Ladies of Oldham--Jeremy Bentham--Anne
+Knight--Northern Reform Society, 1858--Mrs. Matilda
+Biggs--Unmarried Women and Widows Petition Parliament--Associations
+Formed in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, 1867--John Stuart Mill in
+Parliament--Seventy-three Votes for his Bill--John Bright's
+Vote--Women Register and Vote--Lord-Chief-Justice of England
+Declares their Constitutional Right--The Courts Give Adverse
+Decisions--Jacob Bright Secures the Municipal Franchise--First
+Public Meeting--Division on Jacob Bright's Bill to Remove Political
+Disabilities--Mr. Gladstone's Speech--Work of 1871-72--Fourth Vote
+on the Suffrage Bill--Jacob Bright Fails of Reelection--Efforts of
+Mr. Forsyth--Memorial of the National Society--Some Account of the
+Workers--Vote of the New Parliament, 1875--Organized
+Opposition--Diminished Adverse Vote of 1878--Mr. Courtney's
+Resolution--Letters--Great Demonstrations at
+Manchester--London--Bristol--Nottingham--Birmingham--Sheffield--
+Glasgow--Victory in the Isle of Man--Passage of the Municipal
+Franchise Bill for Scotland--Mr. Mason's Resolution--Reduction
+of Adverse Majority to 16--Liberal Conference at Leeds--Mr.
+Woodall's Amendment to Reform Bill of 1884--Meeting at
+Edinburgh--Other Meetings--Estimated Number of Women
+Householders--Circulars to Members of Parliament--Debate on
+the Amendment--Resolutions of the Society--Further Debate--Defeat
+of the Amendment--Meeting at St. James Hall--Conclusion             833
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+CONTINENTAL EUROPE.
+
+The Woman Question in the Back-ground--In France the Agitation
+Dates from the Upheaval of 1789;--International Women's Rights
+Convention in Paris, 1878--Mlle. Hubertine Auclert Leads the Demand
+for Suffrage--Agitation Began in Italy with the Kingdom--Concepcion
+Arenal in Spain--Coeducation in Portugal--Germany: Leipsic and
+Berlin--Austria in Advance of Germany Caroline Svetla of
+Bohemia--Austria Unsurpassed in Contradictions--Marriage
+Emancipates from Tutelage in Hungary--Dr. Henrietta Jacobs of
+Holland--Dr. Isala Van Diest of Belgium--In Switzerland the
+Catholic Cantons Lag Behind--Marie Goegg, the Leader--Sweden Stands
+First--Universities Open to Women in Norway--Associations in
+Denmark--Liberality of Russia toward Women--Poland--The
+Orient--Turkey--Jewish Wives--The Greek Woman in Turkey--The Greek
+Woman in Greece--An Unique Episode--Woman's Rights in the American
+Sense not Known                                                    895
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+REMINISCENCES.
+
+BY E. C. S.                                                        922
+
+
+Appendix                                                           955
+
+
+INDEX                                                              985
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE CENTENNIAL YEAR--1876.
+
+     The Dawn of the New Century--Washington Convention--Congressional
+     Hearing--Woman's Protest--May Anniversary--Centennial Parlors in
+     Philadelphia--Letters and Delegates to Presidential
+     Conventions--50,000 Documents sent out--The Centennial Autograph
+     Book--The Fourth of July--Independence Square--Susan B. Anthony
+     reads the Declaration of Rights--Convention in Dr. Furness'
+     Church, Lucretia Mott, Presiding--The Hutchinson Family, John and
+     Asa--The Twenty-eighth Anniversary, July 19, Edward M. Davis,
+     Presiding--Letters, Ernestine L. Rose, Clarina I. H. Nichols--The
+     _Ballot-Box_--Retrospect--The Woman's Pavilion.
+
+
+During the sessions of 1871-72 congress enacted laws providing for
+the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of American
+independence, to be held July 4, 1876, in Philadelphia, the
+historic city from whence was issued the famous declaration of
+1776.
+
+The first act provided for the appointment by the president of a
+"Centennial Commission," consisting of two members from each State
+and territory in the Union; the second incorporated the Centennial
+Board of Finance and provided for the issue of stock to the amount
+of $10,000,000, in 1,000,000 shares of $10 each. It was at first
+proposed to distribute the stock among the people of the different
+States and territories according to the ratio of their population,
+but subscriptions were afterward received without regard to States.
+The stockholders organized a board of directors, April 1, 1873. The
+design of the exhibition was to make it a comprehensive display of
+the industrial, intellectual and moral progress of the nation
+during the first century of its existence; but by the earnest
+invitation of our government foreign nations so generally
+participated that it was truly, as its name implied, an
+"International and World's Exposition."
+
+The centennial year opened amid the wildest rejoicing. In honor of
+the nation's birthday extensive preparations were made for the
+great event. Crowds of people eager to participate in the
+celebration, everywhere flocked from the adjacent country to the
+nearest village or city, filling the streets and adding to the
+general gala look, all through the day and evening of December 31,
+1875. From early gas-light upon every side the blowing of horns,
+throwing of torpedos, explosion of fire-crackers, gave premonition
+of more enthusiastic exultation. As the clock struck twelve every
+house suddenly blossomed with red, white and blue; public and
+private buildings burst into a blaze of light that rivaled the
+noon-day sun, while screaming whistles, booming cannon, pealing
+bells, joyous music and brilliant fire-works made the midnight
+which ushered in the centennial 1876, a never-to-be-forgotten hour.
+
+Portraits of the presidents from Washington and Lincoln
+laurel-crowned, to Grant, sword in hand, met the eye on every side.
+Stars in flames of fire lighted the foreign flags of welcome to
+other nations. Every window, door and roof-top was filled with gay
+and joyous people. Carriages laden with men, women and children in
+holiday attire enthusiastically waving the national flag and
+singing its songs of freedom. Battalions of soldiers marched
+through the streets; Roman candles, whizzing rockets, and
+gaily-colored balloons shot upward, filling the sky with trails of
+fire and adding to the brilliancy of the scene, while all minor
+sounds were drowned in the martial music. Thus did the old world
+and the new commemorate the birth of a nation founded on the
+principle of self-government.
+
+The prolonged preparations for the centennial celebration naturally
+roused the women of the nation to new thought as to their status as
+citizens of a republic, as well as to their rightful share in the
+progress of the century. The oft-repeated declarations of the
+fathers had a deeper significance for those who realized the
+degradation of disfranchisement, and they queried with each other
+as to what part, with becoming self-respect, they could take in the
+coming festivities.[1] Woman's achievements in art, science and
+industry would necessarily be recognized in the Exposition; but
+with the dawn of a new era, after a hundred years of education in a
+republic, she asked more than a simple recognition of the products
+of her hand and brain; with her growing intelligence, virtue and
+patriotism, she demanded the higher ideal of womanhood that should
+welcome her as an equal factor in government, with all the rights
+and honors of citizenship fully accorded. During the entire
+century, women who understood the genius of free institutions had
+ever and anon made their indignant protests in both public and
+private before State legislatures, congressional committees and
+statesmen at their own firesides; and now, after discussing the
+right of self-government so exhaustively in the late anti-slavery
+conflict, it seemed to them that the time had come to make some
+application of these principles to the women of the nation. Hence
+it was with a deeper sense of injustice than ever before that the
+National Suffrage Association issued the call for the annual
+Washington Convention of 1876:
+
+     CALL FOR THE EIGHTH ANNUAL WASHINGTON CONVENTION.--The National
+     Woman Suffrage Association will hold its Eighth Annual Convention
+     in Tallmadge Hall, Washington, D. C., January 27, 28, 1876. In
+     this one-hundredth year of the Republic, the women of the United
+     States will once more assemble under the shadow of the national
+     capitol to press their claims to self-government.
+
+     That property has its rights, was acknowledged in England long
+     before the revolutionary war, and this recognized right made "no
+     taxation without representation" the most effective battle-cry of
+     that period. But the question of property representation fades
+     from view beside the greater question of the right of each
+     individual, millionaire or pauper, to personal representation. In
+     the progress of the war our fathers grew in wisdom, and the
+     Declaration of Independence was the first national assertion of
+     the right of individual representation. That "governments derive
+     their just powers from the consent of the governed,"
+     thenceforward became the watchword of the world. Our flag, which
+     beckons the emigrant from every foreign shore, means to him
+     self-government.
+
+     But while in theory our government recognizes the rights of all
+     people, in practice it is far behind the Declaration of
+     Independence and the national constitution. On what just ground
+     is discrimination made between men and women? Why should women,
+     more than men, be governed without their own consent? Why should
+     women, more than men, be denied trial by a jury of their peers?
+     On what authority are women taxed while unrepresented? By what
+     right do men declare themselves invested with power to legislate
+     for women? For the discussion of these vital questions friends
+     are invited to take part in the convention.
+
+                 MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _President_, Fayetteville, N. Y.
+
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Ch'n Ex. Com._, Rochester, N. Y.
+
+At the opening session of this convention the president, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, said:
+
+     I would remind you, fellow-citizens, that this is our first
+     convention in the dawn of the new century. In 1776 we inaugurated
+     our experiment of self-government. Unbelief in man's capacity to
+     govern himself was freely expressed by every European monarchy
+     except France. When John Adams was Minister to England, the
+     newspapers of that country were filled with prophecies that the
+     new-born republic would soon gladly return to British allegiance.
+     But these hundred years have taught them the worth of liberty;
+     the Declaration of Independence has become the alphabet of
+     nations; Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the isles of the
+     sea, will unite this year to do our nation honor. Our flag is
+     everywhere on sea and land. It has searched the North Pole,
+     explored every desert, upheld religious liberty of every faith
+     and protected political refugees from every nation, but it has
+     not yet secured equal rights to women.
+
+     This year is to be one of general discussion upon the science of
+     government; its origin, its powers, its history. If our present
+     declaration cannot be so interpreted as to cover the rights of
+     women, we must issue one that will. I have received letters from
+     many of the Western States and from this District, urging us to
+     prepare a woman's declaration, and to celebrate the coming Fourth
+     of July with our own chosen orators and in our own way. I notice
+     a general awakening among women at this time. But a day or two
+     since the women of this District demanded suffrage for themselves
+     in a petition of 25,000 names. The men are quiet under their
+     disfranchisement, making no attempt for their rights--fit slaves
+     of a powerful ring.
+
+The following protest was presented by Mrs. Gage, adopted by the
+convention, printed and extensively circulated:
+
+     _To the Political Sovereigns of the United States in Independence
+     Hall assembled:_
+
+     We, the undersigned women of the United States, asserting our
+     faith in the principles of the Declaration of Independence and in
+     the constitution of the United States, proclaiming it as the best
+     form of government in the world, declare ourselves a part of the
+     people of the nation unjustly deprived of the guaranteed and
+     reserved rights belonging to citizens of the United States;
+     because we have never given our consent to this government;
+     because we have never delegated our rights to others; because
+     this government is false to its underlying principles; because it
+     has refused to one-half its citizens the only means of
+     self-government--the ballot; because it has been deaf to our
+     appeals, our petitions and our prayers;
+
+     Therefore, in presence of the assembled nations of all the world,
+     we protest against this government of the United States as an
+     oligarchy of sex, and not a true republic; and we protest against
+     calling this a centennial celebration of the independence of the
+     people of the United States.
+
+Letters[2] were read and a series of resolutions were discussed and
+adopted:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the demand for woman suffrage is but the
+          next step in the great movement which began with _Magna
+          Charta_, and which has ever since tended toward vesting
+          government in the whole body of the people.
+
+          _Resolved_, That we demand of the forty-fourth congress, in
+          order that it may adequately celebrate the centennial year,
+          the admission to the polls of the women of all the
+          territories, and a submission to the legislatures of the
+          several States of an amendment securing to women the
+          elective franchise.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the enfranchisement of women means wiser
+          and truer wedlock, purer and happier homes, healthier and
+          better children, and strikes, as nothing else does, at the
+          very roots of pauperism and crime.
+
+          _Resolved_, That if Colorado would come into the Union in a
+          befitting manner for the celebration of the centennial of
+          the Declaration of Independence, she should give the ballot
+          to brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and thus
+          present to the nation a truly free State.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the right of suffrage being vested in the
+          women of Utah by their constitutional and lawful
+          enfranchisement, and by six years of use, we denounce the
+          proposition about to be again presented to congress for the
+          disfranchisement of the women in that territory, as an
+          outrage on the freedom of thousands of legal voters and a
+          gross innovation of vested rights; we demand the abolition
+          of the system of numbering the ballots, in order that the
+          women may be thoroughly free to vote as they choose, without
+          supervision or dictation, and that the chair appoint a
+          committee of three persons, with power to add to their
+          number, to memorialize congress, and otherwise to watch over
+          the rights of the women of Utah in this regard during the
+          next twelve months.
+
+     BELVA A. LOCKWOOD presented the annual report: The question of
+     woman suffrage is to be submitted to the people of Iowa during
+     the present centennial year, if this legislature ratifies the
+     action of the previous one. Colorado has not embodied the word
+     "male" in her constitution, and a vigorous effort is being made
+     to introduce woman suffrage there. In Minnesota women are allowed
+     to vote on school questions and to hold office by a recent
+     constitutional amendment. In Michigan, in 1874, the vote for
+     woman suffrage was 40,000, about 1,000 more votes than were
+     polled for the new constitution. The Connecticut legislature,
+     during the past year appointed a committee to consider and report
+     the expediency of making women eligible to the position of
+     electors for president and vice-president. The committee made a
+     unanimous report in its favor, and secured for its passage 82
+     votes, while 101 votes were cast against it. In Massachusetts,
+     Governor Rice, in his inaugural address, recommended to the
+     legislature to secure to women the right to vote for presidential
+     electors. An address to the legislature of New York by Mesdames
+     Gage, Blake and Lozier upon this question, was favorably received
+     and extensively quoted by the press. At an agricultural fair in
+     Illinois the Hon. James R. Doolittle advocated household
+     suffrage. In the Senate of the thirteenth legislature of the
+     State of Texas, Senator Dohoney, Chairman of the Judiciary
+     Committee, made a report strongly advocating woman suffrage; and
+     in 1875, when a member of the Constitutional Convention, he
+     advocated the same doctrine, and was ably assisted by Hon. W. G.
+     L. Weaver. The governor of that State, in his message,
+     recommended that women school teachers should receive equal pay
+     for equal work. The word "male" does not occur in the new
+     constitution. In the territories of Wyoming and Utah, woman
+     suffrage still continues after five years' experiment, and we
+     have not learned that households have been broken up or that
+     babies have ceased to be rocked.
+
+     Women physicians, women journalists and women editors have come
+     to be a feature of our institutions. Laura De Force Gordon, a
+     member of our association, is editing a popular daily--the
+     _Leader_--in Sacramento, Cal. Women are now admitted to the bar
+     in Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Wyoming and
+     the District of Columbia. They are eligible and are serving as
+     school superintendents in Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa and
+     Wisconsin. Illinois allows them to be notaries public. As
+     postmasters they have proved competent, and one woman, Miss Ada
+     Sweet, is pension agent at Chicago. Julia K. Sutherland has been
+     appointed commissioner of deeds for the State of California. In
+     England women vote on the same terms as men on municipal,
+     parochial and educational matters. In Holland, Austria and
+     Sweden, women vote on a property qualification. The Peruvian
+     Minister of Justice has declared that Peru places women on the
+     same footing as men. Thus all over the world is the idea of human
+     rights taking root and cropping out in a healthful rather than a
+     spasmodic outgrowth.
+
+     The grand-daughter of Paley, true to her ancestral blood, has
+     excelled all the young men in Cambridge in moral science. Julia
+     J. Thomas, of Cornell University, daughter of Dr. Mary F. Thomas,
+     of Indiana, in the recent inter-collegiate contest, took the
+     first prize of $300, over eight male competitors, in Greek. The
+     recent decision in the United States Supreme Court, of Minor
+     _vs._ Happersett, will have as much force in suppressing the
+     individuality and self-assertion of women as had the opinion of
+     Judge Taney, in the Dred-Scott case, in suppressing the
+     emancipation of slavery. The day has come when precedents are
+     made rather than blindly followed. The refusal of the Superior
+     Court of Philadelphia to allow Carrie S. Burnham to practice law,
+     because there was no precedent, was a weak evasion of common law
+     and common sense. One hundred years ago there was no precedent
+     for a man practicing law in the State of Pennsylvania, and yet we
+     have not learned that there was any difficulty in establishing a
+     precedent. I do not now remember any precedent for the
+     Declaration of Independence of the United Colonies, and yet
+     during a century it has not been overturned. The rebellion of the
+     South had no precedent, and yet, if I remember, there was an
+     issue joined, and the United States found that she had
+     jurisdiction of the case.
+
+     The admission of women to Cornell University; their reception on
+     equal footing in Syracuse University, receiving in both equal
+     honorary degrees; the establishment of Wellesley College, with
+     full professorships and capable women to fill them; the agitation
+     of the question in Washington of the establishment of a
+     university for women, all show a mental awakening in the popular
+     mind not hitherto known. A new era is opening in the history of
+     the world. The seed sown twenty-five years ago by Mrs. Stanton
+     and other brave women is bearing fruit.
+
+     SARA ANDREWS SPENCER said it was interesting to pair off the
+     objections and let them answer each other like paradoxes. Women
+     will be influenced by their husbands and will vote for bad men to
+     please them. Women have too much influence now, and if we give
+     them any more latitude they will make men all vote their way.
+     Owing to the composition and structure of the female brain, women
+     are incapable of understanding political affairs. If women are
+     allowed to vote they will crowd all the men out of office, and
+     men will be obliged to stay at home and take care of the
+     children. That is, owing to the composition and structure of the
+     female brain, women are so exactly adapted to political affairs
+     that men wouldn't stand any chance if women were allowed to enter
+     into competition with them. Women don't want it. Women shouldn't
+     have it, for they don't know how to use it. Grace Greenwood (who
+     was one of the seventy-two women who tried to vote) said men were
+     like the stingy boy at school with a cake. "Now," said he, "all
+     you that don't ask for it don't want it, and all you that do ask
+     for it sha'n't have it."
+
+     REV. OLYMPIA BROWN, pastor of the Universalist church in
+     Bridgeport, Conn., gave her views on the rights of women under
+     the constitution, and believed that they were entitled to the
+     ballot as an inalienable right. In this country, under existing
+     rulings of the courts as to the meaning of the constitution, no
+     one appeared likely to enjoy the ballot for all time except the
+     colored men, unless the clause, "previous condition of
+     servitude," as a congressman expressed it, referred to widows.
+     That being true, the constitution paid a premium only on colored
+     men, and widows. If the constitution did not guarantee suffrage,
+     and congress did not bestow it, then the republic was of no
+     account and its boast devoid of significance and meaning. Its
+     life had been in vain--dead to the interests for which it was
+     created. She wanted congress to pass a sixteenth amendment,
+     declaring all its citizens enfranchised, or a declaratory act
+     setting forth that the constitution already guaranteed to them
+     that right.
+
+     Hon. FREDERICK DOUGLASS said he was not quite in accord with all
+     the sentiments that had been uttered during the afternoon, yet he
+     was willing that the largest latitude should be taken by the
+     advocates of the cause. He was not afraid that at some distant
+     period the blacks of the South would rise and disfranchise the
+     whites. While he was not willing to be addressed as the ignorant,
+     besotted creature that the negro is sometimes called, he was
+     willing to be a part of the bridge over which women should march
+     to the full enjoyment of their rights.
+
+     Miss PHOEBE COUZINS of St. Louis reviewed in an able manner the
+     decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Virginia L. Minor.
+
+     Mrs. DEVEREUX BLAKE spoke on the rights and duties of
+     citizenship. She cited a number of authorities, including a
+     recent decision of the Supreme Court, to prove that women are
+     citizens, although deprived of the privileges of citizenship.
+     Taking up the three duties of citizenship--paying taxes, serving
+     on jury, and military service--she said woman had done her share
+     of the first for a hundred years; that the women of the country
+     now contributed, directly and indirectly, one-third of its
+     revenues, and that the House of Representatives had just robbed
+     them of $500,000 to pay for a centennial celebration in which
+     they had no part. As for serving on jury, they did not claim that
+     as a privilege, as it was usually regarded as a most disagreeable
+     duty; but they did claim the right of women, when arraigned in
+     court, to be tried by a jury of their peers, which was not
+     accorded when the jury was composed wholly of men. Lastly, as to
+     serving their country in time of war, it was a fact that women
+     had actually enlisted and fought in our late war, until their sex
+     was discovered, when they were summarily dismissed without being
+     paid for their services.
+
+Hon. Aaron A. Sargent, of California, in the United States
+Senate, and Hon. Samuel S. Cox, of New York, in the House of
+Representatives, presented the memorial asking the enfranchisement
+of the women of the District of Columbia, as follows:
+
+                              IN THE SENATE, Tuesday, January 25, 1876.
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: I present a memorial asking for the establishment of
+     a government in the District of Columbia which shall secure to
+     its women the right to vote. This petition is signed by many
+     eminent ladies of the country: Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage,
+     President of the National Woman Suffrage Association, and the
+     following officers of that society: Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady
+     Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Henrietta Payne Westbrook, Isabella
+     Beecher Hooker, Mathilde F. Wendt, Ellen Clark Sargent; also by
+     Mary F. Foster, President of the District of Columbia Woman's
+     Franchise Association; Susan A. Edson, M. D.; Mrs. E. D. E. N.
+     Southworth, the distinguished authoress; Mrs. Dr. Caroline B.
+     Winslow; Belva A. Lockwood, a practicing lawyer in this District;
+     Sara Andrews Spencer, and Mrs. A. E. Wood.
+
+     These intelligent ladies set forth their petition in language and
+     with facts and arguments which I think should meet the ear of the
+     Senate, and I ask that it be read by the secretary in order that
+     their desires may be known.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: Is there objection? The chair hears
+     none, and the secretary will report the petition. The secretary
+     read:
+
+          _To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+          States in Congress assembled:_
+
+          Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed
+          the decision of the Supreme Court of the District of
+          Columbia in the cases of Spencer _vs._ The Board of
+          Registration, and Webster _vs._ The Judges of Election, and
+          has decided that "by the operation of the first section of
+          the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United
+          States, women have been advanced to full citizenship and
+          clothed with the capacity to become voters; and further,
+          that this first section of the fourteenth amendment does not
+          execute itself, but requires the supervision of legislative
+          power in the exercise of legislative discretion to give it
+          effect"; and whereas the congress of the United States is
+          the legislative body having exclusive jurisdiction over the
+          District of Columbia, and in enfranchising the colored men
+          and refusing to enfranchise women, white or colored, made an
+          unjust discrimination against sex, and did not give the
+          intelligence and moral power of the citizens of said
+          District a fair opportunity for expression at the polls; and
+          whereas woman suffrage is not an experiment, but has had a
+          fair trial in Wyoming, where women hold office, where they
+          vote, where they have the most orderly society of any of the
+          territories, where the experiment is approved by the
+          executive officers of the United States, by their courts, by
+          their press and by the people generally, and where it has
+          "rescued that territory from a state of comparative
+          lawlessness" and rendered it "one of the most orderly in the
+          Union"; and whereas upon the woman suffrage amendment to
+          Senate bill number 44 of the second session of the
+          forty-third congress, votes were recorded in favor of woman
+          suffrage by the two senators from Indiana, the two from
+          Florida, the two from Michigan, the two from Rhode Island,
+          one from Kansas, one from Louisiana, one from Massachusetts,
+          one from Minnesota, one from Nebraska, one from Nevada, one
+          from Oregon, one from South Carolina, one from Texas, and
+          one from Wisconsin; and whereas a fair trial of equal
+          suffrage for men and women in the District of Columbia,
+          under the immediate supervision of congress, would
+          demonstrate to the people of the whole country that justice
+          to women is policy for men; and whereas the women of the
+          United States are governed without their own consent, are
+          denied trial by a jury of their peers, are taxed without
+          representation, and are subject to manifold wrongs resulting
+          from unjust and arbitrary exercise of power over an
+          unrepresented class; and whereas in this centennial year of
+          the republic the spirit of 1776 is breathing its influence
+          upon the people, melting away prejudices and animosities and
+          infusing into our national councils a finer sense of justice
+          and a clearer perception of individual rights; therefore,
+
+          We pray your honorable body to establish a government for
+          the District of Columbia which shall secure to its women the
+          right to vote.
+
+     Mr. SARGEANT: Even if this document were not accompanied by the
+     signatures of eminent ladies known throughout the land for their
+     virtues, intelligence and high character, the considerations
+     which it presents would be worthy of the attention of the senate.
+     I have no doubt that the great movement of which this is a part
+     will prevail. It is working its progress day by day throughout
+     the country. It is making itself felt both in social and
+     political life. The petitioners here well say that there has been
+     a successful experiment of the exercise of female suffrage in one
+     of our territories; that a territory has been redeemed from
+     lawlessness; that the judges, the press, the people generally of
+     Wyoming approve the results of this great experiment. I know of
+     no better place than the capital of a nation where a more
+     decisive trial can be made, if such is needed, to establish the
+     expediency of woman suffrage. As to its justice, who shall deny
+     it? I ask, for the purpose of due consideration, that this
+     petition be referred to the Committee on the District of
+     Columbia, so that in preparing any scheme for the government of
+     the District which is likely to come before this congress, due
+     weight may be given to the considerations presented.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The petition will be referred to the
+     Committee on the District of Columbia.
+
+               IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Friday, March 31, 1876.
+
+     Mr. COX: Mr. Speaker, I am requested to present a memorial,
+     asking for a form of government in the District of Columbia which
+     shall secure to its women the right to vote; and I ask the grace
+     and favor to have this memorial printed in the _Record_.
+
+     Mr. BANKS: Mr. Speaker, I beg the privilege of saying a few words
+     in favor of the request made by the gentleman from New York who
+     presents this memorial. It is a hundred years this day since Mrs.
+     Abigail Adams, of Massachusetts, wrote to her husband, John
+     Adams, then a member of the continental convention, entreating
+     him to give to women the power to protect their own rights and
+     predicting a general revolution if justice was denied them. Mrs.
+     Adams was one of the noblest women of that period, distinguished
+     by heroism and patriotism never surpassed in any age. She was
+     wife of the second and mother of the sixth president of the
+     United States, and her beneficent influence was felt in political
+     as well as in social circles. It was perhaps the first demand for
+     the recognition of the rights of her sex made in this country,
+     and is one of the centennial incidents that should be remembered.
+     It came from a good quarter. This memorial represents half a
+     million of American women. They ask for the organization of a
+     government in the District of Columbia that will recognize their
+     political rights. I voted some years ago to give women the right
+     to vote in this District, and recalling the course of its
+     government I think it would have done no harm if they had enjoyed
+     political rights.
+
+     Mr. KASSON: I suggest that the memorial be printed without the
+     names.
+
+     Mr. COX: There are no names appended except those of the officers
+     of the National Woman Suffrage Association; and I hope they will
+     be printed with the memorial.
+
+     Mr. HENDEE: I trust the gentleman will allow this petition to be
+     referred to the committee of which I am a member: the Committee
+     for the District of Columbia. There being no objection, the
+     memorial was read and referred to the Committee for the District
+     of Columbia, and ordered to be printed in the _Record_.
+
+At the close of the convention a hearing was granted to the ladies
+before the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives on
+the District of Columbia.
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, of New York, said: _Mr. Chairman and
+     Gentlemen of the Committee_: On behalf of the National
+     Association, which has its officers in every State and territory
+     of the Union, and which numbers many thousands of members, and on
+     behalf of the Woman's Franchise Association of the District of
+     Columbia, we appear before you, asking that the right of suffrage
+     be secured equally to the men and women of this District. Art. 1,
+     sec. 8, clauses 17, 18 of the Constitution of the United States
+     reads:
+
+          Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation
+          in all cases whatsoever over such district as may become the
+          seat of government of the United States, * * * * * to make
+          all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
+          into execution the foregoing powers.
+
+     Congress is therefore constitutionally the special guardian of
+     the rights of the people of the District of Columbia. It
+     possesses peculiar rights, peculiar duties, peculiar powers in
+     regard to this District. At the present time the men and women
+     are alike disfranchised. Our memorial asks that in forming a new
+     government they may be alike enfranchised. It is often said as
+     an argument against granting suffrage to women that they do not
+     wish to vote; do not ask for the ballot. This association,
+     numbering thousands in the United States, through its
+     representatives, now asks you, in this memorial, for suffrage in
+     this District. Petitions from every State in the Union have been
+     sent to your honorable body. One of these, signed by thirty-five
+     thousand women, was sent to congress in one large roll; but what
+     is the value of a petition signed by even a million of an
+     unrepresented class?
+
+     The city papers of the national capital, once bitterly opposed to
+     all effort in this direction, now fully recognize the dignity of
+     the demand, and have ceased to oppose it. One of these said,
+     editorially, to-day, that the vast audiences assembling at our
+     conventions, the large majority being women, and evidently in
+     sympathy with the movement, were proof of the great interest
+     women take in this subject, though many are too timid to openly
+     make the demand. The woman's temperance movement began two years
+     ago as a crusade of prayer and song, and the women engaged
+     therein have now resolved themselves into a national
+     organization, whose second convention, held in October last,
+     numbering delegates from twenty-two States, almost unanimously
+     passed a resolution demanding the ballot to aid them in their
+     temperance work. We who make our constant demand for suffrage,
+     knew that these women were in process of education, and would
+     soon be forced to ask for the key to all reform.
+
+     The ballot says yes or no to all questions. Without it women are
+     prohibited from practically expressing their opinions. The very
+     fact that the women of this District make this demand of you more
+     urgently than men proves that they desire it more and see its
+     uses better. The men of this District who quietly remain
+     disfranchised have the spirit of slaves, and if asking for the
+     ballot is any proof of fitness for its use, then the women who do
+     ask for it here prove themselves in this respect superior to men,
+     more alive to the interests of this District, and better fitted
+     to administer the government. Women who are not interested in
+     questions of reform would soon become so if they possessed the
+     ballot. They are now in the condition we were when we heard of
+     the famine in Persia two years ago. Our sympathies were aroused
+     for a brief while, but Persia was far away, we could render it no
+     certain aid, and the sufferings of the people soon passed from
+     our minds.
+
+     Our approaching centennial celebration is to commemorate the
+     Declaration of Independence, which was based on individual
+     rights. For ages it was a question where the governing power
+     rightfully belonged; patriarch, priest, and monarch each claimed
+     it by divine right. Our country declared it vested in the
+     individual. Not only was this clearly stated in the Declaration
+     of Independence, but the same ground was maintained in the secret
+     proceedings upon framing the constitution. The old confederation
+     was abandoned because it did not secure the independence and
+     safety of the people. It has recently been asked in congressional
+     debates, "What is the grand idea of the centennial?" The answer
+     was, "It is the illustration in spirit and truth of the
+     principles of the Declaration of Independence and of the
+     constitution."
+
+     These principles are:
+
+     _First_--The natural rights of each individual.
+
+     _Second_--The exact equality of these rights.
+
+     _Third_--That rights not delegated are retained by the
+     individual.
+
+     _Fourth_--That no person shall exercise the rights of others
+     without delegated authority.
+
+     _Fifth_--That non-use of rights does not destroy them.
+
+     Rights did not come new-born into the world with the revolution.
+     Our fathers were men of middle age before they understood their
+     own rights, but when they did they compelled the recognition of
+     the world, and now the nations of the earth are this year invited
+     to join you in the celebration of these principles of free
+     government.
+
+     We have special reasons for asking you to secure suffrage to the
+     women of the District of Columbia. Woman Suffrage has been tried
+     in Wyoming, and ample testimony of its beneficial results has
+     been furnished, but it is a far distant territory, and those not
+     especially interested will not examine the evidence. It has been
+     tried in Utah, but with great opposition on account of the
+     peculiar religious belief and customs of the people. But the
+     District of Columbia is directly under the eye of congress. It is
+     the capital of the nation, and three-fifths of the property of
+     the District belongs to the United States. The people of the
+     whole country would therefore be interested in observing the
+     practical workings of this system on national soil. With 7,316
+     more women than men in this District, we call your special
+     attention to the inconsistency and injustice of granting suffrage
+     to a minority and withholding it from a majority, as you have
+     done in the past. If the District is your special ward, then
+     women, being in the majority here, have peculiar claims upon you
+     for a consideration of their rights. The freedom of this country
+     is only half won. The women of to-day have less freedom than our
+     fathers of the revolution, for they were permitted local
+     self-government, while women have no share in local, State, or
+     general government.
+
+     Our memorial calls your attention to the Pembina debate in 1874,
+     when senators from eighteen States recognized the right of
+     self-government as inhering in women. One senator said: "I
+     believe women never will enjoy equality with men in taking care
+     of themselves until they have the right to vote." Another, "that
+     the question was being considered by a large portion of the
+     people of the United States." When the discussion was concluded
+     and the vote taken, twenty-two senators recorded their votes for
+     woman suffrage in that distant territory. During the debate
+     several senators publicly declared their intention of voting for
+     woman suffrage in the District of Columbia whenever the
+     opportunity was presented. These senators recognize the fact that
+     the ballot is not only a right, but that it is opportunity for
+     woman; that it is the one means of helping her to help herself.
+     In asking you to secure the ballot to the women of the District
+     we do not ask you to create a right. That is beyond your power.
+     We ask you to protect them in the exercise of a right.
+
+     Mrs. SARA ANDREWS SPENCER, Secretary of the District of Columbia
+     Woman's Franchise Association, said: For no legal or political
+     right I have ever claimed in the District of Columbia do I ask a
+     stronger, clearer charter than the Declaration of Independence,
+     and the constitution of the United States as it stood before the
+     fourteenth amendment had entered the minds of men. A judicial
+     decision, rendered by nine men, upon the rights of ten millions
+     of women of this republic, need not, does not, change the
+     convictions of one woman in regard to her own heaven-endowed
+     rights, duties, and responsibilities.
+
+     We have resorted to all the measures dictated by those who rule
+     over us for securing the freedom to exercise rights which are
+     sacredly our own, rights which are ours by Divine inheritance,
+     and which men can neither confer nor take away. We are not only
+     daughters of our Father in heaven, and joint heirs with you
+     there; but we are daughters of this republic, and joint heirs
+     with you here. Every act of legislation which has been placed as
+     a bar in our way as citizens has been an act of injustice, and
+     every expedient to which we have resorted for securing
+     recognition of citizenship has been with protest against the
+     existence of these acts of unauthorized power.
+
+     When any man expresses doubt to me as to the use that I or any
+     other woman might make of the ballot if we had it, my answer is,
+     What is that to you? If you have for years defrauded me of my
+     rightful inheritance, and then, as a stroke of policy, or from
+     late conviction, concluded to restore to me my own domain, must I
+     ask you whether I may make of it a garden of flowers, or a field
+     of wheat, or a pasture for kine? If I choose I may counsel with
+     you. If experience has given you wisdom, even of this world, in
+     managing your property and mine, I should be wise to learn from
+     you. But injustice is not wont to yield wisdom; grapes do not
+     grow of thorns, nor figs of thistles.
+
+     Born of the unjust and cruel subjection of woman to man, we have
+     in these United States a harvest of 116,000 paupers, 36,000
+     criminals, and such a mighty host of blind, deaf and dumb,
+     idiotic, insane, feeble-minded, and children with tendencies to
+     crime, as almost to lead one to hope for the extinction of the
+     human race rather than for its perpetuation after its own kind.
+     The wisdom of man licenses the dram-shop, and then rears
+     station-houses, jails, and gibbets to provide for the victims. In
+     this District we have 135 teachers of public schools and 238
+     police officers, and the last report shows that public safety
+     demands a police force of 900. We have 31,671 children of school
+     age; 31,671 reasons why I want to vote. We have here 7,000 more
+     children of school age than there are seats in all the public
+     schools, and from the swarm of poor, ignorant, and vagrant
+     children, the lists of criminals and paupers are constantly
+     supplied. To provide for these evils there is an annual
+     expenditure of $350,000, not including expenses of courts, while
+     for education the annual expenditure is $280,000.
+
+     Will you say that the wives and the mothers, the house and
+     homekeepers of this small territory, have no interest in all
+     these things? If dram-shops are licensed and brothels protected,
+     are not our sons, our brothers, tempted and ruined, our daughters
+     lured from their homes, and lost to earth and heaven? Long and
+     patiently women have borne wrongs too deep to be put into words;
+     wrongs for which men have provided no redress and have found no
+     remedy. When five years ago, with our social atmosphere poisoned
+     with vices which as women we had no power to remove, men in
+     authority began a series of attempts to fasten upon us by law the
+     huge typical vice of all the ages--the social evil--in a form so
+     degrading to all womanhood that no man, though he were the prince
+     of profligates, would submit to its regulations for a day; then
+     we cried out so that the world heard us. We know the plague is
+     only stayed for a brief while. The hydra-headed monster every now
+     and then lifts a new front, and must be smitten again. Four times
+     in four successive years a little company of women of the
+     District have appeared before committees and compelled the
+     discussion and defeat of bills designed to fasten these measures
+     upon the community under the guise of security for public health
+     and morality. The last annual report of the board of health
+     speaks tenderly of the need of protecting vicious men by these
+     regulations, and says:
+
+          The legalization of houses of ill-fame for so humane a
+          purpose, startling as it may be to the moral sense, has many
+          powerful advocates among the thoughtful, wise, and
+          philanthropic of communities.
+
+     The report quotes approvingly Dr. Gross, of Philadelphia, who
+     says in behalf of laws to license the social evil:
+
+          The prejudices which surround the subject must be swept
+          away, and men must march to the front and discharge their
+          duty, however much they may be reproached and abused by the
+          ignorant and foolish.
+
+     Aside from the higher ground of our inherent right to
+     self-government, we declare here and now that the women of this
+     District are not safe without the ballot. Our firesides, our
+     liberties are in constant peril, while men who have no concern
+     for our welfare may legislate against our dearest interests. If
+     we would inaugurate any measure of protection for our own sex, we
+     are bound hand and foot by man. The law is his, the treasury is
+     his, the power is his, and he need not even hear our cry, except
+     at his good will and pleasure.
+
+     If man had legislated justly and wisely for the interests of this
+     District, if its financial condition was sound, its social and
+     moral atmosphere pure, and all was well, there would be some show
+     of reason in your refusing to hazard a new experiment, even
+     though we could demonstrate it to be founded upon eternal
+     justice. But the history of the successive forms of government in
+     the District of Columbia is a history of failures. So will it
+     continue to be until you adopt a plan founded upon truly
+     republican principles. When, a few years ago, you put the ballot
+     into the hands of the swarming masses of freedmen who had
+     gathered here with the ignorance and vices of slaves, and refused
+     to enfranchise women, white or colored, you gave this District no
+     fair trial of a republican form of government. You did not even
+     protect the interests of the colored race. You admitted that the
+     colored man was not really free until he held the ballot in his
+     hand, and therefore you enfranchised him and left the woman twice
+     his slave. I know colored women in Washington far the superiors,
+     intellectually and morally, of the masses of men, who declare
+     that they now endure wrongs and abuses unknown in slavery.
+
+     There is not an interest in this District that is not as vital to
+     me as to any man in Washington--that is not more vital to me than
+     it can be to any member of this honorable body. As a citizen,
+     seeking the welfare of this community, as a wife and mother
+     desiring the safety of my children, which of you can claim a
+     deeper interest than I in questions of markets, taxes, finance,
+     banks, railroads, highways, the public debt and interest thereon,
+     boards of health, sanitary and police regulations, station-houses
+     (wherein I find many a wreck of womanhood, ruined in her youth
+     and beauty), schools, asylums, and charities? Why deny me a voice
+     in any or all of these? Do you doubt that I would use the ballot
+     in the interests of order, retrenchment, and reform? Do you deny
+     a right of mine, which you will admit I know how to prize,
+     because there are women who do not appreciate its value, do not
+     demand it, possibly might not (any better than men) know how to
+     use it? What a mockery of justice! What a flagrant violation of
+     individual rights! I would cry out against it if no other woman
+     in the land felt the wrong. But among the 10,000,000 of mothers
+     of 14,000,000 of children in this country, vast numbers of
+     thoughtful, philanthropic, and pure women have come to see this
+     truth, and desire to express their mother love and home love at
+     the ballot-box!
+
+     Frederick Douglass once said: "Whole nations have been bathed in
+     blood to establish the simplest possible propositions. For
+     instance, that a man's head is _his_ head; his body is _his_
+     body; his feet are _his_ feet, and if he chooses to run away with
+     them it is nobody's business"; and all honor to him, he added,
+     "Now, these propositions have been established for the colored
+     man. Why does not man establish them for woman, his wife, his
+     mother?"
+
+     Determined to surround the colored man with every possible
+     guarantee of protection in the possession of his freedom,
+     congress stopped the wheels of legislation, and made the whole
+     country wait, while day after day and night after night his
+     friends fought inch by inch the ground for the civil rights bill.
+     During that debate Senator Frelinghuysen said:
+
+          When I took the oath as senator, I took the oath to support
+          the Constitution of the United States, which declares
+          equality for all: and in advocating this bill I am doing my
+          sworn duty in endeavoring to secure equal rights for every
+          citizen of the United States.
+
+     But where slept his "sworn duty" when he recorded his vote in the
+     Senate against woman suffrage? With marvelous inconsistency, as a
+     reason for opposing woman suffrage, during the Pembina debate,
+     May 27, 1874, Senator Merrimon said of the relation of women to
+     the Constitution of the United States:
+
+          They have sustained it under all circumstances with their
+          love, their hands, and their hearts; with their smiles and
+          their tears they have educated their children to live for
+          it, and to die for it.
+
+     Therefore the honorable gentleman denies them the right to vote.
+
+     Upon the civil rights bill, Senator Howe said:
+
+          I do not know but what the passage of this bill will break
+          up the common schools. I admit that I have some fear on that
+          point. Every step of this terrible march has been met with a
+          threat; but let justice be done although the common schools
+          and the heavens do fall.
+
+     In reply to the point made by Mr. Stockton that the people of the
+     United States would not accept this bill, Mr. Howe said:
+
+          I would not turn back if I knew that of the forty million
+          people of the United States not one million would sustain
+          it. If this generation does not accept it there is a
+          generation to come that will accept it. What does this
+          provide? Not that the black man should be helped on his way;
+          not at all; but only that, as he staggers along, he shall
+          not be retarded, shall not be tripped up and made to fall.
+
+     Brave and tender words these for our black brother; but see how
+     prone men are to invert truth, justice, and mercy in dealing with
+     women. During the Pembina debate, Senator Merrimon said:
+
+          I know there are a few women in the country who complain;
+          but those who complain, compared with those who do not
+          complain, are as one to a million.
+
+     As a literal fact, the women who have complained, have
+     petitioned, sued, reasoned, plead, have knocked at the doors of
+     your legislatures and courts, are as one to fifty in this
+     country, as we who watch the record know; and even that is a
+     small proportion of those who would, but dare not; who are bound
+     hand and foot, and will be bound until you make them free. But if
+     no others feel the wrong but those who have dared to complain; if
+     the poor, the ignorant, the betrayed, the ruined do not
+     understand the question, and the well-fed and comfortable "have
+     all the rights they want," do you give that for answer to our
+     just demand? What do we ask? Not that poor woman "shall be helped
+     on her way"--not at all; but only that, "as she staggers along,
+     she shall not be retarded, shall not be tripped up, shall not be
+     made to fall."
+
+     And here on this national soil, for the women of this District of
+     Columbia--your peculiar wards--I ask you to try the experiment of
+     exact, even-handed justice; to give us a voice in the laws under
+     which we must live, by which we are tried, judged and condemned.
+     I ask it for myself, that I may the better help other women. I
+     ask it for other women, that they may the better help themselves.
+     As you hope for justice and mercy in your hour of need, may you
+     hear and answer.
+
+Rev. Olympia Brown, of Connecticut; Belva A. Lockwood, of
+Washington; and Phoebe Couzins, of St. Louis, also addressed the
+committees; enforcing their arguments with wit, humor, pathos and
+eloquence.
+
+On her way home from Washington, Mrs. Gage stopped in Philadelphia
+to secure rooms for the National Association during the centennial
+summer, and decided upon Carpenter Hall, in case it could be
+obtained. This hall belongs to the Carpenter Company of
+Philadelphia, perhaps the oldest existing association of that city,
+it having maintained an uninterrupted organization from the year
+1724, about forty years after the establishment of the colonial
+government by William Penn, and was much in use during the early
+days of the revolution. The doors of the State House, where the
+continental congress intended to meet, were found closed against
+it; but the Carpenter Company, numbering many eminent patriots,
+offered its hall for their use; and here met the first continental
+congress, September 5, 1774. John Adams, describing its opening
+ceremonies, said:
+
+     Here was a scene worthy of the painter's art. Washington was
+     kneeling there, and Randolph, Rutledge, Lee and Jay; and by their
+     side there stood, bowed in reverence, the Puritan patriots of New
+     England, who at that moment had reason to believe that an armed
+     soldiery was wasting their humble households. It was believed
+     that Boston had been bombarded and destroyed.[3] They prayed
+     fervently for America, for the congress, for the province of
+     Massachusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston. Who can
+     realize the emotions with which in that hour of danger they
+     turned imploringly to heaven for Divine interposition. It was
+     enough to melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush into the
+     eyes of old, gray, pacific Quakers of Philadelphia.
+
+The action of this congress, which sat but seven weeks, was
+momentous in the history of the world. "From the moment of their
+first debate," said De Tocqueville, "Europe was moved." The
+convention which in 1781 framed the constitution of the United
+States, also met in Carpenter Hall in secret session for four
+months before agreeing upon its provisions. This hall seemed the
+most appropriate place for establishing the centennial rooms of the
+National Woman Suffrage Association, but the effort to obtain
+it proved unavailing[4] as will be seen by the following
+correspondence:
+
+     _To the President and Officers of the Carpenter Company of
+     Philadelphia:_
+
+     The National Woman Suffrage Association will hold its
+     headquarters in Philadelphia the centennial season of 1876, and
+     desires to secure your historic hall for that purpose. We know
+     your habit and custom of denying its use to all societies, yet we
+     make our request because our objects are in accord with the
+     principles which emanated from within its walls a hundred years
+     ago, and we shall use it in carrying out those principles of
+     liberty and equality upon which our government is based.
+
+     We design to advertise our headquarters to the world, and old
+     Carpenter Hall, if used by us, would become more widely
+     celebrated as the birth-place of liberty. Our work in it would
+     cause it to be more than ever held in reverence by future ages,
+     and pilgrimages by men and women would be made to it as to
+     another Mecca shrine.
+
+     We propose to place a person in charge, with pamphlets, speeches,
+     tracts, etc., and to hold public meetings for the enunciation of
+     our principles and the furtherance of our demands. Hoping you
+     will grant this request,
+
+               I am respectfully yours,         MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
+               _President of the National Woman Suffrage Association._
+
+Two months afterward, the following reply was received:
+
+                              HALL, CARPENTER COURT, 322 Chestnut St.,}
+                                         PHILADELPHIA, April 24, 1876.}
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _President of the Woman Suffrage
+     Association_:
+
+     Your communication asking permission to occupy Carpenter Hall for
+     your convention was duly received, and presented to the company
+     at a stated meeting held the 16th instant, when on motion it was
+     unanimously resolved to postpone the subject indefinitely.
+
+     [Extract of minutes].            GEORGE WATSON, _Secretary_.
+
+It was a matter of no moment to those men that women were soon to
+assemble in Philadelphia, whose love of liberty was as deep, whose
+patriotism was as pure as that of the fathers who met within its
+walls in 1774, and whose deliberations had given that hall its
+historic interest.
+
+In the midst of these preparations the usual May anniversary was
+held:
+
+     CALL FOR THE MAY ANNIVERSARY, 1876.--The National Woman Suffrage
+     Association will hold its Ninth Annual Convention in Masonic
+     Hall, New York, corner of Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street,
+     May 10, 11, 1876.
+
+     This convention occuring in the centennial year of the republic,
+     will be a most important one. The underlying principles of
+     government will this year be discussed as never before; both
+     foreigners and citizens will query as to how closely this country
+     has lived up to its own principles. The long-debated question as
+     to the source of the governing power was answered a century ago
+     by the famous Declaration of Independence which shook to the
+     foundation all recognized power and proclaimed the right of the
+     individual as above all forms of government; but while thus
+     declaring itself, it has held the women of the nation accountable
+     to laws they have had no share in making, and taught as their one
+     duty, that doctrine of tyrants, unquestioning obedience. Liberty
+     to-day is, therefore, but the heritage of one-half the people,
+     and the centennial will be but the celebration of the
+     independence of one-half the nation. The men alone of this
+     country live in a republic, the women enter the second hundred
+     years of national life as political slaves.
+
+     That no structure is stronger than its weakest point is a law of
+     mechanics that will apply equally to government. In so far as
+     this government has denied justice to woman, it is weak, and
+     preparing for its own downfall. All the insurrections,
+     rebellions, and martyrdoms of history have grown out of the
+     desire for liberty, and in woman's heart this desire is as strong
+     as in man's. At every vital time in the nation's life, men and
+     women have worked together; everywhere has woman stood by the
+     side of father, brother, husband, son in defense of liberty;
+     without her aid the republic could never have been established;
+     and yet women are still suffering under all the oppressions
+     complained of in 1776; which can only be remedied by securing
+     impartial suffrage to all citizens without distinction of sex.
+
+     All persons who believe republican principles should be carried
+     out in spirit and in truth, are invited to be present at the May
+     convention.
+
+                                   MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _President_.
+
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+This May anniversary, commencing on the same day with the opening
+of the centennial exhibition, was marked with more than usual
+earnestness. As popular thought naturally turned with increasing
+interest at such an hour to the underlying principles of
+government, woman's demand for political equality received a new
+impulse. The famous Smith sisters, of Glastonbury, Connecticut,
+attended this convention, and were most cordially welcomed. The
+officers[5] for the centennial year were chosen and a campaign[6]
+and congressional[7] committee appointed to take charge of affairs
+at Philadelphia and Washington. The resolutions show the general
+drift of the discussions:[8]
+
+     WHEREAS, The right of self-government inheres in the individual
+     before governments are founded, constitutions framed, or courts
+     created; and
+
+     WHEREAS, Governments exist to protect the people in the enjoyment
+     of their natural rights, and when any government becomes
+     destructive of this end, it is the right of the people to resist
+     and abolish it; and
+
+     WHEREAS, The women of the United States, for one hundred years,
+     have been denied the exercise of their natural right of
+     self-government and self-protection; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the natural right and most sacred duty of
+     the women of these United States to rebel against the injustice,
+     usurpation and tyranny of our present government.
+
+     WHEREAS, The men of 1776 rebelled against a government which did
+     not claim to be of the people, but, on the contrary, upheld the
+     "divine right of kings"; and
+
+     WHEREAS, The women of this nation to-day, under a government
+     which claims to be based upon individual rights, to be "of the
+     people, by the people, and for the people," in an infinitely
+     greater degree are suffering all the wrongs which led to the war
+     of the revolution; and WHEREAS, The oppression is all the more
+     keenly felt because our masters, instead of dwelling in a foreign
+     land, are our husbands, our fathers, our brothers and our sons;
+     therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That the women of this nation, in 1876, have greater
+     cause for discontent, rebellion and revolution, than the men of
+     1776.
+
+     _Resolved_, That with Abigail Adams, in 1776, we believe that
+     "the passion for liberty cannot be strong in the breasts of those
+     who are accustomed to deprive their fellow-creatures of liberty";
+     that, as Abigail Adams predicted, "We are determined to foment a
+     rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by laws in which we
+     have no voice or representation."
+
+     WHEREAS, We believe in the principles of the Declaration of
+     Independence and of the Constitution of the United States, and
+     believe a true republic is the best form of government in the
+     world; and
+
+     WHEREAS, This government is false to its underlying principles in
+     denying to women the only means of self-government, the ballot;
+     and
+
+     WHEREAS, One-half of the citizens of this nation, after a century
+     of boasted liberty, are still political slaves; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That we protest against calling the present
+     centennial celebration a celebration of the independence of the
+     people of the United States.
+
+     _Resolved_, That we meet in our respective towns and districts on
+     the Fourth of July, 1876, and declare ourselves no longer bound
+     to obey laws in whose making we have had no voice, and, in
+     presence of the assembled nations of the world gathered on this
+     soil to celebrate our nation's centennial, demand justice for the
+     women of this land.
+
+     WHEREAS, The men of this nation have established for men of all
+     nations, races and color, on this soil, at the cost of countless
+     lives, the proposition (in the language of Frederick Douglass)
+     "that a man's head is his head, his body is his body, his feet
+     are his feet"; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That justice, equity and chivalry demand that man at
+     once establish for his wife and mother the corresponding
+     proposition, that a woman's head is her head, her body is her
+     body, her feet are her feet, and that all ownership and mastery
+     over her person, property, conscience, and liberty of speech and
+     action, are in violation of the supreme law of the land.
+
+     _Resolved_, That we rejoice in the resistance of Julia and Abby
+     Smith, Abby Kelly Foster, Sarah E. Wall and many more resolute
+     women in various parts of the country, to taxation without
+     representation.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the thanks of the National Woman Suffrage
+     Association are hereby tendered to Hon. A. A. Sargent, of
+     California, for his earnest words in behalf of woman suffrage on
+     the floor of the United States Senate, Jan. 25, 1876; and to Hon.
+     N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts, for his appeal in behalf of the
+     centennial woman suffrage memorial in the United States House of
+     Representatives, March 31, 1876.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the repeated attempts to license the social evil
+     are a practical confession of the weakness, profligacy and
+     general unfitness of men to legislate for women, and should be
+     regarded with alarm as a proof that their firesides and liberties
+     are in constant peril while men alone make and execute the laws
+     of this country.
+
+     WHEREAS, There are 7,000 more women than men in the District of
+     Columbia, and no form of government for said District has allowed
+     women any voice in making the laws under which they live;
+     therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That in this centennial year the congress of the
+     United States having exclusive jurisdiction over that territory
+     should establish a truly republican form of government by
+     granting equal suffrage to the men and women of the District of
+     Columbia.
+
+Immediately at the close of the May convention Mrs. Gage again went
+to Philadelphia to complete the arrangements in regard to the
+centennial headquarters. Large and convenient rooms were soon
+found upon Arch street, terms agreed upon and a lease drawn, when
+it transpired that a husband's consent and signature must be
+obtained, although the property was owned by a woman, as by the
+laws of Pennsylvania a married woman's property is under her
+husband's control. Although arrangements for this room had been
+made with the real owner, the terms being perfectly satisfactory to
+her, the husband refused his ratification, tearing up the lease,
+with abuse of the women who claimed control of their own property,
+and a general defiance of all women who dared work for the
+enfranchisement of their sex. Thus again were women refused rooms
+in Philadelphia in which to enter their protest against the tyranny
+of this republic, and for the same reason--they were slaves. Had
+the patriots of the revolutionary period asked rooms of King
+George, in which to foster their treason to his government, the
+refusal could have been no more positive than in these cases.
+
+The quarters finally obtained were very desirable; fine large
+parlors on the first floor, on Chestnut street, at the fashionable
+west end, directly opposite the Young Men's Christian Association.
+The other members of the committee being married ladies, Miss
+Anthony, as a _feme sole_, was alone held capable of making a
+contract, and was therefore obliged to assume the pecuniary
+responsibility of the rooms. Thus it is ever the married women who
+are more especially classed with lunatics, idiots and criminals,
+and held incapable of managing their own business. It has always
+been part of the code of slavery, that the slave had no right to
+property; all his earnings and gifts belonging by law, to the
+master. Married women come under this same civil code. The
+following letter was extensively circulated and published in all
+the leading journals:
+
+                         NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARLORS,            }
+                            1,431 Chestnut Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. }
+
+     The National Woman Suffrage Association has established its
+     centennial headquarters in Philadelphia, at 1,431 Chestnut
+     street. The parlors, in charge of the officers of the
+     association, are devoted to the special work of the year,
+     pertaining to the centennial celebration and the political party
+     conventions; also to calls, receptions, conversazioni, etc. On
+     the table a centennial autograph book receives the names of
+     visitors. Friends at a distance, both men and women, who cannot
+     call, are invited to send their names, with date and residence,
+     accompanied by a short expressive sentiment and a contribution
+     toward expenses. In the rooms are books, papers, reports and
+     decisions, speeches, tracts, and photographs of distinguished
+     women; also mottoes and pictures expressive of woman's
+     condition. In addition to the parlor gatherings, meetings and
+     conventions will be held during the season in various halls and
+     churches throughout the city.
+
+     On July Fourth, while the men of this nation and the world are
+     rejoicing that "All men are free and equal" in the United States,
+     a declaration of rights for women will be issued from these
+     headquarters, and a protest against calling this centennial a
+     celebration of the independence of the people, while one-half are
+     still political slaves.
+
+     Let the women of the whole land, on that day, in meetings, in
+     parlors, in kitchens, wherever they may be, unite with us in this
+     declaration and protest. And, immediately thereafter, send full
+     reports, in manuscript or print, of their resolutions, speeches
+     and action, for record in our centennial book, that the world may
+     see that the women of 1876 know and feel their political
+     degradation no less than did the men of 1776.
+
+     The first woman's rights convention the world ever knew, called
+     by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, met at Seneca Falls,
+     N. Y., July 19, 20, 1848. In commemoration of the twenty-eighth
+     anniversary of that event, the National Woman Suffrage
+     Association will hold in ---- hall, Philadelphia, July 19, 20, of
+     the present year, a grand mass convention, in which eminent
+     reformers from the new and old world will take part. Friends are
+     especially invited to be present on this historic occasion.
+
+                  MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Corresponding Secretary_.
+
+From these headquarters numberless documents were issued during the
+month of June. As the presidential nominating conventions were soon
+to meet, letters were addressed to both the Republican and
+Democratic parties, urging them to recognize the political rights
+of women in their platforms. Thousands of copies of these letters
+were scattered throughout the nation:
+
+     _To the President and Members of the National Republican
+     Convention, Cincinnati, O., June 14, 1876._
+
+     GENTLEMEN: The National Woman Suffrage Association asks you to
+     place in your platform the following plank:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the right to the use of the ballot inheres
+          in every citizen of the United States; and we pledge
+          ourselves to secure the exercise of this right to all
+          citizens, irrespective of sex.
+
+     In asking the insertion of this plank, we propose no change of
+     fundamental principles. Our question is as old as the nation. Our
+     government was framed on the political basis of the consent of
+     the governed. And from July 4, 1776, until the present year,
+     1876, the nation has constantly advanced toward a fuller practice
+     of our fundamental theory, that the governed are the source of
+     all power. Your nominating convention, occurring in this
+     centennial year of the republic, presents a good opportunity for
+     the complete recognition of these first principles. Our
+     government has not yet answered the end for which it was framed,
+     while one-half the people of the United States are deprived of
+     the right of self-government. Before the Revolution, Great
+     Britain claimed the right to legislate for the colonies in all
+     cases whatsoever; the men of this nation now as unjustly claim
+     the right to legislate for women in all cases whatsoever.
+
+     The call for your nominating convention invites the cooeperation
+     of "all voters who desire to inaugurate and enforce the rights of
+     every citizen, including the full and free exercise of the right
+     of suffrage." Women are citizens; declared to be by the highest
+     legislative and judicial authorities; but they are citizens
+     deprived of "the full and free exercise of the right of
+     suffrage." Your platform of 1872 declared "the Republican party
+     mindful of its obligations to the loyal women of the nation for
+     their noble devotion to the cause of freedom." Devotion to
+     freedom is no new thing for the women of this nation. From the
+     earliest history of our country, woman has shown herself as
+     patriotic as man in every great emergency in the nation's life.
+     From the Revolution to the present hour, woman has stood by the
+     side of father, husband, son and brother in defense of liberty.
+     The heroic and self-sacrificing deeds of the women of this
+     republic, both in peace and war, must not be forgotten. Together
+     men and women have made this country what it is. And to-day, in
+     this one-hundredth year of our existence, the women--as members
+     of the nation--as citizens of the United States--ask national
+     recognition of their right of suffrage.
+
+     The Declaration of Independence struck a blow at every existent
+     form of government, by declaring the individual the source of all
+     power. Upon this one newly proclaimed truth our nation arose. But
+     if States may deny suffrage to any class of citizens, or confer
+     it at will upon any class--as according to the Minor-Happersett
+     decision of the Supreme Court--a decision rendered under the
+     auspices of the Republican party against suffrage as a
+     constituent element of United States citizenship--we then possess
+     no true national life. If States can deny suffrage to citizens of
+     the United States, then States possess more power than the United
+     States, and are more truly national in the character of their
+     governments. National supremacy does not chiefly mean power "to
+     levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish
+     commerce"; it means national protection and security in the
+     exercise of the right of self-government, which comes alone, by
+     and through the use of the ballot.
+
+     Even granting the premise of the Supreme-Court decision that "the
+     Constitution of the United States does not confer suffrage on any
+     one"; our national life does not date from that instrument. The
+     constitution is not the original declaration of rights. It was
+     not framed until eleven years after our existence as a nation,
+     nor fully ratified until nearly fourteen years after the
+     commencement of our national life. This centennial celebration of
+     our nation's birth does not date from the constitution, but from
+     the Declaration of Independence. The declared purpose of the
+     civil war was the settlement of the question of supremacy between
+     the States and the United States. The documents sent out by the
+     Republican party in this present campaign, warn the people that
+     the Democrats intend another battle for State sovereignty, to be
+     fought this year at the ballot-box.
+
+     The National Woman Suffrage Association calls your attention to
+     the fact that the Republican party has itself reopened this
+     battle, and now holds the anomalous position of having settled
+     the question of State sovereignty in the case of black men, and
+     again opened it, through the Minor-Happersett decision, not only
+     in the case of women citizens, but also in the case of men
+     citizens, for all other causes save those specified in the
+     fifteenth amendment. Your party has yet one opportunity to
+     retrieve its position. The political power of this country has
+     always shown itself superior to the judicial power--the latter
+     ever shaping and basing its decisions on the policy of the
+     dominant party. A pledge, therefore, by your convention to secure
+     national protection in the enjoyment of perfect equality of
+     rights, civil and political, to all citizens, will so define the
+     policy of the Republican party as to open the way to a full and
+     final adjustment of this question on the basis of United States
+     supremacy.
+
+     Aside from the higher motive of justice, we suggest your adoption
+     of this principle of equal rights to women, as a means of
+     securing your own future existence. The party of reform in this
+     country is the party that lives. The party that ceases to
+     represent the vital principles of truth and justice dies. If you
+     would save the life of the Republican party you should now take
+     broad national ground on this question of suffrage.
+
+     By this act you will do most to promote the general welfare,
+     secure the blessings of liberty to yourselves and your posterity,
+     and establish on this continent a genuine republic that shall
+     know no class, caste, race, or sex--where all the people are
+     citizens, and all citizens are equal before the law.
+
+                  MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Corresponding Secretary_.
+     _Centennial Headquarters_,
+        1,431 Chestnut street, _Philadelphia_, June 10, 1876.
+
+
+     _To the President and Members of the National Democratic
+     Convention assembled at St. Louis, June 27, 1876_:
+
+     GENTLEMEN: In reading the call for your convention, the National
+     Woman Suffrage Association was gratified to find that your
+     invitation was not limited to voters, but cordially extended to
+     all citizens of the United States. We accordingly send delegates
+     from our association, asking for them a voice in your
+     proceedings, and also a plank in your platform declaring the
+     political rights of women.
+
+     Women are the only class of citizens still wholly unrepresented
+     in the government, and yet we possess every qualification
+     requisite for voters in the several States. Women possess
+     property and education; we take out naturalization papers and
+     passports; we preempt lands, pay taxes, and suffer for our own
+     violation of the laws. We are neither idiots, lunatics, nor
+     criminals; and, according to your State constitutions, lack but
+     one qualification for voters, namely, sex, which is an
+     insurmountable qualification, and therefore equivalent to a bill
+     of attainder against one-half the people; a power no State nor
+     congress can legally exercise, being forbidden in article 1,
+     sections 9, 10, of our constitution. Our rulers may have the
+     right to regulate the suffrage, but they can not abolish it
+     altogether for any class of citizens, as has been done in the
+     case of the women of this republic, without a direct violation of
+     the fundamental law of the land.
+
+     As you hold the constitution of the fathers to be a sacred legacy
+     to us and our children forever, we ask you to so interpret that
+     _Magna Charta_ of human rights as to secure justice and equality
+     to all United States citizens irrespective of sex. We desire to
+     call your attention to the violation of the essential principle
+     of self-government in the disfranchisement of the women of the
+     several States, and we appeal to you, not only because as a
+     minority you are in a position to consider principles, but
+     because you were the party first to extend suffrage by removing
+     the property qualification from all white men, and thus making
+     the political status of the richest and poorest citizen the same.
+     That act of justice to the laboring masses insured your power,
+     with but few interruptions, until the war.
+
+     When the District of Columbia suffrage bill was under discussion
+     in 1866, it was a Democratic senator (Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania)
+     who proposed an amendment to strike out the word "male," and thus
+     extend the right of suffrage to the women, as well as the black
+     men of the District. That amendment gave us a splendid discussion
+     on woman suffrage that lasted three days in the Senate of the
+     United States. It was a Democratic legislature that secured the
+     right of suffrage to the women of Wyoming, and we now ask you in
+     national convention to pledge the Democratic party to extend this
+     act of justice to the women throughout the nation, and thus call
+     to your side a new political force that will restore and
+     perpetuate your power for years to come.
+
+     The Republican party gave us a plank in their platform in 1872,
+     pledging themselves to a "respectful consideration" of our
+     demands. But by their constitutional interpretations, legislative
+     enactments, and judicial decisions, so far from redeeming their
+     pledge, they have buried our petitions and appeals under laws in
+     direct opposition to their high-sounding promises and
+     professions. And now (1876) they give us another plank in their
+     platform, approving the "substantial advance made toward the
+     establishment of equal rights for women"; cunningly reminding us
+     that the privileges and immunities we now enjoy are all due to
+     Republican legislation--although, under a Republican dynasty,
+     inspectors of election have been arrested and imprisoned for
+     taking the votes of women; temperance women arrested and
+     imprisoned for praying in the streets; houses, lands, bonds, and
+     stock of women seized and sold for their refusal to pay unjust
+     taxation--and, more than all, we have this singular spectacle: a
+     Republican woman, who had spoken for the Republican party
+     throughout the last presidential campaign, arrested by Republican
+     officers for voting the Republican ticket, denied the right of
+     trial by jury by a Republican judge, convicted and sentenced to a
+     fine of one hundred dollars and costs of prosecution; and all
+     this for asserting at the polls the most sacred of all the rights
+     of American citizenship--the right of suffrage--specifically
+     secured by recent Republican amendments to the federal
+     constitution.
+
+     Again, the Supreme Court of the United States, by its recent
+     decision in the Minor-Happersett case, has stultified its own
+     interpretation of constitutional law. A negro, by virtue of his
+     United States citizenship, is declared under recent amendments a
+     voter in every State in the Union; but when a woman, by virtue of
+     her United States citizenship, applies to the Supreme Court for
+     protection in the exercise of this same right, she is remanded to
+     the State by the unanimous decision of the nine judges on the
+     bench, that "the Constitution of the United States does not
+     confer the right of suffrage upon any one."
+
+     All concessions of privileges or redress of grievances are but
+     mockery for any class that has no voice in the laws and
+     lawmakers. Hence we demand the ballot--that scepter of power--in
+     our own hands, as the only sure protection for our rights of
+     person and property under all conditions. If the few may grant or
+     withhold rights at their own pleasure, the many cannot be said to
+     enjoy the blessings of self-government. Jefferson said, "The God
+     who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The hand of
+     force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." While the first and
+     highest motive we would urge on you is the recognition in all
+     your action of the great principles of justice and equality that
+     underlie our form of government, it is not unworthy to remind you
+     that the party that takes this onward step will reap its just
+     reward.
+
+     Had you heeded our appeals made to you in Tammany Hall, New York,
+     in 1868, and again in Baltimore, in 1872, your party might now
+     have been in power, as you would have had, what neither party can
+     boast to-day, a live issue on which to rouse the enthusiasm of
+     the people. Reform is the watchword of the hour; but how can we
+     hope for honor and honesty in either party in minor matters, so
+     long as both consent to rob one-half the people--their own
+     mothers, sisters, wives and daughters--of their most sacred
+     rights? As a party you defended the right of self-government in
+     Louisiana ably and eloquently during the last session of
+     congress. Are the rights of women in all the Southern States,
+     whose slaves are now their rulers, less sacred than those of the
+     men of Louisiana? "The whole art of government," says Jefferson,
+     "consists in being honest."
+
+     It needs but little observation to see that the tide of progress,
+     in all countries, is setting toward the emancipation and
+     enfranchisement of women; and this step in civilization is to be
+     taken in our day and generation. Whether the Democratic party
+     will take the initiative in this reform, and reap the glory of
+     crowning fifteen million women with the rights of American
+     citizenship, and thereby vindicate our theory of self-government,
+     is the momentous question we ask you to decide in this eventful
+     hour, as we round out the first century of our national life.
+
+                                  ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, _President_.
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Corresponding Secretary_.
+     _Centennial Headquarters_,
+         1,431 Chestnut street, _Philadelphia_, June 20, 1876.
+
+In addition to these letters delegates were sent to both the
+Republican and Democratic conventions. Sara Andrews Spencer and
+Elizabeth Boynton Harbert were present at the Republican convention
+at Cincinnati; both addressed the committee on platform and
+resolutions, and Mrs. Spencer, on motion of Hon. George F. Hoar,
+was permitted to address the convention. Mrs. Virginia L. Minor and
+Miss Phoebe W. Couzins were the delegates to the Democratic
+convention at St. Louis, and the latter addressed that vast
+assembly.[9]
+
+For a long time there had been a growing demand for a woman's
+declaration to be issued on July Fourth, 1876. "Let us then protest
+against the falsehood of the nation"; "If the old Declaration does
+not include women, let us have one that will"; "Let our rulers be
+arraigned"; "A declaration of independence for women must be issued
+on the Fourth of July, 1876," were demands that came from all parts
+of the country. The officers of the association had long had such
+action in view, having, at the Washington convention, early in
+1875, announced their intention of working in Philadelphia during
+the centennial season, and were strengthened in their determination
+by the hearty indorsement they received. At the May convention in
+New York, Matilda Joslyn Gage, in her opening speech, announced
+that a declaration of independence for women would be issued on the
+Fourth of July, 1876. In response to this general feeling, the
+officers of the National Association prepared a declaration of
+rights of the women of the United States, and articles of
+impeachment against the government.
+
+Application was made by the secretary, Miss Anthony, to General
+Hawley, president of the centennial commission, for seats for fifty
+officers of the association. General Hawley replied that "only
+officials were invited"--that even his own wife had no place--that
+merely representatives and officers of the government had seats
+assigned them. "Then" said she, "as women have no share in the
+government, they are to have no seats on the platform," to which
+General Hawley assented; adding, however, that Mrs. Gillespie, of
+the woman's centennial commission, had fifty seats placed at her
+disposal, thus showing it to be in his power to grant places to
+women whenever he so chose to do. Miss Anthony said: "I ask seats
+for the officers of the National Woman Suffrage Association; we
+represent one-half the people, and why should we be denied all part
+in this centennial celebration?" Miss Anthony, however, secured a
+reporter's ticket by virtue of representing her brother's paper,
+_The Leavenworth Times_, and, ultimately, cards of invitation were
+sent to four others,[10] representing the 20,000,000 disfranchised
+citizens of the nation.
+
+Mrs. Stanton, as president of the association, wrote General
+Hawley, asking the opportunity to present the woman's protest and
+bill of rights at the close of the reading of the Declaration of
+Independence. Just its simple presentation and nothing more. She
+wrote:
+
+     We do not ask to read our declaration, only to present it to the
+     president of the United States, that it may become an historical
+     part of the proceedings.
+
+Mrs. Spencer, bearer of this letter, in presenting it to General
+Hawley, said:
+
+     The women of the United States make a slight request on the
+     occasion of the centennial celebration of the birth of the
+     nation; we only ask that we may silently present our declaration
+     of rights.
+
+     General HAWLEY replied: It seems a very slight request, but our
+     programme is published, our speakers engaged, our arrangements
+     for the day decided upon, and we can not make even so slight a
+     change as that you ask.
+
+     Mrs. SPENCER replied: We are aware that your programme is
+     published, your speakers engaged, your entire arrangements
+     decided upon, without consulting with the women of the United
+     States; for that very reason we desire to enter our protest. We
+     are aware that this government has been conducted for one hundred
+     years without consulting the women of the United States; for this
+     reason we desire to enter our protest.
+
+     General HAWLEY replied: Undoubtedly we have not lived up to our
+     own original Declaration of Independence in many respects. I
+     express no opinion upon your question. It is a proper subject of
+     discussion at the Cincinnati convention, at the St. Louis
+     convention,, in the Senate of the United States, in the State
+     legislatures, in the courts, wherever you can obtain a hearing.
+     But to-morrow we propose to celebrate what we have done the last
+     hundred years; not what we have failed to do. We have much to do
+     in the future. I understand the full significance of your very
+     slight request. If granted, it would be the event of the day--the
+     topic of discussion to the exclusion of all others. I am sorry to
+     refuse so slight a demand; we cannot grant it.
+
+General Hawley also addressed a letter to Mrs. Stanton:
+
+     DEAR MADAM: I regret to say it is impossible for us to make any
+     change in our programme, or make any addition to it at this late
+     hour.
+
+                    Yours very respectfully,
+                          JOS. R. HAWLEY, _President U. S. C. C._
+
+As General Grant was not to attend the celebration, the acting
+vice-president, Thomas W. Ferry, representing the government, was
+to officiate in his place, and he, too, was addressed by note, and
+courteously requested to make time for the reception of this
+declaration. As Mr. Ferry was a well-known sympathizer with the
+demands of woman for political rights, it was presumable that he
+would render his aid. Yet he was forgetful that in his position
+that day he represented, not the exposition, but the government of
+a hundred years, and he too refused; thus this simple request of
+woman for a half moment's recognition on the nation's centennial
+birthday was denied by all in authority.[11] While the women of
+the nation were thus absolutely forbidden the right of public
+protest, lavish preparations were made for the reception and
+entertainment of foreign potentates and the myrmidons of monarchial
+institutions. Dom Pedro, emperor of Brazil, a representative of
+that form of government against which the United States is a
+perpetual defiance and protest, was welcomed with fulsome
+adulation, and given a seat of honor near the officers of the day;
+Prince Oscar of Sweden, a stripling of sixteen, on whose shoulder
+rests the promise of a future kingship, was seated near. Count
+Rochambeau of France, the Japanese commissioners, high officials
+from Russia and Prussia, from Austria, Spain, England, Turkey,
+representing the barbarism and semi-civilization of the day, found
+no difficulty in securing recognition and places of honor upon that
+platform, where representative womanhood was denied.
+
+Though refused by their own countrymen a place and part in the
+centennial celebration, the women who had taken this presentation
+in hand were not to be conquered. They had respectfully asked for
+recognition; now that it had been denied, they determined to seize
+upon the moment when the reading of the Declaration of Independence
+closed, to proclaim to the world the tyranny and injustice of the
+nation toward one-half its people. Five officers of the National
+Woman Suffrage Association, with that heroic spirit which has ever
+animated lovers of liberty in resistance to tyranny, determined,
+whatever the result, to present the woman's declaration of rights
+at the chosen hour. They would not, they dared not sacrifice the
+golden opportunity to which they had so long looked forward; their
+work was not for themselves alone, nor for the present generation,
+but for all women of all time. The hopes of posterity were in their
+hands and they determined to place on record for the daughters of
+1976, the fact that their mothers of 1876 had asserted their
+equality of rights, and impeached the government of that day for
+its injustice toward woman. Thus, in taking a grander step toward
+freedom than ever before, they would leave one bright remembrance
+for the women of the next centennial.
+
+That historic Fourth of July dawned at last, one of the most
+oppressive days of that terribly heated season. Susan B. Anthony,
+Matilda Joslyn Gage, Sara Andrews Spencer, Lillie Devereux Blake
+and Phoebe W. Couzins made their way through the crowds under the
+broiling sun to Independence Square, carrying the Woman's
+Declaration of Rights. This declaration had been handsomely
+engrossed by one of their number, and signed by the oldest and most
+prominent advocates of woman's enfranchisement. Their tickets of
+admission proved open sesame through the military and all other
+barriers, and a few moments before the opening of the ceremonies,
+these women found themselves within the precincts from which most
+of their sex were excluded.
+
+The declaration of 1776 was read by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia,
+about whose family clusters so much of historic fame. The close of
+his reading was deemed the appropriate moment for the presentation
+of the woman's declaration. Not quite sure how their approach might
+be met--not quite certain if at this final moment they would be
+permitted to reach the presiding officer--those ladies arose and
+made their way down the aisle. The bustle of preparation for the
+Brazilian hymn covered their advance. The foreign guests, the
+military and civil officers who filled the space directly in front
+of the speaker's stand, courteously made way, while Miss Anthony in
+fitting words presented the declaration. Mr. Ferry's face paled, as
+bowing low, with no word, he received the declaration, which thus
+became part of the day's proceedings; the ladies turned, scattering
+printed copies, as they deliberately walked down the platform. On
+every side eager hands were stretched; men stood on seats and asked
+for them, while General Hawley, thus defied and beaten in his
+audacious denial to women the right to present their declaration,
+shouted, "Order, order!"
+
+Passing out, these ladies made their way to a platform erected for
+the musicians in front of Independence Hall. Here on this old
+historic ground, under the shadow of Washington's statue, back of
+them the old bell that proclaimed "liberty to all the land, and all
+the inhabitants thereof," they took their places, and to a
+listening, applauding crowd, Miss Anthony read[12] the Declaration
+of Rights for Women by the National Woman Suffrage Association,
+July 4, 1876:
+
+     While the nation is buoyant with patriotism, and all hearts are
+     attuned to praise, it is with sorrow we come to strike the one
+     discordant note, on this one-hundredth anniversary of our
+     country's birth. When subjects of kings, emperors, and czars,
+     from the old world join in our national jubilee, shall the women
+     of the republic refuse to lay their hands with benedictions on
+     the nation's head? Surveying America's exposition, surpassing in
+     magnificence those of London, Paris, and Vienna, shall we not
+     rejoice at the success of the youngest rival among the nations of
+     the earth? May not our hearts, in unison with all, swell with
+     pride at our great achievements as a people; our free speech,
+     free press, free schools, free church, and the rapid progress we
+     have made in material wealth, trade, commerce and the inventive
+     arts? And we do rejoice in the success, thus far, of our
+     experiment of self-government. Our faith is firm and unwavering
+     in the broad principles of human rights proclaimed in 1776, not
+     only as abstract truths, but as the corner stones of a republic.
+     Yet we cannot forget, even in this glad hour, that while all men
+     of every race, and clime, and condition, have been invested with
+     the full rights of citizenship under our hospitable flag, all
+     women still suffer the degradation of disfranchisement.
+
+     The history of our country the past hundred years has been a
+     series of assumptions and usurpations of power over woman, in
+     direct opposition to the principles of just government,
+     acknowledged by the United States as its foundation, which are:
+
+     _First_--The natural rights of each individual.
+
+     _Second_--The equality of these rights.
+
+     _Third_--That rights not delegated are retained by the
+     individual.
+
+     _Fourth_--That no person can exercise the rights of others
+     without delegated authority.
+
+     _Fifth_--That the non-use of rights does not destroy them.
+
+     And for the violation of these fundamental principles of our
+     government, we arraign our rulers on this Fourth day of July,
+     1876,--and these are our articles of impeachment:
+
+          _Bills of attainder_ have been passed by the introduction of
+          the word "male" into all the State constitutions, denying to
+          women the right of suffrage, and thereby making sex a
+          crime--an exercise of power clearly forbidden in article I,
+          sections 9, 10, of the United States constitution.
+
+          _The writ of habeas corpus_, the only protection against
+          _lettres de cachet_ and all forms of unjust imprisonment,
+          which the constitution declares "shall not be suspended,
+          except when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public
+          safety demands it," is held inoperative in every State of
+          the Union, in case of a married woman against her
+          husband--the marital rights of the husband being in all
+          cases primary, and the rights of the wife secondary.
+
+          _The right of trial by a jury of one's peers_ was so
+          jealously guarded that States refused to ratify the original
+          constitution until it was guaranteed by the sixth amendment.
+          And yet the women of this nation have never been allowed a
+          jury of their peers--being tried in all cases by men, native
+          and foreign, educated and ignorant, virtuous and vicious.
+          Young girls have been arraigned in our courts for the crime
+          of infanticide; tried, convicted, hanged--victims,
+          perchance, of judge, jurors, advocates--while no woman's
+          voice could be heard in their defense. And not only are
+          women denied a jury of their peers, but in some cases, jury
+          trial altogether. During the war, a woman was tried and
+          hanged by military law, in defiance of the fifth amendment,
+          which specifically declares: "No person shall be held to
+          answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on
+          a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases
+          ... of persons in actual service in time of war." During the
+          last presidential campaign, a woman, arrested for voting,
+          was denied the protection of a jury, tried, convicted, and
+          sentenced to a fine and costs of prosecution, by the
+          absolute power of a judge of the Supreme Court of the United
+          States.
+
+          _Taxation without representation_, the immediate cause of
+          the rebellion of the colonies against Great Britain, is one
+          of the grievous wrongs the women of this country have
+          suffered during the century. Deploring war, with all the
+          demoralization that follows in its train, we have been taxed
+          to support standing armies, with their waste of life and
+          wealth. Believing in temperance, we have been taxed to
+          support the vice, crime and pauperism of the liquor traffic.
+          While we suffer its wrongs and abuses infinitely more than
+          man, we have no power to protect our sons against this giant
+          evil. During the temperance crusade, mothers were arrested,
+          fined, imprisoned, for even praying and singing in the
+          streets, while men blockade the sidewalks with impunity,
+          even on Sunday, with their military parades and political
+          processions. Believing in honesty, we are taxed to support a
+          dangerous army of civilians, buying and selling the offices
+          of government and sacrificing the best interests of the
+          people. And, moreover, we are taxed to support the very
+          legislators and judges who make laws, and render decisions
+          adverse to woman. And for refusing to pay such unjust
+          taxation, the houses, lands, bonds, and stock of women have
+          been seized and sold within the present year, thus proving
+          Lord Coke's assertion, that "The very act of taxing a man's
+          property without his consent is, in effect, disfranchising
+          him of every civil right."
+
+          _Unequal codes for men and women._ Held by law a perpetual
+          minor, deemed incapable of self-protection, even in the
+          industries of the world, woman is denied equality of rights.
+          The fact of sex, not the quantity or quality of work, in
+          most cases, decides the pay and position; and because of
+          this injustice thousands of fatherless girls are compelled
+          to choose between a life of shame and starvation. Laws
+          catering to man's vices have created two codes of morals in
+          which penalties are graded according to the political status
+          of the offender. Under such laws, women are fined and
+          imprisoned if found alone in the streets, or in public
+          places of resort, at certain hours. Under the pretense of
+          regulating public morals, police officers seizing the
+          occupants of disreputable houses, march the women in
+          platoons to prison, while the men, partners in their guilt,
+          go free. While making a show of virtue in forbidding the
+          importation of Chinese women on the Pacific coast for
+          immoral purposes, our rulers, in many States, and even under
+          the shadow of the national capitol, are now proposing to
+          legalize the sale of American womanhood for the same vile
+          purposes.
+
+          _Special legislation for woman_ has placed us in a most
+          anomalous position. Women invested with the rights of
+          citizens in one section--voters, jurors,
+          office-holders--crossing an imaginary line, are subjects in
+          the next. In some States, a married woman may hold property
+          and transact business in her own name; in others, her
+          earnings belong to her husband. In some States, a woman may
+          testify against her husband, sue and be sued in the courts;
+          in others, she has no redress in case of damage to person,
+          property, or character. In case of divorce on account of
+          adultery in the husband, the innocent wife is held to
+          possess no right to children or property, unless by special
+          decree of the court. But in no State of the Union has the
+          wife the right to her own person, or to any part of the
+          joint earnings of the co-partnership during the life of her
+          husband. In some States women may enter the law schools and
+          practice in the courts; in others they are forbidden. In
+          some universities girls enjoy equal educational advantages
+          with boys, while many of the proudest institutions in the
+          land deny them admittance, though the sons of China, Japan
+          and Africa are welcomed there. But the privileges already
+          granted in the several States are by no means secure. The
+          right of suffrage once exercised by women in certain States
+          and territories has been denied by subsequent legislation. A
+          bill is now pending in congress to disfranchise the women of
+          Utah, thus interfering to deprive United States citizens of
+          the same rights which the Supreme Court has declared the
+          national government powerless to protect anywhere. Laws
+          passed after years of untiring effort, guaranteeing married
+          women certain rights of property, and mothers the custody of
+          their children, have been repealed in States where we
+          supposed all was safe. Thus have our most sacred rights been
+          made the football of legislative caprice, proving that a
+          power which grants as a privilege what by nature is a right,
+          may withhold the same as a penalty when deeming it necessary
+          for its own perpetuation.
+
+          _Representation of woman_ has had no place in the nation's
+          thought. Since the incorporation of the thirteen original
+          States, twenty-four have been admitted to the Union, not one
+          of which has recognized woman's right of self-government. On
+          this birthday of our national liberties, July Fourth, 1876,
+          Colorado, like all her elder sisters, comes into the Union
+          with the invidious word "male" in her constitution.
+
+          _Universal manhood suffrage_, by establishing an aristocracy
+          of sex, imposes upon the women of this nation a more
+          absolute and cruel depotism than monarchy; in that, woman
+          finds a political master in her father, husband, brother,
+          son. The aristocracies of the old world are based upon
+          birth, wealth, refinement, education, nobility, brave deeds
+          of chivalry; in this nation, on sex alone; exalting brute
+          force above moral power, vice above virtue, ignorance above
+          education, and the son above the mother who bore him.
+
+          _The judiciary above the nation_ has proved itself but the
+          echo of the party in power, by upholding and enforcing laws
+          that are opposed to the spirit and letter of the
+          constitution. When the slave power was dominant, the Supreme
+          Court decided that a black man was not a citizen, because he
+          had not the right to vote; and when the constitution was so
+          amended as to make all persons citizens, the same high
+          tribunal decided that a woman, though a citizen, had not the
+          right to vote. Such vacillating interpretations of
+          constitutional law unsettle our faith in judicial authority,
+          and undermine the liberties of the whole people.
+
+     These articles of impeachment against our rulers we now submit to
+     the impartial judgment of the people. To all these wrongs and
+     oppressions woman has not submitted in silence and resignation.
+     From the beginning of the century, when Abigail Adams, the wife
+     of one president and mother of another, said, "We will not hold
+     ourselves bound to obey laws in which we have no voice or
+     representation," until now, woman's discontent has been steadily
+     increasing, culminating nearly thirty years ago in a simultaneous
+     movement among the women of the nation, demanding the right of
+     suffrage. In making our just demands, a higher motive than the
+     pride of sex inspires us; we feel that national safety and
+     stability depend on the complete recognition of the broad
+     principles of our government. Woman's degraded, helpless position
+     is the weak point in our institutions to-day; a disturbing force
+     everywhere, severing family ties, filling our asylums with the
+     deaf, the dumb, the blind; our prisons with criminals, our cities
+     with drunkenness and prostitution; our homes with disease and
+     death. It was the boast of the founders of the republic, that the
+     rights for which they contended were the rights of human nature.
+     If these rights are ignored in the case of one-half the people,
+     the nation is surely preparing for its downfall. Governments try
+     themselves. The recognition of a governing and a governed class
+     is incompatible with the first principles of freedom. Woman has
+     not been a heedless spectator of the events of this century, nor
+     a dull listener to the grand arguments for the equal rights of
+     humanity. From the earliest history of our country woman has
+     shown equal devotion with man to the cause of freedom, and has
+     stood firmly by his side in its defense. Together, they have made
+     this country what it is. Woman's wealth, thought and labor have
+     cemented the stones of every monument man has reared to liberty.
+
+     And now, at the close of a hundred years, as the hour-hand of the
+     great clock that marks the centuries points to 1876, we declare
+     our faith in the principles of self-government; our full equality
+     with man in natural rights; that woman was made first for her own
+     happiness, with the absolute right to herself--to all the
+     opportunities and advantages life affords for her complete
+     development; and we deny that dogma of the centuries,
+     incorporated in the codes of all nations--that woman was made for
+     man--her best interests, in all cases, to be sacrificed to his
+     will. We ask of our rulers, at this hour, no special favors, no
+     special privileges, no special legislation. We ask justice, we
+     ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that
+     belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and
+     our daughters forever.[13]
+
+The declaration was warmly applauded at many points, and after
+scattering another large number of printed copies, the delegation
+hastened to the convention of the National Association. A meeting
+had been appointed for twelve, in the old historic First Unitarian
+church, where Rev. Wm. H. Furness preached for fifty years, but
+whose pulpit was then filled by Joseph May, a son of Rev. Samuel J.
+May. To this place the ladies made their way to find the church
+crowded with an expectant audience, which greeted them with thanks
+for what they had just done; the first act of this historic day
+taking place on the old centennial platform in Independence Square,
+the last in a church so long devoted to equality and justice. The
+venerable Lucretia Mott, then in her eighty-fourth year, presided.
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton read the Declaration of Rights. Its
+reception by the listening audience proclaimed its need and its
+justice. The reading was followed by speeches upon the various
+points of the declaration.
+
+Belva A. Lockwood took up the judiciary, showing the way that body
+lends itself to party politics. Matilda Joslyn Gage spoke upon the
+writ of _habeas corpus_, showing what a mockery to married women
+was that constitutional guarantee. Lucretia Mott reviewed the
+progress of the reform from the first convention. Sara Andrews
+Spencer illustrated the evils arising from two codes of morality.
+Mrs. Devereux Blake spoke upon trial by jury; Susan B. Anthony upon
+taxation without representation, illustrating her remarks by
+incidents of unjust taxation of women during the present year.
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke upon the aristocracy of sex, and the
+evils arising from manhood suffrage. Judge Esther Morris, of
+Wyoming, said a few words in regard to suffrage in that territory.
+Mrs. Margaret Parker, president of the woman suffrage club of
+Dundee, Scotland, and of the newly-formed Christian Woman's
+International Temperance Union, said she had seen nothing like this
+in Great Britain--it was worth the journey across the Atlantic. Mr.
+J. H. Raper, of Manchester, England, characterized it as the
+historic meeting of the day, and said the patriot of a hundred
+years hence would seek for every incident connected with it, and
+the next centennial would be adorned by the portraits of the women
+who sat upon that platform.
+
+The Hutchinsons, themselves of historic fame, were present. They
+were in their happiest vein, interspersing the speeches with
+appropriate and felicitous songs. Lucretia Mott did not confine
+herself to a single speech, but, in Quaker style, whenever the
+spirit moved made many happy points. When she first arose to speak,
+a call came from the audience for her to ascend the pulpit in order
+that she might be seen. As she complied with this request,
+ascending the long winding staircase into the old-fashioned octagon
+pulpit, she said, "I am somewhat like Zaccheus of old who climbed
+the sycamore tree his Lord to see; I climb this pulpit, not because
+I am of lofty mind, but because I am short of stature that you may
+see me." As her sweet and placid countenance appeared above the
+pulpit, the Hutchinsons, by happy inspiration, burst into "Nearer,
+my God, to Thee." The effect was marvelous; the audience at once
+arose, and spontaneously joined in the hymn.
+
+Phoebe W. Couzins, with great pathos, referred to woman's work in
+the war, and the parade of the Grand Army of the Republic the
+preceding evening; she said:
+
+     In such an hour as this, with my soul stirred to its deepest
+     depths, I feel unequal to the task of uttering words befitting
+     the occasion, and to follow the dear saint who has just spoken;
+     how can I? I am but a beginner, and to-day I feel that to sit at
+     the feet of these dear women who have borne the heat and burden
+     of this contest, and to learn of them is the attitude I should
+     assume. It is not the time for argument or rhetoric. It is the
+     time for introspection and prayer. We have come from Independence
+     Square, where the nation is celebrating its centennial birthday
+     of a masculine freedom. You have just heard from Mrs. Stanton the
+     reading of Woman's Declaration of Rights; that document has
+     already been presented in engrossed form, tied with the symbolic
+     red, white and blue, to the presiding officer of the day, Senator
+     Thomas W. Ferry, on their platform in yonder square; and the John
+     Hampden of our cause, the immortal Susan B. Anthony, rendered it
+     historic, by reading it from the steps of Independence Hall, to
+     an immense audience there gathered, that could not gain access to
+     the square or platform. [Great applause.] I cannot express to you
+     in fitting language the thoughts and feelings which stirred me as
+     I sat on the platform, awaiting the presentation of that
+     document.
+
+     We were about to commit an overt act. Gen. Hawley, president of
+     the centennial commission and manager of the programme, had
+     peremptorily forbidden its presentation. Yet in the face of
+     this--in the face of the assembled nation and representatives
+     from the crowned heads of Europe, a handful of women actuated by
+     the same high principles as our fathers, stirred by the same
+     desire for freedom, moved by the same impulse for liberty, were
+     to again proclaim the right of self-government; were again to
+     impeach the spirit of King George manifested in our rulers, and
+     declare that taxation without representation is tyranny, that the
+     divine right of one-half of the people to rule the other half is
+     also despotism. As I followed the reading of Richard Henry Lee,
+     and marked the wild enthusiasm of its reception, and remembered
+     that at its close, a document, as noble, as divine, as grand, as
+     historic as that, was to be presented _in silence_; an act, as
+     heroic, as worthy, as sublime, was to be performed in the face of
+     the contemptuous amazement of the assembled world, I trembled
+     with suppressed emotion. When Susan Anthony arose, with a look of
+     intense pain, yet heroic determination in her face, I silently
+     committed her to the Great Father who seeth not in part, to
+     strengthen and comfort her heroic heart, and then she was lost to
+     view in the sudden uprising caused by the burst of applause
+     instituted by General Hawley in behalf of the Brazilian emperor.
+     And thus at the close of the reading of a document which
+     repudiated kings and declared the right of every person to life,
+     to liberty and the pursuit of individual happiness, the American
+     people, applauding a crowned monarch, received _in silence_ the
+     immortal document and protest of its discrowned queens!
+
+     Shall I recount the emotion that swayed me, as I thought of all
+     that woman had done to build up this country; to sustain its
+     unity, to perpetuate its principles; of its self-denying and
+     heroic Pilgrim and revolutionary mothers; of the work of woman in
+     the anti-slavery cause; the agony and death of her travail in its
+     second birth for freedom; sustaining the nation by prayers, by
+     self-sacrificing contributions, by patriotic endeavors, by
+     encouraging words; and, reviewing the programme, and all the
+     attendant pageants, remembered that in these grand centennial
+     celebrations, when the nation rounded out its first century, _not
+     a tribute_, not a recognition in any shape, form or manner was
+     paid to woman; that upon the platform, as honored guests, sat
+     those who had been false in the hour of our country's peril; that
+     upon this historic soil, stood the now freeman, once a slave,
+     whose liberty and life were given him at the hands of woman; that
+     the inhabitants of the far off isles of the sea, India, Asia,
+     Africa, Europe, were gladly welcomed as free citizens, while
+     woman, a suppliant beggar, pleaded of one man, invested with
+     autocratic power, for the simple boon of presenting a protest in
+     silence, against her degradation, and was _denied_!
+
+     I stood yesterday on the corner of Broad and Chestnut streets,
+     watching the march of the Grand Army of the Republic. As the torn
+     and tattered battle flags came by, all the terrors of that war
+     tragedy suddenly rushed over me, and I sat down and wept. Looking
+     again, I saw the car of wounded, soldiers; as in thought I was
+     suddenly transported to the banks of the Mississippi I felt the
+     air full of the horrors of the battle of Shiloh, and saw two
+     young girls waiting the landing of a steamer that had been
+     dispatched to succor the wounded on that terrible field. They
+     were watching for "mother"--who for the first time had left her
+     home charge, and hushing her own heart's pleadings, heard only
+     her country's call, and gone down to that field of carnage to
+     tenderly care for the soldier. As they boarded the steamer; what
+     a sight met their eyes! Maimed, bleeding, dying soldiers by the
+     hundreds, were on cots on deck, on boxes filled with amputated
+     limbs, and the dead were awaiting the last sad rites. Like
+     ministering angels walked two women, their mother and the now
+     sainted Margaret Breckenridge of Kentucky, amid these rows of
+     sufferers, with strong nerve and steady arm, comforting the
+     soldier boy, so far from friends and home; binding up the ghastly
+     wound, bathing the feverish brow, smoothing the dying pillow, and
+     with tender mother's prayer and tear, closing the eyes of the
+     dead. The first revelation of war; how it burned our youthful
+     brain! How it moved us to divine compassion, how it stirred us to
+     even give up our mother to the work for years, as we heard the
+     piteous pleading, "Don't leave us, mother"--"Oh, mother, we can
+     never forget." But alas they _did_ forget! This scene repeated
+     again, and again, during that long conflict, with hundreds of
+     women offering a like service in camp and floating hospital,
+     leaving sweet homes, without money, price or thought of
+     emolument, going to these battle-fields and tenderly nursing the
+     army of the republic to life again; while back of them were tens
+     of thousands other women of the great sanitary army, who, in
+     self-sacrifice at home, were sending lint, bandages, clothing,
+     delicacies of food and raiment of all kinds, by car-load and
+     ship-load, to comfort and ameliorate the sufferings of the grand
+     army of the republic, and yet as I watched its march in this
+     centennial year, its gala day--_not a tribute_ marked its
+     gratitude to her who had proved its savior and friend, in the
+     hour of peril.
+
+     Again, came the colored man in rank and file--and in thought I
+     saw the fifteenth-amendment jubilee, which proclaimed his
+     emancipation. As banner after banner passed me, with the name of
+     Garrison, of Phillips, of Douglass, I looked in vain for the name
+     of Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose one book, "Uncle Tom's
+     Cabin"--did more to arouse the whole world to the horrors of
+     slavery, than did the words or works of any ten men. I searched
+     for a tribute to Lucretia Mott and other women of that conflict,
+     but none appeared. And so to-day, standing here with heart and
+     brain convulsed with all these memories and scenes, can you
+     wonder that we are stirred to profoundest depths, as we review
+     the base ingratitude of this nation to its women? It has taxed
+     its women, and asked the women, in whose veins flows the blood of
+     their Pilgrim and Revolutionary mothers, to assist by money,
+     individual effort and presence, to make it a year of jubilee for
+     the proclamation of a ransomed male nationality. Zenobia, in
+     gilded chains it may be, but chains nevertheless, marches through
+     the streets of Philadelphia to-day, an appendage of the chariot
+     wheels which proclaim the coming of her king, her lord, her
+     master, whether he be white or black, native or foreign-born,
+     virtuous or vile, lettered or unlettered. As the state-house
+     bell, with its inscription, "Proclaim liberty--throughout the
+     land, unto all the inhabitants thereof," pealed forth its
+     jubilant reiteration,--the daughters of Jefferson, of Hancock, of
+     Adams, and Patrick Henry, who have been politically outlawed and
+     ostracized by their own countrymen, here had no liberty
+     proclaimed for them; they are not inhabitants, only sojourners in
+     the land of their fathers, and as the slaves in meek subjection
+     to the will of the master placed the crown of sovereignty on the
+     alien from Europe, Asia, Africa, she is asked to sing in dulcet
+     strains: "The king is dead--long live the king!"
+
+     And thus to-day we round out the first century of a professed
+     republic,--with woman figuratively representing freedom--and yet
+     all free, save woman.
+
+For five long hours of that hot mid-summer's day, that crowded
+audience listened earnestly to woman's demand for equality of
+rights before the law. When the convention at last adjourned, the
+Hutchinsons singing, "A Hundred Years Hence,"[14] it was slowly
+and reluctantly that the great audience left the house. Judged by
+its immediate influence, it was a wonderful meeting. No elaborate
+preparations had been made, for not until late on Friday evening
+had it been decided upon, hoping still, as we did, for a
+recognition in the general celebration on Independence Square.
+Speakers were not prepared, hardly a moment of thought had been
+given as to what should be said, but words fitting for the hour
+came to lips rendered eloquent by the pressure of intense emotion.
+
+Day after day visitors to the woman suffrage parlors referred to
+this meeting in glowing terms. Ladies from distant States, in
+Philadelphia to visit the exposition, said that meeting was worth
+the whole expense of the journey. Young women with all the
+attractions of the day and the exposition enticing them, yet said,
+"The best of all I have seen in Philadelphia was that meeting."
+Women to whom a dollar was of great value, said, "As much as I need
+money, I would not have missed that meeting for a hundred dollars";
+while in the midst of conversation visitors would burst forth, "Was
+there _ever_ such a meeting as that in Dr. Furness' church?" and
+thus was Woman's Declaration of Rights joyously received.
+
+The day was also celebrated by women in convocations of their own
+all over the country.[15]
+
+An interesting feature of the centennial parlors was an immense
+autograph book, in which the names of friends to the movement were
+registered by the thousands, some penned on that historic day and
+sent from the old world and the new, and others written on the spot
+during these eventful months. From the tidings of all these
+enthusiastic assemblies and immense number of letters[16] received
+in Philadelphia, unitedly demanding an extension of their rights,
+it was evident that the thinking women of the nation were hopefully
+waiting in the dawn of the new century for greater liberties to
+themselves.
+
+From "Aunt Lottie's Centennial Letters to her Nieces and Nephews,"
+we give the one describing this occasion:
+
+     MY DEARS: I suppose I had best tell you in this letter about the
+     Fourth of July celebration at the centennial city--at least that
+     portion of it that I know about, and which I would not have
+     missed for the exhibition itself, and which I would not have you
+     miss for all the rest of my letters. I cannot expect you to be as
+     much interested in it as was I, but it is time you were becoming
+     interested in the subject; and, if you live a half century from
+     this time (in less than that, I hope,) you will see that what I
+     am about to relate was, as General Hawley admitted it would be,
+     "the event of the occasion."
+
+     At the commencement of the exhibition, Miss Susan B. Anthony and
+     Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage came to Philadelphia and procured the
+     parlors of 1,431 Chestnut street for the accommodation of the
+     National Woman Suffrage Association. These rooms were open to the
+     friends of the association, and public receptions were held and
+     well attended every Tuesday and Friday evening. During these
+     months these two ladies--assisted the latter part of the time by
+     Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton--were engaged in preparing a history
+     of the suffrage movement and a declaration of rights to be
+     presented at the great centennial celebration of the Fourth of
+     July, 1876. This document is in form like the first declaration
+     of a hundred years ago, handsomely engrossed by Mrs. Sara Andrews
+     Spencer, of Washington--a lady delegate to the Cincinnati
+     Republican convention, June 12.
+
+     The celebration was held in Independence Square, just back of the
+     old state-house where the first declaration was signed. There was
+     a great crowd of people collected; a poem was read by Bayard
+     Taylor and a speech delivered by William M. Evarts. But I knew it
+     was useless to go there expecting to hear any portion of either;
+     so I waited until twelve o'clock and then rode down in the cars
+     to Dr. Furness' church, corner of Broad and Locust streets, where
+     these ladies were to hold their meeting. The church was full, and
+     the exercises were opened by Mrs. Mott--the venerable and
+     venerated president--a Quaker lady of slight form, attired in a
+     plain, light-silk gown, white muslin neckerchief and cap, after
+     that exquisitely neat and quaint fashion. Then the Hutchinsons
+     sang a hymn, in which all were requested to join. Afterward Mrs.
+     Stanton came to the front of the pulpit, the house was hushed, to
+     a reverential stillness, and I never yet heard anything so solemn
+     and impressive as her reading of the Declaration of Rights of the
+     Women of the United States.
+
+     A printed copy had been given me the day before, when between the
+     sessions of the New England American Association in the Academy
+     of Music, where were Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Rev. Antoinette
+     Brown Blackwell, Elizabeth K. Churchill and other pleasant-faced,
+     sweet-voiced ladies, I had called at the rooms on Chestnut street
+     and folded declarations, for half an hour with Mrs. Stanton,
+     which they were distributing by post and in every way all over
+     the land. When I read it at home that night I realized its
+     importance, but as the next day (the Fourth) was excessively
+     warm, I very nearly gave up going, and then I should have missed
+     the impressiveness of her reading. When she first commenced, her
+     voice seemed choked with emotion. She must have realized what she
+     was doing, as we all knew it was the grandest thing that had been
+     done in a hundred years. Thrill after thrill went through my
+     veins, and the whole scene formed a picture that will yet be the
+     subject of artists' pencils and poets' pens. I should have been
+     contented to have had the meeting closed then with that best song
+     of the Hutchinsons upon the progress of reform, where the young
+     gentleman was so much applauded for his solo, "When Women Shall
+     be Free." Still we were all interested in Mrs. Spencer's account
+     of her interview with General Hawley, and his refusal to permit
+     the silent handing-in of the declaration, which, after her
+     persistence, assuring him "it would not take three minutes," he
+     was obliged to confess was because he was "very well aware it
+     would be the event of the occasion." "Immediately," said Mrs.
+     Spencer, "you cannot imagine what an inspiration we all had to do
+     it; for," added the slight, fair-haired, fluent lady, in a
+     humorous manner that called forth laughter and applause, "I never
+     yet was forbidden by a man to do a thing, but that I resolved to
+     do it."
+
+     We were also pleased to hear from that earnest woman, Susan B.
+     Anthony, inspired by the immutable abstract truths of justice and
+     equity. Reports say that she has the air of a Catholic devotee.
+     She said that in defiance of "the powers that be" she took a
+     place on that platform in Independence square, and at the proper
+     time delivered the engrossed copy of the declaration to the Hon.
+     T. W. Ferry, who received it with a courteous bow; and afterward
+     on the steps of Independence Hall she read it to an assembled
+     multitude. She had done her centennial day's work for all time;
+     and small wonder that mind and body craved rest after such
+     tension. She is yet under a hundred dollars fine for voting at
+     Rochester, and although from her lectures the last six years she
+     has paid $10,000 indebtedness on _The Revolution_, she said she
+     never would have paid that fine had she been imprisoned till now.
+
+     Mrs. Lucretia Mott, whom the younger Hutchinson[17] assisted into
+     the pulpit--a beautiful sight to see cultured youth supporting
+     refined old age--stated that she went up there, "not because she
+     was higher-minded than the rest, but so that her enfeebled voice
+     might be better heard." The dear old soul is so much stronger
+     than her body, that it would seem that she must have greatly
+     overtasked herself; though an inspired soul has wonderful
+     recuperative forces at command for the temple it inhabits. A
+     goodly number of gentlemen were present at this meeting and that
+     of the day before--three or four of them making short speeches. A
+     Mr. Raper of England, strongly interested in the temperance and
+     woman suffrage cause, told us that in his country "all women
+     tax-payers voted for guardians of the poor, upon all educational
+     matters, and also upon all municipal affairs. In that respect she
+     was in advance of this professed republic. In England there is an
+     hereditary aristocracy, here, an aristocracy of sex"; or, as the
+     spirited Lillie Devereux Blake who was present once amusingly
+     termed it, of "the bifurcated garment." And now perhaps some
+     materially-minded person will ask, "What are you going to do
+     about it? You can't fight!" forgetting that we are now fighting
+     the greatest of all battles, and that the weapons of woman's
+     warfare, like her nature at its best development, are moral and
+     spiritual.
+
+                                             LEWISE OLIVER.
+     _Philadelphia_, July 13, 1876.
+
+The press of the country commented extensively upon the action of
+the women:
+
+     At noon to-day, in the First Unitarian church, corner Tenth and
+     South, the National Woman Suffrage Association will present the
+     Woman's Declaration of Rights. The association will hold a
+     convention at the same time and place, at which Lucretia Mott is
+     announced to preside, and several ladies to make speeches. Most
+     of the ladies are known as women of ability and earnest apostles
+     of the creed they have espoused for the political enfranchisement
+     of women. Their declaration of rights, we do not doubt, will be
+     strongly enforced. These ladies, or some of them, have been
+     assigned places upon the platform at the grand celebration
+     ceremonies to take place in Independence Square to-day; and they
+     have requested leave to present their declaration of rights in
+     form on that occasion. They do not ask to have it read, we
+     believe, but simply that the statement of their case shall go on
+     file with the general archives of the day, so that the women of
+     1976 may see that their predecessors of 1876 did not let the
+     centennial year of independence pass without
+     protest.--[Philadelphia _Ledger_, July 4.
+
+     There was yet another incident of the Fourth, in Independence
+     Square. Immediately after the Declaration of Independence had
+     been read by Richard Henry Lee, and while the strains of the
+     "Greeting from Brazil" were rising upon the air, two ladies
+     pushed their way vigorously through the crowd and appeared upon
+     the speaker's platform. They were Susan B. Anthony and Matilda
+     Joslyn Gage. Hustling generals aside, elbowing governors, and
+     almost upsetting Dom Pedro in their charge, they reached
+     Vice-President Ferry, and handed him a scroll about three feet
+     long, tied with ribbons of various colors. He was seen to bow and
+     look bewildered; but they had retreated in the same vigorous
+     manner before the explanation was whispered about. It appears
+     that they demanded a change of programme for the sake of reading
+     their address; but if so, this was probably a mere form intended
+     for future effect. More than six months ago some of the advocates
+     of female suffrage began in this city their crusade against
+     celebrating the centennial anniversary of a nation wherein women
+     are not permitted to vote. The demand of Miss Anthony and Mrs.
+     Gage to be allowed to take part in a commemoration which many of
+     their associates discouraged and denounced, would have been a
+     cool proceeding had it been made in advance. Made, as it was,
+     through a very discourteous interruption, it pre-figures new
+     forms of violence and disregard of order which may accompany the
+     participation of women in active partisan politics.--[New York
+     _Tribune_.
+
+     The letter of a correspondent, printed in another column,
+     describing the presentation of a woman's bill of rights, in
+     Independence Square on the Fourth of July, will interest all
+     readers, whether or not they think with the correspondent, that
+     this little affair was the most important of the day's
+     proceedings. We have not a doubt that the persons who were
+     concerned in the affair enjoyed it heartily. Those of them who
+     made speeches naturally regarded their eloquence as a thing to
+     stir the nation. All persons who make speeches do. The day was a
+     warm one, and imagination, like the fire-cracker, was on fire. In
+     the heat of the occasion, of course, the women who want to vote
+     and who desire the protection of the writ of _habeas corpus_
+     against the tyranny of actual or possible husbands, felt that
+     they were making great folios of history; but the sagacity of the
+     press agents and reporters was not at fault. The gatherers of
+     news know very well what they are about; and when they decided to
+     omit this part of the proceedings from their reports, they simply
+     obeyed that instinct upon which their livelihood depends--the
+     instinct, namely, to write only of matters in which the public is
+     interested.
+
+     The good women who wrote and published this declaration, fancying
+     that they were throwing a bombshell into the gathered crowds of
+     American (male) citizens, are very much in earnest, doubtless,
+     and are entitled--we have platform authority for saying it--to
+     "respectful consideration"; but their movement scarcely rises, as
+     yet at least, to the dignity of a great historical event. There
+     is a prevailing indifference to their cause which is against it.
+     The public is not aroused to a fever heat of indignation over the
+     wrongs which women are everywhere suffering at the hands of the
+     tyrants called husbands. The popular mind is not yet awake to the
+     fact that men usually imprison their wives in back parlors and
+     maltreat them shamefully. The witnesses, wives to wit, refuse to
+     bear testimony to this effect, and the public placidly accepts
+     appearance for reality and believes that the gentlewomen who ride
+     about in their carriages or haunt the shops of our cities in gay
+     apparel are reasonably well contented with their lot in life. In
+     a word, it is not hostility so much as calm indifference with
+     which the advocates of woman suffrage have to contend, and
+     unluckily for them the indifference is very largely
+     feminine.--[New York _Evening Post_.
+
+     There is something awful in the thought that should the woman
+     suffragists be continually refused a voice in the affairs of the
+     nation they might at last in a fit of desperation, do what our
+     fathers did, and frame a declaration of independence, No, 2. Just
+     think of an army of crinolines willing to take arms against the
+     tyrant man, and sacrifice their lives, if need be, to carry out
+     their principles! It is easier to ridicule the woman suffrage
+     movement than to answer the arguments advanced by some of the
+     leading advocates of that question. It is only the innate
+     mildness of the position of women in general that has prevented a
+     revolution on this same subject long ago. One hundred thousand
+     such fire-eaters as Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton in
+     the land, could raise a rumpus which would cause the late
+     unpleasantness to pale into insignificance. Armed and equipped,
+     what a sight would be presented by an army of strong-minded
+     women! There would be no considering the question of whether the
+     cavalry should ride side-saddle, or _a la_ clothes-pin. Such
+     detail would be of too small importance to receive the slightest
+     attention; the more vital questions would be, "How can we
+     slaughter the most men?" "How can we soonest convince the demons
+     that we have rights which must be respected?" The fact is, that
+     if these down-trodden women would take a firm stand in any thing
+     like respectable numbers, and assert their claims to suffrage at
+     the point of the bayonet, they would be allowed everything they
+     asked for. There is not a man in the land who would dare to take
+     up arms against a woman. Such a dernier resort on the part of the
+     women would be truly laughable, but the matter would cease to be
+     a joke, if General Susan B. Anthony, in command of a bloomer
+     regiment, should march into the halls of congress, armed
+     _cap-a-pie_, and demand the passage of a law in behalf of woman
+     suffrage, or the alternative of the general cleaning out of the
+     whole body. There is no immediate prospect of such an event, but
+     "hell hath no furies like a woman scorned." Long and loud have
+     been the appeals of the fair sex for recognition at the
+     ballot-box. With that faithful zeal so truly characteristic of
+     her sex, she has each time, for many years in the history of this
+     country, presented herself before the curious gaze of our
+     national conventions, asking, with no little stress of argument,
+     for a woman's plank in the platforms. If she has been heard at
+     all in the framed resolutions of the parties, the feeling
+     prevailing in the conventions has been rather to pacify and put
+     her off, than to grant her request through motives of political
+     policy. If perseverance is to be awarded, the agitators of the
+     woman question will yet carry off the prize they seek. Death
+     alone can silence such women as Susan B. Anthony and Cady
+     Stanton, and their teachings will live after them and unite
+     others of their sex into strong bands of sisterhood in a common
+     cause. It is safe to say, if events march on in the same
+     direction they have since the calling of the first National
+     Woman's Convention, another centennial will see woman in the
+     halls of legislation throughout the land, and so far as we are
+     concerned we have no objection, so long as she behaves
+     herself.--[St. Louis _Dispatch_, July 13.
+
+     It is a curious anomaly that the movement for national woman
+     suffrage in our country is most obstructed by women, and that
+     even where the men have doubts, their natural admiration for the
+     gentler sex almost converts them into champions. Certain it is
+     that the Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States
+     that the National Woman Suffrage Association presented to the
+     vice-president, Mr. Ferry, while he was surrounded by foreign
+     princes and potentates and by the governors of most of the States
+     of the union, faced at the same time by a countless mass of
+     American and foreign visitors--certain it is, we repeat, that
+     when this altogether unique paper was presented by Miss Susan B.
+     Anthony and her sisters, it became a record in the minds and
+     memory of all who witnessed the strange proceeding. And it is a
+     very well written statement, and no doubt one hundred years hence
+     it will be read with an interest not less ecstatic than the
+     enthusiasm of its present pioneers; for, in the interval, these
+     advanced women may have won for their withholding sisters the
+     entire list of male prerogatives. What adds to the force of the
+     present woman suffrage party is the dignity, intelligence and
+     purity of its participants. The venerable Lucretia Mott; the
+     honest, straightforward Susan B. Anthony; the cultivated Ellen
+     Clark Sargent (wife of the California senator); the beloved
+     Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and indeed all the names attached to the
+     declaration command our respect. Whatever we may think of the
+     points of the declaration itself, with all our sincere admiration
+     of these gentlewomen, increased by the knowledge everywhere that
+     they are ardent republicans, we fear that their weakness, to
+     employ a paradox, consists in their strength, or, in other words,
+     that it is difficult to induce even the most benevolent and
+     sympathetic observer to believe that they are really as much
+     persecuted and oppressed as they claim to be. When the colored
+     man demanded his rights they were given to him because these
+     rights in republican constitutions were regarded as inherent, and
+     also because he had reciprocal duties to discharge, and heavy
+     burdens to carry, and when the Southern confederate demanded
+     restitution of his rights, he rested his claim upon the double
+     basis that he had earned forgiveness by his bravery, and that
+     political disfranchisement did not belong to a republican
+     example. Fortunately or unfortunately, it is very different with
+     the ladies; and so when they come forward insisting upon rights
+     heretofore accorded to men alone, they must encounter all the
+     differences created by the delicacy of their own sisters and the
+     reverence and love of the men, and the hard fact that these two
+     influences have made it heretofore impossible for women to
+     descend to the arena of politics. Having said this much, we
+     present a few of the cardinal points of the woman's declaration
+     of rights laid before the august memorial centennial celebration
+     last Tuesday, July 4, 1876.--[Philadelphia _Press_, July 15.
+
+On July 19, the Citizens' Suffrage Association, of Philadelphia,
+joined with the National Association in commemorating the first
+woman's rights convention called by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth
+Cady Stanton, at Seneca Falls, N. Y., July 19, 1848--thus
+celebrating the twenty-eighth anniversary of that historic event.
+The meeting was presided over by Edward M. Davis, president of the
+association, son-in-law of Lucretia Mott, and one of the most
+untiring workers in the cause. The venerable Lucretia Mott
+addressed the meeting, and Miss Anthony read letters from several
+of the earliest and most valued pioneers of the movement:
+
+                                   TENAFLY, New Jersey, July 19, 1876.
+
+     LUCRETIA MOTT--_Esteemed Friend_: It is twenty-eight years ago
+     to-day since the first woman's rights convention ever held
+     assembled in the Wesleyan chapel at Seneca Falls, N. Y. Could we
+     have foreseen, when we called that convention, the ridicule,
+     persecution, and misrepresentation that the demand for woman's
+     political, religious and social equality would involve; the long,
+     weary years of waiting and hoping without success; I fear we
+     should not have had the courage and conscience to begin such a
+     protracted struggle, nor the faith and hope to continue the work.
+     Fortunately for all reforms, the leaders, not seeing the
+     obstacles which block the way, start with the hope of a speedy
+     success. Our demands at the first seemed so rational that I
+     thought the mere statement of woman's wrongs would bring
+     immediate redress. I thought an appeal to the reason and
+     conscience of men against the unjust and unequal laws for women
+     that disgraced our statute books, must settle the question. But I
+     soon found, while no attempt was made to answer our arguments,
+     that an opposition, bitter, malignant, and persevering, rooted in
+     custom and prejudice, grew stronger with every new demand made,
+     with every new privilege granted.
+
+     How well I remember that July day when the leading ladies and
+     gentlemen of the busy town crowded into the little church;
+     lawyers loaded with books, to expound to us the laws; ladies with
+     their essays, and we who had called the convention, with our
+     declaration of rights, speeches, and resolutions. With what
+     dignity James Mott, your sainted husband, tall and stately, in
+     Quaker costume, presided over our novel proceedings. And your
+     noble sister, Martha C. Wright, was there. Her wit and wisdom
+     contributed much to the interest of our proceedings, and her
+     counsel in a large measure to what success we claimed for our
+     first convention. While so many of those early friends fell off
+     through indifference, fear of ridicule and growing conservatism,
+     she remained through these long years of trial steadfast to the
+     close of a brave, true life. She has been present at nearly every
+     convention, with her encouraging words and generous
+     contributions, and being well versed in Cushing's Manual, has
+     been one of our chief presiding officers. And my heart is filled
+     with gratitude, even at this late day, as I recall the
+     earnestness and eloquence with which Frederick Douglass advocated
+     our cause, though at that time he had no rights himself that any
+     white man was bound to respect. I marvel now, that in our
+     inexperience the interest was so well sustained through two
+     entire days, and that when the meeting adjourned everybody signed
+     the declaration and went home feeling that a new era had dawned
+     for woman. What had been done and said seemed so preeminently
+     wise and proper that none of us thought of being ridiculed,
+     ostracised, or suspected of evil. But what was our surprise and
+     chagrin to find ourselves, in a few days, the target for the
+     press of the nation; the New York _Tribune_ being our only strong
+     arm of defense.
+
+     Looking over these twenty-eight years, I feel that what we have
+     achieved, as yet, bears no proportion to what we have suffered in
+     the daily humiliation of spirit from the cruel distinctions based
+     on sex. Though our State laws have been essentially changed, and
+     positions in the schools, professions, and world of work secured
+     to woman, unthought of thirty years ago, yet the undercurrent of
+     popular thought, as seen in our social habits, theological
+     dogmas, and political theories, still reflects the same customs,
+     creeds, and codes that degrade women in the effete civilizations
+     of the old world. Educated in the best schools to logical
+     reasoning, trained to liberal thought in politics, religion and
+     social ethics under republican institutions, American women
+     cannot brook the discriminations in regard to sex that were
+     patiently accepted by the ignorant in barbarous ages as divine
+     law. And yet subjects of emperors in the old world, with their
+     narrow ideas of individual rights, their contempt of all
+     womankind, come here to teach the mothers of this republic their
+     true work and sphere. Such men as Carl Schurz, breathing for the
+     first time the free air of our free land, object to what we
+     consider the higher education of women, fitting them for the
+     trades and professions, for the sciences and arts, and
+     self-complacently point Lucretia Mott, Maria Mitchell, Harriet
+     Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, to their appropriate sphere, as
+     housekeepers with a string of keys, like Madam Bismark, dangling
+     around their waists.
+
+     The Rev. J. G. Holland, the Tupper of our American literature,
+     thanks his Creator that woman has no specialty. She was called
+     into being for man's happiness and interest--his helpmeet--to
+     wait and watch his movements, to second his endeavors, to fight
+     the hard battle of life behind him whose brain may be dizzy with
+     excess, whose limbs may be paralyzed, or if sound in body, may be
+     without aim or ambition, without plans or projects, destitute of
+     executive ability or good judgment in the business affairs of
+     life. And such sentimentalists, after demoralizing women with
+     their twaddle, discourage our demand for the right of suffrage by
+     pointing us to the fact that the majority of women are
+     indifferent to this movement in their behalf. Suppose they are;
+     have not the masses of all oppressed classes been apathetic and
+     indifferent until partial success crowned the enthusiasm of the
+     few? Carl Schurz would not have been exiled from his native land
+     could he have roused the majority of his countrymen to the same
+     love of liberty which burned in his own soul. Were his dreams of
+     freedom less real because the stolid masses were not awake to
+     their significance? Shall a soul that accepts martyrdom for a
+     principle be told he is sacrificing himself to a shadow because
+     the multitude can neither see nor appreciate the idea?
+
+     I do not feel like rejoicing over any privileges already granted
+     to my sex, until all our rights are conceded and secured and the
+     principle of equality recognized and proclaimed, for every step
+     that brings us to a more equal plane with man but makes us more
+     keenly feel the loss of those rights we are still denied--more
+     susceptible to the insults of his assumptions and usurpations of
+     power. As I sum up the indignities toward women, as illustrated
+     by recent judicial decisions--denied the right to vote, denied
+     the right to practice in the Supreme Court, denied jury trial--I
+     feel the degradation of sex more bitterly than I did on that July
+     19, 1848, and never more than in listening to your speech in
+     Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, our nation's centennial
+     birthday, remembering that neither years nor wisdom, brave words
+     nor noble deeds, could secure political honor or call forth
+     national homage for women. Let it be remembered by our daughters
+     in future generations that Lucretia Mott, in the eighty-fourth
+     year of her age, asked permission, as the representative woman of
+     this great movement for the enfranchisement of her sex, to
+     present at the centennial celebration of our national liberties,
+     Woman's Declaration of Rights, and was refused! This was the
+     "respectful consideration" vouchsafed American women at the close
+     of the first century of our national life.
+
+     May we now safely prophesy justice, liberty, equality for our
+     daughters ere another centennial birthday shall dawn upon us!
+
+               Sincerely yours,                ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
+
+
+                                        DETROIT, July 17, 1876.
+
+     _To Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Ann McClintock
+     and daughters, Amy Post, and all associated with them and myself
+     in the first Woman's Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, N.
+     Y., July 19, 1848, as well as to our later and present
+     associates, Greeting:_
+
+     Not able to be with you in your celebration of the nineteenth, I
+     will yet give evidence that I prize your remembrance of our first
+     assemblage and of our earliest work. That is, and will ever be as
+     the present is a memorable year; and may this be memorable too
+     for the same reason, a brave step in advance for human freedom. I
+     would that it could be a conclusive step in legislation for the
+     political freedom of the women of the nation. For it is only in
+     harmony with reason and experience to predict that the men as
+     well as the women of the near future will rejoice if this
+     centennial year is thus marked and glorified by so grand a deed.
+
+     We may well congratulate each other and have satisfaction in
+     knowing that we have changed the public sentiment and the laws of
+     many States by our advocacy and labors. We also know that while
+     helping the growth of our own souls, we have set many women
+     thinking and reading on this vital question, who in turn have
+     discussed it in private and public, and thus inspired others. So
+     that at this present time few who have examined can deny our
+     claim. But we are grateful to remember many women who needed no
+     arguments, whose clear insight and reason, pronounced in the
+     outset that a woman's soul was as well worth saving as a man's;
+     that her independence and free choice are as necessary and as
+     valuable to the public virtue and welfare; who saw and still see
+     in both, equal children of a Father who loves and protects all.
+
+     Men do not need to be convinced of the righteousness of entire
+     freedom for us; they have long been convinced of its justice;
+     they confess that it is only expediency which makes them withhold
+     that which they profess is precious to them. We await only an
+     awakened conscience and an enlarged statesmanship.
+
+     I bid you and the women of the republic God-speed, and close in
+     the language of one who went before us, Mary Wollstonecraft, who
+     did so much in a thoughtless age to bring both men and women back
+     to virtue and religion. She says: "Contending for the rights of
+     woman, my main argument is built on this simple principle, that
+     if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of
+     man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for
+     truth must be common to all or it will be inefficacious with
+     respect to its influence in general practice. And how can woman
+     be expected to cooeperate unless she know why she ought to be
+     virtuous; unless freedom strengthen her reason till she
+     comprehends her duty and sees in what manner it is connected with
+     her real good? If children are to be educated to understand the
+     true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and
+     the love of mankind from which an orderly train of virtues
+     spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and civil
+     interests of mankind; but the education and situation of woman at
+     present, shuts her out from such investigations."
+
+     With the greatest possible interest in your celebration and
+     deliberations, and assuring you that I shall be with you in
+     thought and spirit, I am most earnestly and cordially yours,
+
+                                             CATHARINE A. F. STEBBINS.
+
+
+                                   ROCHESTER, N. Y., June 27, 1876.
+
+     MY DEAR SUSAN ANTHONY: I thank thee most deeply for the assurance
+     of a welcome to your deliberative councils in our country's
+     centennial year, to reannounce our oft-repeated protest against
+     bondage to tyrant law. Most holy cause! Woman's equality, why so
+     long denied?... I was ready at the first tap of the drum that
+     sounded from that hub of our country, Seneca Falls, in 1848,
+     calling for an assembly of men and women to set forth and
+     remonstrate against the legal usurpation of our rights.... I
+     cannot think of anything that would give me as much pleasure as
+     to be able to meet with you at this time. I am exceedingly glad
+     that you appreciate the blessings of frequent visits and wise
+     counsel from our beloved and venerated pioneer, Lucretia Mott. I
+     hope her health and strength will enable her to see and enjoy the
+     triumphant victory of this work, and I wish you all the blessings
+     of happiness that belong to all good workers, and my love to them
+     all as if named.
+
+                                                   AMY POST.
+
+
+                    POMO, Mendocino Co., California, June 26, 1876.
+
+     July 4, 1776, our revolutionary fathers--in convention
+     assembled--declared their independence of the mother country;
+     solemnly asserted the divine right of self-government and its
+     relation to constituted authority. With liberty their shibboleth,
+     the colonies triumphed in their long and fierce struggle with the
+     mother country, and established an independent government. They
+     adopted a "bill of rights" embodying their ideal of a free
+     government.
+
+     With singular inconsistency almost their first act, while it
+     secured to one-half the people of the body politic the right to
+     tax and govern themselves, subjected the other half to the very
+     oppression which had culminated in the rebellion of the colonies,
+     "taxation without representation," and the inflictions of an
+     authority to which they had not given their consent. The
+     constitutional provision which enfranchised the male population
+     of the new State and secured to it self-governing rights,
+     disfranchised its women, and eventuated in a tyrannical use of
+     power, which, exercised by husbands, fathers, and brothers, is
+     infinitely more intolerable than the despotic acts of a foreign
+     ruler.
+
+     As if left ignobly to illustrate the truths of their noble
+     declarations, no sooner did the enfranchised class enter upon the
+     exercise of their usurped powers than they proceeded to alienate
+     from the mothers of humanity rights declared to be inseparable
+     from humanity itself! Had they thrust the British yoke from the
+     necks of their wives and daughters as indignantly as they thrust
+     it from their own, the legal subjection of the women of to-day
+     would not stand out as it now does--the reproach of our
+     republican government. As if sons did not follow the condition of
+     the mothers--as if daughters had no claim to the birthright of
+     the fathers--they established for disfranchised woman a "dead
+     line," by retaining the English common law of marriage, which,
+     unlike that of less liberal European governments, converts the
+     marriage altar into an executioner's block and recognizes woman
+     as a wife only when so denuded of personal rights that in legal
+     phrase she is said to be--"dead in law"!
+
+     More considerate in the matter of forms than the highwayman who
+     kills that he may rob the unresisting dead, our gallant fathers
+     executed women who must need cross the line of human
+     happiness--legally; and administered their estate; and decreed
+     the disposition of their defunct personalities in legislative
+     halls; only omitting to provide for the matrimonial crypt the
+     fitting epitaph: "Here lies the relict of American freedom--taxed
+     to pauperism, loved to death!"
+
+     With all the modification of the last quarter, of a century, our
+     English law of marriage still invests the husband with a
+     sovereignty almost despotic over his wife. It secures to him her
+     personal service and savings, and the control and custody of her
+     person as against herself. Having thus reduced the wife to a dead
+     pauper owing service to her husband, our shrewd forefathers, to
+     secure the bond, confiscated her natural obligations as a child
+     and a mother. Whether married or single, only inability excuses a
+     son from the legal support of indigent and infirm parents. The
+     married daughter, in the discharge of her wifely duties, may
+     tenderly care and toil for her husband's infirm parents, or his
+     children and grandchildren by a prior marriage, while her own
+     parents, or children by a prior marriage--legally divested of any
+     claim on her or the husband who absorbs her personal services and
+     earnings--are sent to the poor-house, or pine in bitter
+     privation; except with consent of her husband, she can give
+     neither her personal care nor the avails of her industry, for
+     their benefit. So, to be a wife, woman ceases, in law, to be
+     anything else--yields up the ghost of a legal existence! That she
+     escapes the extreme penalty of her legal bonds in any case is
+     due to the fact that the majority of men, married or single, are
+     notably better than their laws.
+
+     Our fathers taught the quality and initiated the form of free
+     government. But it was left to their posterity to learn from the
+     discipline of experience, that truths, old as the eternities, are
+     forever revealing new phases to render possible more perfect
+     interpretations; and to accumulate unanswerable reasons for their
+     extended application. That the sorest trials and most appreciable
+     failures of the government our fathers bequeathed, to us, have
+     been the direct and inevitable results of their departures from
+     the principles they enunciated, is so patent to all Christendom,
+     that free government itself has won from our mistakes material to
+     revolutionize the world--lessons that compel depotisms to change
+     their base and constitutional monarchies to make broader the
+     phylacteries of popular rights.
+
+     Is it not meet then, that on this one-hundredth anniversary of
+     American independence the daughters of revolutionary sires should
+     appeal to the sons to fulfill what the fathers promised but
+     failed to perform--should appeal to them as the constituted
+     executors of the father's will, to give full practical effect to
+     the self-evident truths, that "taxation without representation is
+     tyranny"--that "governments derive their just powers from the
+     consent of the governed"? With an evident common interest in all
+     the affairs of which government properly or improperly takes
+     cognizance, we claim enfranchisement on the broad ground of human
+     right, having proved the justice of our claim by the injustice
+     which has resulted to us and ours through our disfranchisement.
+
+     We ask enfranchisement in the abiding faith that with our
+     cooeperative efforts free government would attain to higher
+     averages of intelligence and virtue; with an innate conviction,
+     that the sequestration of rights in the homes of the republic
+     makes them baneful nurseries of the monopolies, rings, and
+     fraudulent practices that are threatening the national integrity;
+     and that so long as the fathers sequester the rights of the
+     mothers and train their sons to exercise, and the daughters to
+     submit to the exactions of usurped powers, our government offices
+     will be dens of thieves and the national honor trail in the dust;
+     and honest men come out from the fiery ordeals of faithful
+     service, denuded of the confidence and respect justly their due.
+     Give us liberty! We are mothers, wives, and daughters of freemen.
+
+                                             C. I. H. NICHOLS.
+
+
+                                        LONDON, Eng., July 4, 1876.
+
+     MY DEAR SUSAN: I sincerely thank you for your kind letter. Many
+     times I have thought of writing to you, but I knew your time was
+     too much taken up with the good cause to have any to spare for
+     private correspondence. Occasionally I am pleased to see a good
+     account of you and your doings in the Boston _Investigator_. Oh,
+     how I wish I could be with you on this more than ordinarily
+     interesting and important occasion; or that I could at least send
+     my sentiments and views on human rights, which I have advocated
+     for over forty years, to the convention.
+
+     This being the centenary day of the proclamation of American
+     independence, I must write a few lines, if but to let the friends
+     know that though absent in body I am with you in the cause for
+     which, in common with you, I have labored so long, and I hope not
+     labored in vain.
+
+     The glorious day upon which human equality was first proclaimed
+     ought to be commemorated, not only every hundred years, or every
+     year, but it ought to be constantly held before the public mind
+     until its grand principles are carried into practice. The
+     declaration that "All men [which means all human beings
+     irrespective of sex] have an equal right to life, liberty, and
+     the pursuit of happiness," is enough for woman as for man. We
+     need no other; but we must reassert in 1876 what 1776 so
+     gloriously proclaimed, and call upon the law-makers and the
+     law-breakers to carry that declaration to its logical consistency
+     by giving woman the right of representation in the government
+     which she helps to maintain; a voice in the laws by which she is
+     governed, and all the rights and privileges society can bestow,
+     the same as to man, or disprove its validity. We need no other
+     declaration. All we ask is to have the laws based on the same
+     foundation upon which that declaration rests, viz.: upon equal
+     justice, and not upon sex. Whenever the rights of man are
+     claimed, moral consistency points to the equal rights of woman.
+
+     I hope these few lines will fill a little space in the convention
+     at Philadelphia, where my voice has so often been raised in
+     behalf of the principles of humanity. I am glad to see my name
+     among the vice-presidents of the National Association. Keep a
+     warm place for me with the American people. I hope some day to be
+     there yet. Give my love to Mrs. Mott and Sarah Pugh. With kind
+     regards from Mr. Rose,
+
+                         Yours affectionately,     ERNESTINE L. ROSE.
+
+A new paper, _The Ballot-Box_, was started in the centennial year
+at Toledo, Ohio, owned and published by Mrs. Sarah Langdon
+Williams. The following editorial on the natal day of the republic
+is from her pen:
+
+     THE RETROSPECT.--Since our last issue the great centennial
+     anniversary of American independence has come and gone; it has
+     been greeted with rejoicing throughout the land; its events have
+     passed into history. The day in which the great principles
+     embodied in the Declaration of Independence were announced by the
+     revolutionary fathers to the world has been celebrated through
+     all this vast heritage, with pomp and popular glorification, and
+     the nation's finest orators have signalized the event in
+     "thoughts that breathe and words that burn." Everywhere has the
+     country been arrayed in its holiday attire--the gay insignia
+     which, old as the century, puts on fresh youth and brilliancy
+     each time its colors are unfurled. The successes which the
+     country has achieved have been portrayed with glowing eloquence,
+     the people's sovereignty has been the theme of congratulation and
+     the glorious principles of freedom and equal rights have been
+     enthusiastically proclaimed. In the magnificent oration of Mr.
+     Evarts delivered in Independence Square, the spot made sacred by
+     the signing of the Declaration of Independence which announced
+     that "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of
+     the governed," these words occur:
+
+          The chief concern in this regard, to us and the rest of the
+          world is, whether the proud trust, the profound radicalism,
+          the wide benevolence which spoke in the declaration and were
+          infused into the constitution at the first, have been in
+          good-faith adhered to by the people, and whether now the
+          living principles supply the living forces which sustain and
+          direct government and society. He who doubts needs but to
+          look around to find all things full of the original spirit
+          and testifying to its wisdom and strength.
+
+     Yet that very day in that very city was a large assemblage of
+     women convened to protest against the gross wrongs of their
+     sex--the representatives of twenty millions of citizens of the
+     United States, composing one-half of the population being
+     governed without their consent by the other half, who, by virtue
+     of their superior strength, held the reins of power and
+     tyrannically denied them all representation. At that very meeting
+     at which that polished falsehood was uttered had the women, but
+     shortly before, been denied the privilege of silently presenting
+     their declaration of rights. More forcibly is this mortifying
+     disregard of the claims of women thrust in their faces from the
+     fact that, amid all this magnificent triumph with which the
+     growth of the century was commemorated, amid the protestations of
+     platforms all over the country of the grand success of the
+     principle of equal rights for all, the possibility of the future
+     according equal rights to women as well as to men was, with the
+     exception of one or two praiseworthy instances, as far as reports
+     have reached us, utterly ignored. The women have no
+     country--their rights are disregarded, their appeals ignored,
+     their protests scorned, they are treated as children who do not
+     comprehend their own wants, and as slaves whose crowning duty is
+     obedience.
+
+     Whether, on this great day of national triumph and national
+     aspiration, the possibilities of a better future for women were
+     forgotten; whether, from carelessness, willfulness, or
+     wickedness, their grand services and weary struggles in the past
+     and hopes and aspirations for the future were left entirely out
+     of the account, certain it is that our orators were too much
+     absorbed in the good done by men and for men, to once recur to
+     the valuable aid, self-denying patriotism and lofty virtues of
+     the nation's unrepresented women. There were a few exceptions:
+     Col. Wm. M. Ferry, of Ottawa county, Michigan, in his historical
+     address delivered in that county, July Fourth, took pains to make
+     favorable mention of the daughter of one of the pioneers, as
+     follows:
+
+          Louisa Constant, or "Lisette," as she was called, became her
+          father's clerk when twelve years old, and was as well known
+          for wonderful faculties for business as she was for her
+          personal attractions. In 1828, when Lisette was seventeen
+          years old, her father died. She closed up his business with
+          the British Company, engaged with the American Fur Company,
+          at Mackinaw, receiving from them a large supply of
+          merchandise, and for six years conducted the most successful
+          trading establishment in the northwest.
+
+     Think of it, ye who disparage the ability of woman! This little
+     tribute we record with gratification. Colonel Ferry remembered
+     woman. Henry Ward Beecher, in his oration, delivered at
+     Peekskill, is reported, to have said:
+
+          And now there is but one step more--there is but one step
+          more. We permit the lame, the halt and the blind to go to
+          the ballot-box; we permit the foreigner and the black man,
+          the slave and the freeman, to partake of the suffrage; there
+          is but one thing left out, and that is the mother that
+          taught us, and the wife that is thought worthy to walk side
+          by side with us. It is woman that is put lower than the
+          slave, lower than the ignorant foreigner. She is put among
+          the paupers whom the law won't allow to vote; among the
+          insane whom the law won't allow to vote. But the days are
+          numbered in which this can take place, and she too will
+          vote.
+
+     But these words are followed by others somewhat problematical, at
+     least in the respect rendered to women:
+
+          As in a hundred years suffrage has extended its bounds till
+          it now includes the whole population, in another hundred
+          years everything will vote, unless it be the power of the
+          loom, and the locomotive, and the watch, and I sometimes
+          think, looking at these machines and their performances,
+          that they too ought to vote.
+
+     But Mr. Evarts approached the close of his oration with these
+     words--and may they not be prophetic--may not the orator have
+     spoken with a deeper meaning than he knew?
+
+          With these proud possessions of the past, with powers
+          matured, with principles settled, with habits formed, the
+          nation passes as it were from preparatory growth to
+          responsible development of character and the steady
+          performance of duty. What labors await it, what trials shall
+          attend it, what triumphs for human nature, what glory for
+          itself, are prepared for this people in the coming century,
+          we may not assume to foretell.
+
+     Whether the wise (?) legislators see it or not--whether the
+     undercurrent that is beating to the shore speaks with an
+     utterance that is comprehensible to their heavy apprehensions or
+     not, the coming century has in preparation for the country a
+     truer humanity, a better justice of which the protest and
+     declaration of the fathers pouring its vital current down through
+     the departed century, and surging on into the future, is, to the
+     seeing eye, the sure forerunner, the seed-time, of which the
+     approaching harvest will bring a better fruition for women--and
+     they who scoff now will be compelled to rejoice hereafter. But as
+     Mr. Evarts remarked in his allusions to future centennials:
+
+          By the mere circumstance of this periodicity our generation
+          will be in the minds, in the hearts, on the lips of our
+          countrymen at the next centennial commemoration in
+          comparison with their own character and condition and with
+          the great founders of the nation. What shall they say of us?
+          How shall they estimate the part we bear in the unbroken
+          line of the nation's progress? And so on, in the long reach
+          of time, forever and forever, our place in the secular roll
+          of the ages must always bring us into observation and
+          criticism.
+
+     Shall it then be recorded of us that the demand and the protest
+     of the women were not made in vain? Shall it be told to future
+     generations that the cry for justice, the effort to sunder the
+     shackles with which woman has been oppressed from the dim ages of
+     the past, was heeded? Or, shall it be told of us, in the
+     beginning of this second centennial, that justice has been
+     ignored, that only liberty to men entered at this stage of
+     progress, into the American idea of self-government? Freedom to
+     men and women alike is but a question of time--is America now
+     equal to the great occasion? Has her development expanded to that
+     degree where her legislators can say in very truth, as of the
+     colored man, "Let the oppressed go free"?
+
+The woman's pavilion upon the centennial grounds was an
+after-thought, as theologians claim woman herself to have been.[18]
+The women of the country after having contributed nearly $100,000
+to the centennial stock, found there had been no provision made for
+the separate exhibition of their work. The centennial board, Mrs.
+Gillespie, president, then decided to raise funds for the erection
+of a separate building to be known as the Woman's Pavilion. It
+covered an acre of ground and was erected at an expense of $30,000,
+a small sum in comparison with the money which had been raised by
+women and expended on the other buildings, not to speak of State
+and national appropriations which the taxes levied on them had
+largely helped to swell.
+
+The pavilion was no true exhibit of woman's work. First, few women
+are as yet owners of business which their industry largely makes
+remunerative. Cotton factories in which thousands of women work,
+are owned by men. The shoe business, in some branches of which
+women are doing more than half, is under the ownership of men. Rich
+embroideries from India, rugs of downy softness from Turkey, the
+muslin of Dacca, anciently known as "The Woven Wind," the pottery
+and majolica ware of P. Pipsen's widow, the cartridges and
+envelopes of Uncle Sam, Waltham watches whose finest mechanical
+work is done by women, and ten thousand other industries found no
+place in the pavilion. Said United States Commissioner Meeker,[19]
+of Colorado, "Woman's work comprises three-fourths of the
+exposition; it is scattered through every building; take it away
+and there would be no exposition."
+
+But this pavilion rendered one good service to woman in showing her
+capabilities as an engineer. The boiler which furnished the force
+for running its work was under the management of a young Canadian
+girl, Miss Alison, who from a child loved machinery, spending much
+time in the large saw and grist mills of her father, run by engines
+of two- and three-hundred horse-power, which she sometimes managed
+for amusement. When her name was proposed for running the pavilion
+machinery it brought much opposition. It was said the committee
+would some day find the pavilion blown to atoms; that the woman
+engineer would spend her time reading novels, instead of watching
+the steam gauge; that the idea was impracticable and should not be
+thought of. But Miss Alison soon proved her own capabilities and
+the falseness of these prophecies by taking her place in the
+engine-room and managing its workings with the ease that a child
+spins a top. Six power looms on which women wove carpets, webbing,
+silks, etc., were run by this engine. At a later period the
+printing of _The New Century for Women_, a paper published by the
+centennial commission in the woman's building, was also done by its
+means. Miss Alison declared the work to be more cleanly, more
+pleasant, and infinitely less fatiguing than cooking over a kitchen
+stove. "Since I have been compelled to earn my own livelihood," she
+said, "I have never been engaged in work I liked so well. Teaching
+school is much harder, and one is not paid as well." She expressed
+confidence in her ability to manage the engine of an ocean steamer,
+and said there were thousands of small engines in use in various
+parts of the country, and no reason existed why women should not be
+employed to manage them--following the profession of engineer as a
+regular business--an engine requiring far less attention than is
+given by a nurse-maid or mother to a child.
+
+But to have made the woman's pavilion grandly historic, upon its
+walls should have been hung the yearly protest of Harriet K. Hunt
+against taxation without representation; the legal papers served
+upon the Smith sisters when their Alderny cows were seized and sold
+for their refusal to pay taxes while unrepresented; the papers held
+by the city of Worcester for the forced sale of the house and lands
+of Abby Kelly Foster, the veteran abolitionist, because she refused
+to pay taxes, giving the same reason our ancestors gave when they
+resisted taxation; a model of Bunker Hill monument, its foundation
+laid by Lafayette in 1825, but which remained unfinished nearly
+twenty years until the famous French _danseuse_ Fanny Ellsler, gave
+the proceeds of an exhibition for that purpose. With these should
+have been exhibited framed copies of all the laws bearing unjustly
+upon woman--those which rob her of her name, her earnings, her
+property, her children, her person; also, the legal papers in the
+case of Susan B. Anthony, who was tried and fined for seeking to
+give consent to the laws which governed her; and the decision of
+Mr. Justice Miller (Chief-Justice Chase dissenting) in the case of
+Myra Bradwell, denying national protection for woman's civil
+rights; and the later decision of Chief-Justice Waite of the
+Supreme Court against Virginia L. Minor, denying to women national
+protection for their political rights, decisions in favor of
+state-rights which imperil the liberties not only of all women, but
+of every white man in the nation.
+
+Woman's most fitting contributions to the centennial exposition
+would have been these protests, laws and decisions which show her
+political slavery. But all this was left for rooms outside of the
+centennial grounds, upon Chestnut street, where the National Woman
+Suffrage Association hoisted its flag, made its protests, and wrote
+the Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States.
+
+To many thoughtful people it seemed captious and unreasonable for
+women to complain of injustice in this free land, amidst such
+universal rejoicings. When the majority of women are seemingly
+happy, it is natural to suppose that the discontent of the minority
+is the result of their unfortunate individual idiosyncrasies, and
+not of adverse influences in their established conditions.
+
+But the history of the world shows that the vast majority in every
+generation passively accept the conditions into which they are
+born, while those who demand larger liberties are ever a small,
+ostracised minority whose claims are ridiculed and ignored. From
+our stand-point we honor the Chinese women who claim the right to
+their feet and powers of locomotion, the Hindoo widows who refuse
+to ascend the funeral pyre of their husbands, the Turkish women who
+throw off their masks and veils and leave the harem, the Mormon
+women who abjure their faith and demand monogamic relations; why
+not equally honor the intelligent minority of American women who
+protest against the artificial disabilities by which their freedom
+is limited and their development arrested? That only a few under
+any circumstances protest against the injustice of long established
+laws and customs does not disprove the fact of the oppressions,
+while the satisfaction of the many, if real, only proves their
+apathy and deeper degradation. That a majority of the women of the
+United States accept without protest the disabilities that grow out
+of their disfranchisement, is simply an evidence of their ignorance
+and cowardice, while the minority who demand a higher political
+status clearly prove their superior intelligence and wisdom.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Some suggested that the women in their various towns and
+cities, draped in black, should march in solemn procession, bells
+slowly tolling, bearing banners with the inscriptions: "Taxation
+without representation is tyranny," "No just government can be
+formed without the consent of the governed," "They who have no
+voice in the laws and rulers are in a condition of slavery."
+
+Others suggested that instead of women wearing crape during the
+centennial glorification, the men should sit down in sackcloth and
+ashes, in humiliation of spirit, as those who repented in olden
+times were wont to do. The best centennial celebration, said they,
+for the men of the United States, the one to cover them with glory,
+would be to extend to the women of the nation all the rights,
+privileges and immunities that they themselves enjoy.
+
+Others proposed that women should monopolize the day, have their
+own celebrations, read their own declarations and protests
+demanding justice, liberty and equality. The latter suggestion was
+extensively adopted, and the Fourth of July, 1876, was remarkable
+for the large number of women who were "the orators of the day" in
+their respective localities.
+
+[2] Letters were read from the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, of
+Georgia; William J. Fowler, of Rochester, N. Y.; Isabella Beecher
+Hooker, of Connecticut, and Susan B. Anthony.
+
+[3] News of the cannonade of Boston had been received the day
+previous.
+
+[4] Though thus discourteously refused to an association to secure
+equality of rights for women, it was subsequently rented to "The
+International Peace Association."
+
+[5] _President_--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenafly, New Jersey.
+
+_Vice-Presidents_--Lucretia Mott, Pa.; Ernestine L. Rose, England;
+Paulina Wright Davis, R. I.; Clarina I. H. Nichols, Cal.; Amelia
+Bloomer, Iowa; Mathilde Franceska Anneke, Wis.; Virginia L. Minor,
+Mo.; Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Mich.; Julia and Abby Smith, Conn.;
+Abby P. Ela, N. H.; Mrs. W. H. H. Murray, Mass.; Ann T. Greely,
+Me.; Eliza D. Stewart, Ohio; Mary Hamilton Williams, Ind.;
+Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Ill.; Sarah Burger Stearns, Minn.; Ada
+W. Lucas, Neb.; Helen E. Starrett, Kan.; Ann L. Quinby, Ky.;
+Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, Tenn.; Mrs. L. C. Locke, Texas; Emily
+P. Collins, La.; Mary J. Spaulding, Ga.; Mrs. P. Holmes, Drake,
+Ala.; Flora M. Wright, Fla.; Frances Annie Pillsbury, S. C.;
+Cynthia Anthony, N. C.; Carrie F. Putnam, Va.; Anna Ella Carroll,
+Md.; Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon; Hannah H. Clapp, Nevada; Dr.
+Alida C. Avery, Col.; Mary Olney Brown, Wash. Ter.; Esther A.
+Morris, Wyoming Ter.; Annie Godbe, Utah.
+
+_Advisory Committee_--Sarah Pugh, Pa.; Isabella Beecher Hooker,
+Conn.; Charlotte B. Wilbour, N. Y.; Mary J. Channing, R. I.;
+Elizabeth B. Schenck, Cal.; Judith Ellen Foster, Iowa; Lavinia
+Goodell, Wis.; Annie R. Irvine, Mo.; Marian Bliss, Mich.; Mary B.
+Moses, N. H.; Sarah A. Vibbart, Mass.; Lucy A. Snowe, Me.; Marilla
+M. Ricker, N. H.; Mary Madden, Ohio; Emma Molloy, Ind.; Cynthia A.
+Leonard, Ill.; Mrs. Dr. Stewart, Minn.; Julia Brown Bemis, Neb.;
+Mrs. N. H. Cramer, Tenn.; Mrs. W. V. Tunstall, Tex.; Mrs. A.
+Millspaugh, La.; Hannah M. Rogers, Fla.; Sally Holly, Va.; Sallie
+W. Hardcastle, Md.; Mary P. Sautelle, Oregon; Mary F. Shields,
+Col.; Amelia Giddings, Wash. Ter.; Amalia B. Post, Wyoming Ter.
+
+_Corresponding Secretaries_--Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y.;
+Laura Curtis Bullard, New York; Jane Graham Jones, Chicago, Ill.
+
+_Recording Secretary_--Lillie Devereux Blake, New York.
+
+_Treasurer_--Ellen Clark Sargent, Washington, D. C.
+
+_Executive Committee_--Matilda Joslyn Gage, Fayetteville, N. Y.;
+Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., Elizabeth B. Phelps, Mathilde F. Wendt,
+Phebe H. Jones, New York; Rev. Olympia Brown, Connecticut; Sarah R.
+L. Williams, Ohio; M. Adeline Thomson, Pennsylvania; Henrietta
+Payne Westbrook, Pennsylvania; Nancy R. Allen, Iowa.
+
+[6] _1876 Campaign Committee_--Susan B. Anthony, N. Y.; Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, N. Y.; Phoebe W. Couzins, Mo.; Rev. Olympia Brown,
+Conn.; Jane Graham Jones, Ill.; Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon;
+Laura De Force Gordon, Cal.; Annie C. Savery, Iowa.
+
+[7] _Resident Congressional Committee_--Sara Andrews Spencer, Ellen
+Clark Sargent, Ruth Carr Denison, Belva A. Lockwood, Mrs. E. D. E.
+N. Southworth.
+
+[8] Among those who took part in the discussions were Dr. Clemence
+Lozier, Susan B. Anthony, Helen M. Slocum, Sarah Goodyear, Helen M.
+Cook, Abby and Julia Smith, Sara Andrews Spencer, Miss Charlotte
+Ray, Lillie Devereux Blake and Matilda Joslyn Gage.
+
+[9] Letters were written to these conventions from different
+States. Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans, La.; Elizabeth A.
+Meriwether, Memphis, Tenn.; Mrs. Margaret V. Longley, Cincinnati,
+O., all making eloquent appeals for some consideration of the
+political rights of women.
+
+[10] Mrs. Mott, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Gage, and Mrs. Spencer.
+
+[11] On the receipt of these letters a prolonged council was held
+by the officers of the association at their headquarters, as to
+what action they should take on the Fourth of July. Mrs. Mott and
+Mrs. Stanton decided for themselves that after these rebuffs they
+would not even sit on the platform, but at the appointed time go to
+the church they had engaged for a meeting, and open their
+convention. Others more brave and determined insisted that women
+had an equal right to the glory of the day and the freedom of the
+platform, and decided to take the risk of a public insult in order
+to present the woman's declaration and thus make it an historic
+document.--[E.C.S.
+
+[12] During the reading of the declaration to an immense concourse
+of people, Mrs. Gage stood beside Miss Anthony, and held an
+umbrella over her head, to shelter her friend from the intense heat
+of the noonday sun; and thus in the same hour, on opposite sides of
+old Independence Hall, did the men and women express their opinions
+on the great principles proclaimed on the natal day of the
+republic. The declaration was handsomely framed and now hangs in
+the vice-president's room in the capitol at Washington.
+
+[13] This document was signed by Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady
+Stanton, Paulina Wright Davis, Ernestine L. Rose, Clarina I. H.
+Nichols, Mary Ann McClintock, Mathilde Franceska Anneke, Sarah
+Pugh, Amy Post, Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, Clemence S. Lozier, Olympia Brown, Mathilde F. Wendt,
+Adleline Thomson, Ellen Clark Sargent, Virginia L. Minor, Catherine
+V. Waite, Elizabeth B. Schenck, Phoebe W. Couzins, Elizabeth
+Boynton Harbert, Laura De Force Gordon, Sara Andrews Spencer,
+Lillie Devereux Blake, Jane Graham Jones, Abigail Scott Duniway,
+Belva A. Lockwood, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Sarah L. Williams, Abby
+P. Ela.
+
+[14]
+
+    One hundred years hence, what a change will be made,
+    In politics, morals, religion and trade,
+    In statesmen who wrangle or ride on the fence,
+    These things will be altered _a hundred years hence_.
+
+    Our laws then will be uncompulsory rules,
+    Our prisons converted to national schools.
+    The pleasure of sinning 'tis all a pretense,
+    And the people will find it so, _a hundred years hence_.
+
+    Lying, cheating and fraud will be laid on the shelf,
+    Men will neither get drunk, nor be bound up in self,
+    But all live together, good neighbors and friends,
+    Just as _Christian folks_ ought to, _a hundred years hence_.
+
+    Then woman, man's partner, man's equal shall stand,
+    While beauty and harmony govern the land,
+    To think for oneself will be no offense,
+    The world will be thinking _a hundred years hence_.
+
+    Oppression and war will be heard of no more,
+    Nor the blood of a slave leave his print on our shore,
+    Conventions will then be a useless expense,
+    For we'll all go _free-suffrage a hundred years hence_.
+
+    Instead of speech-making to satisfy wrong,
+    All will join the glad chorus to sing Freedom's song;
+    And if the Millenium is not a pretense,
+    We'll all be good brothers _a hundred years hence_.
+
+This song was written in 1852, at Cleveland, Ohio, by Frances Dana
+Gage, expressly for John W. Hutchinson. Several of the friends were
+staying with Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, on their way to the Akron
+convention, where it was first sung.
+
+[15] Protests and declarations were read by Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert, in Evanston, Ill.; Sarah L. Knox, California; Mrs. Rosa L.
+Segur, Toledo, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Olney Brown, Olympia, Washington
+territory; Mrs. Henrietta Paine Westbrook, New York city. In
+Maquoketa, Iowa; Mrs. Nancy R. Allen read the declaration at the
+regular county celebration. Madam Anneke, Wis.; Elizabeth Avery
+Meriwether, Tenn.; Lucinda B. Chandler, N. J.; Jane E. Telker,
+Iowa; S. P. Abeel, D. C.; Mrs. J. A. Johns, Oregon; Elizabeth Lisle
+Saxon, La.; Mrs. Elsie Stewart, Kan.; and many others impossible to
+name, sent in protests and declarations.
+
+[16] See Appendix.
+
+[17] Henry Hutchinson, the son of John.
+
+[18] A German legend says, God first made a mouse, but seeing he
+had made a mistake he made the cat as an afterthought, therefore if
+woman is God's afterthought, man must be a mistake.
+
+[19] Afterwards killed by the Indians in Colorado.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+NATIONAL CONVENTIONS, HEARINGS AND REPORTS.
+
+1877-1878-1879.
+
+     Renewed Appeal for a Sixteenth Amendment--Mrs. Gage Petitions for
+     Removal of Political Disabilities--Ninth Washington Convention,
+     1877--Jane Grey Swisshelm--Letters, Robert Purvis, Wendell
+     Phillips, Francis E. Abbott--10,000 Petitions Referred to the
+     Committee on Privileges and Elections by Special Request of the
+     Chairman, Hon. O. P. Morton, of Indiana--May Anniversary in New
+     York--Tenth Washington Convention, 1878--Frances E. Willard and
+     30,000 Temperance Women Petition Congress--40,000 Petition for a
+     Sixteenth Amendment--Hearing before the Committee on Privileges
+     and Elections--Madam Dahlgren's Protest--Mrs. Hooker's Hearing on
+     Washington's Birthday--Mary Clemmer's Letter to Senator
+     Wadleigh--His Adverse Report--Favorable Minority Report by
+     Senator Hoar--Thirtieth Anniversary, Unitarian Church, Rochester,
+     N. Y., July 19, 1878--The Last Convention Attended by Lucretia
+     Mott--Letters, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips--Church
+     Resolution Criticised by Rev. Dr. Strong--International Women's
+     Congress in Paris--Washington Convention, 1879--U.S. Supreme
+     Court Opened to Women--May Anniversary at St. Louis--Address of
+     Welcome by Phoebe Couzins--Women in Council Alone--Letter from
+     Josephine Butler, of England--Mrs. Stanton's Letter to _The
+     National Citizen and Ballot-Box_.
+
+
+With the close of the centennial year the new departure under the
+fourteenth amendment ended. Though defeated at the polls, in the
+courts, in the national celebration, in securing a plank in the
+platforms of the Republican and Democratic parties, and in our own
+conventions--so far as the few were able to rouse the many to
+simultaneous action--nevertheless a wide-spread agitation had been
+secured by the presentation of this phase of the question.
+
+Although the unanswerable arguments of statesmen and lawyers in the
+halls of congress and the Supreme Court of the United States, had
+alike proved unavailing in establishing the civil and political
+rights of women on a national basis, their efforts had not been in
+vain. The trials had brought the question before a new order of
+minds, and secured able constitutional arguments which were
+reviewed in many law journals. The equally able congressional
+debates, reported verbatim, read by a large constituency in every
+State of the Union, did an educational work on the question of
+woman's enfranchisement that cannot be overestimated.
+
+But when the final decision of the Supreme Court in the case of
+Virginia L. Minor made all agitation in that direction hopeless,
+the National Association returned to its former policy, demanding a
+sixteenth amendment. The women generally came to the conclusion
+that if in truth there was no protection for them in the original
+constitution nor the late amendments, the time had come for some
+clearly-defined recognition of their citizenship by a sixteenth
+amendment.
+
+The following appeal and petition were extensively circulated:
+
+     _To the Women of the United States:_
+
+     Having celebrated our centennial birthday with a national
+     jubilee, let us now dedicate the dawn of the second century to
+     securing justice to women. For this purpose we ask you to
+     circulate a petition to congress, just issued by the National
+     Association, asking an amendment to the United States
+     Constitution, that shall prohibit the several States from
+     disfranchising citizens on account of sex. We have already sent
+     this petition throughout the country for the signatures of those
+     men and women who believe in the citizen's right to vote.
+
+     To see how large a petition each State rolls up, and to do the
+     work as expeditiously as possible, it is necessary that some
+     person in each county should take the matter in charge, urging
+     upon all, thoroughness and haste. * * * The petitions should be
+     returned before January 16, 17, 1877, when we shall hold our
+     Eighth Annual Convention at the capital, and ask a hearing before
+     congress.
+
+     Having petitioned our law-makers, State and national, for years,
+     many from weariness have vowed to appeal no more; for our
+     petitions, say they, by the tens of thousands, are piled up in
+     the national archives, unheeded and ignored. Yet it is possible
+     to roll up such a mammoth petition, borne into congress on the
+     shoulders of stalwart men, that we can no longer be neglected or
+     forgotten. Statesmen and politicians alike are conquered by
+     majorities. We urge the women of this country to make now the
+     same united effort for their own rights that they did for the
+     slaves at the South when the thirteenth amendment was pending.
+     Then a petition of over 300,000 was rolled up by the leaders of
+     the suffrage movement, and presented in the Senate by the Hon.
+     Charles Sumner. But the statesmen who welcomed woman's untiring
+     efforts to secure the black man's freedom, frowned down the same
+     demands when made for herself. Is not liberty as sweet to her as
+     to him? Are not the political disabilities of sex as grievous as
+     those of color? Is not a civil-rights bill that shall open to
+     woman the college doors, the trades and professions--that shall
+     secure her personal and property rights, as necessary for her
+     protection as for that of the colored man? And yet the highest
+     judicial authorities have decided that the spirit and letter of
+     our national constitution are not broad enough to protect woman
+     in her political rights; and for the redress of her wrongs they
+     remand her to the State. If our _Magna Charta_ of human rights
+     can be thus narrowed by judicial interpretations in favor of
+     class legislation, then must we demand an amendment that, in
+     clear, unmistakable language, shall declare the equality of all
+     citizens before the law.
+
+     Women are citizens, first of the United States, and second of the
+     State wherein they reside; hence, if robbed by State authorities
+     of any right founded in nature or secured by law, they have the
+     same right to national protection against the State, as against
+     the infringements of any foreign power. If the United States
+     government can punish a woman for voting in one State, why has it
+     not the same power to protect her in the exercise of that right
+     in every State? The constitution declares it the duty of congress
+     to guarantee to every State a republican form of government, to
+     every citizen, equality of rights. This is not done in States
+     where women, thoroughly qualified, are denied admission into
+     colleges which their property is taxed to build and endow; where
+     they are denied the right to practice law and are thus debarred
+     from one of the most lucrative professions; where they are denied
+     a voice in the government, and thus, while suffering all the ills
+     that grow out of the giant evils of intemperance, prostitution,
+     war, heavy taxation and political corruption, stand powerless to
+     effect any reform. Prayers, tears, psalm-singing and
+     expostulation are light in the balance compared with that power
+     at the ballot-box that coins opinions into law. If women who are
+     laboring for peace, temperance, social purity and the rights of
+     labor, would take the speediest way to accomplish what they
+     propose, let them demand the ballot in their own hands, that they
+     may have a direct power in the government. Thus only can they
+     improve the conditions of the outside world and purify the home.
+     As political equality is the door to civil, religious and social
+     liberty, here must our work begin.
+
+     Constituting, as we do, one-half the people, bearing the burdens
+     of one-half the national debt, equally responsible with man for
+     the education, religion and morals of the rising generation, let
+     us with united voice send forth a protest against the present
+     political status of woman, that shall echo and reecho through the
+     land. In view of the numbers and character of those making the
+     demand, this should be the largest petition ever yet rolled up in
+     the old world or the new; a petition that shall settle forever
+     the popular objection that "women do not want to vote."
+
+                                  ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, _President._
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Chairman Executive Committee._
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Corresponding Secretary._
+
+
+          _Tenafly, N. J._, November 10, 1876.
+
+          _To the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress
+          assembled:_
+
+          The undersigned citizens of the United States, residents of
+          the State of ----, earnestly pray your honorable bodies to
+          adopt measures for so amending the constitution as to
+          prohibit the several States from disfranchising United
+          States citizens on account of sex.
+
+In addition to the general petition asking for a sixteenth
+amendment, Matilda Joslyn Gage, this year (1877) sent an individual
+petition, similar in form to those offered by disfranchised male
+citizens, asking to be relieved from her political disabilities.
+This petition was presented by Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, of the
+House of Representatives, member from the thirty-third New York
+congressional district. It read as follows:
+
+     _To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
+     in Congress assembled:_
+
+     Matilda Joslyn Gage, a native born citizen of the United States,
+     and of the State of New York, wherein she resides, most earnestly
+     petitions your honorable body for the removal of her political
+     disabilities and that she may be declared invested with full
+     power to exercise her right of self government at the ballot-box,
+     all State constitutions, or statute laws to the contrary
+     notwithstanding.
+
+The above petition was presented January 24, and the following bill
+introduced February 5:
+
+     AN ACT _to relieve the political disabilities of Matilda Joslyn
+     Gage_:
+
+     Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+     United States of America in congress assembled, that all
+     political disabilities heretofore existing in reference to
+     Matilda Joslyn Gage, of Fayetteville, Onondaga county, State of
+     New York, be removed and she be declared a citizen of the United
+     States, clothed with all the political rights and powers of
+     citizenship, namely: the right to vote and to hold office to the
+     same extent and in the same degree that male citizens enjoy these
+     rights. This act to take effect immediately.
+
+The following year a large number of similar petitions were sent
+from different parts of the country, the National Association
+distributing printed forms to its members in the various States.
+The power of congress to thus enfranchise women upon their
+individual petitions is as undoubted as the power to grant
+individual amnesty, to remove the political disabilities of men
+disfranchised for crime against United States laws, or to clothe
+foreigners, honorably discharged from the army, with the ballot.
+
+The first convention[20] after the all-engrossing events of the
+centennial celebration assembled in Lincoln Hall, Washington,
+January 16, with a good array of speakers, Mrs. Stanton presiding.
+After an inspiring song by the Hutchinsons and reports from the
+various States, Sara Andrews Spencer, chairman of the congressional
+committee, gave some encouraging facts in regard to the large
+number of petitions being presented to congress daily, and read
+many interesting letters from those who had been active in their
+circulation. Over 10,000 were presented during this last session of
+the forty-fourth congress. At the special request of the chairman,
+Senator Morton of Indiana, they were referred to the Committee on
+Privileges and Elections; heretofore they had always been placed in
+the hands of the Judiciary Committee in both Senate and House. A
+list of committees[21] was reported by Mrs. Gage which was adopted.
+Mrs. Swisshelm of Pennsylvania, was introduced. She said:
+
+     In 1846 she inherited an estate from her parents, and then she
+     learned the injustice of the husband holding the wife's property.
+     In 1848, however, she got a law passed giving equal rights to
+     both men and women, and everybody decried her for the injury she
+     had done to all homes by thus throwing the apple of discord into
+     families. So in Pennsylvania women now hold property absolutely,
+     and can sell without the consent of the husband. But actually no
+     woman is free. As in the days of slavery the master owned the
+     services, not the body of his slaves, so it is with the wife. The
+     husband owns the services and all that can be earned by his wife.
+     It is quite possible, as things now stand, to legislate a woman
+     out of her home, and yet she cooks, and bakes, and works, and
+     saves, but it all belongs to the man, and if she dies the second
+     wife gets it all, for she always manages him. The extravagance of
+     dress is due alone to-day to the fact that from what woman saves
+     in her own expenses and those of her house she gets no benefit at
+     all, nor do her children, for it goes to the second wife, who,
+     perhaps, turns the children out of doors.
+
+The resolutions called out a prolonged discussion, especially the
+one on compulsory education, and that finally passed with a few
+dissenting voices:
+
+     WHEREAS one-half of the citizens of the republic being
+     disfranchised are everywhere subjects of legislative caprice, and
+     may be anywhere robbed of their most sacred rights; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the duty of the Congress of the United
+     States to submit a proposition for a sixteenth amendment to the
+     national constitution prohibiting the several States from
+     disfranchising citizens on account of sex.
+
+     WHEREAS a monarchial government lives only through the ignorance
+     of the masses, and a republican government can live only through
+     the intelligence of the people; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the duty of Congress to submit to the
+     State legislatures propositions to so amend the Constitution of
+     the United States as to make education compulsory, and to make
+     intelligence a qualification for citizenship and suffrage in the
+     United States; said amendments to take effect January 1, 1880,
+     when all citizens of legal age, without distinction of sex, who
+     can read and write the English language, may be admitted to
+     citizenship.
+
+     WHEREAS a century of experience has proven that the safety and
+     stability of free institutions and the protection of all United
+     States citizens in the exercise of their inalienable rights and
+     the proper expression of the will of the whole people, are not
+     guaranteed by the present form of the Constitution of the United
+     States; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the duty of the several States to call a
+     national convention to revise the Constitution of the United
+     States, which, notwithstanding its fifteen amendments, does not
+     establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the
+     general welfare, nor secure the blessings of liberty to us and to
+     our posterity.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the thanks of the women of this nation are due
+     to the Rev. Isaac M. See, of the Presbytery of Newark, for his
+     noble stand in behalf of woman's right to preach.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the action of the Presbytery of Newark in
+     condemning the Rev. I. M. See for his liberal course is an
+     indication of the tyranny of the clergy over the consciences of
+     women, and a determination to fetter the spirit of freedom.
+
+Among the many letters to the convention we give the following:
+
+
+                                   BOSTON, 16th January, 1877.
+
+     DEAR FRIEND: These lines will not reach you in time to be of use.
+     I am sorry. But absence and cares must apologize for me. I think
+     you are on the right track--the best method to agitate the
+     question; and I am with you. I mean always to help everywhere and
+     every one.
+
+                                             WENDELL PHILLIPS.
+     Miss ANTHONY.
+
+
+                              MANCHESTER, Eng., January 3, 1877.
+
+     MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: It is with great pleasure that I write a
+     word of sympathy and encouragement, on the occasion of your Ninth
+     Annual Convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
+
+     Beyond wishing you a successful gathering, I will say nothing
+     about the movement in the United States. Women of either country
+     can do nothing directly in promoting the movement in the other;
+     and if they attempt to do so, there is danger that they may
+     hinder and embarrass those who are bearing the burden and heat of
+     the day. The only way in which mutual help can be given is
+     through the women of each nation working to gain ground in their
+     own country. Then, every step so gained, every actual advance of
+     the boundaries of civil and political rights for women is a gain,
+     not only to the country which has secured it, but to the cause of
+     human freedom all over the world.
+
+     This year marks the decennial of the movement in the United
+     Kingdom. In the current number of our journal, there is a sketch
+     of the political history of the movement here, which I commend to
+     the attention of your convention, and which I need not repeat.
+     The record will be seen to be one of great and rapid advance in
+     the political rights of women, but there has been an equally
+     marked change in other directions; women's interests in
+     education, and women's questions generally, are treated now with
+     much more respectful consideration than they were ten years ago.
+     We are gratified in believing that much of this consideration is
+     due to the attention roused by our energetic and persistent
+     demand for the suffrage, and in believing that infinitely greater
+     benefits of the same kind will accrue when women shall be in
+     possession of the franchise. Beyond the material gains in
+     legislation, we find a general improvement in the tone of feeling
+     and thought toward women--an approach, indeed, to the sentiment
+     recently expressed by Victor Hugo, that as man was the problem of
+     the eighteenth century, woman is the problem of the nineteenth
+     century. May our efforts to solve this problem lead to a happy
+     issue.
+
+                                   Yours truly,
+                                             LYDIA E. BECKER.
+
+
+                                   BOSTON, Mass., January 10, 1877.
+
+     DEAR MRS. STANTON: It is with some little pain, I confess, that I
+     accept your very courteous invitation to write a letter for your
+     Washington convention on the 19th instant; for what I must say,
+     if I say anything at all, is what I know will be very
+     unacceptable--I fear very displeasing--to the majority of those
+     to whom you will read it. If you conclude that my letter will
+     obstruct, and not facilitate the advancement of the cause you
+     have so faithfully labored for these many years, you have my most
+     cheerful consent to deliver it over to that general asylum of
+     profitless productions--the waste-basket.
+
+     Running this risk, however, I have this brief message to send to
+     those who now meet on behalf of woman's full recognition as
+     politically the equal of man, namely: that every woman suffragist
+     who upholds Christianity, tears down with one hand what she seeks
+     to build up with the other--that the Bible sanctions the slavery
+     principle itself, and applies it to woman as the divinely
+     ordained subordinate of man--and that by making herself the great
+     support and mainstay of instituted Christianity, woman rivets the
+     chain of superstition on her own soul and on man's soul alike,
+     and justifies him in obeying this religion by keeping her in
+     subjection to himself. If Christianity and the Bible are true,
+     woman is man's servant, and ought to be. The Bible gave to
+     negro-slavery its most terrible power--that of summoning the
+     consciences of the Christians to its defense; and the Bible gives
+     to woman-slavery the same terrible power. So plain is this to me
+     that I take it as a mere matter of course, when all the eloquence
+     of the woman-suffrage platform fails to arouse the Christian
+     women of this country to a proper assertion of their rights. What
+     else could one expect? Women will remain contented subjects and
+     subordinates just so long as they remain devoted believers in
+     Christianity; and no amount of argument, or appeal, or agitation
+     can change this fact. If you cannot educate women as a whole out
+     of Christianity, you cannot educate them as a whole into the
+     demand for equal rights.
+
+     The reason of this is short: Christianity teaches the rights of
+     God, not the rights of man or woman. You may search the Bible
+     from Genesis to Revelations, and not find one clear, strong, bold
+     affirmation of _human rights as such_; yet it is on human rights
+     as such--on the equality of all individuals, man or woman, with
+     respect to natural rights--that the demand for woman suffrage
+     must ultimately rest. I know I stand nearly alone in this, but I
+     believe from my soul that the woman movement is fundamentally
+     _anti-Christian_, and can find no deep justification but in the
+     ideas, the spirit, and the faith of free religion. Until women
+     come to see this too, and to give their united influence to this
+     latter faith, political power in their hands would destroy even
+     that measure of liberty which free-thinkers of both sexes have
+     painfully established by the sacrifices of many generations. Yet
+     I should vote for woman suffrage all the same, because it is
+     woman's right.
+
+                              Yours very cordially,
+                                                FRANCIS E. ABBOT.
+
+
+                                   WASHINGTON, D. C., January 16, 1877.
+
+     MY DEAR FRIENDS: I thank you for your generous recognition of me
+     as an humble co-worker in the cause of equal rights, and regret
+     deeply my inability to be present at this anniversary of your
+     association. I tender to you, however, my hearty congratulations
+     on the marked progress of our cause. Wherever I have been, and
+     with whomsoever I have talked, making equal rights invariably the
+     subject, I find no opposing feeling to the simple and just
+     demands we make for our cause. The chief difficulty in the way is
+     the indifference of the people; they need an awakening. Some
+     Stephen S. Foster or Anna Dickinson should come forward, and with
+     their thunder and lightning, arouse the people from their deadly
+     apathy. I am glad to know that you are to have with you our
+     valued friend, E. M. Davis, of Philadelphia. We are indebted to
+     him more than all besides for whatever of life is found in the
+     movement in Pennsylvania. He has spared neither time, money, nor
+     personal efforts. Hoping you will have abundant success, I am,
+     dear friends, with you and the cause for which you have so nobly
+     labored, a humble and sincere worker.
+
+                                             ROBERT PURVIS.
+
+
+                                   OAKLAND, Cal., January 9, 1877.
+
+     _To the National Suffrage Convention, Washington, D. C.:_
+
+     Our incorporated State society has deputed Mrs. Ellen Clark
+     Sargent, the wife of Hon. A. A. Sargent, our fearless champion in
+     the United States Senate, to represent the women of California in
+     your National Convention, and with one so faithful and earnest,
+     we know our cause will be well represented; but there are many
+     among us who would gladly have journeyed to Washington to
+     participate in your councils. Many and radical changes have taken
+     place in the past year favorable to our sex, not the least of
+     which was the nomination and election of several women to the
+     office of county superintendent of common schools, by both the
+     Democratic and Republican parties, in which, however, the
+     Democrats led. Important changes in the civil code favorable to
+     the control of property by married women, have been made by the
+     legislatures during the last four years, through the untiring
+     efforts of Mrs. Sarah Wallis, Mrs. Knox and Mrs. Watson, of Santa
+     Clara county. In our schools and colleges, in every avenue of
+     industry, and in the general liberalization of public opinion
+     there has been marked improvement.
+
+                    Yours very truly,
+                        LAURA DEFORCE GORDON,
+                            _Pres. California W. S. S._ (Incorporated).
+
+Mrs. Stanton's letter to _The Ballot-Box_ briefly sums up the
+proceedings of the convention:
+
+                                   TENAFLY, N. J., January 24, 1877.
+
+     DEAR EDITOR: If the little _Ballot-Box_ is not already stuffed to
+     repletion with reports from Washington, I crave a little space to
+     tell your readers that the convention was in all points
+     successful. Lincoln Hall, which seats about fifteen hundred
+     people, was crowded every session. The speaking was good, order
+     reigned, no heart-burnings behind the scenes, and the press
+     vouchsafed "respectful consideration."
+
+     The resolutions you will find more interesting and suggestive
+     than that kind of literature usually is, and I ask especial
+     attention to the one for a national convention to revise the
+     constitution, which, with all its amendments, is like a kite with
+     a tail of infinite length still to be lengthened. It is evident a
+     century of experience has so liberalized the minds of the
+     American people, that they have outgrown the constitution adapted
+     to the men of 1776. It is a monarchial document with republican
+     ideas engrafted in it, full of compromises between antagonistic
+     principles. An American statesman remarked that "The civil war
+     was fought to expound the constitution on the question of
+     slavery." Expensive expounding! Instead of further amending and
+     expounding, the real work at the dawn of our second century is to
+     make a new one. Again, I ask the attention of our women to the
+     educational resolution. After much thought it seems to me we
+     should have education compulsory in every State of the Union, and
+     make it the basis of suffrage, a national law, requiring that
+     those who vote after 1880 must be able to read and write the
+     English language. This would prevent ignorant foreigners voting
+     in six months after landing on our shores, and stimulate our
+     native population to higher intelligence. It would dignify and
+     purify the ballot-box and add safety and stability to our free
+     institutions. Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm, who had just returned
+     from Europe, attended the convention, and spoke on this subject.
+
+     Belva A. Lockwood, who had recently been denied admission to the
+     Supreme Court of the United States, although a lawyer in good
+     practice for three years in the Supreme Court of the District,
+     made a very scathing speech, reviewing the decision of the Court.
+     It may seem to your disfranchised readers quite presumptuous for
+     one of their number to make those nine wise men on the bench,
+     constituting the highest judicial authority in the United States,
+     subjects for ridicule before an audience of the sovereign people;
+     but, when they learn the decision in Mrs. Lockwood's case, they
+     will be reassured as to woman's capacity to cope with their
+     wisdom. "To arrive at the same conclusion, with these judges, it
+     is not necessary," said Mrs. Lockwood, "to understand
+     constitutional law, nor the history of English jurisprudence, nor
+     the inductive or deductive modes of reasoning, as no such
+     profound learning or processes of thought were involved in that
+     decision, which was simply this: 'There is no precedent for
+     admitting a woman to practice in the Supreme Court of the United
+     States, hence Mrs. Lockwood's application cannot be considered.'"
+
+     On this point Mrs. Lockwood showed that it was the glory of each
+     generation to make its own precedents. As there was none for Eve
+     in the garden of Eden, she argued there need be none for her
+     daughters on entering the college, the church, or the courts.
+     Blackstone--of whose works she inferred the judges were
+     ignorant--gives several precedents for women in the English
+     courts. As Mrs. Lockwood--tall, well-proportioned, with dark hair
+     and eyes, regular features, in velvet dress and train, with
+     becoming indignation at such injustice--marched up and down the
+     platform and rounded out her glowing periods, she might have
+     fairly represented the Italian Portia at the bar of Venice. No
+     more effective speech was ever made on our platform.
+
+     Matilda Joslyn Gage, whose speeches are always replete with
+     historical research, reviewed the action of the Republican party
+     toward woman from the introduction of the word "male" into the
+     fourteenth amendment of the constitution down to the celebration
+     of our national birthday in Philadelphia, when the declaration of
+     the mothers was received in contemptuous silence, while Dom Pedro
+     and other foreign dignitaries looked calmly on. Mrs. Gage makes
+     as dark a chapter for the Republicans as Mrs. Lockwood for the
+     judiciary, or Mrs. Blake for the church. Mrs. B. had been an
+     attentive listener during the trial of the Rev. Isaac See before
+     the presbytery of Newark, N. J., hence she felt moved to give the
+     convention a chapter of ecclesiastical history, showing the
+     struggles through which the church was passing with the
+     irrepressible woman in the pulpit. Mrs. Blake's biblical
+     interpretations and expositions proved conclusively that Scott's
+     and Clark's commentaries would at no distant day be superceded by
+     standard works from woman's standpoint. It is not to be supposed
+     that women ever can have fair play as long as men only write and
+     interpret the Scriptures and make and expound the laws. Why would
+     it not be a good idea for women to leave these conservative
+     gentlemen alone in the churches? How sombre they would look with
+     the flowers, feathers, bright ribbons and shawls all gone--black
+     coats only kneeling and standing--and with the deep-toned organ
+     swelling up, the solemn bass voice heard only in awful solitude;
+     not one soprano note to rise above the low, dull wail to fill the
+     arched roof with triumphant melody! One such experiment from
+     Maine to California would bring these bigoted presbyteries to
+     their senses.
+
+     Miss Phoebe Couzins, too, was at the convention, and gave her new
+     lecture, "A Woman without a Country," in which she shows all that
+     woman has done--from fitting out ships for Columbus, to sharing
+     the toils of the great exposition--without a place of honor in
+     the republic for the living, or a statue to the memory of the
+     dead. Hon. A. G. Riddle and Francis Miller spoke ably and
+     eloquently as usual; the former on the sixteenth amendment and
+     the presidential aspect, modestly suggesting that if twenty
+     million women had voted, they might have been able to find out
+     for whom the majority had cast their ballots. Mr. Miller
+     recommended State action, advising us to concentrate our forces
+     in Colorado as a shorter way to success than constitutional
+     amendments.
+
+     His speech aroused Susan B. Anthony to the boiling point; for, if
+     there is anything that exasperates her, it is to be remanded, as
+     she says, to John Morrissey's constituency for her rights. She
+     contends that if the United States authority could punish her for
+     voting in the State of New York, it has the same power to protect
+     her there in the exercise of that right. Moreover, she said, we
+     have two wings to our movement. The American Association is
+     trying the popular-vote method. The National Association is
+     trying the constitutional method, which has emancipated and
+     enfranchised the African and secured to that race all their civil
+     rights. To-day by this method they are in the courts, the
+     colleges, and the halls of legislation in every State in the
+     Union, while we have puttered with State rights for thirty years
+     without a foothold anywhere, except in the territories, and it is
+     now proposed to rob the women of their rights in those
+     localities. As the two methods do not conflict, and what is done
+     in the several States tells on the nation, and what is done by
+     congress reacts again on the States, it must be a good thing to
+     keep up both kinds of agitation.
+
+     In the middle of November the National Association sent out
+     thousands of petitions and appeals for the sixteenth amendment,
+     which were published and commented on extensively by the press in
+     every State in the Union. Early in January they began to pour
+     into Washington at the rate of a thousand a day, coming from
+     twenty-six different States. It does not require much wisdom to
+     see that when these petitions were placed in the hands of the
+     representatives of their States, a great educational work was
+     accomplished at Washington, and public sentiment there has its
+     legitimate effect throughout the country, as well as that already
+     accomplished in the rural districts by the slower process of
+     circulating and signing the petitions. The present uncertain
+     position of men and parties, has made politicians more ready to
+     listen to the demands of their constituents, and never has woman
+     suffrage been treated with more courtesy in Washington.
+
+     To Sara Andrews Spencer we are indebted, for the great labor of
+     receiving, assorting, counting, rolling-up and planning the
+     presentation of the petitions. It was by a well considered _coup
+     d'etat_ that, with her brave coadjutors, she appeared on the
+     floor of the House at the moment of adjournment, and there,
+     without circumlocution, gave each member a petition from his own
+     State. Even Miss Anthony, always calm in the hour of danger, on
+     finding herself suddenly whisked into those sacred enclosures,
+     amid a crowd of stalwart men, spittoons, and scrap-baskets, when
+     brought _vis-a-vis_ with our champion, Mr. Hoar, hastily
+     apologized for the intrusion, to which the honorable gentleman
+     promptly replied, "I hope, Madam, yet to see you on this floor,
+     in your own right, and in business hours too." Then and there the
+     work of the next day was agreed on, the members gladly accepting
+     the petitions. As you have already seen, Mr. Hoar made the motion
+     for the special order, which was carried and the petitions
+     presented. Your readers will be glad to know, that Mr. Hoar has
+     just been chosen, by Massachusetts, as her next senator--that
+     gives us another champion in the Senate. As there are many
+     petitions still in circulation, urge your readers to keep sending
+     them until the close of the session, as we want to know how many
+     women are in earnest on this question. It is constantly said,
+     "Women do not want to vote." Ten thousand told our
+     representatives at Washington in a single day that they did! What
+     answer?
+
+                         Yours sincerely,    ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
+
+The press commented as follows:
+
+     SIXTEENTH AMENDMENT.--The woman suffragists, who had a benefit in
+     the House of Representatives, on Friday, when their petitions
+     were presented, transferred their affections to the Senate on
+     Saturday to witness the presentation of a large number of
+     petitions in that body. It is impossible to tell whether the
+     results desired by the women will follow this concerted action,
+     but it is certain that they have their forces better organized
+     this year than they ever had before, and they have gone to work
+     on a more systematic plan.--[_National Republican._
+
+     SIXTEENTH AMENDMENT IN THE SENATE--THE TEN THOUSAND PETITIONERS
+     ROYALLY TREATED.--That women will, by voting, lose nothing of
+     man's courteous, chivalric attention and respect is admirably
+     proven by the manner in which both houses of congress, in the
+     midst of the most anxious and perplexing presidential conflict in
+     our history, received their appeals from twenty-three States for
+     a sixteenth amendment protecting the rights of women.
+
+     In both houses, by unanimous consent, the petitions were
+     presented and read in open session. The speaker of the House
+     gallantly prepared the way yesterday, and the most prominent
+     senators to-day improved the occasion by impressing upon the
+     Senate the importance of the question. Mr. Sargent reminded the
+     senators that there were forty thousand more votes for woman
+     suffrage in Michigan than for the new State constitution, and Mr.
+     Dawes said, upon presenting the petition from Massachusetts, that
+     the question was attracting the attention of both political
+     parties in that State, and he commended it to the early and
+     earnest consideration of the Senate. Mr. Cockrell of Missouri,
+     merrily declared that his petitioners were the most beautiful and
+     accomplished daughters of the State, which of course he felt
+     compelled to do when Miss Couzins' bright eyes were watching the
+     proceedings from the gallery. Mr. Cameron of Pennsylvania,
+     suggested that it would have been better to put them all together
+     and not consume the time of the Senate with so many
+     presentations.
+
+     The officers of the National Woman Suffrage Association held a
+     caucus after the adjournment of the Senate, and decided to thank
+     Mr. Cameron for his suggestion, and while they had no anxiety
+     lest senators should consume too much time attending to the
+     interests of women whom they claim to represent, and might
+     reasonably anticipate that ten millions of disfranchised citizens
+     would trouble them considerably with petitions while this
+     injustice continued, yet they would promptly adopt the senator's
+     counsel and roll up such a mammoth petition as the Senate had not
+     yet seen from the thousands of women who had no opportunity to
+     sign these. Accordingly they immediately prepared the
+     announcement for the friends of woman suffrage to send on their
+     names to the chairman of the congressional committee. They
+     naturally feel greatly encouraged by the evident interest of both
+     parties in the proposed sixteenth amendment, and will work with
+     renewed strength to secure the cooeperation of the women of the
+     country.--[_Washington Star._
+
+     The time has evidently arrived when demands for a recognition of
+     the personal, civil and political rights of
+     one-half--unquestionably the better half--of the people cannot be
+     laughed down or sneered down, and recent indications are that
+     they cannot much longer be voted down. It was quite clear on
+     Friday and Saturday, when petitions from the best citizens of
+     twenty-three States were presented in House and Senate, that the
+     leaders of the two political parties vied with each other in
+     doing honor to the grave subject proposed for their
+     consideration. The speaker of the House set a commendable example
+     of courtesy to women by proposing that the petitions be delivered
+     in open House, to which there was no objection. The early
+     advocates of equal rights for women--Hoar, Kelley, Banks, Kasson,
+     Lawrence, and Lapham--were, if possible, surpassed in courtesy by
+     those who are not committed, but are beginning to see that a
+     finer element in the body politic would clear the vision, purify
+     the atmosphere and help to settle many vexed questions on the
+     basis of exact and equal justice.
+
+     In the Senate the unprecedented courtesy was extended to women of
+     half an hour's time on the floor for the presentation of
+     petitions, exactly alike in form, from twenty-one States, and
+     while this kind of business this session has usually been
+     transacted with an attendance of from seven to ten senators, it
+     was observed that only two out of twenty-three senators who had
+     sixteenth amendment petitions to present were out of their seats.
+     Senator Sargent said the presence of women at the polls would
+     purify elections and give us a better class of public officials,
+     and the State would thus be greatly benefited. The subject was
+     receiving serious consideration in this country and in England.
+     Senator Dawes, in presenting the petition from Massachusetts,
+     said the subject was commanding the attention of both political
+     parties in his own State.
+
+     The officers of the National Association, who had been able to
+     give only a few days' time to securing the cooeperation of the
+     women of the several States in their present effort, held a
+     caucus after the adjournment of the Senate, and decided to
+     immediately issue a new appeal for a mammoth petition, which
+     would even more decidedly impress the two houses with the
+     importance of protecting the rights of women by a constitutional
+     amendment. Considering the many long days and weeks consumed in
+     both houses in discussing the political rights of the colored
+     male citizens, there is an obvious propriety in giving full and
+     fair consideration to the protection of the rights of wives,
+     mothers and daughters.--[_The National Republican_, January 22,
+     1877.
+
+The National Association held its anniversary in Masonic Temple,
+New York, May 24, 1877. Isabella Beecher Hooker, vice-president for
+Connecticut, called the meeting to order and invited Rev. Olympia
+Brown to lead in prayer. Mrs. Gage made the annual report of the
+executive committee. Dr. Clemence S. Lozier of New York was elected
+president for the coming year. Pledges were made to roll up
+petitions with renewed energy; and resolutions were duly
+discussed[22] and adopted:
+
+     WHEREAS, Such minor matters as declaring peace and war, the
+     coining of money, the imposition of tariff, and the control of
+     the postal service, are forbidden the respective States; and
+     whereas, upon the framing of the constitution, it was wisely
+     held that these property rights would be unsafe under the
+     control of thirteen varying deliberative bodies; and whereas, by
+     a curious anomaly, power over suffrage, the basis and
+     corner-stone of the nation, is held to be under control of the
+     respective States; and
+
+     WHEREAS, the experience of a century has shown that the personal
+     right of self-government inhering in each individual, is wholly
+     insecure under the control of thirty-eight varying deliberative
+     bodies; and
+
+     WHEREAS, the right of self-government by the use of the ballot
+     inheres in the citizen of the United States; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the immediate and most important duty of
+     the government to secure this right on a national basis to all
+     citizens, independent of sex.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the right of suffrage underlies all other
+     rights, and that in working to secure it women are doing the best
+     temperance, moral reform, educational, and religious work of the
+     age.
+
+     _Resolved_, That we solemnly protest against the recent memorial
+     to congress, from Utah, asking the disfranchisement of the women
+     of that territory, and that we ask of congress that this request,
+     made in violation of the spirit of our institutions, be not
+     granted.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the thanks of the National Woman Suffrage
+     Association are hereby tendered to the late speaker of the House
+     of Representatives, Hon. Samuel J. Randall, Pa.; and to
+     Representatives Banks, Mass.; Blair, N. H.: Bland, Mo.; Brown,
+     Kan.; Cox, N. Y.; Eames, R. I.; Fenn, Col.; Hale, Me.; Hamilton,
+     N. J.; Hendee, Vt.; Hoar, Mass.; Holman, Ind.; Jones, N. H.;
+     Kasson, Iowa; Kelley, Pa. Knott, Ky.; Lane, Oregon; Lapham, N.
+     Y.; Lawrence, O.; Luttrel, Cal.; Lynde, Wis.; McCrary, Iowa;
+     Morgan, Mo.; O'Neill, Pa.; Springer, Ill.; Strait, Minn.;
+     Waldron, Mich.; Warren, Conn.; Wm. B. Williams, Mich.; and
+     Senators Allison, Iowa; Bogy, Mo.; Burnside, R. I. (for Conn. and
+     R. I.); Cameron, Pa.; Cameron, Wis.; Chaffee, Col.; Christiancy,
+     Mich.; Cockrell, Mo.; Conkling, N. Y.; Cragin, N. H.; Dawes,
+     Mass.; Dorsey, Ark. (a petition from Me.); Edmunds, Vt.;
+     Frelinghuysen, N. J.; Hamlin, Me.; Kernan, N. Y.; McCreery, Ky.;
+     Mitchell, Oregon; Morrill, Vt.; Morton, Ind.; Oglesby, Ill.;
+     Sargent, Cal.; Sherman, Ohio; Spencer, Ala. (a petition from the
+     District); Thurman, Ohio (a petition from Kansas); Wadleigh, N.
+     H.; Wallace, Pa.; Windom, Minn.; Wright, Iowa, for representing
+     the women of the United States in the presentation of the
+     sixteenth amendment petitions from ten thousand citizens, in open
+     House and Senate, at the last session of congress.
+
+     _Resolved_, That while we recognize with gratitude the opening of
+     many new avenues of labor and usefulness to women, and the
+     amelioration of their condition before the law in many States, we
+     still declare there can be no fair play for women in the world of
+     business until they stand on the same plane of citizenship with
+     their masculine competitors.
+
+     _Resolved_, That in entering the professions and other
+     departments of business heretofore occupied largely by men, the
+     women of to-day should desire to accept the same conditions and
+     tests of excellence with their brothers, and should demand the
+     same standard for men and women in business, art, education, and
+     morals.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the thanks of this association are hereby
+     tendered to the Hon. Geo. F. Hoar of Massachusetts, for rising in
+     his place in the Cincinnati presidential convention, and asking
+     in behalf of the disfranchised women of the United States that
+     the convention grant a hearing to Mrs. Spencer, of Washington,
+     the accredited delegate of the National Woman Suffrage
+     Association.
+
+Great unanimity was reached in these sentiments and the enthusiasm
+manifested gave promise of earnest labor and more hopeful results.
+It was felt that there was reason to thank God and take courage.
+
+The day before the opening of the Tenth Washington Convention a
+caucus was held in the ladies' reception-room[23] in the Senate
+wing of the capitol. A roll-call of the delegates developed the
+fact that every State in the Union would be represented by women
+now here and _en route_, or by letter. Mrs. Spencer said she had
+made a request in the proper quarter, that the delegates should be
+allowed to go on the floor when the Senate was actually in session,
+and present their case to the senators. She had been met with the
+statement that such a proceeding was without precedent. Mrs. Hooker
+suggested that inasmuch as there was a precedent for such a course
+in the House, the delegates should meet the following Thursday to
+canvass for votes in the House of Representatives. Another delegate
+recalled the fact that Mrs. General Sherman and Mrs. Admiral
+Dahlgren had been admitted upon the floor of the Senate while it
+was in session, to canvass for votes against woman suffrage.
+
+This agitation resulted in a resolution introduced by Hon. A. A.
+Sargent, January 10:
+
+          WHEREAS, Thousands of women of the United States have
+          petitioned congress for an amendment to the constitution
+          allowing women the right of suffrage; and whereas, many of
+          the representative women of the country favoring such
+          amendment are present in the city and have requested to be
+          heard before the Senate in advocacy of said amendment,
+
+          _Resolved_, That at a session of the Senate, to be held on
+          ----, said representative women, or such of them as may be
+          designated for that purpose, may be heard before the Senate;
+          but for one hour only.
+
+     Mr. EDMUNDS demanded the regular order.
+
+     Mr. SARGENT advocated the resolution, and urged immediate action,
+     as delay would detain the women in the city at considerable
+     expense to them. He thought the question not so intricate that
+     senators require time for consideration whether or not the women
+     should be heard.
+
+     Mr. EDMUNDS said there was a rule of long standing that forbids
+     any person appearing before the Senate. There was much to be said
+     in favor of the petitions, but it was against the logic of the
+     resolution that the petitioners required more than was accorded
+     any others. He, therefore, insisted on his demand for the regular
+     order.
+
+     Mr. SARGENT gave notice that he would call up his resolution
+     to-morrow, and reminded the senators that no rule was so sacred
+     that it could not be set aside by unanimous consent.
+
+On the next day there was a lively discussion, Senators Edmunds,
+Thurman and Conkling insisting there was no precedent; Mr. Sargent,
+assisted by Senators Burnside, Anthony and Dawes, reminding them
+of several occasions when the Senate had extended similar
+courtesies. The resolution was voted down--31 to 13.[24]
+
+Hon. Wm. D. Kelly, of Pennsylvania, performed like service in the
+House:
+
+     Mr. KELLY asked leave to offer a resolution, reciting that
+     petitions were about to be presented to the House of
+     Representatives from citizens of thirty-five States of the Union,
+     asking for the adoption of an amendment to the constitution to
+     prohibit the disfranchisement of any citizen of any State; and
+     that there be a session of the House on Saturday, January 12, at
+     which time the advocates of the constitutional amendment may be
+     heard at the bar. These petitions ask the House to originate a
+     movement which it cannot consumate, but which it can only submit
+     to the States for their action. The resolution only asks that the
+     House will hear a limited number of the advocates of this
+     amendment, who are now in the city, and on a day when there is
+     not likely to be a session for business. They only ask the
+     privilege of stating the grounds of their belief why the
+     constitution should be amended in the direction they indicate.
+     Many of these ladies who petition are tax-payers, and they
+     believe their rights have been infringed upon.
+
+     Mr. CRITTENDEN of Missouri, objected, and the resolution was not
+     entertained.
+
+This refusal to women pleading for their own freedom was the more
+noticeable, as not only had Mesdames Sherman and Dahlgren been
+heard upon the floor of the Senate in opposition, but the floor of
+the House was shortly after granted to Charles Stewart Parnell, M.
+P., that he might plead the cause of oppressed Ireland. The
+Washington _Union_ of January 11, 1878, largely sustained by
+federal patronage, commented as follows:
+
+     To allow the advocates of woman suffrage to plead their cause on
+     the floor of the Senate, as proposed yesterday by Mr. Sargent,
+     would be a decided innovation upon the established usages of
+     parliamentary bodies. If the privilege were granted in this case
+     it would next be claimed by the friends and the enemies of the
+     silver bill, by the supporters and opponents of resumption, by
+     hard money men and soft money men, by protectionists and
+     free-traders, by labor-reformers, prohibitionists and the Lord
+     knows whom besides. In fact, the admission of the ladies to speak
+     on the floor of the Senate would be the beginning of lively times
+     in that body.
+
+The convention was held in Lincoln Hall, January, 8, 9, 1878. The
+house was filled to overflowing at the first session. A large
+number of representative women occupied the platform.[25] In
+opening the meeting the president, Dr. Clemence Lozier, gave a
+resume of the progress of the cause. Mrs. Stanton made an argument
+on "National Protection for National Citizens."[26] Mrs. Lockwood
+presented the following resolutions, which called out an amusing
+debate on the "man idea"--that he can best represent the home, the
+church, the State, the industries, etc., etc.:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the president of this convention appoint a
+     committee to select three intelligent women who shall be paid
+     commissioners to the Paris exposition; and also six other women
+     who shall be volunteer commissioners to said exposition to
+     represent the industries of American women.
+
+     _Resolved_, That to further this object the committee be
+     instructed to confer with the President, the Secretary of State,
+     and Commissioner McCormick.
+
+A committee was appointed[27] and at once repaired to the
+white-house, where they were pleasantly received by President
+Hayes. After learning the object of their visit, the president
+named the different classes of industries for which no
+commissioners had been appointed, asked the ladies to nominate
+their candidates, and assured them he would favor a representation
+by women.
+
+     Miss JULIA SMITH of Glastonbury, Conn., the veteran defender of
+     the maxim of our fathers, "no taxation without representation,"
+     narrated the experience of herself and her sister Abby with the
+     tax-gatherers. They attended the town-meeting and protested
+     against unjust taxation, but finally their cows went into the
+     treasury to satisfy the tax-collector.
+
+     ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT of the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_, spoke on
+     the temperance work being done in Chicago, in connection with the
+     advocacy of the sixteenth amendment.
+
+     LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE reviewed the work in New York in getting
+     the bill through the legislature to appoint women on school
+     boards, which was finally vetoed by Governor Robinson.
+
+     Dr. MARY THOMPSON of Oregon, and Mrs. CROMWELL of Arkansas, gave
+     interesting reports from their States, relating many laughable
+     encounters with the opposition.
+
+     ROBERT PURVIS of Philadelphia, read a letter from the suffragists
+     of Pennsylvania, in which congratulations were extended to the
+     convention.
+
+     MARY A. S. CAREY, a worthy representative of the District of
+     Columbia, the first colored woman that ever edited a newspaper in
+     the United States, and who had been a worker in the cause for
+     twenty years, expressed her views on the question, and said the
+     colored women would support whatever party would allow them their
+     rights, be it Republican or Democratic.
+
+     Rev. OLYMPIA BROWN believed that a proper interpretation of the
+     fourteenth and fifteenth amendments did confer suffrage on women.
+     But men don't so understand it, and as a consequence when Mahomet
+     would not come to the mountain the mountain must go to Mahomet.
+     She said the day was coming, and rapidly, too, when women would
+     be given suffrage. There were very few now who did not
+     acknowledge the justice of it.
+
+     ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER gave her idea on "A Reconstructed
+     Police," showing how she would rule a police force if in her
+     control. Commencing with the location of the office, she
+     proceeded with her list of feminine and masculine officers, the
+     chief being herself. She would have a superintendent as aid, with
+     cooerdinate powers, and, besides the police force proper, which
+     she would form of men and women in equal proportions; she would
+     have matrons in charge of all station-houses. Her treatment of
+     vagrants would be to wash, feed, and clothe them, make them
+     stitch, wash and iron, take their history down for future
+     reference, and finally turn them out as skilled laborers. The
+     care of vagrant children would form an item in her system.
+
+     Mrs. LAWRENCE of Massachusetts, said the country is in danger,
+     and like other republics, unless taken care of, will perish by
+     its own vices. She said twelve hundred thousand men and women of
+     this country now stand with nothing to do, because their
+     legislators of wealth were working not for the many, but the few,
+     drunkenness and vice being superinduced by such a state of
+     things. She insisted that women were to blame for much of the
+     evil of the world--for bringing into life children who grow up in
+     vice from their inborn tendencies.
+
+     Dr. CAROLINE B. WINSLOW of Washington, referred to the speech of
+     Mrs. Lawrence, saying she hoped God would bless her for having
+     the courage to speak as she did. There is no greater reform than
+     for man and woman to be true to the marital relations.
+
+     BELVA A. LOCKWOOD said the only way for women to get their rights
+     is to take them. If necessary let there be a domestic
+     insurrection. Let young women refuse to marry, and married women
+     refuse to sew on buttons, cook, and rock the cradle until their
+     liege-lords acknowledge the rights they are entitled to. There
+     were more ways than one to conquer a man; and women, like the
+     strikers in the railroad riots, should carry their demands all
+     along the line. She dwelt at length upon the refusal of the
+     courts in allowing Lavinia Dundore to become a constable, and
+     asked why she should not be appointed.
+
+     The Rev. OLYMPIA BROWN said that if they wanted wisdom and
+     prosperity in the nation, health and happiness in the home, they
+     must give woman the power to purify her surroundings; the right
+     to make the outside world fit for her children to live in. Who
+     are more interested than mothers in the sanitary condition of our
+     schools and streets, and in the moral atmosphere of our towns and
+     cities?
+
+     Marshal FREDERICK DOUGLASS said his reluctance to come forward
+     was not due to any lack of interest in the subject under
+     discussion. For thirty years he had believed in human rights to
+     all men and women. Nothing that has ever been proposed involved
+     such vital interests as the subject which now invites attention.
+     When the negro was freed the question was asked if he was capable
+     of voting intelligently. It was answered in this way: that if a
+     sober negro knows as much as a drunken white man he is capable of
+     exercising the elective franchise.
+
+     LAVINIA C. DUNDORE, introduced as the lady who had made
+     application for an appointment as a constable and been refused,
+     made a pithy address, in which she alluded to her recent
+     disappointment.
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE spoke of the influence of the church on
+     woman's liberties, and then referred to a large number of law
+     books--ancient and modern, ecclesiastical and lay--in which the
+     liberties of woman were more or less abridged; the equality of
+     sexes which obtained in Rome before the Christian era, and the
+     gradual discrimination in favor of men which crept in with the
+     growth of the church.
+
+     Mrs. DEVEREUX BLAKE said there is no aspect of this question that
+     strikes us so forcibly as the total ignoring of women by public
+     men. However polite they may be in private life, when they come
+     to public affairs they seem to forget that women exist. The men
+     who framed the last amendment to the constitution seemed to have
+     wholly forgotten that women existed or had rights.... Huxley said
+     in reply to an inquiry as to woman suffrage, "Of course I'm in
+     favor of it. Does it become us to lay additional burdens on those
+     who are already overweighted?" It is always the little men who
+     oppose us; the big-hearted men help us along. All in this
+     audience are of the broad-shouldered type, and I hope all will go
+     out prepared to advocate our principles. In reply to the
+     objection that women do not need the right to vote because men
+     represent them so well, she asked if any man in the audience ever
+     asked his wife how he should vote, and told him to stand up if
+     there was such a one. [Here a young man in the back part of the
+     hall stood up amidst loud applause.]
+
+The various resolutions were discussed at great length and adopted,
+though much difference of opinion was expressed on the last, which
+demands that intelligence shall be made the basis of suffrage:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the National Constitution should be so amended
+     as to secure to United States citizens at home the same
+     protection for their individual rights against State tyranny, as
+     is now guaranteed everywhere against foreign aggressions.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the civil and political rights of the educated
+     tax-paying women of this nation should take precedence of all
+     propositions and debates in the present congress as to the future
+     status of the Chinese and Indians under the flag of the United
+     States.
+
+     WHEREAS, The essential elements of justice are already recognized
+     in the constitution; and, whereas, our fathers proposed to
+     establish a purely secular government in which all forms of
+     religion should be equally protected, therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is preeminently unjust to tax the property of
+     widows and spinsters to its full value, while the clergy are made
+     a privileged class by exempting from taxation $1,500 of their
+     property in some States, while in all States parsonages and other
+     church property, amounting to millions of dollars, are exempted,
+     which, if fairly taxed, would greatly lighten the national debt,
+     and thereby the burdens of the laboring masses.
+
+     _Resolved_, That thus to exempt one class of citizens, one kind
+     of property, from taxation, at the expense of all others, is a
+     great national evil, in a moral as well as a financial point of
+     view. It is an assumption that the church is a more important
+     institution than the family; that the influence of the clergy is
+     of more vital consequence in the progress of civilization than
+     that of the women of this republic; from which we emphatically
+     dissent.
+
+     _Resolved_, That universal education is the true basis of
+     universal suffrage; hence the several States should so amend
+     their constitutions as to make education compulsory, and, as a
+     stimulus to the rising generation, declare that after 1885 all
+     who exercise the right of suffrage must be able to read and write
+     the English language. For, while the national government should
+     secure the equal right of suffrage to all citizens, the State
+     should regulate its exercise by proper attainable qualifications.
+
+On January 10, 1878, our champion in the Senate, Hon. A. A.
+Sargent, of California, by unanimous consent, presented the
+following joint resolution, which was read twice and referred to
+the Committee on Privileges and Elections:
+
+     JOINT RESOLUTION _proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of
+     the United States_.--
+
+     _Resolved_ by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+     United States of America in congress assembled, two-thirds of
+     each House concurring therein, That the following article be
+     proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an
+     amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when
+     ratified by three-fourths of the said legislatures, shall be
+     valid as part of the said constitution, namely:
+
+     ARTICLE 16, SEC. 1.--The right of citizens of the United States
+     to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or
+     by any State on account of sex.
+
+     SEC. 2.--Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
+     appropriate legislation.
+
+The Committee on Privileges and Elections granted hearings to the
+National Association on January 11, 12, when the delegates,[28]
+representing the several States, made their respective arguments
+and appeals. Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., president of the
+association, first addressed the committee and read the following
+extract from a recent letter from Victor Hugo:
+
+     Our ill-balanced society seems as if it would take from woman all
+     that nature had endowed her with. In our codes there is something
+     to recast. It is what I call the woman-law. Man has had his law;
+     he has made it for himself. Woman has only the law of man. She by
+     this law is civilly a minor and morally a slave. Her education is
+     embued with this twofold character of inferiority. Hence many
+     sufferings to her which man must justly share. There must be
+     reform here, and it will be to the benefit of civilization,
+     truth, and light.
+
+     In concluding, Dr. Lozier said: I have now the honor to introduce
+     Miss Julia E. Smith, of Glastonbury, Conn., who will speak to you
+     concerning the resistance of her sister and herself to the
+     payment of taxes in her native town, on the ground that they are
+     unrepresented in all town meetings, and therefore have no voice
+     in the expenditure of the taxes which they are compelled to pay.
+
+     Miss SMITH said: _Gentlemen of the Committee_--This is the first
+     time in my life that I have trod these halls, and what has
+     brought me here? I say, oppression--oppression of women by men.
+     Under the law they have taken from us $2,000 worth of
+     meadow-land, and sold it for taxes of less than $50, and we were
+     obliged to redeem it, for we could not lose the most valuable
+     part of our farm. They have come into our house and said, "You
+     must pay so much; we must execute the laws"; and we are not
+     allowed to have a voice in the matter, or to modify laws that are
+     odious.
+
+     I have come to Washington, as men cannot address you for us. We
+     have no power at all; we are totally defenseless. [Miss Smith
+     then read two short letters written by her sister Abby to the
+     Springfield _Republican_.] These tell our brief story, and may I
+     not ask, gentlemen, that they shall so plead with you that you
+     will report to the Senate unanimously in favor of the sixteenth
+     amendment, which we ask in order that the women of these United
+     States who shall come after us may be saved the desecration of
+     their homes which we have suffered, and our country may be
+     relieved from the disgrace of refusing representation to that
+     half of its people that men call the better half, because it
+     includes their wives and daughters and mothers?
+
+     ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT, vice-president for Illinois:
+     _Gentlemen of the Committee_--We recognize your duty as men
+     intrusted with the control and guidance of the government to
+     carefully weigh every phase of this momentous question. Has the
+     time arrived when it will be safe and expedient to make a
+     practical application of these great principles of our government
+     to one-half of the governed, one-half of the citizens of the
+     United States? The favorite argument of the opposition has been
+     that women are represented by men, hence have no cause for
+     complaint. Any careful student of the progress of liberty must
+     admit that the only possible method for securing justice to the
+     represented is for their representatives to be made entirely
+     responsible to their constituents, and promptly removable by
+     them. We are only secure in delegating power when we can dictate
+     its use, limit the same, or revoke it. How many of your honorable
+     committee would vote to make the presidency an office for life,
+     said office to descend to the heirs in a male line forever, with
+     no reserved power of impeachment? Yet you would be more fairly
+     represented than are American women, since they have never
+     elected their representatives. So far as women are concerned you
+     are self-constituted rulers. We cannot hope for complete
+     representation while we are powerless to recall, impeach, or
+     punish our representatives. We meet with a case in point in the
+     history of Virginia. Bancroft gives us the following quotation
+     from the official records:
+
+          The freedom of elections was further impaired by "frequent
+          false returns," made by the sheriffs. Against these the
+          people had no sufficient redress, for the sheriffs were
+          responsible neither to them nor to officers of their
+          appointment. And how could a more pregnant cause of
+          discontent exist in a country where the elective franchise
+          was cherished as the dearest civil privilege?--If land is to
+          be taxed, none but landholders should elect the
+          legislature.--The other freemen, who are the more in number,
+          may refuse to be bound by those laws in which they have no
+          representation, and we are so well acquainted with the
+          temper of the people that we have reason to believe they had
+          rather pay their taxes than lose that privilege.
+
+     Would those statesmen have dared to tax those landholders and yet
+     deny them the privilege of choosing their representatives? And
+     if, forsooth, they had, would not each one of you have declared
+     such act unconstitutional and unjust? We are the daughters of
+     those liberty-loving patriots. Their blood flows in our veins,
+     and in view of the recognized physiological fact that special
+     characteristics are transmitted from fathers to daughters, do you
+     wonder that we tax-paying, American-born citizens of these United
+     States are here to protest in the name of liberty and justice? We
+     recognize, however, that you are not responsible for the present
+     political condition of women, and that the question confronting
+     you, as statesmen called to administer justice under existing
+     conditions, is, "What are the capacities of this great class for
+     self-government?" You have cautiously summoned us to adduce proof
+     that the ballot in the hands of women would prove a help, not a
+     hindrance; would bring wings, not weights.
+
+     First, then, we ask you in the significant name of history to
+     read the record of woman as a ruler from the time when Deborah
+     judged Israel, and the land had rest and peace forty years, even
+     down to this present when Victoria Regina, the Empress Queen,
+     rules her vast kingdom so ably that we sometimes hear American
+     men talk about a return "to the good old ways of limited
+     monarchy," with woman for a ruler. John Stuart Mill, after
+     studious research, testifies as follows:
+
+          When to queens and emperors we add regents and viceroys of
+          provinces, the list of women who have been eminent rulers of
+          mankind swells to a great length. The fact is so undeniable
+          that some one long ago tried to retort the argument by
+          saying that queens are better than kings, because under
+          kings women govern, but under queens, men. Especially is her
+          wonderful talent for governing evinced in Asia. If a Hindoo
+          principality is strongly, vigilantly, and economically
+          governed; if order is preserved without oppression; if
+          cultivation is extending, and the people prosperous, in
+          three cases out of four that principality is under a woman's
+          rule. This fact, to me an entirely unexpected one, I have
+          collected from a long official knowledge of Hindoo
+          governments. There are many such instances; for though by
+          Hindoo institutions a woman cannot reign, she is the legal
+          regent of a kingdom during the minority of the heir--and
+          minorities are frequent, the lives of the male rulers being
+          so often prematurely terminated through their inactivity and
+          excesses. When we consider that these princesses have never
+          been seen in public, have never conversed with any man not
+          of their own family, except from behind a curtain; that they
+          do not read, and if they did, there is no book in their
+          languages which can give them the smallest instruction on
+          political affairs, the example they afford of the natural
+          capacity of women for government is very striking.
+
+     In view of these facts, does it not appear that if there is any
+     one distinctively feminine characteristic, it is the
+     mother-instinct for government? But now with clearer vision we
+     reread the record of the past. True, we find no Raphael or
+     Beethoven, no Phidias or Michael Angelo among women. No woman has
+     painted the greatest picture, carved the finest statue, composed
+     the noblest oratorio or opera. Not many women's names appear
+     after Joan of Arc's in the long list of warriors; but, as a
+     ruler, woman stands to-day the peer of man.
+
+     While man has rendered such royal service in the realm of art,
+     woman has not been idle. Infinite wisdom has intrusted to her the
+     living, breathing marble or canvas, and with smiles and tears,
+     prayers and songs has she patiently wrought developing the latent
+     possibilities of the divine Christ-child, the infant Washington,
+     the baby Lincoln. Ah! since God and men have intrusted to woman
+     the weightiest responsibility known to earth, the development and
+     education of the human soul, need you fear to intrust her with
+     citizenship? Is the ballot more precious than the soul of your
+     child? If it is safe in the home, in the school-room, the
+     Sunday-school, to place in woman's hands the education of your
+     children, is it not safe to allow that mother to express her
+     choice in regard to which one of these sons, her boys whom she
+     has taught and nursed, shall make laws for her guidance?
+
+     Just here, in imagination, is heard the question, "How much help
+     could we expect from women on financial questions?" We accept the
+     masculine idea of woman's mathematical deficiencies. We have had
+     slight opportunity for discovering the best proportions of a
+     silver dollar, owing to the fact that the family specimens have
+     been zealously guarded by the male members; and yet, we may have
+     some latent possibilities in that direction, since already the
+     "brethren" in our debt-burdened churches wail out from the depths
+     of masculine indebtedness and interest-tables, "Our sisters, we
+     pray you come over and help us!" And, in view of the fact of the
+     present condition of finances, in view of the fact of the
+     enormous taxes you impose upon us, can you look us calmly in the
+     face and assert that matters might, would, should, or could have
+     been worse, even though Julia Ward Howe, Mary A. Livermore, or
+     Elizabeth Cady Stanton, had voted on the silver bill?
+
+     A moment since I referred to the great responsibilities of
+     motherhood, and doubtless your mental comment was, "Yes, that is
+     woman's peculiar sphere; there she should be content to remain."
+     It _is_ our sphere--beautiful, glorious, almost infinite in its
+     possibilities. We accept the work; we only ask for opportunity to
+     perform it. The sphere has enlarged, that is all. There has been
+     a new revelation. That historic "first gun" proclaimed a
+     wonderful message to the daughters of America; for, when the
+     smoke of the cannonading had lifted, the entire horizon of woman
+     was broadened, illuminated, glorified. On that April morn, when a
+     nation of citizens suddenly sprang into an army of warriors, with
+     a patriotism as intense, a consecration as true, American women
+     quietly assumed their vacated places and became citizens. New
+     boundaries were defined. A Mary Somerville or Maria Mitchell
+     seized the telescope and alone with God and the stars, cast a new
+     horoscope for woman. And the new truth, electrifying, glorifying
+     American womanhood to-day, is the discovery that the State is
+     but the larger family, the nation the old homestead, and that in
+     this national home there is a room and a corner and a duty for
+     "mother." A duty recognized by such a statesman as John Adams,
+     who wrote to his wife in regard to her mother:
+
+          Your mother had a clear and penetrating understanding and a
+          profound judgment, as well as an honest, a friendly and
+          charitable heart. There is one thing, however, which you
+          will forgive me if I hint to you. Let me ask you rather if
+          you are not of my opinion. Were not her talents and virtues
+          too much confined to private, social and domestic life? My
+          opinion of the duties of religion and morality comprehends a
+          very extensive connection with society at large and the
+          great interests of the public. Does not natural morality
+          and, much more, Christian benevolence make it our
+          indispensable duty to endeavor to serve our fellow-creatures
+          to the utmost of our power in promoting and supporting those
+          great political systems and general regulations upon which
+          the happiness of multitudes depends? The benevolence,
+          charity, capacity and industry which exerted in private life
+          would make a family, a parish or a town happy, employed upon
+          a larger scale and in support of the great principles of
+          virtue and freedom of political regulations, might secure
+          whole nations and generations from misery, want and
+          contempt.
+
+     Intense domestic life is selfish. The home evidently needs
+     fathers as much as mothers. Tender, wise fatherhood is beautiful
+     as motherhood, but there are orphaned children to be cared for.
+     These duties to the State and nation as mothers, true to the
+     highest needs of our children, we dare not ignore; and the nation
+     cannot much longer afford to have us ignore them.
+
+     As statesmen, walking on the shore piled high with the
+     "drift-wood of kings," the wrecks of nations and governments, you
+     have discovered the one word emblazoned as an epitaph on each and
+     every one, "Luxury, luxury, luxury!" You have hitherto placed a
+     premium upon woman's idleness, helplessness, dependence. The
+     children of most of our fashionable women are being educated by
+     foreign nurses. How can you expect them to develop into patriotic
+     American statesmen? For the sake of country I plead--for the sake
+     of a responsible, exalted womanhood; for the sake of a purer
+     womanhood; for home and truth, and native land. As a daughter,
+     with holiest, tenderest, most grateful memories clinging to the
+     almost sacred name of father; as a wife, receiving constant
+     encouragement, support, and cooeperation from one who has revealed
+     to her the genuine nobility of true manhood; as a mother, whose
+     heart still thrills at the first greeting from her little son;
+     and as a sister, watching with intense interest the entrance of a
+     brother into the great world of work, I could not be half so
+     loyal to woman's cause were it not a synonym for the equal rights
+     of humanity--a diviner justice for all!
+
+     With one practical question I rest my case. The world objected to
+     woman's entrance into literature, the pulpit, the lyceum, the
+     college, the school. What has she wrought? Our wisest thinkers
+     and historians assert that literature has been purified. Poets
+     and judges at international collegiate contests award to woman's
+     thought the highest prize. Miss Lucia Peabody received upon the
+     occasion of her second election to the Boston school board the
+     highest vote ever polled for any candidate. Since woman has
+     proved faithful over a few things, need you fear to summon her to
+     your side to assist you in executing the will of the nation? And
+     now, yielding to none in intense love of womanhood; standing here
+     beneath the very dome of the national capitol overshadowed by the
+     old flag; with the blood of the revolutionary patriots coursing
+     through my veins; as a native-born, tax-paying American citizen,
+     I ask equality before the law.
+
+     ELIZABETH CADY STANTON said: _Gentlemen of the Committee_: In
+     appearing before you to ask for a sixteenth amendment to the
+     United States Constitution, permit me to say that with the Hon.
+     Charles Sumner, we believe that our constitution, fairly
+     interpreted, already secures to the humblest individual all the
+     rights, privileges and immunities of American citizens. But as
+     statesmen differ in their interpretations of constitutional law
+     as widely as they differ in their organizations, the rights of
+     every class of citizens must be clearly defined in concise,
+     unmistakable language. All the great principles of liberty
+     declared by the fathers gave no protection to the black man of
+     the republic for a century, and when, with higher light and
+     knowledge his emancipation and enfranchisement were proclaimed,
+     it was said that the great truths set forth in the prolonged
+     debates of thirty years on the individual rights of the black
+     man, culminating in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to
+     the constitution, had no significance for woman. Hence we ask
+     that this anomalous class of beings, not recognized by the
+     supreme powers as either "persons" or "citizens" may be defined
+     and their rights declared in the constitution.
+
+     In the adjustment of the question of suffrage now before the
+     people of this country for settlement, it is of the highest
+     importance that the organic law of the land should be so framed
+     and construed as to work injustice to none, but secure as far as
+     possible perfect political equality among all classes of
+     citizens. In determining your right and power to legislate on
+     this question, consider what has been done already.
+
+     As the national constitution declares that "all persons born or
+     naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
+     thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State
+     wherein they reside," it is evident: _First_--That the immunities
+     and privileges of American citizenship, however defined, are
+     national in character, and paramount to all State authority.
+     _Second_--That while the constitution leaves the qualification of
+     electors to the several States, it nowhere gives them the right
+     to deprive any citizen of the elective franchise; the State may
+     regulate but not abolish the right of suffrage for any class.
+     _Third_--As the Constitution of the United States expressly
+     declares that no State shall make or enforce any law that shall
+     abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
+     States, those provisions of the several State constitutions that
+     exclude citizens from the franchise on account of sex, alike
+     violate the spirit and letter of the Federal constitution.
+     _Fourth_--As the question of naturalization is expressly withheld
+     from the States, and as the States would clearly have no right to
+     deprive of the franchise naturalized citizens, among whom women
+     are expressly included, still more clearly have they no right to
+     deprive native-born women-citizens of the right.
+
+     Let me give you a few extracts from the national constitution
+     upon which these propositions are based:
+
+          _Preamble:_ We, the people of the United States, in order to
+          form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
+          domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense,
+          promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
+          liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
+          establish this constitution.
+
+     This is declared to be a government "of the people." All power,
+     it is said, centers in the people. Our State constitutions also
+     open with the words, "We, the people." Does any one pretend to
+     say that men alone constitute races and peoples? When we say
+     parents, do we not mean mothers as well as fathers? When we say
+     children, do we not mean girls as well as boys? When we say
+     people, do we not mean women as well as men? When the race shall
+     spring, Minerva-like, from the brains of their fathers, it will
+     be time enough thus to ignore the fact that one-half the human
+     family are women. Individual rights, individual conscience and
+     judgment are our great American ideas, the fundamental principles
+     of our political and religious faith. Men may as well attempt to
+     do our repenting, confessing, and believing, as our voting--as
+     well represent us at the throne of grace as at the ballot-box.
+
+          ARTICLE 1, SEC. 9.--No bill of attainder, or _ex post facto_
+          law shall be passed; no title of nobility shall be granted
+          by the United States.
+
+          SEC. 10.--No State shall pass any bill of attainder, _ex
+          post facto_ law, or law impairing the obligation of
+          contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
+
+     Notwithstanding these provisions of the constitution, bills of
+     attainder have been passed by the introduction of the word "male"
+     into all the State constitutions denying to woman the right of
+     suffrage, and thereby making sex a crime. A citizen disfranchised
+     in a republic is a citizen attainted. When we place in the hands
+     of one class of citizens the right to make, interpret and execute
+     the law for another class wholly unrepresented in the government,
+     we have made an order of nobility.
+
+          ARTICLE 4, SEC. 2.--The citizens of each State shall be
+          entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in
+          the several States.
+
+     The elective franchise is one of the privileges secured by this
+     section approved in Dunham _vs._ Lamphere (3 Gray Mass. Rep.,
+     276), and Bennett _vs._ Boggs (Baldwin's Rep., p. 72, Circuit
+     Court U. S.).
+
+          ARTICLE 4, SEC. 4.--The United States shall guarantee to
+          every State in the Union a republican form of government.
+
+     How can that form of government be called republican in which
+     one-half the people are forever deprived of all participation in
+     its affairs?
+
+          ARTICLE 6.--This Constitution, and the laws of the United
+          States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, ... shall
+          be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every
+          State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution
+          or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
+
+          ARTICLE 14, SEC. 1.--All persons born or naturalized in the
+          United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
+          citizens of the United States.... No State shall make or
+          enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and
+          immunities of citizens of the United States.
+
+     In the discussion of the enfranchisement of woman, suffrage is
+     now claimed by one class of thinkers as a privilege based upon
+     citizenship and secured by the Constitution of the United States,
+     as by lexicographers as well as by the constitution itself, the
+     definition of citizen includes women as well as men. No State can
+     rightfully deprive a woman-citizen of the United States of any
+     fundamental right which is hers in common with all other
+     citizens. The States have the right to regulate, but not to
+     prohibit the elective franchise to citizens of the United States.
+     Thus the States may determine the qualifications of electors.
+     They may require the elector to be of a certain age--to have had
+     a fixed residence--to be of sane mind and unconvicted of
+     crime,--because these are qualifications or conditions that all
+     citizens, sooner or later, may attain. But to go beyond this, and
+     say to one-half the citizens of the State, notwithstanding you
+     possess all of these qualifications, you shall never vote, is of
+     the very essence of despotism. It is a bill of attainder of the
+     most odious character.
+
+     A further investigation of the subject will show that the
+     constitutions of all the States, with the exception of Virginia
+     and Massachusetts, read substantially alike. "White male
+     citizens" shall be entitled to vote, and this is supposed to
+     exclude all other citizens. There is no direct exclusion except
+     in the two States above named. Now the error lies in supposing
+     that an enabling clause is necessary at all. The right of the
+     people of a State to participate in a government of their own
+     creation requires no enabling clause, neither can it be taken
+     from them by implication. To hold otherwise would be to
+     interpolate in the constitution a prohibition that does not
+     exist.
+
+     In framing a constitution, the people are assembled in their
+     sovereign capacity, and being possessed of all rights and powers,
+     what is not surrendered is retained. Nothing short of a direct
+     prohibition can work a deprivation of rights that are
+     fundamental. In the language of John Jay to the people of New
+     York, urging the adoption of the constitution of the United
+     States: "Silence and blank paper neither give nor take away
+     anything." And Alexander Hamilton says (_Federalist_, No. 83):
+
+          Every man of discernment must at once perceive the wide
+          difference between silence and abolition. The mode and
+          manner in which the people shall take part in the government
+          of their creation may be prescribed by the constitution, but
+          the right itself is antecedent to all constitutions. It is
+          inalienable, and can neither be bought nor sold nor given
+          away.
+
+     But even if it should be held that this view is untenable, and
+     that women are disfranchised by the several State constitutions,
+     directly or by implication, then I say that such prohibitions are
+     clearly in conflict with the Constitution of the United States
+     and yield thereto.
+
+     Another class of thinkers, equally interested in woman's
+     enfranchisement, maintain that there is, as yet, no power in the
+     United States Constitution to protect the rights of all United
+     States citizens, in all latitudes and longitudes, and in all
+     conditions whatever. When the constitution was adopted, the
+     fathers thought they had secured national unity. This was the
+     opinion of Southern as well as Northern statesmen. It was
+     supposed that the question of State rights was then forever
+     settled. Hon. Charles Sumner, speaking on this point in the
+     United States Senate, March 7, 1866, said the object of the
+     constitution was to ordain, under the authority of the people, a
+     national government possessing unity and power. The
+     confederation had been merely an agreement "between the States,"
+     styled, "a league of firm friendship." Found to be feeble and
+     inoperative through the pretension of State rights, it gave way
+     to the constitution which, instead of a "league," created a
+     "union," in the name of the people of the United States.
+     Beginning with these inspiring and enacting words, "We, the
+     people," it was popular and national. Here was no concession to
+     State rights, but a recognition of the power of the people, from
+     whom the constitution proceeded. The States are acknowledged; but
+     they are all treated as component parts of the Union in which
+     they are absorbed under the constitution, which is the supreme
+     law. There is but one sovereignty, and that is the sovereignty of
+     the United States. On this very account the adoption of the
+     constitution was opposed by Patrick Henry and George Mason. The
+     first exclaimed, "That this is a consolidated government is
+     demonstrably clear; the question turns on that poor little thing,
+     'We, the people,' instead of the States." The second exclaimed,
+     "Whether the constitution is good or bad, it is a national
+     government, and no longer a confederation." But against this
+     powerful opposition the constitution was adopted in the name of
+     the people of the United States. Throughout the discussions,
+     State rights was treated with little favor. Madison said: "The
+     States are only political societies, and never possessed the
+     right of sovereignty." Gerry said: "The States have only
+     corporate rights." Wilson, the philanthropic member from
+     Pennsylvania, afterward a learned Judge of the Supreme Court of
+     the United States and author of the "Lectures on Law," said:
+     "Will a regard to State rights justify the sacrifice of the
+     rights of men? If we proceed on any other foundation than the
+     last, our building will neither be solid nor lasting."
+
+     Those of us who understand the dignity, power and protection of
+     the ballot, have steadily petitioned congress for the last ten
+     years to secure to the women of the republic the exercise of
+     their right to the elective franchise. We began by asking a
+     sixteenth amendment to the national constitution. March 15, 1869,
+     the Hon. George W. Julian submitted a joint resolution to
+     congress, to enfranchise the women of the republic, by proposing
+     a sixteenth amendment:
+
+          ARTICLE 16.--The right of suffrage in the United States
+          shall be based on citizenship, and shall be regulated by
+          Congress, and all citizens of the United States, whether
+          native or naturalized, shall enjoy this right equally,
+          without any distinction or discrimination whatever founded
+          on sex.
+
+     While the discussion was pending for the emancipation and
+     enfranchisement of the slaves of the South, and popular thought
+     led back to the consideration of the fundamental principles of
+     our government, it was clearly seen that all the arguments for
+     the civil and political rights of the African race applied to
+     women also. Seeing this, some Republicans stood ready to carry
+     these principles to their logical results. Democrats, too, saw
+     the drift of the argument, and though not in favor of extending
+     suffrage to either black men, or women, yet, to embarrass
+     Republican legislation, it was said, they proposed amendments for
+     woman suffrage to all bills brought forward for enfranchising the
+     negroes.
+
+     And thus, during the passage of the thirteenth, fourteenth and
+     fifteenth amendments, and the District suffrage bill, the
+     question of woman suffrage was often and ably discussed in the
+     Senate and House, and received both Republican and Democratic
+     votes in its favor. Many able lawyers and judges gave it as their
+     opinion that women as well as Africans were enfranchised by the
+     fourteenth and fifteenth Amendments. Accordingly, we abandoned,
+     for the time being, our demand for a sixteenth amendment, and
+     pleaded our right of suffrage, as already secured by the
+     fourteenth amendment--the argument lying in a nut-shell. For if,
+     as therein asserted, all persons born or naturalized in the
+     United States are citizens of the United States; and if a
+     citizen, according to the best authorities, is one possessed of
+     all the rights and privileges of citizenship, namely, the right
+     to make laws and choose lawmakers, women, being persons, must be
+     citizens, and therefore entitled to the rights of citizenship,
+     the chief of which is the right to vote.
+
+     Accordingly, women tested their right, registered and voted--the
+     inspectors of election accepting the argument, for which
+     inspectors and women alike were arrested, tried and punished; the
+     courts deciding that although by the fourteenth amendment they
+     were citizens, still, citizenship did not carry with it the right
+     to vote. But granting the premise of the Supreme Court decision,
+     "that the constitution does not confer suffrage on any one," then
+     it inhered with the citizen before the constitution was framed.
+     Our national life does not date from that instrument. The
+     constitution is not the original declaration of rights. It was
+     not framed until eleven years after our existence as a nation,
+     nor fully ratified until nearly fourteen years after the
+     inauguration of our national independence.
+
+     But however the letter and spirit of the constitution may be
+     interpreted by the people, the judiciary of the nation has
+     uniformly proved itself the echo of the party in power. When the
+     slave power was dominant the Supreme Court decided that a black
+     man was not a citizen, because he had not the right to vote; and
+     when the constitution was so amended as to make all persons
+     citizens, the same high tribunal decided that a woman, though a
+     citizen, had not the right to vote. An African, by virtue of his
+     United States citizenship, is declared, under recent amendments,
+     a voter in every State of the Union; but when a woman, by virtue
+     of her United States citizenship, applies to the Supreme Court
+     for protection in the exercise of this same right, she is
+     remanded to the State, by the unanimous decision of the nine
+     judges on the bench, that "the Constitution of the United States
+     does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one." Such
+     vacillating interpretations of constitutional law must unsettle
+     our faith in judicial authority, and undermine the liberties of
+     the whole people. Seeing by these decisions of the courts that
+     the theory of our government, the Declaration of Independence,
+     and recent constitutional amendments, have no significance for
+     woman, that all the grand principles of equality are glittering
+     generalities for her, we must fall back once more to our former
+     demand of a sixteenth amendment to the federal constitution,
+     that, in clear, unmistakable language, shall declare the status
+     of woman in this republic.
+
+     The Declaration of Independence struck a blow at every existent
+     form of government by making the individual the source of all
+     power. This is the sun, and the one central truth around which
+     all genuine republics must keep their course or perish. National
+     supremacy means something more than power to levy war, conclude
+     peace, contract alliances, establish commerce. It means national
+     protection and security in the exercise of the right of
+     self-government, which comes alone by and through the use of the
+     ballot. Women are the only class of citizens still wholly
+     unrepresented in the government, and yet we possess every
+     requisite qualification for voters in the United States. Women
+     possess property and education; we take out naturalization-papers
+     and passports and register ships. We preempt lands, pay taxes
+     (women sometimes work out the road-tax with their own hands) and
+     suffer for our own violation of laws. We are neither idiots,
+     lunatics, nor criminals, and according to our State constitution
+     lack but one qualification for voters, namely, sex, which is an
+     insurmountable qualification, and therefore equivalent to a bill
+     of attainder against one-half the people, a power neither the
+     States nor the United States can legally exercise, being
+     forbidden in article 1, sections 9, 10, of the constitution. Our
+     rulers have the right to regulate the suffrage, but they cannot
+     abolish it for any class of citizens, as has been done in the
+     case of the women of this republic, without a direct violation of
+     the fundamental law of the land. All concessions of privileges or
+     redress of grievances are mockery for any class that have no
+     voice in the laws, and law-makers; hence we demand the ballot,
+     that scepter of power in our own hands, as the only sure
+     protection for our rights of person and property under all
+     conditions. If the few may grant and withhold rights at their
+     pleasure, the many cannot be said to enjoy the blessings of
+     self-government.
+
+     William H. Seward said in his great speech on "Freedom and
+     Union," in the United States Senate, February 29, 1860:
+
+          Mankind have a natural right, a natural instinct, and a
+          natural capacity for self-government; and when, as here,
+          they are sufficiently ripened by culture, they will and must
+          have self-government, and no other.
+
+     Jefferson said:
+
+          The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time;
+          the hand of freedom may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.
+
+     Few people comprehend the length and breadth of the principle we
+     are advocating to-day, and how closely it is allied to everything
+     vital in our system of government. Our personal grievances, such
+     as being robbed of property and children by unjust husbands;
+     denied admission into the colleges, the trades and professions;
+     compelled to work at starving prices, by no means round out this
+     whole question. In asking for a sixteenth amendment to the United
+     States Constitution, and the protection of congress against the
+     injustice of State law, we are fighting the same battle as
+     Jefferson and Hamilton fought in 1776, as Calhoun and Clay in
+     1828, as Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis in 1860, namely, the
+     limit of State rights and federal power. The enfranchisement of
+     woman involves the same vital principle of our government that is
+     dividing and distracting the two great political parties at this
+     hour.
+
+     There is nothing a foreigner coming here finds it so difficult to
+     understand as the wheel within a wheel in our national and State
+     governments, and the possibility of carrying them on without
+     friction; and this is the difficulty and danger we are fast
+     finding out. The recent amendments are steps in the right
+     direction toward national unity, securing equal rights to all
+     citizens, in every latitude and longitude. But our congressional
+     debates, judicial decisions, and the utterances of campaign
+     orators, continually falling back to the old ground, are bundles
+     of contradictions on this vital question. Inasmuch as we are,
+     first, citizens of the United States, and second, of the State
+     wherein we reside, the primal rights of all citizens should be
+     regulated by the national government, and complete equality in
+     civil and political rights everywhere secured. When women are
+     denied the right to enter institutions of learning, and practice
+     in the professions, unjust discriminations made against sex even
+     more degrading and humiliating than were ever made against color,
+     surely woman, too, should be protected by a civil-rights bill and
+     a sixteenth amendment that should make her political status equal
+     with all other citizens of the republic.
+
+     The right of suffrage, like the currency of the post-office
+     department, demands national regulation. We can all remember the
+     losses sustained by citizens in traveling from one State to
+     another under the old system of State banks. We can imagine the
+     confusion if each State regulated its post-offices, and the
+     transit of the mails across its borders. The benefits we find in
+     uniformity and unity in these great interests would pervade all
+     others where equal conditions were secured. Some citizens are
+     asking for a national bankrupt law, that a person released from
+     his debts in one State may be free in every other. Some are for a
+     religious freedom amendment that shall forever separate church
+     and State; forbidding a religious test as a condition of suffrage
+     or a qualification for office; forbidding the reading of the
+     Bible in the schools and the exempting of church property and
+     sectarian institutions of learning or charity from taxation. Some
+     are demanding a national marriage law, that a man legally married
+     in one State may not be a bigamist in another. Some are asking a
+     national prohibitory law, that a reformed drunkard who is
+     shielded from temptation in one State may not be environed with
+     dangers in another. And thus many individual interests point to a
+     growing feeling among the people in favor of homogeneous
+     legislation. As several of the States are beginning to legislate
+     on the woman suffrage question, it is of vital moment that there
+     should be some national action.
+
+     As the laws now are, a woman who can vote, hold office, be tried
+     by a jury of her own peers--yea, and sit on the bench as justice
+     of the peace in the territory of Wyoming, may be reduced to a
+     political pariah in the State of New York. A woman who can vote
+     and hold office on the school board, and act as county
+     superintendent in Kansas and Minnesota, is denied these rights in
+     passing into Pennsylvania. A woman who can be a member of the
+     school board in Maine, Wisconsin, Iowa, and California, loses all
+     these privileges in New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. When
+     representatives from the territories are sent to congress by the
+     votes of women, it is time to have some national recognition of
+     this class of citizens.
+
+     This demand of national protection for national citizens is fated
+     to grow stronger every day. The government of the United States,
+     as the constitution is now interpreted, is powerless to give a
+     just equivalent for the supreme allegiance it claims. One sound
+     democratic principle fully recognized and carried to its logical
+     results in our government, declaring all citizens equal before
+     the law, would soon chase away the metaphysical mists and fogs
+     that cloud our political views in so many directions. When
+     congress is asked to put the name of God in the constitution, and
+     thereby pledge the nation to some theological faith in which some
+     United States citizens may not believe and thus subject a certain
+     class to political ostracism and social persecution, it is asked
+     not to protect but to oppress the citizens of the several States
+     in their most sacred rights--to think, reason, and decide all
+     questions of religion and conscience for themselves, without fear
+     or favor from the government. Popular sentiment and church
+     persecution is all that an advanced thinker in science and
+     religion should be called on to combat. The State should rather
+     throw its shield of protection around those uttering liberal,
+     progressive ideas; for the nation has the same interest in every
+     new thought as it has in the invention of new machinery to
+     lighten labor, in the discovery of wells of oil, or mines of
+     coal, copper, iron, silver or gold. As in the laboratory of
+     nature new forms of beauty are forever revealing themselves, so
+     in the world of thought a higher outlook gives a clearer vision
+     of the heights man in freedom shall yet attain. The day is past
+     for persecuting the philosophers of the physical sciences. But
+     what a holocaust of martyrs bigotry is still making of those
+     bearing the richest treasures of thought, in religion and social
+     ethics, in their efforts to roll off the mountains of
+     superstition that have so long darkened the human mind!
+
+     The numerous demands by the people for national protection in
+     many rights not specified in the constitution, prove that the
+     people have outgrown the compact that satisfied the fathers, and
+     the more it is expounded and understood the more clearly its
+     monarchical features can be traced to its English origin. And it
+     is not at all surprising that, with no chart or compass for a
+     republic, our fathers, with all their educational prejudices in
+     favor of the mother country, with her literature and systems of
+     jurisprudence, should have also adopted her ideas of government,
+     and in drawing up their national compact engrafted the new
+     republic on the old constitutional monarchy, a union whose
+     incompatibility has involved their sons in continued discussion
+     as to the true meaning of the instrument. A recent writer says:
+
+          The Constitution of the United States is the result of a
+          fourfold compromise: _First_--Of unity with individual
+          interests; of national sovereignty with the so-called
+          sovereignty of States; _Second_--Of the republic with
+          monarchy; _Third_--Of freedom with slavery; _Fourth_--Of
+          democracy with aristocracy.
+
+     It is founded, therefore, on the fourfold combination of
+     principles perfectly incompatible and eternally excluding each
+     other; founded for the purpose of equally preserving these
+     principles in spite of their incompatibility, and of carrying
+     out their practical results--in other words, for the purpose of
+     making an impossible thing possible. And a century of discussion
+     has not yet made the constitution understood. It has no settled
+     interpretation. Being a series of compromises, it can be
+     expounded in favor of many directly opposite principles.
+
+     A distinguished American statesman remarked that the war of the
+     rebellion was waged "to expound the constitution." It is a
+     pertinent question now, shall all other contradictory principles
+     be retained in the constitution until they, too, are expounded by
+     civil war? On what theory is it less dangerous to defraud twenty
+     million women of their inalienable rights than four million
+     negroes? Is not the same principle involved in both cases? We ask
+     congress to pass a sixteenth amendment, not only for woman's
+     protection, but for the safety of the nation. Our people are
+     filled with unrest to-day because there is no fair understanding
+     of the basis of individual rights, nor the legitimate power of
+     the national government. The Republican party took the ground
+     during the war that congress had the right to establish a
+     national currency in every State; that it had the right to
+     emancipate and enfranchise the slaves; to change their political
+     status in one-half the States of the union; to pass a civil
+     rights bill, securing to the freedman a place in the schools,
+     colleges, trades, professions, hotels, and all public conveyances
+     for travel. And they maintained their right to do all these as
+     the best measures for peace, though compelled by war.
+
+     And now, when congress is asked to extend the same protection to
+     the women of the nation, we are told they have not the power, and
+     we are remanded to the States. They say the emancipation of the
+     slave was a war measure, a military necessity; that his
+     enfranchisement was a political necessity. We might with
+     propriety ask if the present condition of the nation, with its
+     political outlook, its election frauds daily reported, the
+     corrupt action of men in official position, governors, judges,
+     and boards of canvassers, has not brought us to a moral necessity
+     where some new element is needed in government. But, alas! when
+     women appeal to congress for the protection of their natural
+     rights of person and property, they send us for redress to the
+     courts, and the courts remand us to the States. You did not trust
+     the Southern freedman to the arbitrary will of courts and States!
+     Why send your mothers, wives and daughters to the unwashed,
+     unlettered, unthinking masses that carry popular elections?
+
+     We are told by one class of philosophers that the growing
+     tendency to increase national power and authority is leading to a
+     dangerous centralization; that the safety of the republic rests
+     in local self-government. Says the editor of the Boston _Index_:
+
+          What is local self-government? Briefly, that without any
+          interference from without, every citizen should manage his
+          own personal affairs in his own way, according to his own
+          pleasure; that every town should manage its own town affairs
+          in the same manner and under the same restriction; every
+          county its own county affairs, every State its own State
+          affairs. But the independent exercise of this autonomy, by
+          personal and corporate individuals, has one fundamental
+          condition, viz.: the maintenance of all these
+          individualities intact, each in its own sphere of action,
+          with its rights uninfringed and its freedom uncurtailed in
+          that sphere, yet each also preserving its just relation to
+          all the rest in an all comprehensive social organization.
+          Every citizen would thus stand, as it were, in the center of
+          several concentric and enlarging circles of relationship to
+          his kind; he would have duties and rights in each relation,
+          not only as an individual but also as a member of town,
+          county, State and national organization. His local
+          self-government will be at his highest possible point of
+          realization, when in each of these relations his individual
+          duties are discharged and his rights maintained.
+
+     On the other hand, what is centralization?
+
+          It is such a disorganization of this well-balanced,
+          harmonious and natural system as shall result in the
+          absorption of all substantial power by a central authority,
+          to the destruction of the autonomy of the various
+          individualities above mentioned; such as was produced, for
+          instance, when the _municipia_ of the Roman empire lost
+          their corporate independence and melted into the vast
+          imperial despotism which prepared the way for the collapse
+          of society under the blows of Northern barbarism. Such a
+          centralization must inevitably be produced by decay of that
+          stubborn stickling for rights, out of which local
+          self-government has always grown. That is, if individual
+          rights in the citizen, the town, the county, the State,
+          shall not be vindicated as beyond all price, and defended
+          with the utmost jealousy, at whatever cost, the spirit of
+          liberty must have already died out, and the dreary process
+          of centralization be already far advanced. It will thus be
+          evident that the preservation of individual rights is the
+          only possible preventative of centralization, and that free
+          society has no interest to be compared for an instant in
+          importance with that of preserving these individual rights.
+          No nation is free in which this is not the paramount
+          concern. Woe to America when her sons and her daughters
+          begin to sneer at rights! Just so long as the citizens are
+          protected individually in their rights, the towns and
+          counties and States cannot be stripped; but if the former
+          lose all love for their own liberties as equal units of
+          society, the latter will become the empty shells of
+          creatures long perished. The nation as such, therefore, if
+          it would be itself free and non-centralized, must find its
+          own supreme interest in the protection of its individual
+          citizens in the fullest possible enjoyment of their equal
+          rights and liberties.
+
+     As this question of woman's enfranchisement is one of national
+     safety, we ask you to remember that we are citizens of the United
+     States, and, as such, claim the protection of the national flag
+     in the exercise of our national rights, in every latitude and
+     longitude, on sea, land, at home as well as abroad; against the
+     tyranny of States, as well as against foreign aggressions. Local
+     authorities may regulate the exercise of these rights; they may
+     settle all minor questions of property, but the inalienable
+     personal rights of citizenship should be declared by the
+     constitution, interpreted by the Supreme Court, protected by
+     congress and enforced by the arm of the executive. It is nonsense
+     to talk of State rights until the graver question of personal
+     liberties is first understood and adjusted. President Hayes, in
+     reply to an address of welcome at Charlottesville, Va., September
+     25, 1877, said:
+
+          Equality under the laws for all citizens is the corner-stone
+          of the structure of the restored harmony from which the
+          ancient friendship is to rise. In this pathway I am going,
+          the pathway where your illustrious men led--your Jefferson,
+          your Madison, your Monroe, your Washington.
+
+     If, in this statement, President Hayes is thoroughly sincere,
+     then he will not hesitate to approve emphatically the principle
+     of national protection for national citizens. He will see that
+     the protection of all the national citizens in all their rights,
+     civil, political, and religious--not by the muskets of United
+     States troops, but by the peaceable authority of United States
+     courts--is not a principle that applies to a single section of
+     the country, but to all sections alike; he will see that the
+     incorporation of such a principle in the constitution cannot be
+     regarded as a measure of force imposed upon the vanquished, since
+     it would be law alike to the vanquished and the victor. In short,
+     he will see that there is no other sufficient guarantee of that
+     equality of all citizens, which he well declares to be the
+     "corner-stone of the structure of restored harmony." The Boston
+     _Journal_ of July 19, said:
+
+          There are cases where it seems as if the constitution should
+          empower the federal government to step in and protect the
+          citizen in the State, when the local authorities are in
+          league with the assassins; but, as it now reads, no such
+          provision exists.
+
+     That the constitution does not make such provision is not the
+     fault of the president; it must be attributed to the leading
+     Republicans who had it in their power once to change the
+     constitution so as to give the most ample powers to the general
+     government. When Attorney-General Devens was charged last May
+     with negligence in not prosecuting the parties accused of the
+     Mountain Meadow massacre, his defense was, that this horrible
+     crime was not against the United States, but against the
+     territory of Utah. Yet, it was a great company of industrious,
+     honest, unoffending United States citizens who were foully and
+     brutally murdered in cold blood. When Chief-Justice Waite gave
+     his charge to the jury in the Ellentown conspiracy cases, at
+     Charleston, S. C., June 1, 1877, he said:
+
+          That a number of citizens of the United States have been
+          killed, there can be no question; but that is not enough to
+          enable the government of the United States to interfere for
+          their protection. Under the constitution that duty belongs
+          to the State alone. But when an unlawful combination is made
+          to interfere with any of the rights of natural citizenship
+          secured to citizens of the United States by the national
+          constitution, then an offense is committed against the laws
+          of the United States, and it is not only the right but the
+          absolute duty of the national government to interfere and
+          afford the citizens that protection which every good
+          government is bound to give.
+
+     General Hawley, in an address before a college last spring, said:
+
+          Why, it is asked, does our government permit outrages in a
+          State which it would exert all its authority to redress,
+          even at the risk of war, if they were perpetrated under a
+          foreign government? Are the rights of American citizens more
+          sacred on the soil of Great Britain or France than on the
+          soil of one of our own States? Not at all. But the
+          government of the United States is clothed with power to act
+          with imperial sovereignty in the one case, while in the
+          other its authority is limited to the degree of utter
+          impotency, in certain circumstances. The State sovereignty
+          excludes the Federal over most matters of dealing between
+          man and man, and if the State laws are properly enforced
+          there is not likely to be any ground of complaint, but if
+          they are not, the federal government, if not specially
+          called on according to the terms of the constitution, is
+          helpless. Citizen A.B., grievously wronged, beaten, robbed,
+          lynched within a hair's breadth of death, may apply in vain
+          to any and all prosecuting officers of the State. The forms
+          of law that might give him redress are all there; the
+          prosecuting officers, judges, and sheriffs, that might act,
+          are there; but, under an oppressive and tyrannical public
+          sentiment, they refuse to move. In such an exigency the
+          government of the United States can do no more than the
+          government of any neighboring State; that is, unless the
+          State concerned calls for aid, or unless the offense rises
+          to the dignity of insurrection or rebellion. The reason is,
+          that the framers of our governmental system left to the
+          several States the sole guardianship of the personal and
+          relative private rights of the people.
+
+     Such is the imperfect development of our own nationality in this
+     respect that we have really no right as yet to call ourselves a
+     nation in the true sense of the word, nor shall we have while
+     this state of things continues. Thousands have begun to feel this
+     keenly, of which a few illustrations may suffice. A communication
+     to the New York _Tribune_, June 9, signed "Merchant," said:
+
+          Before getting into a quarrel and perhaps war with Mexico
+          about the treatment of our flag and citizens, would it not
+          be as well, think you, for the government to try and make
+          the flag a protection to the citizens on our own soil?
+
+     That is what it has never been since the foundation of our
+     government in a large portion of our common country. The kind of
+     government the people of this country expect and intend to
+     have--State rights or no State rights, no matter how much blood
+     and treasure it may cost--is a government to protect the humblest
+     citizen in the exercise of all his rights.
+
+     When the rebellion of the South against the government began, one
+     of the most noted secessionists of Baltimore asked one of the
+     regular army officers what the government expected to gain by
+     making war on the South. "Well," the officer replied, laying his
+     hand on the cannon by which he was standing, "we intend to use
+     these until it is as safe for a Northern man to express his
+     political opinions in the South, as it is for a Southern man to
+     express his in the North." Senator Blaine, at a banquet in
+     Trenton, N. J., July 2, declared that a "government which did not
+     offer protection to every citizen in every State had no right to
+     demand allegiance." Ex-Senator Wade, of Ohio, in a letter to the
+     Washington _National Republican_ of July 16, said of the
+     president's policy:
+
+          I greatly fear this policy, under cover of what is called
+          local self-government, is but an ignominious surrender of
+          the principles of nationality for which our armies fought
+          and for which thousands upon thousands of our brave men
+          died, and without which the war was a failure and our
+          boasted government a myth.
+
+     Behind the slavery of the colored race was the principle of State
+     rights. Their emancipation and enfranchisement were important,
+     not only as a vindication of our great republican idea of
+     individual rights, but as the first blow in favor of national
+     unity--of a consistent, homogeneous government. As all our
+     difficulties, State and national, are finally referred to the
+     constitution, it is of vital importance that that instrument
+     should not be susceptible of a different interpretation from
+     every possible standpoint. It is folly to spend another century
+     in expounding the equivocal language of the constitution. If
+     under that instrument, supposed to be the _Magna Charta_ of
+     American liberties, all United States citizens do not stand equal
+     before the law, it should without further delay be so amended as
+     in plain, unmistakable language to declare what are the rights,
+     privileges, and immunities that belong to citizens of a republic.
+
+     There is no reason why the people of to-day should be governed by
+     the laws and constitutions of men long since dead and buried.
+     Surely those who understand the vital issues of this hour are
+     better able to legislate for the living present than those who
+     governed a hundred years ago. If the nineteenth century is to be
+     governed by the opinions of the eighteenth, and the twentieth by
+     the nineteenth, the world will always be governed by dead men....
+
+     The cry of centralization could have little significance if the
+     constitution were so amended as to protect all United States
+     citizens in their inalienable rights. That national supremacy
+     that holds individual freedom and equality more sacred than State
+     rights and secures representation to all classes of people, is a
+     very different form of centralization from that in which all the
+     forces of society are centered in a single arm. But the
+     recognition of the principle of national supremacy, as declared
+     in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, has been practically
+     nullified and the results of the war surrendered, by remanding
+     woman to the States for the protection of her civil and political
+     rights. The Supreme Court decisions and the congressional reports
+     on this point are in direct conflict with the idea of national
+     unity, and the principle of States rights involved in this
+     discussion must in time remand all United States citizens alike
+     to State authority for the protection of those rights declared to
+     inhere in the people at the foundation of the government.
+
+     You may listen to our demands, gentlemen, with dull ears, and
+     smile incredulously at the idea of danger to our institutions
+     from continued violation of the civil and political rights of
+     women, but the question of what citizens shall enjoy the rights
+     of suffrage involves our national existence; for, if the
+     constitutional rights of the humblest citizen may be invaded with
+     impunity, laws interpreted on the side of injustice, judicial
+     decisions based not on reason, sound argument, nor the spirit and
+     letter of our declarations and theories of government, but on the
+     customs of society and what dead men are supposed to have
+     thought, not what they said--what will the rights of the ruling
+     powers even be in the future with a people educated into such
+     modes of thought and action? The treatment of every individual in
+     a community--in our courts, prisons, asylums, of every class of
+     petitioners before congress--strengthens or undermines the
+     foundations of that temple of liberty whose corner-stones were
+     laid one century ago with bleeding hands and anxious hearts, with
+     the hardships, privations, and sacrifices of a seven years' war.
+     He who is able from the conflicts of the present to forecast the
+     future events, cannot but contemplate with anxiety the fate of
+     this republic, unless our constitution be at once subjected to a
+     thorough emendation, making it more comprehensively democratic.
+
+     A review of the history of our nation during the century will
+     show the American people that all the obstacles that have impeded
+     their political, moral and material progress from the dominion of
+     slavery down to the present epidemic of political corruptions,
+     are directly and indirectly traceable to the federal constitution
+     as their source and support. Hence the necessity of prompt and
+     appropriate amendments. Nothing that is incorrect in principle
+     can ever be productive of beneficial results, and no custom or
+     authority is able to alter or overrule this inviolate law of
+     development. The catch-phrases of politicians, such as "organic
+     development," "the logic of events," and "things will regulate
+     themselves," have deceived the thoughtless long enough. There is
+     just one road to safety, and that is to understand the law
+     governing the situation and to bring the nation in line with it.
+     Grave political problems are solved in two ways--by a wise
+     forethought, and reformation; or by general dissatisfaction,
+     resistance, and revolution.
+
+     In closing, let me remind you, gentlemen, that woman has not been
+     a heedless spectator of all the great events of the century, nor
+     a dull listener to the grand debates on human freedom and
+     equality. She has learned the lesson of self-sacrifice,
+     self-discipline, and self-government in the same school with the
+     heroes of American liberty.[29]
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, of New York, corresponding secretary of the
+     association, said: _Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the
+     Committee_--You have heard the general argument for woman from
+     Mrs. Stanton, but there are women here from all parts of the
+     Union, and each one feels that she must say a word to show how
+     united we stand. It is because we have respect for law that we
+     come before you to-day. We recognize the fact that in good law
+     lies the security of all our rights, but as woman has been denied
+     the constructive rights of the declaration and constitution, she
+     is obliged to ask for a direct recognition in the adoption of a
+     sixteenth amendment.
+
+     The first principle of liberty is division of power. In the
+     country of the czar or the sultan there is no liberty of thought
+     or action. In limited monarchies power is somewhat divided, and
+     we find larger liberty and a broader civilization. Coming to the
+     United States we find a still greater division of power, a still
+     more extended liberty--civil, religious, political. No nation in
+     the world is as respected as our own; no title so proud as that
+     of American citizen; it carries with it abroad a protection as
+     large as did that of Rome two thousand years ago. But as proud as
+     is this name of American citizen, it brings with it only shame
+     and humiliation to one-half of the nation. Woman has no part nor
+     lot in the matter. The pride of citizenship is not for her, for
+     woman is still a political slave. While the form of our
+     government seems to include the whole people, one-half of them
+     are denied a right to participate in its benefits, are denied the
+     right of self-government. Woman equally with man has natural
+     rights; woman equally with man is a responsible being.
+
+     It is said women are not fit for freedom. Well, then, secure us
+     freedom and make us fit for it. Macaulay said many politicians of
+     his time were in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident
+     proposition that no people were fit to be free till they were in
+     a condition to use their freedom; "but," said Macaulay, "this
+     maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to
+     go into the water till he had learned to swim. If men [or women]
+     are to wait for liberty till they become good and wise in
+     slavery, they may indeed wait forever."
+
+     There has been much talk about precedent. Many women in this
+     country vote upon school questions, and in England at all
+     municipal elections. I wish to call your attention a little
+     further back, to the time that the Saxons first established free
+     government in England. Women, as well as men, took part in the
+     Witenagemote, the great national council of our Saxon ancestors
+     in England. When Whightred, king of Kent, in the seventh century,
+     assembled the national legislature at Baghamstead to enact a new
+     code of laws, the queen, abbesses, and many ladies of quality
+     signed the decrees. Also, at Beaconsfield, the abbesses took part
+     in the council. In the reign of Henry III. four women took seats
+     in parliament, and in the reign of Edward I. ten ladies were
+     called to parliament and helped to govern Great Britain. Also, in
+     1252, Henry left his Queen Elinor as keeper of the great seal, or
+     lord chancellor, while he went abroad. She sat in the Aula Regia,
+     the highest court of the kingdom, holding the highest judicial
+     power in great Britain. Not only among our forefathers in Britain
+     do we find that women took part in government, but, going back to
+     the Roman Empire, we find the Emperor Heliogabalus introducing
+     his mother into the senate, and giving her a seat near the
+     consuls. He also established a senate of women, which met on the
+     Collis Quirinalis. When Aurelian was emperor he favored the
+     representation of women, and determined to revive this senate,
+     which in lapse of time had fallen to decay. Plutarch mentions
+     that women sat and deliberated in councils, and on questions of
+     peace and war. Hence we have precedents extending very far back
+     into history.
+
+     It is sometimes said that women do not desire freedom. But I tell
+     you the desire for freedom lives in every heart. It may be hidden
+     as the water of the never-freezing, rapid-flowing river Neva is
+     hidden. In the winter the ice from Lake Lagoda floats down till
+     it is met by the ice setting up from the sea, when they unite and
+     form a compact mass over it. Men stand upon it, sledges run over
+     it, splendid palaces are built upon it; but beneath all the Neva
+     still rapidly flows, itself unfrozen. The presence of these women
+     before you shows their desire for freedom. They have come from
+     the North, from the South, from the East, from the West, and from
+     the far Pacific slope, demanding freedom for themselves and for
+     all women.
+
+     Our demands are often met by the most intolerable tyranny. The
+     Albany _Law Journal_, one of the most influential legal journals
+     of the great State of New York, had the assurance a few years ago
+     to tell Miss Anthony and myself if we were not suited with "our
+     laws" we could leave the country. What laws did they mean? Men's
+     laws. If we were not suited with these men's laws, made by them
+     to protect themselves, we could leave the country. We were
+     advised to expatriate ourselves, to banish ourselves. But we
+     shall not do it. It is our country, and we shall stay here and
+     change the laws. We shall secure their amendment, so that under
+     them there shall be exact and permanent political equality
+     between men and women. Change is not only a law of life; it is an
+     essential proof of the existence of life. This country has
+     attained its greatness by ever enlarging the bounds of freedom.
+
+     In our hearts we feel that there is a word sweeter than mother,
+     home, or heaven. That word is LIBERTY. We ask it of you now. We
+     say to you, secure to us this liberty--the same liberty you have
+     yourselves. In doing this you will not render yourselves poor,
+     but will make us rich indeed.
+
+     Mrs. STEWART of Delaware, in illustrating the folly of adverse
+     arguments based on woman's ignorance of political affairs, gave
+     an amusing account of her colored man servant the first time he
+     voted. He had been full of bright anticipations of the coming
+     election day, and when it dawned at last, he asked if he could be
+     spared from his work an hour or so, to vote. "Certainly, Jo,"
+     said she, "by all means; go to the polls and do your duty as a
+     citizen." Elated with his new-found dignity, Jo ran down the
+     road, and with a light heart and shining face deposited his vote.
+     On his return Mrs. Stewart questioned him as to his success at
+     the polls. "Well," said he, "first one man nabbed me and gave me
+     the tickets he said I ought to vote, and then another man did the
+     same. I said yes to both and put the tickets in my pocket. I had
+     no use for those Republican or Democratic bits of paper." "Well,
+     Jo," said Mrs. Stewart, "what did you do?" "Why I took that piece
+     of paper that I paid $2.50 for and put it in the box. I knew that
+     was worth something." "Alas! Jo," said his mistress, "you voted
+     your tax receipt, so your first vote has counted nothing." Do you
+     think, gentlemen, said Mrs. Stewart, that such women as attend
+     our conventions, and speak from our platform, could make so
+     ludicrous a blunder? I think not.
+
+     The Rev. OLYMPIA BROWN, a delegate from Connecticut, addressed
+     the committee as follows: _Gentlemen of the Committee_--I would
+     not intrude upon your time and exhaust your patience by any
+     further hearing upon this subject if it were not that men are
+     continually saying to us that we do not want the ballot; that it
+     is only a handful of women that have ever asked for it; and I
+     think by our coming up from these different States, from
+     Delaware, from Oregon, from Missouri, from Connecticut, from New
+     Hampshire, and giving our testimony, we shall convince you that
+     it is not a few merely, but that it is a general demand from the
+     women in all the different States of the Union; and if we come
+     here with stammering tongues, causing you to laugh by the very
+     absurdity of the manner in which we advocate our opinions, it
+     will only convince you that it is not a few "gifted" women, but
+     the rank and file of the women of our country unaccustomed to
+     such proceedings as these, who come here to tell you that we all
+     desire the right of suffrage. Nor shall our mistakes and
+     inability to advocate our cause in an effective manner be an
+     argument against us, because it is not the province of voters to
+     conduct meetings in Washington. It is rather their province to
+     stay at home and quietly read the proceeding of members of
+     congress, and if they find these proceedings correct, to vote to
+     return them another year. So that our very mistakes shall argue
+     for us and not against us.
+
+     In the ages past the right of citizenship meant the right to
+     enjoy or possess or attain all those civil and political rights
+     that are enjoyed by any other citizen. But here we have a class
+     who can bear the burdens and punishments of citizens, but cannot
+     enjoy their privileges and rights. But even the meanest may
+     petition, and so we come with our thousands of petitions, asking
+     you to protect us against the unjust discriminations imposed by
+     State laws. Nor do we find that there is any conflict between the
+     duties of the national government and the functions of the State.
+     The United States government has to do with general interests,
+     but everything that is special, has to do with sectional
+     interests, belongs to the State. Said Charles Sumner:
+
+          The State exercises its proper functions when it makes local
+          laws, promotes local charities, and by its local knowledge
+          brings the guardianship of government to the homes of its
+          citizens; but the State transcends its proper functions when
+          in any manner it interferes with those equal rights recorded
+          in the Declaration of Independence.
+
+     The State is local, the United States is universal. And, says
+     Charles Sumner, "What can be more universal than the rights of
+     man?" I would add, "What can be more universal than the rights of
+     woman?" extending further than the rights of man, because woman
+     is the heaven-appointed guardian of the home; because woman by
+     her influence and in her office as an educator makes the
+     character of man; because women are to be found wherever men are
+     to be found, as their mothers bringing them into the world,
+     watching them, teaching them, guiding them into manhood. Wherever
+     there is a home, wherever there is a human interest, there is to
+     be felt the interest of women, and so this cause is the most
+     universal of any cause under the sun; and, therefore, it has a
+     claim upon the general government. Therefore we come petitioning
+     that you will protect us in our rights, by aiding us in the
+     passage of the sixteenth amendment, which will make the
+     constitution plain in our favor, or by such actions as will
+     enable us to cast our ballots at the polls without being
+     interfered with by State authorities. And we hope you will do
+     this at no distant day. I hope you will not send my sister, the
+     honorable lady from Delaware, to the boy, Jo, to ask him to
+     define her position in the republic. I hope you will not bid any
+     of these women at home to ask ignorant men whether they may be
+     allowed to discharge their obligations as citizens in the matter
+     of suffrage. I hope you will not put your wives and mothers in
+     the power of men who have never given a half hour's consideration
+     to the subject of government, and who are wholly unfit to
+     exercise their judgment as to whether women should have the right
+     of suffrage.
+
+     I will not insult your common sense by bringing up the old
+     arguments as to whether we have the right to vote. I believe
+     every man of you knows we have that right--that our right to vote
+     is based upon the same authority as yours. I believe every man
+     understands that, according to the declaration and the
+     constitution, women should be allowed to exercise the right of
+     suffrage, and therefore it is not necessary for me to do more
+     than bear my testimony from the State of Connecticut, and tell
+     you that the women from the rank and file, the law-abiding women,
+     desire the ballot; not only that they desire it, but they mean
+     to have it. And to accomplish this result I need not remind you
+     that they will work year in and year out, that they will besiege
+     members of congress everywhere, and that they will come here year
+     after year asking you to protect them in their rights and to see
+     that justice is done in the republic. Therefore, for your own
+     peace, we hope you will not keep us waiting a long time. The fact
+     that some States have made, temporarily, some good laws, does not
+     weaken our demand upon you for the protection which the ballot
+     gives to every citizen. Our interests are still uncared for, and
+     we do not wish to be thus sent from pillar to post to get our
+     rights. We wish to take our stand as citizens of the United
+     States, as we have been declared to be by the Supreme Court, and
+     we wish to be protected in the rights of citizenship. We hope the
+     day is at hand when our prayers will be heard by you. Let us have
+     at an early day in the _Congressional Record_, a report of the
+     proceedings of this committee, and the action of the Senate in
+     favor of woman's right to vote.
+
+Brief remarks were also made by Mrs. Lawrence of Massachusetts,
+Mary A. Thompson, M. D., of Oregon, Mary Powers Filley of New
+Hampshire, Mrs. Blake of New York, Mrs. Hooker of Connecticut, and
+Sara Andrews Spencer of Washington.
+
+At the close of these two day's hearings before the Committee on
+Privileges and Elections,[30] Senator Hoar of Massachusetts,
+offered, and the committee adopted the following complimentary
+resolution:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the arguments upon the very important questions
+     discussed before the committee have been presented with
+     propriety, dignity and ability, and that the committee will
+     consider the same on Tuesday next, at 10 A.M.
+
+The Washington _Evening Star_ of January 11, 1876, said:
+
+     The woman suffrage question will be a great political issue some
+     day. A movement in the direction of alleged rights by a body of
+     American citizens cannot be forever checked, even though its
+     progress may for many years be very gradual. Now that the
+     advocates of suffrage for woman have become convinced that the
+     thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments are not
+     sufficiently explicit to make woman's right to vote unquestioned,
+     and that a sixteenth amendment is necessary to effect the
+     practical exercise of the right, the millennial period that they
+     look for is to all intents and purposes indefinitely postponed,
+     for constitutional amendments are not passed in a day. But there
+     are so many sound arguments to be advanced in favor of woman
+     suffrage that it cannot fail in time to be weighed as a matter of
+     policy, after it shall have been overwhelmingly conceded as a
+     matter of right. And it is noticeable that the arguments of the
+     opponents are coming more and more to be based on expediency, and
+     hardly attempt to answer the claim that as American citizens
+     women are entitled to the right. If the whole body of American
+     women desired the practical exercise of this right, it is hard to
+     see what valid opposition to their claims could be made. All this
+     however does not amend the constitution. Woman suffrage must
+     become a matter of policy for a political party before it can be
+     realized. Congress does not pass revolutionary measures on
+     abstract considerations of right. This question is of a nature to
+     become a living political issue after it has been sufficiently
+     ridiculed.
+
+On Saturday evening, January 12, a reception was given to the
+delegates to the convention by Hon. Alexander H. Stephens of
+Georgia, at the National Hotel. The suite of rooms so long occupied
+by this liberal representative of the South, was thus opened to
+unwonted guests--women asking for the same rights gained at the
+point of the sword by his former slaves! Seated in his wheel-chair,
+from which he had so often been carried by a faithful attendant to
+his place in the House of Representatives, he cordially welcomed
+the ladies as they gathered about him, assuring them of his
+interest in this question and promising his aid.
+
+For the first time Miss Julia Smith of anti-tax fame, of
+Glastonbury, Connecticut, was present at a Washington convention.
+She was the recipient of much social attention. A reception was
+tendered her by Mrs. Spofford of the Riggs House, giving people an
+opportunity to meet this heroic woman of eighty-three, who, with
+her younger sister Abby, had year after year suffered the sale of
+their fine Jersey cows and beautiful meadow lands, rather than pay
+taxes while unrepresented. Many women, notable in art, science and
+literature, and men high in political station were present on this
+occasion. All crowded about Miss Smith, as, supported by Mrs.
+Hooker, in response to a call for a speech, particularly in regard
+to the Gladstonbury cows, as famous as herself, she said:
+
+     There are but two of our cows left at present, Taxey and Votey.
+     It is something a little peculiar that Taxey is very obtrusive;
+     why, I can scarcely step out of doors without being confronted by
+     her, while Votey is quiet and shy, but she is growing more docile
+     and domesticated every day, and it is my opinion that in a very
+     short time, wherever you find Taxey there Votey will be also.
+
+At the close of Miss Smith's remarks, Abby Hutchinson Patton sang
+"Auld Lang Syne" in a very effective manner; one or two readings
+followed, a few modern ballads were sung, and thus closed the
+first of the many delightful receptions given by Mr. and Mrs.
+Spofford to the officers and members of the National Association.
+
+Mrs. Hooker spent several weeks at the Riggs House, holding
+frequent woman suffrage conversazioni in its elegant parlors; also
+speaking upon the question at receptions given in her honor by the
+wives of members of congress, or residents of Washington.[31]
+
+During the week of the convention, public attention was called to a
+scarcely known Anti-Woman Suffrage Society, formed in 1871, of
+which Mrs. General Sherman, Mrs. Admiral Dahlgren and Mrs. Almira
+Lincoln Phelps were officers, by the publication of an undelivered
+letter from Mrs. Phelps to Mrs. Hooker:
+
+     _To the Editor of the Post:_
+
+     The following was written nearly seven years since, but was never
+     sent to Mrs. Hooker. The letter chanced to appear among old
+     papers, and as there is a meeting of women suffragists, with Mrs.
+     Hooker present, and, moreover, as they have mentioned the names
+     of Mrs. Dahlgren and Mrs. General Sherman, opposers, I am willing
+     to bear my share of the opposition, as I acted as corresponding
+     secretary to the Anti-Suffrage Society, which was formed under
+     the auspices of these ladies.
+
+                                             Mrs. DAHLGREN.
+
+
+                         EUTAW PLACE, BALTIMORE, January, 30, 1871.
+
+     _To Mrs. Beecher Hooker:_
+
+     DEAR MADAM--Hoping you will receive kindly what I am about to
+     write, I will proceed without apologies. I have confidence in
+     your nobleness of soul, and that you know enough of me to believe
+     in my devotion to the best interests of woman. I can scarcely
+     realize that you are giving your name and influence to a cause,
+     which, with some good but, as I think, misguided women, numbers
+     among its advocates others with loose morals. * * * We are, my
+     dear madam, as I suppose, related through our common ancester
+     Thomas Hooker. * * * Your husband, I believe, stands in the same
+     relation to that good and noble man. Perhaps he may think with
+     you on this woman suffrage question, but it does seem to me that
+     a wife honoring her husband would not wish to join in such a
+     crusade as is now going on to put woman on an equality with the
+     rabble at the "hustings." If we could with propriety petition the
+     Almighty to change the condition of the sexes and let men take a
+     turn in bearing children and in suffering the physical ailments
+     peculiar to women, which render them unfit for certain positions
+     and business, why, in this case, if we really wish to be men, and
+     thought God would change the established order, we might make our
+     petition; but why ask congress to make us men? Circumstances drew
+     me from the quiet of domestic life while I was yet young; but
+     success in labors which involved publicity, and which may have
+     been of advantage to society, was never considered as an
+     equivalent to my own heart for the loss of such retirement. In
+     the name of my sainted sister, Emma Willard, and of my friend
+     Lydia Sigourney, and I think I might say in the name of the women
+     of the past generation, who have been prominent as writers and
+     educators (the exception may be made of Mary Wollstonecraft,
+     Frances Wright, and a few licentious French writers) in our own
+     country and in Europe, let me urge the high-souled and honorable
+     of our sex to turn their energies into that channel which will
+     enable them to act for the true interests of their sex.
+
+                         Yours respectfully,
+                                             ALMIRA LINCOLN PHELPS.
+
+To which Mrs. Hooker, through _The Post_, replied:
+
+                                   WASHINGTON, January 15, 1878.
+
+     Mrs. DAHLGREN--_Dear Madam_: Permit me to thank you for the
+     opportunity to exonerate myself and the women of the suffrage
+     movement all over the United States from the charge of favoring
+     immorality in any form. I did not know before that Mrs. Phelps,
+     whom I have always held in highest esteem as an educator and as
+     one of the most advanced thinkers of her day, had so misconceived
+     the drift of our movement; and you will pardon me, dear madam,
+     for saying that it is hardly possible that Mrs. Sherman and
+     yourself, in your opposition to it, can have been influenced by
+     any apprehension that the women suffragists of the United States
+     would, if entrusted with legislative power, proceed to use it for
+     the desecration of their own sex, and the pollution of the souls
+     of their husbands, brothers and sons. But having been publicly
+     accused through your instrumentality of sympathy with the
+     licentious practices of men, I shall take the liberty to send you
+     a dozen copies of a little book entitled, "Womanhood; its
+     Sanctities and Fidelities," which I published in 1874 for the
+     specific purpose of bringing to the notice of American women the
+     wonderful work being done across the water in the suppression of
+     "State Patronage of Vice." * * * It is with a deep sense of
+     gratitude to God that I am able to say that, according to my
+     knowledge and belief, every woman in our movement, whether
+     officer or private, is in sympathy with the spirit of this little
+     book. I know of no inharmony here, however we may differ upon
+     minor points of expediency as to the best methods of working for
+     the political advancement of woman. And further, it is the deep
+     conviction of us all that the chief stumbling-block in the way of
+     our obtaining the use of the ballot, is the apprehension among
+     men of low degree that they will surely be limited in their base
+     and brutal and sensual indulgencies when women are armed with
+     equal political power.
+
+     As to my husband, to whose ancestry Mrs. Phelps so kindly
+     alludes, permit me to say that he is not only descended from
+     Thomas Hooker, the beloved first pastor of the old Centre Church
+     in Hartford, and founder of the State of Connecticut, but further
+     back his lineage takes root in one of England's most honored
+     names, Richard Hooker, surnamed "The Judicious"; and I have been
+     accustomed to say that, however it may be as to learning and
+     position, the characteristic of judiciousness has not departed
+     from the American stock. I will only add that Mr. Hooker is
+     treasurer of our State suffrage association, and has spoken on
+     the platform with me as president, whenever his professional
+     duties would permit, and that he is the author of a tract on "The
+     Bible and Woman Suffrage." Our society has printed several
+     thousand copies of this tract, and the London National Women's
+     Suffrage Society has reprinted it with words of high commendation
+     for distribution in Great Britain. * * * And now, dear madam,
+     thanking you once more for this most unexpected and most grateful
+     opportunity for correcting misapprehensions that others may have
+     entertained as well as Mrs. Phelps in regard to the design and
+     tendencies of our movement, may I not ask that you will kindly
+     read and consider the papers I shall take the liberty to send
+     you, and hand them to your co-workers at your convenience?
+
+     That we all, as women who love our country and our kind, may be
+     led to honor each other in our personal relations, while we work
+     each in her respective way for that higher order of manhood and
+     womanhood that alone can exalt our nation to the ideal of the
+     fathers and mothers of the early republic, and preserve us an
+     honored place among the peoples of the earth, is the prayer of
+
+                                   Yours sincerely,
+                                         ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER.
+
+Evidently left without even the name of Mrs. Sherman or the
+Anti-Suffrage Society to sustain her, Mrs. Dahlgren memorialized
+the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections against the
+submission of the sixteenth amendment:
+
+     _To the Honorable Committee on Privileges and Elections:_
+
+     GENTLEMEN--Allow me, in courtesy, as a petitioner, to present one
+     or two considerations regarding a sixteenth amendment, by which
+     it is proposed to confer the right of suffrage upon the women of
+     the United States. I ask this favor also in the interests of the
+     masses of silent women, whose silence does not give consent, but
+     who, in most modest earnestness, deprecate having the political
+     life forced upon them.
+
+     This grave question is not one of simple expediency or the
+     reverse; it might properly be held, were this the case, as a
+     legitimate subject for agitation. Our reasons of dissent to this
+     dangerous inroad upon all precedent, lie deeper and strike
+     higher. They are based upon that which in all Christian nations
+     must be recognized as the higher law, the fundamental law upon
+     which Christian society in its very construction must rest; and
+     that law, as defined by the Almighty, is immutable. Through it
+     the women of this Christian land, as mothers, wives, sisters,
+     daughters, have distinct duties to perform of the most complex
+     order, yet of the very highest and most sacred nature.
+
+     If in addition to all these responsibilities, others,
+     appertaining to the domain assigned to men, are allotted to us,
+     we shall be made the victims of an oppression not intended by a
+     kind and wise Providence, and from which the refining influences
+     of Christian civilization have emancipated us. We have but to
+     look at the condition of our Indian sister, upon whose bended
+     back the heavy pack is laid by her lord and master; who treads in
+     subjection the beaten pathway of equal rights, and compare her
+     situation with our own, to thank the God of Christian nations who
+     has placed us above that plane, where right is might, and might
+     is tyranny. We cannot without prayer and protest see our
+     cherished privileges endangered, and have granted us only in
+     exchange the so-called equal rights. We need more, and we claim,
+     through our physical weakness and your courtesy as Christian
+     gentlemen, that protection which we need for the proper discharge
+     of those sacred and inalienable functions and rights conferred
+     upon us by God. To these the vote, which is not a natural right
+     (otherwise why not confer it upon idiots, lunatics, and adult
+     boys) would be adverse.
+
+     When women ask for a distinct political life, a separate vote,
+     they forget or they willfully ignore the higher law, whose logic
+     may be thus condensed: Marriage is a sacred unity. The family,
+     through it, is the foundation of the State. Each family is
+     represented by its head, just as the State ultimately finds the
+     same unity, through a series of representations. Out of this come
+     peace, concord, proper representation, and adjustment--union.
+
+     The new doctrine, which is illusive, may be thus defined:
+     Marriage is a mere compact, and means diversity. Each family,
+     therefore, must have a separate individual representation, out of
+     which arises diversity or division, and discord is the
+     corner-stone of the State.
+
+     Gentlemen, we cannot displace the corner-stone without
+     destruction to the edifice itself! The subject is so vast, has so
+     many side issues, that a volume might as readily be laid before
+     your honorable committee as these few words hastily written with
+     an aching woman's heart. Personally, if any woman in this vast
+     land has a grievance by not having a vote, I may claim that
+     grievance to be mine. With father, brother, husband, son, taken
+     away by death, I stand utterly alone, with minor children to
+     educate and considerable property interests to guard. But I would
+     deem it unpatriotic to ask for a general law which must prove
+     disastrous to my country, in order to meet that exceptional
+     position in which, by the adorable will of God, I am placed. I
+     prefer, indeed, to trust to that moral influence over men which
+     intelligence never fails to exercise, and which is really more
+     potent in the management of business affairs than the direct
+     vote. In this I am doubtless as old-fashioned as were our
+     grandmothers, who assisted to mold this vast republic. They knew
+     that the greatest good for the greatest number was the only safe
+     legislative law, and that to it all exceptional cases must
+     submit.
+
+     Gentlemen, in conclusion, a sophism in legislation is not a mere
+     abstraction; it must speedily bear fruit in material results of
+     the most disastrous nature, and I implore your honorable
+     committee, in behalf of our common country, not to open a
+     Pandora's box by way of experiment from whence so much evil must
+     issue, and which once opened may never again be closed.
+
+                                   Very respectfully,
+                                          MADELEINE VINTON DAHLGREN.
+
+Mrs. Dahlgren was ably reviewed by Virginia L. Minor of St. Louis,
+and the Toledo Woman Suffrage Association. Mrs. Minor said:
+
+     In assuming to speak for the "silent masses" of women, Mrs.
+     Dahlgren declares that silence does not give consent; very
+     inconsequently forgetting, that if it does not on one side of the
+     question, it may not on the other, and that she may no more
+     represent them than do we.
+
+The Toledo society, through its president Mrs. Rose L. Segur, said:
+
+     We agree with you that this grave question is not one of
+     expediency. It is simply one of right and justice, and therefore
+     a most legitimate subject for agitation. As a moral force woman
+     must have a voice in the government, or partial and unjust
+     legislation is the result from which arise the evils consequent
+     upon a government based upon the enslavement of half its
+     citizens.
+
+To this Mrs. Dahlgren replied briefly, charging the ladies with
+incapacity to comprehend her.
+
+The week following the convention a hearing was granted by the
+House Judiciary Committee to Dr. Mary Walker of Washington, Mary A.
+Tillotson of New Jersey and Mrs. N. Cromwell of Arkansas, urging a
+report in favor of woman's enfranchisement. On January 28, the
+House sub-committee on territories granted a hearing to Dr. Mary
+Walker and Sara Andrews Spencer, in opposition to the bill
+proposing the disfranchisement of the women of Utah as a means of
+suppressing polygamy.
+
+On January 30 the House Judiciary Committee granted Mrs. Hooker a
+hearing. Of the eleven members of the committee nearly all were
+present.[32] The room and all the corridors leading to it were
+crowded with men and women eager to hear Mrs. Hooker's speech. At
+the close of the two hours occupied in its delivery, Chairman Knott
+thanked her in the name of the committee for her able argument.
+
+Immediately after this hearing Mr. Frye of Maine, in presenting in
+the House of Representatives the petitions of 30,000 persons asking
+the right of women to vote upon the question of temperance,
+referred in a very complimentary manner to Mrs. Hooker's argument,
+to which he had just listened. Upon this prayer a hearing was
+granted to the president and ex-president of the Woman's Christian
+Temperance Union, Frances E. Willard and Annie E. Wittenmyer.
+
+Hon. George F. Hoar of Massachusetts, February 4, presented in the
+Senate the 120 petitions with their 6,261 signatures, which, by
+special request of its officers, had been returned to the
+headquarters of the American Association, in Boston. In her appeal
+to the friends to circulate the petitions, both State and national,
+Lucy Stone, chairman of its executive committee, said:
+
+     The American Suffrage Association has always recommended
+     petitions to congress for a sixteenth amendment. But it
+     recognizes the far greater importance of petitioning the State
+     legislatures. _First_--Because suffrage is a subject referred by
+     the constitution to the voters of each State. _Second_--Because
+     we cannot expect a congress composed solely of representatives of
+     States which deny suffrage to women, to submit an amendment which
+     their own States have not yet approved. Just so it would have
+     been impossible to secure the submission of negro suffrage by a
+     congress composed solely of representatives from States which
+     restricted suffrage to white men. While therefore we advise our
+     friends to circulate both petitions together for signature, we
+     urge them to give special prominence to those which apply to
+     their own State legislatures, and to see that these are presented
+     and urged by competent speakers next winter.
+
+By request of a large number of the senators,[33] the Committee on
+Privileges and Elections granted a special hearing to Mrs. Hooker
+on Washington's birthday--February 22, 1878. It being understood
+that the wives of the senators were bringing all the forces of
+fashionable society to bear in aid of Mrs. Dahlgren's protest
+against the pending sixteenth amendment, the officers of the
+National Association issued cards of invitation asking their
+presence at this hearing. We copy from the Washington _Post_:
+
+     The conflicting rumors as to who would be admitted to hear Mrs.
+     Hooker's argument before the Senate Committee on Privileges and
+     Elections, led to the assembling of large numbers of women in
+     various places about the capitol yesterday morning. At 11 o'clock
+     the doors were opened and the committee-room at once filled.[34]
+     Mrs. Hooker, with the fervor and eloquence of her family,
+     reviewed all the popular arguments against woman suffrage. She
+     said she once believed that twenty years was little time enough
+     for a foreigner to live in this country before he could cast a
+     ballot. She understands the spirit of our institutions better
+     now. If disfranchisement meant annihilation, there might be
+     safety in disfranchising the poor, the ignorant, the vicious. But
+     it does not. It means danger to everything we hold dear.
+
+     The corner-stone of this republic is God's own doctrine of
+     liberty and responsibility. Liberty is the steam, responsibility
+     the brakes, and election-day, the safety-valve. The foreigner
+     comes to this country expecting to find it a paradise. He finds,
+     indeed, a ladder reaching to the skies, but resting upon the
+     earth, and he is at the bottom round. But on one day in the year
+     he is as good as the richest man in the land. He can make the
+     banker stand in the line behind him until he votes, and if he has
+     wrongs he learns how to right them. If he has mistaken ideas of
+     liberty, he is instructed what freedom means.
+
+     Wire-pulling politicians may well fear to have women
+     enfranchised. There are too many of them, and they have had too
+     much experience in looking after the details of their households
+     to be easily duped by the tricks of politicians. You can't keep
+     women away from primary meetings as you do intelligent men. Women
+     know that every corner in the house must be inspected if the
+     house is to be clean. Fathers and brothers want women to vote so
+     that they can have a decent place for a primary meeting, a decent
+     place to vote in and a decent man to vote for.
+
+     The Indian question would have been peacefully and righteously
+     settled long ago without any standing army, if Lucretia Mott
+     could have led in the councils of the nation, and the millions
+     spent in fighting the Indians might have been used in
+     kindergartens for the poor, to some lasting benefit. Down with
+     the army, down with appropriation bills to repair the
+     consequences of wrong-doing, when women vote. Millions more of
+     women would ask for this if it were not for the cruelty and abuse
+     men have heaped upon the advocates of woman suffrage. Men have
+     made it a terrible martyrdom for women even to ask for their
+     rights, and then say to us, "convert the women." No, no, men have
+     put up the bars. They must take them down. Mrs. Hooker reviewed
+     the Chinese question, the labor question, the subjects of
+     compulsory education, reformation, police regulations, the social
+     evil, and many other topics upon which men vainly attempt to
+     legislate without the loving wisdom of mothers, sisters and
+     daughters. The senators most interested in the argument were
+     observed to be those previously most unfriendly to woman
+     suffrage.
+
+It was during this winter that Marilla M. Ricker of New Hampshire,
+then studying criminal law in Washington and already having quite
+an extensive practice, applied to the commissioners of the District
+of Columbia for an appointment as notary public. The question of
+the eligibility of woman to the office was referred to the
+district-attorney, Hon. Albert G. Riddle, formerly a member of
+congress from Ohio, and at that time one of the most prominent
+criminal and civil lawyers before the bar. Mr. Riddle's reply was
+an able and exhaustive argument, clearly showing there was no law
+to prevent women from holding the office. But notwithstanding this
+opinion from their own attorney, the commissioners rejected Mrs.
+Ricker's application.[35]
+
+Bills to prohibit the Supreme Court from denying the admission of
+lawyers on the ground of sex had been introduced at each session of
+congress during the past four years. The House bill No. 1,077,
+entitled "A bill to relieve certain disabilities of women," was
+this year championed by Hon. John M. Glover of Missouri, and passed
+by a vote of 169 ayes to 87 nays. In the Senate, Hon. George F.
+Edmunds of Vermont, chairman of the Judiciary Committee reported
+adversely. While the question was pending, Mrs. Lockwood addressed
+a brief to the Senate, ably refuting the assertion of the Court
+that it was contrary to English precedent:
+
+     _To the Honorable, the Senate of the United States:_
+
+     The provisions of this bill are so stringent, that to the
+     ordinary mind it would seem that the conditions are hard enough
+     for the applicant to have well earned the honor of the
+     preferment, without making _sex_ a disability. The fourteenth
+     amendment to the constitution declares that:
+
+          All persons born or naturalized in the United States and
+          subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are _citizens_ of the
+          United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State
+          shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
+          privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.
+          Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or
+          property without due process of law, nor deny to any person
+          within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
+
+     To deny the right asked in this bill would be to deny to women
+     citizens the rights guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence
+     to be self-evident and inalienable, "life, liberty and the
+     pursuit of happiness"; a denial of one of the fundamental rights
+     of a portion of the citizens of the commonwealth to acquire
+     property in the most honorable profession of the law, thereby
+     perpetuating an invidious distinction between male and female
+     citizens equally amenable to the law, and having an equal
+     interest in all of the institutions created and perpetuated by
+     this government. The articles of confederation declare that:
+
+          The free inhabitants of each of these States--paupers and
+          fugitives from justice excepted--shall be entitled to all
+          privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several
+          States.
+
+     Article 4 of the constitution says:
+
+          Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the
+          public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every
+          other State.
+
+     Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Wyoming,
+     Utah, and the District of Columbia admit women to the bar. What
+     then? Shall the second cooerdinate branch of the government, the
+     judiciary, refuse to grant what it will not permit the States to
+     deny, the privileges and immunities of citizens, and say to
+     women-attorneys when they have followed their cases through the
+     State courts to that tribunal beyond which there is no appeal,
+     "You cannot come in here we are too holy," or in the words of the
+     learned chancellor declare that:
+
+          By the uniform practice of the court from its organization
+          to the present time, and by a fair construction of its
+          rules, none but men are admitted to practice before it as
+          attorneys and counselors. This is in accordance with
+          immemorial usage in England, and the law and practice in all
+          the States until within a recent period, and the court does
+          not feel called upon to make a change until such a change is
+          required by statute, or a more extended practice in the
+          highest courts of the States.
+
+     With all due respect for this opinion, we beg leave to quote the
+     rule for admission to the bar of that court as laid down in the
+     rule book:
+
+          RULE NO. 2.--_Attorneys_: It shall be requisite to the
+          admission of attorneys or counselors to practice in this
+          court, that they shall have been such for three years past
+          in the Supreme Courts of the States to which they
+          respectively belong, and that their private and professional
+          character shall appear to be fair.
+
+     There is nothing in this rule or in the oath which follows it,
+     either express or implied, which confines the membership of the
+     bar of the United States Supreme Court to the male sex. Had any
+     such term been included therein it would virtually be nullified
+     by the first paragraph of the United States Revised Statutes,
+     ratified by the forty-third congress, June 20, 1875, in which
+     occur the following words:
+
+          In determining the meaning of the Revised Statutes, or of
+          any act or resolution of congress passed subsequent to
+          February 25, 1871, words importing the singular number may
+          extend and be applied to several persons or things; words
+          importing the masculine gender may be applied to _females_,
+          etc., etc.
+
+     Now, as to "immemorial usage in England." The executive branch of
+     that government has been vested in an honored and honorable woman
+     for the past forty years. Is it to be supposed if this
+     distinguished lady or any one of her accomplished daughters
+     should ask to be heard at the bar of the Court of the Queen's
+     Bench, the practice of which the United States Supreme Court has
+     set up as its model, that she would be refused?
+
+     Blackstone recounts that Ann, Countess of Pembroke, held the
+     office of sheriff of Westmoreland and exercised its duties in
+     person. At the assizes at Appleby she sat with the judges on the
+     bench. (See Coke on Lit., p. 326.) The Scotch sheriff is properly
+     a judge, and by the statute 20, Geo., II, c. 43, he must be a
+     lawyer of three years standing.
+
+     Eleanor, Queen of Henry III. of England, in the year 1253, was
+     appointed lady-keeper of the great seal, or the supreme
+     chancellor of England, and sat in the _Aula Regia_, or King's
+     Court. She in turn appointed Kilkenny, arch-deacon of Coventry,
+     as the sealer of writs and common-law instruments, but the more
+     important matters she executed in person.
+
+     Queen Elizabeth held the great seal at three several times during
+     her remarkable reign. After the death of Lord-keeper Bacon she
+     presided for two months in the _Aula Regia_.
+
+     It is claimed that "admission to the bar constitutes an office."
+     Every woman postmaster, pension agent and notary public
+     throughout the land is a bonded officer of the government. The
+     Western States have elected women as school superintendents and
+     appointed them as enrolling and engrossing clerks in their
+     several legislatures, and as State librarians. Of what use are
+     our seminaries and colleges for women if after they have passed
+     through the curriculum of the schools there is for them no
+     preferment, and no emolument; no application of the knowledge of
+     the arts and sciences acquired, and no recognition of the
+     excellence attained?
+
+     But this country, now in the second year of the second century of
+     her history, is no longer in her leading strings, that she should
+     look to Mother England for a precedent to do justice to the
+     daughters of the land. She had to make a precedent when the first
+     male lawyer was admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme
+     Court. Ah! this country is one that has not hesitated when the
+     necessity has arisen to make precedents and write them in blood.
+     There was no precedent for this free republican government and
+     the war of the rebellion; no precedent for the emancipation of
+     the slave; no precedent for the labor strikes of last summer. The
+     more extended practice, and the more extended public opinion
+     referred to by the learned chancellor have already been
+     accomplished. Ah! that very opinion, telegraphed throughout the
+     land by the associated press, brought back the response of the
+     people as on the wings of the wind asking you for that special
+     act now so nearly consummated, which shall open this professional
+     door to women.
+
+                          BELVA A. LOCKWOOD, _Attorney and Solicitor_.
+     _Washington, D. C._, March 7, 1878.
+
+Mrs. Lockwood's bill, with Senator Edmond's adverse report, was
+reached on the Senate calendar April 22, 1878, and provoked a
+spirited discussion. Hon. A. A. Sargent, made a gallant fight in
+favor of the bill, introducing the following amendment:
+
+          No person shall be excluded from practicing as an attorney
+          and counselor at law in any court of the United States on
+          account of sex.
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: Mr. President, the best evidence that members of the
+     legal profession have no jealousy against the admission of women
+     to the bar who have the proper learning, is shown by this
+     document which I hold in my hand, signed by one hundred and
+     fifty-five lawyers of the District of Columbia, embracing the
+     most eminent men in the ranks of that profession. That there is
+     no jealousy or consideration of impropriety on the part of the
+     various States is shown by the fact that the legislatures of many
+     of the States have recently admitted women to the bar; and my own
+     State, California, has passed such a law within the last week or
+     two; Illinois has done the same thing; so have Michigan,
+     Minnesota, Missouri and North Carolina; and Wyoming, Utah and the
+     District of Columbia among the territories have also done it.
+     There is no reason in principle why women should not be admitted
+     to this profession or the profession of medicine, provided they
+     have the learning to enable them to be useful in those
+     professions, and useful to themselves. Where is the propriety in
+     opening our colleges, our higher institutions of learning, or any
+     institutions of learning, to women, and then when they have
+     acquired in the race with men the cultivation for higher
+     employment, to shut them out? There certainly is none. We should
+     either restrict the laws allowing the liberal education of women,
+     or, we should allow them to exercise the talents which are
+     cultivated at the public expense in such departments of
+     enterprise and knowledge as will be useful to society and will
+     enable them to gain a living. The tendency is in this direction.
+     I believe the time has passed to consider it a ridiculous thing
+     for women to appear upon the lecture platform or in the pulpit,
+     for women to attend to the treatment of diseases as physicians
+     and nurses, to engage in any literary employment, or appear at
+     the bar. Some excellent women in the United States are now
+     practicing at the bar, acceptably received before courts and
+     juries; and when they have conducted their cases to a successful
+     issue or an unsuccessful one in any court below, why should the
+     United States courts to which an appeal may be taken and where
+     their adversaries of the male sex may follow the case up, why
+     should these courts be closed to these women? * * *
+
+     Mr. GARLAND: I should like to ask the senator from California if
+     the courts of the United States cannot admit them upon their own
+     motion anyhow?
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: I think there is nothing in the law prohibiting it,
+     but the Supreme Court of the United States recently in passing
+     upon the question of the admission of a certain lady, said that
+     until some legislation took place they did not like to depart
+     from the precedent set in England, or until there was more
+     general practice among the States. The learned chief-justice,
+     perhaps, did not sufficiently reflect when he stated that there
+     were no English precedents. The fact is that Elizabeth herself
+     sat in the _Aula Regia_ and administered the law, and in both
+     Scotland and England women have fulfilled the function of judges.
+     The instances are not numerous but they are well established in
+     history. I myself have had my attention called to the fact that
+     in the various States the women are now admitted by special
+     legislation to the bar. I do not think there is anything in the
+     law, properly considered, that would debar a woman from coming
+     into this profession. I think the Supreme Court should not have
+     required further legislation, but it seems to have done so, and
+     that makes the necessity for the amendment which I have now
+     offered.
+
+     The chairman of the committee in reporting this bill back from
+     the Judiciary Committee said that the bill as it passed the House
+     of Representatives gave privileges to women which men did not
+     enjoy; that is to say, the Supreme Court can by a change of rule
+     require further qualification of men, whereas in regard to women,
+     if this provision were put into the statute, the Supreme Court
+     could not rule them out even though it may be necessary in its
+     judgment to get a higher standard of qualifications than its
+     present rules prescribe. Although I observe that my time is up, I
+     ask indulgence for a moment or two longer. As this is a question
+     of some interest and women cannot appear here to speak for
+     themselves, I hope I may be allowed to speak for them a moment.
+     Now, there is something in the objection stated by the chairman
+     of the Committee on the Judiciary--that is to say, the bill would
+     take the rule of the Supreme Court and put it in the statute and
+     apply it to women, thereby conferring exceptional privileges; but
+     that is not my intention at all, and therefore I have proposed
+     that women shall not be excluded from practicing law, if they are
+     otherwise qualified, on account of sex, and that is the provision
+     which I want to send back to the Judiciary Committee.
+
+     Mr. GARLAND: I wish to ask one question of the senator from
+     California. Suppose the court should exclude women, but not on
+     account of sex, then what is their remedy?
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: I do not see any pretense that the court could
+     exclude them on except on account of sex.
+
+     Mr. GARLAND: If I recollect the rule of the Supreme Court in
+     regard to the admission of practitioners (and I had to appear
+     there twice to present my claim before I could carry on my
+     profession in that court), I do not think any legislation is
+     necessary to aid them by giving them any more access to that
+     court than they have at present under the rules of the Supreme
+     Court.
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: I believe if the laws now existing were properly
+     construed (of course I speak with all deference to the Supreme
+     Court, but I express the opinion) they would be admitted, but
+     unfortunately the court does not take that view of it, and it
+     will wait for legislation. I purpose that the legislation shall
+     follow. If there is anything in principle why this privilege
+     should not be granted to women who are otherwise qualified, then
+     let the bill be defeated on that ground; but I say there is no
+     difference in principle whatever, not the slightest. There is no
+     reason because a citizen of the United States is a woman that she
+     should be deprived of her rights as a citizen, and these are
+     rights of a citizen. She has the same right to life, liberty and
+     the pursuit of happiness and employment, commensurate with her
+     capacities, as a man has; and, as to the question of capacity,
+     the history of the world shows from Queen Elizabeth and Queen
+     Isabella down to Madame Dudevant and Mrs. Stowe, that capacity is
+     not a question of sex.
+
+     Mr. MCDONALD: I have simply to say, Mr. President, that a number
+     of States and territories have authorized the admission of women
+     to the legal profession, and they have become members of the bar
+     of the highest courts of judicature. It may very frequently
+     occur, and has in some instances I believe really occurred, that
+     cases in which they have been thus employed have been brought to
+     the Supreme Court of the United States. To have the door closed
+     against them when the cause is brought here, not by them, or when
+     in the prosecution of the suits of their clients they find it
+     necessary to come here, seems to me entirely unjust. I therefore
+     favor the bill with the amendment. The proposed amendment is
+     perhaps better because it does away with any tendency to
+     discrimination in regard to the admissibility of women to
+     practice in the Supreme Court.
+
+     The PRESIDING OFFICER: The senator from California moves that the
+     bill be recommitted to the Committee on Judiciary.
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: I have the promise of the chairman of the committee
+     that the bill will soon be reported back, and therefore I am
+     willing that it go to the committee, and I make the motion that
+     it be recommitted. [The motion was agreed to.]
+
+     Mr. SARGENT: I ask that the amendment which I propose be printed.
+
+     The PRESIDING OFFICER: The order to print will be made.
+
+Mary Clemmer, the gifted correspondent of the New York
+_Independent_, learning that Senator Wadleigh was about to report
+adversely upon the sixteenth amendment, wrote the following private
+letter, which, as a record of her own sentiments on the question,
+she gave to Miss Anthony for publication in this history:
+
+     Hon. BAINBRIDGE WADLEIGH--_Dear Sir_: The more I think of it the
+     more I regret that, as chairman of the Committee on Privileges
+     and Elections, you regard with less favor the enfranchisement of
+     women than did your distinguished predecessor, Senator Morton. At
+     this moment, when your committee is discussing that subject, I
+     sigh for the large outlook, the just mind, the unselfish decision
+     of that great legislator. You were his friend, you respected his
+     intellect, you believed in his integrity, you sit in his seat.
+     You are to prepare the report that he would prepare were he still
+     upon the earth. May I ask you to bring to that labor as fair a
+     spirit, as unprejudiced an outlook, as just a decision as he
+     would have done?
+
+     I ask this not as a partisan of woman's rights, but as a lover of
+     the human race. In this faint dawn of woman's day, I discern not
+     woman's development of freedom merely, but the promise of that
+     higher, finer, purer civilization which is to redeem the world,
+     the lack of which makes men tyrants and women slaves. You cannot
+     be unconscious of the fact that a new race of women is born into
+     the world, who, while they lack no womanly attribute, are the
+     peers of any man in intellect and aspiration. It will be
+     impossible long to deny to such women that equality before the
+     law granted to the lowest creature that crawls, if he happens to
+     be a man; denied to the highest creature that asks it, if she
+     happens to be a woman.
+
+     On what authority, save that of the gross regality of physical
+     strength, do you deny to a thoughtful, educated, tax-paying
+     person the common rights of citizenship because she is a woman? I
+     am a property-owner, the head of a household. By what right do
+     you assume to define and curtail for me my prerogatives as a
+     citizen, while as a tax-payer you make not the slightest
+     distinction between me and a man? Leave to my own perception what
+     is proper for me as a lady, to my own discretion what is wise for
+     me as a woman, to my own conscience what is my duty to my race
+     and to my God. Leave to unerring nature to protect the subtle
+     boundaries which define the distinctive life and action of the
+     sexes, while you as a legislator do everything in your power to
+     secure to every creature of God an equal chance to make the best
+     and most of himself.
+
+     If American men could say as Huxley says, "I scorn to lay a
+     single obstacle in the way of those whom nature from the
+     beginning has so heavily burdened," the sexes would cease to war,
+     men and women would reign together, the equal companions,
+     friends, helpers, and lovers that nature intended they should be.
+     But what is love, tenderness, protection, even, unless rooted in
+     justice? Tyranny and servitude, that is all. Brute supremacy,
+     spiritual slavery. By what authority do you say that the country
+     is not prepared for a more enlightened franchise, for political
+     equality, if six women citizens, earnest, eloquent,
+     long-suffering, come to you and demand both? No words can express
+     my regret if to the minority report I see appended only the
+     honored name of George F. Hoar of Massachusetts.
+
+                              Your friend,            MARY CLEMMER.
+
+In response to all these arguments, appeals and petitions, Senator
+Wadleigh, from the Committee on Privileges and Elections, presented
+the following adverse report, June 14, 1878:
+
+     _The Committee on Privileges and Elections, to whom was referred
+     the Resolution (S. Res. 12) proposing an Amendment to the
+     Constitution of the United States, and certain Petitions for and
+     Remonstrances against the same, make the following Report:_
+
+     This proposed amendment forbids the United States, or any State
+     to deny or abridge the right to vote on account of sex. If
+     adopted, it will make several millions of female voters, totally
+     inexperienced in political affairs, quite generally dependent
+     upon the other sex, all incapable of performing military duty and
+     without the power to enforce the laws which their numerical
+     strength may enable them to make, and comparatively very few of
+     whom wish to assume the irksome and responsible political duties
+     which this measure thrusts upon them. An experiment so novel, a
+     change so great, should only be made slowly and in response to a
+     general public demand, of the existence of which there is no
+     evidence before your committee.
+
+[Illustration: Marilla M. Ricker]
+
+     Petitions from various parts of the country, containing by
+     estimate about 30,000 names, have been presented to congress
+     asking for this legislation. They were procured through the
+     efforts of woman suffrage societies, thoroughly organized, with
+     active and zealous managers. The ease with which signatures may
+     be procured to any petition is well known. The small number of
+     petitioners, when compared with that of the intelligent women in
+     the country, is striking evidence that there exists among them no
+     general desire to take up the heavy burden of governing, which so
+     many men seek to evade. It would be unjust, unwise and impolitic
+     to impose that burden on the great mass of women throughout the
+     country who do not wish for it, to gratify the comparatively few
+     who do.
+
+     It has been strongly urged that without the right of suffrage,
+     women are, and will be, subjected to great oppression and
+     injustice.
+
+     But every one who has examined the subject at all knows that,
+     without female suffrage, legislation for years has improved and
+     is still improving the condition of woman. The disabilities
+     imposed upon her by the common law have, one by one, been swept
+     away, until in most of the States she has the full right to her
+     property and all, or nearly all, the rights which can be granted
+     without impairing or destroying the marriage relation. These
+     changes have been wrought by the spirit of the age, and are not,
+     generally at least, the result of any agitation by women in their
+     own behalf.
+
+     Nor can women justly complain of any partiality in the
+     administration of justice. They have the sympathy of judges and
+     particularly of juries to an extent which would warrant loud
+     complaint on the part of their adversaries of the sterner sex.
+     Their appeals to legislatures against injustice are never
+     unheeded, and there is no doubt that when any considerable part
+     of the women of any State really wish for the right to vote, it
+     will be granted without the intervention of congress.
+
+     Any State may grant the right of suffrage to women. Some of them
+     have done so to a limited extent, and perhaps with good results.
+     It is evident that in some States public opinion is much more
+     strongly in favor of it than it is in others. Your committee
+     regard it as unwise and inexpedient to enable three-fourths in
+     number of the States, through an amendment to the national
+     constitution, to force woman suffrage upon the other fourth in
+     which the public opinion of both sexes may be strongly adverse to
+     such a change.
+
+     For these reasons, your committee report back said resolution
+     with a recommendation that it be indefinitely postponed.
+
+This adverse report was all the more disappointing because Mr.
+Wadleigh, as Mrs. Clemmer's letter states, filled the place of Hon.
+Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, one of the most steadfast friends of
+woman suffrage, who, at the last session of congress, had asked as
+a special favor the reference of our petitions to the Committee on
+Privileges and Elections, of which he was chairman, that they might
+receive proper attention and that he might report favorably upon
+them. In the discussion on the Pembina bill in 1874, Senator
+Morton made an earnest speech in favor of woman's enfranchisement.
+In his premature death our cause lost one of its bravest champions.
+
+Senator Wadleigh's report called forth severe criticism; notably
+from the _New Northwest_ of Oregon, the _Woman's Journal_ of
+Boston, the _Inter-Ocean_ of Chicago, the _Evening Telegram_ and
+the _National Citizen_ of New York. We quote from the latter:
+
+     The report is not a statesman-like answer based upon fundamental
+     principles, but a mere politician's dodge--a species of
+     dust-throwing quite in vogue in Washington. "Several millions of
+     voters totally inexperienced in political affairs"! They would
+     have about as much experience as the fathers in 1776, as the
+     negroes in 1870, as the Irish, English, Italians, Norwegians,
+     Danes, French, Germans, Portuguese, Scotch, Russians, Turks,
+     Mexicans, Hungarians, Swedes and Indians, who form a good part of
+     the voting population of this country. Did Mr. Wadleigh never
+     hear of Agnes C. Jencks--the woman who has stirred up politics to
+     its deepest depth; who has shaken the seat of President Hayes;
+     who has set in motion the whole machinery of government, and who,
+     when brought to the witness stand has for hours successfully
+     baffled such wily politicians as Ben Butler and McMahon;--a woman
+     who thwarts alike Republican and Democrat, and at her own will
+     puts the brakes on all this turmoil of her own raising? Does
+     Senator Wadleigh know nothing of that woman's "experience in
+     politics"?
+
+     "Quite dependent upon the other sex." It used to be said the
+     negroes were "quite dependent" upon their masters, that it would
+     really be an abuse of the poor things to set them free, but when
+     free and controlling the results of their own labor, it was found
+     the masters had been the ones "quite dependent," and thousands of
+     them who before the war rolled in luxury, have since been in the
+     depths of poverty--some of them even dependent upon the bounty of
+     their former slaves. When men cease to rob women of their
+     earnings they will find them generally, as thousands now are,
+     capable of self-care.[36]
+
+     "Military duty." When women hold the ballot there will not be
+     quite as much military duty to be done. They will then have a
+     voice and a vote in the matter, and the men will no longer be
+     able to throw the country into a war to gratify spite or
+     ambition, tearing from woman's arms her nearest and dearest. All
+     men do not like "military duty." "The key to that horrible
+     enigma, German socialism, is antagonism to the military system,"
+     and nations are shaken with fear because of it. But when there is
+     necessity for military duty, women will be found in line. The
+     person who planned the Tennessee campaign, in which the Northern
+     armies secured their first victories, was a woman, Anna Ella
+     Carroll. Gen. Grant acted upon her plan, and was successful. She
+     was endorsed by President Lincoln, Seward, Stanton, Wade, Scott,
+     and all the nation's leaders in its hour of peril, and yet
+     congress has not granted her the pension which for ten years her
+     friends have demanded. Mr. Wadleigh holds his seat in the United
+     States Senate to-day, because of the "military duty" done by this
+     woman.
+
+     "About 30,000 names," to petitions. There have been 70,000 sent
+     in during the present session of congress, for a sixteenth
+     amendment, besides hundreds of individual petitions from women
+     asking for the removal of their own political disabilities. Men
+     in this country are occasionally disfranchised for crime, and
+     sometimes pray for the removal of their political disabilities.
+     Nine such disfranchised men had the right of voting restored to
+     them during the last session of congress. But not a single one of
+     the five hundred women who individually asked to have their
+     political disabilities removed, was even so much as noticed by an
+     adverse report, Mr. Wadleigh knows it would make no difference if
+     300,000 women petitioned. But whether women ask for the ballot or
+     not has nothing to do with the question. Self-government is the
+     natural right of every individual, and because woman possesses
+     this natural right, she should be secured in its exercise.
+
+     Mr. Wadleigh says, "nor can woman justly complain of any
+     partiality in the administration of justice." Let us examine: A
+     few years ago a married man in Washington, in official position,
+     forced a confession from his wife at the mouth of a pistol, and
+     shot his rival dead. Upon trial he was triumphantly acquitted and
+     afterwards sent abroad as foreign minister. A few months ago a
+     married woman in Georgia, who had been taunted by her rival with
+     boasts of having gained her husband's love, found this rival
+     dancing with him. She drew a knife and killed the woman on the
+     spot. She was tried, convicted, and, although nursing one infant,
+     and again about to become a mother, was sentenced to be hanged by
+     the neck till she was 'dead, dead, dead.' There is Mr. Wadleigh's
+     equal administration of justice between man and woman! There is
+     "the sympathy of judges and juries." There is the "extent which
+     would warrant loud complaint on the part of their adversaries of
+     the sterner sex." And this woman escaped the gallows not because
+     of "the sympathy of the judge" or "jury," but because her own sex
+     took the matter up, and from every part of the country sent
+     petitions by the hundreds to Governor Colquitt of Georgia, asking
+     her pardon. That pardon came in the shape of ten years'
+     imprisonment;--ten years in a cell for a woman, the mother of a
+     nursing and an unborn infant, while for General Sickles the
+     mission to Madrid with high honors and a fat salary.
+
+     Messrs. Wadleigh of New Hampshire, McMillan of Minnesota, Ingalls
+     of Kansas, Saulsbury of Delaware, Merrimon of North Carolina and
+     Hill of Georgia, all senators of the United States, are the
+     committee that report it "inexpedient" to secure equal rights to
+     the women of the United States. But we are not discouraged; we
+     are not disheartened; all the Wadleighs in the Senate, all the
+     committees of both Houses, the whole congress of the United
+     States against us, would not lessen our faith, nor our efforts.
+     We know we are right; we know we shall be successful; we know the
+     day is not far distant, when this government and the world will
+     acknowledge the exact and permanent political equality of man and
+     woman, and we know that until that hour comes woman will be
+     oppressed, degraded; a slave, without a single right that man
+     feels himself bound to respect. Work then, women, for your own
+     freedom. Let the early morning see you busy, and dusky evening
+     find you planning how you may become FREE.
+
+But the most severe judgment upon Mr. Wadleigh's action came from
+his own constituents, who, at the close of the forty-fifth congress
+excused his further presence in the United States Senate, sending
+in his stead the Hon. Henry W. Blair, a valiant champion of
+national protection for national citizens.[37]
+
+In April, 1878, Mrs. Williams transferred the _Ballot-Box_ to Mrs.
+Gage, who removed it to Syracuse, New York, and changed its name to
+the _National Citizen_. In her prospectus Mrs. Gage said:
+
+     The _National Citizen_ will advocate the principle that suffrage
+     is the citizen's right, and should be protected by national law,
+     and that, while States may regulate the suffrage, they should
+     have no power to abolish it. Its especial object will be to
+     secure national protection to women in the exercise of their
+     right to vote; it will oppose class legislation of whatever form.
+     It will support no political party until one arises which is
+     based upon the exact equality of man and woman.
+
+     As the first step towards becoming well is to know you are ill,
+     one of the principal aims of the _National Citizen_ will be to
+     make those women discontented who are now content; to waken them
+     to self-respect and a desire to use the talents they possess; to
+     educate their consciences aright; to quicken their sense of duty;
+     to destroy morbid beliefs, and fit them for their high
+     responsibilities as citizens of a republic. The _National
+     Citizen_ has no faith in that old theory that "a woman once lost
+     is lost forever," neither does it believe in the assertion that
+     "a woman who sins, sinks to depths of wickedness lower than man
+     can reach." On the contrary it believes there is a future for the
+     most abandoned, if only the kindly hand of love and sympathy be
+     extended to rescue them from the degradation into which they have
+     fallen. The _National Citizen_ will endeavor to keep its readers
+     informed of the progress of women in foreign countries, and will,
+     as far as possible, revolutionize this country, striving to make
+     it live up to its own fundamental principles and become in
+     reality what it is but in name--a genuine republic.
+
+Instead of holding its usual May anniversary in New York city, the
+National Association decided to meet in Rochester to celebrate the
+close of the third decade of organized agitation in the United
+States, and issued the following call:
+
+     The National Association will hold a convention in Rochester, N.
+     Y., July 19, 1878. This will be the thirtieth anniversary of the
+     first woman's rights convention, held July 19, 1848, in the
+     Wesleyan church at Seneca Falls, N. Y., and adjourned to meet,
+     August 2, in Rochester. Some who took part in that convention
+     have passed away, but many others, including both Mrs. Mott and
+     Mrs. Stanton, are still living. This convention will take the
+     place of the usual May anniversary, and will be largely devoted
+     to reminiscences. Friends are cordially invited to be present.
+
+                               CLEMENCE S. LOZIER, M. D., _President_.
+
+    SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+The meeting was held in the Unitarian church on Fitzhugh street,
+occupied by the same society that had opened its doors in 1848; and
+Amy Post, one of the leading spirits of the first convention, still
+living in Rochester and in her seventy-seventh year, assisted in
+the arrangements. Rochester, known as "The Flower City,"
+contributed of its beauty to the adornment of the church. It was
+crowded at the first session. Representatives from a large number
+of States were present,[38] and there was a pleasant interchange of
+greetings between those whose homes were far apart, but who were
+friends and co-workers in this great reform. The reunion was more
+like the meeting of near and dear relatives than of strangers whose
+only bond was work in a common cause. Such are the compensations
+which help to sustain reformers while they battle ignorance and
+prejudice in order to secure justice. In the absence of the
+president, Dr. Clemence S. Lozier, Mrs. Stanton took the chair and
+said:
+
+     We are here to celebrate the third decade of woman's struggle in
+     this country for liberty. Thirty years have passed since many of
+     us now present met in this place to discuss the true position of
+     woman as a citizen of a republic. The reports of our first
+     conventions show that those who inaugurated this movement
+     understood the significance of the term "citizens." At the very
+     start we claimed full equality with man. Our meetings were
+     hastily called and somewhat crudely conducted; but we intuitively
+     recognized the fact that we were defrauded of our natural rights,
+     conceded in the national constitution. And thus the greatest
+     movement of the century was inaugurated. I say greatest, because
+     through the elevation of woman all humanity is lifted to a higher
+     plane. To contrast our position thirty years ago, under the old
+     common law of England, with that we occupy under the advanced
+     legislation of to-day, is enough to assure us that we have passed
+     the boundary line--from slavery to freedom. We already see the
+     mile-stones of a new civilization on every highway.
+
+     Look at the department of education, the doors of many colleges
+     and universities thrown wide open to women; girls contending for,
+     yea, and winning prizes over their brothers. In the working world
+     they are rapidly filling places and climbing heights unknown to
+     them before, realizing, in fact, the dreams, the hopes, the
+     prophesies of the inspired women of by-gone centuries. In many
+     departments of learning woman stands the peer of man, and when by
+     higher education and profitable labor she becomes self-reliant
+     and independent, then she must and will be free. The moment an
+     individual or a class is strong enough to stand alone, bondage is
+     impossible. Jefferson Davis, in a recent speech, says: "A Caesar
+     could not subject a people fit to be free, nor could a Brutus
+     save them if they were fit for subjugation."
+
+     Looking back over the past thirty years, how long ago seems that
+     July morning when we gathered round the altar in the old Wesleyan
+     church in Seneca Falls! It taxes and wearies the memory to think
+     of all the conventions we have held, the legislatures we have
+     besieged, the petitions and tracts we have circulated, the
+     speeches, the calls, the resolutions we have penned, the
+     never-ending debates we have kept up in public and private, and
+     yet to each and all our theme is as fresh and absorbing as it was
+     the day we started. Calm, benignant, subdued as we look on this
+     platform, if any man should dare to rise in our presence and
+     controvert a single position we have taken, there is not a woman
+     here that would not in an instant, with flushed face and flashing
+     eye, bristle all over with sharp, pointed arguments that would
+     soon annihilate the most skilled logician, the most profound
+     philosopher.
+
+     To those of you on this platform who for these thirty years have
+     been the steadfast representatives of woman's cause, my friends
+     and co-laborers, let me say our work has not been in vain. True,
+     we have not yet secured the suffrage, but we have aroused public
+     thought to the many disabilities of our sex, and our countrywomen
+     to higher self-respect and worthier ambition, and in this
+     struggle for justice we have deepened and broadened our own lives
+     and extended the horizon of our vision. Ridiculed, persecuted,
+     ostracised, we have learned to place a just estimate on popular
+     opinion, and to feel a just confidence in ourselves. As the
+     representatives of principles which it was necessary to explain
+     and defend, we have been compelled to study constitutions and
+     laws, and in thus seeking to redress the wrongs and vindicate the
+     rights of the many, we have secured a higher development for
+     ourselves. Nor is this all. The full fruition of these years of
+     seed-sowing shall yet be realized, though it may not be by those
+     who have led in the reform, for many of our number have already
+     fallen asleep. Another decade and not one of us may be here, but
+     we have smoothed the rough paths for those who come after us. The
+     lives of multitudes will be gladdened by the sacrifices we have
+     made, and the truths we have uttered can never die.
+
+     Standing near the gateway of the unknown land and looking back
+     through the vista of the past, memory recalls many duties in
+     life's varied relations we would had been better done. The past
+     to all of us is filled with regrets. We can recall, perchance,
+     social ambitions disappointed, fond hopes wrecked, ideals in
+     wealth, power, position, unattained--much that would be
+     considered success in life unrealized. But I think we should all
+     agree that the time, the thought, the energy we have devoted to
+     the freedom of our countrywomen, that the past, in so far as our
+     lives have represented this great movement, brings us only
+     unalloyed satisfaction. The rights already obtained, the full
+     promise of the rising generation of women more than repay us for
+     the hopes so long deferred, the rights yet denied, the
+     humiliation of spirit we still suffer.
+
+     And for those of you who have been mere spectators of the long,
+     hard battle we have fought, and are still fighting, I have a
+     word. Whatever your attitude has been, whether as cold,
+     indifferent observers--whether you have hurled at us the shafts
+     of ridicule or of denunciation, we ask you now to lay aside your
+     old educational prejudices and give this question your earnest
+     consideration, substituting reason for ridicule, sympathy for
+     sneers. I urge the young women especially to prepare themselves
+     to take up the work so soon to fall from our hands. You have had
+     opportunities for education such as we had not. You hold to-day
+     the vantage-ground we have won by argument. Show now your
+     gratitude to us by making the uttermost of yourselves, and by
+     your earnest, exalted lives secure to those who come after you a
+     higher outlook, a broader culture, a larger freedom than have yet
+     been vouchsafed to woman in our own happy land.
+
+Congratulatory letters[39] and telegrams were received from all
+portions of the United States and from the old world. Space admits
+the publication of but a few, yet all breathed the same hopeful
+spirit and confidence in future success. Abigail Bush, who presided
+over the first Rochester convention, said:
+
+     No one knows what I passed through upon that occasion. I was born
+     and baptized in the old Scotch Presbyterian church. At that time
+     its sacred teachings were, "if a woman would know anything let
+     her ask her husband at home." * * * I well remember the incidents
+     of that meeting and the thoughts awakened by it. * * * Say to
+     your convention my full heart is with them in all their
+     deliberations and counsels, and I trust great good to women will
+     come of their efforts.
+
+Ernestine L. Rose, a native of Poland, and, next to Frances Wright,
+the earliest advocate of woman's enfranchisement in America, wrote
+from England:
+
+     How I should like to be with you at the anniversary--it reminds
+     me of the delightful convention we had at Rochester, long, long
+     ago--and speak of the wonderful change that has taken place in
+     regard to woman. Compare her present position in society with the
+     one she occupied _forty_ years ago, when I undertook to
+     emancipate her from not only barbarous laws, but from what was
+     even worse, a barbarous public opinion. No one can appreciate the
+     wonderful change in the social and moral condition of woman,
+     except by looking back and comparing the past with the present. *
+     * * Say to the friends, Go on, go on, halt not and rest not.
+     Remember that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and of
+     right. Much has been achieved; but the main, the vital thing, has
+     yet to come. The suffrage is the magic key to the statute--the
+     insignia of citizenship in a republic.
+
+Caroline Ashurst Biggs, editor of the _Englishwoman's Review_,
+London, wrote:
+
+     I have read with great interest in the _National Citizen_ and the
+     _Woman's Journal_ the announcement of the forthcoming convention
+     in Rochester. * * * I cannot refrain from sending you a cordial
+     English congratulation upon the great advance in the social and
+     legal position of women in America, which has been the result of
+     your labor. The next few years will see still greater progress.
+     As soon as the suffrage is granted to women, a concession which
+     will not be many years in coming either in England or America,
+     every one of our questions will advance with double force, and
+     meanwhile our efforts in that direction are simultaneously
+     helping forward other social, legal, educational and moral
+     reforms. Our organization in England does not date back so far as
+     yours. There were only a few isolated thinkers when Mrs. John
+     Stuart Mill wrote her essay on the enfranchisement of women in
+     1851. For twenty years, however, it has progressed with few
+     drawbacks. In some particulars the English laws in respect of
+     women are in advance of yours, but the connection between England
+     and America is so close that a gain to one is a gain to the
+     other.
+
+Lydia E. Becker, editor of the _Women's Suffrage Journal_,
+Manchester, England, wrote:
+
+     * * * I beg to offer to the venerable pioneers of the movement,
+     more especially to Lucretia Mott, a tribute of respectful
+     admiration and gratitude for the services they have rendered in
+     the cause of enfranchisement. * * * As regards the United
+     kingdom, the movement in a practical form is but twelve years
+     old, and in that period, although we have not obtained the
+     parliamentary franchise, we have seen it supported by at least
+     one-third of the House of Commons, and our claim admitted as one
+     which must be dealt with in future measures of parliamentary
+     reform. We have obtained the municipal franchise and the
+     school-board franchise. Women have secured the right to enter the
+     medical profession and to take degrees in the University of
+     London, besides considerable amendment of the law regarding
+     married women, though much remains to be done.
+
+Senator Sargent, since minister to Berlin, wrote:
+
+     I regret that the necessity to proceed at once to California will
+     deprive me of the pleasure of attending your convention of July
+     19, the anniversary of the spirited declaration of rights put
+     forth thirty years ago by some of the noblest and most
+     enlightened women of America. Women's rights have made vast
+     strides since that day, in juster legislation, in widened spheres
+     of employment, and in the gradual but certain recognition by
+     large numbers of citizens of the justice and policy of extending
+     the elective franchise to women. It is now very generally
+     conceded that the time is rapidly approaching when women will
+     vote. The friends of the movement have faith in the result; its
+     enemies grudgingly admit it. Courage and work will hasten the
+     day. The worst difficulties have already been overcome. The
+     movement has passed the stage of ridicule, and even that of
+     abuse, and has entered that of intelligent discussion, its worst
+     adversaries treating it with respect. You are so familiar with
+     all the arguments in favor of this great reform that I will not
+     attempt to state them; but I wish to say that as an observer of
+     public events, it is my deliberate judgment that your triumph is
+     near at hand. There are vastly more men and women in the United
+     States now who believe that women should have the right to vote
+     than there were in 1848 who believed the slave should be freed.
+     This is a government of opinions and the growing opinion will be
+     irresistible.
+
+                              Respectfully yours,      A. A. SARGENT.
+
+The following letters from the great leaders of the anti-slavery
+movement were gratefully received. As Mr. Garrison soon after
+finished his eventful life, this proved to be his last message to
+our association:
+
+                                   BOSTON, June 30, 1878.
+
+     MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY--Your urgent and welcome letter, inviting me
+     to the thirtieth anniversary of the woman's rights movement at
+     Rochester, came yesterday. Most earnestly do I wish I could be
+     present to help mark this epoch in our movement, and join in
+     congratulating the friends on the marvelous results of their
+     labors. No reform has gathered more devoted and self-sacrificing
+     friends. No one has had lives more generously given to its
+     service; and you who have borne such heavy burdens may well
+     rejoice in the large harvest; for no reform has, I think, had
+     such rapid success. You who remember the indifference which
+     almost discouraged us in 1848, and who have so bravely faced
+     ungenerous opposition and insult since, must look back on the
+     result with unmixed astonishment and delight. Temperance, and
+     finance--which is but another name for the labor movement--and
+     woman's rights, are three radical questions which overtop all
+     others in value and importance. Woman's claim for the ballot-box
+     has had a much wider influence than merely to protect woman.
+     Universal suffrage is itself in danger. Scholars dread it; social
+     science and journalists attack it. The discussion of woman's
+     claim has done much to reveal this danger, and rally patriotic
+     and thoughtful men in defense. In many ways the agitation has
+     educated the people. Its success shows that the masses are sound
+     and healthy; and if we gain, in the coming fifteen years, half as
+     much as we have in the last thirty, woman will hold spear and
+     shield in her own hands. If I might presume to advise, I should
+     say close up the ranks and write on our flag only one claim--the
+     ballot. Everything helps us, and if we are united, success cannot
+     long be delayed.
+
+                                   Very cordially yours,
+                                             WENDELL PHILLIPS.
+
+
+                                        BOSTON, July 16, 1878.
+
+     MY DEAR FRIEND--The thirtieth anniversary of the first woman's
+     rights convention ever held with special reference to demanding
+     the elective franchise irrespective of sex well deserves to be
+     commemorated in the manner set forth in the call for the same, at
+     Rochester, on the 19th instant. As a substitute for my personal
+     attendance, I can only send a brief but warm congratulatory
+     epistle on the cheering progress which the movement has made
+     within the period named. For how widely different are the
+     circumstances under which that convention was held, and those
+     which attend the celebration of its third decade! Then, the
+     assertion of civil and political equality, alike for men and
+     women, excited widespread disgust and astonishment, as though it
+     were a proposition to repeal the laws of nature, and literally to
+     "turn the world upside down"; and it was ridiculed and
+     caricatured as little short of lunacy. Now, it is a subject of
+     increasing interest and grave consideration, from the Atlantic to
+     the Pacific, and what at first appeared to be so foolish in
+     pretension is admitted by all reflecting and candid minds to be
+     deserving of the most respectful treatment. Then, its avowed
+     friends, were indeed "few and far between," even among those
+     disfranchised as the penalty of their womanhood. Now, they can be
+     counted by tens of thousands, and their number is
+     augmenting--foremost in intelligence, in weight of character, in
+     strength of understanding, in manly and womanly development, and
+     in all that goes to make up enlightened citizenship. Then, with
+     rare exceptions, women were everywhere remanded to poverty and
+     servile dependence, being precluded from following those
+     avocations and engaging in those pursuits which make competency
+     and independence not a difficult achievement. Now, there is
+     scarcely any situation or profession, in the arrangements of
+     society, to which they may not and do not aspire, and in which
+     many of them are not usefully engaged; whether in new and varied
+     industrial employment, in the arts and sciences, in the highest
+     range of literature, in philosophic and mathematical
+     investigations, in the professions of law, medicine, and
+     divinity, in high scholarship, in educational training and
+     supervision, in rhetoric and oratory, in the lyceum, or in
+     discharging the official duties connected with the various
+     departments of the State and national governments.
+
+     Almost all barriers are down except that which prevents women
+     from going to the polls to help decide who shall be the
+     law-makers and what shall be the laws, so that the general
+     welfare may be impartially consulted, and the blessings of
+     freedom and equal rights be enjoyed by all. That barrier, too,
+     must give way wherever erected, as sure as time outlasts and
+     baffles every device of wrong-doing, and truth is stronger than
+     falsehood, and the law of eternal justice is as reliable as the
+     law of gravitation. Yes! the grand fundamental truths of the
+     Declaration of Independence shall yet be reduced to practice in
+     our land--that the human race are created free and equal; that
+     government derives its just powers from the consent of the
+     governed, and that taxation without representation is tyranny.
+     And I confidently predict that this will be witnessed before the
+     expiration of another decade.
+
+                         Yours, to abate nothing of heart or hope,
+                                               WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
+
+Mrs. Mott never seemed more hopeful for the triumph of our
+principles than on this occasion. She expressed great satisfaction
+in the number of young women who for the first time that day graced
+our platform.[40] Though in her eighty-sixth year, her enthusiasm
+in the cause for which she had so long labored seemed still
+unabated, and her eye sparkled with humor as of yore while giving
+some amusing reminiscences of encounters with opponents in the
+early days. Always apt in biblical quotations she had proved
+herself a worthy antagonist of the clergy on our platform. She had
+slain many Abimelechs with short texts of Scripture, whose defeat
+was the more humiliating because received at the hand of a woman.
+As she recounted in her happiest vein the triumphs of her
+coadjutors she was received with the heartiest manifestations of
+delight by her auditors. She took a lively interest in the
+discussion of the resolutions that had been presented by the
+chairman of the committee, Matilda Joslyn Gage:
+
+     _Resolved_, That a government of the people, by the people and
+     for the people is yet to be realized; for that which is formed,
+     administered and controlled only by men, is practically nothing
+     more than an enlarged oligarchy, whose assumptions of natural
+     superiority and of the right to rule are as baseless as those
+     enforced by the aristocratic powers of the old world.
+
+     _Resolved_, That in celebrating our third decade we have reason
+     to congratulate ourselves on the marked change in woman's
+     position--in her enlarged opportunities for education and labor,
+     her greater freedom under improved social customs and civil laws,
+     and the promise of her speedy enfranchisement in the minor
+     political rights she has already secured.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the International Congress[41] called in Paris,
+     July 20, to discuss the rights of woman--the eminent Victor Hugo,
+     its presiding officer--is one of the most encouraging events of
+     the century, in that statesmen and scholars from all parts of the
+     world, amid the excitement of the French Exposition, propose to
+     give five days to deliberations upon this question.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the majority report of the chairman of the
+     Committee on Privileges and Elections, Senator Wadleigh of New
+     Hampshire, against a sixteenth amendment to secure the political
+     rights of woman in its weakness, shows the strength of our
+     reform.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the national effort to force citizenship on the
+     Indians, the decision of Judge Sawyer in the United States
+     Circuit Court of California against the naturalization of the
+     Chinese, and the refusal of congress to secure the right of
+     suffrage to women, are class legislation, dangerous to the
+     stability of our institutions.
+
+     WHEREAS, Woman's rights and duties in all matters of legislation
+     are the same as those of man.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the problems of labor, finance, suffrage,
+     international rights, internal improvements, and other great
+     questions, can never be satisfactorily adjusted without the
+     enlightened thought of woman, and her voice in the councils of
+     the nation.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the question of capital and labor is one of
+     special interest to us. Man, standing to woman in the position of
+     capitalist, has robbed her through the ages of the results of her
+     toil. No just settlement of this question can be attained until
+     the right of woman to the proceeds of her labor in the family and
+     elsewhere is recognized, and she is welcomed into every industry
+     on the basis of equal pay for equal work.
+
+     _Resolved_, That as the first duty of every individual is
+     self-development, the lessons of self-sacrifice and obedience
+     taught woman by the Christian church have been fatal, not only to
+     her own vital interests, but through her, to those of the race.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the great principle of the Protestant
+     Reformation, the right of individual conscience and judgment
+     heretofore exercised by man alone, should now be claimed by
+     woman; that, in the interpretation of Scripture, she should be
+     guided by her own reason, and not by the authority of the church.
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is through the perversion of the religious
+     element in woman--playing upon her hopes and fears of the future,
+     holding this life with all its high duties in abeyance to that
+     which is to come--that she and the children she has trained have
+     been so completely subjugated by priestcraft and superstition.
+
+This was the last convention ever attended by Lucretia Mott. Her
+family had specially requested that she should not be urged to go;
+but on seeing the call, she quietly announced her intention to be
+at the meeting, and, with the ever faithful Sarah Pugh as her
+companion, she made the journey from Philadelphia in the intense
+heat of those July days. Mrs. Mott was the guest of her husband's
+nephew, Dr. E.M. Moore, who, fearing that his aunt would be utterly
+exhausted, called for her while she was in the midst of her closing
+remarks. As she descended the platform, she continued speaking
+while she slowly moved down the aisle, shaking hands upon either
+side. The audience simultaneously rose, and on behalf of all,
+Frederick Douglass ejaculated, "Good-by, dear Lucretia!"
+
+The last three resolutions called out a prolonged discussion[42]
+not only in the convention but from the pulpit and press of the
+State.
+
+One amusing encounter in the course of the debate is worthy of
+note. Perhaps it was due to the intense heat that Mr. Douglass,
+usually clear on questions of principle, was misled into opposing
+the resolutions. He spoke with great feeling and religious
+sentiment of the beautiful Christian doctrine of self-sacrifice.
+When he finished, Mrs. Lucy Coleman, always keen in pricking
+bubbles, arose and said: "Well, Mr. Douglass, all you say may be
+true; but allow me to ask you why you did not remain a slave in
+Maryland, and sacrifice yourself, like a Christian, to your master,
+instead of running off to Canada to secure your liberty, like a
+man? We shall judge your faith, Frederick, by your deeds."
+
+An immense audience assembled at Corinthian Hall in the evening to
+listen to the closing speeches[43] of the convention. Mrs. Robinson
+of Boston gave an exhaustive review of the work in Massachusetts,
+and her daughter, Mrs. Shattuck, gave many amusing experiences as
+her father's[44] clerk in the legislature of that State.
+
+The resolutions provoked many attacks from the clergy throughout
+the State, led by Rev. A.H. Strong, D.D., president of the Baptist
+Theological Seminary in Rochester, Of his sermon the _National
+Citizen_ said:
+
+     None too soon have we issued our resolutions, proclaiming woman's
+     right to self-development--to interpret Scripture for herself, to
+     use her own faculties. In speaking of what Christianity has done
+     for woman, Dr. Strong stultifies his own assertions by referring
+     to Switzerland and Germany "where you may see any day hundreds of
+     women wheeling earth for railroad embankments." Does he not
+     remember that Switzerland and Germany are Christian countries and
+     that it is part of their civilization that while women do this
+     work, some man takes the pay and puts it in his own pocket quite
+     in heathen fashion? The reverend doctor in the usual style of
+     opposition to woman--which is to quote something or other having
+     no bearing upon the question--refers to Cornelia's "jewels,"
+     forgetting to say that Cornelia delivered public lectures upon
+     philosophy in Rome, and that Cicero paid the very highest tribute
+     to her learning and genius.
+
+     Dr. Strong advocates the old theory that woman and man are not
+     two classes standing upon the same level, but that the two are
+     one--that one on the time-worn theory of common law, the husband;
+     and talks of the "dignity and delicacy of woman" being due to the
+     fact of her not having been in public life, and that this
+     "dignity and delicacy" would all evaporate if once she were
+     allowed to vote, which reminds one of the story of Baron
+     Munchausen's horn, into which a certain coach-driver blew all
+     manner of wicked tunes. The weather being very cold, these tunes
+     remained frozen in the horn. When hung by the fire, the horn
+     began to thaw out, and these wicked tunes came pealing forth to
+     the great amazement of the by-standers. The reverend gentlemen
+     seems to think women are full of frozen wickedness, which if they
+     enter public life will be thawed out to the utter demolition of
+     their "dignity and delicacy" and the disgust of society. He deems
+     it "too hazardous" to allow women to vote. "Bad women would
+     vote." Well, what of it? Have they not equal right with bad men,
+     to self-government? Bad is a relative term. It strikes us that
+     the very reverend Dr. Strong is a "bad" man--a man who does not
+     understand true Christianity--who is not just--who would strike
+     those who are down--who would keep woman in slavery--who quotes
+     the Bible as his authority: thus fettering woman's conscience,
+     binding her will, and playing upon her hopes and fears to keep
+     her in subjection.
+
+     From Augustine, down, theologians have tried to compel people to
+     accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the
+     tortures of the inquisition, the rack, the thumb-screw, the
+     stake, the persecutions of witchcraft, the whipping of naked
+     women through the streets of Boston, banishment, trials for
+     heresy, the halter about Garrison's neck, Lovejoy's death, the
+     branding of Captain Walker, shouts of infidel and atheist, have
+     all been for this purpose.
+
+     We know the ignorance that exists upon these points. Few have yet
+     begun to comprehend the influence that ecclesiasticism has had
+     upon law. Wharton, a recognized authority upon criminal law,
+     issued his seventh edition before he ascertained the vast bearing
+     canon law had had upon the civil code, and we advise readers to
+     consult the array of authorities, English, Latin, German, to
+     which he, in his preface, refers. We hope to arouse attention
+     and compel investigation of this subject by lawyers and
+     theologians as well as by women themselves.
+
+Francis E. Abbot, editor of _The Index_, the organ of the Free
+Religious Association, spoke grandly in favor of the resolutions.
+He said:
+
+     These resolutions we have read with astonishment, admiration and
+     delight. We should not have believed it possible that the
+     convention could have been induced to adopt them. They will make
+     forever memorable in the history of the organized woman movement,
+     this thirtieth anniversary of its birth. They put the National
+     Woman Suffrage Association in an inconceivably higher and nobler
+     position than that occupied by any similar society. They go to
+     the very root of the matter. They are a bold, dignified, and
+     magnificent utterance. We congratulate the convention on a record
+     so splendid in the eyes of all true liberals. From this day forth
+     the whole woman movement must obey the inspiration of a higher
+     courage and a grander spirit than have been known to its past.
+     Opposition must be encountered, tenfold more bitter than was ever
+     yet experienced. But truth is on the side of these brave women;
+     the ringing words they have spoken at Rochester will thrill many
+     a doubting heart and be echoed far down the long avenue of the
+     years.
+
+During the same week of the Rochester convention, the Paris
+International Congress opened it sessions, sending us a telegram of
+greeting to which we responded with two hundred and fifty francs as
+a tangible evidence of our best wishes. The two remarkable features
+of that congress were the promise of so distinguished a man as
+Victor Hugo to preside over its deliberations, though at last
+prevented by illness; and the fact that the Italian government sent
+Mlle. Mozzoni as an official delegate to the congress to study the
+civil position of woman in various countries, in order that an
+ameliorating change of its code, in respect to woman, could be
+wisely made.
+
+The newspapers of the French capital in general treated the
+congress with respect. The _Rappel_, Victor Hugo's organ, spoke of
+it in a most complimentary manner. Theodore Stanton, in a letter to
+the _National Citizen_, said:
+
+     In one important respect this congress differed entirely from an
+     American convention of like character--it made no demand for
+     suffrage. The word was never mentioned except by the American
+     delegates. In continental Europe the idea of demanding for woman
+     a share in the government, is never considered. This is the more
+     remarkable in France, as this claim was made at the time of the
+     revolution. But every imaginable side of the question was
+     discussed, except the side that comprehends all the others. To an
+     American, therefore, European woman's rights is rather tame; it
+     is like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. But Europe is
+     moving, and the next international congress will, undoubtedly,
+     give more attention to suffrage and less to hygiene.
+
+The Eleventh Washington Convention was held January 9, 10, 1879.
+The resolutions give an idea of the status of the question, and the
+wide range of discussion covered by the speakers:[45]
+
+     _Resolved_, That the forty-fifth congress, in ignoring the
+     individual petitions of more than three hundred women of high
+     social standing and culture, asking for the removal of their
+     political disabilities, while promptly enacting special
+     legislation for the removal of the political disabilities of
+     every man who petitioned, furnishes an illustration of the
+     indifference of this congress to the rights of citizens deprived
+     of political power.
+
+     WHEREAS, Senator Blaine says, it is the very essence of tyranny
+     to count any citizens in the basis of representation who are
+     denied a voice in their laws and a choice in their rulers;
+     therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That counting women in the basis of representation,
+     while denying them the right of suffrage, is compelling them to
+     swell the number of their tyrants and is an unwarrantable
+     usurpation of power over one-half the citizens of this republic.
+
+     WHEREAS, In President Hayes' last message, he makes a truly
+     paternal review of the interests of this republic, both great and
+     small, from the army, the navy, and our foreign relations, to the
+     ten little Indians in Hampton, Va., our timber on the western
+     mountains, and the switches of the Washington railroads; from the
+     Paris Exposition, the postal service, the abundant harvests, and
+     the possible bull-dozing of some colored men in various southern
+     districts, to cruelty to live animals, and the crowded condition
+     of the mummies, dead ducks and fishes in the Smithsonian
+     Institute--yet forgets to mention twenty million women robbed of
+     their social, civil and political rights; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That a committee of three be appointed from this
+     convention to wait upon the president and remind him of the
+     existence of one-half of the American people whom he has
+     accidentally overlooked, and of whom it would be wise for him to
+     make some mention in his future messages.
+
+     WHEREAS, All of the vital principles involved in the thirteenth,
+     fourteenth and fifteenth constitutional amendments have been
+     denied in their application to women by courts, legislatures and
+     political parties; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is logical that these amendments should fail
+     to protect even the male African for whom said courts,
+     legislatures and parties declare they were expressly designed and
+     enacted.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the judges of the Supreme Court of the United
+     States in denying Belva A. Lockwood admission to its bar, while
+     she was entitled under the law and under its rules to that right,
+     violated their oath of office.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Edmonds
+     chairman, in its report on the bill to allow women to practice
+     law in the courts of the United States in which it declares that
+     "further legislation is not necessary," evaded the plain question
+     at issue before it in a manner unworthy of judges learned in the
+     honorable profession of the law, and thereby sanctioned an
+     injustice to the women of the whole country.
+
+     WHEREAS, The general government has refused to exercise federal
+     power to protect women in their right to vote in the various
+     States and territories; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That it should forbear to exercise federal power to
+     disfranchise the women of Utah, who have had a more just and
+     liberal spirit shown them by Mormon men than Gentile women in the
+     States have yet perceived in their rulers.
+
+     WHEREAS, The proposed legislation for the Chinese women on the
+     Pacific slope and for outcast women in our cities, and the
+     opinion of the press that no respectable woman should be seen in
+     the streets after dark, are all based upon the presumption that
+     woman's freedom must be forever sacrificed to man's licence;
+     therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That the ballot in woman's hand is the only power by
+     which she can restrain the liberty of those men who make our
+     streets and highways dangerous to her, and secure the freedom
+     that belongs to her by day and by night.
+
+
+[Illustration: Frances E. Willard]
+
+
+At the close of the convention it was decided at a meeting of the
+executive committee to present an address to the president and both
+houses of congress, and that a printed copy of the resolutions
+should be laid on the desk of every member. The president having
+granted a hearing,[46] the following address was presented:
+
+     _To his Excellency, the President of the United States_:
+
+     WHEREAS, Representatives of associations of women waited upon
+     your excellency before the delivery of your first and second
+     annual messages, asking that in those documents you would
+     remember the disfranchised millions of citizens of the United
+     States; and,
+
+     WHEREAS, Upon careful examination of those messages, we find
+     therein specifically enumerated, the interests, great and small,
+     of all classes of men, and recommendations of needful legislation
+     to protect their civil and political rights, but find no mention
+     made of any need of legislation to protect the political, civil,
+     or social rights of one-half of the people of this republic, and,
+
+     WHEREAS, There is pending in the Senate a constitutional
+     amendment to prohibit the several States from disfranchising
+     United States citizens on account of sex, and a similar amendment
+     is pending upon a tie vote in the House Judiciary Committee; and
+     as petitions to so amend the constitution have been presented to
+     both houses of congress from more than 40,000 well-known citizens
+     of thirty-five States and five territories,
+
+     THEREFORE, we respectfully ask your excellency, in your next
+     annual message, to make mention of the disfranchised millions of
+     wives, mothers and daughters of this republic, and to recommend
+     to congress that women equally with men be protected in the
+     exercise of their civil and political rights.
+
+     On behalf of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
+
+                                  ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, _President_.
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Corresponding Secretary_.
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+The delegates from the territory of Utah were also received by the
+president. They called his attention to the effect of the
+enforcement of the law of 1862 upon 50,000 Mormon women, to render
+them outcasts and their children nameless, asking the chief
+executive of the nation to give some time to the consideration of
+the bill pending under different headings in both houses. The
+president asked them to set forth the facts in writing, that he
+might carefully weigh so important a matter. A memorial was also
+presented to congress by these ladies, closing thus:
+
+     We further pray that in any future legislation concerning the
+     marriage relation in any territory under your jurisdiction you
+     will consider the rights and the consciences of the women to be
+     affected by such legislation, and that you will consider the
+     permanent care and welfare of children as the sure foundation of
+     the State.
+
+     And your petitioners will ever pray.
+
+                                   EMMELINE B. WELLS.
+                                   ZINA YOUNG WILLIAMS.
+
+Mr. Cannon of Utah moved that the memorial be referred to the
+Committee on the Judiciary with leave to report at any time. It was
+so referred. The Judiciary Committee of the Senate brought in a
+bill legitimatizing the offspring of plural marriages to a certain
+date; also authorizing the president to grant amnesty for past
+offenses against the law of 1862.
+
+The _Congressional Record_ of January 24, under the head of
+petitions and memorials, said:
+
+     The vice-president, Mr. Wheeler of New York, presented the
+     petition of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Susan
+     B. Anthony, officers of the National Association, praying for the
+     passage of Senate joint resolution No. 12, providing for an
+     amendment to the Constitution of the United States, protecting
+     the rights of women, and also that the House Judiciary Committee
+     be relieved from the further consideration of a similar
+     resolution.
+
+     Mr. FERRY--If there be no objection I ask that the petition be
+     read at length.
+
+     The VICE-PRESIDENT--The Chair hears no objection, and it will be
+     reported by the secretary.
+
+     The petition was read and referred to the Committee on Privileges
+     and Elections, as follows:
+
+          _To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+          States, in Congress assembled:_
+
+          WHEREAS, More than 40,000 men and women, citizens of
+          thirty-five States and five territories, have petitioned the
+          forty-fifth congress asking for an amendment to the federal
+          constitution prohibiting the several States from
+          disfranchising United States citizens on account of sex; and
+
+          WHEREAS, A resolution providing for such constitutional
+          amendment is upon the calendar (Senate resolution No. 12,
+          second session forty-fifth congress), and a similar
+          resolution is pending upon a tie vote in the Judiciary
+          Committee of the House of Representatives; and
+
+          WHEREAS, The women of the United States constitute one-half
+          of the people of this republic and have an inalienable right
+          to an equal voice with men in the nation's councils; and
+
+          WHEREAS, Women being denied the right to have their opinions
+          counted at the ballot-box, are compelled to hold all other
+          rights subject to the favors and caprices of men; and
+
+          WHEREAS, In answer to the appeals of so large a number of
+          honorable petitioners, it is courteous that the forty-fifth
+          congress should express its opinion upon this grave question
+          of human rights; therefore,
+
+          We pray your honorable body to take from the calendar and
+          pass Senate resolution No. 12, providing for an amendment to
+          the constitution protecting the rights of women; and
+
+          We further pray you to relieve the House Judiciary Committee
+          from the further consideration of the woman suffrage
+          resolution brought to a tie vote in that committee, February
+          5, 1878, that it may be submitted to the House of
+          Representatives for immediate action.
+
+          And your petitioners will ever pray.
+
+                                  ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, _President_.
+
+          MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Corresponding Secretary_.
+          SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+At the opening of the last session of the forty-fifth congress most
+earnest appeals (copies of which were sent to every member of
+congress) came from all directions for the presentation of a
+minority report from the Committee on Privileges and Elections. The
+response from our representatives was prompt and most encouraging.
+The first favorable report our question had ever received in the
+Senate of the United States was presented by the Hon. George F.
+Hoar, February 1, 1879:
+
+     _The undersigned, a minority of the Committee on Privileges and
+     Elections, to whom were referred the resolution proposing an
+     amendment to the constitution prohibiting discrimination in the
+     right of suffrage on account of sex, and certain petitions in aid
+     of the same, submit the following minority report:_
+
+     The undersigned dissent from the report of the majority of the
+     committee. The demand for the extension of the right of suffrage
+     to women is not new. It has been supported by many persons in
+     this country, in England and on the continent, famous in public
+     life, in literature and in philosophy. But no single argument of
+     its advocates seems to us to carry so great a persuasive force as
+     the difficulty which its ablest opponents encounter in making a
+     plausible statement of their objections. We trust we do not fail
+     in deference to our esteemed associates on the committee when we
+     avow our opinion that their report is no exception to this rule.
+
+     The people of the United States and of the several States have
+     founded their political institutions upon the principle that all
+     men have an equal right to a share in the government. The
+     doctrine is expressed in various forms. The Declaration of
+     Independence asserts that "all men are created equal" and that
+     "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
+     governed." The Virginia bill of rights, the work of Jefferson and
+     George Mason, affirms that "no man or set of men are entitled to
+     exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the rest of
+     the community but in consideration of public services." The
+     Massachusetts bill of rights, the work of John Adams, besides
+     reaffirming these axioms, declares that "all the inhabitants of
+     this commonwealth, having such qualifications as they shall
+     establish by their frame of government, have an equal right to
+     elect officers, and to be elected for public employment." These
+     principles, after full and profound discussion by a generation of
+     statesmen whose authority upon these subjects is greater than
+     that of any other that ever lived, have been accepted by
+     substantially the whole American people as the dictates alike of
+     practical wisdom and of natural justice. The experience of a
+     hundred years has strengthened their hold upon the popular
+     conviction. Our fathers failed in three particulars to carry
+     these principles to their logical result. They required a
+     property qualification for the right to vote and to hold office.
+     They kept the negro in slavery. They excluded women from a share
+     in the government. The first two of these inconsistencies have
+     been remedied. The property test no longer exists. The fifteenth
+     amendment provides that race, color, or previous servitude shall
+     no longer be a disqualification. There are certain qualifications
+     of age, of residence, and, in some instances of education,
+     demanded; but these are such as all sane men may easily attain.
+
+     This report is not the place to discuss or vindicate the
+     correctness of this theory. In so far as the opponents of woman
+     suffrage are driven to deny it, for the purpose of an argument
+     addressed to the American people, they are driven to confess that
+     they are in the wrong. This people are committed to the doctrine
+     of universal suffrage by their constitutions, their history and
+     their opinions. They must stand by it or fall by it. The poorest,
+     humblest, feeblest of sane men has the ballot in his hand, and no
+     other man can show a better title to it. Those things wherein men
+     are unequal--intelligence, ability, integrity, experience, title
+     to public confidence by reason of previous public service--have
+     their natural and legitimate influence under a government wherein
+     each man's vote is counted, to quite as great a degree as under
+     any other form of government that ever existed.
+
+     We believe that the principle of universal suffrage stands to-day
+     stronger than ever in the judgment of mankind. Some eminent and
+     accomplished scholars, alarmed by the corruption and recklessness
+     manifested in our great cities, deceived by exaggerated
+     representations of the misgovernment of the Southern States by a
+     race just emerging from slavery, disgusted by the extent to which
+     great numbers of our fellow-citizens have gone astray in the
+     metaphysical subtleties of financial discussion, have uttered
+     their eloquent warnings of the danger of the failure of universal
+     suffrage. Such utterances from such sources have been frequent.
+     They were never more abundant than in the early part of the
+     present century. They are, when made in a serious and patriotic
+     spirit, to be received with the gratitude due to that greatest of
+     public benefactors--he who points out to the people their dangers
+     and their faults.
+
+     But popular suffrage is to be tried not by comparison with ideal
+     standards of excellence, but by comparison with other forms of
+     government. We are willing to submit our century of it to this
+     test. The crimes that have stained our history have come chiefly
+     from its denial, not from its establishment. The misgovernment
+     and corruption of our great cities have been largely due to men
+     whose birth and training have been under other systems. The
+     abuses attributed by political hostility to negro governments at
+     the South--governments from which the intelligence and education
+     of the State held themselves sulkily aloof--do not equal those
+     which existed under the English or French aristocracy within the
+     memory of living men. There have been crimes, blunders,
+     corruptions, follies in the history of our republic. Aristides
+     has been banished from public employment, while Cleon has been
+     followed by admiring throngs. But few of these things have been
+     due to the extension of the suffrage. Strike out of our history
+     the crimes of slavery, strike out the crimes, unparalleled for
+     ferocity and brutality, committed by an oligarchy in its attempt
+     to overthrow universal suffrage, and we may safely challenge for
+     our national and State governments comparison with monarchy or
+     aristocracy in their best and purest periods.
+
+     Either the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence and the
+     bills of rights are true, or government must rest on no principle
+     of right whatever, but its powers may be lawfully taken by force
+     and held by force by any person or class who have strength to do
+     it, and who persuade themselves that their rule is for the public
+     interest. Either these doctrines are true, or you can give no
+     reason for your own possession of the suffrage except that you
+     have got it. If this doctrine be sound, it follows that no class
+     of persons can rightfully be excluded from their equal share in
+     the government, unless they can be proved to lack some quality
+     essential to the proper exercise of political power.
+
+     A person who votes helps, first, to determine the measures of
+     government; second, to elect persons to be intrusted with public
+     administration. He should therefore possess, first, an honest
+     desire for the public welfare; second, sufficient intelligence to
+     determine what measure or policy is best; third, the capacity to
+     judge of the character of persons proposed for office; and,
+     fourth, freedom from undue influence, so that the vote he casts
+     is his own, and not another's. That person or class casting his
+     or their own vote, with an honest desire for the public welfare,
+     and with sufficient intelligence to judge what measure is
+     advisable and what person may be trusted, fulfill every condition
+     that the State can rightfully impose.
+
+     We are not now dealing with the considerations which should
+     affect the admission of citizens of other countries to acquire
+     the right to take part in our government. All nations claim the
+     right to impose restrictions on the admission of foreigners
+     trained in attachment to other countries or forms of rule, and to
+     indifference to their own, whatever they deem the safety of the
+     State requires. We take it for granted that no person will deny
+     that the women of America are inspired with a love of country
+     equal to that which animates their brothers and sons. A capacity
+     to judge of character, so sure and rapid as to be termed
+     intuitive, is an especial attribute of woman. One of the greatest
+     orators of modern times has declared:
+
+          I concede away nothing which I ought to assert for our sex
+          when I say that the collective womanhood of a people like
+          our own seizes with matchless facility and certainty on the
+          moral and personal peculiarities and character of marked and
+          conspicuous men, and that we may very wisely address
+          ourselves to such a body to learn if a competitor for the
+          highest honors has revealed that truly noble nature that
+          entitled him to a place in the hearts of a nation.
+
+     We believe that in that determining of public policies by the
+     collective judgment of the State which constitutes
+     self-government, the contribution of woman will be of great
+     importance and value. To all questions into the determination of
+     which considerations of justice or injustice enter, she will
+     bring a more refined moral sense than that of man. The most
+     important public function of the State is the provision for the
+     education of youths. In those States in which the public school
+     system has reached its highest excellence, more than ninety per
+     cent. of the teachers are women. Certainly the vote of the women
+     of the State should be counted in determining the policy that
+     shall regulate the school system which they are called to
+     administer.
+
+     It is seldom that particular measures of government are decided
+     by direct popular vote. They are more often discussed before the
+     people after they have taken effect, when the party responsible
+     for them is called to account. The great measures which go to
+     make up the history of nations are determined not by the voters,
+     but by their rulers, whether those rulers be hereditary or
+     elected. The plans of great campaigns are conceived by men of
+     great military genius and executed by great generals. Great
+     systems of finance come from the brain of statesmen who have made
+     finance a special study. The mass of the voters decide to which
+     party they will intrust power. They do not determine particulars.
+     But they give to parties their general tone and direction, and
+     hold them to their accountability. We believe that woman will
+     give to the political parties of the country a moral temperament
+     which will have a most beneficent and ennobling effect on
+     politics.
+
+     Woman, also, is specially fitted for the performance of that
+     function of legislative and executive government which, with the
+     growth of civilization, becomes yearly more and more
+     important--the wise and practical economic adjustment of the
+     details of public expenditures. It may be considered that it
+     would not be for the public interest to clothe with the suffrage
+     any class of persons who are so dependent that they will, as a
+     general rule, be governed by others in its exercise. But we do
+     not admit that this is true of women. We see no reason to believe
+     that women will not be as likely to retain their independence of
+     political judgment, as they now retain their independence of
+     opinion in regard to the questions which divide religious sects
+     from one another. These questions deeply excite the feelings of
+     mankind, yet experience shows that the influence of the wife is
+     at least as great as that of the husband in determining the
+     religious opinion of the household. The natural influence exerted
+     by members of the same family upon each other would doubtless
+     operate to bring about similarity of opinion on political
+     questions as on others. So far as this tends to increase the
+     influence of the family in the State, as compared with that of
+     unmarried men, we deem it an advantage. Upon all questions which
+     touch public morals, public education, all which concern the
+     interest of the household, such a united exertion of political
+     influence cannot be otherwise than beneficial.
+
+     Our conclusion, then, is that the American people must extend the
+     right of suffrage to woman or abandon the idea that suffrage is a
+     birthright. The claim that universal suffrage will work mischief
+     in practice is simply a claim that justice will work mischief in
+     practice. Many honest and excellent persons, while admitting the
+     force of the arguments above stated, fear that taking part in
+     politics will destroy those feminine traits which are the charm
+     of woman, and are the chief comfort and delight of the household.
+     If we thought so we should agree with the majority of the
+     committee in withholding assent to the prayer of the petitioners.
+     This fear is the result of treating the abuses of the political
+     function as essential to its exercise. The study of political
+     questions, the forming an estimate of the character of public men
+     or public measures, the casting a vote, which is the result of
+     that study and estimate, certainly have in themselves nothing to
+     degrade the most delicate and refined nature. The violence, the
+     fraud, the crime, the chicanery, which, so far as they have
+     attended masculine struggles for political power, tend to prove,
+     if they prove anything, the unfitness of men for the suffrage,
+     are not the result of the act of voting, but are the expressions
+     of course, criminal and evil natures, excited by the desire for
+     victory. The admission to the polls of delicate and tender women
+     would, without injury to them, tend to refine and elevate the
+     politics in which they took a part. When, in former times, women
+     were excluded from social banquets, such assemblies were scenes
+     of ribaldry and excess. The presence of women has substituted for
+     them the festival of the Christian home.
+
+     The majority of the committee state the following as their
+     reasons for the conclusion to which they come:
+
+          _First_--If the petitioners' prayer be granted it will make
+          several millions of female voters.
+
+          _Second_--These voters will be inexperienced in public
+          affairs.
+
+          _Third_--They are quite generally dependent on the other
+          sex.
+
+          _Fourth_--They are incapable of military duty.
+
+          _Fifth_--They are without the power to enforce the laws
+          which their numerical strength may enable them to make.
+
+          _Sixth_--Very few of them wish to assume the irksome and
+          responsible duties which this measure thrusts upon them.
+
+          _Seventh_--Such a change should only be made slowly and in
+          obedience to a general public demand.
+
+          _Eighth_--There are but thirty thousand petitioners.
+
+          _Ninth_--It would be unjust to impose "the heavy burden of
+          governing, which so many men seek to evade, on the great
+          mass of women who do not wish for it, to gratify the few who
+          do."
+
+          _Tenth_--Women now have the sympathy of judges and juries
+          "to an extent which would warrant loud complaint on the part
+          of their adversaries of the sterner sex."
+
+          _Eleventh_--Such a change should be made, if at all, by the
+          States. Three-fourths of the States should not force it on
+          the others. In any State in which "any considerable part of
+          the women wish for the right to vote, it will be granted
+          without the intervention of congress."
+
+     The first objection of the committee is to the large increase of
+     the number of the voting population. We believe on the other
+     hand, that to double the numbers of the constituent body, and to
+     compose one-half that body of women, would tend to elevate the
+     standard of the representative both for ability and manly
+     character. Macaulay in one of his speeches on the Reform bill
+     refers to the quality of the men who had for half a century been
+     members for the five most numerous constituencies in
+     England--Westminster, Southwark, Liverpool, Bristol and Norwich.
+     Among them were Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Romilly, Windham, Tierney,
+     Canning, Huskisson. Eight of the nine greatest men who had sat in
+     parliament for forty years sat for the five largest represented
+     towns. To increase the numbers of constituencies diminishes the
+     opportunity for corruption. Size is itself a conservative force
+     in a republic. As a permanent general rule the people will desire
+     their own best interest. Disturbing forces, evil and selfish
+     passions, personal ambitions, are necessarily restricted in their
+     operation. The larger the field of operation, the more likely are
+     such influences to neutralize each other.
+
+     The objection of inexperience in public affairs applies, of
+     course, alike to every voter when he first votes. If it be valid,
+     it would have prevented any extension of the suffrage, and would
+     exclude from the franchise a very large number of masculine
+     voters of all ages.
+
+     That women are quite generally dependent on the other sex is
+     true. So it is true that men are quite generally dependent on the
+     other sex. It is impossible so to measure this dependence as to
+     declare that man is more dependent on woman or woman upon man. It
+     is by no means true that the dependence of either on the other
+     affects the right to the suffrage.
+
+     Capacity for military duty has no connection with capacity for
+     suffrage. The former is wholly physical. It will scarcely be
+     proposed to disfranchise men who are unfit to be soldiers by
+     reason of age or bodily infirmity. The suggestion that the
+     country may be plunged into wars by a majority of women who are
+     secure from military dangers is not founded in experience. Men of
+     the military profession, and men of the military age are commonly
+     quite as eager for war as non-combatants, and will hereafter be
+     quite as indifferent to its risks and hardships as their mothers
+     and wives.
+
+     The argument that women are without the power to enforce the laws
+     which their numerical strength may enable them to make, proceeds
+     from the supposition that it is probable that all the women will
+     range themselves upon one side in politics and all the men on the
+     other. Such supposition flatly contradicts the other arguments
+     drawn from the dependence of women and from their alleged
+     unwillingness to assume political burdens. So men over fifty
+     years of age are without the power to enforce obedience to laws
+     against which the remainder of the voters forcibly rebel. It is
+     not physical power alone, but power aided by the respect for law
+     of the people, on which laws depend for their enforcement.
+
+     The sixth, eighth and ninth reasons of the committee are the same
+     proposition differently stated. It is that a share in the
+     government of the country is a burden, and one which, in the
+     judgment of a majority of the women of the country, they ought
+     not to be required to assume. If any citizen deem the exercise of
+     this franchise a burden and not a privilege, such person is under
+     no constraint to exercise it. But if it be a birthright, then it
+     is obvious that no other power than that of the individual
+     concerned can rightfully restrain its exercise. The committee
+     concede that women ought to be clothed with the ballot in any
+     State where any considerable part of the women desire it. This is
+     a pretty serious confession. On the vital, fundamental question
+     whether the institutions of this country shall be so far changed
+     that the number of persons in it who take a part in the
+     government shall be doubled, the judgment of women is to be and
+     ought to be decisive. If woman may fitly determine this question,
+     for what question of public policy is she unfit? What question of
+     equal importance will ever be submitted to her decision? What has
+     become of the argument that women are unfit to vote because they
+     are dependent on men, or because they are unfit for military
+     duty, or because they are inexperienced, or because they are
+     without power to enforce obedience to their laws?
+
+     The next argument is that by the present arrangement the
+     administration of justice is so far perverted that one-half the
+     citizens of the country have an advantage from the sympathies of
+     juries and judges which "would warrant loud complaint" on the
+     part of the other half. If this be true, it is doubtless due to
+     an instinctive feeling on the part of juries and judges that
+     existing laws and institutions are unjust to women, or to the
+     fact that juries composed wholly of men are led to do injustice
+     by their susceptibility to the attractions of women. But
+     certainly it is a grave defect in any system of government that
+     it does not administer justice impartially, and the existence of
+     such a defect is a strong reason for preferring an arrangement
+     which would remove the feeling that women do not have fair play,
+     or for so composing juries that, drawn from both sexes, they
+     would be impartial between the two.
+
+     The final objection of the committee is that "such a change
+     should be made, if at all, by the States. Three-fourths of the
+     States should not force it upon the others. Whenever any
+     considerable part of the women in any State wish for the right to
+     vote, it will be granted without the intervention of congress."
+     Who can doubt that when two-thirds of congress and three-fourths
+     of the States have voted for the change, a considerable number of
+     women in the other States will be found to desire it, so that,
+     according to the committee's own belief, it can never be forced
+     by a majority on unwilling communities? The prevention of unjust
+     discrimination by States against large classes of people in
+     respect to suffrage is even admitted to be a matter of national
+     concern and an important function of the national constitution
+     and laws. It is the duty of congress to propose amendments to the
+     constitution whenever two-thirds of both houses deem them
+     necessary. Certainly an amendment will be deemed necessary, if it
+     can be shown to be required by the principles on which the
+     constitution is based, and to remove an unjust disfranchisement
+     from one-half the citizens of the country. The constitutional
+     evidence of general public demand is to be found not in
+     petitions, but in the assent of three-fourths of the States
+     through their legislatures or conventions.
+
+     The lessons of experience favor the conclusion that woman is fit
+     for a share in government. It may be true that in certain
+     departments of intellectual effort the greatest achievements of
+     women have as yet never equaled the greatest achievements of
+     men. But it is equally true that in those same departments women
+     have exhibited an intellectual ability very far beyond that of
+     the average of men and very far beyond that of most men who have
+     shown very great political capacity. But let the comparison be
+     made in regard to the very thing with which we have to deal. Of
+     men who have swayed chief executive power, a very considerable
+     proportion have attained it by usurpation or by election,
+     processes which imply extraordinary capacity on their part as
+     compared with other men. The women who have held such power have
+     come to it as sovereigns by inheritance, or as regents by the
+     accident of bearing a particular relation to the lawful sovereign
+     when he was under some incapacity. Yet it is an undisputed fact
+     that the number of able and successful female sovereigns bears a
+     vastly greater proportion to the whole number of such sovereigns,
+     than does the number of able and successful male sovereigns to
+     the whole number of men who have reigned. An able, energetic,
+     virtuous king or emperor is the exception and not the rule in the
+     history of modern Europe. With hardly an exception the female
+     sovereigns or regents have been wise and popular. Mr. Mill, who
+     makes this point, says:
+
+          We know how small a number of reigning queens history
+          presents in comparison with that of kings. Of this small
+          number a far larger proportion have shown talents for rule,
+          though many of them have occupied the throne in difficult
+          periods. When to queens and empresses we add regents and
+          viceroys of provinces, the list of women who have been
+          eminent rulers of mankind swells to a great length....
+          Especially is this true if we take into consideration Asia
+          as well as Europe. If a Hindoo principality is strongly,
+          vigilantly and economically governed; if order is preserved
+          without oppression; if cultivation is extending and the
+          people prosperous, in three cases out of four that
+          principality is under a woman's rule. This fact, to me an
+          entirely unexpected one, I have collected from a long
+          official knowledge of Hindoo governments.
+
+     Certainly history gives no warning that should deter the American
+     people from carrying out the principles upon which their
+     government rests to this most just and legitimate conclusion.
+     Those persons who think that free government has anywhere failed,
+     can only claim that this tends to prove, not the failure of
+     universal suffrage, but the failure of masculine suffrage. Like
+     failure has attended the operation of every other great human
+     institution, the family, the school, the church, whenever woman
+     has not been permitted to contribute to it her full share. As to
+     the best example of the perfect family, the perfect school, the
+     perfect church, the love, the purity, the truth of woman are
+     essential, so they are equally essential to the perfect example
+     of the self-governing State.
+
+                                             GEO. F. HOAR,
+                                             JOHN H. MITCHELL,
+                                             ANGUS CAMERON.
+
+Thousands of copies of this report were published and franked to
+every part of the country. On February 7, just one week after the
+presentation of the able minority report, the bill allowing women
+to practice before the Supreme Court passed the Senate[47] and
+received the signature of President Hayes. Senators McDonald, Hoar
+and Sargent made the principal speeches. We give Mr. Hoar's speech
+in full because of its terse and vigorous presentation of the fact
+that congress is a body superior to the Supreme Court of the United
+States. Mr. Hoar said:
+
+     _Mr. President_--I understand the brief statement which was made,
+     I think, during this last session by the majority of the
+     Judiciary Committee in support of their opposition to this bill,
+     did not disclose that the majority of that committee were opposed
+     to permitting women to engage in the practice of law or to be
+     admitted to practice it in the Supreme Court of the United
+     States, but the point they made, was that the legislation of the
+     United States left to the Supreme Court the power of determining
+     by rule who should be admitted to practice before that tribunal,
+     and that we ought not by legislation to undertake to interfere
+     with its rules. Now, with the greatest respect for that tribunal,
+     I conceive that the law-making and not the law-expounding power
+     in this government ought to determine the question what class of
+     citizens shall be clothed with the office of the advocate. I
+     believe that leaving to the Supreme Court by rule to determine
+     the qualifications or disqualifications of attorneys and
+     counselors in that court is an exception to the nearly uniform
+     policy of the States of the Union. Would it be tolerated if the
+     Supreme Court undertook by rule to establish any other
+     disqualification, any of those disqualifications which have
+     existed in regard to holding any other office in the country?
+     Suppose the court were of the opinion we had been too fast in
+     relieving persons who took part in the late rebellion from their
+     disabilities, and that it would not admit persons who had so
+     taken part to practice before the Supreme Court; is there any
+     doubt that congress would at once interfere? Suppose the Supreme
+     Court were of opinion that the people of the United States had
+     erred in the amendment which had removed the disqualification
+     from colored persons and declined to admit such persons to
+     practice in that court; is there any doubt that congress would
+     interfere and would deem it a fit occasion for the exercise of
+     the law-making power?
+
+     Now, Mr. President, this bill is not a bill merely to admit women
+     to the privilege of engaging in a particular profession; it is a
+     bill to secure to the citizen of the United States the right to
+     select his counsel, and that is all. At present a case is tried
+     and decided in the State courts of any State of this Union which
+     may be removed to the Supreme Court of the United States. In the
+     courts of the State, women are permitted to practice as
+     advocates, and a woman has been the advocate under whose
+     direction and care and advocacy the case has been won in the
+     court below. Is it tolerable that the counsel who has attended
+     the case from its commencement to its successful termination in
+     the highest court of the State should not be permitted to attend
+     upon and defend the rights of that client when the case is
+     transferred to the Supreme Court of the United States? Everybody
+     knows, at least every lawyer of experience knows, the
+     impossibility of transferring with justice to the interests of a
+     client, a cause from one counsel to another. A suit is instituted
+     under the advice of a counsel on a certain theory, a certain
+     remedy is selected, a certain theory of the cause is the one on
+     which it is staked. Now that must be attended to and defended by
+     the counsel under whose advice the suit has taken its shape; the
+     pleadings have been shaped in the courts below.
+
+     Under the present system, a citizen of any State in the Union
+     having selected a counsel of good moral character who has
+     practiced three years, who possesses all-sufficient professional
+     and personal qualifications, and having had a cause brought to a
+     successful result in the State court, is denied by the present
+     existing and unjust rule having counsel of his choice argue the
+     cause in the Supreme Court of the United States.
+
+     The greatest master of human manners, who read the human heart
+     and who understood better than any man who ever lived the
+     varieties of human character, when he desired to solve just what
+     had puzzled the lawyers and doctors, placed a woman upon the
+     judgment seat; and yet, under the present existing law, if Portia
+     herself were alive, she could not defend the opinion she had
+     given, before the Supreme Court of the United States.
+
+The press commented favorably upon this new point gained for women.
+We give a few extracts:
+
+     The senators who voted to-day against the bill "to relieve
+     certain legal disabilities of women" are marked men and have
+     reason to fear the result of their action.--[Telegraph to the New
+     York _Tribune_, February 7.
+
+     The women get into the Supreme Court in spite of the
+     determination of the justices. They gained a decided advantage
+     to-day in the passage by the Senate of a bill providing that any
+     woman who shall have been a member of the highest court in any
+     State or territory, or of the Supreme Court of the District of
+     Columbia, for three years, may be admitted to the Supreme Court.
+     The bill was called up by Senator McDonald, in antagonism to Mr.
+     Edmunds' amendment to the constitution which was the pending
+     order. Mr. Edmunds objected to the consideration of the bill and
+     voted against it. There was not much discussion, the main
+     speeches being by Mr. Sargent and Mr. Hoar.--[Special dispatch to
+     the New York _World_, February 7.
+
+     A WOMAN'S RIGHTS VICTORY IN THE SENATE.--The Lockwood bill,
+     giving women authority to practice before the Supreme Court of
+     the United States, passed the Senate yesterday by a vote of two
+     to one, and now it only requires the approval of Mr. Hayes to
+     become a law. The powerful effect of persistent and industrious
+     lobbying is manifested in the success of this bill. When it was
+     first introduced, it is doubtful if one-fourth the members of
+     congress would have voted for it. Some of the strong-minded
+     women, who were interested in the bill, stuck to it, held the
+     fort from day to day, and talked members and senators into
+     believing it a just measure. Senator McDonald gave Mr. Edmunds a
+     rebuff yesterday that he will not soon forget. The latter
+     attempted to administer a rebuke to the Indiana senator for
+     calling up a bill during the absence of the senator who had
+     reported it. Mr. McDonald retorted that he knew the objection of
+     the senator from Vermont was made for the purpose of defeating
+     the bill and not, as pretended, to give an absent senator
+     opportunity to speak upon it.--[Washington _Post_, February 8.
+
+     The credit for this victory belongs to Mrs. Belva Lockwood, of
+     this city, who, having been refused admission to the bar of the
+     United States Supreme Court, appealed to congress, and by dint of
+     hard work has finally succeeded in having her bill passed by both
+     houses. She called on Mrs. Hayes last evening, who complimented
+     her upon her achievement, and informed her that she had sent a
+     bouquet to Senator Hoar, in token of his efforts in behalf of the
+     bill.--[Washington _Star_, February 8.
+
+     The bill was carried through merely by the energetic advocacy of
+     Senators McDonald, Sargent and Hoar, whose oratorical efforts
+     were reenforced by the presence of Mrs. Lockwood. After the
+     struggle was over, all the senators who advocated the bill were
+     made the recipients of bouquets, while the three senators whose
+     names we have given received large baskets of flowers. This is a
+     pleasing omen of that purification of legal business which it is
+     hoped will flow from the introduction of women to the courts. It
+     was not flowers that used to be distributed at Washington and
+     Albany in the old corrupt times, among legislators, in testimony
+     of gratitude for their votes. Let us hope that venal legislation
+     at Washington will be extirpated by the rise of this beautiful
+     custom.--[New York _Nation_.
+
+     It was noticeable that all the presidential candidates dodged the
+     issue except Senator Blaine, who voted for the bill.--[Chicago
+     _Inter-Ocean_.
+
+     How humiliated poor old Judge Magruder must feel, since the
+     congress of the United States paid the woman whom he forbade to
+     open her mouth in his august presence, in his little court, so
+     much consideration as to pass an act opening to her the doors of
+     the Supreme Court of the United States. All honor to the brave
+     woman, who by her own unaided efforts thus achieved honor,
+     fortune and fame--the just rewards of her own true
+     worth.--[_Havre Republican_, Havre de Grace, Maryland.
+
+     ENTER PORTIA.--An act of congress was not necessary to authorize
+     women to be lawyers, if their legal acquirements fitted them for
+     that vocation; nor was it necessary to state, as an expression of
+     opinion by the national legislature, that some women are so fully
+     qualified for the legal profession that no barriers should be
+     permitted to stand in their way. It was needed simply as a key
+     whereby the hitherto locked door of the Supreme Court of the
+     United States may be opened if a woman lawyer, with the usual
+     credentials, should knock thereon. That is all; and there is no
+     new question opened for profitless debate. The ability of some
+     women to be lawyers is like the ability of others to make
+     bread--it rests upon the facts. There is no room for elaborate
+     argument to prove either their fitness or unfitness for legal
+     studies, so long as in Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, the
+     District of Columbia, Iowa and North Carolina there are women in
+     more or less successful practice and repute. * * * Nowhere are
+     these great attributes of civilization and regulated
+     liberty--law, conservatism, justice, equity and mercy in the
+     administration of human affairs put in broader light or truer,
+     than they are by the words that Shakespeare puts in the mouth of
+     this woman jurist.--[_Public Ledger_, Philadelphia, February 12.
+
+     When congress recently passed a law allowing women to practice in
+     the Supreme Court, it was not a subject of any special or eager
+     comment. A woman who is a lawyer sent flowers to the desks of the
+     members who voted for the bill, and before they had faded,
+     comment was at an end. The home was still safe and the country
+     was not in peril. It was one of the questions which had settled
+     itself and was a foregone conclusion. * * * United States Senator
+     Edmunds of Vermont, has fallen into disfavor with the ladies for
+     voting against the above bill.--[From John W. Forney's
+     _Progress_, February 22.
+
+On March 3, by motion of Hon. A. G. Riddle, Mrs. Lockwood was
+admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court,[48] taking
+the official oath and receiving the classic sheep-skin; and the
+following week she was admitted to practice before the Court of
+Claims. The forty-sixth congress contained an unusually large
+proportion of new representatives, fresh from the people, ready for
+the discussion of new issues, and manifesting a chivalric spirit
+toward the consideration of woman's claims as a citizen. On
+Tuesday, April 29, the following resolution was submitted to the
+Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives:
+
+     _Resolved_, That a select committee of nine members be appointed
+     by the speaker, to be called a Committee on the Rights of Women,
+     whose duty it shall be to consider and report upon all petitions,
+     memorials, resolutions and bills that may be presented in the
+     House relating to the rights of women.
+
+Admitting the justice of a fair consideration of a question
+involving every human right of one-half of the population of this
+country, Alex. H. Stephens of Georgia, James A. Garfield of Ohio,
+Wm. P. Frye of Maine, immediately declared themselves in favor of
+the appointment of said committee, and Speaker Randall, the
+chairman, ordered it reported to the House. A similar resolution
+was introduced in the Senate, before the adjournment of the special
+session. This showed a clearer perception of the magnitude of the
+question, and the need of its early and earnest consideration, than
+at any time during the previous thirty years of argument, heroic
+struggle and sacrifice on the altar of woman's freedom.
+
+The anniversary of 1879 was held in St. Louis, Missouri, May 7, 8,
+9. Mrs. Virginia L. Minor and Miss Phoebe W. Couzins made all
+possible arrangements for the success of the meeting and the
+comfort of the delegates.[49] Mrs. Minor briefly stated the object
+of the convention and announced that, as the president of the
+association had not arrived, Mrs. Joslyn Gage would take the chair.
+Miss Couzins gave the address of welcome:
+
+     _Mrs. President and Members of the National Woman Suffrage
+     Association:_
+
+     It becomes my pleasant duty to welcome you to the hospitalities
+     of my native city. To extend to you who for the first time meet
+     beyond the Mississippi, a greeting--not only in behalf of the
+     friends of woman suffrage, but for those of our citizens who,
+     while not in full sympathy with your views, have a desire to hear
+     you in deliberative council and to cordially tender you the same
+     courtesies offered other conventions which have chosen St. Louis
+     as their place of annual gathering.
+
+     And I am the more happy to do this because of the opportunity it
+     affords me to disabuse your minds of certain impressions which
+     have gone abroad concerning our slowness of action in the line of
+     advanced ideas. Certainly in some phases of that reformation to
+     which you and your co-laborers have pledged your lives, your
+     fortunes--the cause of woman--St. Louis is the leader.
+
+     When, eighteen or twenty years since, Harriet Hosmer desired to
+     study anatomy, to perfect herself in her art, not a college in
+     New England would open its doors to her; she traveled West, and
+     through the generous patronage of Wayman Crow of this city, she
+     became a pupil of the dean of the St. Louis Medical college.
+
+     When other cities had refused equality of wages and position, St.
+     Louis placed Miss Brackett at the head of our normal school,
+     giving her--a heretofore exclusively male prerogative--the
+     highest wages, added to the highest educational rank.
+
+     And here in St. Louis began the advance march which has finally
+     broken down the walls of the highest judicial fortress, the
+     Supreme Court of the United States. Washington University, in
+     response to my request, unhesitatingly opened its doors, and for
+     the first time in the history of America, woman was accorded the
+     right to a legal course of training with man, and, at its close,
+     after successful examination, I was freely accorded the degree of
+     Bachelor of Laws! A city or a State that could perpetrate the
+     anomaly of a female bachelor, is certainly not far behind the
+     radicalism of the age.
+
+     Again, as I turn to its record on suffrage, I find as early as
+     1866 the Hon. B. Gratz Brown of Missouri made a glowing speech
+     for woman's enfranchisement, in the United States Senate, on Mr.
+     Cowan's motion to strike out "male" from the District of Columbia
+     suffrage bill, which resulted in an organization in 1867, through
+     the efforts of Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, its first president. And
+     again, I remember when that hydra-headed evil arose in our midst,
+     degrading all women and violating all the sweet and sacred
+     sanctities of life--a blow at our homes and a lasting stigma on
+     our civilization--the people of this community, led by the
+     chancellor of Washington University, at the ballot-box but
+     recently laid that monster away in a tomb, never, I trust, to be
+     resurrected.
+
+     And now, Mrs. President, let me add, in words which but faintly
+     express the emotion of my heart, the gratitude we feel towards
+     the noble women who have borne the burden and heat of the day.
+     They who have been ridiculed, villified, maligned, but through it
+     all maintained an unswerving allegiance to truth. In the name of
+     all true womanhood I welcome this association in our midst as
+     worthy of the highest honor.
+
+     We have lived to see the enlargement of woman's thought in all
+     directions. From our laboratories, libraries, observatories,
+     schools of medicine and law, universities of science, art and
+     literature, she is advancing to the examination of the problems
+     of life, with an eye single only to the glory of truth. Like the
+     Spartan of old she has thrown her spear into the thickest of the
+     fray, and will fight gloriously in the midst thereof till she
+     regains her own. No specious sophistry or vain delusion--no
+     time-honored tradition or untenable doctrine can evade her
+     searching investigation.
+
+Mrs. Gage responded to this address in a few earnest, appropriate
+words.
+
+Of the many letters[50] read in the convention none was received
+with greater joy than the few lines, written with trembling hand,
+from Lucretia Mott, then in the eighty-seventh year of her age:
+
+                                   ROADSIDE, Fourth Month, 26, 1879.
+
+     MY DEAR SUSAN ANTHONY--It would need no urgent appeal to draw me
+     to St. Louis had I the strength for the journey. You will have no
+     need of my worn-out powers. Our cause itself has become
+     sufficiently attractive. Edward M. Davis has a joint letter on
+     hand for my signature, so this is enough, with my mite toward
+     expenses. And to all assembled in St. Louis best wishes for--yes,
+     full faith in your success. I have signed Edward's letter, so it
+     is hardly necessary for me to say,
+
+                                             LUCRETIA MOTT.
+
+The distinguishing feature of this convention was an afternoon
+session of ladies alone, prompted by an attempt to reenact a law
+for the license of prostitution, which had been enforced in St.
+Louis a few years before and repealed through the united efforts of
+the best men and women of the city. Mrs. Joslyn Gage opened the
+meeting by reading extracts from the Woman's Declaration of Rights
+presented at the centennial celebration, and drew especial
+attention to the clause referring to two separate codes of morals
+for men and women, arising from woman's inferior political
+position:
+
+     There are two points which may be considered open for discussion
+     during the afternoon--one, the fact that there are existing in
+     all forms of society, barbaric, semi-civilized, civilized or
+     enlightened, two separate codes of morals; the strict code to
+     which women are held accountable, and the lax code which governs
+     the conduct of men.
+
+     The other question which can very properly be discussed at the
+     present time is, "Why in this country, and in all civilized
+     nations, do one-half of the population die under five years of
+     age, and in some countries a very large proportion under one
+     year?"
+
+A letter was read from Mrs. Josephine E. Butler. As the experiment
+of licensing prostitution had been extensively tried in England,
+and she had watched the effects of the system not only in her own
+country but on the continent, her opinions on this question are
+worthy of consideration:
+
+     _To the Annual Meeting of the National Suffrage Association in
+     St. Louis:_
+
+     DEAR FRIENDS--As I am unable to be present at your convention on
+     May 7, 8, 9, and as you ask for a communication from me, I gladly
+     write you on some of the later phases of our struggle against
+     legalized prostitution. A brave battle has been fought in St.
+     Louis against that iniquity, and we have regarded it with
+     sympathy and admiration; but you are not yet safe against the
+     devices of those who uphold this white slavery, nor are we safe,
+     although we know that in the end we shall be conquerors. You tell
+     me that "England is held up as an example of the beneficial
+     working of the legalizing of vice." England holds a peculiar
+     position in regard to the question. She was the last to adopt
+     this system of slavery and she adopted it in that thorough manner
+     which characterizes the Anglo-Saxon race. In no other country has
+     prostitution been regulated by law. It has been understood by the
+     Latin races, even when morally enervated, that the law could not
+     without risk of losing its majesty violate justice. In England
+     alone the regulations are law. Their promoters, by their
+     hardihood in asking parliament to decree injustice, have brought
+     on unconsciously to themselves, the beginning of the end of the
+     whole system. The Englishman is a powerful agent for evil as for
+     good. In the best times of our history my countrymen possessed
+     preeminently vigorous minds in vigorous bodies. But when the
+     animal nature has outgrown the moral, the appetites burst their
+     proper restraints, and man has no other notion of enjoyment save
+     bodily pleasure; he passes by a quick and easy transition into a
+     powerful brute. And this is what the upper-class Englishman has
+     to a deplorable extent become. There is no creature in the world
+     so ready as he to domineer, to enslave, to destroy. But together
+     with this development towards evil, there has been in our country
+     a counter development. Moral faith is still strong among us.
+     There are powerful women, as well as strong, pure, and
+     self-governed men, of the real old Anglo-Saxon type. It was in
+     England then, which adopted last the hideous slavery, that there
+     arose first a strong national protest in opposition. English
+     people rose up against the wicked law before it had been in
+     operation three months. English men and women determined to carry
+     abolition not at home only, but abroad, and they promptly carried
+     their standard to every country on the continent of Europe. In
+     all these countries men and women came forward at the first
+     appeal, and said, "We are ready, we only waited for you,
+     Anglo-Saxons, to take the lead; we have groaned under the
+     oppression, but there was not force enough among us to take the
+     initiative step."
+
+     We have recently had a visit from Monsieur Aimi Humbert of
+     Switzerland, our able general secretary for the continent. Much
+     encouragement was derived from the reports which reached us from
+     France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and even Spain, where a noble
+     lady, Donna Concepcion Arenal of Madrid, and several gentlemen
+     have warmly espoused our cause. The progress is truly
+     encouraging; yet, on the other hand, it is obvious that the
+     partisans of this legislation have recently been smitten with a
+     kind of rage for extending the system everywhere, and are on the
+     watch to introduce it wherever we are off our guard. In almost
+     all British colonies they are very busy. At the Cape of Good
+     Hope, where the Cape parliament had repealed the law, the
+     governor, Sir Bartle Frere, has been induced by certain
+     specialists and immoral men, to reintroduce it. But since he
+     could not count on the parliament at Cape Town for doing this, he
+     has reintroduced the miserable system by means of a proclamation
+     or edict, without the sanction and probably, to a great extent,
+     without the knowledge of parliament. The same game is being
+     played in other colonies. These facts seem to point to a more
+     decided and bitter struggle on the question than we have yet
+     seen. An energetic member of our executive committee, M. Pierson
+     of Zetten, in Holland, says:
+
+          I look upon legalized prostitution as the system in which
+          the immorality of our age is crystalized, and that in
+          attacking it we attack in reality the great enemies which
+          are hiding themselves behind its ramparts. But if we do not
+          soon overthrow these ramparts we must not think our work is
+          fruitless. A great work is already achieved; sin is once
+          more called sin instead of necessary evil, and the true
+          standard of morality--equal for men and women, for rich and
+          poor--is once more raised in the face of all the nations.
+
+     This legalization of vice which recognized the "necessity" of
+     impurity for man and the institution of slavery for woman, is the
+     most open denial which modern times have seen of the principle of
+     the sacredness of the individual human being. It is the
+     embodiment of socialism in its worst form. An English high-class
+     journal confessed this, when it dared to demand that women who
+     are unchaste shall henceforth be dealt with "not as human beings,
+     but as foul sewers," or some such "material nuisance" without
+     souls, without rights and without responsibilities. When the
+     leaders of public opinion in a country have arrived at such a
+     point of combined depotism as to recommend such a manner of
+     dealing with human beings, there is no crime which that country
+     may not legalize. Were it possible to secure the absolute
+     physical health of a whole province, or an entire continent by
+     the destruction of one, only one poor and sinful woman, woe to
+     that nation which should dare, by that single act of destruction,
+     to purchase this advantage to the many! It will do it at its
+     peril.
+
+     We entreat our friends in America to renew their alliance with us
+     in the sacred conflict. Union will be strength. The women of
+     England are beginning to understand their responsibilities. Like
+     yourselves, we are laboring to obtain the suffrage. The wrong
+     which has fallen upon us in this legalizing of vice has taught us
+     the need of power in legislation. Meanwhile, the crusade against
+     immorality is educating women for the right use of suffrage when
+     they obtain it. The two movements must go hand in hand.
+
+Altogether this was an impressive occasion in which women met heart
+to heart in discussing the deepest humiliations of their sex. After
+eloquent speeches by Mrs. Meriwether, Mrs. Spencer, Mrs. Leonard,
+Mrs. Thompson and Rev. Olympia Brown, the audience slowly
+dispersed.
+
+The closing scenes of the evening were artistic and interesting.
+The platform was tastefully decked with flags and flowers, and the
+immense audience that had assembled at an early hour--hundreds
+unable to gain admission--made this the crowning session of the
+convention. Miss Couzins announced the receipt of an invitation
+from Mr. John Wahl, inviting the convention to visit the Merchants'
+Exchange, "with assurances of high regard." The announcement was
+heard with considerable merriment by those who remembered her
+criticisms on Mr. Wahl for his failure to deliver the address of
+welcome at the opening of the convention. She also announced the
+receipt of an invitation from Secretary Kalb to visit the
+fair-grounds, and moved that the convention first visit the
+Exchange and then proceed to the fair-grounds in carriages, the
+members of the Merchants' Exchange, of course paying the bill. The
+motion was carried amidst applause. An invitation was also received
+from Dr. Eliot, chancellor of Washington University, to attend the
+art lecture of Miss Schoonmaker at the Mary Institute, Monday
+evening. In a letter to the editor of the _National Citizen_, Mrs.
+Stanton thus describes the incident of the evening:
+
+     The delegates from the different States, through May Wright
+     Thompson of Indianapolis, presented Miss Anthony with two baskets
+     of exquisite flowers. She referred in the most happy way to Miss
+     Anthony's untiring devotion to all the unpopular reforms through
+     years of pitiless persecution, and thanked her in behalf of the
+     young womanhood of the nation, that their path had been made
+     smoother by her brave life. Miss Anthony was so overcome with the
+     delicate compliments and the fragrant flowers at her feet, that
+     for a few moments she could find no words to express her
+     appreciation of the unexpected acknowledgement of what all
+     American women owe her. As she stood before that hushed audience,
+     her silence was more eloquent than words, for her emotion was
+     shared by all. With an effort she at last said:
+
+          Friends, I have no words to express my gratitude for this
+          marked attention. I have so long been the target for
+          criticism and ridicule, I am so unused to praise, that I
+          stand before you surprised and disarmed. If any one had come
+          to this platform and abused all womankind, called me hard
+          names, ridiculed our arguments or denied the justice of our
+          demands, I could with readiness and confidence have rushed
+          to the defence, but I cannot make any appropriate reply for
+          this offering of eloquent words and flowers, and I shall not
+          attempt it.
+
+     Being advertised as the speaker of the evening, she at once began
+     her address, and as she stood there and made an argument worthy a
+     senator of the United States, I recalled the infinite patience
+     with which, for upwards of thirty years, she had labored for
+     temperance, anti-slavery and woman suffrage, with a faithfulness
+     worthy the martyrs in the early days of the Christian church, and
+     said to myself, verily the world now as ever crucifies its
+     saviors.
+
+     Thanks to the untiring industry of Mrs. Minor and Miss Couzins,
+     the convention was in every way a success, morally, financially,
+     in crowded audiences, and in the fair, respectful and
+     complimentary tone of the press. Looking over the proceedings and
+     resolutions, the thought struck me that the National Association
+     is the only organization that has steadily maintained the
+     doctrine of federal power against State rights. The great truths
+     set forth in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of United
+     States supremacy, so clearly seen by us, seem to be vague and dim
+     to our leading statesmen and lawyers if we may judge by their
+     speeches and decisions. Your superb speech on State rights should
+     be published in tract form and scattered over this entire nation.
+     How can we ever have a homogeneous government so long as
+     universal principles are bounded by State lines.
+
+The delegates remaining in the city went on Change in a body at 12
+o'clock Saturday, on invitation of the president, John Wahl. They
+were courteously received and speeches were made by Mesdames
+Couzins, Stanton, Anthony, Meriwether and Thompson. Mrs.
+Meriwether's speech was immediately telegraphed in full to Memphis.
+All wore badges of silk on which in gold letters appeared "N. W. S.
+A., May 10, 1879, Merchants' Exchange." From the Exchange the
+ladies proceeded in carriages to the fair-grounds, and Zooelogical
+Gardens where they took refreshments.
+
+On Saturday evening Miss Couzins gave a delightful reception. Her
+parlors were crowded until a late hour, where the friends of woman
+suffrage had an opportunity to use their influence socially in
+converting many distinguished guests. On Sunday night Mrs. Stanton
+was invited by the Rev. Ross C. Houghton to occupy his pulpit in
+the Union Methodist church, the largest in the city of that
+denomination. She preached from the text in Genesis i., 27, 28. The
+sermon was published in the _St. Louis Globe_ the next morning.[51]
+Mrs. Thompson was also invited to occupy a Presbyterian pulpit,
+but imperative duties compelled her to leave the city.
+
+The enthusiasm aroused by the convention in woman's enfranchisement
+was encouraging to those who had so long and earnestly labored in
+this cause.[52] This was indeed a week of profitable work. With
+arguments and appeals to man's reason and sense of justice on the
+platform, to his religious emotions and conscience in the pulpit,
+to his honor and courtesy in the parlor, all the varied influences
+of public and private life were exerted with marked effect; while
+the press on the wings of the wind carried the glad tidings of a
+new gospel for woman to every town and hamlet in the State.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[20] The annual convention of the National Woman Suffrage
+Association will be held in Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C.,
+January 16, 17, 1877.
+
+As by repeated judicial decisions, woman's right to vote under the
+fourteenth amendment has been denied, we must now unitedly demand a
+sixteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, that shall
+secure this right to the women of the nation. In certain States and
+territories where women had already voted, they have been denied
+the right by legislative action. Hence it must be clear to every
+thinking mind that this fundamental right of citizenship must not
+be left to the ignorant majorities in the several States; for
+unless it is secured everywhere, it is safe nowhere.
+
+We urge all suffrage associations and friends of woman's
+enfranchisement throughout the country to send delegates to this
+convention, freighted with mammoth petitions for a sixteenth
+amendment. Let all other proposed amendments be held in abeyance to
+the sacred rights of the women of this nation. The most reverent
+recognition of God in the constitution would be justice and
+equality for woman. On behalf of the National Woman Suffrage
+Association,
+
+                                  ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, _President_.
+      MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Chairman Ex. Committee_.
+      SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Corresponding Secretary_.
+  _Tenafly, N. J._, November 10, 1876.
+
+
+
+[21] Committees: _Finance_--Sara A. Spencer, Ellen Clark Sargent,
+Lillie Devereux Blake. _Resolutions_--Matilda Joslyn Gage, Susan B.
+Anthony. Belva A. Lockwood, Edward M. Davis, C. B. Purvis, M. D.,
+Jane G. Swisshelm. _Business_--John Hutchinson. Mary F. Foster,
+Rosina M. Parnell, Mary A. S. Carey, Ellen H. Sheldon, S. J.
+Messer, Susan A. Edson, M. D.
+
+[22] The speakers at this May anniversary were Mrs. Devereux Blake,
+Rev. Olympia Brown, Clara Neyman, Helen Cooke, Helen M. Slocum,
+Mrs. Hooker, Mrs. Gage and Acting-Governor Lee of Wyoming
+territory.
+
+[23] This reception-room, a great convenience to the ladies
+visiting the Capitol, has since been removed; and a small, dark,
+inaccessible room on the basement floor set aside for their use.
+
+[24] _Yeas_--Anthony, Bruce, Burnside, Cameron of Wis., Dawes,
+Ferry, Hoar, Matthews, Mitchell, Rollins, Sargent, Saunders,
+Teller--13.
+
+_Nays_--Bailey, Bayard, Beck, Booth, Butler, Christiancy, Cockrell,
+Coke, Conkling, Davis of W. Va., Eaton, Edmunds, Eustis, Grover,
+Hamlin, Harris, Hereford, Hill, Howe, Kernan, Kirkwood, Lamar,
+McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Morgan, Plumb, Randolph, Saulsbury,
+Thurman, Wadleigh--31.
+
+[25] Grace Greenwood, Clara Barton, Abby Hutchinson Patton, Mrs.
+Juan Lewis, Mrs. Morgan of Mississippi, Dr. Mary A. Thompson of
+Oregon, Marilla M. Ricker, Julia E. Smith, Rev. Olympia Brown, Mrs.
+Blake, Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs. Spencer, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Stanton, Dr.
+Lozier and others.
+
+[26] This argument was subsequently given before the Committee on
+Privileges and Elections and will be found on page 80.
+
+[27] The members of the committee were Belva A. Lockwood, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, Mary A. Thompson, M. D., Marilla M. Ricker, Elizabeth
+Boynton Harbert.
+
+[28] At this hearing the speakers were Clemence S. Lozier, M. D.,
+New York; Julia E. Smith, Connecticut; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, New
+Jersey; Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Illinois; Matilda Joslyn Gage,
+New York; Priscilla Rand Lawrence, Massachusetts; Rev. Olympia
+Brown, Connecticut; Mary A. Thompson, M. D., Oregon; Mary Powers
+Filley, New Hampshire; Lillie Devereux Blake, New York; Sara
+Andrews Spencer, District of Columbia; Isabella Beecher Hooker,
+Connecticut; Mary A. Stewart, Delaware.
+
+[29] In the whole course of our struggle for equal rights I never
+felt more exasperated than on this occasion, standing before a
+committee of men many years my juniors, all comfortably seated in
+armchairs, I pleading for rights they all enjoyed though in no
+respect my superiors, denied me on the shallow grounds of sex. But
+this humiliation I had often felt before. The peculiarly
+aggravating feature of the present occasion was the studied
+inattention and contempt of the chairman, Senator Wadleigh of New
+Hampshire. Having prepared my argument with care, I naturally
+desired the attention of every member of the committee, all of
+which, with the exception of Senator Wadleigh, I seemingly had. He
+however took special pains to show that he did not intend to
+listen. He alternately looked over some manuscripts and newspapers
+before him, then jumped up to open or close a door or window. He
+stretched, yawned, gazed at the ceiling, cut his nails, sharpened
+his pencil, changing his occupation and position every two minutes,
+effectually preventing the establishment of the faintest magnetic
+current between the speakers and the committee. It was with
+difficulty I restrained the impulse more than once to hurl my
+manuscript at his head.--[E. C. S.
+
+[30] The first hearing was held in the committee room, but that not
+being large enough to accommodate the crowds that wished to hear
+the arguments, the use of the Senate reception room was granted for
+the second, which although very much larger, was packed, with the
+corridors leading to it, long before the committee took their
+places.
+
+[31] Mr. and Mrs. Holt, of 1,339 L street, entertained their
+friends and a numerous company of distinguished guests on Friday
+evening, in honor of Mrs. Beecher Hooker. She delivered one of her
+ablest speeches on the woman suffrage question. She was listened to
+with breathless silence by eminent men and women, who confessed, at
+the termination of her speech, that they were "almost persuaded" to
+join her ranks--the highest tribute to her eloquent defense of her
+position. Mrs. Hooker's intellect is not her only charm. Her
+beautiful face and attractive manners all help to make converts.
+Mrs. Julia N. Holmes, the poet, one of the most admired ladies
+present, and Mrs. Southworth, the novelist, wore black velvet and
+diamonds. Mrs. Hodson Burnett, that "Lass o' Lowrie," in colored
+and rose silk with princess scarf, looked charmingly. Mrs. Senator
+Sargent, Mrs. Charles Nordhoff and her friends, the elegant Miss
+Thurman, of Cincinnati, and Miss Joseph, a brilliant brunette with
+scarlet roses and jet ornaments, of Washington, were much observed.
+Mrs. Dr. Wallace, of the _New York Herald_, wore cuir colored
+gros-grain with guipure lace trimmings, flowers and diamonds. Miss
+Coyle was richly attired. Mrs. Ingersoll, wife of the exceptional
+orator, was the center of observation with Mrs. Hooker; she wore
+black velvet, roses, and diamonds--has a noble presence and Grecian
+face. General Forney, of Alabama, Hon. John F. Wait, M. C., Captain
+Dutton and Colonel Mallory, of U. S. Army, Judge Tabor (Fourth
+Auditor), Dr. Cowes, Col. Ingersol, Mrs. Hoffman, of New York, a
+prominent lady of the Woman's Congress, lately assembled in this
+city, wore a distinguished toilette. Mrs. Spofford, of the Riggs
+House, was among the most noticeable ladies present, elegant and
+delightful in style and manner. Dr. Josephs and Col. G. W. Rice, of
+Boston, were of the most conspicuous gentlemen present, who retired
+much edified with the entertainment of the evening.
+
+                                             H. LOUISE GATES.
+
+Society was divided Saturday evening between the literary club
+which met at Willard's under the auspices of Mrs. Morrell, and the
+reception given at the residence of Senator Rollins, on Capitol
+Hill, to Mrs. Beecher Hooker, who spoke on the question of woman
+suffrage. It was said of Theodore Parker, if all his hearers stood
+on the same lofty plane that he did, his theology would be all
+right for them, and so in this matter of woman's rights. If all the
+advocates were as cultivated, refined, and convincing as Mrs.
+Hooker, one might almost be tempted to surrender. She certainly
+possesses that rare magnetic influence which seems to say, "Lend me
+your ears and I shall take your heart." Among her listeners we
+noticed Mrs. Joseph Ames, Grace Greenwood, Senator and Mrs.
+Rollins, Senator and Mrs. Wadleigh, Miss Rollins, Mrs. Solomon
+Bundy, Mrs. J. M. Holmes, Mrs. Brainerd, Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle,
+Dr. Patton and son, Prof. Thomas Taylor, Miss Robena Taylor, Mrs.
+Spofford, of the Riggs House, Prof. G. B. Stebbins, Mrs. Captain
+Platt, and Mr. and Mrs. Holt.--[Washington _Post_.
+
+
+[32] The members of the committee present were Hon. Proctor Knott
+(the chairman), General Benjamin F. Butler, Messrs. Lynde, Frye,
+Conger, Lapham, Culberson, McMahon. Among the ladies were Mesdames
+Knott, Conger, Lynde, Frye.
+
+[33] Mrs. Hooker has won, just as we predicted she would. Senators
+Howe, Ferry, Coke, Randolph, Jones, Blaine, Beck, Booth, Allison,
+Wallace, Eaton, Johnston, Burnside, Saulsbury, Merrimon, and
+Presiding-officer Wheeler, together with nineteen other senators,
+have formally invited her to address the Committee on Privileges
+and Elections on February 22, an invitation which she has
+enthusiastically accepted. Nobody but congressmen will be admitted
+to hear the distinguished advocate of woman suffrage.--[Washington
+_Post_.
+
+[34] Among those present were Mrs. Senator Beck, Mrs. Stanley
+Matthews, Mrs. Sargent, Mrs. Spofford, Mrs. Holmes, Mrs. Snead,
+Mrs. Baldwin, Miss Blodgett of New York; Mrs. Baldwin, Mrs.
+Spencer, Mrs. Juan Lewis of Philadelphia; Mrs. Morgan of
+Mississippi, Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Olcott, Mrs. Bartlett, Miss Sweet,
+Mrs. Myers, Mrs. Gibson, Miss Jenners, Mrs. Levison, Mrs. Hereford,
+Mrs. Folsom, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Lynde, Mrs. Eldridge, Miss Snowe,
+Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. Hutchinson Patton, Mrs. Boucher and many others.
+Of the committee and Senate there were Senators Wadleigh, Cameron
+of Wisconsin; Merrimon, Mitchell, Hoar, Vice-president Wheeler,
+Senators Jones, Bruce, Beck and others. Several representatives
+and their wives also were there, and seemed deeply
+interested.--[Washington _Post_.
+
+[35] Mrs. Ricker makes a specialty of looking after the occupants
+of the jail--so freely is her purse opened to the poor and
+unfortunate that she is known as the prisoners' friend. Many an
+alleged criminal owes the dawning of a new life, and the
+determination to make it a worthy one, to the efforts of this noble
+woman. And Mrs. Ricker's special object in seeking this office was
+that prisoners might make depositions before her and thus be saved
+the expense of employing notaries from the city.
+
+[36] THE SELFISH RATS--A FABLE BY LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE.--Once some
+gray old rats built a ship of State to save themselves from
+drowning. It carried them safely for awhile until they grew eager
+for more passengers, and so took on board all manner of rats that
+had run away from all sorts of places--Irish rats and German rats,
+and French rats, and even black rats and dirty sewer rats.
+
+Now there were many lady mice who had followed the rats, and the
+rats therefore thought them very nice, but in spite of that would
+not let them have any place on the ship, so that they were forced
+to cling to a few planks and were every now and then overwhelmed by
+the waves. But when the mice begged to be taken on board saying,
+"Save us also, we beg you!" The rats only replied, "We are too
+crowded already; we love you very much, and we know you are very
+uncomfortable, but it is not expedient to make room for you." So
+the rats sailed on safely and saw the poor little mice buffeted
+about without doing the least thing to save them.
+
+_Moral_: Woe to the weaker.
+
+[37] Senator Blair has just been elected (June, 1885) to a second
+term, thus insuring his services to our cause in the Senate for
+another six years.
+
+[38] DELEGATES TO THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY.--Alabama, Priscilla
+Holmes Drake; California, Ellen Clark Sargent; District of
+Columbia, Frederick Douglass, Belva A. Lockwood, Sara Andrews
+Spencer, Caroline B. Winslow, M. D.; Indiana, Margaret C. Conklin,
+Mary B. Naylor, May Wright Thompson; Massachusetts, Harriet H.
+Robinson, Harriette R. Shattuck; Maryland, Lavinia C. Dundore;
+Michigan, Catherine A. F. Stebbins, Frances Titus, Sojourner Truth;
+Missouri, Phoebe W. Couzins; New Hampshire, Parker Pillsbury; North
+Carolina, Elizabeth Oakes Smith; New Jersey, Elizabeth Cady
+Stanton, Sarah M. Hurn; New York, _Albany county_, Arethusa L.
+Forbes; _Dutchess_, Helen M. Loder; _Lewis_, Mrs. E. M. Wilcox;
+_Madison_, Helen Raymond Jarvis; _Monroe_, Susan B. Anthony, Amy
+Post, Sarah H. Willis, Mary H. Hallowell, Mary S. Anthony, Lewia C.
+Smith and many others; _Orleans_, Mrs. Plumb, Mrs. Clark;
+_Onondaga_, Lucy N. Coleman, Dr. Amelia F. Raymond, Matilda Joslyn
+Gage; _Ontario_, Elizabeth C. Atwell, Catherine H. Sands, Elizabeth
+Smith Miller, Helen M. Pitts; _Queens_, Mary A. Pell; _Wayne_,
+Sarah K. Rathbone, Rebecca B. Thomas; _Wyoming_, Charlotte A.
+Cleveland; _Genesee_, the Misses Morton; _New York_, Clemence S.
+Lozier, M. D., Helen M. Slocum, Sara A. Barret, M. D., Hamilton
+Wilcox; Ohio, Mrs. Ellen Sully Fray; Pennsylvania, Lucretia Mott,
+Sarah Pugh, Adeline Thomson, Maria C. Arter, M. D., Mrs. Watson;
+South Carolina, Martha Schofield; Wisconsin, Mrs. C. L. Morgan.
+
+[39] From Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone,
+Caroline H. Dall, Boston; Hon. A. A. Sargent, Washington; Clara
+Barton, Mathilde F. Wendt, Abby Hutchinson Patton, Aaron M. Powell,
+Father Benson, Margaret Holley, Mary L. Booth, Sarah Hallock,
+Priscilla R. Lawrence, Lillie Devereux Blake, New York; Samuel May,
+Elizabeth Powell Bond, John W. Hutchinson, Lucinda B. Chandler,
+Sarah E. Wall, Massachusetts; Caroline M. Spear, Robert Purvis,
+Edward M. Davis, Philadelphia; Isabella Beecher Hooker, Julia E.
+Smith, Lavinia Goodell, Connecticut; Lucy A. Snowe, Ann T. Greeley,
+Maine; Caroline F. Barr, Bessie Bisbee Hunt, Mary A. Powers Filley,
+New Hampshire; Catherine Cornell Knowles, Rhode Island; Antoinette
+Brown Blackwell, New Jersey; Annie Laura Quinby, Joseph B. Quinby,
+Sarah R. L. Williams, Rosa L. Segur, Ohio; Sarah C. Owen, Michigan;
+Laura Ross Wolcott, M. D., Mary King, Angie King, Wisconsin;
+Frances E. Williard, Clara Lyons Peters, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert,
+Illinois; Rachel Lockwood Child, Janet Strong, Nancy R. Allen,
+Amelia Bloomer, Iowa; Sarah Burger Stearns, Hattie M. White,
+Minnesota; Mary F. Thomas, M. D., Emma Molloy, Indiana; Matilda
+Hindman, Sarah L. Miller, Pennsylvania; Anna K. Irvine, Virginia L.
+Minor, Missouri; Elizabeth H. Duvall, Kentucky; Mrs. G.W. Church,
+Tennessee; Mrs. Augusta Williams, Elsie Stuart, Kansas; Ada W.
+Lucas, Nebraska; Emeline B. Wells, Annie Godbe, Utah; Mary F.
+Shields, Alida C. Avery, M. D., Colorado; Harriet Loughary, Mrs. L.
+F. Proebstel, Mrs. Coburn, Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon; Clarina
+I. H. Nichols, Elizabeth B. Schenck, Sarah J. Wallis, Abigail Bush,
+Laura de Force Gordon, California; Mrs. A.H.H. Stuart, Washington
+Territory; Helen M. Martin, Arkansas; Helen R. Holmes, District of
+Columbia; Caroline V. Putnam, Virginia; Elizabeth Avery Meriwether,
+Tennessee; Elizabeth L. Saxon, Louisiana; Martha Goodwin Tunstall,
+Texas; Priscilla Holmes Drake, Buell D. M'Clung, Alabama; Ellen
+Sully Fray, Ontario; Theodore Stanton, France; Ernestine L. Rose,
+Caroline Ashurst Biggs, Lydia E. Becker, England.
+
+[40] While May Wright Thompson was speaking she turned to Mrs.
+Stanton and said. "How thankful I am for these bright young women
+now ready to fill our soon-to-be vacant places. I want to shake
+hands with them all before I go, and give them a few words of
+encouragement. I do hope they will not be spoiled with too much
+praise."
+
+[41] For account of this International Congress, see chapter on
+Continental Europe in this volume.
+
+[42] Mrs. Mott, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Coleman, Mr. Wilcox,
+Mrs. Slocum, Mrs. Dundore, Mrs. Stebbins, Mrs. Sands, Mrs. Amy
+Post, and Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes-Smith, who having resided in North
+Carolina had not been on our platform for many years, were among
+the speakers.
+
+[43] By Miss Couzins, Mr. Douglass, Mrs. Spencer.
+
+[44] Mr. Robinson, as "Warrington," was well known as one of the
+best writers on the _Springfield Republican_.
+
+[45] Ellen Clark Sargent, California; Elizabeth Oakes Smith, North
+Carolina; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, New Jersey; Mrs. Devereux Blake,
+Mrs. Joslyn Gage, Helen M. Slocum, Helen Cooke, Susan B. Anthony,
+New York; Julia Brown Dunham, Iowa; Marilla M. Ricker, New
+Hampshire; Lavinia C. Dundore, Maryland; Robert Purvis, Julia and
+Rachel Foster, Pennsylvania; Emeline B. Wells, Zina Young Williams,
+Utah; Ellen H. Sheldon, Dr. Caroline Winslow, Sara Andrews Spencer,
+Belva A. Lockwood, Frederick Douglass, Julia A. Wilbur, Dr. Cora M.
+Bland, Washington.
+
+[46] The president invited the ladies into the library, that they
+might be secure from interruption, and gave them throughout a most
+respectful and courteous hearing, asking questions and showing
+evident interest in the subject, and at the close promising sincere
+consideration of the question.
+
+[47] At its final action, the bill was called up by Hon. J. E.
+McDonald of Indiana. After some discussion it was passed without
+amendment--40 to 20. _Yeas_--Allison, Anthony, Barnum, Beck,
+Blaine, Booth, Burnside, Cameron (Pennsylvania), Cameron
+(Wisconsin), Dawes, Dorsey, Ferry, Garland, Gordon, Hamlin, Hoar,
+Howe, Ingalls, Jones (Florida), Jones (Nevada), Kellogg, Kirkwood,
+McCreery, McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Matthews, Mitchell,
+Oglesby, Ransom, Rollins, Sargent, Teller, Voorhees, Wadleigh,
+Windom, Withers. _Nays_--Baily, Chaffee, Coke, Davis (Illinois),
+Davis (West Virginia), Eaton, Edmunds, Eustis, Grover, Harris,
+Hereford, Hill, Kernan, Maxey, Merrimon, Morgan, Randolph,
+Saulsbury, Wallace, White.
+
+[48] Conspicuous in the large and distinguished audience present
+were Senator M'Donald, Attorney-general Williams, Hon. Jeremiah
+Wilson, Judge Shellabarger, Hon. George W. Julian, who with many
+others extended hearty congratulations to Mrs. Lockwood.
+
+[49] _Washington, D. C._--Sara A. Spencer. _Illinois_--Clara Lyon
+Peters, Watseka; Mrs. G. P. Graham, Martha L. Mathews, Amanda E.
+and Matilda S. Frazer, Aledo; Hannah J. Coffee, Abby B. Trego,
+Orion; Mrs. Senator Hanna, Fairfield; Sarah F. Nourse, Moline;
+Mrs. E. P. Reynolds, Rock Island; Cynthia Leonard, Chicago.
+_Missouri_--Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. M. A. Peoquine, Mrs. P. W.
+Thomas, Eliza J. Patrick, Mrs. E. M. Dan, Eliza A. Robbins, Phoebe
+W. Couzins, Alex. Robbins, St. Louis; James L. Allen, Oregon; Miss
+A. J. Sparks, Warrensburg. _Wisconsin_--Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine.
+_New York_--Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mary R. Pell,
+Florence Pell. _Indiana_--Helen Austin, Richmond; May Wright
+Thompson, Amy E. Dunn, Gertrude Garrison, Mary E. Haggart,
+Indianapolis. _Tennessee_--Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, Minor Lee
+Meriwether, Memphis, _Kentucky_--Mary B. Clay, Richmond.
+_Louisiana_--Emily P. Collins, Ponchatoula. _Ohio_--Eva L. Pinney,
+South Newbury. _Pennsylvania_--Mrs. L. P. Danforth, Julia and
+Rachel Foster, Philadelphia.
+
+[50] Letters sympathizing with the purposes of the convention were
+received from Lucretia Mott, Pa.; Clarina I. H. Nichols, Cal.;
+Lucinda B. Chandler, N. J.; Annie Laura Quinby, Ky.; Mrs. N. R.
+Allen, Ia.; Isabella B. Hooker, Ct.; Emeline B. Wells, Utah; Sarah
+Burger Stearns, Minn.; Mary A. Livermore, Mass.; Elizabeth Oakes
+Smith, N. Y.; Hannah Tracy Cutler, M. D., Ill.; Mrs. S. F.
+Proebstell, Ore.; Mrs. C. C. Knowles, R. I.; Dr. Clemence S.
+Lozier, Lillie Devereux Blake, N. Y. (with a fable, "Nothing New");
+Lavinia Goodell, Wis.; Elizabeth H. Duvall, Ky.; Alida C. Avery, M.
+D., Col.; Hattie M. Crumb, Mo.; Mrs. J. H. Pattee, Ill.; Caroline
+B. Winslow, M. D., Washington; Miss Kate Trimble, Ky.; Mrs. M.
+M'Clellan Brown, Pa.; Alice Black, Mo.; Margaret M. Baker, Mo.;
+Mrs. Elsie Stewart, Kan.; Edward M. Davis, Pa.; Mrs. Scott Saxton,
+Louisville; Kate Gannett Wells, Boston; Anna R. Irvine, Mo.; Sarah
+M. Kimball, Salt Lake; Lelia E. Partridge, Pa.; Ellen H. Sheldon,
+D. C.; Rev. W. C. Gannett, Minn.; Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans;
+Mrs. J. Swain, Ill.; Geo. M. Jackson, John Finn, A Practical Woman,
+St. Louis; Maria Harkner, Mrs. J. Martin, Kate B. Ross, Ill.; Emma
+Molloy, Ind.; Maria J. Johnston, Mo.; Zenas Brockett, N.Y.; Kate N.
+Doggett, president of the Association for the Advancement of Women;
+Rebecca N. Hazard, president of the American Woman Suffrage
+Society; Madam Anneke, for the Wisconsin Suffrage Association; The
+Hutchinson Family ("Tribe of John"); South Newbury Ohio Woman
+Suffrage Society. Foreign letters were also received from Jessie
+Morrison Wellstood, Edinburgh; Lydia E. Becker, Manchester,
+England, editor _Woman's Suffrage Journal_.
+
+[51] Though an extra edition was struck off not a paper was to be
+had by 10 o'clock in the morning. Gov. Stannard and other prominent
+members of the suffrage association bought and mailed every copy
+they could obtain.
+
+[52] On the Tuesday following the convention a large number of St.
+Louis people met and formed a woman suffrage society, auxiliary to
+the National. Miss Anthony who had remained over, called the
+meeting to order; Mrs. E. C. Johnson made an effective speech; Mrs.
+Minor was chosen president. Over fifty persons enrolled as
+members. The second meeting held a fortnight after, was also
+crowded--twenty-five new members were obtained.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS AND CONVENTIONS.
+
+1880-1881.
+
+     Why we Hold Conventions in Washington--Lincoln Hall
+     Demonstration--Sixty-six Thousand Appeals--Petitions Presented in
+     Congress--Hon. T. W. Ferry of Michigan in the Senate--Hon. George
+     B. Loring of Massachusetts in the House--Hon. J. J. Davis of
+     North Carolina Objected--Twelfth Washington Convention--Hearings
+     before the Judiciary Committees of both Houses--1880--May
+     Anniversary at Indianapolis--Series of Western
+     Conventions--Presidential Nominating Conventions--Delegates and
+     Addresses to each--Mass-meeting at Chicago--Washington
+     Convention, 1881--Memorial Service to Lucretia Mott--Mrs.
+     Stanton's Eulogy--Discussion in the Senate on a Standing
+     Committee--Senator McDonald of Indiana Championed the
+     Measure--May Anniversary in Boston--Conventions in the Chief
+     Cities of New England.
+
+
+The custom of holding conventions at the seat of government in
+mid-winter has many advantages. Congress is then in session, the
+Supreme Court sitting, and society, that mystic, headless, power,
+at the height of its glory. Being the season for official
+receptions, where one meets foreign diplomats from every civilized
+nation, it is the time chosen by strangers to visit our beautiful
+capital. Washington is the modern Rome to which all roads lead, the
+bright cynosure of all eyes, and is alike the hope and fear of
+worn-out politicians and aspiring pilgrims. From this great center
+varied influences radiate to the vast circumference of our land.
+Supreme-court decisions, congressional debates, presidential
+messages and popular opinions on all questions of fashion,
+etiquette and reform are heralded far and near, awakening new
+thought in every State in our nation and, through their
+representatives, in the aristocracies of the old world. Hence to
+hold a suffrage convention in Washington is to speak to the women
+of every civilized nation.
+
+The Twelfth Annual Convention of the National Association assembled
+in Lincoln Hall, January 21, 1880. Many distinguished ladies and
+gentlemen occupied the platform, which was tastefully decorated
+with flags and flowers, and around the walls hung familiar
+mottoes,[53] significant of the demands of the hour. On taking the
+chair Susan B. Anthony made some appropriate remarks as to the
+importance of the work of the association during the presidential
+campaign. Mrs. Spencer called the roll, and delegates[54] from
+sixteen States responded.
+
+Mrs. Gage read the call:
+
+     The National Association will hold its twelfth annual convention
+     in Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C., January 21, 22, 1880.
+
+     The question as to whether we are a nation, or simply a
+     confederacy of States, that has agitated the country from the
+     inauguration of the government, was supposed to have been settled
+     by the war and confirmed by the amendments, making United States
+     citizenship and suffrage practically synonymous. Not, however,
+     having been pressed to its logical results, the question as to
+     the limits of State rights and national power is still under
+     discussion, and is the fundamental principle that now divides the
+     great national parties. As the final settlement of this principle
+     involves the enfranchisement of woman, our question is one of
+     national politics, and the real issue of the hour. If it is the
+     duty of the general government to protect the freedmen of South
+     Carolina and Louisiana in the exercise of their rights as United
+     States citizens, the government owes the same protection to the
+     women in Massachusetts and New York. This year will again witness
+     an exciting presidential election, and this question of momentous
+     importance to woman will be the issue then presented. Upon its
+     final decision depends not only woman's speedy enfranchisement,
+     but the existence of the republic.
+
+     A sixteenth amendment to the national constitution, prohibiting
+     the States from disfranchising United States citizens on the
+     ground of sex, will be urged upon the forty-sixth congress by
+     petitions, arguments and appeals. The earnest, intelligent and
+     far-seeing women of every State should assemble at the coming
+     convention, and show by their wise counsels that they are worthy
+     to be citizens of a free republic. All associations in the
+     United States which believe it is the duty of congress to submit
+     an amendment protecting woman in the exercise of the right of
+     suffrage, are cordially invited to send delegates. Those who
+     cannot attend the convention, are urged to address letters to
+     their representatives in congress, asking them to give as careful
+     attention to the proposed amendment and to the petitions and
+     arguments urged in its behalf, as though the rights of men, only,
+     were involved. A delegate from each section of the country will
+     be heard before the committees of the House and Senate, to whom
+     our petitions will be referred.[55]
+
+Mrs. Spencer presented a series of resolutions which were ably
+discussed by the speakers and adopted:
+
+     _Resolved_, That we are a nation and not a mere confederacy, and
+     that the right of citizens of the United States to
+     self-government through the ballot should be guaranteed by the
+     national constitution and protected everywhere under the national
+     flag.
+
+     _Resolved_, That while States may have the right to regulate the
+     time, place and manner of elections, and the qualifications of
+     voters upon terms equally applicable to all citizens, they should
+     be forbidden under heavy penalties to deprive any citizen of the
+     right to self-government on account of sex.
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the duty of the forty-sixth congress to
+     immediately submit to the several States the amendment to the
+     national constitution recently proposed by Senator Ferry and
+     Representative Loring, and approved by the National Suffrage
+     Association.
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the duty of the House of Representatives
+     to pass immediately the resolution recommended by the Committee
+     on Rules directing the speaker to appoint a committee on the
+     rights of women.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the giant labor reform of this age lies in
+     securing to woman, the great unpaid and unrecognized laborer and
+     producer of the whole earth, the fruits of her toil.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the theory of a masculine head to rule the
+     family, the church, or the State, is contrary to republican
+     principles, and the fruitful source of rebellion and corruption.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the assumption of the clergy, that woman has no
+     right to participate in the ministry and offices of the church is
+     unauthorized theocratic tyranny, placing a masculine mediator
+     between woman and her God, which finds no authority in reason,
+     and should be resisted by all women as an odious form of
+     religious persecution.
+
+     _Resolved_, That it is the duty of the congress of the United
+     States to provide a reform school for girls and a home for the
+     children whom no man owns or protects, and who are left to die
+     upon the streets of the nation's capital, or to grow up in
+     ignorance, vice and crime.
+
+     _Resolved_, That since man has everywhere committed to woman the
+     custody and ownership of the child born out of wedlock, and has
+     required it to bear its mother's name, he should recognize
+     woman's right as a mother to the custody of the child born in
+     marriage, and permit it to bear her name.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the National Association will send a delegate
+     and an alternate to each presidential nominating convention to
+     demand the rights of woman, and to submit to each party the
+     following plank for presidential platform: _Resolved_, That the
+     right to use the ballot _inheres_ in the citizen of the United
+     States, and we pledge ourselves to secure protection in the
+     exercise of this right to all citizens irrespective of sex.
+
+     _Resolved_, That one-half of the number of the supervisors of the
+     tenth census, and one-half of the collectors of said census,
+     should be educated, intelligent women, who can be safely
+     entrusted to enumerate women and children, their occupations,
+     ages, diseases and deaths, and who would not be likely to
+     overlook ten millions of housekeepers.
+
+     _Resolved_, That Ulysses S. Grant won his first victories through
+     the military plans and rare genius of a woman, Anna Ella Carroll,
+     of Maryland, and while he has been rewarded with the presidential
+     office through two terms, and a royal voyage around the world,
+     crowned with glory and honor, Miss Carroll has for fifteen years
+     been suffering in poverty unrecognized and unrewarded.
+
+     _Resolved_, That the thanks of this association are hereby
+     tendered to Governor Chas. B. Andrews, of Connecticut, for
+     remembering in each annual message to ask for justice to women.
+
+The comments of the press[56] were very complimentary, and their
+daily reports of the convention full and fair. Among the many
+letters[57] to the convention, the following from a Southern lady
+is both novel and amusing:
+
+                                   MEMPHIS, Tenn., December 11, 1889.
+
+     DEAR MRS. SPENCER: You want petitions. Well I have two which I
+     got up some time ago, but did not send on because I thought the
+     names too few to count much. The one is of _white_ women 130 in
+     number. The other contains 110 names of black women. This last is
+     a curiosity, and was gotten up under the following circumstances:
+
+     Some ladies were dining with me and we each promised to get what
+     names we could to petitions for woman suffrage. My servant who
+     waited on table was a coal-black woman. She became interested
+     and after the ladies went away asked me to explain the matter to
+     her, which I did. She then said if I would give her a paper she
+     could get a thousand names among the black women, that many of
+     them felt that they were as much slaves to their husbands as ever
+     they had been to their white masters. I gave her a petition, and
+     said to her, "Tell the women this is to have a law passed that
+     will not allow the men to _whip their wives_, and will put down
+     drinking saloons." "Every black woman will go for that law!" She
+     took the paper and procured these 110 signatures against the
+     strong opposition of black men who in some cases threatened to
+     whip their wives if they signed. At length the opposition was so
+     great my servant had not courage to face it. She feared some
+     bodily harm would be done her by the black men. You can see this
+     is a genuine negro petition from the odd way the names are
+     written, sometimes the capital letter in the middle of the name,
+     sometimes at the end.
+
+                         Yours,       ELIZABETH AVERY MERIWETHER.
+
+In response to 66,000 documents containing appeals to women, issued
+by the National Association, 250 petitions, signed by over 12,000,
+arrived in Washington in time for presentation to congress before
+the assembling of the convention, and were read on the floor of the
+Senate, with the leading names, January 14, 16, 20, 21, by
+forty-seven senators.
+
+In the House of Representatives this courtesy (reading petitions
+and names), requires unanimous consent, and one man, Hon. J. J.
+Davis of North Carolina, who had no petition from the women of his
+State, objected. Sixty-five representatives presented the petitions
+at the clerk's desk, under the rule, January 14, 15, 16. In answer
+to these appeals to both Houses, on Monday, January 19, Hon. T. W.
+Ferry, of Michigan, introduced in the Senate a joint resolution for
+a sixteenth amendment, which with all the petitions was referred to
+the Committee on the Judiciary. Tuesday, January 20, Hon. George B.
+Loring, of Massachusetts, introduced the same resolution in the
+House of Representatives, and it was referred, with all the
+petitions, to the Committee on the Judiciary. There were also
+during this congress presented over 300 petitions from law-abiding,
+tax-paying women, praying for the removal of their political
+disabilities.
+
+On Friday and Saturday, January 23, 24, these committees granted
+hearings of two hours each to delegates from ten States who had
+been in attendance at the convention. Thoughtful attention was
+given to arguments upon every phase of the question, and senators
+and representatives expressed a strong determination to bring the
+subject fairly before the people.
+
+The committees especially requested that only the delegates should
+be present, wishing, as they said, to give their sole attention to
+the arguments undisturbed by the crowds who usually seek
+admittance. Even the press was shut out. These private sessions
+with most of the members present, and the close attention they gave
+to each speaker, were strong proof of the growth of our reform, as
+but a few years before representatives sought excuses for absence
+on all such occasions.
+
+                    THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, U. S. SENATE, }
+                                Friday, Jan. 23, 1880.            }
+
+     The committee assembled at half-past 10 o'clock A.M. Present, Mr.
+     Thurman, _chairman_, Mr. McDonald, Mr. Bayard, Mr. Davis of
+     Illinois, Mr. Edmunds.
+
+     The CHAIRMAN: Several members of the committee are unable to be
+     here. Mr. Lamar is detained at his home in Mississippi by
+     sickness; Mr. Carpenter is confined to his room by sickness; Mr.
+     Conkling has been unwell; I do not know how he is this morning;
+     and Mr. Garland is chairman of the Committee on Territories,
+     which has a meeting this morning that he could not fail to
+     attend. I do not think we are likely to have any more members of
+     the committee than are here now, and we will hear you, ladies.
+
+     Mrs. ZERELDA G. WALLACE of Indiana said: _Mr. Chairman, and
+     Gentlemen of the Committee_: It is scarcely necessary to say that
+     there is not an effect without a cause. Therefore it would be
+     well for the statesmen of this nation to ask themselves the
+     question, What has brought the women from all parts of this
+     nation to the capital at this time? What has been the strong
+     motive that has taken us away from the quiet and comfort of our
+     own homes and brought us before you to-day? As an answer to that
+     question I will read an extract from a speech made by one of
+     Indiana's statesmen. He found out by experience and gave us the
+     benefit of it:
+
+          You can go to meetings; you can vote resolutions; you can
+          attend great demonstrations in the street; but, after all,
+          the only occasion where the American citizen expresses his
+          acts, his opinions, and his power is at the ballot-box; and
+          that little ballot that he drops in there is the written
+          sentiment of the times, and it is the power that he has as a
+          citizen of this great republic.
+
+     That is the reason why we are here; the reason why we want to
+     vote. We are not seditious women, clamoring for any peculiar
+     rights; it is not the woman question that brings us before you
+     to-day; it is the human question underlying this movement. We
+     love and appreciate our country; we value its institutions. We
+     realize that we owe great obligations to the men of this nation
+     for what they have done. To their strength we owe the subjugation
+     of all the material forces of the universe which give us comfort
+     and luxury in our homes. To their brains we owe the machinery
+     that gives us leisure for intellectual culture and achievement.
+     To their education we owe the opening of our colleges and the
+     establishment of our public schools, which give us these great
+     and glorious privileges. This movement is the legitimate result
+     of this development, and of the suffering that woman has
+     undergone in the ages past.
+
+     A short time ago I went before the legislature of Indiana with a
+     petition signed by 25,000 of the best women in the State. I
+     appeal to the memory of Judge McDonald to substantiate the truth
+     of what I say. Judge McDonald knows that I am a home-loving,
+     law-abiding, tax-paying woman of Indiana, and have been for fifty
+     years. When I went before our legislature and found that one
+     hundred of the vilest men in our State, merely by the possession
+     of the ballot, had more influence with our lawmakers than the
+     wives and mothers it was a startling revelation.
+
+     You must admit that in popular government the ballot is the most
+     potent means for all moral and social reforms. As members of
+     society, we are deeply interested in all the social problems with
+     which you have grappled so long unsuccessfully. We do not intend
+     to depreciate your efforts, but you have attempted to do an
+     impossible thing; to represent the whole by one-half, and because
+     we are the other half we ask you to recognize our rights as
+     citizens of this republic.
+
+     JULIA SMITH PARKER of Glastonbury, Conn., said: _Gentlemen_: You
+     may be surprised to see a woman of over four-score years appear
+     before you at this time. She came into the world and reached
+     years of discretion before any person in this room was born. She
+     now comes before you to plead that she can vote and have all the
+     privileges that men have. She has suffered so much individually
+     that she thought when she was young she had no right to speak
+     before the men; but still she had courage to get an education
+     equal to that of any man at the college, and she had to suffer a
+     great deal on that account. She went to New Haven to school, and
+     it was noised around that she had studied the languages. It was
+     such an astonishing thing for girls at that time to have the
+     advantages of education, that I had actually to go to cotillon
+     parties to let people see that I had common sense. [Laughter.]
+
+     She has had to pay $200 a year in taxes without knowing what
+     becomes of it. She does not know but that it goes to support
+     grog-shops. She knows nothing about it. She has had to suffer her
+     cows to be sold at the sign-post six times. She suffered her
+     meadow land, worth $2,000, to be sold for a tax less than $50. If
+     she could vote as the men do she would not have suffered this
+     insult; and so much would not have been said against her as has
+     been said if men did not have the whole power. I was told that
+     they had the power to take anything that I owned if I would not
+     exert myself to pay the money. I felt that I ought to have some
+     little voice in determining what should be done with what I paid.
+     I felt that I ought to own my own property; that it ought not to
+     be in these men's hands; and I now come to plead that I may have
+     the same privileges before the law that men have. I have seen
+     what a difference there is, when I have had my cows sold, by
+     having a voter to take my part.
+
+     I have come from an obscure town on the banks of the Connecticut,
+     where I was born. I was brought up on a farm. I never had an idea
+     that I should come all the way to Washington to speak before
+     those who had not come into existence when I was born. Now, I
+     plead that there may be a sixteenth amendment, and that women may
+     be allowed the privilege of owning their own property. I have
+     suffered so much myself that I felt it might have some effect to
+     plead before this honorable committee. I thank you, gentlemen,
+     for hearing me so kindly.
+
+     ELIZABETH L. SAXON of Louisiana, said: _Gentlemen_: I feel that
+     after Mrs. Wallace's plea there is no necessity for me to say
+     anything. I come from the extreme South, she from the West.
+     People have asked me why I came. I care nothing for suffrage
+     merely to stand beside men, or rush to the polls, or to take any
+     privilege outside of my home, only, as Mrs. Wallace says, for
+     humanity. I never realized the importance of this cause, until we
+     were beaten back on every side in the work of reform. If we
+     attempted to put women in charge of prisons, believing that
+     wherever woman sins and suffers women should be there to teach,
+     help and guide, every place was in the hands of men. If we made
+     an effort to get women on the school-boards we were combated and
+     could do nothing.
+
+     In the State of Texas, I had a niece living whose father was an
+     inmate of a lunatic asylum. She exerted as wide an influence as
+     any woman in that State; I allude to Miss Mollie Moore, who was
+     the ward of Mr. Cushing. I give this illustration as a reason why
+     Southern women are taking part in this movement. Mr. Wallace had
+     charge of that lunatic asylum for years. He was a good,
+     honorable, able man. Every one was endeared to him; the State
+     appreciated him as superintendent of this asylum. When a
+     political change was made and Gov. Robinson came in, Dr. Wallace
+     was ousted for political purposes. It almost broke the hearts of
+     some of the women who had sons, daughters or husbands there. They
+     determined at once to try and have him reinstated. It was
+     impossible, he was out, and what could they do?
+
+     A gentleman said to me a few days ago, "These women ought to
+     marry." I am married; I am a mother; and in our home the sons and
+     brothers are all standing like a wall of steel at my back. I have
+     cast aside the prejudices of the past. They lie like rotted hulks
+     behind me.
+
+     After the fever of 1878, when our constitutional convention was
+     about to convene, I suppressed the agony and grief of my own
+     heart (for one of my children had died) and took part in the
+     suffrage movement in Louisiana with the wife of Chief-Justice
+     Merrick, Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey, and Mrs. Harriet Keating of New
+     York, the niece of Dr. Lozier. These three ladies aided me
+     faithfully and ably. I went to Lieutenant-Governor Wiltz, and
+     asked him if he would present or consider a petition which I
+     wished to bring before the convention. He read the petition. One
+     clause of our State law is that no woman can sign a will. Some
+     ladies donated property to an asylum. They wrote the will and
+     signed it themselves, and it was null and void, because they were
+     women. That clause, perhaps, will be wiped out. Many gentlemen
+     signed the petition on that account. Governor Wiltz, then
+     lieutenant-governor, told me he would present the petition. He
+     was elected president of the convention. I presented my first
+     petition, signed by the best names in the city of New Orleans
+     and in the State. I had the names of seven of the most prominent
+     physicians. Three prominent ministers signed it for moral
+     purposes alone. When Mrs. Dorsey was on her dying bed the last
+     time she ever signed her name was to a letter to go before that
+     convention. Mrs. Merrick and myself addressed the convention. We
+     made the petition then that we make here; that we, the mothers of
+     the land, should not be barred on every side in the cause of
+     reform. I pledged my father on his dying bed that I would never
+     cease work until woman stood with man equal before the law.
+
+     I beg of you, gentlemen, to consider this question seriously. We
+     stand precisely in the position of the colonies when they plead,
+     and, in the words of Patrick Henry, were "spurned with contempt
+     from the foot of the throne." We have been jeered and laughed at;
+     but the question has passed out of the region of ridicule. This
+     clamor for woman suffrage, for woman's rights, for equal
+     representation, is extending all over the land.
+
+     I plead because my work has been combated in the cause of reform
+     everywhere that I have tried to accomplish anything. The children
+     that fill the houses of prostitution are not of foreign blood and
+     race. They come from sweet American homes, and for every woman
+     that went down some mother's heart broke. I plead by the power of
+     the ballot to be allowed to help reform women and benefit
+     mankind.
+
+     MARY A. STEWART of Delaware said: The negroes are a race
+     inferior, you must admit, to your daughters, and yet that race
+     has the ballot, and why? It is said they earned it and paid for
+     it with their blood. Whose blood paid for yours? The blood of
+     your forefathers and our forefathers. Does a man earn a hundred
+     thousand dollars and lie down and die, saying, "It is all my
+     boys'"? Not a bit of it. He dies saying, "Let my children, be
+     they cripples, be they idiots, be they boys, or be they girls,
+     inherit all my property alike." Then let us inherit the sweet
+     boon of the ballot alike. When our fathers were driving the great
+     ship of State we were willing to sail as deck or cabin
+     passengers, just as we felt disposed; we had nothing to say; but
+     to-day the boys are about to run the ship aground, and it is high
+     time that the mothers should be asking, "What do you mean to do?"
+     In our own little State the laws have been very much modified in
+     regard to women. My father was the first man to blot out the old
+     English law allowing the eldest son the right of inheritance to
+     the real-estate. He took the first step, and like all those who
+     take first steps in reform he received a mountain of curses from
+     the oldest male heirs.
+
+     Since 1868 I have, by my own individual efforts, by the use of
+     hard-earned money, gone to our legislature time after time and
+     have had this law and that law passed for the benefit of women;
+     and the same little ship of State has sailed on. To-day our men
+     are just as well satisfied with the laws in force in our State
+     for the benefit of women as they were years ago. A woman now has
+     a right to make a will. She can hold bonds and mortgages of her
+     own. She has a right to her own property. She cannot sell it
+     though, if it is real-estate, simply because the moment she
+     marries, her husband has his right of courtesy. The woman does
+     not grumble at that; but still when he dies owning real-estate,
+     she gets only the rental value of one-third, which is called the
+     widow's dower. Now I think the man ought to have the rental value
+     of one-third of the woman's maiden property or real-estate, and
+     it ought to be called the widower's dower. It would be just as
+     fair for one as for the other. All that I want is equality.
+
+     The women of our State, as I said before, are taxed without
+     representation. The tax-gatherer comes every year and demands
+     taxes. For twenty years I have paid tax under protest, and if I
+     live twenty years longer I shall pay it under protest every time.
+     The tax-gatherer came to my place not long since. "Well," said I,
+     "good morning, sir." Said he, "Good morning." He smiled and said,
+     "I have come bothering you." Said I, "I know your face well. You
+     have come to get a right nice little woman's tongue-lashing."
+     Said he, "I suppose so, but if you will just pay your tax I will
+     leave." I paid the tax, "But," said I, "remember I pay it under
+     protest, and if I ever pay another tax I intend to have the
+     protest written and make the tax-gatherer sign it before I pay
+     the tax, and if he will not sign that protest then I shall not
+     pay, and there will be a fight at once," Said he, "Why do you
+     keep all the time protesting against paying this small tax?" Said
+     I, "Why do you pay your tax?" "Well," said he, "I would not pay
+     it if I did not vote." Said I, "That is the very reason why I do
+     not want to pay it. I cannot vote." Who stay at home from the
+     election? The women, and the black and white men who have been to
+     the whipping-post. Nice company to put your wives and daughters
+     in.
+
+     It is said that the women do not want to vote. Every woman
+     sitting here wants to vote, and must we be debarred the privilege
+     of voting because some luxurious woman, rolling around in her
+     carriage in her little downy nest that some good, benevolent man
+     has provided for her, does not want to vote? There was a society
+     that existed up in the State of New York called the Covenanters
+     that never voted. Were all you men disfranchised because that
+     class or sect up in New York would not vote? Did you all pay your
+     taxes and stay at home and refrain from voting because the
+     Covenanters did not vote? Not a bit of it. You went to the
+     election and told them to stay at home if they wanted to, but
+     that you, as citizens, were going to take care of yourselves.
+     That was right. We, as citizens, want to take care of ourselves.
+
+     One more thought, and I will be through. The fourteenth and
+     fifteenth amendments, in my opinion, and in the opinion of a
+     great many smart men in the country, and smart women, too, give
+     the right to women to vote without any "if's" or "and's" about
+     it, and the United States protects us in it; but there are a few
+     who construe the law to suit themselves, and say that those
+     amendments do not mean that, because the congress which passed
+     the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments had no such intention.
+     Well, if that congress overlooked us, let the wiser congress of
+     to-day take the eighth chapter and the fourth verse of the
+     Psalms, which says, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?"
+     and amend it by adding, "What is woman, that they never thought
+     of her?"
+
+     NANCY R. ALLEN of Iowa said: _Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the
+     Judiciary Committee_: I am a representative of a large class of
+     women of Iowa, who are heavy taxpayers. There is now a petition
+     being circulated throughout our State, to be presented to the
+     legislature, praying that women be exempted from taxation until
+     they have some voice in the management of the affairs of the
+     State. You may ask, "Do not your husbands protect you? Are not
+     all the men protecting you?" We answer that our husbands are
+     grand, noble men, who are willing to do all they can for us, but
+     there are many who have no husbands and who own a great deal of
+     property in the State of Iowa. Particularly in great moral
+     reforms the women there feel the need of the ballot. By
+     presenting long petitions to the legislature they have succeeded
+     in having better temperance laws enacted, but the men have failed
+     to elect the officials who will enforce those laws. Consequently
+     they have become as dead letters upon the statute books.
+
+     To refer again to taxes. I have a list showing that in my city
+     three women pay more taxes than all the city officials together.
+     They are good temperance women. Our city council is composed
+     almost entirely of saloon-keepers, brewers and men who patronize
+     them. There are some good men, but they are in the minority, and
+     the voices of these women are but little regarded. All these
+     officials are paid, and we have to help support them. As Sumner
+     said, "Equality of rights is the first of rights." If we can only
+     be equal with man under the law, it is all that we ask. We do not
+     propose to relinquish our domestic life, but we do ask that we
+     may be represented.
+
+Remarks were also made by Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Archibald and Mrs.
+Spencer. The time having expired, the committee voted to give
+another hour to Miss Anthony to state the reasons why we ask
+congress to submit a proposition to the several legislatures for a
+sixteenth amendment, instead of asking the States to submit the
+question to the popular vote of their electors.[58] When Miss
+Anthony had finished, the chairman, Senator Thurman of Ohio, said:
+
+     I have to say, ladies, that you will admit that we have listened
+     to you with great attention, and I can certainly say, with great
+     interest; your appeals will be duly and earnestly considered by
+     the committee.
+
+     Mrs. WALLACE: I wish to make just one remark in reference to what
+     Senator Thurman said as to the popular vote being against woman
+     suffrage. The popular vote is against it, but not the popular
+     voice. Owing to the temperance agitation in the last six years,
+     the growth of the suffrage sentiment among the wives and mothers
+     of this nation has largely increased.
+
+
+       HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 24, 1880.
+
+     The CHAIRMAN _pro tem._ (Mr. HARRIS of Virginia): The order of
+     business for the present session of the committee is the delivery
+     of arguments by delegates of the Woman Suffrage Convention now
+     holding its sessions in Washington. I am informed that the
+     delegates are in attendance upon the committee. We will be
+     pleased to hear them. A list of the names, of the ladies
+     proposing to speak, with a memorandum of the limit of time
+     allotted to each, has been handed to me for my guidance; and, in
+     the absence of the chairman [Mr. Knott] it will be my duty to
+     confine the speakers to the number of minutes apportioned to them
+     respectively upon the paper before me. As an additional
+     consideration for adhering to the regulation, I will mention that
+     members of the committee have informed me that, having made
+     engagements to be at the departments and elsewhere on business
+     appointments, they will be compelled to leave the committee-room
+     upon the expiration of the time assigned. The first name upon the
+     list is that of Mrs. Emma Mont. McRae of Indiana, to whom five
+     minutes are allowed.
+
+     Mrs. MCRAE said: _Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Judiciary
+     Committee_: In Indiana the cause of woman has made marked
+     advancement. At the same time we realize that we need the right
+     to vote in order that we may have protection. We need the ballot
+     because through the medium of its power alone we can hope to
+     wield that influence in the making of laws affecting our own and
+     our children's interests.
+
+     Some recent occurences in Indiana, one in particular in the
+     section of the State from which I come, have impressed us more
+     sensibly than ever before with the necessity of this right. The
+     particular incident to which I refer was this: In the town of
+     Muncie, where I reside, a young girl, who for the past five years
+     had been employed as a clerk in the post-office, and upon whom a
+     widowed mother was dependent for support, was told on the first
+     of January that she was no longer needed in the office. She had
+     filled her place well; no complaint had been made against her.
+     She very modestly asked the postmaster the cause of her
+     discharge, and he replied: "We have a man who has done work for
+     the party and we must give that man a place; I haven't room for
+     both of you." Now, there you have at once the reason why we want
+     the ballot; we want to be able to do something for the party in a
+     substantial way, so that men may not tell us they have no room
+     for us because we do nothing _for the party_. When they have the
+     ballot women will work for "the party" as a means of enabling
+     them to hold places in which they may get bread for their mothers
+     and for their children if necessity requires.
+
+     Miss JESSIE T. WAITE of Illinois said: _Mr. Chairman, and
+     Gentlemen of the Judiciary Committee_: In the State of Illinois
+     we have attained to almost every right except that of the ballot.
+     We have been admitted to all the schools and colleges; we have
+     become accustomed to parliamentary usages; to voting in literary
+     societies and in all matters connected with the interests of the
+     colleges and schools; we are considered members in good standing
+     of the associations, and, in some cases, the young ladies in the
+     institutes have been told they hold the balance of power. The
+     same reason for woman suffrage that has been given by the
+     delegate from Indiana [Mrs. McRae] holds good with reference to
+     the State of Illinois. Women must have the ballot that they may
+     have protection in getting bread for themselves and their
+     families, by giving to the party that looks for their support
+     some substantial evidence of their strength. Experience has
+     demonstrated, especially in the temperance movement, how
+     fruitless are all their efforts while the ballot is withheld from
+     their hands. They have prayed; they have petitioned; they have
+     talked; they have lectured; they have done all they could do,
+     except to vote; and yet all avails them nothing. Miss Frances
+     Williard presented to the legislature of Illinois a petition of
+     such length that it would have reached around this room. It
+     contained over 180,000 signatures. The purpose of the petition
+     was to have the legislature give the women of the State the right
+     to vote upon the question of license or no license in their
+     respective districts.
+
+     In some of the counties of our State we have ladies as
+     superintendents of schools and professors in colleges. One of the
+     professors in the Industrial University at Champaign is a lady.
+     Throughout the State you may find ladies who excel in every
+     branch of study and in every trade. It was a lady who took the
+     prize at "the Exposition" for the most beautiful piece of
+     cabinet-work. This is said to have been a marvel of beauty and
+     extraordinary as a specimen of fine art. She was a foreigner; a
+     Scandinavian, I believe. Another lady is a teacher of
+     wood-carving. We have physicians, and there are two attorneys,
+     Perry and Martin, now practicing in the city of Chicago.
+     Representatives of our sex are also to be found among real-estate
+     agents and journalists, while, in one or two instances as
+     preachers they have been recognized in the churches.
+
+     CATHERINE A. STEBBINS of Michigan said: "Better fifty years of
+     Europe than a cycle of Cathay!" So said the poet; and I say,
+     Better a week with these inspired women in conference than years
+     of an indifferent, conventional society! Their presence has been
+     a blessing to the people of this District, and will prove in the
+     future a blessing to our government. These women from all
+     sections of our country, with a moral and spiritual enthusiasm
+     which seeks to lift the burdens of our government, come to you,
+     telling of the obstacles that have beset their path. They have
+     tried to heal the stricken in vice and ignorance; to save our
+     land from disintegration. One has sought to reform the drunkard,
+     to save the moderate drinker, to convert the liquor-seller;
+     another, to shelter the homeless; another, to lift and save the
+     abandoned woman. "Abandoned?" once asked a prophet-like man of
+     our time, who added, "There never was an abandoned woman without
+     an abandoned man!" Abandoned of whom? let us ask. Surely not by
+     the merciful Father. No; neither man nor woman is ever abandoned
+     by him, and he sends his instruments in the persons of some of
+     these great-hearted women, to appeal to you to restore their
+     God-given freedom of action, that "the least of these" may be
+     remembered.
+
+     But in our councils no one has dwelt upon _one_ of the great
+     evils of our civilization, the scourge of war; though it has been
+     said that women will fight. It is true there are instances in
+     which they have considered it a duty; there were such in the
+     rebellion. But the majority of women would not declare war, would
+     not enlist soldiers and would not vote supplies and equipments,
+     because many of the most thoughtful believe there _is_ a better
+     way, and that women can bring a moral power to bear that shall
+     make war needless.
+
+     Let us take one picture representative of the general features of
+     the war--we say nothing of our convictions in regard to the
+     conflict. Ulysses S. Grant or Anna Ella Carroll makes plans and
+     maps for the campaign; McClellan and Meade are commanded to
+     collect the columbiads, muskets and ammunition, and move their
+     men to the attack. At the same time the saintly Clara Barton
+     collects her cordials, medicines and delicacies, her lint and
+     bandages, and, putting them in the ambulance assigned, joins the
+     same moving train. McClellan's men meet the enemy, and
+     men--brothers--on both sides fall by the death-dealing missiles.
+     Miss Barton and her aids bear off the sufferers, staunch their
+     bleeding wounds, soothe the reeling brain, bandage the crippled
+     limbs, pour in the oil and wine, and make as easy as may be the
+     soldier's bed. What a solemn and heartrending farce is here
+     enacted! And yet in our present development men and women seek to
+     reconcile it with the requirements of religion and the
+     necessities of our conflicting lives. So few recognize the
+     absolute truth!
+
+     Mrs. DEVEREUX BLAKE said: _Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the
+     Committee_: I come here with your own laws in my hands--and the
+     volume is quite a heavy one, too--to ask you whether women are
+     citizens of this nation? I find in this book, under the heading
+     of the chapter on "Citizenship," the following:
+
+          Sec. 1,992. All persons born in the United States and not
+          subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed,
+          are declared to be citizens of the United States.
+
+     I suppose you will admit that women are, in the language of the
+     section, "persons," and that we cannot reasonably be included in
+     the class spoken of as "Indians not taxed." Therefore I claim
+     that we are "citizens." The same chapter also contains the
+     following:
+
+          Sec. 1,994. Any woman who is now or may hereafter be married
+          to a citizen of the United States, and who might herself be
+          lawfully naturalized, shall be deemed a citizen.
+
+     Under this section also we are citizens. I am myself, as indeed
+     are most of the ladies present, married to a citizen of the
+     United States; so that we are citizens under this count if we
+     were not citizens before. Then, further, in the legislation known
+     as "The Civil Rights Bill," I find this language:
+
+          All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States
+          shall have the same right, in every State and territory, to
+          make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give
+          evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and
+          proceedings for the security of persons and property as is
+          enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like
+          punishments, pains, penalties, etc.
+
+     One would think the logical conclusion from that which I have
+     last read would be that _all citizens_ are entitled to equal
+     protection everywhere. It appears to mean that. Then I turn to
+     another piece of legislation--that which is known as "The
+     Enforcement Act"--one which some of you, gentlemen, did not like
+     very much when it was enacted--and there I find another
+     declaration on the same question. The act is entitled "An Act to
+     Enforce the Right of Citizens of the United States to Vote in the
+     Several States of this Union, and for other purposes." The right
+     of "citizens" to vote appears to be conceded by this act. In the
+     second section it says:
+
+          It shall be the duty of every such person and officer to
+          give to all citizens of the United States the same and equal
+          opportunity to perform such prerequisite, and to become
+          qualified to vote, without distinction of race, color or
+          previous condition of servitude.
+
+     I ask you, gentlemen of the committee, as lawyers, whether you do
+     not think that, after we have been declared to be citizens, we
+     have the right to claim the protection of this enforcement act?
+     When you gentlemen from the North rise in your places in the
+     halls of congress and make these walls ring with your eloquence,
+     you are prone to talk a great deal about the right of every
+     United States citizen to the ballot, and the necessity of
+     protecting every such citizen in its exercise. What do you mean
+     by it?
+
+     It occurs to me here to call your attention to a matter of recent
+     occurrence. As you know, there has been a little unpleasantness
+     in Maine--a State which is not without a representative among the
+     members of the Judiciary Committee--and certain gentlemen there,
+     especially Mr. Blaine, have been greatly exercised in their minds
+     because, as they allege, the people of Maine have not been
+     permitted to express their will at the polls. Why, gentlemen, I
+     assert that a majority of the people of Maine have never been
+     permitted to express their will at the polls. A majority of the
+     people of Maine are women, and from the foundation of this
+     government have never exercised any of the inalienable rights of
+     citizens. Mr. Blaine made a speech a day or two ago in Augusta.
+     He began by reciting the condition of affairs, owing to the
+     effort, as he states, "to substitute a false count for an honest
+     ballot," and congratulated his audience upon the
+     instrumentalities by which they had  triumphed--
+
+          Without firing a gun, without shedding a drop of blood,
+          without striking a single blow, without one disorderly
+          assemblage. _The people_ have regained their own right
+          through the might and majesty of their own laws.
+
+     He goes on in this vein to speak of those whom he calls "the
+     people of Maine." Well, gentlemen, I do not think you will deny
+     that _women are people_. It appears to me that what Mr. Blaine
+     said in that connection was nonsense, unless indeed he forgot
+     that there were any others than men among the people of the State
+     of Maine. I don't suppose that you, gentlemen, are often so
+     forgetful. Mr. Blaine said further:
+
+          The Republicans of Maine and throughout the land felt that
+          they were not merely fighting the battle of a single year,
+          but for all the future of the State; not merely fighting the
+          battle of our own State alone, but for all the States that
+          are attempting the great problem of State government
+          throughout the world. The corruption or destruction of the
+          ballot is a crime against free government, and when
+          successful is a subversion of free government.
+
+     Does that mean the ballot _for men only_ or the ballot _for the
+     people_, men and women too? If it is to be received as meaning
+     anything, it ought to mean not for one sex alone, but for both.
+     Mr. Lincoln declared, in one of his noblest utterances, that no
+     man was good enough to govern another man without that man's
+     consent. Of course he meant it in its broadest terms; he meant
+     that no man or woman was good enough to govern another man or
+     woman without that other man's or woman's consent.
+
+     Mr. Blaine, on another occasion, in connection with the same
+     subject-matter, had much to say of the enormity of the oppression
+     practiced by his political opponents in depriving the town of
+     Portland of the right of representation in view of its paying
+     such heavy taxes as it does pay. He expressed the greatest
+     indignation at the attempt, forgetting utterly that great body of
+     women who pay taxes but are deprived of the right of
+     representation. In this connection it may be pertinent for me to
+     express the hope, by way of a suggestion, that hereafter, when
+     making your speeches, you will not use the term "citizens" in a
+     broad sense, unless you mean to include women as well as men, and
+     that when you do not mean to include women you will speak of male
+     citizens as a separate class, because the term, in its general
+     application, is illogical and its meaning obscure if not
+     self-contradictory.
+
+     President Hayes was so pleased with one of the sentences in his
+     message of a year ago that in his message of this year he has
+     reiterated it. It reads thus:
+
+          That no temporary or administrative interests of government
+          will ever displace the zeal of our people in defense of the
+          primary rights of citizenship, and that the power of public
+          opinion will override all political prejudices and all
+          sectional and State attachments in demanding that all over
+          our wide territory the name and character of citizen of the
+          United States shall mean one and the same thing and carry
+          with them unchallenged security and respect.
+
+     Let me suggest what he ought to have said unless he intended to
+     include women, although I am afraid that Mr. Hayes, when he wrote
+     this, forgot that there were women in the United States,
+     notwithstanding that his excellent wife, perhaps, stood by his
+     side. He ought to have said:
+
+          An act having been passed to enforce the rights of _male_
+          citizens to vote, the true vigor of _half_ the population is
+          thus expressed, and no interests of government will ever
+          displace the zeal of _half_ of our people in defense of the
+          primary rights of our _male_ citizens. _The prosperity of
+          the States depends upon the protection afforded to our male
+          citizens_; and the name and character of _male_ citizens of
+          the United States shall mean one and the same thing and
+          carry with them unchallenged security and respect.
+
+     If Mr. Hayes had thus expressed himself, he would have made a
+     perfectly logical and clear statement. Gentlemen, I hope that
+     hereafter, when speaking or voting in behalf of the citizens of
+     the United States, you will bear this in mind and will remember
+     that women are citizens as well as men, and that they claim the
+     same rights.
+
+     This question of woman suffrage cannot much longer be ignored. In
+     the State from which I come, although we have not a right to
+     vote, we are confident that the influence which women brought to
+     bear in determining the result of the election last fall had
+     something to do with sending into retirement a Democratic
+     governor who was opposed to our reform, and electing a
+     Republican who was in favor of it. Recollect, gentlemen, that the
+     expenditure of time and money which has been made in this cause
+     will not be without its effect. The time is coming when the
+     demand of an immense number of the women of this country cannot
+     be ignored. When you see these representatives coming from all
+     the States of the Union to ask for this right, can you doubt
+     that, some day, they will succeed in their mission? We do not
+     stand before you to plead as beggars; we ask for that which is
+     our right. We ask it as due to the memory of our ancestors, who
+     fought for the freedom of this country just as bravely as did
+     yours. We ask it on many considerations. Why, gentlemen, the very
+     furniture here, the carpet on this floor, was paid for with our
+     money. We are taxed equally with the men to defray the expenses
+     of this congress, and we have a right equally with them to
+     participate in the government.
+
+     In closing, I have only to ask, is there no man here present who
+     appreciates the emergencies of this hour? Is there no one among
+     you who will rise on the floor of congress as the champion of
+     this unrepresented half of the people of the United States? The
+     time is not far distant when we shall have our liberties, and the
+     politician who can now understand the importance of our cause,
+     the statesman who can now see, and will now appreciate the
+     justice of it, that man, if true to himself, will write his name
+     high on the scroll of fame beside those of the men who have been
+     the saviors of the country. Gentlemen I entreat you not to let
+     this hearing go by without giving due weight to all that we have
+     said. You can no more stay the onward current of this reform than
+     you can fight against the stars in their courses.
+
+     Mr. WILLITS of Michigan: _Mr. Chairman_: I would like to make a
+     suggestion here. The regulation amendment, as it has heretofore
+     been submitted, provided that the right of citizens of the United
+     States to vote should not be abridged on account of sex. I notice
+     that the amendment which the ladies here now propose has prefixed
+     to it this phrase: "The right of suffrage in the United States
+     shall be based on citizenship." I call attention to this because
+     I would like to have them explain as fully as they may why they
+     incorporate the phrase, "shall be based on citizenship." Is the
+     meaning this, that all citizens shall have the right to vote, or
+     simply that citizenship shall be the basis of suffrage? The
+     words, "or for any reason not applicable to all citizens of the
+     United States," also seem to require explanation. The proposition
+     in the form in which it is now submitted, I understand, covers a
+     little more than has been covered by the amendment submitted in
+     previous years.
+
+     SARA A. SPENCER of Washington, D. C.: If the committee will
+     permit me, I will say that the amendment in its present form is
+     the concentrated wish of the women of the United States. The
+     women of the country sent to congress petitions asking for three
+     different forms of constitutional amendment, and when preparing
+     the one now before the committee these three were concentrated in
+     the one now before you (identical with that of the resolution
+     offered in the House by Hon. George B. Loring and by Hon. T. W.
+     Ferry in the Senate), omitting, at the request of each of the
+     three classes of petitioners, all phrases which were regarded by
+     any of them as objectionable. The amendment as now presented is
+     therefore the combined wish of the women of the country, viz.,
+     that citizenship in the United States shall mean suffrage, and
+     that no one shall be deprived of the right to vote for reasons
+     not equally applicable to all citizens.
+
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE said: It is necessary to refer to a
+     remarkable decision of the Supreme Court. The case of Virginia L.
+     Minor, claiming the right to vote under the fourteenth amendment,
+     was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States, October
+     term, 1874; decision rendered adversely by Chief-Justice Waite,
+     March, 1875, upon the ground that "the United States had no
+     voters in the States of its own creation." This was a most
+     amazing decision to emanate from the highest judicial authority
+     of the nation, and is but another proof how fully that body is
+     under the influence of the dominant political party.
+
+     Contrary to this decision, I unhesitatingly affirm that the
+     United States has possessed voters in States of its own creation
+     from the very date of the constitution. In Article I, Sec. 2, the
+     constitution provides that
+
+          The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
+          chosen every second year by the people of the several
+          States, and the electors in each State shall have the
+          qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous
+          branch of the State legislature.
+
+     The persons so designated are voters under State laws; but by
+     this section of the national constitution they are made United
+     States voters. It is directed under what conditions of State
+     qualification they may cast votes in their respective States for
+     members of the lower house of congress. The constitution here
+     created a class of United States voters by adoption of an already
+     voting class. Did but this single instance exist, it would be
+     sufficient to nullify Chief-Justice Waite's decision, as Article
+     VI, Sec. 2, declares
+
+          The constitution and the laws of the United States which
+          shall be made in pursuance thereof * * * shall be the
+          supreme law of the land.
+
+     This supreme law at its very inception created a class of United
+     States voters. If in the Minor case alone, the premises of the
+     Supreme Court and Chief-Justice Waite were wrong, the decision
+     possesses no legal value; but in addition to this class, the
+     United States, by special laws and amendments has from time to
+     time created other classes of United States voters.
+
+     Under the naturalization laws citizenship is recognized as the
+     basis of suffrage. No State can admit a foreigner to the right of
+     the ballot, even under United States laws, unless he is already a
+     citizen, or has formally declared his intention of becoming a
+     citizen of the United States. The creation of the right here is
+     national; its regulation, local.
+
+     Men who commit crimes against the civil laws of the United States
+     forfeit their rights of citizenship. State law cannot
+     re-habilitate them, but within the last five years 2,500 such men
+     have been pardoned by congressional enactment, and thus again
+     been made voters in States by United States law. Is it not
+     strange that with a knowledge of these facts before him
+     Chief-Justice Waite could base his decision against the right of
+     a woman to the ballot, on the ground that the United States had
+     no voters in the States of its own creation?
+
+     Criminals against the military law of the United States, who
+     receive pardon, are still another class of voters thus created. A
+     very large body of men, several hundred thousand, forfeited their
+     rights of citizenship, their ballot, by participation in the
+     rebellion; they were political criminals. When general amnesty
+     was proclaimed they again secured the ballot. They had been
+     deprived of the suffrage by United States law and it was restored
+     to them by the same law.
+
+     It may be replied that the rebellious States had been reduced to
+     the condition of territories, over whose suffrage the general
+     government had control. But let me ask why, then, a large class
+     of men remained disfranchised after these States again took up
+     local government? A large class of men were especially exempted
+     from general amnesty and for the restoration of their political
+     rights were obliged to individually petition congress for the
+     removal of their political disabilities, and these men then
+     became "voters in States," by action of the United States. Here,
+     again, the United States recognized citizenship and suffrage as
+     synonymous. If the United States has no voters of its own
+     creation in the States, what are these men? A few, the leaders in
+     the rebellion, are yet disfranchised, and no State has power to
+     change this condition. Only the United States can again make them
+     voters in States.
+
+     Under the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments the colored men of
+     the South, who never had possessed the ballot, and those colored
+     men of the North over whom some special disqualification hung,
+     were alike made voters by United States law. It required no
+     action of Delaware, Indiana, New York, or any of those States in
+     which the colored man was not upon voting equality with the white
+     men, to change their constitutions or statutes in order to do
+     away with such disqualifications. The fourteenth amendment
+     created another class of United States voters in States, to the
+     number of a million or more. The fourteenth amendment, and the
+     act of congress to enforce it, were at once recognized to be
+     superior to State law--abrogating and repealing State
+     constitutions and State laws contradictory to its provisions.
+
+     By an act of congress March 3, and a presidential proclamation of
+     March 11, 1865, all deserters who failed to report themselves to
+     a provost marshall within sixty days, forfeited their rights of
+     citizenship as an additional penalty for the crime of desertion,
+     thus losing their ballot without possibility of its restoration
+     except by an act of congress. Whenever this may be done
+     collectively or individually, these men will become State voters
+     by and through the United States law.
+
+     As proving the sophistry used by legal minds in order to hide
+     from themselves and the world the fact that the United States has
+     power over the ballot in States, mention may be made of a case
+     which, in 1866, came before Justice Strong, then a member of the
+     Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, but since a justice of the Supreme
+     Court of the United States. For sophistical reasoning it is a
+     curiosity in legal decisions. One point made by Judge Strong was,
+     that congress may deprive a citizen of the opportunity to enjoy
+     a right belonging to him as a citizen of a State even the right
+     of voting, but cannot deprive him of the right itself. This is on
+     a par with saying that congress may deprive a citizen of the
+     opportunity to enjoy a right belonging to him as an individual,
+     even the right of life, but cannot deprive him of life itself.
+
+     A still more remarkable class of United States voters than any
+     yet mentioned, exists. Soon after the close of the war congress
+     enacted a law that foreigners having served in the civil war and
+     been honorably discharged from the army, should be allowed to
+     vote. And this, too, without the announcement of their intention
+     of becoming citizens of the republic. A class of United States
+     voters were thus created out of a class of non-citizens.
+
+     I have mentioned eight classes of United States voters, and yet
+     not one of the States has been deprived of the powers necessary
+     to local self-government. To States belong all matters of
+     strictly local interest, such as the incorporation of towns and
+     cities, the settlement of county and other boundaries; laws of
+     marriage, divorce, protection of life and property, etc. It has
+     been said, the ordaining and establishment of a constitution for
+     the government of a State is always the act of a State in its
+     highest sovereign capacity, but if any question as to nationality
+     ever existed, it was settled by the war. Even State constitutions
+     were found unable to stand when in conflict with a law of the
+     United States or an amendment to its constitution. All are bound
+     by the authority of the nation.
+
+     This theory of State sovereignty must have a word. When the Union
+     was formed several of the States did not even frame a
+     constitution. It was in 1818 that Connecticut adopted her first
+     State constitution. Rhode Island had no constitution until 1842.
+     Prior to these years the government of these States was
+     administered under the authority of royal charters brought out
+     from England.
+
+     Where was their State sovereignty? The rights even of suffrage
+     enjoyed by citizens of these States during these respective
+     periods of forty-two and sixty-six years, were either secured
+     them by monarchial England or republican United States. If by the
+     latter all voters in these two States during these years were
+     United States voters. It is a historical fact that no State save
+     Texas was ever for an hour sovereign or independent. The
+     experience of the country proves there is but one real
+     sovereignty. It has been said, with truth,
+
+          There is but one sovereign State on the American continent
+          known to international or constitutional law, and that is
+          the republic itself. This forms the United States and should
+          be so called.
+
+     I ask for a sixteenth amendment because this republic is a nation
+     and not a confederacy of States. I ask it because the United
+     States not only possesses inherent power to protect its citizens
+     but also because of its national duty to secure to all its
+     citizens the exercise of their rights of self-government. I ask
+     it because having created classes of voters in numberless
+     instances, it is most flagrant injustice to deny this protection
+     to woman. I ask it because the Nation and not the State is
+     supreme.
+
+     PHOEBE W. COUZINS of Missouri, to whom had been assigned the
+     next thirty minutes, said: _Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the
+     Judiciary Committee_: I am invited to speak of the dangers which
+     beset us at this hour in the decision of the Supreme Court of the
+     United States in Mrs. Minor's case, which not only stultifies its
+     previous interpretation of the recent constitutional amendments
+     and makes them a dead letter, but will rank, in the coming ages,
+     in the history of the judiciary, with the Dred Scott decision.
+     The law, as explained in the Dred Scott case, was an infamous
+     one, which trampled upon the most solemn rights of the loyal
+     citizens of the government, and declared the constitution to mean
+     anything or nothing, as the case might be. Yet the decision in
+     that case had a saving clause, for it was not the unanimous voice
+     of a Democratic judiciary. Dissenting opinions were nobly uttered
+     from the bench. In the more recent case, under the rule of a
+     Republican judiciary created by a party professing to be one of
+     justice, the rights of one-half of the people were deliberately
+     abrogated without a dissenting voice. This violation of the
+     fundamental principles of our government called forth no protest.
+     In all of the decisions against woman in the Republican court,
+     there has not been found one Lord Mansfield, who, rising to the
+     supreme height of an unbiased judgment, would give the immortal
+     decree that shall crown with regal dignity the mother of the
+     race: "I care not for the dictates of judges, however eminent, if
+     they be contrary to principle. If the parties will have judgment,
+     let justice be done, though the heavens fall."
+
+     The Dred Scott decision declared as the law of citizenship, "to
+     be a citizen is to have actual possession and enjoyment, or the
+     perfect right to the acquisition and enjoyment of an entire
+     equality of privileges, civil and political." But the slave-power
+     was then dominant and the court decided that a black man was not
+     a citizen because he had not the right to vote. But when the
+     constitution was so amended as to make "all persons born or
+     naturalized in the United States citizens thereof," a negro, by
+     virtue of his United States citizenship, was declared, under the
+     amendments, a voter in every State in the Union. And the Supreme
+     Court reaffirmed this right in the celebrated slaughter-house
+     cases (16 Wallace, 71). It said, "The negro, having by the
+     fourteenth amendment, been declared to be a citizen of the United
+     States, is thus made a voter in every State in the Union."
+
+     But when the loyal women of Missouri, apprehending that "all
+     persons beneath the flag were made citizens and voters by the
+     fourteenth amendment," through Mrs. Minor, applied to the Supreme
+     Court for protection in the exercise of that same right, this
+     high tribunal, reversing all its former decisions, proclaims
+     State sovereignty superior to national authority. This it does in
+     this strange language: "Being born in the United States, a woman
+     is a person and therefore a citizen"--we are much obliged to them
+     for that definition of our identity as persons--"but the
+     constitution of the United States does not confer the right of
+     suffrage upon any one." And then, in the face of its previous
+     decisions, the court declared: "The United States has no voters
+     in the States of its own creation", that the elective officers of
+     the United States are all elected, directly or indirectly by
+     State voters. It remands woman to the States for her protection,
+     thus giving to the State the supreme authority and overthrowing
+     the entire results of the war, which was fought to maintain
+     national supremacy over any and all subjects in which the rights
+     and privileges of the citizens of the United States are involved.
+
+     No supreme allegiance, gentlemen of the committee, can be claimed
+     for or by a government, if it has no citizens of its own
+     creation, and constitutional amendments cannot confer authority
+     over matters which have no existence in the constitution. Thus,
+     our supreme law-givers hold themselves up for obloquy and
+     ridicule in their interpretation of the most solemn rights of
+     loyal citizens, and make our constitutional law to mean anything
+     or nothing as the case may be. You will see, gentlemen, that the
+     very point which the South contended for as the true one is here
+     acknowledged to be the true one by the Supreme Court--that of
+     State rights superior to national authority. The whole of the
+     recent contest hinged upon this. The appeal to arms and the
+     constitutional amendments were to establish the subordination of
+     the State to national supremacy, to maintain the national
+     authority over any and all subjects in which the rights and
+     privileges of the citizens of the United States were involved;
+     but this decision in Mrs. Minor's case completely nullifies the
+     supreme authority of the government, and gives the States more
+     than has hitherto been claimed for them by the advocates of State
+     rights. The subject of the franchise is thus wholly withdrawn
+     from federal supervision and control. If "the United States has
+     no citizens of its own creation," of course no supreme allegiance
+     can be claimed over the various citizens of the States.
+
+     The constitutional amendments cannot confer authority over a
+     matter which has no existence in the constitution. If it has no
+     voters, it can have nothing whatever to do with the elections and
+     voting in the States; yet the United States invaded the State of
+     New York, sent its officers there to try, convict, and sentence
+     Miss Anthony for exercising a right in her own State which they
+     declared the United States had no jurisdiction over. They send
+     United States troops into the South to protect the negro in his
+     right to vote, and then declare they have no jurisdiction over
+     his voting. Then, mark the grave results which may and can follow
+     this decision and legislation. I do not imagine that the Supreme
+     Court, in its cowardly dodging of woman's right to all the rights
+     and privileges which citizenship involves, designed to completely
+     abrogate the principles established by the recent contest, or to
+     nullify the ensuing legislation on the subject. But it certainly
+     has done all this; for it must logically follow that if the
+     United States has no citizens, it cannot legislate upon the
+     rights of citizens, and the recent amendments are devoid of
+     authority. It has well been suggested by Mr. Minor, in his
+     criticism of the decision, that if members of the House of
+     Representatives are elected by _State_ voters, as the Supreme
+     Court has declared, there is no reason why States may not refuse
+     to elect them as in 1860, and thus deprive congress of its power.
+     And if a sufficient number could be united to recall at their
+     pleasure these representatives, what authority has the federal
+     government, under this decision, for coercing them into
+     subjection or refusing them a separation, if all these voters in
+     the States desired an independent existence? None whatever. Mr.
+     Garfield, in the House, in his speech last March, calls attention
+     to this subject, but does not allude to the fact that the Supreme
+     Court has already opened the door. He says:
+
+          There are several ways in which our government may be
+          annihilated without the firing of a gun. For example,
+          suppose the people of the United States should say, we will
+          elect no representatives to congress. Of course this is a
+          violent supposition; but suppose that they do not. Is there
+          any remedy? Does our constitution provide any remedy
+          whatever? In two years there would be no House of
+          Representatives; of course, no support of the government and
+          no government. Suppose, again, the States should say,
+          through their legislatures, we will elect no senators. Such
+          abstention alone would absolutely destroy this government;
+          and our system provides no process of compulsion to prevent
+          it. Again, suppose the two houses were to assemble in their
+          usual order, and a majority of one in this body or in the
+          Senate should firmly band themselves together and say, we
+          will vote to adjourn the moment the hour of meeting arrives,
+          and continue so to vote at every session during our two
+          years of existence--the government would perish, and there
+          is no provision of the constitution to prevent it.
+
+     The States may inform their representatives that they can do
+     this; and, under this position, they have the power and the right
+     so to do.
+
+     Gentlemen, we are now on the verge of one of the most important
+     presidential campaigns. The party in power holds its reins by a
+     very uncertain tenure. If the decision shall favor the one which
+     has been on the anxious bench for lo! these twenty years, and in
+     probation until hope has well-nigh departed, what may be its
+     action if invested again with the control of the destinies of
+     this nation? The next party in power may inquire, and answer, by
+     what right and how far the Southern States are bound by the
+     legislation in which they had no part or consent. And if the
+     Supreme Court of a Republican judiciary now declares, _after_ the
+     war, _after_ the constitutional amendments, that federal suffrage
+     does not exist and never had an existence in the constitution, it
+     follows that the South has the right to regulate and control all
+     of the questions arising upon suffrage in the several States
+     without any interference on the part of an authority which
+     declares it has no jurisdiction. An able writer has said:
+
+          All injustice at last works out a loss. The great ledger of
+          nations does not report a good balance for injustice. It has
+          always met fearful losses. The irrepealable law of justice
+          will, sooner or later, grind a nation to powder if it fail
+          to establish that equilibrium of allegiance and protection
+          which is the essential end of all government. Woe to that
+          nation which thinks lightly of the duties it owes to its
+          citizens and imagines that governments are not bound by
+          moral laws.
+
+     It was the tax on tea--woman's drink prerogative--which
+     precipitated the rebellion of 1776. To allay the irritation of
+     the colonies, all taxes were rescinded save that on tea, which
+     was left to indicate King George's dominion. But our
+     revolutionary fathers and mothers said, "No; the tax is paltry,
+     but the principle is great"; and Eve, as usual, pointed the moral
+     for Adam's benefit. A most suggestive picture, one which aroused
+     the intensest patriotism of the colonies, was that of a woman
+     pinioned by her arms to the ground by a British peer, with a
+     British red-coat holding her with one hand and with the other
+     forcibly thrusting down her throat the contents of a tea-pot,
+     which she heroically spewed back in his face; while the figure of
+     Justice, in the distance, wept over this prostrate Liberty. Now,
+     gentlemen, we might well adopt a similar representation. Here is
+     Miss Smith of Glastonbury, Conn., whose cows have been sold every
+     year by the government, contending for the same principle as our
+     forefathers--that of resistance to taxation without
+     representation. We might have a picture of a cow, with an
+     American tax-collector at the horns, a foreign-born assessor at
+     the heels, forcibly selling the birthright of an American
+     citizen, while Julia and Abby Smith, in the background, with
+     veiled faces, weep over the degeneracy of Republican leadership.
+
+     But there are those in authority in the government who do not
+     believe in this decision by the Supreme Court of the United
+     States. The attorney-general, in his instructions to the United
+     States marshals and their deputies or assistants in the Southern
+     States, when speaking of the countenance and support of all good
+     citizens of the United States in the respective districts of the
+     marshals, remarks:
+
+          It is not necessary to say that it is upon such countenance
+          and support that the United States mainly rely in their
+          endeavor to enforce the right to vote which they have given
+          or have secured.
+
+     You notice the phraseology. Again, he says:
+
+          The laws of the United States are supreme, and so,
+          consequently, is the action of officials of the United
+          States in enforcing them.
+
+     Secretary Sherman said in his speech at Steubenville, July 6:
+
+          The negroes are free and are citizens and voters. That, at
+          least, is a part of the constitution and cannot be changed.
+
+     And President Hayes in his two last messages, as Mrs. Blake
+     recited to you, has declared  that--
+
+          United States citizenship shall mean one and the same thing
+          and carry with it all over our wide territory unchallenged
+          security and respect.
+
+     And that is what we ask for women.
+
+     In conclusion, gentlemen, I say to you that a sense of justice is
+     the sovereign power of the human mind, the most unyielding of
+     any; it rewards with a higher sanction, it punishes with a deeper
+     agony than any earthly tribunal. It never slumbers, never dies.
+     It constantly utters and demands justice by the eternal rule of
+     right, truth and equity. And on these eternal foundation-stones
+     we stand.
+
+     Crowning the dome of this great building there stands the
+     majestic figure of a woman representing Liberty. It was no
+     idealistic thought or accident of vision which gave us Liberty
+     prefigured by a woman. It is the great soul of the universe
+     pointing the final revelation yet to come to humanity, the
+     prophecy of the ages--the last to be first.[59]
+
+When the proposition to print these speeches came before the House
+a prolonged debate against it showed the readiness of the
+opposition to avail themselves of every legal technicality to
+deprive women of equal rights and privileges. But the measure
+finally passed and the documents were printed. To the Hon. Elbridge
+G. Lapham of New York we were largely indebted for the success of
+this measure.
+
+The Washington _Republican_ of February 6, 1880, describes a novel
+event that took place at that time:
+
+     In the Supreme Court of the United States, on Monday, on motion
+     of Mrs. Belva Lockwood, Samuel R. Lowry of Alabama was admitted
+     to practice. Mr. Lowry is president of the Huntsville, Ala.,
+     industrial school, and a gentleman of high attainments. It was
+     quite fitting that the first woman admitted to practice before
+     this court should move the admission of the first Southern
+     colored man. Both will doubtless make good records as
+     representatives of their respective classes. This scene was
+     characterized by George W. Julian as one of the most impressive
+     he ever witnessed--a fitting subject for an historical painting.
+
+In 1880, women were for the first time appointed census
+enumerators. Gen. Francis Walker, head of that department, said
+there was no legal obstacle to the appointment of women as
+enumerators, and he would gladly confirm the nomination of suitable
+candidates. Very different was the action of the head of the
+post-office department, who refused, on the ground of sex, the
+application of 500 women for appointment as letter-carriers.
+
+In view of the important work to be done in a presidential
+campaign, the National Association decided to issue an appeal to
+the women of the country to appoint delegates from each State and
+territory, and prepare an address to each of the presidential
+nominating conventions. In Washington a move was made for an act of
+incorporation in order that the Association might legally receive
+bequests. Tracts containing a general statement of the status of
+the movement were mailed to all members of congress and officers of
+the government.
+
+At a meeting of the Committee on Rules, Mr. Randall, a Democratic
+member of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Garfield, a Republican member of
+Ohio, reminded Mr. Frye of Maine that he had been instructed by
+that committee, nearly a year before, to present to the House a
+resolution on the rights of women. The _Congressional Record_ of
+March 27 contains the following:
+
+     Mr. FRYE: I am instructed by the Committee on Rules to report a
+     resolution providing for the appointment of a special committee
+     on the political rights of women, and to move that it be placed
+     on the House calendar.
+
+     Mr. CONGER: Let it be read.
+
+     The clerk read the resolution as follows:
+
+          _Resolved by the House of Representatives_, That the speaker
+          appoint a special committee of nine members, to whom shall
+          be referred all memorials, petitions, bills and resolutions
+          relating to the rights of the women of the United States,
+          with power to hear the same and report thereon by bill or
+          otherwise. The resolution was referred to the House
+          calendar.
+
+This was a proof of the advancing status of our question that both
+Republican and Democratic leaders regarded the "rights of women"
+worthy the consideration of a special committee.
+
+In the spring of 1880, the National Association held a series of
+mass meetings in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and
+Michigan, commencing with the May anniversary in Indianapolis, at
+which sixteen States were represented.[60] The convention was held
+in Park Theatre, Miss Anthony presiding. The arrangements devolved
+chiefly on Mrs. May Wright Thompson, who discharged her
+responsibilities in a most praiseworthy manner, providing
+entertainment for the speakers, and paying all the expenses from
+the treasury of the local association. A series of resolutions was
+presented, discussed by a large number of the delegates, and
+adopted.
+
+In accordance with the plan decided upon in Washington of attending
+all the nominating conventions, the next meeting was held in
+Chicago, beginning on the same day with the Republican convention.
+Farwell Hall was filled at an early hour; Miss Anthony in the
+chair. A large number of delegates[61] were present from every
+part of the Union, among whom were many of the most distinguished
+advocates of woman suffrage. Mrs. Harbert gave an eloquent address
+of welcome.
+
+Committees were appointed to visit the delegates from the different
+States to the Republican convention, to secure seats for the
+members of the National Association, and to ask that a plank
+recommending a sixteenth amendment be incorporated in the platform
+adopted by the Republican party. The proprietor of the Palmer House
+gave the use of a large parlor to the Association for business
+meetings and the reception of Republican delegates, many of whom
+were in favor of a woman's plank in their platform, and of giving
+the ladies seats in the convention. Strenuous efforts had been made
+to this end. One hundred and eighteen senators and representatives
+addressed a letter to the chairman of the National Republican
+committee--Don Cameron--asking that seventy-six seats should be
+given in the convention to the representatives of the National
+Woman Suffrage Association. It would naturally be deemed that a
+request, proceeding from such a source, would be heeded. The men
+who made it were holding the highest positions in the body politic;
+but the party managers presumed to disregard this request, and also
+the vote of the committee. The question of furnishing seats for our
+delegates was brought up before the close of their deliberations by
+Mr. Finnell, of Kentucky, who said:
+
+     A committee of women have been here and they ask for seventy-six
+     seats in this convention. I move that they be furnished.
+
+Mr. Cary of Wyoming, made some remarks showing that woman suffrage
+in his territory had been to the advantage of the Republican party,
+and seconded the motion of Mr. Finnell, which was adopted. The
+following resolution of the Arkansas delegation to the National
+Republican convention was read and received with enthusiasm:
+
+     _Resolved_, That we pledge ourselves to secure to women the
+     exercise of their right to vote.
+
+It is here to be noted that not only were the Arkansas delegation
+of Republicans favorable to the recognition of woman suffrage in
+the platform of that party, but that the Southern delegates were
+largely united in that demand. Mr. New told the ladies that the
+Grant men had voted as a unit in favor of the women, while the
+Blaine and Sherman men unanimously voted against them.
+
+But the ladies, well knowing the uncertainty of politicians, were
+soon upon the way to the committee-room, to secure positive
+assurance from the lips of the chairman himself--Don Cameron of
+Pennsylvania--that such tickets should be forthcoming, when they
+were stopped by a messenger hurrying after them to announce the
+presence of the secretary of the committee, Hon. John New, at their
+headquarters, in the grand parlor of the Palmer House, with a
+communication in regard to the tickets. He said the seventy-six
+seats voted by the committee had been reduced to _ten_ by its
+chairman, and these ten were not offered to the Association in its
+official capacity, but as complimentary or "guest tickets," for a
+seat on the platform back of the presiding officers.
+
+The Committee on Resolutions, popularly known as the platform
+committee, held a meeting in the Palmer House, June 2, to which
+Belva A. Lockwood obtained admission. On motion of Mr. Fredley of
+Indiana, Mrs. Lockwood was given permission to present the memorial
+of the National Woman Suffrage Association to the Republican party.
+
+     _To the Republican Party in Convention assembled, Chicago, June
+     2, 1880_:
+
+     Seventy-six delegates from local, State and National suffrage
+     associations, representing every section of the United States,
+     are here to-day to ask you to place the following plank in your
+     platform:
+
+          _Resolved_, That we pledge ourselves to secure to women the
+          exercise of their right to vote.
+
+     We ask you to pledge yourselves to protect the rights of one-half
+     of the American people, and to thus carry your own principles to
+     their logical results. The thirteenth amendment of 1865,
+     abolishing slavery, the fourteenth of 1867, defining citizenship,
+     and the fifteenth of 1870, securing United States citizens in
+     their right to vote, and your prolonged and powerful debates on
+     all the great issues involved in our civil conflict, stand as
+     enduring monuments to the honor of the Republican party. Impelled
+     by the ever growing demand among women for a voice in the laws
+     they are required to obey, for their rightful share in the
+     government of this republic, various State legislatures have
+     conceded partial suffrage. But the great duty remains of securing
+     to woman her right to have her opinions on all questions counted
+     at the ballot-box.
+
+     You cannot live on the noble words and deeds of those who
+     inaugurated the Republican party. You should vie with those men
+     in great achievements. Progress is the law of national life. You
+     must have a new, vital issue to rouse once more the enthusiasm of
+     the people. Our question of human rights answers this demand. The
+     two great political parties are alike divided upon finance,
+     free-trade, labor reform and general questions of political
+     economy. The essential point in which you differ from the
+     Democratic party is national supremacy, and it is on this very
+     issue we make our demand, and ask that our rights as United
+     States citizens be secured by an amendment to the national
+     constitution. To carry this measure is not only your privilege
+     but your duty. Your pledge to enfranchise ten millions of women
+     will rouse an enthusiasm which must count in the coming closely
+     contested election. But above expediency is right, and to do
+     justice is ever the highest political wisdom.
+
+The committee then adjourned to meet at the Sherman-house club
+room, where they reaessembled at 8 o'clock. Soon after the calling
+to order of our own convention in Farwell Hall, word came that a
+hearing had been accorded before the platform committee. This
+proved to be a sub-committee. Ten minutes were given Miss Anthony
+to plead the cause of 10,000,000--yes, 20,000,000 citizens of this
+republic(?), while, watch in hand, Mr. Pierrepont sat to strike the
+gavel when this time expired. Ten minutes!! Twice has the great
+Republican party, in the plentitude of its power, allowed woman
+_ten_ minutes to plead her cause before it. Ten minutes twice in
+the past eight years, while all the remainder of the time it has
+been fighting for power and place and continued life, heedless of
+the wrongs and injustice it was constantly perpetrating towards
+one-half the people. Ten minutes! What a period in the history of
+time. Small hope remained of a committee, with such a chairman,
+introducing a plank for woman suffrage.
+
+The whole Arkansas delegation had expressed itself in favor; most
+of the Kentucky delegation were known to be so, while New York not
+only had friends to woman suffrage among its number, but even an
+officer of the State association was a delegate to the Republican
+convention. These men were called upon, a form of plank placed in
+their hands and they were asked to offer it as an amendment when
+the committee reported, but that plan was blocked by a motion that
+all resolutions should be referred to the committee for action.
+
+Senator Farr of Michigan, a colored man, was the only member of the
+platform committee who suggested the insertion of a woman suffrage
+plank, the Michigan delegation to a man, favoring such action. The
+delegates were ready in case opportunity offered, to present the
+address to the convention. But no such moment arrived.
+
+The mass convention had been called for June 2, but the crowds in
+the city gave promise of such extended interest that Farwell Hall
+was engaged for June 1, and before the second day's proceedings
+closed, funds were voluntarily raised by the audience to continue
+the meeting the third day. So vast was the number of letters and
+postals addressed to the convention from all parts of the country
+from women who desired to vote, that the whole time of each session
+could have been spent in reading them--one day's mail alone
+bringing letters and postals from twenty-three States and three
+territories. Some of these letters contained hundreds of names,
+others represented town, county, and State societies. Many were
+addressed to the different nominating conventions, Republican,
+Greenback, Democratic, while the reasons given for desiring to
+vote, ranged from the simple demand, through all the scale of
+reasons connected with good government and morality. So highly
+important a contribution to history did the Chicago Historical
+Society[62] deem these expressions of woman's desire to vote, that
+it made a formal request to be put in possession of _all_ letters
+and postals, with a promise that they should be carefully guarded
+in a fire-proof safe.
+
+After the eloquent speeches[63] of the closing session, Miss Alice
+S. Mitchell sang Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic,"
+Mrs. Harbert playing the accompaniment, and the immense audience of
+3,000 people joining in the chorus. This convention held three
+sessions each day, and at all except the last an admission fee was
+charged, and yet the hall was densely crowded throughout. For
+enthusiasm, nothing ever surpassed these meetings in the history of
+the suffrage movement. A platform and resolution were adopted as
+the voice of the convention.
+
+     The special object of the National Woman Suffrage Association is
+     to secure national protection for women in the exercise of their
+     right of suffrage. It recognizes the fact that our government was
+     formed on the political basis of the consent of the governed, and
+     that the Declaration of Independence struck a blow at every
+     existing form by declaring the individual to be the source of all
+     power. The members of this association, outside of our great
+     question, have diverse political affiliations, but for the
+     purpose of gaining this great right to the ballot, its members
+     hold their party predilections in abeyance; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That in this year of presidential nominations and
+     political campaigns, we announce our determination to support no
+     party by whatever name called, unless such party shall, in its
+     platform, first emphatically endorse our demand for a recognition
+     of the exact and permanent political equality of all citizens.
+
+A delegation[64] went to the Greenback convention and presented the
+following memorial:
+
+     When a new political party is formed it should be based upon the
+     principles of justice to all classes hitherto unrecognized. The
+     finance question, as broad as it is, does not reach down to the
+     deepest wrong in the nation. Beneath this question lies that of
+     the denial of the right of self-government to one-half the
+     people. It is impossible to secure the property rights of the
+     people without first recognizing their personal rights. More than
+     any class of men, woman represents the great unpaid laborer of
+     the world--a slave, who, as wife and daughter, absolutely works
+     for her board and clothes. The question of finance deeply
+     interests woman, but her opinions upon it are valueless while
+     deprived of the right of enforcing them at the ballot box. You
+     are here in convention assembled, not alone to nominate a
+     candidate for president, but also to promulgate your platform of
+     principles to the world. Now is your golden opportunity. The
+     Republican party presents no vital issue to the country; its
+     platform is a repetition of the platitudes of the past twenty
+     years. It has ceased to be a party of principles. It lives on the
+     past. The deeds of dead men hold it together. Its disregard of
+     principles has thrown opportunity into your hands. Will you make
+     yourselves the party of the future? Will you recognize woman's
+     right of self-government? Will you make woman suffrage an
+     underlying principle in your platform? If you will make these
+     pledges, the National Association will work for the triumph of
+     your party in the approaching closely contested campaign.
+
+The ladies were accorded hearings by several delegations previous
+to the assembling of the convention. A resolution committee of one
+from each State was appointed, and each member allowed two minutes
+to present either by speech or writing such principles as it
+requested incorporated in the platform. Lucinda B. Chandler, being
+a Greenbacker on principle, was a regularly elected delegate and by
+courtesy was added to a sub-committee on resolutions. The one
+prepared by the National Association was placed in her hands, but,
+as she was forbidden to speak upon it, her support could only be
+given by vote, and a meaningless substitute took its place. The
+courtesy of placing Mrs. Chandler upon the committee was like much
+of man's boasted chivalry to woman, a seeming favor at the expense
+of right.
+
+After trying in vain for recognition as a political factor from the
+Republican and Greenback nominating conventions the delegates went
+to Cincinnati.[65]
+
+Committees were at once appointed to visit the different
+delegations. Women were better treated by the Democrats at
+Cincinnati than by the Republicans at Chicago. A committee-room in
+Music Hall was at once placed at their disposal, placards pointing
+to their headquarters were printed by the local committee at its
+own expense, and sixteen seats given to the ladies upon the floor
+of the house, just back of the regular delegates. A hearing[66]
+before the platform committee was granted with no limit as to time.
+At the close a delegate approached the table, saying, "I favor
+giving woman a plank," "So do I," replied Mr. Watterson, chairman
+of the committee. Many delegates in conversation, favored the
+recognition of woman's political rights, and a large number of the
+platform committee favored the introduction of the following plank:
+
+     That the Democratic party, recognizing the rapid growth of the
+     woman suffrage question, suggests a consideration of this
+     important subject by the people in anticipation of the time, near
+     at hand, when it must become a political issue.
+
+But although the platform committee sat until 2 A.M., no such
+result was reached, in consequence, it was said, of the objection
+of the extreme Southern element which feared the political
+recognition of negro women of the South.
+
+The delegations from Maine, Kansas and New York were favorable, and
+offered the Association the use of their committee-rooms at the
+Burnett House and the Grand Hotel whenever desired. Mayor Prince of
+Boston not only offered a committee-room but secured seats for the
+delegates on the floor of the house. Mr. Henry Watterson, of the
+Louisville _Courier-Journal_, as chairman of the Platform
+Committee, extended every courtesy within his power. Mayor Harrison
+of Chicago did his best to secure to the delegates a hearing before
+the convention. He offered to escort Miss Anthony to the platform
+that she might at least present the address. "You may be
+prevented," suggested one. "I'd like to see them do it," he
+replied. "Have I not just brought about a reconciliation between
+Tammany and the rest of New York?" Taking Miss Anthony upon his arm
+and telling her not to flinch, he made his way to the platform,
+when the chairman, Hon. Wade Hampton of South Carolina, politely
+offered her a seat, and ordered the clerk to read the address:
+
+     _To the Democratic Party in Nominating Convention Assembled,
+     Cincinnati, June 22, 1880:_
+
+     On behalf of the women of the country we appear before you,
+     asking the recognition of woman's political rights as one-half
+     the people. We ask no special privileges, no special legislation.
+     We simply ask that you live up to the principles enunciated by
+     the Democratic party from the time of Jefferson. By what
+     principle of democracy do men assume to legislate for women?
+     Women are part of the people; your very name signifies government
+     by the people. When you deny political rights to women you are
+     false to your own principles.
+
+     The Declaration of Independence recognized human rights as its
+     basis. Constitutions should also be general in character. But in
+     opposition to this principle the party in power for the last
+     twenty years has perverted the Constitution of the United States
+     by the introduction of the word "male" three times, thereby
+     limiting the application of its guarantees to a special class. It
+     should be your pride and your duty to restore the constitution to
+     its original basis by the adoption of a sixteenth amendment,
+     securing to women the right of suffrage; and thus establish the
+     equality of all United States citizens before the law.
+
+     Not for the first time do we make of you these demands. At your
+     nominating convention in New York, in 1868, Susan B. Anthony
+     appeared before you, asking recognition of woman's inherent
+     natural rights. At your convention of 1872, in Baltimore,
+     Isabella Beecher Hooker and Susan B. Anthony made a similar
+     appeal. In 1876, at St. Louis, Phoebe W. Couzins and Virginia L.
+     Minor presented our claims. Now, in 1880, our delegates are
+     present here from the Middle States, from the West and from the
+     South. The women of the South are rapidly uniting in their demand
+     for political recognition, as they have been the most deeply
+     humiliated by a recognition of the political rights of their
+     former slaves.
+
+     To secure to 20,000,000 of women the rights of citizenship is to
+     base your party on the eternal principles of justice; it is to
+     make yourselves the party of the future; it is to do away with a
+     more extended slavery than that of 4,000,000 of blacks; it is to
+     secure political freedom to half the nation; it is to establish
+     on this continent the democratic theory of the equal rights of
+     the people.
+
+     In furtherance of this demand we ask you to adopt the following
+     resolution:
+
+          WHEREAS, Believing in the self-evident truth that all
+          persons are created with certain inalienable rights, and
+          that for the protection of these rights governments are
+          instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of
+          the governed; therefore,
+
+          _Resolved_, That the Democratic party pledges itself to use
+          all its powers to secure to the women of the nation
+          protection in the exercise of their right of suffrage.
+
+     On behalf of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
+
+              MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Chairman Executive Committee_.
+
+That the women however, in the campaign of 1880, received the best
+treatment at the hands of the National Prohibition party is shown
+by the following invitation received at the Bloomington convention:
+
+     _To the National Woman Suffrage Association of the United
+     States:_
+
+     The woman suffragists are respectfully invited to meet with and
+     participate in the proceedings of the National Prohibition
+     Convention to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, June, 1880.
+
+                        JAMES BLACK, _Chairman of National Committee._
+
+     Per J. W. HAGGARD.
+
+A letter was received from Mr. Black urging the acceptance of the
+invitation. Accordingly Miss Phoebe Couzins was sent as a delegate
+from the association. The Prohibition party in its eleventh plank
+said:
+
+     We also demand that women having privileges as citizens in other
+     respects, shall be clothed with the ballot for their own
+     protection, and as a rightful means for a proper settlement of
+     the liquor question.
+
+After attending all these nominating conventions, some of the
+delegates[67] went to Wisconsin where the State and National
+Associations held a joint convention, in the Opera House at
+Milwaukee, June 4, 5. Madam Anneke gave the address of welcome.[68]
+Fresh from the exciting scenes of the presidential conventions, the
+speakers were unusually earnest and aggressive. The resolutions
+discussed at the Indianapolis convention were considered and
+adopted. Carl Doerflinger read a greeting in behalf of the German
+Radicals of the city. Letters were read from prominent persons,
+expressing their interest in the movement.[69] Dr. Laura Ross
+Wolcott made all the arrangements and contributed largely to the
+expenses of the convention. The roll of delegates shows that the
+State, at least, was well represented.[70]
+
+Thus through the terrible heat of June this band of earnest women
+held successive conventions in Bloomington, Ill., Grand Rapids,
+Mich., Lafayette and Terre Haute, Ind. They were most hospitably
+entertained, and immense audiences greeted them at every point.
+Mrs. Cordelia Briggs took the entire responsibility of the social
+and financial interests of the convention at Grand Rapids, which
+continued for three days with increasing enthusiasm to the close.
+Mrs. Helen M. Gougar made the arrangements for Lafayette which were
+in every way successful.
+
+After the holding of these conventions, delegations from the
+National Association called on the nominees of the two great
+parties to ascertain their opinions and proposed action, if any, on
+the question of woman suffrage. Mrs. Blake, and other ladies
+representing the New York city society, called on General Hancock
+at his residence and were most courteously received. In the course
+of a long conversation in which it was evident that he had given
+some thought to the question, he said he would not veto a District
+of Columbia Woman Suffrage bill, provided such a bill should pass
+congress, thereby putting himself upon better record than Horace
+Greely the year of his candidacy, who not only expressed himself as
+opposed to woman suffrage, but also declared that, if elected, he
+would veto such a bill provided it passed congress.
+
+Miss Anthony visited James A. Garfield at his home in Mentor, Ohio.
+He was very cordial, and listened with respect to her presentation
+of the question. Although from time to time in congress he had
+uniformly voted with our friends, yet he expressed serious doubts
+as to the wisdom of pressing this measure during the pending
+presidential campaign.
+
+As it was deemed desirable to get some expression on paper from the
+candidates the following letter, written on official paper, was
+addressed to the Republican and Democratic nominees:
+
+                                   ROCHESTER, N. Y., August 17, 1880.
+
+     Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD: _Dear Sir_: As vice-president-at-large of
+     the National Woman Suffrage Association, I am instructed to ask
+     you, if, in the event of your election, you, as President of the
+     United States, would recommend to congress, in your message to
+     that body, the submission to the several legislatures of a
+     sixteenth amendment to the national constitution, prohibiting the
+     disfranchisement of United States citizens on account of sex.
+     What we wish to ascertain is whether you, as president, would use
+     your _official influence_ to secure to the women of the several
+     States a _national guarantee_ of their right to a voice in the
+     government on the same terms with men. Neither platform makes any
+     pledge to secure political equality to women--hence we are
+     waiting and hoping that one candidate or the other, or both, will
+     declare favorably, and thereby make it possible for women, with
+     self-respect, to work for the success of one or the other or both
+     nominees. Hoping for a prompt and explicit statement, I am, sir,
+     very respectfully yours,
+
+                                             SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
+
+To this General Hancock vouchsafed no reply, while General Garfield
+responded as follows:
+
+                                   MENTOR, O., August 25, 1880.
+
+     Dear MISS ANTHONY: Your letter of the 17th inst. came duly to
+     hand. I take the liberty of asking your personal advice before I
+     answer your official letter. I assume that all the traditions and
+     impulses of your life lead you to believe that the Republican
+     party has been and is more nearly in the line of liberty than its
+     antagonist the Democratic party; and I know you desire to advance
+     the cause of woman. Now, in view of the fact that the Republican
+     convention has not discussed your question, do you not think it
+     would be a violation of the trust they have reposed in me, to
+     speak, "as their nominee"--and add to the present contest an
+     issue that they have not authorized? Again, if I answer your
+     question on the ground of my own private opinion, I shall be
+     compelled to say, that while I am open to the freest discussion
+     and fairest consideration of your question, I have not yet
+     reached the conclusion that it would be best for woman and for
+     the country that she should have the suffrage. I may reach it;
+     but whatever time may do to me, that fruit is not yet ripe on my
+     tree. I ask you, therefore, for the sake of your own question, do
+     you think it wise to pick my apples now? Please answer me in the
+     frankness of personal friendship. With kind regards, I am very
+     truly yours,
+
+                                                    JAMES A. GARFIELD.
+     Miss SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Rochester, N. Y.
+
+
+                                   ROCHESTER, N. Y., September 9, 1880.
+
+     Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD: _Dear Sir_: Yours of the 25th ult. has
+     waited all these days that I might consider and carefully reply.
+
+     _First_. The Republican party did run well for a season in the
+     "line of liberty"; but since 1870, its congressional enactments,
+     majority reports, Supreme Court decisions, and now its
+     presidential platform, show a retrograde movement--not only for
+     women, but for colored men--limiting the power of the national
+     government in the protection of United States citizens against
+     the injustice of the States, until what we gained by the sword is
+     lost by political surrenders. And we need nothing but a
+     Democratic administration to demonstrate to all Israel and the
+     sun the fact, the sad fact, that all _is lost_ by the
+     _Republican_ party, and not _to be lost_ by the _Democratic_
+     party. I mean, of course, the one vital point of national
+     supremacy in the protection of United States citizens in the
+     enjoyment of their right to vote, and the punishment of States or
+     individuals thereof, for depriving citizens of the exercise of
+     that right. The first and fatal mistake was in ceding to the
+     States the right to "abridge or deny" the suffrage to
+     foreign-born men in Rhode Island, and all women throughout the
+     nation, in direct violation of the principle of national
+     supremacy. And from that time, inch by inch, point by point has
+     been surrendered, until it is only in _name_ that the Republican
+     party is the party of national supremacy. Grant did not protect
+     the negro's ballot in 1876--Hayes cannot in 1880--nor could
+     Garfield in 1884--for the "sceptre has departed from Judah."
+
+     _Second_. For the candidate of a party to _add_ to the
+     discussions of the contest an issue unauthorized or unnoted in
+     its platform, when that issue was one vital to its very life,
+     would, it seems to me, be the grandest act imaginable. And, for
+     doing that very thing, with regard to the protection of the
+     negroes of the South, you are to-day receiving more praise from
+     the best men of the party, than for any and all of your
+     utterances _inside_ the line of the platform. And I _know_, if
+     you had in your letter of acceptance, or in your New York speech,
+     declared yourself in favor of "perfect equality of rights for
+     women, civil and political," you would have touched an electric
+     spark that would have fired the heart of the women of the entire
+     nation, and made the triumph of the Republican party more grand
+     and glorious than any it has ever seen.
+
+     _Third_. As to picking fruit before it is ripe! Allow me to
+     remind you that very much fruit is _never_ picked; some gets
+     nipped in the blossom; some gets worm-eaten and falls to the
+     ground; some rots on the trees before it ripens; some, too slow
+     in ripening, gets bitten by the early frosts of autumn; while
+     some rich, rare, ripe apples hang unpicked, frozen and worthless
+     on the leafless trees of winter! Really, Mr. Garfield, if, after
+     passing through the war of the rebellion and sixteen years in
+     congress;--if, after seeing, and hearing, and repeating, that _no
+     class_ ever got justice and equality of chances from any
+     government except it had the power--the ballot--to clutch them
+     for itself;--if, after all your opportunities for growth and
+     development, you cannot yet see the truth of the great principle
+     of individual self-government;--if you have only reached the idea
+     of class-government, and that, too, of the most hateful and cruel
+     form--bounded by sex--there must be some radical defect in the
+     ethics of the party of which you are the chosen leader.
+
+     No matter which party administers the government, women will
+     continue to get only subordinate positions and half-pay, not
+     because of the party's or the president's lack of chivalric
+     regard for woman, but because, in the nature of things, it is
+     impossible for any government to protect a disfranchised class in
+     equality of chances. Women, to get justice, must have political
+     freedom. But pardon this long trespass upon your time and
+     patience, and please bear in mind that it is not for the many
+     _good_ things the Republican party and its nominee have done in
+     extending the area of liberty, that I criticise them, but because
+     they have failed to place the women of the nation on the plane of
+     political equality with men. I do not ask you to go beyond your
+     convictions, but I do most earnestly beg you to look at this
+     question from the stand-point of woman--alone, without father,
+     brother, husband, son--battling for bread! It is to help the
+     millions of these unfortunate ones that I plead for the ballot in
+     the hands of all women. With great respect for your frank and
+     candid talk with one of the disfranchised, I am very sincerely
+     yours,
+
+                                             SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
+
+As Mr. Garfield was the only presidential nominee of either of the
+great parties who deigned a reply to the National Association, we
+have given his letter an honored place in our history, and desire
+to pay this tribute to his memory, that while not fully endorsing
+our claims for political equality he earnestly advocated for woman
+all possible advantages of education, equal rights in the trades
+and professions, and equal laws for the protection of her civil
+rights.
+
+The Thirteenth Annual Washington Convention assembled in Lincoln
+Hall, January 18, 1881. The first session was devoted to memorial
+services in honor of Lucretia Mott. A programme[71] for the
+occasion was extensively circulated, and the response in character
+and numbers was such an audience as had seldom before crowded that
+hall. The spacious auditorium was brilliant with sunlight and the
+gay dresses, red shawls and flowers of the ladies of the
+fashionable classes. Mrs. Hayes with several of her guests from the
+White House occupied front seats. The stage was crowded with
+members of the association, Mrs. Mott's personal friends and wives
+of members of congress. The decorations which had seldom been
+surpassed in point of beauty and tastefulness of arrangement,
+formed a fitting setting for this notable assemblage of women. The
+background was a mass of colors, formed by the graceful draping of
+national flags, here and there a streamer of old gold with heavy
+fringe to give variety, while in the center was a national shield
+surmounted by two flags. On each side flags draped and festooned,
+falling at the front of the stage with the folds of the rich maroon
+curtains. Graceful ferns and foliage plants had been arranged,
+while on a table stood a large harp formed of beautiful red and
+white flowers.[72] At the other end was a stand of hot-house
+flowers, while in the center, resting on a background of maroon
+drapery, was a large crayon picture of Lucretia Mott. Above the
+picture a snow-white dove held in its beak sprays of smilax,
+trailing down on either side, and below was a sheaf of ripened
+wheat, typical of the life that had ended. The occasion which had
+brought the ladies together, the placid features of that kind and
+well-remembered face, had a solemnizing effect upon all, and
+quietly the vast audience passed into the hall. The late-comers
+finding all the seats occupied stood in the rear and sat in the
+aisles.
+
+Presently Miss Couzins, stepping to the front of the stage said
+gently, "In accordance with the custom of Mrs. Mott and the
+time-honored practice of the Quakers, I ask you to unite in an
+invocation to the Spirit." She bowed her head. The audience
+followed her example. For several minutes the solemn stillness of
+devotion pervaded the hall. When Miss Couzins had taken her seat
+the quartette choir of St. Augustine's church (colored) which was
+seated on the platform, sang sweetly an appropriate selection,
+after which Mrs. Stanton delivered the eulogy,[73] holding the
+rapt attention of her audience over an hour. At the close Frederick
+Douglass said:
+
+     He had listened with interest to the fine analysis of the life
+     and services of Lucretia Mott. He was almost unwilling to have
+     his voice heard after what had been said. He was there to show by
+     his presence his profound respect and earnest love for Lucretia
+     Mott. He recognized none whose services in behalf of his race
+     were equal to hers. Her silence even in that cause was more than
+     the speech of others. He had no words for this occasion.
+
+Robert Purvis at the request of a number of colored citizens of
+Washington, presented a beautiful floral harp to Mr. Davis, the
+son-in-law of Lucretia Mott, the only representative of her family
+present. He paid a tender tribute to the noble woman whose
+life-long friendship he had enjoyed. Mr. Davis having a seat on the
+platform, received the gift with evident emotion, and returning
+thanks, he said:
+
+     He would follow the example of Mrs. Mott who seldom kept a gift
+     long, and present these rare flowers to Mrs. Spofford, the
+     treasurer of the Association.
+
+     Miss ANTHONY said: The highest tribute she could pay, was, that
+     during the past thirty years she had always felt sure she was
+     right when she had the approval of Lucretia Mott. Next to that of
+     her own conscience she most valued the approval of her sainted
+     friend. And it was now a great satisfaction that in all the
+     differences of opinion as to principles and methods in our
+     movement, Mrs. Mott had stood firmly with the National
+     Association, of which she was to the day of her death the honored
+     and revered vice-president.
+
+Mrs. Sewall, after speaking of the many admirable qualities of Mrs.
+Mott, said:
+
+     In looking around this magnificent audience I cannot help asking
+     myself the question, Where are the young girls? They should be
+     here. It is the birthright of every girl to know the life and
+     deeds of every noble woman. I think Lucretia Mott was as much
+     above the average woman as Abraham Lincoln above the average man.
+
+Miss Couzins closed with a few graceful words. She expressed her
+pleasure in meeting so magnificent an audience, and thought the
+whole occasion was a beautiful tribute to one of America's best and
+noblest women. She hoped the mothers present would carry away the
+impressions they had received and teach their daughters to hold the
+name of Lucretia Mott ever in grateful remembrance. The choir sang
+"Nearer, My God, to Thee." The entire audience arose and joined in
+the singing, after which they slowly dispersed, feeling that it had
+indeed been a pentacostal occasion.
+
+An able paper from Alexander Dumas, on "Woman Suffrage as a means
+of Moral Improvement and Prevention of Crime,"[74] was translated
+for this meeting by Thomas Mott, the only son of James and Lucretia
+Mott. This convention continued two days, with the usual number of
+able speakers.[75] It was announced at the last session that an
+effort would be made by Senator McDonald, next day, to call up a
+resolution providing for the appointment of a standing committee
+for women; accordingly the ladies' gallery in the Senate was well
+filled with delegates.
+
+From the _Congressional Record_, January 20, 1881:
+
+     Mr. MCDONALD: On February 16, 1880, I submitted a resolution
+     providing for the appointment of a committee of nine senators,
+     whose duty it shall be to receive, consider and report upon all
+     petitions, memorials, resolutions and bills relating to the
+     rights of women of the United States, said committee to be called
+     "Committee on the Rights of Women." It is on the calendar, and I
+     ask for its present consideration.
+
+     The VICE-PRESIDENT (Mr. Wheeler of New York): The senator from
+     Indiana calls up for consideration a resolution on the calendar,
+     which will be reported.
+
+     The chief clerk read the resolution, as follows:
+
+          _Resolved_, That a committee of nine senators be appointed
+          by the Senate, whose duty it shall be to receive, consider
+          and report upon all petitions, memorials, resolutions and
+          bills relating to the rights of women of the United States,
+          said committee to be called the Committee on the Rights of
+          Women.
+
+     The VICE-PRESIDENT: The question is, Will the Senate agree to the
+     resolution?
+
+     Mr. MCDONALD: Mr. President, it seems to me that the time has
+     arrived when the rights of the class of citizens named in the
+     resolution should have some hearing in the national legislature.
+     We have standing committees upon almost every other subject, but
+     none to which this class of citizens can resort. When their
+     memorials come in they are sometimes sent to the Committee on the
+     Judiciary, sometimes to the Committee on Privileges and
+     Elections, and sometimes to other committees. The consequence is
+     that they pass around from committee to committee and never
+     receive any consideration. In the organization and growth of the
+     Senate a number of standing committees have been from time to
+     time created and continued from congress to congress, until many
+     of them have but very little duty now to perform. It seems to me
+     to be very appropriate to consider this question now, and provide
+     some place in the capitol, some room of the Senate, some branch
+     of the government, where this class of applicants can have a full
+     and fair hearing, and have such measures as may be desired to
+     secure to them such rights brought fairly and properly before
+     the country. I hope there will be no opposition to the resolution
+     but that it will be adopted by unanimous consent.
+
+     Mr. CONKLING: Does the senator from Indiana wish to raise a
+     permanent committee on this subject to take its place and remain
+     on the list of permanent committees?
+
+     Mr. MCDONALD: That is precisely what I propose to do.
+
+     Mr. CONKLING: Mr. President, I was in hopes that the honorable
+     senator from Indiana, knowing how sincere and earnest he is in
+     this regard, intended that an end should be made soon of this
+     subject; that the prayer of these petitioners should be granted
+     and the whole right established; but now it seems that he wishes
+     to create a perpetual committee, so that it is to go on
+     interminably, from which I infer that he intends that never shall
+     these prayers be granted. I suggest to the senator from Indiana
+     that, if he be in earnest, if he wishes to crown with success
+     this great and beneficent movement, he should raise a special
+     committee, which committee would understand that it was to
+     achieve and conclude its purpose, and this presently, and not
+     postpone indefinitely in the vast forever the realization of this
+     hope. I trust, therefore, that the senator from Indiana will make
+     this a special committee, and will let that special committee
+     understand that before the sun goes down on the last day of this
+     session it is to take final, serious, intelligent action, for
+     which it is to be responsible, whether that action be one way or
+     the other.[76]
+
+     Mr. MCDONALD: The senator from New York misapprehends one purpose
+     of this committee. I certainly have no desire that the rights of
+     this class of our citizens should be deferred to that far-distant
+     future to which he has made reference, nor would this committee
+     so place them. If it be authorized by the Senate, it will be the
+     duty of the committee to receive all petitions, memorials,
+     resolutions and bills relating to the rights of women, not merely
+     presented now but those presented at any future time. It is
+     simply to provide a place where one-half the people of the United
+     States may have a tribunal in this body before which they can
+     have their cases considered. I apprehend that these rights are
+     never to be ended. I do not suppose that the time will ever come
+     in the history of the human race when there will not be rights of
+     women to be considered and passed upon. Therefore, to make this
+     merely a special committee would not accomplish the purpose I had
+     in view. While it would of course give a committee that would
+     receive and hear such petitions as are now presented and consider
+     such bills as should now be brought forward, it would be better
+     to have a committee from term to term, where these same plaints
+     could be heard, the same petitions presented, the same bills
+     considered, and where new rights, whatever they might be, can be
+     discussed and acted upon. Therefore I cannot accept the
+     suggestion of the senator from New York to make this a special
+     committee.
+
+     Mr. DAVIS of West Virginia: I think it a bad idea to raise an
+     extra committee. I move that the resolution be referred to the
+     Committee on Rules, I think it ought to go there. That is where
+     the rules generally require all such resolutions to be referred.
+
+     The VICE-PRESIDENT: The question is on the motion of the senator
+     from Virginia, that the resolution be referred to the Committee
+     on Rules.
+
+     Which was agreed to by a vote of 26 yeas to 23 nays.[77]
+
+Amid all the pleasure of political excitement the social amenities
+were not forgotten. A brilliant reception[78] and supper were given
+to the delegates by Mrs. Spofford at the Riggs House. During the
+evening Mrs. Stanton presented the beautiful life-size photograph
+of Lucretia Mott which had adorned the platform at the convention,
+to Howard University, and read the following letter from Edward M.
+Davis:
+
+     Mrs. ELIZABETH CADY STANTON--_Dear Madam_: As an expression of my
+     gratitude to the colored people of the District for their
+     beautiful floral tribute to the memory of my dear mother, I
+     desire in the name of her children to present to Howard
+     University the photograph of Lucretia Mott which adorned the
+     platform during the convention. It is a fitting gift to an
+     institution that so well illustrates her principles in opening
+     its doors to all youth without regard to sex or color. With
+     sincere regret that I cannot be present this evening at the
+     reception, I am gratefully yours,
+
+                                             EDWARD M. DAVIS.
+
+In receiving the beautiful gift, Dr. Patton, president of the
+institution, made a graceful response.
+
+In the spring of 1881, the National Association held a series of
+conventions through New England, beginning with the May anniversary
+in Boston, of which we give the following description from the
+_Hartford Courant_:
+
+     Among the many anniversaries in Boston the last week in May, one
+     of the most enthusiastic was that of the National Woman Suffrage
+     Association, held in Tremont Temple. The weather was cool and
+     fair and the audience fine throughout, and never was there a
+     better array of speakers at one time on any platform. The number
+     of thoughtful, cultured young women appearing in these
+     conventions, is one of the hopeful features for the success of
+     this movement. The selection of speakers for this occasion had
+     been made at the Washington convention in January, and different
+     topics assigned to each that the same phases of the question
+     might not be treated over and over again.
+
+
+[Illustration: Jane H. Spofford]
+
+
+     Mrs. Harriet Hansom Robinson (wife of "Warrington," so long the
+     able correspondent of the _Springfield Republican_), who with her
+     daughter made the arrangements for our reception, gave the
+     address of welcome, to which the president, Mrs. Stanton,
+     replied. Rev. Frederic Hinckley of Providence, spoke on "Unity of
+     Principle in Variety of Method," and showed that while differing
+     on minor points the various woman suffrage associations were all
+     working to one grand end. Anna Garlin Spencer made a few remarks
+     on "The Character of Reformers." Rev. Olympia Brown gave an
+     exceptionally brilliant speech a full hour in length on
+     "Universal Suffrage"; Harriette Robinson Shattuck's theme was
+     "Believing and Doing"; Lillie Devereux Blake's, "Demand for
+     Liberty"; Matilda Joslyn Gage's, "Centralization"; Belva A.
+     Lockwood's, "Woman and the Law". Mary F. Eastman followed showing
+     that woman's path was blocked at every turn, in the professions
+     as well as the trades and the whole world of work; Isabella
+     Beecher Hooker gave an able argument on the "Constitutional Right
+     of Women to Vote"; Martha McLellan Brown spoke equally well on
+     the "Ethics of Sex"; Mrs. Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of
+     Tennessee, gave a most amusing commentary on the spirit of the
+     old common law, cuffing Blackstone and Coke with merciless
+     sarcasm. Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon of Louisiana spoke with great
+     effect on "Woman's Intellectual Powers as Developed by the
+     Ballot." These two Southern ladies are alike able, witty and
+     pathetic in their appeals for justice to woman. Mrs. May Wright
+     Sewall's essay on "Domestic Legislation," showing how large a
+     share of the bills passed every year directly effect home life,
+     was very suggestive to those who in answer to our demand for
+     political power, say "Woman's sphere is home," as if the home
+     were beyond the control and influence of the State. Beside all
+     these thoroughly prepared addresses, Susan B Anthony, Dr.
+     Clemence Lozier, Dr. Caroline Winslow, ex-Secretary Lee of
+     Wyoming, spoke briefly on various points suggested by the several
+     speakers.
+
+     The white-haired and venerable philosopher, A. Bronson Alcott,
+     was very cordially received, after being presented in
+     complimentary terms by the president. Mr. Alcott paid a glowing
+     tribute to the intellectual worth of woman, spoke of the divinity
+     of her character, and termed her the inspiration font from which
+     his own philosophical ideas had been drawn. Not until the women
+     of our nation have been granted every privilege would the liberty
+     of our republic be assured.[79] The well-known Francis W. Bird
+     of Walpole, who has long wielded in the politics of the Bay
+     State, the same power Thurlow Weed did for forty years in New
+     York, being invited to the platform, expressed his entire
+     sympathy with the demand for suffrage, notwithstanding the common
+     opinion held by the leading men of Massachusetts, that the women
+     themselves did not ask it. He recommended State rather than
+     national action.
+
+     Rev. Ada C. Bowles of Cambridge, and Rev. Olympia Brown, of
+     Racine, Wis., opened the various sessions with prayer--striking
+     evidence of the growing self-assertion of the sex, and the rapid
+     progress of events towards the full recognition of the fact that
+     woman's hour has come. Touching deeper and tenderer chords in the
+     human soul than words could reach, the inspiring strains of the
+     celebrated organist, Mr. Ryder, rose ever and anon, now soft and
+     plaintive, now full and commanding, mingled in stirring harmony
+     with prayer and speech. And as loving friends had covered the
+     platform with rare and fragrant flowers, the aesthetic taste of
+     the most fastidious artist might have found abundant
+     gratification in the grouping and whole effect of the assemblage
+     in that grand temple. Thus through six prolonged sessions the
+     interest was not only kept up but intensified from day to day.
+
+     The National Association was received right royally in Boston. On
+     arriving they found invitations waiting to visit Governor Long at
+     the State House, Mayor Prince at the City Hall, the great
+     establishment of Jordan, Marsh & Co., and the Reformatory Prison
+     for Women at Sherborn. Invitations to take part were extended to
+     woman suffrage speakers in many of the conventions of that
+     anniversary week. Among those who spoke from other platforms,
+     were Matilda Joslyn Gage, Ellen H. Sheldon, Caroline B. Winslow,
+     M. D., editor of _The Alpha_, and Rev. Olympia Brown. The
+     president of the association, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
+     received many invitations to speak at various points, but had
+     time only for the "Moral Education," "Heredity," and "Free
+     Religious" associations. Her engagement at Parker Memorial Hall,
+     prevented her from accepting the governor's invitation, but
+     Isabella Beecher Hooker and Susan B Anthony led the way to the
+     State house and introduced the delegates from the East, the West,
+     the North and the South, to the honored executive head of the
+     State, who had declared himself, publicly, in favor of woman
+     suffrage. The ceremony of hand-shaking over, and some hundred
+     women being ranged in a double circle about the desk, Mrs. Hooker
+     stepped forward, saying:
+
+          Speak a word to us, Governor Long, we need help. Stand here,
+          please, face to face with these earnest women and tell us
+          where help is to come from.
+
+     The Governor responded, and then introduced his secretary, who
+     conducted the ladies through the building.
+
+          Mrs. HOOKER said: Permit me, sir, to thank you for this
+          unlooked-for and unusual courtesy in the name of our
+          president who should be here to speak for herself and for
+          us, and in the name of these loyal women who ask only that
+          the right of the _people_ to govern themselves shall be
+          maintained. In this great courtesy extended us by good old
+          Massachusetts as citizens of this republic unitedly
+          protesting against being taxed without representation, and
+          governed without our consent, we see the beginning of the
+          end--the end of our wearisome warfare--a warfare which
+          though bloodless, has cost more than blood, by as much as
+          soul-suffering exceeds that of mere flesh. I see as did
+          Stephen of old, a celestial form close to that of the Son of
+          Man, and her name is Liberty--always a woman--and she bids
+          us go on--go on--even unto the end.
+
+     Miss Anthony standing close to the governor, said in low,
+     pathetic tones:
+
+          Yes, we are tired. Sir, we are weary with our work. For
+          forty years some of us have carried this burden, and now, if
+          we might lay it down at the feet of honorable men, such as
+          you, how happy we should be.
+
+     The next day Mayor Prince, though suffering from a late severe
+     attack of rheumatism, cordially welcomed the delegates in his
+     room at the City Hall, and chatting familiarly with those who had
+     been at the Cincinnati convention and witnessed his great
+     courtesy, some one remarked that from that time Miss Anthony had
+     proclaimed him the prince among men, and Mrs. Stanton immediately
+     suggested that if the party with which he was identified were
+     wise in their day and generation they would accept his
+     leadership, even to the acknowledgement of the full citizenship
+     of this republic, and thus secure not only their gratitude but
+     their enthusiastic support in the next presidential election.
+     Having compassion upon his Honor because of his manifest physical
+     disability, the ladies soon withdrew and went directly to the
+     house of Jordan, Marsh & Co., where were assembled in a large
+     hall at the top of the building such a crowd of handsome, happy,
+     young girls as one seldom sees in this work-a-day world; that
+     well-known Boston firm within the last six months having fitted
+     up a large recreation room for the use of their employes at the
+     noon hour. Half a hundred girls were merrily dancing to the music
+     of a piano, but ceased in order to listen to words of cheer from
+     Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs. Hooker and Mrs. Sewall. At the close of their
+     remarks Mr. Jordan brought forward a reluctant young girl who
+     could give us, if she would, a charming recitation from "That
+     Lass o' Lowrie's," in return for our kindness in coming to them.
+     And after saying in a whisper to one who kindly urged compliance
+     to this unexpected call, that this had been such a busy day she
+     feared her dress was not all right, her face became unconscious
+     of self in a moment, and with true dramatic instinct, she gave
+     page after page of that wonderful story of the descent into the
+     mine and the recognition there of one whom she loved, precisely
+     as you would desire to hear it were the scene put upon the stage
+     with all the accessories of scenery and companion actors.
+
+     From Jordan, Marsh & Co.'s a large delegation proceeded to visit
+     the Reformatory Prison at Sherborn which was established three or
+     four years ago. The board of directors, consisting of three women
+     and two men, has charge of all the prisons of the State. Mrs.
+     Johnson, one of the directors, a noble, benevolent woman,
+     interested in the great charities of Boston, was designated by
+     Governor Long--through whose desire the Association visited the
+     prison--to do the honors and accompany the party from Boston. The
+     officers, matron and physician of the Sherborn prison, are all
+     women. Dr. Mosher, the superintendent, formerly the physician, is
+     a fair, noble-looking woman about thirty-five years of age. She
+     has her own separate house connected with the building. The
+     present physician, a delicate, cultured woman, with sympathy for
+     her suffering charges, is a recent graduate of Ann Arbor.
+
+     The entire work is done by the women sent there for restraint,
+     and the prison is nearly self-supporting; it is expected that
+     within another year it will be entirely so. Laundry work is done
+     for the city of Boston, shirts are manufactured, mittens knit,
+     etc. The manufacturing machinery will be increased the coming
+     year. The graded system of reward has been found successful in
+     the development of better traits. It has four divisions, and
+     through it the inmates are enabled to work up by good behavior
+     toward more pleasant surroundings, better clothes and food and
+     greater liberty. From the last grade they reach the freedom of
+     being bound out; of seventy-eight thus bound during the past year
+     but seven were returned. The whole prison, chapel, school-room,
+     dining-room, etc., possesses a sweet, clean, pure atmosphere. The
+     rooms are light, well-ventilated, vines trailing in the windows
+     from which glimpses of green trees and blue sky can be seen.
+
+     Added to all the other courtesies, there came the invitation to a
+     few of the representatives of the movement to dine with the Bird
+     Club at the Parker House, in the same cozy room where these
+     astute politicians have held their councils for so many years,
+     and whose walls have echoed to the brave words of many of New
+     England's greatest sons. The only woman who had ever been thus
+     honored before was Mrs. Stanton, who, "escorted by Warrington,"
+     dined with these honorable gentlemen in 1871. On this occasion
+     Susan B. Anthony and Harriet H. Robinson accompanied her. Around
+     the table sat several well-known reformers and distinguished
+     members of the press and bar. There was Elizur Wright whose name
+     is a household word in many homes as translator of La Fontaine's
+     fables for the children. Beside him sat the well-known Parker
+     Pillsbury and his nephew, a promising young lawyer in Boston. At
+     one end of the table sat Mr. Bird with Mrs. Stanton on his right
+     and Miss Anthony on his left. At the other end sat Frank Sanborn
+     with Mrs. Robinson (wife of "Warrington") on his right. On either
+     side sat Judge Adam Thayer of Worcester, Charles Field, Williard
+     Phillips of Salem, Colonel Henry Walker of Boston, Mr. Ernst of
+     the Boston _Advertiser_, and Judge Henry Fox of Taunton. The
+     condition of Russia and the Conkling imbroglio in New York; the
+     new version of the Testament and the reason why German Liberals,
+     transplanted to this soil, immediately become conservative and
+     exclusive, were all considered. Carl Schurz, with his narrow
+     ideas of woman's sphere and education, was mentioned by way of
+     example. In reply to the question how the Suffrage Association
+     felt in regard to Conkling's reelection. Mrs. Robinson said:
+
+          That the leaders, who are students of politics were unitedly
+          against him. Their only hope is in the destruction of the
+          Republican party, which is too old and corrupt to take up
+          any new reform.
+
+     Frank Sanborn, fresh from the perusal of the New Testament, asked
+     if women could find any special consolation in the Revised
+     Version regarding everlasting punishment. Mrs. Stanton replied:
+
+          Certainly, as we are supposed to have brought "original sin"
+          into the world with its fearful forebodings of eternal
+          punishment, any modification of Hades in fact or name, for
+          the _men_ of the race, the innocent victims of our
+          disobedience, fills us with satisfaction.
+
+     From the club the ladies hastened to the beautiful residence of
+     Mrs. Fenno Tudor, fronting Boston Common, where hundreds of
+     friends had already gathered to do honor to the noble woman so
+     ready to identify herself with the unpopular reforms of her day.
+     Among the many beautiful works of art, a chief attraction was the
+     picture of the grand-mother of Parnell, the Irish agitator, by
+     Gilbert Stuart. The house was fragrant with flowers, and the
+     unassuming manners of Mrs. Tudor, as she moved about among her
+     guests, reflected the glory of our American institutions in
+     giving the world a generation of common-sense women who do not
+     plume themselves on any adventitous circumstances of wealth or
+     position, but bow in respect to morality and intelligence
+     wherever they find it. At the close of the evening Mrs. Stanton
+     presented Mrs. Tudor with the "History of Woman Suffrage" which
+     she received with evident pleasure and returned her sincere
+     thanks.
+
+At the close of the anniversary week in Boston, successful meetings
+were held in various cities,[80] beginning at Providence, where Dr.
+Wm. F. Channing made the arrangements. These conventions were the
+first that the National Association ever held in the New England
+States, presenting the national plan of woman's enfranchisement
+through a sixteenth amendment to the United States Constitution.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[53] "True labor reform: the ballot for woman, the unpaid laborer
+of the whole earth."
+
+    "Man's work is from sun to sun,
+    But woman's work is never done."
+
+"Taxation without representation is tyranny. Woman is taxed to
+support pauperism and crime, and is compelled to feed and clothe
+the law-makers who oppress her."
+
+"Women are voting on education, the bulwark of the republic, in
+Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon, New Hampshire and
+Massachusetts."
+
+"Women are voting on all questions in Wyoming and Utah. The vote of
+women transformed Wyoming from barbarism to civilization."
+
+"The financial problem for woman: equal pay for equal work, and one
+hundred cents on the dollar."
+
+"When a woman _Will_, she WILL, and you may depend on it, she WILL
+vote."
+
+[54] _California_, Jane B. Archibald; _Connecticut_, Julia E. Smith
+(Parker), E. C. Champion; _Delaware_, Mary A. Stuart; _District of
+Columbia_, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford, Ellen H.
+Sheldon, Sara J. Messer, Amanda M. Best, Belva A. Lockwood, Mary A.
+S. Carey, Rosina M. Parnell, Mary L. Wooster, Helen Rand Tindall,
+Lura McNall Orme; _Illinois_, Miss Jessie Waite, daughter of
+Caroline V. and Judge Waite; _Indiana_, Zerelda G. Wallace, Emma
+Mont McRae; Flora M. Hardin; _Iowa_, Nancy R. Allen; _Kansas_,
+Della Ross; _Louisiana_, Elizabeth L. Saxon, _Maine_, Sophronia C.
+Snow; _Maryland_, Lavinia Dundore; _Michigan_, Catherine A. F.
+Stebbins; _Missouri_, Phoebe W. Couzins; _New Hampshire_, Marilla
+M. Ricker; _New Jersey_, Lucinda B. Chandler; _New York_, Susan B.
+Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Lillie Devereux Blake, Dr. A.
+W. Lozier, Jennie de M. Lozier, M. D., Helen M. Slocum;
+_Pennsylvania_, Rachel G. Foster, Julia T. Foster; _South
+Carolina_, Mary R. Pell.
+
+[55] Signed by Matilda Joslyn Gage, _Chairman Executive Committee_:
+Susan B. Anthony, _Vice-president-at-large_; Sara Andrews Spencer,
+_Corresponding Secretary_: Jane H. Spofford, _Treasurer_.
+
+[56] This week has been devoted almost exclusively to the women,
+who as temperance leaders, female suffragists and general
+reformers, have become a power in the land which can no longer be
+ridiculed or ignored. Yesterday Lincoln Hall was packed to its
+utmost capacity with such an audience as no other entertainment or
+amusement has ever before gathered in this city. Women of
+refinement and cultivation, of thought and purpose, women of
+standing and position in society, mothers of families, wives of
+clergymen, were there by the hundreds, to listen to the words of
+wisdom and eloquence that fell from the lips of that assembly, the
+most carefully organized, thoroughly governed, harmoniously acting
+association in this great country. Members of congress, professors
+of colleges, judges and gentlemen of leisure, sat or stood in
+admiration of the progress of the women, who are so earnestly
+striving to regenerate our beloved republic, over which the shadow
+of anarchy and dissolution is hovering with outspread wings. These
+women are no longer trembling suppliants, feeling their way
+cautiously and feebly amid an overpowering mass of obstructions;
+they are now strong in their might, in their unity, and in the
+righteousness of their cause. Men will do wisely if they attract
+this power instead of repelling it; if they permit women to work in
+concert with them, instead of compelling them to be arrayed against
+them. The fate of Governor Robinson and Senator Ecelstine of New
+York, indicates what they can do, and what they will do, if obliged
+to assume the attitude of aggressors. Congress has heard no such
+eloquence upon its floors this week as we have listened to from the
+lips of these noble women.--[Washington correspondent of the
+Portland (Me.) _Transcript_, Jan. 23, 1880.
+
+These conventions occur yearly and although the ladies have fought
+long and hard, and seem to have not yet reached a positive
+assurance of success, still they continue to force the fight with
+greater earnestness and redoubled energy, and their meetings are
+conducted with much wisdom and decided spirit. There is one thing
+to the credit of these ladies which cannot be said of the opposite
+sex, and that is, their conventions are models of good order and
+parliamentary eloquence, and they put their work through in a
+graceful, business-like manner.--[Washington _Critic_, Jan. 21,
+1880.
+
+The announcement that the public session of the National Woman
+Suffrage Convention would begin at one o'clock yesterday afternoon
+at Lincoln Hall sufficed to attract a most brilliant audience,
+composed principally of ladies, occupying every seat and thronging
+the aisles. The inconvenience of remaining standing was patiently
+endured by hundreds who seemed loth to leave while the convention
+was in progress.--[Washington _National Republican_, Jan. 22, 1880.
+
+The session of the Woman Suffrage Convention in Washington this
+week has developed the fact that these strong-minded women are
+making progress. The convention itself was composed of women of
+marked ability, and its proceedings were marked by dignity and
+decorum. The very best citizens of the city attended the
+meetings.--[Washington correspondent Syracuse _Daily Standard_.
+
+[57] Letters were read from Mary Powers Filley, N. H.; Martha G.
+Tunstall, Texas; M. A. Darling, Mich.; May Wright Thompson, Ind.;
+Sarah Burger Stearns, Minn.; Miss Martin, Ill.; W. G. Myers, O.;
+Annie L. Quinby, Ky.; Zina Young Williams, Utah; Barbara J.
+Thompson, Neb.; Mira L. Sturgis, Me.; Orra Langhorne, Va.; Emily P.
+Collins, La.; Charles P. Wellman, esq., Ga.
+
+[58] Judge Edmunds meeting Miss Anthony afterwards, complimented
+her on having made an argument instead of what is usually given
+before committees, platform oratory. He said her logic was sound,
+her points unanswerable. Nor were the delegates familiar with that
+line of argument less impressed by it, given as it was without
+notes and amid many interruptions. It was one of those occasions
+rarely reached, in which the speaker showed the full height to
+which she was capable of rising. We have not space for the whole
+argument, and the train of reasoning is too close to be
+broken.--[M. J. G.
+
+[59] Speeches were also made by Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Spencer and Miss
+Anthony.
+
+[60] _Alabama_, Mrs. P. Holmes Drake, Huntsville. _Connecticut_,
+Elizabeth C. Champion, Bridgeport. _District of Columbia_, Belva A.
+Lockwood, Eveleen L. Mason, Jerusha G. Joy, Ellen H. Sheldon, Sara
+Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford. _Illinois_, Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert, vice-president of the National Association and editor of
+the "Woman's Kingdom" in the _Chicago Inter-Ocean_, Evanston;
+Dr. Ann M. Porter, Danville. _Indiana_, Mary E. Haggart,
+vice-president; Martha Grimes, Zerelda G. Wallace, May Wright
+Thompson, A. P. Stanton, Indianapolis; Salome McCain, Frances
+Joslin, Crawfordsville; Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, editor of the
+"Bric-a-brac department" of the _Lafayette Courier_, Lafayette;
+Thomas Atkinson, Oxford; Mrs. Dr. Rogers, Greencastle; Florence M.
+Hardin, Pendelton. _Iowa_, Mrs. J. C. M'Kinney, Mrs. Weiser,
+Decorah. _Kentucky_, Mary B. Clay, Richmond; Mrs. Carr, Mrs. E. T.
+Housh, Louisville. _Louisiana_, Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans,
+_Maryland_; Mary A. Butler, Baltimore. _Michigan_, Catherine A. F.
+Stebbins, Detroit. _Missouri_, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. Eliza
+J. Patrick, Mrs. Annie T. Anderson, Mrs. Caroline Johnson Todd,
+Mrs. Endie J. Polk, Miss Phoebe Couzins, Miss M. A. Baumgarten,
+Miss Emma Neave, Miss Eliza B. Buckley, St. Louis; Mrs. Frances
+Montgomery, Oregon. _New Hampshire_, Parker Pillsbury, Concord.
+_New Jersey_, Lucinda B. Chandler. _New York_, Mrs. Blake, Mrs.
+Gage, Miss Anthony. _Ohio_, Mrs. Amanda B. Merrian, Mrs. Cordelia
+A. Plimpton, Cincinnati; Sophia L. O. Allen, Eva L. Pinney, South
+Newberry; Mrs. N. L. Braffet, New Paris. _Pennsylvania_, Rachel
+Foster, Julia T. Foster, Philadelphia. _South Carolina_, Mary R.
+Pell, Cowden P. O.
+
+[61] _Colorado_, Florence M. Haynes, Greely. _Connecticut_,
+Elizabeth C. Champion, Bridgeport. _District of Columbia_; Belva A.
+Lockwood, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford, Ellen H. Sheldon,
+Eveleen L. Mason, Jersuha G. Joy, Helen Rand Tindall, Amanda M.
+Best, Washington. _Illinois_, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Sarah
+Hackett Stephenson, Kate Newell Doggett, Catherine V. Waite,
+Elizabeth J. Loomis, Alma Van Winkle, Chicago; Dr. Ann Porter,
+Danville; Mrs. F. Lillebridge, Rockford; Ann L. Barnett, Lockport;
+Mrs. F. A. Ross, Mrs. I. R. Lewison, Mansfield; Amanda Smith,
+Prophetstown. _Indiana_, Helen M. Gougar, Lafayette; Dr. Rachel B.
+Swain, Gertrude Garrison, Indianapolis. _Iowa_, Nancy R. Allen,
+Maquoketa; Jane C. M'Kinney, Mrs. Weiser, Decorah; Virginia
+Cornish, Hamburg; Ellen J. Foster, Clinton; Clara F. Harkness,
+Humboldt. _Kansas_, Amanda B. Way, Elizabeth M'Kinney, Kenneth.
+_Kentucky_, Mary B. Clay, Sallie Clay Bennett, Richmond.
+_Louisiana_, Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans. _Maryland_, Mary A.
+Butler, Baltimore. _Massachusetts_, Addie N. Ayres, Boston.
+_Minnesota_, A. H. Street, Albert Lee. _Michigan_, Catherine A. F.
+Stebbins, Detroit; Eliza Burt Gamble, Miss Mattie Smedly, East
+Saginaw; P. Engle Travis, Hartford; Dr. Elizabeth Miller, South
+Frankford. _Missouri_, Virginia L. Minor, Phoebe W. Couzins, Annie
+T. Anderson, Caroline J. Todd, St. Louis; Dr. Augusta Smith,
+Springfield. _New Hampshire_, Parker Pillsbury, Concord.
+_Nebraska_, Harriet S. Brooks, Omaha; Dr. Amy R. Post, Hastings.
+_New Jersey_, Margaret H. Ravenhill. _New York_, Susan B. Anthony,
+Rochester; Matilda Joslyn Gage, Fayetteville; Lillie Devereux
+Blake, New York city. _Ohio_, Eva L. Pinney, South Newbury; Julia
+B. Cole. _Oregon_, Mrs. A. J. Duniway (as substitute), Portland.
+_Pennsylvania_, Rachel Foster, Julia T. Foster, Lucinda B.
+Chandler, Philadelphia; Cornelia H. Scarborough, New Hope. _South
+Carolina_, Mary R. Pell, Cowden P. O. _Tennessee_, Elizabeth Avery
+Meriwether, Memphis. _Wisconsin_, Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine;
+Almedia B. Gray, Schofield Mills. _Wyoming Territory_, Amelia B.
+Post.
+
+[62] HISTORICAL SOCIETY ROOMS, 140-42 DEARBORN AVE.,
+                                                CHICAGO, May 19, 1880.
+
+_Mrs. E. C. Stanton, President National Woman Suffrage Association,
+476 West Lake street:_
+
+_Dear Madam:_ I write you in behalf of the Chicago Historical
+Society, and with the hope that you will obligingly secure for and
+present to this society a full manuscript record of the
+_mass-meeting_ to be held in Farwell Hall in this city, June 2,
+1880, duly signed by its officers. We hope too you will do the
+society the great favor to deposit in its archives all the letters
+and postals which you may receive in response to your invitations
+to attend that meeting.
+
+This meeting may be an important one and long to be remembered. It
+is hard to measure the possibilities of 1880. I hope this meeting
+will mark an epoch in American history equal to the convention held
+in Independence Hall in 1776. How valuable would be the attested
+manuscript record of that convention and the correspondence
+connected therewith! The records of the Farwell-hall meeting may be
+equally valuable one hundred years hence. Please let the records be
+kept in the city in which the convention or mass-meeting is held.
+
+I am a Republican. I hope the party to which I belong will be
+consistent. On the highest stripe of its banner is inscribed
+"Freedom and Equal Rights." I hope the party will not be so
+inconsistent as to refuse to the "better half" of the people of the
+United States the rights enjoyed by the liberated slaves at the
+South.
+
+The leaders should not be content _to suffer it to be so_, but
+should work with a will to make it so. I have but little confidence
+in the sincerity of the man who will shout himself hoarse about
+"shot guns" and "intimidation" at the South, when ridicule and
+sneers come from his "shot gun" pointed at those who advocate the
+doctrine that our mothers, wives and sisters are as well qualified
+to vote and hold official position as the average Senegambian of
+Mississippi.
+
+We should be glad to have you and your friends call at these rooms,
+which are open and free for all.
+
+                    Very Respectfully,       A. D. HAGER, _Librarian_.
+
+[63] By Mrs. Saxon of New Orleans, La.; Mrs. Meriwether of Memphis,
+Mrs. Sallie Clay Bennett, daughter of Cassius M. Clay of Richmond
+Ky.; and others. Mrs. Bennett related a little home incident. She
+said: A few days ago she was in her front yard planting with her
+own hands some roses, when "our ex-governor," passing by,
+exclaimed: "Mrs. Bennett, I admire that in you; whatever one wants
+well done he must do himself." She immediately answered: "That is
+true Governor, and that is why we women suffragists have determined
+to do our own voting hereafter." She then informed him that she
+wanted to speak to him on that great question. He was rather
+anxious to avoid the argument, and expressed his surprise and "was
+sorry to see a woman like her, surrounded by so many blessings,
+with a kind husband, numerous friends and loving children,
+advocating woman suffrage! She ought to be contented with these.
+She was not like Miss Anthony--" "Stop, Governor," I exclaimed,
+"Don't think of comparing me to that lady, for I feel that I am not
+worthy to touch the hem of her garments." She was, she said, indeed
+the mother of five dear children, but she [Miss Anthony] is the
+mother of a nation of women. She thought the women feared God
+rather than man, and it was only this which encouraged them to
+speak on this subject, so dear to their hearts, in public. One lady
+gave as a reason why she wanted to vote, that it was because "the
+men did not want them to," which evoked considerable merriment.
+This induced the chair to remind the audience of Napoleon's rule:
+"Go, see what your enemy does not want you to do and do it." Of the
+audience the _Inter-Ocean_ said: "The speakers of all the sessions
+were listened to with rapt attention by the audience, and the
+points made were heartily applauded. It would be difficult to
+gather so large an audience of our sex whose appearance would be
+more suggestive of refinement and intelligence."
+
+[64] Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs.
+Haggart.
+
+[65] Twenty delegates from eleven different States, who had been in
+attendance at Chicago, went to Cincinnati.
+
+[66] Before which Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Meriwether, Miss Anthony, Mrs.
+Spencer and Mrs. Blake spoke.
+
+[67] Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Meriwether, Mrs.
+Saxon, Miss. Couzins, Rev. Olympia Brown, Misses Rachel and Julia
+Foster.
+
+[68] This was the last time this noble German woman honored our
+platform, as her eventful life closed a few years after.
+
+[69] Among others, from Assemblyman Lord,
+State-Superintendent-of-Public-Instruction Whitford, J. M. Bingham
+and Superintendent MacAlister.
+
+[70] The delegates were Olympia Brown, _Racine_; L. C. Galt, M. M.
+Frazier, _Mukwonago_; E. A. Brown, _Berlin_; E. M. Cooley,
+_Eureka_; E. L. Woolcott, _Ripon_; O. M. Patton, M. D., _Appleton_;
+H. Suhm, E. Hohgrave, _Sauk City_; M. W. Mabbs, C. M. Stowers,
+_Manitowoc_; S. C. Guernsey, _Janesville_; H. T. Patchin, _New
+London_; Jennie Pomeroy, _Grand Rapids_; Mrs. H. W. Rice,
+_Oconomowoc_; Amy Winship, _Racine_; Almedia B. Gray, Matilda
+Graves, Jessie Gray, _Scholfield Mills_; Mrs. Mary Collins,
+_Mukwonago_; Mrs. Jere Witter, _Grand Rapids_; Mrs. Lucina E.
+DeWolff, _Whitewater_. The Milwaukee delegates were: Dr. Laura R.
+Wolcott, Mme. Mathilde Franceske Anneke, Mrs. A. M. Bolds, Mrs. A.
+Flagge, Agnes B. Campbell, Mary A. Rhienart, Matilda Pietsch, N. J.
+Comstock, Sarah R. Munro, M. D., Juliet H. Severance, M. D., Mrs.
+Emily Firega, Carl Doerflinger. Maximillian Grossman and Carl
+Herman Boppe.
+
+[71] 1. Silent Invocation. 2. Music. 3. Eulogy, Elizabeth Cady
+Stanton. 4. Tributes, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony. 5.
+Music. 6. Tributes, Robert Purvis, May Wright Sewall, Phoebe W.
+Couzins. 7. Closing Hymn--"_Nearer, my God, to Thee_."
+
+[72] Of the floral decorations, to which reference is made above as
+contributing so largely to the handsome appearance of the stage,
+the harp was furnished through Mr. Wormley in behalf of the colored
+admirers of Mrs. Mott, and the _epergne_ was provided for the
+occasion by the National Association. There was also a basket of
+flowers, conspicuous for its beauty, sent in by Senator Cameron of
+Pennsylvania.
+
+[73] The eulogy will be found in Volume I., page 407.
+
+[74] See _National Citizen_ of February, 1881.
+
+[75] Edward M. Davis, Susan B. Anthony, Marilla M. Ricker, Rachel
+and Julia Foster, Frederick Douglass, Belva A. Lockwood, Robert
+Purvis, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This was the first time that Mrs.
+Martha M'Clellan Brown, Miss Jessie Waite, Mrs. May Wright Sewall
+and Mrs. Thornton Charles were on our Washington platform. The
+latter read a poem on woman's sphere.
+
+[76] A standing committee is a permanent one about which no
+question can be raised in any congress. A special committee is a
+transient one to be decided upon at the opening of each congress;
+hence may be at any time voted out of existence. No one understood
+this better than New York's Stalwart senator, and his plausible
+manner of killing the measure deceived the very elect. Enough
+senators were pledged to have carried Mr. McDonald's motion had it
+been properly understood, but they, as well as some of the ladies
+in the gallery, were entirely misled by Mr. Conkling's seeming
+earnest intention to hasten the demands of the women by a
+short-lived committee, and while those in the gallery applauded,
+those on the floor defeated the measure they intended to carry.
+
+[77] _Yeas_--Messrs. Beck, Booth, Brown, Coke, Davis (W. Va.),
+Eaton, Edmunds, Farley, Garland, Groome, Hill (Ga.), Harris,
+Ingalls, Kernan, Lamar, Morgan, Morrill, Pendleton, Platt, Pugh,
+Ransom, Saulsbury, Slater, Vance, Vest and Withers--26.
+
+_Nays_--Messrs. Anthony, Blair, Burnside, Butler, Call, Cameron
+(Pa.), Cameron (Wis.), Conkling, Dawes, Ferry, Hoar, Johnston,
+Jonas, Kellogg, Logan, McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Rollins,
+Saunders, Teller, Williams and Windom--23.
+
+[78] Of this reception the _National Republican_ said: The
+attractions presented by the fair seekers of the ballot were so
+much superior to those of the dancing reception going on in the
+parlors above, that it was almost impossible to form a set of the
+lanciers until after the gathering in the lower parlors had
+entirely dispersed.
+
+[79] Miss Anthony was presented with a beautiful basket of flowers
+from Mrs. Mary Hamilton Williams of Fort Wayne, Ind., and returned
+her thanks. Another interesting incident during the proceedings of
+the convention was the presentation of an exquisite gold cross from
+the "Philadelphia Citizens' Suffrage Association," to Miss Anthony.
+Mrs. Sewall of Indianapolis, in a speech so tender and loving as to
+bring tears to many eyes, conveyed to her the message and the gift.
+Miss Anthony's acceptance was equally happy and impressive. As
+during the last thirty years the press of the country has made
+Susan B. Anthony a target for more ridicule and abuse than any
+other woman on the suffrage platform, it is worth noting that all
+who know her now vie with each other in demonstrations of love and
+honor.--[E. C. S.
+
+[80] PROVIDENCE, R. I.--First Light Infantry Hall, May 30, 31. Rev.
+Frederick A. Hinckley gave the address of welcome.
+
+PORTLAND, Me.--City Hall, June 2, 3. Rev. Dr. McKeown of the M. E.
+Church made the address of welcome. Letter read from Dr. Henry C.
+Garrish. Among the speakers were Charlotte Thomas, A. J. Grover.
+
+DOVER, N. H.--Belknap Street Church, June 3, 4. Marilla M. Ricker
+took the responsibility of this meeting.
+
+CONCORD, N. H.--White's Opera House, June 4, 5. Speakers
+entertained by Mrs. Armenia Smith White. Olympia Brown and Miss
+Anthony spoke before the legislature in Representatives
+Hall--nearly all the members present--the latter returned on Sunday
+and spoke on temperance and woman suffrage at the Opera House in
+the afternoon, Universalist church in the evening.
+
+KEENE, N. H.--Liberty, Hall, June 9, 10. Prayer offered by Rev. Mr.
+Enkins. Mayor Russell presided and gave the address of welcome.
+
+HARTFORD, Ct.--Unity Hall. June 13, 14. Mrs. Hooker presiding;
+Frances Ellen Burr, Emily P. Collins, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford,
+Caroline Gilkey Rogers, Mary A. Pell taking part in the meetings.
+
+NEW HAVEN, Ct.--Athaeneum, June 15, 16. Joseph and Abby Sheldon,
+Catherine Comstock and others entertained the visitors and
+speakers.
+
+The speakers who made the entire New England tour were Rev. Olympia
+Brown, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Meriwether, the Misses Foster
+and Miss Anthony. The arrangements for all these conventions were
+made by Rachel Foster of Philadelphia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES AND CONVENTIONS.
+
+1882-1883.
+
+
+     Prolonged Discussions in the Senate on a Special Committee to
+     Look After the Rights of Women, Messrs. Bayard, Morgan and Vest
+     in Opposition--Mr. Hoar Champions the Measure in the Senate, Mr.
+     Reed in the House--Washington Convention--Representative Orth and
+     Senator Saunders on the Woman Suffrage Platform--Hearings Before
+     Select Committees of Senate and House--Reception Given by Mrs.
+     Spofford at the Riggs House--Philadelphia Convention--Mrs. Hannah
+     Whitehall Smith's Dinner--Congratulations from the Central
+     Committee of Great Britain--Majority and Minority Reports in the
+     Senate--Nebraska Campaign--Conventions in Omaha--Joint Resolution
+     Introduced by Hon. John D. White of Kentucky, Referred to the
+     Select Committee--Washington Convention, January 24, 25, 26,
+     1883--Majority Report in the House.
+
+Although the effort to secure a standing committee on the political
+rights of women was defeated in the forty-sixth congress, by New
+York's Stalwart Senator, Roscoe Conkling, motions were made early
+in the first session of the forty-seventh congress, by Hon. George
+F. Hoar in the Senate, and Hon. John D. White in the House, for a
+special committee to look after the interests of women.[81] It
+passed by a vote of 115 to 84 in the House, and by 35 to 23 in the
+Senate. On December 13, 1881, the Senate Committee on Rules
+reported the following resolution for the appointment of a special
+committee on woman suffrage:
+
+          _Resolved_, That a select committee of seven senators be
+          appointed by the Chair, to whom shall be referred all
+          petitions, bills and resolves providing for the extension of
+          suffrage to women or the removal of their legal
+          disabilities.
+
+                                                  DECEMBER 14.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I move to take up the resolution reported by the
+     Committee on Rules yesterday, for the appointment of a select
+     committee on the subject of woman suffrage.
+
+     Mr. VEST: Mr. President, I am constrained to object to the
+     passage of this resolution, and I do it with considerable
+     reluctance. At present we have thirty standing committees of the
+     Senate; four joint and seven special committees, in addition to
+     the one now proposed.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The Chair will inform the senator
+     from Missouri that a majority of the Senate has to decide whether
+     the resolution shall be considered.
+
+     Mr. VEST: I understood the Chair to state that it was before the
+     Senate.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: It is before the Senate if there be
+     no objection. The Chair thought the senator made objection to its
+     consideration.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: It went over under the rule yesterday and comes up now.
+
+     Mr. EDMUNDS: It is the regular order now.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: Certainly. The Chair thought the
+     senator from Missouri objected to its consideration.
+
+     Mr. VEST: No, sir.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The resolution is before the Senate
+     and open to debate.
+
+     Mr. VEST: I have had the honor for a few years to be a member of
+     the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and my colleagues
+     on that committee will bear witness with me to the trouble and
+     annoyance which at every session have arisen in regard to giving
+     accommodations to the special committees. Two sessions ago there
+     was a conflict between the Senate and House in regard to
+     furnishing committee-rooms for three special committees, and it
+     is only upon the doctrine of _pedis possessio_ that the Senate
+     to-day holds three committee-rooms in the capitol, the House
+     still laying claim as a matter of law, through their Committee on
+     Public Buildings and Grounds, for the possession of these rooms.
+     At the special session, on account of the exigencies in regard to
+     rooms, we were compelled to take the retiring-room assigned near
+     the gallery to the ladies, and cut it into two rooms, to
+     accommodate select committees.
+
+     At this session we have created two special committees more, and
+     I should like to make the inquiry when and where this manufacture
+     of special committees is to cease? As soon as any subject becomes
+     one of comment in the newspapers, or, respectfully I say it, a
+     hobby with certain zealous partisans throughout the country,
+     application is made to the Senate of the United States and a
+     special committee is to be appointed. For this reason, and for
+     the simple reason that a stop must be had somewhere to the
+     raising of special committees, I oppose the proposition now
+     before the Senate.
+
+     But, Mr. President, I will be entirely ingenuous and give another
+     reason. This is simply a step toward the recognition of woman
+     suffrage, and I am opposed to it upon principle in its inception.
+     In my judgment it has nothing but mischief in it to the
+     institutions and to the society of this whole country. I do not
+     propose to enter into a discussion of that subject to-day, but it
+     will be proper for me to make this statement, and I make it
+     intending no reflection upon the zealous ladies who have engaged
+     for the past ten years in manufacturing a public sentiment upon
+     this question. I received to-day a letter from a distinguished
+     lady in my own State, for whom I have personally the greatest
+     admiration and respect, calling my attention to the fact that I
+     propose to deny justice to the women of the country. Mr.
+     President, I deny it. It is because I believe that the
+     conservative influence of society in the United States rests with
+     the women of the country that I propose not to degrade the wife
+     and mother to the ward politician, the justice of the peace, or
+     the notary public. It is because I believe honestly that all the
+     best influences for the conservation of society rest upon the
+     women of the country in their proper sphere that I shall oppose
+     this and every other step now and henceforth as violating, as I
+     believe, one of the great essential fundamental laws of nature
+     and of society.
+
+     Mr. President, the revenges of nature are sure and unerring, and
+     these revenges are just as certain in political matters and in
+     social matters as in the physical world. Now and here I desire to
+     record once for all my conviction that in this movement to take
+     the women of the country out of their proper sphere of social
+     influence, that great and glorious sphere in which nature and
+     nature's God have placed them, and rush them into the political
+     arena, the attempt is made to put them where they were never
+     intended to be; and I now and here record my opposition to it.
+     This may seem to be but a small matter, but as this letter shows,
+     and I reveal no private confidence, it recognizes the first great
+     step in this reform, as its advocates are pleased to term it. My
+     practice and conviction as a public man is to fight every wrong
+     wherever I believe it to exist. I am opposed to this movement. I
+     am opposed to it upon principle, upon conviction, and I shall
+     call for the yeas and nays in order to record my vote against it.
+
+
+                                                  DECEMBER 15.
+
+     The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution reported
+     from the Committee on Rules by Mr. Hoar on the 13th inst.
+
+     Mr. VEST: Mr. President, I disclaim any intention again to incite
+     or excite any general discussion in regard to woman suffrage. The
+     senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar], for whom I have very great
+     regard, was yesterday pleased to observe that the State
+     governments furnished by the senator from Missouri and other
+     senators in the past had been no argument in favor of manhood
+     suffrage. Mr. President, I have been under the impression that
+     the American people to-day are the best governed, the best
+     clothed, the best fed, the best housed, the happiest people upon
+     the face of the globe, and that, too, notwithstanding the fact
+     that they have been under the domination of the Republican party
+     for twenty long years. I have also been under the impression that
+     the institutions of the States and of the United States are an
+     improvement upon all governmental theories and schemes hitherto
+     known to mortal man; but we are to learn to-day from the senator
+     from Massachusetts that this government and the State governments
+     have been failures, and that woman suffrage must be introduced in
+     order to purify the political atmosphere and elevate the
+     suffrage.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: Will the senator allow me to interrupt him for a
+     moment?
+
+     Mr. VEST: Of course.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I desire to disclaim the meaning which the honorable
+     senator seems to have put upon my words. I agree with him that
+     the American governments have been the best on the face of the
+     earth, but it is because of their adoption of that principle of
+     equality more than any other government, the logical effect of
+     which will compel them to yield the right prayed for to women,
+     that they are the best. But still best as they are, I said, and
+     mean to say, that the business of governing mankind has been the
+     one business on the face of the earth which has been done most
+     clumsily, which has been, even where most excellent, full of
+     mistakes, expense, injustice, and wrong-doing. What I said was
+     that I did not think the persons to whom that privileged function
+     had been committed so far were entitled to claim any special
+     superiority for the masculine intellect in the results which it
+     had achieved.
+
+     Mr. VEST: To say that the governments, State and national, now in
+     existence upon this continent are imperfect is but to announce
+     the truism that everything made by man is necessarily imperfect.
+     But I stand here to declare to-day that the governments of the
+     States, and the national government, in theory, although failing
+     sometimes in practice, are a standing monument to the genius and
+     intellect of the men who created them. But the senator from
+     Massachusetts was pleased to say further, that woman suffrage
+     should obtain in this country in the interest of education. I
+     permit not that senator to go further than myself in the line of
+     universal public education. I have declared, over and over again,
+     in every county in my State for the past ten years, that
+     universal education should accompany universal suffrage, that the
+     school-house should crown every mound in prairie and forest, that
+     it was the temple of liberty and the altar of law and order.
+
+     I well remember that I was thrilled with the eloquence of the
+     distinguished senator from Massachusetts at the last session of
+     the last congress, when, upon a bill to provide for general
+     education by a donation of the public lands, he so pathetically
+     and justly described the mass of dark ignorance and illiteracy
+     projected upon the people of the South under the policy of the
+     Republican party, and the senator then stood here and said that
+     the people of Massachusetts extended the public lands to relieve
+     the people of the South from this monstrous burden. What does the
+     senator propose to do to-day? He proposes with one stroke of the
+     pen to double, and more than double, the illiterate suffrage of
+     the United States. The senator says that one-half the people of
+     the United States are represented in this measure of woman
+     suffrage. I deny it, sir. If the senator means that the women of
+     America, comprising one-half of the population, are interested in
+     this measure, I deny it most emphatically and most peremptorily.
+     Not one-tenth of them want it. Not one-tenth of the mothers and
+     sisters and Christian women of this land want to be turned into
+     politicians or to meddle in a sphere to which God and nature have
+     not assigned them.
+
+     Sir, there are some ladies--and I do not intend to term them
+     anything but ladies--who are zealously engaged in this cause, and
+     they have flooded this hall with petitions, and have called their
+     women's rights conventions all over the land. I assail not their
+     motives, but I deny that they represent the women of the United
+     States. I say that if woman suffrage obtains, the worst class of
+     the women of the country will rush to the polls and the best
+     class will remain away by a large majority. That is my deliberate
+     judgment and firm conviction. But, Mr. President, a word in
+     regard to the committees. I desire no general discussion upon
+     woman suffrage, and simply alluded in passing to what had been
+     said by the senator from Massachusetts.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The hour of one o'clock has arrived,
+     and the morning hour is closed.
+
+
+                                                  DECEMBER 16.
+
+     Mr. JONES of Florida: I desire to call up a resolution now lying
+     on the table, which I introduced on the 14th instant, calling for
+     information from the Secretary of War touching a ship-canal
+     across the peninsula of Florida.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: Mr. President--
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from Florida asks leave
+     to call up a resolution submitted by him.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: My resolution was before the Senate yesterday, and
+     comes up in order. I hope we shall vote on it.
+
+     Mr. JONES of Florida: I will only say that my resolution was laid
+     over temporarily on the objection of the senator from Vermont
+     [Mr. Edmunds], which he will not insist upon.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: Allow me to call the attention of the Chair to the
+     fact; it is not the question of a resolution which has not been
+     taken up. The resolution reported by me from the Committee on
+     Rules was taken up, and was under discussion when the senator
+     from Missouri [Mr. Vest] was taken from the floor by the
+     expiration of the morning hour, in the midst of his remarks.
+     Certainly his right to conclude his remarks takes precedence of
+     other business under the usual practice of the Senate.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The Chair thought the senator from
+     Missouri had ended his remarks, or he would not have interposed
+     when he did.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: No, sir.
+
+     Mr. JONES of Florida: My resolution involves no debate. It is
+     merely a resolution of inquiry.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: The other will be disposed of, I hope, in a few
+     moments.
+
+     Mr. JONES of Florida: The resolution to which I refer went over
+     informally on the objection of the senator from Vermont, and I
+     think he has no objection now.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: The other will be disposed of in a moment, and I hope
+     we shall vote on it.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The Chair lays before the Senate the
+     resolution of the senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar].
+
+     The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution reported
+     from the Committee on Rules by Mr. Hoar on the 13th instant.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The Chair would state to the senator
+     from Missouri [Mr. Vest] that the Chair supposed yesterday that
+     he had finished his remarks, or the Chair would not have stopped
+     him at that moment. The question is on agreeing to the
+     resolution, on which the senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest] is
+     entitled to the floor.
+
+     Mr. VEST: Mr. President, I was on the eve of finishing my remarks
+     yesterday when the morning hour expired, and I do not now wish to
+     detain the Senate. I was about to say at that time that the
+     Senate now has forty-one committees, with a small army of
+     messengers and clerks, one-half of whom, without exaggeration,
+     are literally without employment. I shall not pretend to specify
+     the committees of this body which have not one single bill,
+     resolution, or proposition of any sort pending before them, and
+     have not had for months. I am very well aware that if I should
+     name one of them, Liberty would lie bleeding in the streets at
+     once, and that committee would become the most important on the
+     list of committees of the Senate. I shall not venture to do that.
+     I am informed by the Sergeant-at-arms that if this resolution is
+     adopted he must have six additional messengers to be added to
+     that body of ornamental employes who now stand or sit at the
+     doors of the respective committee-rooms. I have heard that this
+     committee is for the purpose of giving a committee to a senator
+     in this body. I have heard the statement made, but I cannot
+     believe it, and I am very certain that no senator will undertake
+     to champion the resolution upon any such ground.
+
+     The senator from Massachusetts was pleased to say that the
+     Committee on the Judiciary had so many important questions
+     pending before it, that the subject of woman suffrage should not
+     be added to them. The Committee on Territories is open to any
+     complaint or suggestion by the ladies who advocate woman
+     suffrage, in regard to this subject in the territories; and the
+     Committee on Privileges and Elections to which this subject
+     should go most appropriately, as affecting the suffrage, has not
+     now before it, as I am informed, one single bill, resolution, or
+     proposition of any sort whatever. That committee is also open to
+     inquiry upon this subject.
+
+     But, Mr. President, out of all committees without business, and
+     habitually without business, in this body, there is one that
+     beyond any question could take jurisdiction of this matter and do
+     it ample justice. I refer to that most respectable and antique
+     institution, the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. For thirty
+     years it has been without business. For thirty long years the
+     placid surface of that parliamentary sea has been without one
+     single ripple. If the senator from Massachusetts desires a
+     tribunal for calm judicial equilibrium and examination, a
+     tribunal far from the "madding crowd's ignoble strife," a
+     tribunal eminently respectable, dignified and unique, why not
+     send this question to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims? When
+     I name the _personnel_ of that committee it will be evident that
+     any consideration on any subject touching the female sex would
+     receive not only deliberate but immediate attention, for the
+     second member upon that committee is my distinguished friend from
+     Florida [Mr. Jones], and who can doubt that he would give his
+     undivided attention to the subject? [Laughter.] It is eminently
+     proper that this subject should go to that committee because if
+     there is any revolutionary claim in this country it is that of
+     woman suffrage. [Laughter.] It revolutionizes society; it
+     revolutionizes religion; it revolutionizes the constitution and
+     laws; and it revolutionizes the opinions of those so
+     old-fashioned among us as to believe that the legitimate and
+     proper sphere of woman is the family circle as wife and mother
+     and not as politician and voter--those of us who are proud to
+     believe that--
+
+          A woman's noblest station is retreat;
+          Her fairest virtues fly from public sight;
+          Domestic worth--that shuns too strong a light.
+
+     Before that Committee on Revolutionary Claims why could not this
+     most revolutionary of all claims receive immediate and ample
+     attention? More than that, as I said before, if there is any
+     tribunal that could give undivided time and dignified attention,
+     is it not this committee? If there is one peaceful haven of rest,
+     never disturbed by any profane bill or resolution of any sort, it
+     is the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. It is, in parliamentary
+     life, described by that ecstatic verse in Watts' hymn:
+
+          There shall I bathe my wearied soul
+            In seas of endless rest,
+          And not one wave of trouble roll
+            Across my peaceful breast.
+
+     For thirty years there has been no excitement in that committee,
+     and it needs to-day, in Western phrase, some "stirring-up." By
+     all natural laws stagnation breeds disease and death; and what
+     could stir up this most venerable and respectable institution
+     more than an application of the strong-minded, with short hair
+     and shorter skirts, invading its dignified realm and elucidating
+     all the excellences of female suffrage? Moreover, if these ladies
+     could ever succeed, in the providence of God, in obtaining a
+     report from that committee, it would end this question forever;
+     for the public at large and myself included, in view of that
+     miracle of female blandishment and female influence, would
+     surrender at once, and female suffrage would become
+     constitutional and lawful. Sir, I insist upon it that in
+     deference to this committee, in deference to the fact that it
+     needs this sort of regimen and medicine, this whole subject
+     should be so referred. [Laughter.]
+
+     Mr. MORRILL: Mr. President, I do not desire to say anything as to
+     the merits of the resolution, but I understand the sole purpose
+     of raising this committee is to have a committee-room. So far as
+     I know, there are some five or six committees now which are
+     destitute of rooms, and it would be impossible for the Committee
+     on Public Buildings and Grounds to assign any room to this
+     committee--the object which I understand is at the foundation of
+     the introduction of the proposition; that is to say, to give
+     these ladies an opportunity to be heard in some appropriate
+     committee-room on the questions which they wish to agitate and
+     submit.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: They would find room in some other committee-room. They
+     could have the room of the Committee on Privileges and Elections,
+     if there were no other place.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The question is on the adoption of
+     the resolution reported by the senator from Massachusetts.
+
+     Mr. HARRIS: Did not the senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest] offer an
+     amendment?
+
+     Mr. GARLAND: As I understand, he moved to refer the subject to
+     the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: Does the Chair understand that the
+     senator from Missouri has offered an amendment?
+
+     Mr. VEST: Yes, sir; I move to refer the matter to the Committee
+     on Revolutionary Claims.
+
+     Mr. CONGER: Let the resolution be reported.
+
+     The acting secretary read the resolution.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from Missouri offers an
+     amendment, that the subject be referred to the standing Committee
+     on Revolutionary Claims. The question is on the amendment of the
+     senator from Missouri. [Putting the question.] The noes appear to
+     have it.
+
+     Mr. FARLEY called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered
+     and taken.
+
+     Mr. BLAIR [after having voted in the negative]: I have voted
+     inadvertently. I am paired with the senator from Alabama [Mr.
+     Pugh]. Were he present he would have voted "yea," as I have voted
+     "nay." I withdraw my vote.
+
+     Mr. WINDOM: I am paired with the senator from West Virginia [Mr.
+     Davis], but as I understand he would vote "nay" on this question,
+     I vote "nay."
+
+     Mr. INGALLS: I am paired with the senator from Mississippi [Mr.
+     Lamar].
+
+     The result was announced--yeas 22, nays 31. So the motion was not
+     agreed to.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The question recurs on the adoption
+     of the resolution.
+
+     Mr. BAYARD: Is it in order for me to move the reference of the
+     subject to the Committee on the Judiciary?
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: It is in order to move to refer the
+     resolution to the Committee on the Judiciary, the Chair
+     understands.
+
+     Mr. BAYARD: Then I make a motion that the resolution be sent to
+     the Committee on the Judiciary. I would state that I voted with
+     some regret and hesitancy upon the motion of the senator from
+     Missouri [Mr. Vest] to refer this matter to the Committee on
+     Revolutionary Claims. My regret was owing to the fact that I do
+     not wish even to seem to treat a subject of this character in a
+     spirit of levity, or to indicate the slightest disrespect by such
+     a reference, to those whose opinions upon this subject differ
+     essentially from my own. I cast the vote because I considered it
+     would be taking the subject virtually away from the consideration
+     of congress at its present session. I do, however, hold that
+     there is no necessity for the creation of a special committee to
+     attend to this subject. The Committee on the Judiciary has within
+     the last few years, upon many occasions, attempted to deal with
+     it. Since you, sir, and I have been members of that committee--
+
+     Mr. HOAR: Mr. President--
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: Will the senator from Delaware yield
+     to the senator from Massachusetts?
+
+     Mr. BAYARD: I will, if he thinks it necessary to interrupt me.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I desire to ask the senator, if he is willing, having
+     been lately a member of the committee to which he refers, whether
+     it is not the rule of that committee to allow no hearings to
+     individual petitioners, a rule which is departed from only in
+     very rare and peculiar cases?
+
+     Mr. BAYARD: I will reply to the honorable senator that the
+     occasion which arose to my mind and caused me to remember the
+     action of that committee was the audience given by it to a very
+     large delegation of woman suffragists, _to wit_, the
+     representatives of a convention held in this city, who to the
+     number, I think, of twenty-five, came into the committee-room of
+     the Committee on the Judiciary, and were heard, as I remember,
+     for more than one day, or certainly had more than one hearing,
+     before that committee, of which you, sir, and I were members.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: If the senator will pardon me, however, he has not
+     answered my question. I asked the senator not whether on one
+     particular occasion they gave a hearing on this subject, but
+     whether it is not the rule of that committee, occasioned by the
+     necessity of its business, from which it departs only in very
+     rare cases, not to give hearings?
+
+     Mr. BAYARD: I cannot answer whether a rule so defined as that
+     suggested by the honorable senator from Massachusetts exists in
+     that committee. It is my impression, however, that cases are
+     frequently, by order of that committee, argued before it. We have
+     had very elaborate and able arguments upon subjects connected
+     with the Pacific railroads, I remember; and we have had arguments
+     upon various subjects. It is constantly our pleasure to hear
+     members of the Senate upon a variety of questions before that
+     committee. It may be only a proof that women's rights are not
+     unrecognized nor their influence unfelt when I state the fact
+     that if there be such a rule as is suggested by the honorable
+     senator from Massachusetts of excluding persons from the audience
+     of that committee, on the occasion of the application of the
+     ladies a hearing was granted, and they came in force,--not only
+     force in numbers, but force in the character and intelligence of
+     those who appeared before the committee. They were listened to
+     with great respect, but their views were not concurred in by the
+     committee as it was then composed. We were all entertained by the
+     bright wit, the clever and, in my judgment, in many respects, the
+     just sarcasm of our honorable friend from Missouri [Mr. Vest],
+     but my habit is not to consider public measures in a jocular
+     light; it is not to consider a question of this kind in a jocular
+     light. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of this
+     proposition, whatever may be the reasons for or against it, no
+     man can doubt that it will strike at the very roots of the
+     present organization of society, and that its consequences will
+     be most profound and far-reaching should the advocates of the
+     measure proposed prevail.
+
+     Therefore it is that I think this subject should not be
+     considered separately; it should not have a special
+     committee--either of advocates or opponents arranged for its
+     consideration; but it should go where proposed amendments to the
+     fundamental law of the land have always been sent for
+     consideration,--to that committee to which judicial questions,
+     questions of a constitutional nature, have always in the history
+     of this government been committed. There is no need, there is no
+     justice, there is no wisdom in attempting to separate the fate of
+     this question, which affects society so profoundly and generally,
+     from the other questions that affect society. It cannot be made a
+     specialty: it ought not to be. You cannot tear this question from
+     the great contest of human passions, affections, and interests
+     which surround it, and treat it as a thing by itself. It has many
+     sides from which it may be viewed, some that are not proper or
+     fitting for this forum, and a discussion now in public. There are
+     the claims of religion itself to be considered in connection with
+     this case. Civil rights, social rights, political rights,
+     religious rights, all are bound up in the consideration of a
+     measure like this. In its consideration you cannot safely attempt
+     to segregate this question and leave it untouched and
+     uninfluenced by all those other questions by which it is
+     surrounded and in the consideration of which it is bound to be
+     connected and concerned. Therefore, without going further,
+     prematurely, into a discussion of the merits of the proposition
+     itself or its desirability, I say that it should take the usual
+     course which the practice and laws of this body have given to
+     grave public questions. Let it go to the Committee on the
+     Judiciary, and let them, under their sense of duty, deal with it
+     according to its gravity and importance, and if it be here
+     returned let it be passed upon by the grave deliberations of the
+     Senate itself. I hope the special committee proposed will not be
+     raised, and I trust the Senate will concur with me in thinking
+     that the subject should be sent to the Committee on the
+     Judiciary.
+
+     Mr. LOGAN rose.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The morning hour has expired.
+
+     Mr. LOGAN: I want to say just one word.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: It requires unanimous consent.
+
+     Mr. LOGAN: I do not wish to make a speech; I merely desire to say
+     a word in response to what the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard]
+     has said in relation to the reference to the Judiciary Committee.
+
+     Mr. HARRIS: I ask unanimous consent that the senator from
+     Illinois may proceed.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: There being no objection unanimous
+     consent will be presumed to have been given for the senator from
+     Illinois to make his explanation.
+
+     Mr. LOGAN: This question having been once before the Judiciary
+     Committee, and it being a request by many ladies, who are
+     citizens of the United States just as we are, that they should
+     have a special committee of the Senate before which they can be
+     heard, I deem it proper and right, without any committal whatever
+     in reference to my own views, that they should have that
+     committee. It is nothing but fair, just, and right that they
+     should have a committee organized as nearly as can be in the
+     Senate in favor of the views they desire to present. It is
+     treating them only as other citizens would desire to be treated
+     before a body of this character. I am, therefore, opposed to the
+     reference of the proposition to the Judiciary Committee, and I
+     hope the Senate will give these ladies a special committee where
+     they can be heard, and that that committee may be so organized as
+     that it will be as favorable to their views as possible, so that
+     they may have a fair hearing. That is all I desire to say.
+
+     Mr. MORRILL: I hope this subject will be concluded this morning,
+     otherwise it is to come up constantly and monopolize all the time
+     of the morning hour. I do not think it will require many minutes
+     more to dispose of it now.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The Chair will entertain a motion on
+     that subject.
+
+     Mr. MORRILL: I move to set aside other business until this
+     resolution shall be disposed of. If it should continue any length
+     of time of course I would withdraw the suggestion.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from Vermont--
+
+     Mr. VOORHEES: Mr. President, I feel constrained to call for the
+     regular order.
+
+
+                                                  DECEMBER 19, 1881.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: Are there further "concurrent or
+     other resolutions"?
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I call up the resolution in regard to woman suffrage,
+     reported by me from the Committee on Rules.
+
+     Mr. JONES of Florida: I ask for information how long the morning
+     hour is to extend?
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The regular business of the morning
+     hour is closed. The morning hour, however, will not expire until
+     twenty minutes past one. The senator from Massachusetts asks to
+     have taken up the resolution reported by him from the Committee
+     on Rules.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I hope we may have a vote on the resolution this
+     morning.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The question is on the amendment
+     proposed by the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard], that the
+     subject be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: It is not intended by the resolution to commit the
+     Senate, or any senator in the slightest degree to any opinion
+     upon the question of woman suffrage, but it is merely the
+     question of a convenient mode of hearing. I hope we shall be
+     allowed to have a vote on the resolution.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: Is the Senate ready for the question
+     on the motion of the senator from Delaware?
+
+     Mr. BAYARD and Mr. FARLEY called for the yeas and nays, and they
+     were ordered.
+
+     Mr. BECK: Mr. President, I have received a number of
+     communications from very respectable ladies in my own State upon
+     this important question; but I am unable to comply with their
+     request and support the female suffrage which they advocate. I
+     shall vote for the reference to the Committee on the Judiciary in
+     order that there may be a thorough investigation of the question.
+     I wholly disagree with the suggestion of the senator from
+     Illinois [Mr. Logan], that a committee ought to be appointed as
+     favorable to the views of these ladies as possible. I desire a
+     committee that will have no views, for or against them, except
+     what is best for the public good. Such a committee I understand
+     the Committee on the Judiciary to be.
+
+     I desire to say only in a word that the difficulty I have and the
+     question I desire the Committee on the Judiciary to report upon
+     is, the effect of this question upon suffrage. By the fifteenth
+     amendment to the Constitution of the United States there can be
+     no discrimination made in regard to voting on account of race,
+     color or previous condition. Intelligence is properly regarded as
+     one of the fundamental principles of fair suffrage. We have been
+     compelled in the last ten years to allow all the colored men of
+     the South to become voters. There is a mass of ignorance there to
+     be absorbed that will take years and years of care in order to
+     bring that class up to the standard of intelligent voters. The
+     several States are addressing themselves to that task as
+     earnestly as possible. Now it is proposed that all the women of
+     the country shall vote; that all the colored women of the South,
+     who are as much more ignorant than the colored men as it is
+     possible to imagine, shall vote. Not one perhaps in a hundred of
+     them can read or write. The colored men have had the advantages
+     of communication with other men in a variety of forms. Many of
+     them have considerable intelligence; but the colored women have
+     not had equal chances. Take them from their wash-tubs and their
+     household work and they are absolutely ignorant of the new duties
+     of voting citizens. The intelligent ladies of the North and the
+     West and the South cannot vote without extending that privilege
+     to that class of ignorant colored people. I doubt whether any man
+     will say that it is safe for the republic now, when we are going
+     through the problem we are obliged to solve, to fling in this
+     additional mass of ignorance upon the suffrage of the country.
+     Why, sir, a rich corporation or a body of men of wealth could buy
+     them up for fifty cents apiece, and they would vote without
+     knowing what they were doing for the side that paid most. Yet we
+     are asked to confer suffrage upon them, and to have a committee
+     appointed as favorable to that view as possible, so as to get a
+     favorable report upon it!
+
+     I want the Committee on the Judiciary to tell the congress and
+     the country whether they think it is good policy now to confer
+     suffrage on all the colored women of the South, ignorant as they
+     are known to be, and thus add to the ignorance that we are now
+     struggling with, and whether the republic can be sustained upon
+     such a basis as that. For that reason, and because I want that
+     information from an unbiased committee, because I know that
+     suffrage has been degraded sufficiently already, and because it
+     would be degraded infinitely more if a report favorable to this
+     extension of suffrage should be adopted and passed through
+     congress, I am opposed to this movement. No matter if there are a
+     number of respectable ladies who are competent to vote and desire
+     it to be done, because of the very fact that they cannot be
+     allowed this privilege without giving all the mass of ignorant
+     colored women in the country the right to vote, thus bringing in
+     a mass of ignorance that would crush and degrade the suffrage of
+     this country almost beyond conception, I shall vote to refer the
+     subject to the Judiciary Committee, and I shall await their
+     report with a good deal of anxiety.
+
+     Mr. MORGAN: Mr. President--
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The morning hour has expired, and
+     the unfinished business is before the Senate.
+
+
+                                                  DECEMBER 20, 1881.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I now call up the resolution for appointing a special
+     committee on woman suffrage.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The morning hour having expired, the
+     senator from Massachusetts calls up the resolution which was
+     under consideration yesterday.
+
+     Mr. INGALLS: What is the regular order?
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: There is no regular unfinished
+     business. The senator from Florida [Mr. Call] gave notice
+     yesterday that he would ask the indulgence of the Senate to-day
+     to consider the subject of homestead rights.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I hope this matter may be disposed of. It is very
+     unpleasant to me to stand before the Senate in this way, taking
+     up its time with this matter in a five minutes' debate every day
+     in succession for an unlimited period of time. It is a matter
+     which every senator understands. It has nothing to do with the
+     merits of the woman suffrage question at all. It is a mere desire
+     on the part of these people to have a particular form of hearing,
+     which seems to me the most convenient for the Senate, and I hope
+     the Senate will be willing to vote on the resolution and let it
+     pass.
+
+     Mr. MORGAN: I have no objection to proceeding to the
+     consideration of the resolution, but I desire to address the
+     Senate upon it.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I think I must ask now as a favor of the senator from
+     Alabama that he let the resolution be disposed of promptly.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from Alabama states that
+     he has no objection to the present consideration of the
+     resolution, but he asks leave to make some remarks upon it. The
+     Chair hearing no objection to the consideration of the
+     resolution, it is before the Senate.
+
+     Mr. FARLEY: I object to the consideration of the resolution.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I move to take it up.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from Massachusetts calls
+     it up as a matter of right. If a majority of the Senate agree to
+     take up the resolution it is before the Senate, and the Chair
+     will put the question. The question is on agreeing to the motion
+     of the senator from Massachusetts to proceed to the consideration
+     of the resolution. [The motion was agreed to; and the Senate
+     resumed the consideration of the resolution reported from the
+     Committee on Rules by Mr. Hoar on the 13th instant, which was
+     read.]
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The pending question is on the
+     motion of the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard] to refer the
+     subject to the Committee on the Judiciary, on which the yeas and
+     nays have been ordered.
+
+     Mr. MORGAN: Mr. President, I stand in a different relation to
+     this question from that of the senator from Kentucky [Mr. Beck],
+     who said yesterday that he had received a number of
+     communications from very respectable ladies in his own State upon
+     this very important subject, and yet felt constrained by a sense
+     of duty to deny the action which they solicited at the hands of
+     congress. I am not informed that any woman from Alabama has ever
+     sent a petition to the Senate, or to either house, upon this
+     matter. Indeed, it is my impression that no petitions or letters
+     have ever been addressed by any lady in the State of Alabama to
+     either house of congress upon this question. It may be that that
+     peculiar type of civilization which drives women from their homes
+     to the ballot-box to seek redress and protection against their
+     husbands has never yet reached the State of Alabama, and I shall
+     not be disagreeably disappointed if it should never come upon our
+     people, for they have lived in harmony and in prosperity now for
+     many years. Besides the relief which the State has seen proper to
+     give to married women in respect of their separate estates, we
+     have not thought it wise or politic in any sense to go further
+     and undertake to make a line of demarkation between the husband
+     and wife as politicians. On the contrary, according to our
+     estimate of a proper civilization, we look to the family relation
+     as being the true foundation of our republican institutions.
+     Strike out the family relation, disband the family, destroy the
+     proper authority of the person at the head of the family, either
+     the wife or the husband, and you take from popular government all
+     legitimate foundation.
+
+     The measure which is now brought before the Senate of the United
+     States is but the initial measure of a series which has been
+     urged upon the attention of States and territories, and upon the
+     attention of the Congress of the United States in various forms
+     to draw a line of political demarkation through a man's
+     household, through his fireside, and to open to the intrusion of
+     politics and politicians that sacred circle of the family where
+     no man should be permitted to intrude without the consent of both
+     the heads of the family. What picture could be more disagreeable
+     or more disgusting than to have a pot-house politician introduce
+     himself into a gentleman's family, with his wife seated at one
+     side of the fireplace and himself at the other, and this man
+     coming between to urge arguments why the wife should oppose the
+     policy that the husband advocates, or that the husband should
+     oppose the policy that the wife advocates?
+
+     If this measure means anything it is a proposition that the
+     Senate of the United States shall first vote to carry into effect
+     this unjust and improper intrusion into the home circle. Suppose
+     this resolution to raise a select committee should be passed:
+     that committee will have its hands full and its ears full of
+     petitions and applications and speeches from strong-minded women,
+     and of course it must make some report to the Senate; and we
+     shall have this subject introduced in here as one that requires a
+     peculiar application of the powers of the Senate for its
+     digestion and for the completion of the bills and measures
+     founded upon it. At the next session of congress this select
+     committee will become a standing committee of the Senate, and
+     then we shall have that which appears to be the most potential
+     and at the same time the most dangerous element in politics
+     to-day, agitation, agitation, agitation. It seems that the
+     legislators of the United States Government are not to be allowed
+     to pass in quiet judgment upon measures of this character, but
+     like many other things which are addressing themselves to the
+     attention of the people on this side of the water and the other,
+     they must all be moved against the Senate and against the House
+     by agitation. You raise your committee and allow the agitators to
+     come before them, yea, more than that, you invite them to come;
+     and what is the result? The Congress of the United States will
+     for the next ten or perhaps twenty years be continually assailed
+     for special and peculiar legislation in favor of the women of the
+     land.
+
+     I do not understand that a woman in this country has any more
+     right to a select committee than a man has. It would be just as
+     rational and as proper in every legislative and parliamentary
+     sense to have a select committee for the consideration of the
+     rights of men as to have a committee for the consideration of the
+     rights of women. I object, sir, to this disseverance between the
+     sexes, and I object to the Senate of the United States giving its
+     sanction in advance or in any way to this character of
+     legislation. It is a false principle, and it will work evil, and
+     only evil, in this country.
+
+     What jurisdiction do you expect to exercise in the Senate of the
+     United States for the benefit of the women in respect of suffrage
+     or in respect of separate estates? Where are the boundaries of
+     your jurisdiction? You find them in the territories and in the
+     District of Columbia. If you expect to proceed into the States
+     you must have the Constitution of the United States amended so as
+     to put our wives and our daughters upon the footing of those who
+     are provided for in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Your
+     jurisdiction is limited to the territories and to the District of
+     Columbia.
+
+     Inasmuch as this measure, I understand, has been made a party
+     measure by the decree of a caucus, I propose to make some little
+     inquiry into the past legislation of the Congress of the United
+     States under Republican rule in respect of the extension of the
+     right of suffrage to certain classes of people in this country. I
+     will take up first the territories.
+
+     Let us look for a moment at the result of woman suffrage in some
+     of the territories. The territorial legislature of Utah has gone
+     forward and conferred the right of suffrage upon women. The
+     population in the last decade has reached from 64,000, I believe,
+     to about 150,000. The territorial legislature of Utah conferred
+     upon the females of that territory the right of suffrage, and how
+     have they exercised that right? Sir, I am ashamed to say it, but
+     it is known to the world that the power of Mormonism and polygamy
+     in Utah territory is sustained by female suffrage. You cannot get
+     rid of those laws. Ninety per cent. of the legislative power of
+     Utah territory is Mormon and polygamous. If female suffrage is to
+     be incorporated into the laws of our country with a view to the
+     amelioration of our morals or our political sentiments, we stand
+     aghast at the spectacle of what has been wrought by its exercise
+     in the territory of Utah. There stands a power supporting the
+     crime of polygamy through what they call a divine inspiration, or
+     teaching from God, and all the power of the judges of the United
+     States and of the Congress of the United States has been
+     unavailing to break it down. Who have upheld it? Those who in the
+     family circle represent one husband to fifteen women. A continual
+     accumulation of the power of the church and of polygamy is going
+     on, and when the Gentiles, as they are called, enter that
+     territory with the view of breaking it up they are confronted by
+     the women, who are allowed to vote, and from whom we should
+     naturally expect a better and a higher morality in reference to
+     subjects of the kind. But this only shows the power of man over
+     woman. It only shows how through her tender affections, her
+     delicate sensibilities, and her confiding spirit she can be made
+     the very slave and bond-servant of man, and can scarcely ever be
+     made an independent participant in the stronger exercise of the
+     powers which God seems to have intrusted to him. Never was there
+     a picture more disgusting or more condemnatory of the extension
+     of the franchise to women as contradistinguished from men than is
+     presented in the territory of Utah to-day.
+
+     Where is the necessity of raising the number of voters in the
+     United States from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000? That would be the
+     direct effect of conferring suffrage upon the women, for they are
+     at least one-half, if not a little more than one-half, of the
+     entire population of the country above the age of twenty-one. We
+     have now masses of voters so enormous in numbers as that it seems
+     to be almost beyond the power of the law to execute the purposes
+     of the elective franchise with justice, with propriety, and
+     without crime. How much would these difficulties and these
+     intrinsic troubles be increased if we should raise the number of
+     voters from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 in the United States? That
+     would be the direct and immediate effect of conferring the
+     franchise upon the women. What would be the next effect of such
+     an extension of the suffrage? It was described by my friend from
+     Missouri [Mr. Vest] and by other senators who have spoken upon
+     this subject. The effect would be to drive the ladies of the
+     land, as they are termed, the well-bred and well-educated women,
+     the women of nice sensibilities, within their home circle, there
+     to remain, while the ruder of that sex would thrust themselves
+     out on the hustings and at the ballot-box, and fight their way to
+     the polls through negroes and others who are not the best of
+     company even at the polls, to say nothing of the disgrace of
+     association with them. You would paralyze one-third at least of
+     the women of this land by the very vulgarity of the overture made
+     to them that they should go struggling to the polls in order to
+     vote in common with the herd of men. They would not undertake it.
+     The most intelligent and trustworthy part of the suffrage thus
+     placed upon the land would never be available, while that which
+     was not worthy of respect either for its character or for its
+     information would take the matter in hand and move along in the
+     circle of politicians to cast their suffrages at the ballot-box.
+
+     As the States to be formed out of the territories are admitted
+     into the Union, they will come stamped with the characteristics
+     which the legislatures of the territories have imprinted upon
+     them; and if after due consideration in those territories the men
+     who have the regulation of public affairs should come to the
+     conclusion that it was best to have woman suffrage, then we can
+     allow them, under existing laws, to go on and perfect their
+     systems and apply for admission into the Union with them as they
+     may choose to adopt them and to shape them. The law upon that
+     subject as it exists is liberal enough, for it gives to the
+     legislatures the right to regulate the qualifications of
+     suffrage. It leaves it to each local community, wherever it may
+     be throughout the territories of the United States, to determine
+     for itself what it may prefer to have.
+
+     Is it the object in the raising of this committee only that it
+     shall have so many speeches made, so much talk about it, or is it
+     to be the object of the committee to have legislation brought
+     here? If you bring legislation here, what will you bring? An
+     amendment to the constitution like the fourteenth amendment, or
+     else some provision obligatory upon the territories by which
+     female suffrage shall be allowed there, whether the people want
+     it or whether they do not? For my part, before this session of
+     congress ends I intend to introduce a bill to repeal woman
+     suffrage in the territory of Utah, knowing and believing that
+     that will be the most effectual remedy for the extirpation of
+     polygamy in that unfortunate territory. If you choose to repeal
+     the laws of any territory conferring the right of suffrage upon
+     women you have the power in congress to do it; but there are no
+     measures introduced here and none advocated in that direction.
+     The whole drift of this movement is in the other direction. This
+     committee is sought to be raised either for the accommodation of
+     some senator who wants a chairmanship and a clerk, or it is
+     sought to be raised for the purpose of encouraging a raid on the
+     laws and traditions of this country, which I think would end in
+     our total demoralization, I therefore oppose this measure in the
+     beginning, and I expect to oppose it as far as it may go.
+
+     Now let us notice for a moment the case of the District of
+     Columbia. There are some senators here who have given themselves
+     a great deal of trouble in the advocacy of the right of suffrage
+     of the people of the United States, and especially of the colored
+     people. They put themselves to great trouble, and doubtless at
+     some expense of feeling, to worry and beset and harry gentlemen
+     who come from certain States of this Union, in reference to the
+     votes of the negroes: and yet these very gentlemen have been
+     either in this House or in the other when the Republican party
+     has had a two-thirds majority of both branches and has
+     deliberately taken from the people of the District of Columbia
+     the right to elect any officer from a constable to a mayor, all
+     because when the experiment was tried here it was found that the
+     negroes were a little too strong. There was too much African
+     suffrage in the ballot-box, and they must get rid of it, and to
+     get rid of it on terms of equality they have disfranchised every
+     man in the District of Columbia.
+
+     I shall have more faith in the sincerity of the declarations of
+     gentlemen of their desire to have the women vote when I see that
+     they have made some step toward the restoration of the right of
+     suffrage to the people of the District of Columbia. While they
+     let this blot remain upon our law, while they allow this damning
+     conviction to stand, they may stare us in the face and accuse us
+     continually of a want of candor and sincerity on this subject,
+     but they will address their arguments to me in vain, even as
+     coming from men who have an infatuation upon the subject. I do
+     not believe a word of it, Mr. President.
+
+     I cannot be convinced against these facts that this new movement
+     in favor of female suffrage means anything more than to add
+     another patch to the worn-out garment of Republicanism, which
+     they patched with Mahoneism in Virginia, with repudiation
+     elsewhere, and which they now seek to patch further by putting on
+     the delicate little silk covering of woman suffrage. I do not
+     believe that this movement has its root and branch in any sincere
+     desire to give to the women of this land the right of suffrage. I
+     think it is a mere party movement with a view of attempting to
+     draw into the reach of the Republican party some little support
+     from the sympathy and interest they suppose the ladies will take
+     in their cause if they should advocate it here. No bill, perhaps,
+     is expected to be reported. The committee will sit and listen and
+     profess to be charmed and enlightened and instructed by what may
+     be said, and then the subject will be passed by without any
+     actual effort to secure the passage of a bill.
+
+     Introduce your bills and let them go to the Judiciary Committee,
+     where the rights of men are to be considered as well as the
+     rights of women. If this subject is of that pressing national
+     importance which senators seem to think it is, it is not to be
+     supposed that the Committee on the Judiciary will fail to give it
+     profound and early attention. When you bring a select committee
+     forward under the circumstances under which this is to be raised,
+     you must not expect us to give credit generally to the idea that
+     the real purpose is to advance the cause of woman suffrage, but
+     rather that the real purpose is to advance the cause of political
+     domination in this country. I can see no reason for the raising
+     of this select committee, unless it be to furnish some senator,
+     as I have remarked, with a clerk and messenger. If that were the
+     avowed reason or could even be intimated, I think I should be
+     disposed to yield that courtesy to the senator, whoever he might
+     be; but I cannot do it under the false pretext that the real
+     object is to bring forward measures here for the introduction of
+     woman suffrage into the District of Columbia, where we have no
+     suffrage, or into the territories, where they have all the
+     suffrage that the territorial legislatures see proper to give
+     them. I therefore shall oppose the resolution.
+
+     Mr. BAYARD: I move the that Senate proceed to the consideration
+     of executive business. [The motion was agreed to.]
+
+
+                                                  JANUARY 9, 1882.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I now ask for the consideration of the resolution
+     relating to a select committee on woman suffrage.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: There being ten minutes left of the
+     morning hour, the senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar] asks for
+     the consideration of the resolution relating to woman suffrage.
+     The pending question is on the motion of the senator from
+     Delaware [Mr. Bayard] to refer the subject-matter to the
+     Committee on the Judiciary, on which the yeas and nays have been
+     ordered.
+
+     The principal legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
+
+     Mr. BUTLER (when Mr. Pugh's name was called): I was requested by
+     the senator from Alabama [Mr. Pugh] to announce his pair with the
+     senator from New York [Mr. Miller].
+
+     The roll-call was concluded.
+
+     Mr. TELLER: On this question I am paired with the senator from
+     Alabama [Mr. Morgan]. If the senator from Alabama were present, I
+     should vote "nay."
+
+     Mr. MCPHERSON (after having voted in the affirmative): I rise to
+     ask the privilege of withdrawing my vote. I am paired with my
+     colleague [Mr. Sewell] on all political questions, and this seems
+     to have taken a political shape.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from New Jersey
+     withdraws his vote.
+
+     The result was announced--yeas 27, nays 31. So the motion was not
+     agreed to.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The question recurs on the adoption
+     of the resolution.
+
+     Mr. EDMUNDS: Let it be read for information. The secretary read
+     the resolution.
+
+     Mr. EDMUNDS: "Shall" ought to be stricken out and "may" inserted,
+     because the Senate ought always to have the power to refer any
+     particular measure as it pleases.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I have no objection to that modification.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The senator from Massachusetts
+     accepts the suggestion of the senator from Vermont, and the word
+     "may" will be substituted for "shall."
+
+     Mr. HILL of Georgia: I wish to say that I have opposed all
+     resolutions, whether originating on the other side of the chamber
+     or on this side, appointing special committees. They are all
+     wrong. They are not founded, in my judgment, on a correct
+     principle. There is no necessity to raise a select committee for
+     this business. The standing committees of the Senate are ample to
+     do everything that it is proposed the select committee asked for
+     shall do. The only result of appointing more special committees
+     is to have just that many more clerks, just that much more
+     expense, just that many more committee-rooms. This is not the
+     first time I have opposed the raising of a select committee.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The morning hour has expired, and it
+     requires unanimous consent for the senator from Georgia to
+     proceed with his remarks.
+
+
+                                                  JANUARY 21, 1882.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I move that the Senate proceed with the consideration
+     of the resolution.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: If there is no objection, unanimous
+     consent will be assumed.
+
+     Mr. FARLEY and others: I object.
+
+     Mr. HOAR: I move that the Senate proceed with the consideration
+     of the resolution.
+
+     Mr. SHERMAN: Let it be proceeded with informally, subject to the
+     call for other business.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The question is on the motion of the
+     senator from Massachusetts. [Putting the question.] The Chair is
+     uncertain from the sound and will ask for a division.
+
+     The motion was agreed to; there being on a division--ayes 32,
+     noes 20.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The resolution is before the Senate
+     and the senator from Georgia [Mr. Hill] has the floor.
+
+     Mr. HILL of Georgia: Mr. President, I do not intend to say one
+     word on the subject of woman suffrage. I shall not get into that
+     discussion which was alluded to by the senator from
+     Massachusetts. The senator will remember, if he refreshes his
+     recollection, that when my late colleague, now no longer a
+     senator, made a motion for the appointment of a select committee
+     in relation to the inter-oceanic canal, I opposed it distinctly,
+     though it came from my colleague, upon the ground that the
+     appointment of select committees ought to stop, that it was
+     wrong; and I oppose this resolution for the same reason. I voted
+     against a resolution to raise a select committee offered by a
+     senator on this side of the chamber at the present session, and I
+     have voted against all resolutions of that character.
+
+     No senator, in my judgment, will rise in his place in the Senate
+     and say that it is necessary to appoint a special committee to
+     consider the matters referred to in the resolution. It is true I
+     am a member of the committee, and perhaps ought not to refer to
+     it, but we have a standing committee, of which the distinguished
+     senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar] is chairman, the Committee
+     on Privileges and Elections, that, I take occasion to say, is a
+     very proper committee for this matter to go to; and that
+     committee has almost nothing on earth to do. There is but one
+     single subject-matter now before it, and I believe there will be
+     scarcely another question before that committee at this session.
+     There is not a contested election; there is not a dispute about
+     anybody's seat; and yet it is a Committee on Privileges and
+     Elections. What is the reason for going on continually and
+     appointing these select committees, when there are standing
+     committees here, properly organized to consider the very question
+     specified by the resolution, with nothing to do?
+
+     Now, I am going to say one other thing, I do not pretend that the
+     purpose I am now about to state is the purpose of the senator
+     from Massachusetts. I have no reflections to make as to what this
+     resolution is intended for, but we do know that there is an idea
+     abroad that select committees are generally appointed for the
+     purpose of giving somebody a chairmanship, that somebody may have
+     a clerk. That is not the case here, I dare say. I do not mean to
+     intimate that it is the case here, but it ought to be put a stop
+     to; it is all wrong. I think, though, that there ought to be a
+     resolution passed by this body giving every senator who has not a
+     committee a clerk. Everybody knows that every chairman of a
+     committee has a clerk in the clerk of that committee. The other
+     senators, at least in my opinion, ought each to have a clerk. I
+     would vote for such a resolution. I believe it would be right,
+     and I believe the country would approve it. Every senator knows
+     that he has more business to attend to here than he can possibly
+     perform. Why, sir, if I were to attend to all the business in the
+     departments and otherwise that my constituents ask me to perform,
+     I could not discharge half my duties in this chamber; and every
+     senator, I dare say, has the same experience. It is to the
+     public interest, therefore, in my judgment, that every senator
+     should have a clerk. I am unable to employ a clerk from my own
+     funds; many other senators are more fortunately situated; but
+     still I must do that or move the appointment of a special
+     committee for the purpose in an indirect way of getting a clerk.
+     It is not right.
+
+     It has been said that if senators each have a clerk, for
+     instance, a clerk at $100 a month salary during the session,
+     which would be a very small matter, the members of the other
+     House would each want a clerk. It does not follow. There is a
+     vast difference. A member of the other House represents a narrow
+     district, a single district; a senator represents a whole State.
+     Take the State of New York. There are thirty-three
+     representatives in the House from the State of New York; there
+     are but two senators here from that State. Those two senators in
+     all likelihood have as much business to perform here for their
+     constituents as the thirty-three members of the House. There is,
+     therefore, an eminent reason why a senator should have a clerk
+     and why a member of the House should not.
+
+     I cannot vote for the appointment of select committees unless you
+     raise a select committee for every senator in the body so as to
+     give him a clerk. You have appointed select committees for this
+     business and for that. It gives a few men an advantage when the
+     business of the country does not require it, whereas if you
+     appointed a clerk for each senator, with a nominal salary of $100
+     per month during the session, it would enable every senator to do
+     his work more efficiently both here and for his constituents; it
+     would put all the senators on a just equality; it would be in
+     furtherance of the public interest; and it would avoid what I
+     consider (with all due deference and not meaning to be offensive)
+     the unseemly habit of constantly moving the appointment of select
+     committees in this body. This is all I have to say. I vote
+     against the resolution simply because I am opposed to the
+     appointment of a select committee for this or any other purpose
+     that I can now think of.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: The question is on the adoption of
+     the resolution.
+
+     Mr. VEST called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered, and
+     the principal legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
+
+     Mr. JONES of Florida (when his name was called): I propose to
+     vote for this resolution, but at the same time I do not regard my
+     vote as in any way committing myself on the subject of female
+     suffrage. If they think an investigation of this subject should
+     be had in this way, I for one am willing to have it. I vote
+     "yea."
+
+     Mr. TELLER, (when his name was called): On this question I am
+     paired with the senator from Alabama [Mr. Morgan]; otherwise I
+     should vote "yea."
+
+     The roll-call having been concluded, the result was
+     announced--yeas 35, nays 23; so the resolution was agreed
+     to.[82]
+
+
+                   IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 20, 1881.
+
+     Mr. WHITE of Kentucky: I ask consent to offer for consideration
+     at this time the resolution which I send to the clerk's desk.
+
+     The clerk read as follows:
+
+          _Resolved_, That a select committee of seven members of the
+          House of Representatives be appointed by the Speaker, to
+          whom shall be referred all petitions, bills and resolves
+          providing for the extension of suffrage to women, or for the
+          removal of legal disabilities.
+
+     Mr. MILLS of Texas: I object.
+
+     Mr. KELLEY of Pennsylvania: A similar resolution has already been
+     referred to the Committee on Rules.
+
+     The SPEAKER (Mr. Keifer of Ohio): Objection being made to its
+     consideration at this time, the resolution will be referred to
+     the Committee on Rules.
+
+     The resolution was referred accordingly.
+
+
+                   IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 25, 1882.
+
+     Mr. REED of Maine: I rise to make a privileged report. The
+     Committee on Rules, to whom were referred sundry resolutions
+     relating to the subject, have instructed me to report the
+     resolution which I send to the desk.
+
+     The clerk read as follows:
+
+          _Resolved_, That a select committee of nine members be
+          appointed, to whom shall be referred all petitions, bills
+          and resolves asking for the extension of suffrage to women
+          or the removal of their legal disabilities.
+
+     The SPEAKER: The question is on the adoption of the report of the
+     Committee on Rules.
+
+     Mr. HOLMAN of Indiana: I ask that the latter portion of the
+     resolution be again read. It was not heard in this part of the
+     house.
+
+     The resolution was again read.
+
+     Mr. TOWNSHEND of Illinois: I rise to make a parliamentary
+     inquiry.
+
+     The SPEAKER: The gentleman will state it.
+
+     Mr. TOWNSHEND: My inquiry is whether that resolution should not
+     go to the House calendar.
+
+     The SPEAKER: It is a privileged report under the rules of the
+     House from the Committee on Rules. The question is on the
+     adoption of the resolution.
+
+     Mr. MCMILLIN of Tennessee: I make the point of order that it must
+     lie over for one day.
+
+     The SPEAKER: It is the report of a committee privileged under the
+     rules.
+
+     Mr. MCMILLIN: The committee are privileged to report, but under
+     the rule the report has to lie over a day.
+
+     The SPEAKER: The gentleman from Tennessee will oblige the Chair
+     by directing his attention to any rule which requires such a
+     report to lie over one day. It changes no standing rule or order
+     of the House.
+
+     Mr. MCMILLIN: It does, by making a change in the number and
+     nature of the committees. All measures of a particular class, the
+     resolution states, must be referred to the proposed committee,
+     whereas heretofore they have been referred to a different
+     committee. Therefore the resolution changes the rules of the
+     House.
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair is of opinion the resolution does not
+     rescind or change any standing rule of the House. The question is
+     on the adoption of the resolution.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: Mr. Speaker, I desire to call the attention of the
+     Chair to the fact that this does distinctly change one of the
+     standing rules of the House. One of the standing rules is--
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair has passed on that question, and no appeal
+     has been taken from his decision.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: I desire to call the attention of the Chair to Rule
+     10, which specifically provides for the appointment of the full
+     number of committees this House is to have, and this is not one
+     of them.
+
+     The SPEAKER: Not one of the standing committees, but a select
+     committee.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: That rule provides there shall be a certain number
+     of committees, the names of which are therein given.
+
+     Mr. REED: I sincerely hope this will not be made a matter of
+     technical discussion or debate. It is a matter upon which members
+     of this House must have opinions which they can express by
+     voting, in a very short time, without taking up the attention of
+     the House beyond what is really necessary for a bare discussion
+     of the merits of the question.
+
+     Mr. MCMILLIN: Will the gentleman permit me to ask him a question?
+
+     Mr. REED: Certainly.
+
+     Mr. MCMILLIN: Would you not, as a parliamentarian, concede that
+     this does change the existing rules of the House?
+
+     Mr. REED: By no manner of means, especially when the accomplished
+     Speaker has decided the other way, and no gentleman has taken an
+     appeal from his decision. [Laughter.]
+
+     Mr. MCMILLIN: Then you have no opinion beyond his decision?
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair will state to the gentleman from Illinois
+     [Mr. Springer] that this resolution does not change any of the
+     standing committees of the House which are provided for in Rule
+     10.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: It provides for a new committee.
+
+     The SPEAKER: It provides for a select committee. The subject was
+     referred to the Committee on Rules by order of the House, and
+     this is a report on the resolution so referred.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: The rule provides that no standing rule or order of
+     the House shall be rescinded or changed without one day's notice.
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair would decide that this does not propose
+     any change or rescinding of any standing rule of the House.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: Does the Chair hold that the making of a new rule
+     is not a change of the existing rules?
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair does not decide anything of the kind.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: What does the Chair decide?
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair does not undertake to decide any such
+     question, for it is not now presented.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: Is this not a new rule?
+
+     The SPEAKER: It is not.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: It is not?
+
+     The SPEAKER: It is a provision for a select committee.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: Can you have a committee without a rule of the
+     House providing for it?
+
+     The SPEAKER: The question is on the adoption of the resolution
+     reported from the Committee on Rules.
+
+     Mr. ATKINS: On that question I call for the yeas and nays.
+
+     The yeas and nays were ordered.
+
+     The question was taken and there were--yeas 115, nays 84, not
+     voting 93; so the resolution was carried.[83]
+
+     Mr. REED moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was
+     adopted; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on
+     the table. The latter motion was agreed to.
+
+     On Monday, March 13, 1882, the Chair announced the appointment of
+     the following gentlemen as the Select Committee on Woman Suffrage
+     authorized by the House: Mr. Camp of New York, Mr. White of
+     Kentucky, Mr. Sherwin of Illinois, Mr. Stone of Massachusetts,
+     Mr. Hepburn of Iowa, Mr. Springer of Illinois, Mr. Vance of North
+     Carolina, Mr. Muldrow of Mississippi and Mr. Stockslager of
+     Indiana.
+
+The Annual Washington Convention was held in Lincoln Hall as usual,
+January 18, 19, 20, 1882. The afternoon before the convention, at
+an executive session held at the Riggs House, forty delegates were
+present from fourteen different States.[84] Among these were five
+from Massachusetts, and for the first time that State was
+represented on the platform of the National Association. Mrs.
+Stanton gave the opening address, and made some amusing criticisms
+on a recent debate on Senator Hoar's proposition for a special
+committee on the rights and disabilities of women. Such a committee
+had been under debate for several years and it was during this
+convention that the bill passed the Senate.
+
+Invitations to attend the convention were sent to all the members
+of congress, and many were present during the various sessions.
+Miss Ellen H. Sheldon, secretary, read the minutes of the last
+convention, and, instead of the usual dry skeleton of facts, she
+gave a glowing description of that eventful occasion. Clara B.
+Colby gave an interesting narration of the progress of woman
+suffrage in Nebraska, and of the efforts being made to carry the
+proposition pending before the people, to strike the word "male"
+from the constitution in the coming November election.
+
+Rev. Frederick A. Hinckley of Providence, R. I., spoke upon "Our
+Demand in the Light of Evolution." He said:
+
+     It is about a century since our forefathers declared that
+     "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
+     governed," and about a half century since woman began to see that
+     she ought to be included in this declaration. At present the
+     expressions of the Declaration of Independence are a "glittering
+     generality," for only one-half of the people "consent." Modern
+     science has demonstrated the truth of evolution--like causes
+     produce like results--and this is seen in the progress of
+     government and of woman. From the time when physical force ruled,
+     up to the present, when _ostensibly_ in the United States every
+     person is his own ruler, there have been many steps. The
+     importance of the masses has steadily taken the place of the
+     importance of individuals. At first the idea was "You shall obey
+     because I say so"; then, "You shall obey because I am your
+     superior, and will protect you"; now it is "Everyone shall be his
+     own protector." But we do not live up to this idea while only
+     one-half instead of the whole of "everyone" is his own protector.
+     The phases of woman's advancement are fitly described by the four
+     words--slave, subject, inferior, dependent; and no step in this
+     advance has been accomplished without a hard struggle. The logic
+     of evolution in government points to universal suffrage. The same
+     logic points to unqualified individual freedom for woman.
+
+Mrs. Blake in reporting from her State said:
+
+     Governor Cornell was the first New York Governor to mention woman
+     in an inaugural address, and the bill allowing women to vote in
+     school elections was passed the same winter. There was a great
+     deal of opposition in different parts of the State to the voting
+     of women. In some country districts where the polls are in the
+     school-houses, certain men went early and locked the doors,
+     filled the room with smoke and even put tobacco on the stoves to
+     make it as disagreeable for the women as possible. More
+     respectable men had to ventilate and clean the rooms to make them
+     decent for either man or woman. From this lowest class of
+     opponents up to those who say: "My dear, you'd better not make
+     yourself conspicuous!" the spirit is the same. Believing that
+     under our constitution women are already entitled to the ballot,
+     we do not ask for a constitutional amendment, but for a bill
+     extending the suffrage at once.
+
+     Mrs. COLBY in contrast to this stated that in Nebraska the
+     greatest courtesy had always been shown to women who voted at
+     school elections. There is only one organized effort against
+     woman suffrage, and that is made by the "Sons of Liberty!" "O,
+     Consistency, thou art a jewel!"
+
+The following resolution introduced into the Senate, January 11, by
+Mr. Morgan of Alabama, was finally referred to the Committee on
+Woman Suffrage. This was the first subject brought before them for
+action.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the committee on "The extension of suffrage
+          to women, or the removal of their disabilities," be directed
+          to examine into the state of the law regulating the right of
+          suffrage in the territory of Utah, and report a bill to set
+          aside and annul any law or laws enacted by the legislature
+          of said territory conferring upon women the right of
+          suffrage.
+
+Miss Couzins made an admirable speech on the following resolution:
+
+          _Resolved_, That Senator Morgan's bill to deprive the
+          _women_ of Utah of the right of suffrage because of the
+          social institutions and religious faith originated and
+          maintained by the _men_ of the territory, is a travesty on
+          common justice. While the wife has not absolute possession
+          of even one husband, and the husband has many wives, surely
+          the men and not the women, if either, should be deprived of
+          the suffrage.
+
+     Miss COUZINS said: The task of dealing fairly and justly with
+     this territorial complication should never be committed to the
+     blundering legislation of man alone. His success as a legislator
+     and executive for woman in the past does not inspire a confidence
+     that in this most serious problem he will be any the less an
+     unbiased judge and law-giver. This government of men permitted
+     the establishment of a religious colony, so called, whose basis
+     of faith was the complete humiliation of women; recognized the
+     system by appointing its chief, Brigham Young, governor of the
+     territory, under whose fostering care polygamy grew to its
+     present proportions.
+
+     That woman has not thrown off the yoke of religious despotism can
+     be readily appreciated when we recognize the fact that man, from
+     time immemorial, has played upon her religious faith to exalt his
+     own attributes and degrade hers; that through this teaching her
+     abiding belief in his superior capacity to interpret scriptural
+     truths for her has been the means of sacrificing her power of
+     mind, her tender affections, her delicate sensibilities, on the
+     altar of his base selfishness throughout the ages. Orthodoxy
+     recognizes no "inspiration" for woman to-day. She is not "called"
+     save to serve man. Under its teaching her thought has been
+     padlocked in the name of Divinity, and her lips sealed in
+     sacrilegious pretense of authority from heaven; and nothing so
+     clearly bespeaks the degenerating influence of the ages of this
+     masculine teaching as the absolute faith manifested by the women
+     of Utah in this _ipse dixit_ of man's religious doctrine. Their
+     emancipation must necessarily be slow.
+
+     The paternal government allowed polygamy to be planted, take
+     root, and grow in a wilderness where the attraction of nobler
+     minds and freer thoughts was not known. The victims came from the
+     political despotisms of the old world to be shackled in a land of
+     freedom with a still darker despotism, and under the aegis of the
+     American flag they have borne children as a religious duty they
+     owed to God and man; and surely it can not be expected, even with
+     that grand emancipator, from king and priestcraft rule, the
+     ballot, that at once they will vote themselves outcast and their
+     children illegitimate.
+
+     It took the white men of this nation one hundred years to put
+     away that relic of barbarism, slavery; the removal of the twin
+     relic will come through liberty for woman, higher education for
+     children, and the incoming tide of Gentile immigration. The
+     fitting act of justice is not disfranchisement of woman, as
+     Senator Morgan proposes, and the reenactment of that old Adamic
+     cry: "The woman whom thou gavest," but the disfranchisement of
+     man, who is the only polygamist, and the stepping down and out of
+     the sex as a legislator under whose fostering care this evil has
+     grown. Retire to your sylvan groves and academic shades,
+     gentlemen, as Mrs. Stanton suggests, and let the Deborahs, the
+     Huldahs, and the Vashtis come to the front, and let us see what
+     we can do toward the remedy of your wretched legislation. But
+     suffrage for women in Utah has accomplished great good. I spent
+     one week there in close observation. Outside of their religious
+     convictions, the women are emphatic in condemnation of wrong.
+     Their votes banished the liquor saloon. I saw no drunkenness
+     anywhere; the poison of tobacco smoke is not allowed to vitiate
+     the air of heaven, either on the streets or in public assemblies.
+     Their court-room was a model of neatness and good order. Plants
+     were in the windows and handsome carpets graced the floor. During
+     my stay, the daughter of a Mormon, the then advocate-general of
+     the territory, was admitted to the bar by Chief-Justice McKean of
+     the United States Court, who, in fitting and beautiful language,
+     welcomed her to the profession as a woman whose knowledge of the
+     law fitted her to be the peer of any man in his court. She told
+     me that she detested polygamy, but felt that she could render
+     greater service to the emancipation of her sex inside of Utah
+     than out. At midnight I wandered, with one of my own sex, about
+     the streets to test the assertion that it was as safe for women
+     then as at mid-day. No bacchanalian shout rent the air; no man
+     was seen reeling in maudlin imbecility to his home. No guardians
+     put in an appearance, save the stars above our heads; no sound
+     awoke the stillness but the purling of the mountain brooks which
+     washed the streets in cleanliness and beauty. What other city on
+     this continent can present such a showing? With murder for man
+     and rapine for woman where man alone is maker and guardian of the
+     laws, it behooves him to pause ere he launches invectives at the
+     one result of woman's votes.
+
+Mrs. Gougar, on our Washington platform for the first time,
+delighted the audience with her readiness and wit. She has a good
+voice, fine presence, and speaks fluently, without notes.
+
+     She spoke of the reformatory prison for women in her State, and
+     said that the statistics showed that eighty-two per cent. of the
+     women confined there were sent out reformed. Speaking of the
+     gallantry of men, she cited a case of a man who came to an
+     Indiana lawyer and desired him to make a will. The following
+     conversation ensued: "I want you to make this will so that my
+     wife will have $400 a year; that's enough for any woman." "Is she
+     the only wife you ever had?" "Yes." "How long have you been
+     married?" "Forty-two years." "How many children have you had?"
+     "Eleven." "Did you have all your property before marriage?" "No;
+     didn't have a cent; I've earned it all." "Has your wife helped
+     you in any way to earn it?" "Why, yes, I suppose she has; but
+     then I want to fix my will so she can only have $400 a year; it's
+     enough." "Well, sir, you will have to move out of the State of
+     Indiana then, for the law provides for the wife better than that,
+     and you will have to get another lawyer." It is needless to say
+     that this lawyer is a staunch champion of woman suffrage, and it
+     is pleasant to know that there are more such men being educated
+     by this agitation.
+
+Mrs. Maxwell gave a fine recitation of "The Dying Soldier," at one
+of the evening sessions. It was evident by the sparkling eyes of
+the Indiana delegation that the ladies had in reserve some pleasant
+surprise for the convention, which at last revealed itself in the
+person of Judge Orth, a live member of congress from Indiana, who
+stood up like a man and avowed his belief in woman suffrage. His
+words were few but to the point, and his hearers all knew exactly
+where he stood on the question.
+
+The next evening the Nebraska delegation, determining not to be
+outdone, captured one of their United States senators and
+triumphantly brought him on the platform. It was a point gained to
+have a congressman publicly give in his adhesion to the question,
+but how much greater the achievement to appear in the convention
+with a United States senator. It was a proud moment for Mrs. Colby
+when Senator Saunders, a large man of fine proportions, stepped to
+the front. But alas! her triumph over the Indiana ladies was short
+indeed, for while the senator surpassed the representative in size
+and official honors, he fell far below him in the logic of his
+statements and the earnestness of his principles. In fact the
+audience and the platform were in doubt at the close of his remarks
+as to his true position on the question. Mrs. May Wright Sewall,
+who followed him, sparkled with the satisfaction she expressed in
+paying most glowing tributes to the men of Indiana and their State
+institutions. She said:
+
+     The principal objection to woman suffrage has always been that it
+     will take women from their homes and destroy all home life. She
+     showed that there is not an interest of home which is not
+     represented in the State, and that the subordination of the State
+     to the family has kept pace with the subordination of physical to
+     spiritual force. Woman has an interest in everything which
+     affects the State, and only lacks the legitimate instrument of
+     these interests--the ballot--with which to enforce them. Life
+     regulates legislation. Domestic life is woman's sphere, but a
+     sphere of much larger dimensions than has ever yet been accorded
+     it, these dimensions reaching out and controlling the functions
+     of the State. The ballot is not a political or a military, but a
+     domestic necessity.
+
+Mrs. Harriette R. Shattuck spoke on the golden rule, asking men to
+put themselves in the place of disfranchised women, and then
+legislate for them as they would be legislated for. Mrs. Robinson
+gave a resume of the legal, political and educational position of
+women in Massachusetts. Mrs. Hooker showed that political equality
+would dignify woman in home life, give added weight to her opinions
+on all questions, and command new respect for her from all classes
+of men. Mrs. Colby gave an interesting address on "The Social
+Evolution of Woman":
+
+     She traced the history of woman from the time when she was bought
+     and sold, up to the present. She said that the first believer in
+     woman's rights was the one who first proposed that women should
+     be allowed to eat with their husbands. This once granted,
+     everything else has followed of necessity, and the ballot will be
+     the crowning right. Once women were not allowed to sing soprano
+     because it was the "governing part." From these and many like
+     indignities woman has gradually evolved until she now stands on
+     an equality with man in many social rights.
+
+Martha McClellan Brown read an able essay on "The Power of the
+Veto." She is a woman of fine presence, pleasing manners and a well
+trained voice that can fill any hall. Her address was one of the
+best in the convention and all felt that in her we had a valuable
+acquisition to our Association. Mrs. Gage gave an able address on
+"The Moral Force of Woman Suffrage."
+
+During the first day of the convention a request, signed by the
+officers of the association, was sent to the Special Committee on
+Woman Suffrage in the Senate, asking for a hearing on the sixteenth
+amendment to the constitution. The hearing was granted on Friday
+morning, January 20, 1882. A distinguished speaker in England
+having advised the friends of suffrage there to employ young and
+attractive women to advocate the measure, as the speediest means of
+success, Miss Anthony took the hint in making the selection for the
+first hearing before the committee of those who had never been
+heard before,[85] of whom some were young, and all attractive as
+speakers. Miss Anthony said that she would introduce some new
+speakers to the committee, in order to disprove the allegation that
+"it was always the same old set." The committee listened to them
+with undivided attention throughout, and at the conclusion of the
+hearing the following resolution, offered by Senator George of
+Mississippi, was adopted unanimously:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the committee are under obligations to the
+          representatives of the women of the United States for their
+          attendance this morning, and for the able and instructive
+          addresses which have been made, and that the committee
+          assure them that they will give to the subject of woman
+          suffrage the careful and impartial consideration which its
+          grave importance demands.
+
+In describing the occasion for the _Boston Transcript_, Mrs.
+Shattuck said:
+
+     As we stood in the committee-room and presented our plea for
+     freedom, we felt that at last we had obtained a fair hearing,
+     whatever its result might be. And the most encouraging sign of
+     the impression made by our words was the change in the faces of
+     some of the members of the committee as the speaking went on. At
+     first there was a look of indifference and scorn--merely
+     toleration; this gradually changed to interest mingled with
+     surprise; finally, as Miss Anthony closed with one of her most
+     eloquent appeals, all the faces showed a decided and almost eager
+     interest in what we had to say. Senator George, who certainly
+     looked more unpropitious than any other one, assured the ladies
+     that he would give to the subject of woman suffrage that careful
+     and impartial consideration which its grave importance demands.
+     This, from one who heralded his entrance by inquiring of Miss
+     Anthony, in stentorian tones, if she "wanted to go to war," was,
+     to say the least, a concession. The speakers were closely
+     questioned by some members of the committee, who afterwards told
+     us "that they had never heard a speech on the subject before and
+     were surprised to find so much in the demand, and to see such
+     ability as was manifested by the women before them."
+
+The committee having expressed a wish to hear others on the
+subject, appointed the next morning at 10 o'clock.[86] Mrs.
+Stanton, being introduced by the chairman, said:
+
+     Gentlemen, when the news of the appointment of this committee was
+     flashed over the wires, you cannot imagine the satisfaction that
+     thrilled the hearts of your countrywomen. After fourteen years of
+     constant petitioning, we are grateful for even this slight
+     recognition at last. I never before felt such an interest in any
+     congressional committee, and I have no doubt that all who are
+     interested in this reform, share in my feelings. Fortunately your
+     names make a great couplet in rhyme,
+
+          Lapham, Anthony and Blair,
+          Jackson, George, Ferry and Fair.
+
+     which will enable us to remember them always. This I discovered
+     in writing your names in this volume, which allow me to present
+     you.
+
+The gentlemen rising in turn received with a gracious bow "The
+History of Woman Suffrage" which, Mrs. Stanton told them, would
+furnish all the arguments they needed to defend their clients
+against the ignorance and prejudice of the world. Mr. George of
+Mississippi asked why this agitation was confined to Northern
+women; he had never heard the ladies of the South express the wish
+to vote. Mrs. Stanton referred him to those to whom the volume
+before him was dedicated. "There," said she, "you will find the
+names of two ladies from one of the most distinguished families in
+South Carolina, who came North over forty years ago, and set this
+ball for woman's freedom in motion. But for those noble women,
+Sarah and Angelina Grimke, we might not stand here to-day pleading
+for justice and equality." As the speakers had requested the
+committee to ask questions, they were frequently interrupted. All
+urged the importance of a national protection, preferring
+congressional action, to submitting the proposition to the popular
+vote of the several States. On this point Mr. Jackson of Tennessee
+asked many pertinent questions. Mrs. Shattuck, writing of this
+occasion to the _Boston Transcript_, said:
+
+     One of the speakers eloquently testified to the interest of many
+     Southern women in this subject, and urged the Southern members of
+     the committee not to declare that the women of the South do not
+     want the ballot until they have investigated the matter. After
+     the hearing three Southern ladies, wives of congressmen, thanked
+     her for what she had said. The member from Mississippi showed a
+     great deal of interest and really became quite waked up before
+     the session ended. But, when we look at it in one light, there is
+     something exceedingly humiliating in the thought that women
+     representing the best intellect and the highest morality of our
+     country, should come here in their grand old age and ask men for
+     that which is theirs by right. Is it not time that this
+     aristocracy of sex should be overthrown? Several of the senators
+     were so moved by the speeches that they personally expressed
+     their thanks, and one who has long been friendly, said the
+     speeches were far above the average committee-hearings on any
+     subject. We might well have replied that the reason is because
+     all the speakers feel what they say and know that the question is
+     one of vital importance.
+
+     In securing these hearings before this special committee of the
+     Senate the friends feel they have reached a milestone in the
+     progress of their reform. To secure the attention for four hours
+     of seven representative men of the United States, must have more
+     effect than would a hundred times that amount of time and labor
+     expended upon their constituents. If one of these senators, for
+     instance, should become convinced of the justice of woman's claim
+     to the ballot, his constituency would begin to look upon that
+     question with respect, whereas it would take years to bring that
+     same constituency up to the position where they could elect such
+     a representative. To convince the representatives is to sound the
+     keynote, and it is for this reason that these hearings before the
+     Senate committee are of such paramount importance to the suffrage
+     cause.
+
+     At the close of the hearing Mrs. Robinson presented each member
+     of the committee with her little volume, "Massachusetts in the
+     Woman Suffrage Movement."
+
+January 23 the House Committee on Rules[87] gave a hearing to Mrs.
+Jane Graham Jones of Chicago, Mrs. May Wright Sewall and Miss
+Anthony. During this congress the question of admitting the
+territory of Dakota as a State was discussed in the Senate. Our
+committee stood ready to oppose it unless the word "male" were
+stricken from the proposed constitution.
+
+Immediately after this most of the speakers went[88] to
+Philadelphia where Rachel Foster had made arrangements for a
+two-days convention. Rev. Charles G. Ames gave the address of
+welcome.
+
+     He told of his conversion to woman suffrage from the time when he
+     believed women and men were ordained to be unequal, just as in
+     nature the mountain is different from the valley--he looking down
+     at her, she gazing up at him--until the time when he began to see
+     that women are not of necessity the valleys, nor men of necessity
+     the mountains; and so on, until now he believes women entitled
+     to stand on an equal plane with men, socially and politically.
+
+The President, Mrs. Stanton, responded. Hannah Whitehall Smith of
+Germantown, prominent in the temperance movement, spoke of the
+hardship of farmers' wives, and asked:
+
+     If that condition was not one of slavery which obliged a woman to
+     rise early and cook the family breakfast while her husband lay in
+     bed; to work all day long, and then in the evening, while he
+     smoked his pipe or enjoyed himself at the corner grocery, to mend
+     and patch his old clothes. But she thought the position of woman
+     was changing for the better. Even among the Indians a better
+     feeling is beginning to prevail. It is Indian etiquette for the
+     man to kill the deer or bear, and leave it on the spot where it
+     is struck down for the woman to carry home. She must drag it over
+     the ground or carry it on her back as best she may, while he
+     quietly awaits her coming in the family wigwam. A certain Indian,
+     after observing that white folks did differently by their women,
+     once resolved to follow their example. But such was the force of
+     public opinion that, when it was discovered that he brought home
+     his own game, both he and his wife were murdered. This shows what
+     fearful results prejudice may bring about; and the only
+     difference between the prejudice which ruled his tribe in regard
+     to woman and that which rules white American men to-day, is a
+     difference in degree, dependent upon the difference in
+     enlightenment. The principle is the same. The result would be the
+     same were each equally ignorant.
+
+The familiar faces of Edward M. Davis, Mary Grew, Adeline Thompson,
+Sarah Pugh, Anna McDowell and two of Lucretia Mott's noble
+daughters, gladdened many a heart during the various sessions of
+the convention. Beautiful tributes were paid to Mrs. Mott by
+several of the speakers. The Philadelphia convention was
+supplemented by a most delightful social gathering, without mention
+of which a report of the occasion would be incomplete:
+
+     Like many historical events, this was entirely unpremeditated, no
+     one who participated in its pleasures had any forewarning, aside
+     from an informal invitation to lunch with Mrs. Hannah Whitehall
+     Smith and her generous husband, both earnest friends of
+     temperance and important allies of the woman suffrage movement.
+     Mrs. Smith met the guests at the station in Philadelphia, tickets
+     in hand, marshaling them to their respective seats in the cars as
+     if born to command, and on arriving at Germantown, transferred
+     them to carriages in waiting, with the promptness of a railroad
+     official. Without noise or confusion one and all crossed the
+     threshold of her well-ordered mansion, and with other invited
+     guests were soon seated in the spacious parlor, talking in groups
+     here and there. "Ah!" said Mrs. Smith on entering, "this will
+     never do, think of all the good things that will be lost in these
+     side talks. My plan is to have a general conversation, a kind of
+     love-feast, each telling her experience. It would be pleasant to
+     know how each has reached the same platform, through the tangled
+     labyrinths of human life." Soon all was silence and one after
+     another related the special incidents in childhood, girlhood and
+     mature years that had turned her thoughts to the consideration of
+     woman's position. The stories were as varied as they were
+     pathetic and amusing, and were listened to amidst smiles and
+     tears with the deepest interest. And when all[89] had finished
+     the tender revelations of the hopes and fears, the struggles and
+     triumphs through which each soul had passed, these sacred
+     memories seemed to bind us anew together in a friendship that we
+     hope may never end. A sumptuous lunch followed, and amid much
+     gaiety and laughter the guests dispersed, giving the hospitable
+     host and hostess a warm farewell--a day to be remembered by all
+     of us.
+
+Our Senate committee, through its chairman, Hon. Elbridge G.
+Lapham, very soon reported in favor of the submission of a
+sixteenth amendment. We had had a favorable minority report in the
+House in 1871 and in the Senate in 1879--but this was the first
+favorable majority report we had ever had in either house:
+
+                                   IN THE SENATE, MONDAY, June 5, 1882.
+
+     Mr. LAPHAM: I am instructed by the Select Committee on Woman
+     Suffrage, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. R. No.
+     60) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United
+     States, to report it with a favorable recommendation, without
+     amendment, for the consideration of the Senate. This is a
+     majority report, and the minority desire the opportunity to
+     present their report also, and have printed the reasons which
+     they give for dissenting. As this is a question of more than
+     ordinary importance, I should like to have 1,000 extra copies of
+     the report printed for the use of the committee.
+
+     Mr. GEORGE: I present the views of the minority of the committee,
+     consisting of the senator from Tennessee [Mr. Jackson], the
+     senator from Nevada [Mr. Fair], and myself.
+
+     The PRESIDENT _pro tempore_: It is moved that 1,000 extra copies
+     of the report be printed for the use of the Senate.
+
+     Mr. ANTHONY: The motion should go by the statute to the Committee
+     on Printing.
+
+     Mr. LAPHAM: I will present it in the form of a resolution for
+     reference to the Committee on Printing.
+
+     The resolution was referred to the Committee on Printing, as
+     follows:
+
+          _Resolved_, That 1,000 additional copies of the report and
+          views of the minority on Senate Joint Resolution No. 60 be
+          printed for the use of the Select Committee on Woman
+          Suffrage.
+
+In the Senate of the United States, June 5, 1882, Mr. Lapham, from
+the Committee on Woman Suffrage, submitted the following report:
+
+     _The Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, to whom was referred
+     Senate Resolution No. 60, proposing an amendment to the
+     Constitution of the United States to secure the right of suffrage
+     to all citizens without regard to sex, having considered the
+     same, respectfully report: _
+
+     The gravity and importance of the proposed amendment must be
+     obvious to all who have given the subject the consideration it
+     demands.
+
+     A very brief history of the origin of this movement in the United
+     States and of the progress made in the cause of female suffrage
+     will not be out of place at this time. A World's Anti-slavery
+     Convention was held in London on June 12, 1840, to which
+     delegates from all the organized societies were invited. Several
+     of the American societies sent women as delegates. Their
+     credentials were presented, and an able and exhaustive discussion
+     was had by many of the leading men of America and Great Britain
+     upon the question of their being admitted to seats in the
+     convention. They were allowed no part in the discussion. They
+     were denied seats as delegates, and, by reason of that denial, it
+     was determined to hold conventions after their return to the
+     United States, for the purpose of asserting and advocating their
+     rights as citizens, and especially the right of suffrage. Prior
+     to this, and as early as the year 1836, a proposal had been made
+     in the legislature of the State of New York to confer upon
+     married women their separate rights of property. The subject was
+     under consideration and agitation during the eventful period
+     which preceded the constitutional convention of New York in the
+     year 1846, and the radical changes made in the fundamental law in
+     that year. In 1848 the first act "For the More Effectual
+     Protection of the Property of Married Women" was passed by the
+     legislature of New York and became a law. It passed by a vote of
+     93 to 9 in the Assembly and 23 to 1 in the Senate. It was
+     subsequently amended so as to authorize women to engage in
+     business on their own account and to receive their own earnings.
+     This legislation was the outgrowth of a bill prepared several
+     years before under the direction of the Hon. John Savage,
+     chief-justice of the Supreme Court, and of the Hon. John C.
+     Spencer, one of the ablest lawyers in the State, one of the
+     revisers of the statutes of New York, and afterward a cabinet
+     officer. Laws granting separate rights of property and the right
+     to transact business, similar to those adopted in New York, have
+     been enacted in many, if not in most of the States, and may now
+     be regarded as the settled policy of American legislation on the
+     subject.
+
+     After the enactment of the first law in New York, as before
+     stated, and in the month of July, 1848, the first convention
+     demanding suffrage for women was held at Seneca Falls in said
+     State. The same persons who had been excluded from the World's
+     Convention in London were prominent and instrumental in calling
+     the meeting and in framing the declaration of sentiments adopted
+     by it, which, after reciting the unjust limitations and wrongs to
+     which women are subjected, closed in these words:
+
+          Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half of
+          the people of this country and their social and religious
+          degradation; in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and
+          because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed and
+          fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist
+          that they have immediate admission to all the rights and
+          privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United
+          States. In entering upon the great work before us we
+          anticipate no small amount of misconception,
+          misrepresentation and ridicule; but we shall use every
+          instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We
+          shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State
+          and national legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit
+          and the press in our behalf. We hope this convention will be
+          followed by a series of conventions embracing every part of
+          the country.
+
+     The meeting also adopted a series of resolutions, one of which
+     was in the following words:
+
+          _Resolved_, That it is the duty of the women of this country
+          to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective
+          franchise.
+
+     This declaration was signed by seventy of the women of Western
+     New York, among whom was one or more of those who addressed your
+     committee on the subject of the pending amendment, and there were
+     present, participating in and approving of the movement, a large
+     number of prominent men, among whom were Elisha Foote, a lawyer
+     of distinction, and since that time Commissioner of Patents, and
+     the Hon. Jacob Chamberlain, who afterwards represented his
+     district in the other House. From the movement thus inaugurated,
+     conventions have been held from that time to the present in the
+     principal villages, cities and capitals of the various States, as
+     well as the capital of the nation.
+
+     The First National Convention upon the subject was held at
+     Worcester, Mass., in October, 1850, and had the support and
+     encouragement of many leading men of the republic, among whom we
+     name the following: Gerrit Smith, Joshua R. Giddings, Ralph Waldo
+     Emerson, John G. Whittier, A. Bronson Alcott, Samuel J. May,
+     Theodore Parker, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Elizur
+     Wright, William J. Elder, Stephen S. Foster, Horace Greeley,
+     Oliver Johnson, Henry Ward Beecher, Horace Mann. The Fourth
+     National Convention was held at the city of Cleveland, Ohio,
+     October, 1853. The Rev. Asa Mahan, president of Oberlin College,
+     and Hon. Joshua R. Giddings were there. Horace Greeley and
+     William Henry Channing addressed letters to the convention. The
+     letter of Mr. Channing stated the proposition to be  that--
+
+          The right of suffrage be granted to the people, universally,
+          without distinction of sex; and that the age for attaining
+          legal and political majority be made the same for women as
+          for men.
+
+     In 1857, Hon. Salmon P. Chase, chief-justice of the Supreme Court
+     of the United States, then governor of Ohio, recommended to the
+     legislature a constitutional amendment on the subject, and a
+     select committee of the Senate made an elaborate report,
+     concluding with a resolution in the following words:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the Judiciary Committee be instructed to
+          report to the Senate a bill to submit to the qualified
+          electors, at the next general election for senators and
+          representatives, an amendment to the constitution, whereby
+          the elective franchise shall be extended to the citizens of
+          Ohio _without distinction of sex_.
+
+     During the same year a similar report was made in the legislature
+     of Wisconsin. From the report on the subject we quote the
+     following:
+
+          We believe that political equality, by leading the thoughts
+          and purposes of men and women into the same channel, will
+          more completely carry out the designs of nature. Woman will
+          be possessed of a positive power, and hollow compliments
+          will be exchanged for well-grounded respect when we see her
+          nobly discharging her part in the great intellectual and
+          moral struggles of the age that wait their solution by a
+          direct appeal to the ballot-box. Woman's power is at present
+          poetical and unsubstantial; let it be practical and real.
+          There is no reality in any power that cannot be coined in
+          votes.
+
+     The effect of these discussions and efforts has been the gradual
+     advancement of public sentiment towards conceding the right of
+     suffrage without distinction of sex. In the territories of
+     Wyoming and Utah, full suffrage has already been given. In regard
+     to the exercise of the right in the territory of Wyoming, the
+     present governor of that territory, Hon. John W. Hoyt, in an
+     address delivered in Philadelphia, April 3, 1882, in answer to a
+     question as to the operation of the law, said:
+
+          First of all, the experience of Wyoming has shown that the
+          only actual trial of woman suffrage hitherto made--a trial
+          made in a new country where the conditions were not
+          exceptionably favorable--has produced none but the most
+          desirable results. And surely none will deny that in such a
+          matter a single ounce of experience is worth a ton of
+          conjecture. But since it may be claimed that the sole
+          experiment of Wyoming does not afford a sufficient guaranty
+          of general expediency, let us see whether reason will not
+          furnish a like answer. The great majority of women in this
+          country already possess sufficient intelligence to enable
+          them to vote judiciously on nearly all questions of a local
+          nature. I think this will be conceded. Secondly, with their
+          superior quickness of perception, it is fair to assume that
+          when stimulated by a demand for a knowledge of political
+          principles--such a demand as a sense of the responsibility
+          of the voter would create--they would not be slow in rising
+          to at least the rather low level at present occupied by the
+          average masculine voter. So that, viewing the subject from
+          an intellectual stand-point merely, such fears as at first
+          spring up, drop away, one by one, and disappear. But it must
+          not be forgotten that a very large proportion of questions
+          to be settled by the ballot, both those of principle and
+          such as refer to candidates, have in them a _moral_ element
+          which is vital. And here we are safer with the ballot in the
+          hands of woman; for her keener insight and truer moral sense
+          will more certainly guide her aright--and not her alone, but
+          also, by reflex action, all whose minds are open to the
+          influence of her example. The weight of this answer can
+          hardly be overestimated. In my judgment, this moral
+          consideration far more than offsets all the objections that
+          can be based on any assumed lack of an intellectual
+          appreciation of the few questions almost wholly commercial
+          and economical. Last of all, a majority of questions to be
+          voted on touch the interests of woman as they do those of
+          man. It is upon her finer sensibilities, her purer
+          instincts, and her maternal nature that the results of
+          immorality and vice in every form fall with more crushing
+          weight.
+
+     A criticism has been made upon the exercise of this right by the
+     women of Utah that the plural wives in that territory are under
+     the control of their polygamous husbands. Be that as it may, it
+     is an undoubted fact that there is probably no city of equal size
+     on this continent where there is less disturbance of the peace,
+     or where the citizen is more secure in his person or property,
+     either by day or night, than in the city of Salt Lake. A
+     qualified right of suffrage has also been given to women in
+     Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Vermont, New
+     Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky, and New York. Of
+     the operation of the law in the last-named State, Governor
+     Cornell in a message to the legislature on May 12, said:
+
+          The recent law, 1882, making women eligible as school
+          trustees, has produced admirable results, not only in
+          securing the election of many of them as trustees of
+          schools, but especially in elevating the qualifications of
+          men proposed as candidates for school-boards, and also in
+          stimulating greater interest in the management of schools
+          generally. The effect of these new experiences is to widen
+          the influence and usefulness of women.
+
+     So well satisfied are the representatives in the legislature of
+     that State with these results that the assembly, by a large
+     majority, recently passed to a third reading an act giving the
+     full right of suffrage to women, the passage of which has been
+     arrested in the Senate by an opinion of the attorney-general that
+     a constitutional amendment is necessary to accomplish the object.
+     In England women are allowed to vote at all municipal elections,
+     and hold the office of guardian of the poor. In four States,
+     Nebraska, Indiana, Oregon, and Iowa, propositions have passed
+     their legislatures and are now pending, conferring the right of
+     suffrage upon women.
+
+     Notwithstanding all these efforts, it is the opinion of the best
+     informed men and women, who have devoted more than a third of a
+     century to the consideration and discussion of the subject, that
+     an amendment to the federal constitution, analogous to the
+     fifteenth amendment of that instrument, is the most safe, direct,
+     and expeditious mode of settling the question. It is the question
+     of the enfranchisement of half the race now denied the right, and
+     that, too, the most favored half in the estimation of those who
+     deny the right. Petitions, from time to time, signed by many
+     thousands, have been presented to congress, and there are now
+     upon our files seventy-five petitions representing eighteen
+     different States. Two years ago treble the number of petitions,
+     representing over twenty-five States, were presented.
+
+     If congress should adopt the pending resolution, the question
+     would go before the intelligent bodies who are chosen to
+     represent the people in the legislatures of the various States,
+     and would receive a more enlightened and careful consideration
+     than if submitted to the masses of the male population, with all
+     their prejudices, in the form of an amendment to the
+     constitutions of the several States. Besides, such an amendment,
+     if adopted, would secure that uniformity in the exercise of the
+     right which could not be expected by action from the several
+     States. We think the time has arrived for the submission of such
+     an amendment to the legislatures of the States. We know the
+     prejudices which the movement for suffrage to all without regard
+     to sex, had to encounter from the very outset, prejudices which
+     still exist in the minds of many. The period for employing the
+     weapons of ridicule and enmity has not yet passed. Now, as in the
+     beginning, we hear appeals to prejudice and the baser passions of
+     men. The anathema, "woe betide the hand that plucks the wizard
+     beard of hoary error," is yet employed to deter men from acting
+     upon their convictions as to what ought to be done with reference
+     to this great question. To those who are inclined to cast
+     ridicule upon the movement, we quote the answer made while one of
+     the early conventions was in session in the State of New York:
+
+          A collection of women arguing for political rights and for
+          the privileges usually conceded only to the other sex is one
+          of the easiest things in the world to make fun of. There is
+          no end to the smart speeches and the witty remarks that may
+          be made on the subject. But when we seriously attempt to
+          show that a woman who pays taxes ought not to have a voice
+          in the manner in which the taxes are expended, that a woman
+          whose property and liberty and person are controlled by the
+          laws should have no voice in framing those laws, it is not
+          so easy. If women are fit to rule in a monarchy, it is
+          difficult to say why they are not qualified to vote in a
+          republic; nor can there be greater indelicacy in a woman
+          going to the ballot-box than there is in a woman opening a
+          legislature or issuing orders to an army.
+
+     To all who are more serious in their opposition to the movement,
+     we would remind them of the words of a few distinguished  men:--
+
+          I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who
+          assist in bearing its burdens, by no means excluding
+          women.--[ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+          I believe that the vices in our large cities will never be
+          conquered until the ballot is put into the hands of
+          women.--[Bishop SIMPSON.
+
+          I do not think our politics will be what it ought to be till
+          women are legislators and voters.--[Rev. JAMES FREEMAN
+          CLARKE.
+
+          Women have quite as much interest in good government as men,
+          and I have never heard or read of any satisfactory reason
+          for excluding them from the ballot-box; I have no more doubt
+          of their ameliorating influence upon politics than I have of
+          the influence they exert everywhere else.--[GEORGE WILLIAM
+          CURTIS.
+
+          In view of the terrible corruption of our politics, people
+          ask, can we maintain universal suffrage? I say no, not
+          without women. The only bear-gardens in our community are
+          the town-meeting and the caucus. Why is this? Because these
+          are the only places at which women are not present.--[Bishop
+          GILBERT HAVEN.
+
+          I repeat my conviction of the right of woman suffrage.
+          Because suffrage is a right and not a grace, it should be
+          extended to women who bear their share of the public cost,
+          and who have the same interest that I have in the selection
+          of officials and the making of laws which affect their
+          lives, their property, and their happiness.--[Governor LONG
+          of Massachusetts.
+
+          However much the giving of political power to woman may
+          disagree with our notions of propriety, we conclude that,
+          being required by that first prerequisite to greater
+          happiness, the law of equal freedom, such a concession is
+          unquestionably right and good.--[HERBERT SPENCER.
+
+          In the administration of a State neither a woman as a woman,
+          nor a man as a man has any special functions, but the gifts
+          are equally diffused in both sexes. The same opportunity for
+          self-development which makes man a good guardian will make
+          woman a good guardian, for their original nature is the
+          same.--[PLATO.
+
+     It has become a custom, almost universal, to invite and to
+     welcome the presence of women at political assemblages, to listen
+     to discussions upon the topics involved in the canvass. Their
+     presence has done much toward the elevation, refinement, and
+     freedom from insincerity and hypocrisy, of such discussions. Why
+     would not the same results be wrought out by their presence at
+     the ballot-box? Wherever the right has been exercised by law,
+     both in England and this country, such has been its effect in the
+     conduct of elections.
+
+     The framers of our system of government embodied in the
+     Declaration of Independence the statement that to secure the
+     rights which are therein declared to be inalienable and in
+     respect to which all men are created equal, "governments are
+     instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent
+     of the governed." The system of representative government they
+     inaugurated can only be maintained and perpetuated by allowing
+     all citizens to give that consent through the medium of the
+     ballot-box--the only mode in which the "consent of the governed"
+     can be obtained. To deny to one-half of the citizens of the
+     republic all participation in framing the laws by which they are
+     to be governed, simply on account of their sex, is political
+     despotism to those who are excluded, and "taxation without
+     representation" to such of them as have property liable to
+     taxation. Their investiture with separate estates leads,
+     logically and necessarily, to their right to the ballot as the
+     only means afforded them for the protection of their property, as
+     it is the only means of their full protection in the enjoyment of
+     the immeasurably greater right to life and liberty. To be
+     governed without such consent is clear denial of a right declared
+     to be inalienable.
+
+     It is said that the majority of women do not desire and would not
+     exercise the right, if acknowledged. The assertion rests in
+     conjecture. In ordinary elections multitudes of men do not
+     exercise the right. It is only in extraordinary cases, and when
+     their interests and patriotism are appealed to, that male voters
+     are with unanimity found at the polls. It would doubtless be the
+     same with women. In the exceptional instances in which the
+     exercise of the right has been permitted, they have engaged with
+     zeal in every important canvass. Even if the statement were
+     founded in fact, it furnishes no argument in favor of excluding
+     women from the exercise of the franchise. _It is the denial of
+     the right of which they complain._ There are multitudes of men
+     whose vote can be purchased at an election for the smallest and
+     most trifling consideration. Yet all such would spurn with scorn
+     and unutterable contempt a proposition to purchase their _right
+     to vote_, and no consideration would be deemed an equivalent for
+     such a surrender. Women are more sensitive upon this question
+     than men, and so long as this right, deemed by them to be sacred,
+     is denied, so long the agitation which has marked the progress of
+     this contest thus far will be continued.
+
+     Entertaining these views, your committee report back the proposed
+     resolution without amendment for the consideration of the Senate,
+     and recommend its passage.
+
+                                             E. G. LAPHAM,
+                                             T. M. FERRY,
+                                             H. W. BLAIR.
+
+     The constitution is wisely conservative in the provision for its
+     own amendment. It is eminently proper that whenever a large
+     number of the people have indicated a desire for an amendment,
+     the judgment of the amending power should be consulted. In view
+     of the extensive agitation of the question of woman suffrage, and
+     the numerous and respectable petitions that have been presented
+     to congress in its support, I unite with the committee in
+     recommending that the proposed amendment be submitted to the
+     States.
+
+                                             H. B. ANTHONY.
+
+June 5, 1882, Mr. George, from the Committee on Woman Suffrage,
+submitted the following views of the minority:
+
+     The undersigned are unable to concur in the report of the
+     majority recommending the adoption of the joint resolution
+     proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
+     for reasons which they will now proceed to state.
+
+     We do not base our dissent upon any ground having relation to the
+     expediency or inexpediency of vesting in women the right to vote.
+     Hence we shall not discuss the very grave and important social
+     and political questions which have arisen from the agitation to
+     admit to equal political rights the women of our country, and to
+     impose on them the burden of discharging, equally with men,
+     political and public duties. Whether so radical a change in our
+     political and social system would advance the happiness and
+     welfare of the American people, considered as a whole, without
+     distinction of sex, is a question on which there is a marked
+     disagreement among the most enlightened and thoughtful of both
+     sexes. Its solution involves considerations so intimately
+     pertaining to all the relations of social and private life--the
+     family circle--the status of women as wives, mothers, daughters,
+     and companions, to the functions in private and public life which
+     they ought to perform, and their ability and willingness to
+     perform them--the harmony and stability of marriage, and the
+     division of the labors and cares of that union--that we are
+     convinced that the proper and safe discussion and weighing of
+     them would be best secured by deliberations in the separate
+     communities which have so deep an interest in the rightful
+     solution of this grave question. Great organic changes in
+     government, especially when they involve, as this proposed change
+     does, a revolution in the modes of life, long-standing habits,
+     and the most sacred domestic relations of the people, should
+     result only upon the demand of the people, who are to be affected
+     by them. Such changes should originate with, and be molded and
+     guided in their operation and extent by, the people themselves.
+     They should neither precede their demand for them, nor be delayed
+     in opposition to their clearly expressed wishes. Their happiness,
+     their welfare, their advancement, are the sole objects of the
+     institution of government; of these they are not only the best,
+     but they are the exclusive judges. They have commissioned us to
+     exercise for their good the great powers which they have
+     intrusted to us by their letter of attorney, the constitution;
+     not to assume to ourselves a superior wisdom, or usurp a
+     guardianship over them, dictating reforms not demanded by them,
+     and attempting to grasp power not granted.
+
+     The organization of our political institutions is such that the
+     great mass of the powers of government, the proper exercise of
+     which so deeply concerns the welfare of the people, is left to
+     the States. In that depository the will of the people is most
+     certainly ascertained, and the exercise of power is more directly
+     under their guidance. Our free institutions have had their great
+     development and owe their stability more to causes connected with
+     the direct exercise of the power of the people in local
+     self-government than to all other causes combined. Recent events,
+     though tending strongly to centralization, have not destroyed in
+     the public mind the inestimable value of local self-government.
+     Among the powers which have hitherto been esteemed as most
+     essential to the public welfare is the power of the States to
+     regulate their domestic institutions in their own way; and among
+     those institutions none has been preserved by the States with
+     greater jealousy than their absolute control over marriage and
+     the relation between the sexes.
+
+     Another power of the States, deemed by the people when they
+     assented to the Constitution of the United States most essential
+     to the public welfare, was the right of each State to determine
+     the qualifications of electors. Wherever the federal constitution
+     speaks of elections for a federal office, it adopts the
+     qualifications for electors prescribed by the State in which the
+     election is to be held.
+
+     Nor has this fundamental rule been departed from in the fifteenth
+     amendment. That impairs it only to the extent that race, color,
+     or previous condition of servitude shall not be made a ground of
+     exclusion from the right of suffrage. In all else that pertains
+     to the qualifications of electors the absolute will of the State
+     prevails. This amendment was inserted from considerations which
+     pertain to no other part of the question of suffrage. The negro
+     race had been recently emancipated; it was supposed that the
+     antagonism between them and their old masters and the prejudice
+     of race would be such as to obstruct the equal enjoyment of the
+     rights of freedom conferred by the national forces, and would
+     prevent the white race of the South from admitting the negro
+     race, however deserving it might be, to equal political
+     privileges. And, moreover, it was deemed by the North a point of
+     honor that, having conferred freedom on the negro, he should be
+     provided with the right of suffrage.
+
+     None of these considerations applies in the present case. It is
+     not pretended that any such antagonism or prejudice exists
+     between the sexes. It is not pretended that women have been
+     redeemed from an intolerable slavery by the power of the
+     government. It is not pretended that the sex in whose hands is
+     the political power of the States is unwilling, from any cause,
+     to do full justice to the other; for it is conceded that if the
+     proposed amendment should be adopted, its incorporation into the
+     constitution must result from the voluntary action of that sex in
+     which is vested this political power. No good reason has been
+     given why the congress of the United States should force or even
+     hasten the States into such action, and no such reason can be
+     given without a reversal of the theories on which our free
+     institutions are based.
+
+     The history given by the majority, of the legislation of the
+     several States in relation to the rights of persons and property
+     of married women showing as it does a steady advance in the
+     abolition of their common-law disabilities, conclusively
+     demonstrates that this question may be safely left for solution
+     where it now is and has always hitherto belonged. The public mind
+     is now being agitated in many of the States as to the rights of
+     women, not only as to suffrage, but as to their engaging in the
+     various employments from which they have hitherto been excluded.
+     This exclusion from certain employments has not been the result
+     of municipal but of social laws--the strongest of all human
+     regulations. As these social laws have been modified, so the
+     sphere of woman's activities and usefulness has been enlarged.
+     These social laws are in the main the groundwork of the exclusion
+     of women from the right of suffrage. In the establishment of
+     these laws, as in their modification, women themselves have even
+     a greater influence than men. Their disability to vote is,
+     therefore, self-imposed; when they shall will otherwise, it is
+     not too much to say that the disability will no longer exist. If
+     in the future it shall be found that these laws deny a right to
+     women the enjoyment of which they desire, and for the exercise of
+     which they are qualified, it cannot be doubted that they will
+     give way. If, on the contrary, neither of these shall be
+     discovered, it will happen that the exclusion of suffrage will
+     not be considered as a denial of a right, but as an exemption
+     granted to women from cares and burdens which a tender and
+     affectionate regard for womanhood refuses to cast on them.
+
+     We are convinced, therefore, that the best mode of disposing of
+     the question is to leave its solution to that power most amenable
+     to the influences and usages of society in which women have so
+     large and so potential a share, confident that at no distant day
+     a right result will be reached in each State which will be
+     satisfactory to both sexes and perfectly consistent with the
+     welfare and happiness of the people. Certainly this must be so if
+     the people themselves, the source and foundation of all power,
+     are capable of self-government.
+
+     At two of its meetings the committee listened with great pleasure
+     to several eminent ladies who appeared before it as advocates of
+     the proposed amendment. At none of the meetings of the committee,
+     including that at which the members voted on the proposed
+     amendment, was there any discussion of this important subject;
+     none was asked for or desired by any member of the committee, and
+     the vote was taken. The reports of the majority and of the
+     minority of the committee are therefore to be construed only as
+     the individual opinions of the members who respectively concur in
+     them. They are in no sense to be treated as the judgment of a
+     deliberative body charged with the examination of this important
+     subject.
+
+     The foregoing leads us to but one recommendation: that the
+     committee should be discharged from the further consideration of
+     the subject, that the resolution raising it be rescinded, and
+     that the proposed amendment be rejected.
+
+                                             J. Z. GEORGE,
+                                             HOWELL E. JACKSON,
+                                             JAMES G. FAIR.
+
+In a letter from Miss Caroline Biggs to the president of the
+National Association the following congratulations came from the
+friends of suffrage in England:
+
+
+                  CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR      }
+                       WOMAN SUFFRAGE, 64 Berners Street, LONDON, W. }
+
+     At a meeting of the Executive Committee, on May 18, 1882, the
+     following resolution was proposed by Mrs. Lucas, seconded by Miss
+     Jane Cobden, and passed unanimously:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the Executive Committee of the National
+          Society for Woman Suffrage have heard with hearty
+          satisfaction that a select committee of the United States
+          Senate in Washington has passed by a majority of votes the
+          recommendation to adopt a constitutional amendment in favor
+          of women's suffrage. They feel that the cause of woman is
+          one in all countries, and they offer their most cordial
+          congratulations to the women of America on the important
+          step which has just been gained, and their warmest
+          good-wishes for a speedy success in obtaining a measure
+          which will guarantee justice and equal rights to half the
+          population of a sister country.
+
+Nebraska now became the center of interest, as a constitutional
+amendment to secure the right of suffrage to woman was submitted to
+be voted upon in the November election. As the submission of such a
+proposition makes an important crisis in the history of a State, as
+well as in the suffrage movement, the notes of preparation were as
+varied as multitudinous throughout the nation, rousing all to
+renewed earnestness in the work. Both the American and National
+associations decided to hold their annual conventions in Omaha, the
+chief city of the State, and to support as many speakers[90] as
+possible through the campaign, that meetings might be held and
+tracts distributed in every county of the State, an Herculean
+undertaking, as Nebraska comprises 230,000 inhabitants scattered
+over an area of 76,000 square miles, divided into sixty-six
+counties; and yet this is what the friends of the measure proposed
+to do. The American Association[91] held its convention September
+12, 13, 14. The National[92] continued three days, September 27,
+28, 29.
+
+The Opera House, in which the National Association held its
+meeting, was completely filled during all the sessions. The address
+of welcome was given by Hon. A. J. Poppleton, one of the most
+distinguished lawyers in that State. He said:
+
+     I deem it no light compliment that, in the face of an explicit
+     declaration that I am not in favor of woman suffrage, I have been
+     asked to make, on behalf of the people of Omaha and the State, an
+     address of welcome to the many distinguished men and women whom
+     this occasion has brought together. Doubtless the consideration
+     shown me is a recognition of the fact that I have been a
+     life-long advocate of the advancement of women through the
+     agencies of equality in education, equality in employment,
+     equality in wages, equality in property-rights and personal
+     liberty, in short, a fair, open, equal field in the struggle for
+     life. That I cannot go beyond this and embrace equal suffrage, is
+     due rather to long adherence to the political philosophy of
+     Edmund Burke than any lack of conviction of the absolute equality
+     of men and women in natural rights.
+
+     In the winter of 1852-3, when a student at Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,
+     while the spot on which we now stand was Indian country as yet
+     untouched by the formative power of national legislation, I
+     listened to Miss Susan B. Anthony, Miss Antoinette Brown and
+     others in the advocacy of the rights of women. It seems a strange
+     fortune that brings now, nearly thirty years after, one of those
+     speakers, crowned with a national reputation, into a State carved
+     out of that Indian country and containing 60,000 people, in
+     advocacy of equal suffrage for her sex. This single fact
+     proclaims in thunder tones the bravery, the fidelity, the
+     devotion of these pioneers of reform, and challenges for them the
+     sympathy, respect, esteem and admiration of every good man and
+     woman in America.
+
+     The thirty years commencing about 1850 have been prolific of
+     momentous changes. It is the era of the sewing machine, of the
+     domestication of steam and electricity, the overthrow of the
+     great rebellion, the destruction of slavery, the consolidation of
+     the German empire, the fall of the second Napoleon, the birth of
+     the French republic, the incorporation of India into the British
+     empire, and the revolution of commerce by the Pacific railways
+     and the Suez canal. Great changes have likewise taken place in
+     the structure of our own State and national legislation, the most
+     conspicuous and pronounced result being the centralization of
+     power in the federal government. It has been preeminently a
+     period of amelioration, a long stride in the direction of
+     tolerance of opinion, belief, speech and creed. Hospitals,
+     asylums, schools, colleges and the manifold agencies of an
+     advanced Christian civilization for alleviating the average lot
+     of humanity, have grown and multiplied beyond the experience of
+     former times, and men like Matthew Vassar, George Peabody and
+     John Hopkins have hastened to consecrate the abundant fruits of
+     honorable lives to the exaltation and advancement of the race.
+
+     But in no direction have greater changes occurred in this country
+     than in the condition of woman in respect to employment, wages,
+     personal and property rights. In all heathen countries at this
+     hour the mass of women are slaves or worse, wholly deprived of
+     civil rights. In most Christian countries their legal status is
+     one of absolute subordination in person and property to men. In
+     this republic alone have we attained an altitude where some small
+     measure of justice is meted out to women by the laws. In 1850 a
+     fair measure of her rights was the grim edict of the common law
+     holding her in guardianship prior to marriage, and upon marriage
+     making her and all her possessions practically the property of
+     her husband, while a cruel, unreasonable and vicious public
+     opinion excluded her from all except menial and ill-paid service.
+     One by one and year by year these barriers have given way, until
+     in many States her property and personal rights enjoy the
+     complete shelter of the law. Now more than half the occupations
+     and employments of this age of industrial activity and progress
+     are thronged with the faithful, efficient and contented labor of
+     women.
+
+     The law has broken forever the thraldom of an odious and hopeless
+     marriage by reasonable laws for divorce for just cause, given her
+     the custody of her children, vested her with the absolute power
+     of disposition and control over her property, inherited or
+     acquired, freed it from the claims of her husband's creditors,
+     and clothed her with ample legal remedies even against her
+     husband. Perhaps Nebraska alone of all the States, by its court
+     of last resort, has upheld the power of the wife to make
+     contracts with her husband and enforce them against him in her
+     own name by the appropriate legal remedies. This surely is
+     progress. Beyond this there lies but one field to win or fortress
+     to reduce. Then surely the worn soldier in the long campaign
+     crowned with the garlands of victory may rest from the battle.
+
+     Not many years ago, coming from Wisconsin, I think, a girl
+     presented herself in the Illinois courts for admission to the
+     bar, and after a rigid and unsparing examination she was admitted
+     with public compliment. She took an office in the great city of
+     Chicago and in the short remnant of an uncertain life so wrought
+     in her profession as to attain an average professional income,
+     and win the undivided respect and esteem of her professional
+     associates. And when from a far country, whither she had gone in
+     hope to escape a fell disease, her lifeless corpse was brought
+     back for sepulture, many of the foremost lawyers of Chicago
+     gathered about her bier and bore emphatic testimony to her
+     virtues as a woman and her attainments as a lawyer. To me no
+     greater work has been done by any American woman. When Alta
+     Hulett unobtrusively, silently but indomitably pressed her way to
+     the front of the legal profession, and established herself there,
+     she vindicated the right of her sex to contend for the highest
+     prizes of life, and left her countrywomen a legacy which will
+     ultimately blazon her name imperishably in the history of the
+     advancement of women; and every American woman who, like her,
+     goes to the front of any honorable occupation, employment or
+     profession, and stays there, becomes her coaedjutor in work and a
+     sharer in her reward.
+
+     Laden with the trophies of thirty years of conflict, of progress,
+     of measurable success, the vice-president of the National Woman
+     Suffrage Association and her associates present themselves to
+     Nebraska and ask a hearing upon the final issue, "Shall this work
+     be crowned by granting to women in this State the highest
+     privilege of the citizen--suffrage?" On behalf of the people of a
+     State whose legislature has granted everything else to
+     women--whose devotion to free speech, untrammeled discussion and
+     an independent press has been conspicuous in its constitutional
+     and legislative history--I welcome them to this city and State,
+     and bespeak for them a patient, candid, respectful, appreciative
+     hearing.
+
+Miss Anthony replied briefly to Mr. Poppleton's eloquent address
+and returned the thanks of the convention for the courtesy with
+which its members had been received by the citizens of Omaha.[93]
+She then read a letter from the president of the convention:
+
+                                  TOULOUSE, France, September 1, 1882.
+
+     _To the National Woman Suffrage Association in Convention
+     assembled:_
+
+     DEAR FRIENDS: People never appreciate the magnitude and
+     importance on any step in progress, at the time it is taken, nor
+     the full moral worth of the characters who inspire it, hence it
+     will be in line with the whole history of reform from the
+     beginning if woman's enfranchisement in Nebraska should in many
+     minds seem puerile and premature, and its advocates fanatical and
+     unreasonable. Nevertheless the proposition speaks for itself. A
+     constitutional amendment to crown one-half of the people of a
+     great State with all their civil and political rights, is the
+     most vital question the citizens of Nebraska have ever been
+     called on to consider; and the fact cannot be gainsaid that some
+     of the purest and ablest women America can boast, are now in the
+     State advocating the measure.
+
+     For the last two months I have been assisting my son in the
+     compilation of a work soon to be published in America, under the
+     title, "The Woman Question in Europe," to which distinguished
+     women in different nations have each contributed a sketch of the
+     progress made in their condition. One interesting and significant
+     fact as shown in this work, is, that in the very years we began
+     to agitate the question of equal rights, there was a simultaneous
+     movement by women for various privileges, industrial, social,
+     educational, civil and political, throughout the civilized world.
+     And this without the slightest concert of action, or knowledge of
+     each other's existence, showing that the time had come in the
+     natural evolution of the species, in the order of human
+     development, for woman to assert her rights, and to demand the
+     recognition of the feminine element in all the vital interests of
+     life.
+
+     To battle against a palpable fact in philosophy and the
+     accumulated facts in achievement that can be seen on all sides in
+     woman's work for the last forty years, from slavery to equality,
+     is as vain as to fight against the law of gravitation. We shall
+     as surely reach the goal we purposed when we started, as that the
+     rich prairies of Nebraska will ere long feed and educate millions
+     of brave men and women, gathered from every nation on the globe.
+     Every consideration for the improvement of your home life, for
+     the morality of your towns and cities, for the elevation of your
+     schools and colleges, and the loftiest motives of patriotism
+     should move you, men of Nebraska, to vote for this amendment.
+     Galton in his great work on Heredity says:
+
+          We are in crying want of a greater fund of ability in all
+          stations of life, for neither the classes of statesmen,
+          philosophers, artisans nor laborers, are up to the modern
+          complexity of their several professions. An extended
+          civilization like ours comprises more interests than the
+          ordinary statesmen or philosophers of our race are capable
+          of dealing with, and it exacts more intelligent work than
+          our ordinary artisans and laborers, are capable of
+          performing. Our race is overweighted, and appears likely to
+          be dragged into degeneracy by demands that exceed its
+          powers. If its average ability were raised a grade or two, a
+          new class of statesmen would conduct our complex affairs at
+          home and abroad, as easily as our best business men now do
+          their own private trades and professions. The needs of
+          centralization, communication, and culture, call for more
+          brains and mental stamina, than the average of our race
+          possesses.
+
+     Does it need a prophet to tell us where to begin this work? Does
+     not the physical and intellectual condition of the women of a
+     nation decide the capacity and power of its men? If we would give
+     our sons the help and inspiration of woman's thought and interest
+     in the complex questions of our present civilization, we must
+     first give her the power that political responsibility secures.
+     With the ballot in her own right hand, she would feel a new sense
+     of dignity, and command among men a respect they have never felt
+     before.
+
+     Nebraska has now the opportunity of making this grand experiment
+     of securing justice, liberty, equality, for the first time in the
+     world's history, to woman, through her education and
+     enfranchisement, of lifting man to that higher plane of thought
+     where he may be able wisely to meet all the emergencies of the
+     period in which he is called on to act. Let every man in Nebraska
+     now so do his duty, that, when the sun goes down on the eighth of
+     November, the glad news may be sent round the world that at last
+     one State in the American republic has fully accorded the sacred
+     right of self-government to all her citizens, black and white,
+     men and women. With sincere hope for this victory,
+
+                         Cordially yours,       ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
+
+Many interesting letters were received from friends at home and
+abroad, of which we give a few. The following is from our Minister
+Plenipotentiary at the German Court:
+
+                                   BERLIN, September 9, 1882.
+
+     Miss ANTHONY: _Esteemed Friend_: At this great distance I can
+     only sympathize with the earnest effort to be made this fall to
+     secure political recognition for women in Nebraska. I am glad
+     that the prospect is so good and that Nebraska, which gave a
+     name, with Kansas, to the first successful resistance to the
+     encroachments of slavery, is the arena where the battle is to be
+     fought under such promise of a just result. By recognizing the
+     right of its women to an equal share in all the duties and
+     responsibilities of life, Nebraska will honor itself while
+     securing for all time wholesome laws and administration.
+
+     I believe society would more benefit itself than grant a favor to
+     women by extending the suffrage to them. All the interests of
+     women are promoted by a government that shall guard the family
+     circle, restrain excess, promote education, shield the young from
+     temptation. While the true interests of men lie in the same
+     direction, women more generally appreciate these facts and
+     illustrate in their lives a desire for their attainment. Could we
+     bring to the ballot-box the great fund of virtue, intelligence
+     and good intention stored up in the minds and hearts of our wives
+     and sisters, how great the reinforcement would be for all that is
+     noble, patriotic and pure in public life! Who should fear the
+     result who desires the public welfare? From the stand-point of
+     better principles applied to the direction of public affairs and
+     the best individuals in office, the argument seems impregnable.
+
+     It is getting late to resist this measure on the ground that the
+     character of women themselves would be lowered by contact with
+     politics. That objection is identical with the motive which
+     causes the Turk to shut up his women in a harem and closely veil
+     them in public. He fears their delicacy will be tarnished if they
+     speak to any man but their proprietor. So prejudice feared woman
+     would be unsexed if she had equal education with man. The
+     professions were closed to women for the same consideration.
+     Women have vindicated their ability to endure the education and
+     engage in the dreaded pursuits, yet society is not dissolved, and
+     these fearful imaginings have proved idle dreams. As every
+     advance made by woman since the days when it was a mooted
+     law-point how large could be the stick with which her husband
+     could punish her, down to the day when congress opened to her the
+     bar of the United States Supreme Court, has been accompanied by
+     constantly refuted assertions that she and society were about to
+     be ruined. I think we can safely trust to her good sense, virtue
+     and delicacy to preserve for us the loved and venerated object we
+     have always known, even if society shall yield the still further
+     measure of complete enfranchisement, and thus add to her social
+     dignity, duties and responsibilities.
+
+     No class has ever been degraded by the ballot. All have rather
+     been elevated by it. We cannot rationally anticipate less
+     desirable personal consequences to those whose tendencies are
+     naturally good, than to those on whom the ballot has been
+     conferred belonging to a lower plane of being. But these
+     considerations go only to show the policy of granting suffrage to
+     women. From the stand-point of justice the argument is more
+     pressing. If woman asks for the ballot shall man deny it? By what
+     right? Certainly not by the right of a majority; for women are at
+     least as numerous. Certainly not by any right derived from
+     nature; for our common mother has set no brand on woman. If one
+     woman shall ask for a voice in the regulation of society of
+     which she is at least one-half, who shall say her nay? If any
+     woman shall ask it, who shall deny it because another woman does
+     not ask it? There are many men who do not value their
+     citizenship; shall other men therefore be deprived of the ballot?
+     Suppose many women would not avail themselves of such a function,
+     are those with higher, or other views, to be therefore kept in
+     tutelage?
+
+     I trust you may succeed in this work in Nebraska. It is of
+     supreme importance to the cause. The example of Nebraska would
+     soon be followed by other States. The current of such a reform
+     knows no retiring ebb. The suffrage once acquired will never be
+     relinquished; first, because it will recommend itself, as it has
+     in Wyoming, by its results; second, because the women will
+     jealously guard their rights, and defend them with their ballots.
+     Wishing I could do more than send you good wishes for the
+     cause,[94] I am, respectfully yours,
+
+                                             A. A. SARGENT.
+
+The following letter is from a daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+(a graduate of Vassar College, and classmate of Miss Elizabeth
+Poppleton), who two years before, on the eve of her departure for
+Europe, gave her eloquent address on Edmund Burke in that city:
+
+                                   TOULOUSE, France, September 3, 1882.
+
+     _To the Voters of my Generation in Nebraska:_
+
+     It is not my desire to present to you any argument, but only to
+     give you an episode in my own life. I desire to lay before you a
+     fact, not a fiction; a reality, not a supposition; an experience
+     not a theory.
+
+     I was born in a free republic and in my veins runs very
+     rebellious blood. An ancestor of my father was one of those
+     intrepid men who left the shores of old England and sailed forth
+     to establish on a distant continent the grandest republic that
+     has ever yet been known. That, you see, is not good blood to
+     submit to injustice. And on my mother's side we find a sturdy old
+     Puritan from whom our stock is traced, fleeing from England
+     because of the faith that was in him, and joining his rebellious
+     life to one of that honest Holland nation which had defied so
+     nobly the oppressions of the Catholic church and Spanish
+     inquisition. As if this were not sufficiently independent blood
+     to pass on to other generations, my own father became an
+     abolitionist, and step by step fought his belief to victory, and
+     my mother early gave her efforts to the elevation of woman. It is
+     all this, together with my living in the freest land on the globe
+     and in a century rife with discussions of all principles of
+     government, that has made me in every fiber a believer in
+     republican institutions.
+
+     Having been reared in a large family of boys where we enjoyed
+     equal freedom, and having received the same collegiate education
+     as my brothers, it is not until lately that I have felt the crime
+     of my womanhood. I have dwelt thus upon the antecedents and
+     influences of my life in order to ask you one question: Do you
+     not think I can appreciate the real meaning, the true sacredness
+     of a republic? Do you not believe I feel the duties it demands
+     of its citizens? But I want you to hold your reply in abeyance,
+     till I give you one bit more of history.
+
+     A ship at sea crossing on the Atlantic between Europe and
+     America. Of two persons on this vessel I wish to speak to you. Of
+     one I have already told you much; I need but add that my two
+     years spent in Europe,[95] previous to my return to America for a
+     few months last winter, had not made me less American, less a
+     lover of republicanism. And now this ship, baffling the February
+     storm, was sweeping nearer the land where the people reign. My
+     heart beat high as I thought it was in my native country where
+     women were free, more honored than in any nation in the world. As
+     I stood on the deck, the strong sea-wind blowing wildly about me,
+     and the ocean bearing on its heart-wave mountains, visions of the
+     grandeur of the nation lying off beyond the western horizon, rose
+     before me. And it was a proud heart that cried--"My Country!"
+
+     And the other person I want to speak of? It is a man, a German,
+     coming to the United States to escape military service in
+     Prussia. He came in the steerage; was poor and ignorant. He could
+     speak no English, not one word of your language and mine. His
+     fellows were all Irish, so I offered to be an interpreter for
+     him. I visited the steerage quarters, and returned with a heavy
+     heart. Such brutal faces as I saw! Ignorance, cruelty,
+     subserviency, were everywhere depicted. Herds of human beings
+     that I feared, they looked so dull and brutal. The full meaning
+     of a terrible truth rushed upon me. Soon these men would be my
+     sovereigns--I their subject!
+
+     I had just spent a year in that German's native land, and I
+     remembered that I had seen their women doing the work of men in
+     the fields, husbands returning from their day's labor
+     empty-handed, and their wives toiling on behind bent under heavy
+     burdens, and as I thought on this, our ship bore him and me
+     towards the land that glories in having given birth to Lucretia
+     Mott. In the country where he had been reared, I had seen women
+     harnessed with beasts of burden, dragging laden wagons, and yet
+     our vessel carried him and me at each moment towards a safe
+     harbor, in a land that pays homage to the memory of Margaret
+     Fuller. Our ship sailed on, taking him from a land where he had
+     been taught to worship royalty, whatever its worth or crime;
+     where he had paid cringing submission to an arbitrary rule of
+     police; where he had been surrounded by the degrading effects of
+     the mightiest military system on the globe. The ship plowed on
+     and on through the waves, bringing him to a republic, not one
+     principle of which he comprehended.
+
+     And now we sail up New York bay. The day is bright, and a
+     softening haze hangs over all. Surely this is some vision-land.
+     Yes, it is indeed a vision-land, for it has never known the
+     presence of a royal line; against its oppressors it fought in no
+     mean rebellious spirit, but rose in revolution with its motto,
+     "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
+     governed," written on its brow to be known of all men. And I
+     think as we slowly sail up the bay on our vessel, Does that
+     deadened soul respond to what lies before him? Does there in his
+     heart rise the prayer, Oh, God! make me true to the duties about
+     to be laid upon me; make me worthy of being free? Yes, then, for
+     the first time I felt the full depth of the indignity offered to
+     my womanhood. I felt my enthusiasm for America wavering--love of
+     country dead. _My_ country!--I have no country.
+
+     Young men of Nebraska, I ask you to free your minds from
+     prejudice, to be just towards the demands of another human soul,
+     to be frank, to be wholly truthful, and answer my demand: Why
+     should I not be a citizen of this republic? In replying, read
+     between the lines of my tedious story and bear in mind the words
+     of Voltaire: "Who would dare change a law that time has
+     consecrated? Is there anything more respectable than an ancient
+     abuse! Reason is more ancient, replied Zadig."
+
+                                   Respectfully,      HARRIOT STANTON.
+
+
+                    MANCHESTER NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE, }
+                         MANCHESTER, England, September 5, 1882.    }
+
+     DEAR MISS ANTHONY: Will you accept a word of cheer and God-speed
+     from your sisters in England in your crusade for the emancipation
+     of woman in Nebraska? You carry with you the hopes and
+     sympathetic wishes of all on this side of the water. If you win,
+     as I trust you may, your victory will have a distinct influence
+     on the future of our parliamentary campaign, which we hope to
+     begin in early spring in England. In the name of English women I
+     would appeal to the men of Nebraska to assent to the great act of
+     justice to women which is proposed to them by their elected
+     representatives, and by so doing to aid in the enfranchisement of
+     women all over the world.
+
+                         Yours faithfully,         LYDIA E. BECKER.
+
+
+                                        LONDON, September 1, 1882.
+
+     DEAR MISS ANTHONY: Having heard that the next convention of the
+     National Woman Suffrage Association will meet at Omaha this
+     month, I cannot refrain from sending a few lines to assure our
+     friends who are working so steadfastly in America for the same
+     sacred cause as our own, of our loving sympathy and good-wishes
+     for success in the coming struggle. The eyes and hearts of
+     hundreds of women are, like my own, turned to Nebraska, where so
+     momentous an issue is to be decided two months hence. The news of
+     their vote, if rightly given, will "echo round the world" like
+     the first shot fired at Concord. It will be the expression of
+     their determination to establish their freedom by giving freedom
+     to others, and their example will be followed by Indiana and
+     Oregon, and soon by the other States of the Union and by England.
+     Everything points with us to a speedy triumph of the principle of
+     equal justice for woman. Next November, about the time when
+     Nebraska will be voting for equal suffrage, the women in Scotland
+     will be voting for the first time in their municipal elections.
+     The session of 1882 will be memorable in future for having passed
+     the act which gives a married woman the right to hold her own
+     property, make contracts, sue and be sued, in the same manner as
+     if she were a single woman. It is nearly thirty years since we
+     first began our efforts in this matter, and each succeeding step
+     has been won very slowly and with great difficulty through the
+     efforts of those who are working to obtain the suffrage. Mr.
+     Gladstone still expresses the hope that next session will place
+     the franchise on a "fair" basis, meaning thereby the same right
+     of voting for counties as for boroughs. We maintain that the
+     franchise can never be said to be on a fair basis while women are
+     debarred from the right of voting. Our progress and your progress
+     will keep even pace together, for if women are free in America no
+     long time can elapse before they are free here. We can but offer
+     you our sympathy and we beg this favor of you, that as soon as
+     you have the returns of the vote ascertained, you will telegraph
+     the news to us, that our English societies may keep the day of
+     rejoicing heart in heart with the American National Association.
+
+     With cordial sympathy in all your efforts, I am, faithfully
+     yours,
+
+                                             CAROLYN ASHURST BIGGS.
+
+
+     _To the National Woman Suffrage Association, in Convention
+     assembled, at Omaha, Nebraska, September 26, 27, 28:_
+
+     DEAR FRIENDS: The most pressing work before the National Woman
+     Suffrage Convention, is bringing all its forces to bear upon
+     congress for the submission of a sixteenth amendment to the
+     national constitution, which shall prohibit States from
+     disfranchising citizens of the United States, on the ground of
+     sex, or for any cause not equally applicable to all citizens.
+     While we of the National are glad to see an amendment to a State
+     constitution proposed, securing suffrage to woman, as is the case
+     in Nebraska this fall, we must not be led by it to forget or
+     neglect our legitimate work, an amendment to the national
+     constitution, which will secure suffrage at one and the same
+     moment to the women of each State. While all action of any kind
+     and everywhere is good because it is educational, the only real,
+     legitimate work of the National Woman Suffrage Association, is
+     upon congress. Never have our prospects been brighter than
+     to-day. A select committee on woman suffrage having been
+     appointed in both houses during the last session of congress, and
+     a resolution introduced in the Senate, proposing an amendment to
+     the Constitution of the United States, to secure the right of
+     suffrage to all citizens irrespective of sex, having been
+     referred to this select committee and receiving a favorable
+     majority report thereon, we have every reason to expect the
+     submission of such an amendment at the next session of congress.
+
+     The work then, most necessary, is with each representative and
+     senator; and the legislatures of the several States should be
+     induced to pass resolutions requesting the senators and
+     representatives from each State to give voice and vote in favor
+     of the submission of such an amendment. This work is vitally
+     important for the coming winter, and none the less so, even
+     should Nebraska vote aye November 7, upon the woman suffrage
+     amendment to its own constitution. In view of the probability of
+     the submission of a sixteenth amendment at the coming session of
+     congress, I offer the following resolution, which I consider one
+     of the most important of the series I have been asked to prepare
+     for adoption by the convention:
+
+          _Resolved_, That it is the duty of every woman to work with
+          the legislature of her own State, to secure from it the
+          passage of a joint resolution requesting its senators and
+          representatives in congress to use voice and vote in favor
+          of the submission of an amendment to the national
+          constitution which shall prohibit States from disfranchising
+          citizens on the ground of sex.
+
+     I hope the above resolution will be unanimously adopted, and that
+     each woman will strive to carry its provisions into effect as a
+     religious duty. With my best wishes for a grand and successful
+     convention, and the hope that Nebraska will set itself right
+     before the world by the adoption of the woman suffrage amendment
+     this fall, I am,
+
+                         Very truly yours,     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE.[96]
+
+_The Republican_ in describing the closing scenes of the
+convention, said:
+
+     Fully 2,500 people assembled last evening to listen to the
+     closing proceedings of the convention. The stage, which was
+     beautifully furnished and upholstered, was completely occupied by
+     the ladies of the Association; and as they all were in full
+     dress, in preparation for the reception at the Paxton Hotel, the
+     sight was a brilliant one. As respects the audience, not only the
+     seats, but the lobbies were crowded, and hundreds upon hundreds
+     were turned away. Manager Boyd remarked as we passed in, "You
+     will see to-night the most magnificent gathering that has ever
+     been in the Opera House," and such truly it was--the intellect,
+     fashion and refinement of the city. Addresses were given by M'me
+     Neyman, whose earnest and eloquent words were breathlessly heard;
+     Mrs. Minor of St. Louis, whose utterances were serious and
+     weighty; and Miss Phoebe Couzins, who touched the springs of
+     sentiment, sympathy, pathos and humor by turns. After answering
+     two or three objections that had not been fully touched upon,
+     Miss Couzins fairly carried away the house, when she said in
+     conclusion, "Miss Anthony and myself, and another who has
+     addressed you are the only spinsters in the movement. We, indeed,
+     expect to marry, but we don't want our husbands to marry slaves
+     [great merriment]; we are waiting for our enfranchisement. And
+     now, if you want Miss Anthony and myself to move into your
+     State--" this hit, with all it implied, set the audience into a
+     convulsion of cheers and laughter which was quite prolonged; and
+     after the merriment had subsided, Miss Couzins completed her
+     sentence by saying, "We are under sailing orders to receive
+     proposals!" whereupon the applause broke out afresh. "However,"
+     she added, seeing Miss Anthony shake her head, "it takes a very
+     superior woman to be an old maid, and on this principle I think
+     Miss Anthony will stick to her colors." Miss Couzins quoted
+     Hawthorne as speaking through "Zenobia":
+
+          "It is my belief, yea, my prophecy, that when my sex shall
+          have attained its freedom there will be ten eloquent women
+          where there is now one eloquent man," and instanced this
+          convention as an illustration of what might be expected.
+
+Miss Couzins was followed by Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Neyman and Miss
+Hindman. The resolutions,[97] which were presented by Mrs. Sewall,
+among their personal commendations expressed the appreciation of
+the Association for the services rendered by Mrs. Clara Bewick
+Colby, in making preparations for the convention. Mrs. Colby in
+making her acknowledgments said:
+
+     There was another to whom the Association owed much for the work
+     done which has made possible the brilliant success of the
+     convention--one to whom, while across the water their thoughts
+     and hearts had often turned; and she was sure that all present
+     would gladly join in extending a welcome to the late president,
+     and now chairman of the executive committee of the State
+     association, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks.
+
+Mrs. Brooks came forward amid applause, and said:
+
+     That at this late hour while a speech might be silvern, silence
+     was golden; and she would say no more than, on behalf of all the
+     members and officers of the State association, and the friends of
+     the cause in Omaha, to tender their most grateful thanks to the
+     National Association for "the feast of reason and the flow of
+     soul" with which they have been favored during the last three
+     days.
+
+At the close of the convention the spacious parlors of the Paxton
+House were crowded. Over a thousand ladies and gentlemen passed
+through, shaking hands with the delegates and congratulating them
+on the great success of the convention.
+
+Another enthusiastic meeting was held at Lincoln, the capital of
+the State, and radiating from this point in all directions these
+missionaries of the new gospel of woman's equality traversed the
+entire State, scattering tracts and holding meetings in churches,
+school-houses and the open air, and thus the agitation was kept up
+until the day of election. As it was the season for agricultural
+fairs, the people were more easily drawn together, and the ladies
+readily availed themselves, as they had opportunity, of these great
+gatherings. Two notable debates were held in Omaha in answer to the
+many challenges sent by the opposition. Miss Couzins, the first to
+enter the arena, was obliged to help her antagonist in his
+scriptural quotations, while Miss Anthony was compelled to supply
+hers with well-known statistics. It was evident that neither of the
+gentlemen had sharpened his weapons for the encounter.
+
+To look over the list of counties visited and the immense distances
+traveled in public and private conveyances, enables one in a
+measure to appreciate the physical fatigue these ladies endured. In
+reading of their earnest speeches, debates, conversations at every
+fireside and dinner-table, in every car and carriage as they
+journeyed by the way or waited at the station, their untiring
+perseverance must command the unqualified admiration of those who
+know what a political campaign involves. During those six weeks of
+intense excitement they were alike hopeful and anxious as to the
+result. At last the day dawned when the momentous question of the
+enfranchisement of 75,000 women was to be decided. Every train
+brought some of the speakers to their headquarters in Omaha, with
+cheering news from the different localities they had canvassed. And
+now one last effort must be made, they must see what can be done at
+the polls. Some of the ladies went in carriages to each of the
+polling booths and made earnest appeals to those who were to vote
+for or against the woman's amendment. Others stood dispensing
+refreshments and the tickets they wished to see voted, all day
+long. And while the men sipped their coffee and ate their viands
+with evident relish, the women appealed to their sense of justice,
+to their love of liberty and republican institutions. Vain would be
+the attempt to describe the patient waiting, the fond hopes, the
+bright visions of coming freedom, that had nerved these brave women
+to these untiring labors, or to shadow in colors dark enough the
+fears, the anxieties, the disappointments, all centered in that
+November election. A fitting subject for an historical picture was
+that group of intensely earnest women gathered there, as the last
+rays of the setting sun warned them that whether for weal or for
+woe the decisive hour had come; no word of theirs could turn defeat
+to victory.
+
+The hours of anxious waiting were not long, the verdict soon came
+flashing on every wire, from the north, the south, the west: "No!"
+"No!" "No!" The mothers, wives and daughters of Nebraska must still
+wear the yoke of slavery; they who endured with man the hardships
+of the early days and bravely met the dangers of a pioneer life,
+they who have reared two generations of boys and taught them the
+elements of all they know, who have stood foremost in all good
+works of charity and reform, who appreciate the genius of free
+institutions, native-born American citizens, are still to be
+governed by the ignorant, vicious classes from the old world. What
+a verdict was this for one of the youngest States in the American
+republic in the nineteenth century!
+
+But these heroic women did not sit down in sackcloth and ashes to
+weep over the cruel verdict. Anticipating victory, they had engaged
+the Opera House to hold their jubilee if the women of Nebraska were
+enfranchised; or, if the returns brought them no cause for
+rejoicing, they would at least exalt the educational work that had
+been done in the State, and dedicate themselves anew to this
+struggle for liberty. They had survived three defeats, in Kansas,
+Michigan, Colorado, and tasted the bitterness of repeated
+disappointments, and another could not crush them. When the hour
+arrived, an immense audience welcomed them in the Opera House, and
+from this new baptism of sorrow they spoke more eloquently than
+ever before. In their calm, determined manner they seemed to say
+with Milton's hero:
+
+     "All is not lost: the unconquerable will is ours."
+
+A report of the Fifteenth Annual Washington Convention, Jan. 23,
+24, 25, 1883, was written by Miss Jessie Waite of Chicago, and
+published in the _Washington Chronicle_, from which we give the
+following extracts:
+
+     The proceedings of the Association were inaugurated at Lincoln
+     Hall Monday evening by a novel lecture, entitled "Zekle's Wife,"
+     by Mrs. Amy Talbot Dunn of Indianapolis. The personality of Mrs.
+     Dunn is so entirely lost in that of Zekle's wife that it is hard
+     to realize that the old lady of so many and so varied experiences
+     is a happy young wife. As a character sketch Mrs. Dunn's "Zekle's
+     Wife" stands on an equality with Denman Thompson's "Joshua
+     Whitcomb" and with Joe Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle." To sustain a
+     conception so foreign to the natural characteristics of the actor
+     without once allowing the interest of the audience to flag,
+     requires originality of thought, independence of idea, and genius
+     for action. Mrs. Dunn, herself the author of her sketch,
+     possesses to a remarkable degree the power to impress upon her
+     audience the feeling that the old lady from "Kaintuck" is before
+     them, not only to say things for their amusement, but also to
+     impress upon them those great truths which have presented
+     themselves to her mind during the fifty years of her married
+     life. "Zekle's Wife" is a keen, shrewd, warm-hearted, lovable old
+     woman, without education or culture, yet with an innate sense of
+     refinement and a touching undercurrent of desire "not to be too
+     hard on Zekle." As she tells her story, which she informs us is a
+     true one from real life, she engages the attention and wins the
+     sympathy of all her hearers, and frequent bursts of applause
+     evidence the satisfaction of the audience.
+
+     The convention proper opened on Tuesday morning with the
+     appointment of various committees,[98] and reports[99] from the
+     different States filled up most of the time during the day. May
+     Wright Sewall said:
+
+          Women must learn that power gives power; that intelligence
+          alone can appreciate or be influenced by intelligence; that
+          justice alone is moved by appeals based on justice. More
+          than anything in the course of suffrage labor does the
+          Nebraska campaign justify the primary method of this
+          National Association. We have a right to expect that each
+          legislature will be composed of the picked men of the State.
+          We have a right to believe that as the intelligence, wisdom
+          and justice of the picked men of the nation are superior to
+          the same qualities in the mass of men, so is the fitness of
+          national and State legislators to consider the demands for
+          the ballot.
+
+     Mrs. Mills of Washington sang, as a solo, "Barbara Fritchie," in
+     excellent style. Mrs. Caroline Hallowell Miller (wife of Francis
+     Miller, esq., late assistant attorney for the District of
+     Columbia) spoke with the greatest ease and most remarkable
+     command of language. She is in every sense a strong woman. She
+     said that, born and reared as she was in a Virginia town noted
+     for its intense conservatism, where she had seen a woman stripped
+     to the waist and brutally beaten by order of the law (her skin
+     happened to be of a dark color) whose only crime was that of
+     alleged impertinence, and that impertinence provoked by improper
+     conduct on the part of a young man; that, reared in such a cradle
+     as this, still, through the blessing of a good home, she had
+     learned to deeply appreciate the noble efforts of women who dared
+     to tread new paths, to break their own way through the dense
+     forest of prejudice and ignorance. Man cannot represent woman. If
+     woman breaks any law of man, of nature, or of God, she alone must
+     suffer the penalty. "This fact seems to me," said Mrs. Miller,
+     "to settle the whole question."
+
+     Miss Anthony read the following letter from Hon. Benjamin F.
+     Butler, who, she said, had the honor of being an advocate of this
+     cause, in addition to being governor of Massachusetts:
+
+                                   WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 23, 1883.
+
+          MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I received your kind note asking me to
+          attend the National Convention of the friends of woman
+          suffrage at Washington, for which courtesy I am obliged. My
+          engagements, which have taken me out of the commonwealth,
+          cover all, and more than all, of my time, and I find I am to
+          hurry back, leaving some of them undisposed of. It will
+          therefore be impossible for me to attend the convention.
+
+          As I have already declared my conviction that the fourteenth
+          amendment fully covers the right of all persons to vote, and
+          as I assume that the women of the country are persons, and
+          very important persons to its happiness and prosperity, I
+          never have been able to see any reason why women do not come
+          within its provisions. I think such will be the decision of
+          the court, perhaps quite as early as you may be able to get
+          through congress and the legislatures of the several States
+          another amendment. But both lines of action may well be
+          followed, as they do not conflict with each other. This
+          course was taken in the case of the fifteenth amendment,
+          which was supposed to be necessary to cover the case of the
+          negro, although many of the friends of the colored man
+          looked coldly upon that amendment, because it seemed to be
+          an admission that the fourteenth amendment was not
+          sufficient. Therefore I can without inconsistency, I think,
+          bid you "God speed" in your agitation for the sixteenth
+          amendment. It will have the effect to enlighten the public
+          mind as to the scope of the fourteenth amendment. I am very
+          truly, your friend and servant,
+
+                                             BENJ. F. BUTLER.
+
+     Mrs. Blake presented a series of resolutions, which were laid on
+     the table for consideration:
+
+          WHEREAS, In larger numbers than ever before the women of the
+          United States are demanding the repeal of arbitrary
+          restrictions which now debar them from the use of the
+          ballot; and
+
+          WHEREAS, The recent defeat in Nebraska of a constitutional
+          amendment, giving the women of the State the right to vote,
+          proves that failure is the natural result of an appeal to
+          the masses on a question which is best understood and
+          approved by the more intelligent citizens; therefore,
+
+          _Resolved_, That we call upon this congress to pass, without
+          delay, the sixteenth amendment to the federal constitution
+          now pending in the Senate.
+
+          _Resolved_, That all competitive examinations for places in
+          the civil service of the United States should be open on
+          equal terms to citizens of both sexes, and that any
+          so-called civil service reform that does not correct the
+          existing unjust discrimination against women employes, and
+          grade all salaries on merit and not sex, is a dishonest
+          pretense at reform.
+
+          WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States declares that
+          no State shall be admitted to the Union unless it have a
+          republican form of government; and whereas, no true republic
+          can exist unless all the inhabitants are given equal civil
+          and political rights; therefore,
+
+          _Resolved_, That we earnestly protest against the admission
+          of Dakota as a State, unless the right of suffrage is
+          secured on equal terms to all her citizens.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the women of these United States have not
+          deserved the infliction of this punishment of
+          disfranchisement, and do most earnestly demand that they be
+          relieved from the cruelties it imposes upon them.
+
+          WHEREAS, During the war hundreds of women throughout our
+          land entered the service of the nation as hospital nurses;
+          and
+
+          WHEREAS, Many of these women were disabled by wounds and by
+          disease, while many were reduced to permanent invalidism by
+          the hardships they endured; therefore,
+
+          _Resolved_, That these women should be placed on the pension
+          list and rewarded for their services.
+
+     After the reading of the resolutions an animated discussion
+     followed, Miss Anthony showing in scathing terms the injustice of
+     the employment of women to do equal work with men at half the
+     salaries, in the departments at Washington and elsewhere. An
+     additional resolution was adopted declaring that paying Dr. Susan
+     A. Edson for her services as attendant physician to President
+     Garfield, $1,000 less than was paid for an equivalent service
+     rendered by Dr. Boynton, a more recent graduate of the same
+     college from which she received her diploma, is an unjust
+     discrimination on account of sex.
+
+          Mrs. SEWALL said men in the departments were given extra
+          leave of absence each year to go home to vote, and suggested
+          that women be given (until the time comes for them to vote)
+          extra leave to meditate upon the ballot.
+
+          Miss ANTHONY said she had addressed a letter to each
+          secretary asking that such women as desired be given
+          permission to attend the meetings of this convention without
+          loss of time to them. She had received but one answer, which
+          was from Secretary Folger, who wrote: "_The condition of the
+          public business prevents us from acceding to your request_."
+
+          Mrs. HARRIETTE R. SHATTUCK of Boston said: Tired as some of
+          the audience must be of hearing the same old argument in
+          favor of the ballot for women repeated from year to year,
+          they could not possibly be more tired than the friends of
+          the cause were of hearing the same old objections repeated
+          from year to year. While the forty-year-old objections are
+          raised the forty-year-old rejoinders must be given. We must
+          continue to agitate until we force people to listen. It is
+          like the ringing of a bell. At first no one notices it; in a
+          little while, a few will listen; finally, the perpetual
+          ding-dong, ding-dong, will force itself to be heard by every
+          one. The oldest of all the old arguments is that of right
+          and justice, and the tune which my little bell shall ring is
+          merely this: "_It is right!_" This cry of woman for liberty
+          and equality increases every day, and it is a cry that must
+          some day be heard and responded to.
+
+     Mrs. Virginia L. Minor of St. Louis was then introduced as the
+     woman who stands to this cause in the same relation that Dred
+     Scott had stood to the Republican party. Miss Couzins said that
+     in introducing Mrs. Minor she wanted to say one word about the
+     work Mrs. Minor had done for the soldiers, during the sanitary
+     fair and all through the war. She had canned fruit, refusing the
+     money offered in payment, returning it all to be used for the
+     sick and wounded soldiers [applause]. Mrs. Minor spoke in a calm,
+     deliberate manner, with perfect conviction in the truth of her
+     statements and with a winning sweetness of expression that
+     indicated the highest sensibilities of a refined nature. She
+     showed that women voted in the early days of the country, and
+     that undoubtedly it was the intention of the framers of the
+     constitution that they should do so. This right had been taken
+     away when the constitution was amended and the word "male"
+     inserted. What is now desired is simply restoration of that which
+     had been taken away. She believed that this restoration was made,
+     unwittingly, by the addition of the fourteenth amendment, which,
+     without doubt, makes women citizens. It is men who have abused
+     the republican institution of suffrage; it is women who desire to
+     restore it to its proper exercise. Miss Anthony read a letter
+     from Mrs. Wallace, the wife of one of the former governors of
+     Indiana:
+
+                              INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., January 21, 1883.
+
+          DEAR MISS ANTHONY: When in the call I read that for fourteen
+          consecutive years the National Woman Suffrage Association
+          had held a convention in Washington, I was oppressed by two
+          thoughts: First, how hard it is to overcome prejudice and
+          ignorance when they have been fortified by the usages and
+          customs of ages; and secondly, the sublime faith, courage
+          and perseverance of the advocates of woman's
+          enfranchisement, and their confidence in the ultimate
+          triumph of justice. After all, by what are governments
+          organized and maintained? By brute force alone? Despotisms
+          may be, but republics never. What are the qualifications for
+          the ballot? The power to fight? Are they not rather
+          intelligence, virtue, truth and patriotism? I scarce think
+          the most obstinate and egotistical of our opponents will
+          assert that men possess a monopoly of these virtues, or even
+          a moiety of them. As to their fighting capacities, of which
+          we hear so much, I think they would have cut a sorry figure
+          in the wars which they have been compelled to wage in order
+          to establish and maintain this government, if they had not
+          had the sympathy and cooeperation of woman. I entirely agree
+          with you that, while agitation in the States is necessary as
+          a means of education, a sixteenth amendment to the national
+          constitution is the quickest, surest and least laborious way
+          to secure the success of this great work for human liberty.
+          Any legislature of Indiana in the last six years would have
+          ratified such an amendment. With highest regards for
+          yourself and the best wishes for the success of the
+          convention, I remain,
+
+                         Yours, etc.,     ZERELDA G. WALLACE.
+
+     After several other speakers,[100] Madame Clara Neyman of New
+     York city, delivered what was, without question, one of the best
+     addresses of the convention. She spoke with a slightly German
+     accent, which only served to enhance the interest and hold the
+     attention of the audience. Her eloquence and argument could not
+     fail to convince all of her earnest purpose. After showing the
+     philosophy of reform movements, and every step of progress, she
+     said:
+
+          Woman's enfranchisement will be wrought out by peaceful
+          means. We shall use no fire-arms, no torpedoes, no heavy
+          guns to gain our freedom. No precious human lives will be
+          sacrificed; no tears will be shed to establish our right. We
+          shall capture the fortresses of prejudice and injustice by
+          the force of our arguments; we shall send shell after shell
+          into these strongholds until their defective reasoning gives
+          way to victorious truth. "Inability to bear arms," says
+          Herbert Spencer, "was the reason given in feudal times for
+          excluding woman from succession," and to-day her position is
+          lowest where the military spirit prevails. A sad
+          illustration of this is my own country. Being a born German,
+          and in feeling, kindred, and patriotism attached to the
+          country of my birth and childhood, it is hard for me to make
+          such a confession. But the truth must be told, even if it
+          hurts. It has been observed by those who travel in Europe,
+          that Germany, which has the finest and best universities,
+          which stands highest in scholarship, nevertheless tolerates,
+          nay, enforces the subjection of woman. The freedom of a
+          country stands in direct relation to the position of its
+          women. America, which has proclaimed the freedom of man, has
+          developed _pari passu_ a finer womanhood, and has done more
+          for us than any other nation in existence. A new type of
+          manhood has been reared on American soil--a type which
+          Tennyson describes in his Princess:
+
+               Man shall be more of woman, she of man;
+               He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
+               Nor lose the thews that wrestle with the world;
+               She, mental breadth, nor fail in childward care,
+               Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind;
+               Till at the last they set them each to each,
+               Like perfect music unto noble words.
+               Then comes the statelier Eden back to man;
+               Then springs the crowning race of human kind.
+
+     At the evening session the time was divided between Lillie
+     Devereux Blake and Phoebe W. Couzins. Mrs. Blake spoke on the
+     question, "Is it a Crime to be a Woman?"
+
+          She showed in a clear, logical manner that wherever a woman
+          was apprehended for crime the discrimination against her was
+          not because of the crime she had committed, but because the
+          crime was committed by a woman. Every woman in this country
+          is treated by the law as if she were to blame for being a
+          woman. In New York an honorable married woman has no right
+          to her children. A man may beat his wife all he pleases; but
+          if he beats another man the law immediately interferes,
+          showing that the woman is not protected simply because she
+          is so indiscreet as to _be a woman_. If it is not a crime to
+          be a woman, why are women subjected to unequal payment with
+          men for the same service? Why are they forced at times to
+          don men's clothes in order to obtain employment that will
+          keep them from starvation?
+
+          Miss COUZINS said that the American-born woman was "a woman
+          without a country"; but before she had closed she had proved
+          that this country belonged exclusively to the women. It was
+          a woman, Queen Isabella, that enabled a man to discover this
+          country, and in the old flag the initials were "I" and "F,"
+          representing Isabella and Ferdinand, showing that it was
+          acknowledged that the woman's initial was the more important
+          in this matter and to be first considered. It was a woman,
+          Mary Chilton, that first landed on Plymouth rock. It was a
+          woman, Betsy Ross, that designed our beautiful flag, the
+          original eagle on our silver dollar, and the seal of the
+          United States without which no money is legal. All the way
+          down in our national history woman has been hand in hand
+          with man, has assisted, supported and encouraged him, and
+          now there are women ready to help reform the life of the
+          body politic, and side by side with man work to purify,
+          refine and ennoble the world. Miss Couzins seemed Inspired
+          by her own thoughts and carried the audience along with her
+          in her flights of eloquence.
+
+     Being asked to make a few closing remarks, Mrs. May Wright Sewall
+     said:
+
+          Difficult, indeed, is the task of closing a three days'
+          convention; vain is the hope to do it with fitting words
+          which shall not be mere repetitions of what has been said on
+          this platform. The truth which bases this claim lies in a
+          nut-shell, and the shell seems hard to be cracked. It is
+          unfair, when comparing the ability of men and women, to
+          compare the average woman to the exceptional man, but this
+          is what man always does. If, perchance, he admits not only
+          the equality but the superiority of woman, he tells her she
+          must not vote because she is so nearly an angel, so much
+          better than he is, and this, in the face of the fact that
+          every angel represented or revealed has been shown in the
+          form of a _handsome young man_. If any class then must
+          abstain from meddling in politics on account of relation to
+          the angels, it is the men! But she informed the gentlemen
+          she had no fears for them on that ground, for their
+          relationship was not _near_ enough to cause any serious
+          inconvenience. Speaking of the objections to women
+          undertaking grave or deep studies, that woman lacks the
+          logical faculty, that she has only intuition, nerve-force,
+          etc., Mrs. Sewall said: It is true of every woman who has
+          done the worthiest work in science, literature, or reform,
+          from Diotima, the teacher of Socrates, to Margaret Fuller,
+          the pupil of Channing and the peer of Emerson, that ignoring
+          the methods of nerves and instincts, she has placed herself
+          squarely on the basis of observation, investigation and
+          reason. Men will admit that these women had strength and
+          logic, but say they are exceptional women. So are Gladstone,
+          Bismarck, Gambetta, Lincoln and Garfield exceptional men.
+          She mentioned Miss Anthony's proposed trip to Europe, and
+          said that she had not had a holiday for thirty years.
+
+          Miss ANTHONY said she wished to call attention to the report
+          of the Special Committee of the Senate, which distinctly
+          stated that the question had had "general agitation," and
+          that the petitions at different times presented were both
+          "_numerous_ and respectable." This was sufficient answer,
+          coming from such high authority, that of Senator Anthony, to
+          all the insinuations and unjust remarks about the petitions
+          presented to congress, and with regard to the assertion that
+          women themselves did not want the ballot. She expressed her
+          obligations to the press, and mentioned that the _Sunday
+          Chronicle_ had announced its intention of giving much
+          valuable space to the proceedings, and that when she had
+          learned this, she had ordered 1,000 copies, which she would
+          send to the address of any friend in the audience free of
+          charge.
+
+     The "Star Spangled Banner" was then sung, Miss Couzins and Mrs.
+     Shattuck singing the solos, Mr. Wilson of the Foundry M. E.
+     Church, leading the audience in the chorus, the whole producing a
+     fine effect. Miss Anthony said the audience could see how much
+     better it was to have a man to help, even in singing. This
+     brought down the house.
+
+     In closing this report, a word may be said of the persons most
+     conspicuous in it. This year several remarkable additions have
+     been made to our number, and it is of these especially that we
+     would speak. Mrs. Minor of St. Louis, in her manner has all the
+     gentleness and sweetness of the high-born Southern lady; her
+     personal appearance is very pleasant, her hair a light chestnut,
+     untouched with gray; her face has lost the color of youth, but
+     her eyes have still their fire, toned down by the sorrow they
+     have seen. Madame Neyman is also new to the Washington platform.
+     She is a piquant little German lady, with vivacious manner, most
+     agreeable accent, and looked in her closely-fitting black-velvet
+     dress as if she might have just stepped out of a painting. In
+     direct contrast is Mrs. Miller of Maryland--a large, dark-haired
+     matron, past middle age, but newly born in her enthusiasm for the
+     cause. She is a worker as well as a talker, and is a decided
+     acquisition to the ranks. The other novice in the work is Mrs.
+     Amy Dunn, who has taken such a novel way to render assistance.
+     Mrs. Dunn is tall and slender, with dark hair and eyes. She is a
+     shrewd observer, does not talk much socially, but when she says
+     anything it is to the point. Her character sketch, "Zekle's
+     Wife," will be a stepping-stone to many a woman on her way to the
+     suffrage platform.
+
+     Two women who have done and are doing a great work in this city,
+     and who are not among the public speakers, are Mrs. Spofford, the
+     treasurer, wife of the proprietor of the Riggs House, and Miss
+     Ellen H. Sheldon, secretary of the Association. To these ladies
+     is due much of the success of the convention. Mrs. Sheldon is of
+     diminutive stature, with gray hair, and Mrs. Spofford is of large
+     and queenly figure, with white hair. Her magnificent presence is
+     always remarked at the meetings.
+
+     The following were among the letters read at this convention:
+
+              10 DUCHESS STREET, PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON, Eng., Jan. 12.
+
+          DEAR MISS ANTHONY: To you and our friends in convention
+          assembled, I send greeting from the old world. It needs but
+          little imagination to bring Lincoln Hall, the usual fine
+          audiences, and the well-known faces on the platform, before
+          my mind, so familiar have fifteen years of these conventions
+          in Washington made such scenes to me. How many times, as I
+          have sat in your midst and listened to the grand speeches of
+          my noble coaedjutors, I have wondered how much longer we
+          should be called upon to rehearse the oft-repeated arguments
+          in favor of equal rights to all. Surely the grand
+          declarations of statesmen at every period in our history
+          should make the principle of equality so self-evident as to
+          end at once all class legislation.
+
+          It is now over half a century since Frances Wright with
+          eloquent words first asserted the political rights of women
+          in our republic; and from that day to this, inspired
+          apostles in an unbroken line of succession have proclaimed
+          the new gospel of the motherhood of God and of humanity. We
+          have plead our case in conventions of the people, in halls
+          of legislation, before committees of congress, and in the
+          Supreme Court of the United States, and our arguments still
+          remain unanswered. History shows no record of a fact like
+          this, where so large a class of virtuous, educated,
+          native-born citizens have been subjugated by the national
+          government to foreign domination. While our American
+          statesmen scorn the thought that even the most gifted son of
+          a monarch, an emperor or a czar should ever occupy the proud
+          position of a president of these United States, and by
+          constitutional provision deny to all foreigners this high
+          privilege, they yet allow the very riff-raff of the old
+          world to make laws for the proudest women of the republic,
+          to make the moral code for the daughters of our people, to
+          sit in judgment on all our domestic relations.
+
+          England has taken two grand steps within the last year in
+          extending the municipal suffrage to the woman of Scotland
+          and in passing the Married Woman's Property bill. They are
+          holding meetings all over the country now in favor of
+          parliamentary suffrage. Statistics show that women generally
+          _exercise_ the rights already accorded. They have recently
+          passed through a very heated election for members of the
+          school-board in various localities. Miss Lydia Becker was
+          elected in Manchester, and Miss Eva Mueller in one of the
+          districts of London, and several other women in different
+          cities.
+
+          A little incident will show you how naturally the political
+          equality of woman is coming about in Queen Victoria's
+          dominions. I was invited to dine at Barn Elms, a beautiful
+          estate on the banks of the Thames, a spot full of classic
+          associations, the residence of Mr. Charles McLaren, a member
+          of parliament. Opposite me at dinner sat a bright young girl
+          tastefully attired; on my right the gentleman to whom she
+          was engaged; at the head of the table a sparkling matron of
+          twenty-five, one of the most popular speakers here on the
+          woman suffrage platform. The dinner-table talk was such as
+          might be heard in any cultivated circle--art, literature,
+          amusements, passing events, etc., etc.--and when the repast
+          was finished, ladies and gentlemen, in full dinner dress,
+          went off to attend an important school-board meeting, our
+          host to preside and the young lady opposite me to make the
+          speech of the evening, and all done in as matter-of-fact a
+          way as if the party were going to the opera. Members of
+          parliament and lord-mayors preside and speak at all their
+          public meetings and help in every way to carry on the
+          movement, giving money most liberally; and yet how seldom
+          any of our senators or congressmen will even speak at our
+          meetings, to say nothing of sending us a check of fifty or a
+          hundred dollars. I trust that we shall accomplish enough
+          this year to place the women of republican America at least
+          on an even platform with monarchical England. With sincere
+          wishes for the success of the convention, cordially yours,
+
+                                             ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
+
+
+                                      LONDON, January 10, 1883.
+
+          DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I was very glad indeed to receive notice
+          of your mid-winter conference in time to send you a few
+          words about the progress of our work in England. I believe
+          our disappointment at the result of the vote in Nebraska
+          must have been greater than yours, as, being on the spot,
+          you saw the difficulties to be surmounted. I had so hoped
+          that the men of a free new State would prove themselves
+          juster and wiser than the men of our older civilizations,
+          whose prejudice and precedents are such formidable barriers.
+          But we cannot, judging from a distance, look upon the work
+          of the campaign as thrown away. Twenty-five thousand votes
+          in favor of woman suffrage in the face of such enormous odds
+          is really a victory, and the legislatures of these States
+          are deeply pledged to ratify the constitutional amendment,
+          if passed by congress. We look forward hopefully to the
+          discussion in congress. The majority report of the Senate
+          cannot fail to secure attention, and I hope your present
+          convention will bring together national forces that will
+          greatly influence the debate.
+
+                                             CAROLINE A. BIGGS.
+
+
+                         51 RUE DE VARENNE, PARIS, January 15, 1883.
+
+          MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: Perhaps a brief account of what has
+          been done with the two packages of "The History of Woman
+          Suffrage" which you sent me for distribution in Europe may
+          prove interesting to the convention. In the first place,
+          sets in sheep have been deposited already, or will have been
+          before spring, in all the great continental libraries from
+          Russia to France, and from Denmark to Turkey. In the second
+          place, copies in cloth have been presented to reformers,
+          publicists, editors, etc, in every country of the old
+          world. This generous distribution of a costly work has
+          already begun to produce an effect. Besides a large number
+          of private letters from all parts of Europe acknowledging
+          the receipt of the volumes and bestowing on their contents
+          the highest praise, the History has been reviewed in
+          numerous reform, educational and socialistic periodicals and
+          newspapers in almost every modern European tongue. Nor is
+          this all. Every week a new pamphlet or book is sent me, or
+          comes under my notice, in which this History is cited,
+          sometimes at great length, and is pronounced to be the
+          authority on the American women's movement. I have carefully
+          kept all these letters, newspaper notices, etc., and at the
+          proper time I hope to prepare a little pamphlet for your
+          publisher on European opinion concerning your great work.
+
+                         Very truly yours,           THEODORE STANTON.
+
+
+                         51 RUE DE VARENNE, PARIS, January 15, 1883.
+
+          DEAR MISS ANTHONY: My husband has just read me a letter he
+          has written you concerning the enthusiastic reception your
+          big History has had among liberal people on this side of the
+          Atlantic, but he did not inform you that he should send the
+          American public next spring a similar though much smaller
+          work, entitled "The Woman Question in Europe." The Putnams
+          of New York are now busy on the volume. You in the new world
+          have little idea how the leaders of the women's movement
+          here watch everything you do in the United States. The great
+          fact which my husband's volume will teach you in America is
+          the important and direct influence your movement is having
+          on the younger, less developed, but growing revolution in
+          favor of our sex, now in progress in every country of the
+          old world. While assisting in the preparation of the
+          manuscript for this book this fact has been thrust upon my
+          notice at every instant, and never before did I fully
+          realize the grand role the United States is acting in this
+          nineteenth century, for, rest assured, the moment European
+          women are emancipated monarchy gives way to the republic
+          everywhere.
+
+               Most sincerely yours,        MARGUERITTE BERRY STANTON.
+
+
+                    134 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, S. E., January 25, 1883.
+
+          DEAR SUSAN ANTHONY: I believe that this is the only week of
+          the whole winter when I could not come to you nor attend
+          your convention, much as I wish to do so. It has been an
+          exceptional week to me in the way of work and engagements,
+          full of both as I always am. I could not call on you last
+          Monday, as I was in my own crowded parlors from 1 till 10
+          o'clock at night. I tell you this that you may know that I
+          did not of my own accord stay away from you. I have not had
+          a moment to write you a coherent letter, such as I would be
+          willing you should read. But I _have_ saved the best reports
+          of the convention, and it shall have a good notice in the
+          _Independent_ of week after next. It shall have only praise.
+          Of course I could write a brighter, more characteristic
+          notice could I myself have attended. Should you stay over
+          next Sunday I can see you yet; but if not, remember I think
+          of you always with the warmest interest, and meet you always
+          with unchanged affection.
+
+                         Ever your friend,          MARY CLEMMER.
+
+          May God bless and keep you, I ever pray.[101]
+
+
+                    HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THURSDAY, March 1, 1883.
+
+     Mr. WHITE, by unanimous consent, from the Special Committee on
+     Woman Suffrage, reported back the joint resolution (H. Res., 255)
+     proposing an amendment to the constitution, which was referred to
+     the House calendar, and, with the accompanying report, ordered to
+     be printed.
+
+     Mr. SPRINGER: As a member of that committee I have not seen the
+     report, and do not know whether it meets with my
+     concurrence.[102]
+
+     Mr. WHITE: I ask by unanimous consent that the minority may have
+     leave to submit their views, to be printed with the majority
+     report.
+
+     The SPEAKER: The Chair hears no objection.
+
+     MR. WHITE, from the Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, submitted
+     the following:
+
+          _The Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, to whom was
+          referred House Resolution No. 255, proposing an amendment to
+          the Constitution of the United States to secure the right of
+          suffrage to citizens of the United States without regard to
+          sex, having considered the same, respectfully report:_
+
+          In attempting to comprehend the vast results that could and
+          would be attained by the adoption of the proposed article to
+          the constitution, a few considerations are presented that
+          are claimed by the friends of woman suffrage to be worthy of
+          the most serious attention, among which are the following:
+
+          I. There are vast interests in property vested in women,
+          which property is affected by taxation and legislation,
+          without the owners having voice or representation in regard
+          to it. The adoption of the proposed amendment would remove a
+          manifest injustice.
+
+          II. Consider the unjust discriminations made against women
+          in industrial and educational pursuits, and against those
+          who are compelled to earn a livelihood by work of hand or
+          brain. By conferring upon such the right of suffrage, their
+          condition, it is claimed, would be greatly improved by the
+          enlargement of their influence.
+
+          III. The questions of social and family relations are of
+          equal importance to and affect as many women as men. Giving
+          to women a voice in the enactment of laws pertaining to
+          divorce and the custody of children and division of property
+          would be merely recognizing an undeniable right.
+
+          IV. Municipal regulations in regard to houses of
+          prostitution, of gambling, of retail liquor traffic, and of
+          all other abominations of modern society, might be shaped
+          very differently and more perfectly were women allowed the
+          ballot.
+
+          V. If women had a voice in legislation, the momentous
+          question of peace and war, which may act with such fearful
+          intensity upon women, might be settled with less bloodshed.
+
+          VI. Finally, there is no condition, status in life, of rich
+          or poor; no question, moral or political; no interest,
+          present or future; no ties, foreign or domestic; no issues,
+          local or national; no phase of human life, in which the
+          mother is not equally interested with the father, the
+          daughter with the son, the sister with the brother.
+          Therefore the one should have equal voice with the other in
+          molding the destiny of this nation.
+
+          Believing these considerations to be so important as to
+          challenge the attention of all patriotic citizens, and that
+          the people have a right to be heard in the only
+          authoritative manner recognized by the constitution, we
+          report the accompanying resolution with a favorable
+          recommendation in order that the people, through the
+          legislatures of their respective States, may express their
+          views:
+
+          JOINT RESOLUTION _proposing an amendment to the Constitution
+          of the United States_:
+
+          _Resolved_ by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+          United States of America in congress assembled, (two-thirds
+          of each House concurring therein), That the following
+          article be proposed to the legislatures of the several
+          States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United
+          States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of the said
+          legislatures, shall be valid as part of said constitution,
+          namely:
+
+          SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to
+          vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or
+          by any State on account of sex.
+
+          SEC. 2. The congress shall have power, by appropriate
+          legislation, to enforce the provisions of this article.
+
+Thus closed the forty-seventh congress, and although with so little
+promise of any substantial good for women, yet this slight
+recognition in legislation was encouraging to those who had so long
+appealed in vain for the attention of their representatives. A
+committee to even consider the wrongs of woman was more than had
+ever been secured before, and one to propose some measures of
+justice, sustained by the votes of a few statesmen awake to the
+degradation of disfranchisement, gave some faint hope of more
+generous action in the near future. The tone of the debates[103] in
+these later years even, on the nature and rights of women, is
+wholly unworthy the present type of developed womanhood and the age
+in which we live.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[81] During the autumn Miss Anthony, Mrs. Jones, Miss Snow and Miss
+Couzins, spending some weeks in Washington, asked for an audience
+with President Chester A. Arthur, and urged him to recommend in his
+first message to congress the appointment of a standing committee
+and the submission of a sixteenth amendment.
+
+[82] _Yeas_--Aldrich, Allison, Anthony, Blair, Cameron of Pa.,
+Cameron of Wis., Conger, Davis of Ill., Dawes, Edmunds, Ferry,
+Frye, Harrison, Hawley, Hill of Col., Hoar, Jones of Fla., Jones of
+Nev., Kellogg, Lapham, Logan, McDill, McMillan, Miller of Cal.,
+Mitchell, Morrill, Platt, Plumb, Ransom, Rollins, Saunders, Sawyer,
+Sewell, Sherman, Windom--35.
+
+_Nays_--Bayard, Beck, Brown, Butler, Camden, Cockrell, Coke, Davis
+of W. Va., Fair, Farley, Garland, Hampton, Hill of Ga., Jackson,
+Jonas, McPherson, Maxey, Saulsbury, Slater, Vance, Vest, Walker,
+Williams--23.
+
+_Absent_--Call, George, Gorman, Groome, Grover, Hale, Harris,
+Ingalls, Johnston, Lamar, Mahone, Miller of N. Y., Morgan,
+Pendleton, Pugh, Teller, Van Wyck, Voorhees--18.
+
+The members of the committee were Senators Lapham of New York,
+Anthony of Rhode Island, Blair of New Hampshire, Jackson of
+Tennessee, George of Mississippi, Ferry of Michigan and Fair of
+Nevada.
+
+[83] _Yeas_--Aldrich, Anderson, Bayne, Beach, Belford, Bingham,
+Black, Bliss, Brewer, Briggs, Browne, Brumm, Buck, Burrows, Julius
+C., Butterworth, Calkins, Camp, Campbell, Candler, Cannon,
+Carpenter, Caswell, Converse, Crapo, Davis, George R., Dawes,
+Deering, De Motte, Dezendorf, Dingley, Dwight, Farwell, Sewall S.,
+Finley, Flower, Geddes, Grout, Hardenburgh, Harris, Henry, S.,
+Haseltine, Haskell, Hawk, Hazelton, Heilman, Henderson, Hepburn,
+Hill, Hiscock, Horr, Houk, Hubbell, Humphrey, Hutchinson, Jacobs,
+Jadwin, Jones, Phineas, Kasson, Kelley, Ladd, Lord, Marsh, Mason,
+McClure, McCoid, McCook, McKinley, Miles, Miller, Moulton, Murch,
+Nolan, Norcross, O'Neill, Orth, Page, Parker, Paul, Payson, Poole,
+Pierce, Pettibone, Pound, Prescott, Ranney, Ray, Reed, Rice. Theron
+M., Richardson, D. P., Ritchie, Robeson, Robinson, Geo. D.,
+Robinson, James S., Ryan, Scranton, Shallenberger, Sherwin,
+Skinner, Smith, A. Herr, Smith, Dietrich C., Spaulding, Spooner,
+Steele, Stephens, Stone, Strait, Taylor, Updegraff, J. T.,
+Updegraff, Thomas, Valentine, Van Aernam, Walker, Watson, West,
+White, Williams, Chas. G., Willits--115.
+
+_Nays_--Aiken, Atkins, Berry, Blackburn, Bland, Blount, Bragg,
+Buchanan, Buckner, Cabell, Caldwell, Cassiday, Chapman, Clark,
+Clements, Cobb, Colerick, Cox, William R., Covington, Cravens,
+Culberson, Curtin, Deuster, Dibrell, Dowd, Evins, Forney, Frost,
+Fulkerson, Garrison, Guenther, Gunter, Hammond, N. J., Hatch,
+Herbert, Hewitt, G. W. Hoge, Holman, House, Jones, George W.,
+Jones, James K., Joyce, Kenna, Klotz, Knott, Latham, Leedom,
+Manning, Martin, Matson, McMillin, Mills, Money, Morrison,
+Mutchler, Oates, Phister, Reagan, Rosecrans, Ross, Schackleford,
+Shelley, Simonton, Singleton, Jas. W., Singleton, Otho R., Sparks,
+Speer, Springer, Stockslager, Thompson, P. B., Thompson, Wm. G.,
+Tillman, Tucker, Turner, Henry G., Turner, Oscar, Upson, Vance,
+Warner, Whittihore, Williams, Thomas, Willis, Wilson, Wise, George
+D., Young--84.
+
+[84] _Connecticut_, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr.
+_Colorado_, Mrs. Elizabeth G. Campbell, _District of Columbia_,
+Ellen H. Sheldon, Jane H. Spofford, Dr. Caroline B. Winslow, Ellen
+M. O'Conner, Eliza Titus Ward, Belva A. Lockwood, Mrs. H. L.
+Shephard, Martha Johnson. _Indiana_, Helen M. Gongar, May Wright
+Sewall, Laura Kregelo, Alexiana S. Maxwell. _Maine_, Sophronia C.
+Snow. _Massachusetts_, Mrs. Harriet H. Robinson, Harriette R.
+Shattuck, Laura E. Brooks, Mary R. Brown, Emma F. Clary.
+_Nebraska_, Clara B. Colby. _New Jersey_, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs.
+Chandler. _New York_, Mrs. Caroline Gilkey Rogers, Mrs. Blake, Mrs.
+Gage, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Helen M. Loder. _Pennsylvania_, Mrs.
+McClellan Brown, Rachel G. Foster, Emma C. Rhodes. _Rhode Island_,
+Rev. Frederick A Hinckley, Mrs. Burgess. _Wisconsin_, Miss Eliza
+Wilson and Mrs. Painter.
+
+[85] Short speeches were made by Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Shattuck of
+Massachusetts, Mrs. Sewall and Mrs. Gougar of Indiana, Mrs. Saxon
+of Louisiana, Mrs. Colby of Nebraska.
+
+[86] When Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Gage and Mrs. Blake of New York, Mrs.
+Hooker of Connecticut and Mrs. Saxon of Louisiana, and Mrs. Sewall,
+by special request of the chairman, again addressed the committee.
+
+[87] Mr. Blackburn, Mr. Robeson, and Mr. Reed were present.
+
+[88] Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Sewall, Mrs. McClellan Brown, Mrs.
+Colby, Miss Couzins, Miss Anthony, Edward M. Davis, Robert Purvis,
+Mrs. Shattuck, Rev. Frederick A. Hinckley, Mrs. Robinson.
+
+[89] Those present were Mesdames Spofford, Stanton, Robinson,
+Shattuck, Sewall and Saxon; Misses Thompson, Anthony, Couzins and
+Foster. Many pleasant ladies from the Society of Friends were there
+also and contributed to the dignity and interest of the occasion.
+
+[90] The speakers in the American convention were Lucy Stone, Henry
+B. Blackwell, Margaret W. Campbell, Mary E. Haggart, Judge Kingman
+and Governor Hoyt of Wyoming, Hannah Tracy Cutler, Mary B. Clay,
+Dr. Mary F. Thomas, Rebecca N. Hazzard, Ada M. Bittenbender, Mrs.
+O. C. Dinsmore, Matilda Hindman, Rev. W. E. Copeland, Erasmus M.
+Correll.
+
+The speakers at the National convention were Virginia L. Minor,
+Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Bloomer, Mrs. McKinney, Mrs.
+Shattuck, Mrs. Neyman, Mrs. Colby, Mrs. Sewall, Mrs. Mason, Mrs.
+Brooks, Mrs. Blake, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Dinsmore, Miss Hindman, Mrs.
+Gougar, Mr. Correll and Mrs. Harbert. Many of those from both
+associations took part in the canvass. Miss Rachel G. Foster went
+out in the spring and made all the arrangements for the work of the
+National. She studied the geography of the State, and the
+railroads, and mapped out all the meetings for its twelve speakers.
+
+[91] For full reports of the American convention see the _Woman's
+Journal_, edited by Lucy Stone and published in Boston.
+
+[92] For reports of the National see _Our Herald_, edited by Helen
+M. Gougar and published in Lafayette, Ind. The daily papers of
+Omaha had full reports, the most fair by the _Republican_, edited
+by Mr. Brooks.
+
+[93] Their many courtesies are well summed up by Miss Foster in a
+letter to _Our Herald_:--DEAR HERALD: As your readers will know
+from the report of the executive meetings, it was decided to have a
+headquarters for National Woman Suffrage Association speakers at
+Omaha. When your editor left, the arrangements had not been
+completed for office-room and furnishings. It is finally decided
+that I, as secretary of the National Woman's Suffrage Association,
+remain in charge of this Omaha office, with Mrs. C. B. Colby as my
+associate, while Mrs. Bittenbender has charge of the headquarters
+at Lincoln, and manages the American and State speakers, these two
+officers of the campaign committee being in constant consultation.
+
+I cannot too strongly express the gratitude which our committee,
+and especially our National Woman's Suffrage Association, owes to
+the kind firm of Kitchen Brothers, proprietors of the Paxton Hotel.
+During our late convention their attention has been unremitting,
+and they now crown it by giving us, rent free, a large,
+well-lighted office to be occupied until election as the Omaha
+headquarters of our campaign committee. I was somewhat puzzled
+about the suitable furnishings for the room, but Mr. Kitchen told
+me he would attend to that himself, and through his kindness it
+will be made very comfortable for us to occupy for the next five
+weeks.
+
+Messrs. Dewey and Stone of this city, large dealers in furniture,
+have given the use of a handsome and convenient desk which will
+enable us to bring order out of chaos. So you can imagine us,
+surrounded by all convenient appliances, hard at work in our new
+quarters a good part of every day for this last month before
+election. We can certainly not complain that we are not made
+welcome to the best the city affords by these kind citizens of
+Omaha. Why, we even had a special engine and car given us by the
+accommodating manager of the Burlington & Missouri railroad to run
+one of our speakers from Omaha to Lincoln to enable her to attend a
+meeting which would otherwise have lacked a speaker. Mr.
+Montmorency, on behalf of the Burlington & Missouri railroad,
+extended this courtesy (and in our need at that hour it was highly
+appreciated) to us because of the work in which we are engaged. As
+all know ere this, both this road and the Union Pacific have given
+to our speakers and delegates generous reductions over all their
+lines in this State.
+
+Mayor Boyd, owner of the Opera House, has also done his share to
+aid us toward success, in his great reduction of ordinary rates to
+us while we occupy his handsome building with our suffrage mass
+meetings. We have the Opera House now secured for October 4, 13,
+19, 26, November 2 and 6, on which dates large meetings will be
+addressed by some of our principal speakers. The first date is to
+be filled by Miss Phoebe Couzins, on "The Woman Without a Country."
+
+The full report of our proceedings at the Omaha and Lincoln
+conventions, with the newspaper comments upon the size and
+character of the audiences there assembled, as well as the
+courtesies which I have just mentioned, will convince our readers
+that we are seemingly welcome guests here in Nebraska, and I may
+say especially in Omaha. I will keep the _Herald_ posted from week
+to week upon campaign committee work.
+
+                         Yours for success,      RACHEL G. FOSTER.
+
+Headquarters of Suffrage Campaign Committee, Paxton House, Omaha,
+October 2, 1882.
+
+[94] A private letter was received from Mrs. Ellen Clark Sargent,
+enclosing a check for $50.
+
+[95] Miss Stanton, having studied astronomy with Professor Maria
+Mitchell, went to Europe to take a degree in Mathematics from the
+College of France; but before completing her course, she shared the
+fate of too many of our American girls; she expatriated herself by
+marrying a foreigner.
+
+[96] Letters were also received from Rebecca Moore, England; Mrs.
+Z. G. Wallace, Indianapolis; Frederick Douglass, Washington, D. C.;
+Theodore Stanton, Paris, France; Sarah Knox Goodrich, Clarina
+Howard Nichols, California, and many others.
+
+[97] WHEREAS, The National Woman Suffrage Association has labored
+unremittingly to secure the appointment of a committee in the
+congress of the United States to receive and consider the petitions
+of women and whereas, this Association realizes the importance of
+such a committee,
+
+_Resolved_, That the thanks of this Association are due and are
+hereby tendered to congress for the appointment at its last session
+of a Select Woman Suffrage Committee in each house.
+
+_Resolved_, That the thanks of this Association are hereby tendered
+to Senators Lapham, Ferry, Blair and Anthony, of the Select
+Committee, for their able majority report.
+
+_Resolved_, That it is the paramount duty of congress at its next
+session to submit a sixteenth amendment to the constitution which
+shall secure the enfranchisement of the women of the republic.
+
+_Resolved_, That the recent action of King Christian of Denmark, in
+conferring the right of municipal suffrage upon the women in
+Iceland, and the similar enlargement of woman's political freedom
+in Scotland, India and Russia, are all encouraging evidences of the
+progress of self-government even in monarchical countries. And
+farther, that while the possession of these privileges by our
+foreign sisters is an occasion of rejoicing to us, it still but
+emphasizes the inconsistency of a republic which refuses political
+recognition to one-half of its citizens.
+
+_Resolved_, That the especial thanks of the officers and delegates
+of this convention are due and are hereby most cordially tendered
+to Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby, for the exceptionally efficient manner
+in which she has discharged the onerous duties which devolved upon
+her in making all preparations for this convention and for the
+grand success which her efforts have secured.
+
+_Resolved_, That the National Woman Suffrage Association on the
+occasion of this, its fourteenth annual convention, does, in the
+absence of its honored president, desire to send greeting to
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and to express to her the sympathetic
+admiration with which the members of this body have followed her in
+her reception in a foreign land.
+
+[98] Committee on Resolutions, composed of Lillie Devereux Blake of
+New York city, Virginia L. Minor of St. Louis, Harriet R. Shattuck
+of Boston, May Wright Sewall of Indianapolis, and Ellen H. Sheldon
+of the District of Columbia.
+
+[99] Mrs. Spofford, the treasurer, reported that $5,000 were spent
+in Nebraska in the endeavor to carry the amendment in that State.
+
+[100] Short speeches were made by Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs.
+McKinney, Mrs. Loder and others.
+
+[101] This was the last word from this dear friend to one of our
+number. I met her afterward as Mrs. Hudson with her husband in
+London. We dined together one evening at the pleasant home of
+Moncure D. Conway. She was as full as ever of plans for future
+usefulness and enjoyment. From England she went for a short trip on
+the continent. In parting I little thought she would so soon finish
+her work on earth. E. C. S.
+
+[102] Mr. Springer had never been present at a single meeting of
+the committee, though always officially notified. Neither did Mr.
+Muldrow of Mississippi ever honor the committee with his presence.
+However, Mr. Stockslager of Indiana and Mr. Vance of North Carolina
+were always in their places, and the latter, we thought, almost
+persuaded to consider with favor the claims of women to political
+equality.
+
+[103] Reports of congressional action and the conventions of
+1884-85 have been already published in pamphlet form, and we shall
+print the reports hereafter once in two years, corresponding with
+the terms of congress. Our plan is to bind these together once in
+six years, making volumes of the size of those already published.
+These pamphlets, as well as the complete History in three volumes,
+are for sale at the publishing house of Charles Mann, 8 Elm Park,
+Rochester, N. Y.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+BY HARRIET H. ROBINSON.
+
+     The Woman's Hour--Lydia Maria Child Petitions Congress--First New
+     England Convention--The New England, American and Massachusetts
+     Associations--_Woman's Journal_--Bishop Gilbert Haven--The
+     Centennial Tea-party--County Societies--Concord
+     Convention--Thirtieth Anniversary of the Worcester
+     Convention--School Suffrage Association--Legislative
+     Hearing--First Petitions--The Remonstrants Appear--Women in
+     Politics--Campaign of 1872--Great Meeting in Tremont
+     Temple--Women at the Polls--Provisions of Former State
+     Constitutions--Petitions, 1853--School-Committee Suffrage,
+     1879--Women Threatened with Arrest--Changes in the Laws--Woman
+     Now Owns her own Clothing--Harvard Annex--Woman in the
+     Professions--Samuel E. Sewall and William I. Bowditch--Supreme
+     Court Decisions--Sarah E. Wall--Francis Jackson--Julia Ward
+     Howe--Mary E. Stevens--Lucia M. Peabody--Lelia Josephine
+     Robinson--Eliza (Jackson) Eddy's Will.
+
+
+From 1860 to 1866 there is no record to be found of any public
+meeting on the subject of woman's rights, in Massachusetts.[104]
+During these years the war of the rebellion had been fought.
+Pending the great struggle the majority of the leaders, who were
+also anti-slavery, had thought it to be the wiser policy for the
+women to give way for a time, in order that all the working energy
+might be given to the slave. "It is not the woman's but the negro's
+hour"; "After the slave--then the woman," said Wendell Phillips in
+his stirring speeches, at this date. "Keep quiet, work for us,"
+said other of the anti-slavery leaders to the women. "Wait! help us
+to abolish slavery, and then we will work for you." And the women,
+who had the welfare of the country as much at heart as the men,
+kept quiet; worked in hospital and field; sacrificed sons and
+husbands; did what is always woman's part in wars between man and
+man--and waited. If anything can make the women of the State regret
+that they were silent as to their own claims for six eventful years
+that the freedom of the black man might be secured, it is the
+fact that now in 1885 his vote is ever adverse to women's
+enfranchisement. When the fourteenth amendment to the United States
+Constitution was proposed, in which the negro's liberty and his
+right to the ballot were to be established, an effort was made to
+secure in it some recognition of the rights of woman. Massachusetts
+sent a petition, headed with the name of Lydia Maria Child, against
+the introduction of the word "male" in the proposed amendment. When
+this petition was offered to the greatest of America's emancipation
+leaders, for presentation to congress, he received and presented it
+under protest. He thought the woman question should not be
+forced at such a time, and the only answer from congress this
+"woman-intruding" petition received was found in the fourteenth
+amendment itself, in which the word "male," with unnecessary
+iteration, was repeated, so that there might be no mistake in
+future concerning woman's rights, under the Constitution of the
+United States.[105]
+
+The war was over. The rights of the black man, for whom the women
+had worked and waited, were secured, but under the new amendment,
+by which his race had been made free, the white women of the United
+States were more securely held in political slavery. It was time,
+indeed, to hold conventions and agitate anew the question of
+woman's rights. The lesson of the war had been well learned. Women
+had been taught to understand politics, the "science of
+government," and to take an interest in public events; and some who
+before the war had not thought upon the matter, began to ask
+themselves why thousands of ignorant _men_ should be made voters
+and they, or their sex, still kept in bondage under the law.
+
+In 1866, May 31, the first meeting of the American Equal Rights
+Association was held at the Meionaon in Boston.[106] In 1868 the
+call for a New England convention was issued and the meeting was
+held November 18, 19, at Horticultural Hall, Boston. James Freeman
+Clarke presided. In this convention sat many of the distinguished
+men and women of the New England States,[107] old-time advocates,
+together with newer converts to the doctrine, who then became
+identified with the cause of equal rights irrespective of sex. This
+convention was called by the Rev. Olympia Brown.[108] The hall was
+crowded with eager listeners anxious to hear what would be said on
+a subject thought to be ridiculous by a large majority of people in
+the community. Some of the teachers of Boston sent a letter to the
+convention, signed with their names, expressing their interest as
+women. Henry Wilson avowed his belief in the equal rights of woman,
+but thought the time had not yet come for such a consummation, and
+said that, for this reason, he had voted against the question in
+the United States Senate; "though," he continued, "I was afterwards
+ashamed of having so voted." Like another celebrated Massachusetts
+politician, he believed in the principle of the thing, but was
+"agin its enforcement." At this date the popular interest
+heretofore given to the anti-slavery question was transferred to
+the woman suffrage movement.
+
+The New England Woman Suffrage Association was formed at this
+convention. Julia Ward Howe was elected its president, and made her
+first address on the subject of woman's equality with man. On its
+executive board were many representative names from the six New
+England States.[109] By the formation of this society, a great
+impetus was given to the suffrage cause in New England. It held
+conventions and mass-meetings, printed tracts and documents, and
+put lecturers in the field. It set in motion two woman suffrage
+bazars, and organized subscription festivals, and other enterprises
+to raise money to carry on the work. It projected the American, and
+Massachusetts suffrage associations; it urged the formation of
+local and county suffrage societies, and set up the _Woman's
+Journal_. The New England Association held its first anniversary in
+May, 1869, and the meeting was even more successful than the
+opening one of the preceding year. On this occasion Mrs. Livermore
+spoke in Boston for the first time, and many new friends coming
+forward gave vigor and freshness to the movement.[110] Wendell
+Philips, Lucy Stone and Gilbert Haven, spoke at this convention. It
+was on this occasion that the "good Bishop," as he afterward came
+to be called, was met on leaving the meeting by one who did not
+know his opinion on the subject. This person expressed surprise on
+seeing him at a woman's rights meeting, and said: "_What! you_
+here?" "Yes," said he, "I _am_ here! I _believe_ in this reform. I
+am going to start in the beginning, and ride with the procession."
+After this, not until his earthly journey was finished, was his
+place in "the procession" found vacant. Since 1869 the New England
+Association has held its annual meeting in Boston during
+anniversary week, in May, when reports from various States are
+offered, concerning suffrage work done during the year. The
+American Woman Suffrage Association was organized in 1869. Since
+its formation it has held its annual conventions in some of the
+chief cities of the several States.[111] A meeting was held in
+Horticultural Hall, Boston, January 28, 1870, to organize the
+Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association.[112]
+
+The Massachusetts Association is the most active of the three
+societies named. Its work is generally local though it has sent
+help to Colorado, Michigan, and other Western States. It has kept
+petitions in circulation, and has presented petitions and memorials
+to the State legislatures. It has asked for hearings and secured
+able speakers for them. It has held conventions, mass-meetings,
+Fourth of July celebrations. It has helped organize local Woman
+suffrage clubs and societies, and has printed for circulation
+numerous woman suffrage tracts. The amount of work done by its
+lecturing agents can be seen by the statement of Margaret W.
+Campbell, who alone, as agent of the American, the New England and
+the Massachusetts associations, traveled in twenty different States
+and two territories, organizing and speaking in conventions.[113]
+As part of the latest work of this society may be mentioned its
+efforts to present before the women of the State, in clear and
+comprehensive form, an explanation of the different sections of the
+new law "allowing women to vote for school committees." As soon as
+the law passed the legislature of 1879, a circular of instructions
+to women was carefully prepared by Samuel E. Sewall, an eminent
+lawyer and member of the board of the Massachusetts Association, in
+which all the points of law in relation to the new right were ably
+presented. Thousands of copies of this circular were sent to women
+all over the State.
+
+The Centennial Tea Party was held in Boston, December 15, 1873, in
+response to the following call:
+
+     The women of New England who believe that "taxation without
+     representation is tyranny," and that our forefathers were
+     justified in defying despotic power by throwing the tea into
+     Boston harbor, invite the men and women of New England to unite
+     with them in celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of that
+     event in Fanueil Hall.[114]
+
+Three thousand people were in attendance, and it was altogether an
+enthusiastic occasion and one long to be remembered.
+
+The record of conventions and meetings held by the Massachusetts
+Association by no means includes all such gatherings held in
+different towns and cities of the State. The county and local
+societies have done a vast amount of work. The Hampden society was
+started in 1868, with Eliphalet Trask, Frank B. Sanborn and
+Margaret W. Campbell as leading officers. This was the first county
+society formed in the State. Julia Ward Howe, a fresh convert of
+the recent convention went to Salem to lecture on woman suffrage,
+and the Essex county society was formed with Mrs. Sarah G. Wilkins
+and Mrs. Delight R. P. Hewitt--the only two Salem women who went to
+the 1850 convention at Worcester--on its executive board. The
+Middlesex county society followed, planned by Ada C. Bowles and
+officered by names well known in that historic old county. The
+Hampshire and Worcester societies brought up the rear; the former
+planned by Seth Hunt of Northampton. Notable conventions were held
+by the Middlesex society in 1876--one in Malden, one in Melrose and
+one in Concord, organized and conducted by its president, Harriet
+H. Robinson. This last celebrated town had never before been so
+favored. These meetings were conducted something after the style of
+local church conferences. They were well advertised, and many
+people came. A collation was provided by the ladies of each town,
+and the feast of reason was so judiciously mingled with the
+triumphs of cookery, that converts to the cause were never so
+easily won. Many women present said to the president: "I never
+before heard a woman's rights speech. If these are the reasons why
+women should vote, I believe in voting."
+
+The Concord convention was held about a month after the great
+centennial celebration of April 19, 1875--a celebration in which no
+woman belonging to that town took any official part. Nor was there
+any place of honor found for the more distinguished women who had
+come long distances to share in the festivities. Some of the women
+were descendents of Governor John Hancock, Dr. Samuel Prescott,
+Major John Buttrick, Rev. William Emerson and Lieutenant Emerson
+Cogswell. Though no seat of honor in the big tent in which the
+speeches were made was given to the women of to-day, silent
+memorials of those who had taken part in the events of one hundred
+years ago, had found a conspicuous place there--the scissors that
+cut the immortal cartridges made by the women on that eventful day,
+and the ancient flag that the fingers of some of the mothers of the
+Revolution had made. Though the Concord women were not permitted to
+share the centennial honors, they were not deprived of the
+privilege of paying their part of the expenses incident to the
+occasion. To meet these, an increased tax-rate was assessed upon
+all the property owners in the town; and, since one-fifth of the
+town tax of Concord is paid by women, it will be seen what was
+their share in the great centennial celebration of 1876.
+
+The knowledge of the proceedings at Concord added new zest to the
+spirit of the three conventions, and the events of the day were
+used by the speakers to point the moral of the woman's rights
+question. Lucy Stone made one of her most effective and eloquent
+speeches upon this subject. She said:
+
+     FELLOW CITIZENS (I had almost said fellow subjects): What we need
+     is that women should feel their mean position; when that happens,
+     they will soon make an effort to get out of it. Everything is
+     possible to him that wills. All that is needed for the success of
+     the cause of woman suffrage is to have women know that they want
+     to vote. Concord and Lexington got into a fight about the
+     centennial, and Concord voted $10,000 for the celebration in
+     order to eclipse Lexington. One-fifth of the tax of Concord is
+     paid by the women, yet not one of these women dared to go to the
+     town hall and cast her vote upon that subject. This is exactly
+     the same thing which took place one hundred years ago--taxation
+     without representation, against which the _men_ of Concord then
+     rebelled. If I were an inhabitant of Concord, I would let my
+     house be sold over my head and my clothes off my back and be
+     hanged by the neck before I would pay a cent of it! Men of
+     Melrose, Concord and Malden, why persecute us? Would you like to
+     be a slave? Would you like to be disfranchised? Would you like to
+     be bound to respect the laws which you cannot make? There are
+     15,000,000 of women whom the government denies legal rights.
+
+It might be supposed that a spot upon which the battle for freedom
+and independence was first begun would always be the vantage ground
+of questions relating to personal liberty. But such is not the
+fact. Concord was never an anti-slavery town, though some of its
+best citizens took active part in all the abolition movements. When
+the time came that women were allowed to vote for school
+committees, the same intolerant spirit which ignored and shut them
+out of the centennial celebration was again manifested toward
+them--not only by the leading magnates, but also by the petty
+officials of the town. Some of them have from the first shown a
+great deal of ingenuity in inventing ways to intimidate and mislead
+the women voters.
+
+At the annual convention of the Massachusetts Association, in May,
+1880, the following resolution was passed:
+
+     WHEREAS, We believe in keeping the land-marks and traditions of
+     our movement; and
+
+     WHEREAS, It will be thirty years next October since the first
+     woman's rights meeting was held in the State, and it seems
+     fitting that there should be some celebration of the event;
+     therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That we will hold a woman suffrage jubilee in
+     Worcester, October 23 and 24 next, to commemorate the anniversary
+     of our first convention.
+
+A committee[115] of arrangements was chosen, and the meeting was
+held. There were present many whose silver hairs told of long and
+faithful service. The oldest ladies there were Mrs. Lydia Brown of
+Lynn, Mrs. Wilbour of Worcester, and Julia E. Smith Parker of
+Glastonbury, Conn. On the afternoon of the first day there was an
+informal gathering of friends in the ante-room of Horticultural
+Hall. Old-time memories were recalled by those who had not seen
+each other for many years, and the common salutation was: "How gray
+you've grown!" Many of them had indeed grown gray in the service,
+and their faces were changed, but made beautiful by a life devoted
+to a noble purpose. There were many present who had attended the
+convention of thirty years ago--Abby Kelley Foster, Lucy Stone,
+Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Paulina Gerry, Rev. Samuel May, Rev. W.
+H. Channing, Joseph A. Howland, Adeline H. Howland, Dr. Martha H.
+Mowry and many, many others. It was very pleasant indeed to hear
+these veterans whose clear voices have spoken out so long and so
+bravely for the cause. The speaking[116] at all the sessions was
+excellent, and the spirit of the convention was very reverent and
+hopeful.
+
+The tone of the press concerning woman's rights meetings had
+changed greatly since thirty years before. "Hen conventions" had
+gone by, and a woman's meeting was now called by its proper name.
+Representatives of leading newspapers from all parts of the State
+were present, and the reports were written in a just and friendly
+spirit.
+
+
+[Illustration: Harriet H. Robinson]
+
+
+The Massachusetts School Suffrage Association was formed in 1880,
+Abby W. May, president.[117] Its efforts are mostly confined to
+Boston. An independent movement of women voters in Boston, distinct
+from all organizations, was formed in 1884, and subdivided into
+ward and city committees. These did much valuable work and secured
+a larger number of voters than had qualified in previous years. In
+1880 the number of registered women in the whole State was 4,566,
+and in Boston 826. In 1884, chiefly owing to the ward and city
+committees, the number in Boston alone was 1,100. This year (1885)
+a movement among the Roman Catholic women has raised the number who
+are assessed to vote to 1,843; and it is estimated that when the
+tax-paying women are added, the whole number will be about 2,500.
+
+The National Woman Suffrage Association[118] of Massachusetts was
+formed in January, 1882, of members who had joined the National
+Association at its thirteenth annual meeting, held in Tremont
+Temple, Boston, May 26, 27, 1881. According to Article II. of its
+constitution, its object is to secure to women their right to the
+ballot, by working for national, State, municipal, school, or any
+other form of suffrage which shall at the time seem most expedient.
+While it is auxiliary to the National Association, it reserves
+to itself the right of independent action. It has held
+conventions[119] in Boston and some of the chief cities of the
+State, sent delegates to the annual Washington Convention[120] and
+published valuable leaflets.[121] It has rolled up petitions to the
+State legislature and to congress. Its most valuable work has been
+the canvass made in certain localities in the city and country in
+1884, to ascertain the number of women in favor of suffrage, the
+number opposed and the number indifferent. The total result showed
+that there were 405 in favor, 44 opposed, 166 indifferent, 160
+refusing to sign, 39 not seen; that is, over nine who would sign
+themselves in favor to one who would sign herself opposed. This
+canvass was made by women who gave their time and labor to this
+arduous work, and the results were duly presented to the
+legislature.
+
+In 1883 this Association petitioned the legislature to pass a
+resolution recommending congress to submit a proposition for a
+sixteenth amendment to the national constitution. The Senate
+Committee on Woman Suffrage granted a hearing March 23, and soon
+after presented a favorable report; but the resolution, when
+brought to a vote, was lost by 21 to 11. This was the first time
+that the National doctrine of congressional action was ever
+presented or voted upon in the Massachusetts legislature. A second
+hearing[122] was granted on February 28, 1884, before the Committee
+on Federal Relations. They reported leave to withdraw.
+
+The associations mentioned are not the only ones that are aiding
+the suffrage movement. Its friends are found in all the women's
+clubs, temperance associations, missionary movements, charitable
+enterprises, educational and industrial unions and church
+committees. These agencies form a network of motive power which is
+gradually carrying the reform into all branches of public work.
+
+The _Woman's Journal_ was incorporated in 1870 and is owned by a
+joint stock company, shares being held by leading members of the
+suffrage associations of New England. Shortly after it was
+projected, the _Agitator_, then published in Chicago by Mary A.
+Livermore, was bought by the New England Association on condition
+that she should "come to Boston for one year, at a reasonable
+compensation, to assist the cause by her editorial labor and
+speaking at conventions." Lucy Stone and Henry B. Blackwell,
+invited by the same society to "return to the work in
+Massachusetts," at once assumed the editorial charge. T. W.
+Higginson, Julia Ward Howe and W. L. Garrison were assistant
+editors. "Warrington," Kate N. Doggett, Samuel E. Sewall, F. B.
+Sanborn, and many other good writers, lent a helping hand to the
+new enterprise. The _Woman's Journal_ has been of great value to
+the cause. It has helped individual women and brought their
+enterprises into public notice. It has opened its columns to
+inexperienced writers and advertised young speakers. To sustain the
+paper and furnish money for other work, two mammoth bazars or fairs
+were held in Music Hall in 1870, 1871. Nearly all the New England
+States and many of the towns in Massachusetts were represented by
+tables in these bazars. Donations were sent from all directions and
+the women worked, as they generally do in a cause in which they are
+interested, to raise money to furnish the sinews of war. The
+newspapers from day to day were full of descriptions of the
+splendors of the tables, and the reporters spoke well of the women
+who had taken this novel method to carry on their movement. People
+who had never heard of woman suffrage before came to see what sort
+of women were those who thus made a public exhibition of their zeal
+in this cause. In remote places, as well as nearer the scene of
+action, many people who had never thought of the significance of
+the woman's rights movement, began to consider it through reading
+the reports of the woman suffrage bazar.
+
+Female opponents of the suffrage movement began to make a stir as
+early as 1868. A remonstrance was sent into the legislature, from
+two hundred women of Lancaster, giving the reasons why women should
+not enjoy the exercise of the elective franchise: "It would
+diminish the purity, the dignity and the moral influence of woman,
+and bring into the family circle a dangerous element of discord."
+In _The Revolution_ of August 5, 1869, Parker Pillsbury said:
+
+     Dolly Chandler and the hundred and ninety-four other women who
+     asked the Massachusetts legislature not to allow the right of
+     suffrage, were very impudent and tyrannical, too, in petitioning
+     for any but themselves. They should have said: "We, Dolly
+     Chandler and her associates, to the number of a hundred and
+     ninety-five in all, do not want the right of suffrage; and we
+     pray your honorable bodies to so decree and enact that we shall
+     never have it." So far they might go. But when they undertake to
+     prevent a hundred and ninety-four thousand other women who do
+     want the ballot and who have an acknowledged right to it, and are
+     laboring for it day and night, it is proper to ask, What business
+     have Dolly Chandler and her little coterie to interpose? Nobody
+     wants them to vote unless they themselves want to. They can stay
+     at home and see nobody but the assessor, the tax-gatherer and the
+     revenue collector, from Christmas to Christmas, if they so
+     prefer. Those gentlemen they will be pretty likely to see,
+     annually or quarterly, and to feel their power, too, if they have
+     pockets with anything in them, in spite of all petitions to the
+     legislature.
+
+It did not occur to these women that by thus remonstrating they
+were doing just what they were protesting against. What _is_ a
+vote? An expression of opinion or a desire as to governmental
+affairs, in the shape of a ballot. The "aspiring blood of
+Lancaster" should have mounted higher than this, since, if it
+really was the opinion of these remonstrants that woman cannot vote
+without becoming defiled, they should have kept themselves out of
+the legislature, should have kept their hands from petitioning and
+their thoughts from agitation on either side of the subject. Just
+such illogical reasoning on the woman suffrage question is often
+brought forward and passes for the profoundest wisdom and
+discreetest delicacy! The same arguments are used by the
+remonstrants of to-day, who are now fully organized and doing very
+efficient political work in opposing further political action by
+women. In their carriages, with footman and driver, they solicit
+names to their remonstrances. As a Boston newspaper says:
+
+     The anti-woman suffrage women get deeper and deeper into politics
+     year by year in their determination to keep out of politics. By
+     the time they triumph they will be the most accomplished
+     politicians of the sex, and unable to stop writing to the papers,
+     holding meetings, circulating remonstrances, any more than the
+     suffrage sisterhood.
+
+These persons, men and women, bring their whole force to bear
+before legislative committees at woman suffrage hearings, and use
+arguments that might have been excusable forty years ago. However
+this is merely a phase of the general movement and will work for
+good in the end. It can no more stop the progress of the reform
+than it can stop the revolution of the globe.
+
+Political agitation on the woman suffrage question began in
+Massachusetts in 1870. A convention to discuss the feasibility of
+forming a woman suffrage political party was held in Boston, at
+which Julia Ward Howe presided, and Rev. Augusta Chapin offered
+prayer. The question of a separate nomination for State officers
+was carefully considered.[123] Delegates were present from the
+Labor Reform and Prohibition parties, and strong efforts were made
+by them to induce the convention to nominate Wendell Phillips, who
+had already accepted the nomination of those two parties, as
+candidate for governor. The convention at one time seemed strongly
+in favor of this action, the women in particular thinking that in
+Mr. Phillips they would find a staunch and well tried leader. But
+more politic counsels prevailed, and it was finally concluded to
+postpone a separate nomination until after the Republican and
+Democratic conventions had been held. A State central committee was
+formed, and at once began active political agitation. A memorial
+was prepared to present to each of the last-named conventions; and
+the candidates on the State tickets of the four political parties
+were questioned by letter concerning their opinions on the right of
+the women to the ballot. At the Republican State convention held
+October 5, 1870, the question was fairly launched into politics, by
+the admission, for the first time, of two women, Lucy Stone and
+Mary A. Livermore, as regularly accredited delegates. Both were
+invited to speak, and the following resolution drawn up by Henry B.
+Blackwell, was presented by Charles W. Slack:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the Republican party of Massachusetts is mindful
+     of its obligations to the loyal women of America for their
+     patriotic devotion to the cause of liberty; that we rejoice in
+     the action of the recent legislature in making women eligible as
+     officers of the State; that we thank Governor Claflin for having
+     appointed women to important political trusts; that we are
+     heartily in favor of the enfranchisement of women, and will hail
+     the day when the educated, intelligent and enlightened conscience
+     of the women of Massachusetts has direct expression at the ballot
+     box.
+
+This resolution was presented to the committee, who did not agree
+as to the propriety of reporting it to the convention, and they
+instructed their chairman, George F. Hoar, to state the fact and
+refer the resolution back to that body for its own action. A warm
+debate arose, in which several members of the convention made
+speeches on both sides of the question. The resolution was finally
+defeated, 137 voting in its favor, and 196 against it. Although
+lost, the large vote in the affirmative was thought to mean a great
+deal as a guaranty of the good faith of the Republican party, and
+the women were willing to trust to its promises. It was thought
+then, as it has been thought since, that most of the friends of
+woman suffrage were in the Republican party, and that the interests
+of the cause could best be furthered by depending on its action.
+The women were, however, mistaken, and have learned to look upon
+the famous resolution in its true light. It is now known as the
+_coup d'etat_ of the Worcester convention of 1870, which
+really had more votes than it was fairly entitled to. After
+that,--"forewarned, forearmed," said the enemies of the enterprise,
+and woman suffrage resolutions have received less votes in
+Republican conventions.
+
+When the memorial prepared by the State Central Committee was
+presented to the Democratic State convention, that body, in
+response, passed a resolution conceding the _principle_ of women's
+right to suffrage, but at the same time declared itself against its
+being _enforced_, or put into practice. To finish the brief record
+of the dealings of the Democratic party, with the women of the
+State, it may be said that since 1870, it has never responded to
+their appeals, nor taken any action of importance on the question.
+
+In 1871 a resolution endorsing woman suffrage was passed in the
+Republican convention. In June, 1872, the national convention at
+Philadelphia, passed the following:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the Republican party is mindful of its
+     obligations to the loyal women of America for their noble
+     devotion to the cause of freedom; their admission to wider fields
+     of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction; and the honest demand
+     of any class of citizens for additional rights, should be treated
+     with respectful consideration.
+
+The Massachusetts Republican State Convention, following this lead,
+again passed a woman suffrage resolution:
+
+     _Resolved_, That we heartily approve the recognition of the
+     rights of woman contained in the fourteenth clause of the
+     national Republican platform; that the Republican party of
+     Massachusetts, as the representative of liberty and progress, is
+     in favor of extending suffrage to all American citizens
+     irrespective of sex, and will hail the day when the educated
+     intellect and enlightened conscience of woman shall find direct
+     expression at the ballot-box.
+
+This was during the campaign of 1872, when General Grant's chance
+of reelection was thought to be somewhat uncertain, and the
+Republican women in all parts of the country were called on to
+rally to his support. The National Woman Suffrage Association had
+issued "an appeal to the women of America," asking them to
+cooeperate with the Republican party and work for the election of
+its candidates. In response to this appeal a ratification meeting
+was held at Tremont Temple, in Boston, at which hundreds stayed to
+a late hour listening to speeches made by women on the political
+questions of the day. An address was issued from the "Republican
+women of Massachusetts to the women of America." In this address
+they announced their faith in and willingness to "trust the
+Republican party and its candidates, as saying what they mean and
+meaning what they say, and in view of their honorable record we
+have no fear of betrayal on their part." Mrs. Livermore, Lucy Stone
+and Huldah B. Loud took part in the canvass, and agents employed by
+the Massachusetts Association were instructed to speak for the
+Republican party.[124] Women writers furnished articles for the
+newspapers and the Republican women did as much effective work
+during the campaign as if each one had been a "man and a voter."
+They did everything but vote. All this agitation was a benefit to
+the Republican party, but not to woman suffrage, because for a time
+it arrayed other political parties against the movement and caused
+it to be thought merely a party issue, while it is too broad a
+question for such limitation.
+
+General Grant was reelected and the campaign was over. When the
+legislature met and the suffrage question came up for discussion,
+that body, composed in large majority of Republicans, showed the
+women of Massachusetts the difference between "saying what you mean
+and meaning what you say," the Woman Suffrage bill being defeated
+by a large majority. The women learned by this experience that
+nothing is to be expected of a political party while it is in
+power. To close the subject of suffrage resolutions in the platform
+of the Republican party, it may be said that they continued to be
+put in and seemed to mean something until after 1875, when they
+became only "glittering generalities," and were as devoid of real
+meaning or intention as any that were ever passed by the old Whig
+party on the subject of abolition. Yet from 1870 to 1874 the
+Republican party had the power to fulfill its promises on this
+question. Since then, it has been too busy trying to keep breath in
+its own body to lend a helping hand to any struggling reform. At
+the Republican convention, held in Worcester in 1880, an attempt
+was made by Mr. Blackwell to introduce a resolution endorsing the
+right conferred upon women in the law allowing them to vote for
+school committees, passed by the legislature of 1879. This
+resolution was rejected by the committee, and when offered in
+convention as an amendment, it was voted down without a single
+voice, except that of the mover, being raised in its support. Yet
+this resolution only asked a Republican convention to endorse an
+existing right, conferred on the women of the State by a Republican
+legislature! A political party as a party of freedom must be very
+far spent when it refuses at its annual convention to endorse an
+act passed by a legislature the majority of whose members are
+representatives elected from its own body. Since that time the
+Republican party has entirely ignored the claims of woman. In 1884,
+at its annual convention, an effort was made, as usual, by Mr.
+Blackwell, to introduce a resolution, but without success, and yet
+some of the best of our leaders advised the women to "stand by the
+Republican party."[125]
+
+The question of forming a woman suffrage political party had, since
+1870, been often discussed.[126] In 1875 Thomas J. Lothrop proposed
+the formation of a separate organization. But it was not until 1876
+that any real effort in this direction was made. The Prohibitory
+(or Temperance) party sometimes holds the balance of political
+power in Massachusetts, and many of the members of that party are
+also strong advocates of suffrage. The feeling had been growing
+for several years that if forces could be joined with the
+Prohibitionists some practical result in politics might be reached,
+and though there was a difference of opinion on this subject, many
+were willing to see the experiment tried.
+
+The Prohibitory party had at its convention in 1876 passed a
+resolution inviting the women to take part in its primary meetings,
+with an equal voice and vote in the nomination of candidates and
+transaction of business. After long and anxious discussions, the
+Massachusetts Woman Suffrage State Central Committee, in whose
+hands all political action rested, determined to accept this
+invitation. A woman suffrage political convention was held, at
+which the Prohibitory candidates were endorsed and a joint State
+ticket was decided on, to be headed "Prohibition and Equal Rights."
+These tickets were sent to women all over the State, and they were
+strongly urged to go to the polls and distribute them on election
+day. Lucy Stone, Mary A. Livermore and other leading speakers took
+part in the campaign, and preparations were completed by which it
+was expected both parties would act harmoniously together. Clubs
+were formed at whose headquarters were seen men and women gathered
+together to organize for political work. From some of these
+headquarters hung transparencies with "Baker and Eddy" on one side,
+and "Prohibition and Equal Rights" on the other. Caucuses and
+conventions were held in Chelsea, Taunton, Malden, Lynn, Concord,
+and other places. A Middlesex county (first district) senatorial
+convention was called and organized by women, and its proceedings
+were fully reported by the Boston newspapers.[127]
+
+The nominations made at these caucuses were generally unanimous,
+and it seemed at the time as if the two wings of the so-called
+"Baker party" would work harmoniously together. But, with a few
+honorable exceptions, the Prohibitionists, taking advantage of the
+fact that the voting power of the women was over, once outside the
+caucus, repudiated the nominations, or held other caucuses and shut
+the doors of entrance in the faces of the women who represented
+either the suffrage or the Prohibitory party. This was the case
+invariably, excepting in towns where the majority of the voting
+members of the Prohibitory party were also in favor of woman
+suffrage. This result is what might have been expected. Of what use
+was woman in the ranks of any political party, with no vote outside
+the caucus?
+
+After being thus ignored in one of their caucuses in Malden,
+Middlesex county, the suffragists in that town determined to hold
+another caucus. This was accordingly done, and two "straight"
+candidates were nominated as town representatives to the
+legislature. A "Woman Suffrage ticket"[128] was thereupon printed
+to offer to the voters on election day. The next question was, who
+would distribute these ballots most effectively at the polls. Some
+men thought that the women themselves should go and present in
+person the names of their candidates. At first the women who had
+carried on the campaign shrank from this last test of their
+faithfulness; but, after carefully considering the matter, they
+concluded that it was the right thing to do. The repugnance felt at
+that time, at the thought of "women going to the polls" can hardly
+be appreciated to-day. Since they have begun to vote in
+Massachusetts the terror expressed at the idea of such a proceeding
+has somewhat abated; but in 1876 it was thought to be a rash act
+for a woman to appear at the polls in company with men. Some
+attempt was made to deter them from their purpose, and stories of
+pipes and tobacco and probable insults were told; but they had no
+terrors for women who knew better than to believe that their
+neighbors would be turned into beasts (like the man in the fairy
+tale) for this one day in the year.[129]
+
+It was a sight to be remembered, to behold women "crowned with
+honor" standing at the polls to see the freed slave go by and vote,
+and the newly-naturalized fellow-citizen, and the blind, the
+paralytic, the boy of twenty-one with his newly-fledged vote, the
+drunken man who did not know Hayes from Tilden, and the man who
+read his ballot upside down. All these voted for the men they
+wanted to represent them, but the women, being neither colored, nor
+foreign, nor blind, nor paralytic, nor newly-fledged, nor drunk,
+nor ignorant, but only _women_, could not vote for the men they
+wanted to represent them.[130]
+
+The women learned several things during this campaign in
+Massachusetts. One was, that weak parties are no more to be trusted
+than strong ones; and another, that men grant but little until the
+ballot is placed in the hands of those who make the demand. They
+learned also how political caucuses and conventions are managed.
+The resolution passed by the Prohibitionists enabled them to do
+this. So the great "open sesame" is reached. It is but fair to
+state that since 1876 the Prohibitory party has treated the woman
+suffrage question with consideration. In its annual convention it
+has passed resolutions endorsing woman's claims to political
+equality, and has set the example to other parties of admitting
+women as delegates. At the State convention in 1885 the following
+resolution was adopted by a good majority:
+
+     _Resolved_, That women having interests to be promoted and rights
+     to be protected, and having ability for the discharge of
+     political duties, should have the right to vote and to be voted
+     for, as is accorded to man.
+
+In the early history of Massachusetts, when the new colony was
+governed by laws set down in the Province charter (1691, third year
+of William and Mary) women were not excluded from voting. The
+clause in the charter relating to this matter says:
+
+     The great and general court shall consist of the governor and
+     council (or assistants for the time being) and of such
+     freeholders as shall be from time to time elected or deputed by
+     the major part of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the
+     respective towns or places, who shall be present at such
+     elections.
+
+In the original constitution (1780) women were excluded from voting
+except for certain State officers.[131] In the constitutional
+convention of 1820, the word "male" was first put into the
+constitution of the State, in an amendment to define the
+qualifications of voters. In this convention, a motion was made at
+three different times, during the passage of the act, to strike out
+the intruding word, but the motion was voted down. Long before the
+second attempt was made to revise the constitution of the State,
+large numbers of women began to demand suffrage. Woman's sphere of
+operations and enterprise had become so widened, that they felt
+they had not only the right, but also an increasing fitness for
+civil life and government, of which the ballot is but the sign and
+the symbol.
+
+In the constitutional convention of 1853, twelve petitions were
+presented, from over 2,000 adult persons, asking for the
+recognition of woman's right to the ballot, in the proposed
+amendments to the constitution of the State. The committee reported
+leave to withdraw, giving as their reason that the "consent of the
+governed" was shown by the small number of petitioners. Hearings
+before this committee were granted.[132] The chairman of this
+committee, in presenting the report, moved that all debate on the
+subject should cease in thirty minutes, and on motion of Benjamin
+F. Butler of Lowell, the whole report, excepting the last clause,
+was stricken out. There was then left of the whole document
+(including more than two closely-printed pages of reasoning) only
+this: "It is inexpedient for this convention to take any action."
+
+Legislative action on the woman's rights question began in 1849,
+when William Lloyd Garrison presented the first petition on the
+subject to the State legislature. Following him was one from
+Jonathan Drake and others, "for a peaceable secession of
+Massachusetts from the Union." Both these petitions were probably
+considered by the legislature to which they were addressed as of
+equally incendiary character, since they both had "leave to
+withdraw." In 1851 an order was introduced asking "whether any
+legislation was necessary concerning the wills of married women?"
+In 1853 a bill was enacted "to exempt certain property of widows
+and unmarried women from taxation." In the legislature of 1856 the
+first great and important act relating to the property rights of
+women was passed. It was to the effect that women could hold all
+property earned or acquired independently of their husbands. This
+act was amended and improved the next session.
+
+In 1857 a hearing was held before the Committee on the Judiciary to
+listen to arguments in favor of the petition of Lucy Stone and
+others for equal property rights for women and for the "right of
+suffrage." Another hearing was held in the same place in February,
+1858, before the Joint Special Committee on the Qualifications of
+Voters. A second hearing on the right of suffrage for women was
+held the following week before the same committee. Thomas W.
+Higginson made an address and Caroline Kealey Dall read an essay.
+
+In 1858, Stephen A. Chase of Salem, from the same Committee on the
+Qualifications of Voters, made a long report on the petitions. This
+report closed with an order that the State Board of Education make
+inquiry and report to the next legislature "whether it is not
+practicable and expedient to provide by law some method by which
+the women of this State may have a more active part in the control
+and management of the schools." There is nothing in legislative
+records to show that the State Board of Education reported
+favorably; but from the above statement it appears that ten years
+before Samuel E. Sewall's petition on the subject, a movement was
+made towards making women "eligible to serve as members of
+school-committees."
+
+The petitions for woman's rights were usually circulated by women
+going from house to house. They did the drudgery, endured the
+hardships and suffered the humiliations attendant upon the early
+history of our cause; but their names are forgotten, and others
+reap the benefit of their labors. These women were so modest and so
+anxious for the success of their petitions, that they never put
+their own names at the head of the list, preferring the signature
+of some leading man, so that others seeing his name, might be
+induced to follow his example. Among the earliest of these silent
+workers was Mary Upton Ferrin. Her petitions were for a change in
+the laws concerning the property rights of married women, and for
+the political and legal rights of all women. In 1849 she prepared a
+memorial to the Massachusetts legislature in which are embodied
+many of the demands for woman's equality before the law, which have
+so often been made to that body since that time.[133]
+
+In 1861 the legislature debated a bill to allow a widow, "if she
+have woodland as a part of her dower, the privilege of cutting wood
+enough for one fire." This bill failed, and the widow, by law, was
+_not_ allowed to keep herself warm with fuel from her own wood-lot.
+In 1863 a bill providing that "a wife may be allowed to be a
+witness and proceed against her husband for desertion," was
+reported inexpedient, and a bill was passed to _prevent_ women from
+forming copartnerships in business. In 1865, Gov. John A. Andrew,
+seeing the magnitude of the approaching woman question, in his
+annual message to the legislature, made a memorable suggestion:
+
+     I know of no more useful object to which the commonwealth can
+     lend its aid, than that of a movement, adopted in a practical
+     way, to open the door of emigration to young women who are wanted
+     for teachers and for every appropriate, as well as domestic,
+     employment in the remote West, but who are leading anxious and
+     aimless lives in New England.
+
+By the "anxious and aimless" it was supposed the governor meant the
+widowed, single or otherwise unrepresented portion of the citizens
+of the State. No action was taken by the legislature on this
+portion of the governor's message. But a member of the Senate
+actually made the following proposition before that body:
+
+     That the "anxious and aimless women" of the State should assemble
+     on the Common on a certain day of the year (to be hereafter
+     named), and that Western men who wanted wives, should be invited
+     to come here and select them.
+
+Legislators who make such propositions, do not foresee that the
+time may come, when perhaps those nearest and dearest to them, may
+be classed among the superfluous or "anxious and aimless" women!
+
+In 1865 bills allowing married women to testify in suits at law
+where their husbands are parties, and permitting them to hold trust
+estates were rejected. It will be seen that though all this
+legislation was adverse to woman's interest, the question had
+forced itself upon the attention of the members of both House and
+Senate. In 1866 a joint committee of both houses was appointed to
+consider:
+
+     If any additional legislation can be adopted, whereby the means
+     of obtaining a livelihood by the women of this commonwealth may
+     be increased and a more equal and just compensation be allowed
+     for their labor.
+
+In 1867, Francis W. Bird presented the petition of Mehitable
+Haskell of Gloucester for "an amendment to the constitution
+extending suffrage to women." In 1868 Mr. King of Boston presented
+the same petition, and it was at this time, and in answer thereto,
+that the subject first entered into the regular orders of the day,
+and became a part of the official business of the House of
+Representatives. Attempts to legislate on the property question
+were continued in 1868, in bills "to further protect the property
+of married women," "to allow married women to contract for
+necessaries," and if "divorced from bed and board, to allow them to
+dispose of their own property." These bills were all defeated.
+Annual legislative hearings on woman suffrage began in 1869. These
+were first secured through the efforts of the executive committee
+of the New England Woman Suffrage Association. Eight thousand women
+had petitioned the legislature that suffrage might be allowed them
+on the same terms as men, and in answer, two hearings were held in
+the green room at the State House.[134] In 1870 a joint special
+committee on woman suffrage was formed, and since that time there
+have been one or more annual hearings on the question. To what
+extent legislative sentiment has been created will be shown later
+in the improvement of many laws with regard to the legal status of
+woman.
+
+William Claflin was the first governor of Massachusetts to present
+officially to the voters of the commonwealth the subject of woman's
+rights as a citizen. In his address to the legislature of 1871, he
+strongly recommended a change in the laws regarding suffrage and
+the property rights of woman. His attitude toward this reform made
+an era in the history of the executive department of the State.
+Since that time nearly every governor of the State has, in
+his annual message, recommended the subject to respectful
+consideration. In 1879 Governor Thomas Talbot proposed a
+constitutional amendment which should secure the ballot to women on
+the same terms as to men. In response to this portion of the
+governor's message, and to the ninety-eight petitions presented on
+the subject, a general suffrage bill passed the Senate by a
+two-thirds majority, and an act to "give women the right to vote
+for members of school committees," passed both branches of the
+legislature and became a law of the State.[135] Governor John D.
+Long, in his inaugural address before the legislature of 1880,
+expressed his opinion in favor of woman suffrage perhaps more
+decidedly than any who had preceded him in that high official
+position. He said:
+
+     I repeat my conviction of the right of woman suffrage. If the
+     commonwealth is not ready to give it in full by a constitutional
+     amendment, I approve of testing it in municipal elections.
+
+The law allowing women to vote for school committees is one of the
+last results of the legislative agitations, though it is true that
+the petition, the answer to which was the passage of this act, did
+not emanate from any suffrage association. It was the outcome of a
+conference on the subject, held in the parlors of the New England
+Women's Club.[136]
+
+But the petitions of the suffragists had always been for general
+and unrestricted suffrage, and they opposed any scheme for securing
+the ballot on a class or a restricted basis, holding that the true
+ground of principle is equality of rights with man. The practical
+result, so far, of voting for school committees has justified this
+position; for, as shown by the recent elections, the women of the
+State have not availed themselves to any extent of their new right
+to vote, and, therefore, the measure has not forwarded the cause of
+general suffrage. In fact, the school-committee question is not a
+vital one with either male or female voters, and it is impossible
+to get up any enthusiasm on the subject. As a test question upon
+which to try the desire of the women of the State to become voters,
+it is a palpable sham. Our Revolutionary fathers would not have
+fought, bled and died for such a figment of a right as this; and
+their daughters, or grand-daughters, inherit the same spirit, and
+if they vote at all, want something worth voting for. The result
+is, that the voting has been largely done by those women who have
+long been in favor of suffrage, and who have gone to the polls on
+election day from pure principle and a sense of duty.[137]
+
+The law allowing women to vote for school committees was very
+elastic and capable of many interpretations. It reminded one of the
+old school exercise in transposing the famous line in Gray's Elegy,
+
+     "The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,"
+
+which has been found to be capable of over twenty different
+transpositions. The collectors and registrars in some towns and
+cities took advantage of this obscurity of expression, and
+interpreted the law according to their individual opinion on the
+woman suffrage question. In places where these officials were in
+sympathy, a broad construction was put upon the provisions of the
+law, the poll-tax payers were allowed to vote upon the payment of
+one dollar (under the divided tax law of 1879), and the women
+voters generally were given all necessary information, and treated
+courteously both by the assessors and registrars and at the polls.
+In places where leading officials were opposed to women's voting,
+the case was far different. Without regarding the clause in the law
+which said that a woman may vote upon paying either State or county
+poll-tax, such officials have threatened the women with arrest when
+they refused to pay both. In some towns they have been treated with
+great indignity, as if they were doing an unlawful act. In one town
+the women were actually required to pay a poll-tax the second year,
+in spite of the clause in the law that a female citizen who has
+paid a State or county tax within two years shall have the right to
+vote. The town assessor, whose duty it was to inform the women on
+this point of the law when asked concerning the matter, _willfully_
+withheld the desired information, saying he "did not know," though
+he afterwards said that he _did_ know, but intended to let the
+women "find out for themselves." This assessor forgot that the
+women, as legal voters, had a right to ask for this information,
+and that by virtue of his official position he was legally obliged
+to answer. In another town two ladies who were property tax-payers
+were made to pay the two dollars poll-tax, and the record of this
+still stands on the town books. Some ladies were frightened and
+paid the tax under protest; others ran the risk. Here is a letter
+addressed to a lady 83 years of age:
+
+                                   MALDEN, Dec. 2, 1879.
+
+     HARRIET HANSON: There is a balance of ninety cents due on your
+     poll-tax of 1879, duly assessed upon you. Payment of the same is
+     hereby demanded, and if not paid within fourteen days from this
+     date, with twenty cents for the summons, the collector is
+     required to proceed forthwith to collect the same in manner
+     provided by law.
+
+                                   THEODORE N. FOGUE, _Collector_.
+
+Mrs. Hanson paid no attention to the summons, and that was the end
+of it.
+
+In 1881, under the amended act the poll-tax was reduced to fifty
+cents, and the property tax-paying women (who are not required to
+pay a poll-tax) are no longer obliged to make a return of property
+exempt from taxation, as was required under the original statute.
+Though some of the disabilities were removed, yet the privileges
+are no greater; and it is for members of school-committees and for
+nothing else, that the women of this State can vote. This is hardly
+worthy to be called "school suffrage"! It is to be regretted that a
+better test than that of school-committee suffrage, could not have
+been given to the women of the State, so that the issue of what
+under the circumstances cannot be called a fair trial of their
+desire to vote, might be more nearly what the friends of reform had
+desired.
+
+The first petition to the Massachusetts legislature, asking that
+women might be allowed to serve on school-boards was presented in
+1866 by Samuel E. Sewall of Boston. The same petition was again
+presented in 1867. About this time Ashfield and Monroe, two of the
+smallest towns in the State, elected women as members of the school
+committee. Worcester and Lynn soon followed the good example, and
+in 1874, Boston, for the first time, chose six women to serve in
+this capacity.[138] There had hitherto been no open objection to
+this innovation, but the school committee of Boston not liking the
+idea of women co-workers, declared them ineligible to hold such
+office. Miss Peabody applied to the Supreme Court for its opinion
+upon the matter, but the judges refused to answer, and dismissed
+the petition on the ground that the school committee itself had
+power to decide the question of the qualifications of members of
+the board. The subject was brought before the legislature of the
+same year, and that body, almost unanimously, passed "An Act to
+Declare Women Eligible to Serve as Members of School Committees."
+Thus the women members were reinstated.[139]
+
+This refusal on the part of the Supreme Judicial Court of
+Massachusetts to answer a question relating to woman's rights under
+the law, was received with a knowing smile by those who remembered
+the three adverse decisions relating to women which had been given
+by that august body. The first of these was on the case of Sarah E.
+Wall of Worcester. The second was concerning a clause in the will
+of Francis Jackson of Boston, who left $5,000 and other property to
+the woman's rights cause. Its third adverse decision was given in
+1871. In that year, Julia Ward Howe and Mary E. Stevens were
+appointed by Governor Claflin as justices of the peace. Some member
+of the governor's council having doubted whether women could
+legally hold the office, the opinion of the Supreme Court was asked
+and it decided substantially that because women were women, or
+because women were not _men_, they could _not_ be justices of the
+peace; and the appointment was not confirmed.
+
+Changes in the common law began in 1845 with reference to the
+wife's right to hold her own property. In 1846 she could legally
+sign a receipt for money earned or deposited by herself.[140]
+Before 1855 a woman could not hold her own property, either earned
+or acquired by inheritance. If unmarried, she was obliged to place
+it in the hands of a trustee, to whose will she was subject. If she
+contemplated marriage, and desired to call her property her own,
+she was forced by law to make a contract with her intended husband,
+by which she gave up all title or claim to it. A woman, either
+married or unmarried, could hold no office of trust or power. She
+was not a person. She was not recognized as a citizen. She was not
+a factor in the human family. She was not a unit; but a zero, a
+nothing, in the sum of civilization.
+
+To-day, a married woman can hold her own property, if it is held or
+bought in her own name, and can make a will disposing of it. A man
+is no longer the sole heir of his wife's property. A married woman
+can make contracts, enter into co-partnerships, carry on business,
+invest her own earnings for her own use and behoof,--and she is
+also responsible for her own debts. She can be executor,
+administrator, guardian or trustee. She can testify in the courts
+for or against her husband. She can release, transfer, or convey,
+any interest she may have in real estate, subject only to the life
+interest which the husband may have at her death. Thirty years ago,
+when the woman's rights movement began, the status of a married
+woman was little better than that of a domestic servant. By the
+English common law, her husband was her lord and master. He had the
+sole custody of her person, and of her minor children. He could
+"punish her with a stick no bigger than his thumb," and she could
+not complain against him.[141] But the real "thumb" story seems to
+have originated with a certain Judge Buller of England, who lived
+about one hundred years ago. In his ruling on one of those cases of
+wife-beating, now so common in our police courts, he said that a
+man had a right to punish his wife, "with a stick no bigger than
+his thumb." That was his opinion. Shortly after this some ladies
+sent the judge a letter in which they prayed him to give the size
+of his thumb! We are not told whether he complied with their
+request.]
+
+The common law of this State held man and wife to be one person,
+but that person was the husband. He could by will deprive her of
+every part of his property, and also of what had been her own
+before marriage. He was the owner of all her real estate and of her
+earnings. The wife could make no contract and no will, nor, without
+her husband's consent, dispose of the legal interest of her real
+estate. He had the income of her real estate till she died, and if
+they ever had a living child his ownership of the real estate
+continued to his death. He could forbid her to buy a loaf of bread
+or a pound of sugar, or contract for a load of wood to keep the
+family warm. She did not own a rag of her own clothing. She had no
+personal rights, and could hardly call her soul her own.
+
+Her husband could steal her children, rob her of her clothing, and
+her earnings, neglect to support the family; and she had no legal
+redress. If a wife earned money by her labor, the husband could
+claim the pay as his share of the proceeds. There is a clause
+sometimes found in old wills, to the effect that if a widow marry
+again, she shall forfeit all right to her husband's property. The
+most conservative judge in the commonwealth would now rule that a
+widow cannot be kept from her fair share of the property, by any
+such unjust restriction. In a husband's eyes of a hundred and fifty
+years ago, a woman's mission was accomplished after she had been
+_his_ wife and borne _his_ children. What more could be desired of
+her, he argued, but a corner somewhere in which, respectably
+dressed as his _relict_, she could sit down and mourn for him, for
+the rest of her life.[142]
+
+The law no longer sanctions such a will, but provides that the
+widow shall have a fair share of all personal property. If a widow
+permits herself to-day to be defrauded of her legal rights in the
+division of property, it is her own fault, and because she does not
+study and understand for herself the general statutes of
+Massachusetts, and the laws concerning the rights of married women.
+The result of thirty years of property legislation for women is
+well stated by Mr. Sewall in his admirable pamphlet, in which he
+says, "the last thirty years have done more to improve the law for
+married women than the four hundred preceding." The legislature
+has, during this time, enacted laws allowing women to vote in
+parishes and religious societies, declaring that women _must_
+become members of the board of trustees of the three State primary
+and reform schools, of the State workhouse, of the State almshouse
+at Tewksbury, and of the board of prison commissioners; also, that
+certain officers and managers of the reformatory prison for women
+at Sherborn "shall be women." Without legislation, women now are
+school supervisors, overseers of the poor, trustees of public
+libraries and members of the State Board of Education and of the
+State Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity.[143]
+
+These great changes in legislation for the women of Massachusetts
+are the result of their own labors. By conventions and documents
+they have informed the people and enlightened public sentiment. By
+continued agitation the question has been kept prominently before
+their representatives in the legislature. And, though so much has
+been gained, they are still hard at work, nor will they rest until,
+woman's equality with man before the law is firmly established.
+
+Among the most important acts passed recently is one of 1879, by
+which a married woman is the owner of her own clothing to the value
+of $2,000, although the act granting this calls such apparel the
+"gifts of her husband," not recognizing the fact that most married
+women earn or help to earn their own clothes. A law was passed, in
+1881, to "mitigate the evils of divorce." Two important acts were
+passed by the legislature of 1882, one allowing women to become
+practising attorneys, and the other providing, that in case of the
+death of a married woman intestate and leaving children, one-half
+only of her personal estate shall go to her husband, instead of the
+whole, as in previous years. In 1883, a wife was given the right of
+burial in any lot or tomb belonging to her husband. In 1884, the
+only measures were a bill providing for the appointment of women on
+the board of State lunatic hospitals, and another providing for the
+appointment of women assistant physicians in the same hospitals,
+and an act giving women the power to dispose of their separate
+estates by will or deed. In 1885, very little was done to improve
+the legal status of women.
+
+When any vote on the Suffrage bill is taken, it is enough to make
+the women who sit in the gallery weep to hear the "O's" and the
+"Mc's," almost to a man, thunder forth the emphatic "_No!_"; and to
+think that these men (some of whom a few years ago were walking
+over their native bogs, with hardly the right to live and breathe)
+should vote away so thoughtlessly the rights of the women of the
+country in which they have found a shelter and a home. When they
+came to this country, poor, and with no inheritance but the
+"shillalah," the ballot was freely given to them, as the poor man's
+weapon for defence. Why cannot men, who have been political serfs
+in their own country, see the incongruity of voting against the
+enfranchisement of over one-half of the inhabitants of the State
+which has made free human beings of them? It is not long since one
+of these adopted citizens, in a discussion, said:
+
+     When the women show that they want to vote, I am willing to give
+     them all the rights they want.
+
+Give! I thought. Where did you get the right to _give_
+Massachusetts women the right to vote? You did not inherit it. In
+what consists your prerogative over the women whose ancestors
+fought to secure the very right of suffrage of which you so glibly
+talk, and which neither you, nor your father before you, did aught
+to establish or maintain?
+
+The improvement in the social or general condition of woman has
+been even greater than that in legislation. Previous to 1840, women
+were employed only as teachers of summer schools, to "spell the
+men" during the haying season; and this only occasionally. They
+held no responsible position in any public school in the State.
+To-day there are eight women to one man employed in all grades of
+this profession, and there are numerous instances where women are
+head-teachers of departments, or principals of high, normal and
+grammar schools. Previous to 1825, girls could attend only the
+primary schools of Boston. Through the influence of Rev. John
+Pierpont, the first high-school for girls was opened in that city.
+There was a great outcry against this innovation; and, because of
+the excitement on the subject, and the _great number of girls_ who
+applied for admission, the scheme was abandoned. The public-school
+system, as it is now called, was established in Boston in 1789;
+boys were admitted the whole year round; girls, from April to
+October. This inequality in the opportunities for education roused
+John Pierpont's indignation, and moved him to make strenuous
+efforts to secure justice for girls. Now there are 6,246 schools,
+seventy-two academies, six normal schools, two colleges, Boston
+University and the "Harvard Annex" all open to girls. In the town
+of Plymouth, where the Pilgrim fathers and mothers first landed,
+when the question whether girls should receive any public
+instruction first came up in town-meeting, there was great
+opposition to it. However, the majority showed a liberal spirit,
+and voted to give the girls one hour of instruction daily. This
+was in 1793. In 1853 a normal school for girls was established in
+Boston; in 1855 its name was changed to the Girls' High and Normal
+School. In 1878 the Girls' Latin School in Boston was founded. The
+establishment of this successful institution was the result of
+discussions on the subject first brought before the public by
+ladies of Boston. High schools in almost all the towns and cities
+of the State have long been established, in which the boys and
+girls are educated together. In 1880 the pupils in the high and
+normal schools of Boston were about 2,000 girls to 1,000 boys. In
+1867 the Lowell Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of
+Technology advertised classes free to both sexes in French,
+mathematics and in practical science.[144] Since that time Chauncy
+Hall School and Boston University have been opened to women, with
+the equal privileges of male students. It might be explained here
+that the "Harvard Annex," or "Private Collegiate Instruction for
+Women," is not an organic part of the University itself. Under a
+certain arrangement, a limited number of young women are allowed a
+few of the privileges of the young men. They are also permitted to
+use all the books belonging to the library and to attend many of
+the lectures. No college-building is appropriated for this purpose,
+but recitation-rooms are provided in private houses. A witty
+Cambridge lady called this mythical college the "Harvard Annex";
+the public adopted the name, and many people suppose that there is
+such a building. From the last annual report of the "Private
+Collegiate Instruction for Women," it appears that in 1885
+sixty-five women availed themselves of the privilege of attending
+this course of instruction.[145] Three-fourths of this number are
+Massachusetts girls. Some of the professors say that the average of
+scholarship there is higher than in the University. Fifty courses
+of studies are open to women students. Miss Brown of Concord, a
+graduate of 1884, astonished the faculty by her high per cent. in
+the classics. Her average was higher than that reached by any young
+man. These students go unattended to the lectures and to the
+library of the college. A great change indeed, since the time when
+women began to attend the Lowell Institute lectures! Then it was
+thought almost disgraceful to go to a public meeting without male
+protection, and they went with veiled faces, as if ashamed to be
+seen of men. The "Annex" has some advantages, but they cannot
+compare with Girton and Newnham of Cambridge, England.
+
+The treasurer of the "Harvard Annex" declares the great need that
+exists for funds to provide a suitable building, etc., for the
+numerous women who continue to apply there for admission; and he
+appeals to the generosity of the public for contributions of money
+to be used for this purpose. The casual observer might suggest that
+those women who will hereafter become the benefactors of this
+university should remember the needs of their own sex, and leave
+their donations or bequests so that they can be used for the
+benefit of the "Harvard Annex," which is a wholly private
+enterprise, conducted by the University instructors and supervised
+by a committee of ladies.
+
+Colleges for women have also been founded. Wellesley and Smith have
+long been doing good university work. Thirty years ago there was no
+college in the country, except Oberlin, to which women were
+admitted. To-day, even conservative Harvard begins to melt a little
+under this regenerating influence, and invites women, through the
+doors of its "Annex," to come and enjoy some of the privileges
+found within its sacred halls of learning. This was a late act of
+grace from a college whose inception was in the mind of a
+woman[146] longing for a better opportunity than the new colony
+could give to educate her afterward ungrateful son.
+
+The number of young men educated by the individual efforts of women
+cannot be estimated. T. W. Higginson, in the _Woman's Journal_,
+says:
+
+     The late President Walker once told me that, in his judgment,
+     one-quarter of the young men in Harvard College were being
+     carried through by the special self-denial and sacrifices of
+     women. I cannot answer for the ratio, but I can testify to having
+     been an instance of this, myself; and to having known a
+     never-ending series of such cases of self-devotion.
+
+Some of these men, educated by the labor and self-sacrifice of
+others, look down upon the social position in which their women
+friends are still forced to remain. The result to the recipient has
+often been of doubtful value, so far as the development of the
+affections is concerned. Sometimes the great obligation has been
+forgotten. Only in rare instances, to either party did the
+life-long sacrifice on the part of the women of the family become
+of permanent and spiritual value!
+
+The average woman of forty years ago was very humble in her notions
+of the sphere of woman. What if she did hunger and thirst after
+knowledge? She could do nothing with it, even if she could get it.
+So she made a _fetich_ of some male relative, and gave him the
+mental food for which she herself was starving, and devoted all her
+energies towards helping him to become what she felt, under better
+conditions, she herself might have been. It was enough in those
+early days to be the _mother_ or _sister_ of somebody. Women were
+almost as abject in this particular as the Thracian woman of old,
+who said:
+
+    "I am not of the noble Grecian race,
+    I'm poor Abrotonon, and born in Thrace;
+    Let the Greek women scorn me, if they please,
+    I was the mother of Themistocles."
+
+There are women still left who believe their husbands, sons, or
+male friends can study, read and _vote_ for them. They are like
+some frugal house-mothers, who think their is no need of a dinner
+if the good-man of the family is not coming home to share it. Just
+as if the man-half of the human family can "eat, learn and inwardly
+digest," to make either physical or mental strength for the other
+half!
+
+Maria Mitchell of Massachusetts became Professor of Astronomy and
+Mathematics at Vassar, in 1866, the first woman in the country to
+hold such a position. Since that time women have become members of
+the faculty in several of the large colleges in the country.
+
+In the early days of the commonwealth women practiced midwifery,
+and were very successful. Mrs. John Eliot, Anne Hutchinson, Mrs.
+Fuller and Sarah Alcock were the first in the State. Janet
+Alexander, a Scotchwoman, was a well-trained midwife.[147] She
+lived in Boston, and was always recognized as a good practitioner
+in her line by the leading doctors in that city. Dr. John C. Warren
+of Boston invited this lady to come to this country. His biography,
+recently published, contains a short record of the matter, in which
+he says: "We determined to recommend Mrs. Alexander. She was a
+Scotchwoman, regularly educated, and having Dr. Hamilton's
+diploma." Quite a storm was raised among the younger physicians of
+Boston by this attempted innovation, because they thought Dr.
+Warren was trying to deprive them of profitable practice. But Mrs.
+Alexander, supported by Dr. Warren, and perhaps other physicians,
+continued her occupation and educated her daughter in the same
+profession. Dr. Harriot K. Hunt practiced in Boston as early as
+1835. She sought admission to the Harvard Medical School, and was
+many times refused. She was not what is called a "regular
+physician." In her day there existed no schools or colleges for the
+medical education of women, but she studied by herself, and
+acquired some knowledge of diseases peculiar to women. Her success
+was so great in her line of practice that she proved the need
+existing for physicians of her own sex.
+
+Dr. Hunt's tussle with the medical faculty will long be remembered.
+She was the first woman in the State who dared assert her right to
+recognition in this profession. For this, and for her persistent
+efforts to secure for them a higher education, she deserves the
+gratitude of every woman who has since followed her footsteps into
+a profession over which the men had long held undisputed control.
+In 1853 the degree of M. D. was conferred on her by the Woman's
+Medical College of Pennsylvania. The first medical college for
+women, organized by Dr. Samuel Gregory of Boston, was chartered in
+1856, under the name of the New England Female Medical College, and
+in 1874, by an act of the legislature, united with the Boston
+University School of Medicine. In 1868 it had graduated seventy-two
+women, among whom were Dr. Lucy E. Sewall and Dr. Helen Morton (who
+afterwards went to Paris and studied obstetrics at Madame Aillot's
+Hospital of Maternity) and Dr. Mercy B. Jackson.[148] There are now
+205 regular practitioners in the State.
+
+In 1863, Dr. Zakrzewska, in cooeperation with Lucy Goddard and Ednah
+D. Cheney, established the New England Hospital for Women and
+Children. Its avowed objects were: (1) to provide women the medical
+aid of competent physicians of their own sex; (2) to assist
+educated women in the practical study of medicine; (3) to train
+nurses for the care of the sick. This was the first hospital in New
+England over which women have had entire control, both as
+physicians and surgeons. Boston University is open to both sexes,
+with equal studies, duties and privileges. This institution was
+incorporated in 1869, and includes, among other schools and
+colleges, schools of theology, law and medicine. The faculty
+consists of many distinguished men and women. Boston University
+School of Medicine (homeopathic) was organized in 1873. Of the
+thirty-two lecturers and professors who constitute the faculty,
+five are women. In 1884 the three highest of the four prizes for
+the best medical thesis were won by women. Of the 610 pupils in
+1884, 155 were women; sixty of these were in the school of
+medicine. There are women in all departments, except agriculture
+and theology. They do not study theology because they cannot be
+ordained to preach in any of the leading churches.
+
+The Massachusetts Medical Society in 1884, on motion of Dr. Henry
+I. Bowditch, voted to admit women to membership. Dr. Emma L. Call
+and Dr. Harriet L. Harrington were the first two women admitted.
+January 11, 1882, at the monthly meeting of Harvard overseers, the
+question of admitting women to the Medical School came before the
+board. An individual desiring to contribute a fund for the medical
+education of women in Harvard University asked the president and
+fellows whether such a fund would be accepted and used as designed.
+Majority and minority reports were submitted by the committee in
+charge, and after a long discussion it was voted, 11 to 6, to
+accept the fund, the income to be ultimately used for the medical
+education of women. At the April meeting, the Committee on the
+Medical Education of Women presented a report, which was adopted by
+a vote of 13 to 12:
+
+     That, in the opinion of the board, it is not advisable for the
+     University to hold out any encouragement that it will undertake
+     the medical education of women.
+
+The Harvard Divinity School at Cambridge sometimes admits women,
+but does not recognize them publicly, nor grant them degrees; but
+there are other theological schools in the State where a complete
+preparation for the ministerial profession can be obtained. The
+attitude of the churches toward women has changed greatly within
+thirty years. As early as 1869, women began to serve on committees,
+and to be ordained deaconesses of churches. They also hold
+important offices connected with the different church
+organizations. They serve on the boards of State and national
+religious associations. There are also missionary associations,
+both home and foreign, and Christian unions, all officered and
+managed exclusively by women. Even the treasurers of these large
+bodies are women, and their husbands or trustees are no longer
+required to give bonds for them.[149] At the general conference of
+the Methodist Episcopal Church, the word "male" was stricken from
+the discipline, and the word "person" inserted in its place, in all
+cases save those that concerned the ordination of clergy.
+
+Olympia Brown was the first woman settled as pastor in the State.
+Her parish was at Weymouth Landing. In 1864 she petitioned the
+Massachusetts legislature "that marriages performed by a woman
+should be made legal." The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom the
+matter was referred, reported that no legislation was necessary, as
+marriages solemnized by women were already legal.[150] Thus the
+legislature of the State established the precedent, that "he" meant
+"she" under the law, in one instance at least. Phebe Hanaford, Mary
+H. Graves and Lorenza Haynes were the first Massachusetts women to
+be ordained preachers of the gospel. Rev. Lorenza Haynes has been
+chaplain of the Maine House of Representatives.
+
+The three best-known women sculptors in this country were born and
+bred in Massachusetts. They are Harriet Hosmer, Margaret Foley and
+Anne Whitney. Harriet Hosmer was the first to free herself from the
+traditions of her sex and follow her profession as a sculptor. When
+she desired to fit herself for her vocation there was no art school
+east of the Mississippi river where she could study anatomy, or
+find suitable models. Margaret Foley, who, amid the hum of the
+machinery of the Lowell cotton mills, first conceived the idea of
+chiseling her thought on the surface of a "smooth-lipped shell,"
+was obliged to go to Rome in order to get the necessary instruction
+in cameo-cutting. There her genius developed so much that she began
+to model in clay, and soon became a successful sculptor in marble.
+Lucy Larcom, in her "Idyl of Work," says of Miss Foley:
+
+    "That broad-browed delicate girl will carve at Rome
+    Faces in marble, classic as her own."
+
+One of her finest creations is "The Fountain," first exhibited in
+Horticultural Hall at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia,
+1876. A free art-school was opened to women in Boston in 1867, and
+Anne Whitney was not obliged to go to Rome for instruction in the
+appliances of her art. Harriet Hosmer and Margaret Foley have both
+made statues which adorn the public buildings and parks of their
+native country; and Anne Whitney's statues of Samuel Adams and
+Harriet Martineau are the crowning works of her genius.
+
+No great work has yet been done by Massachusetts women in oil
+painting; but in water colors, and in decorative art, many have
+excelled, first prizes in superiority of design having been taken
+by them over their masculine competitors. Lizzie B. Humphrey,
+Jessie Curtis, Sarah W. Whitman and Fidelia Bridges, take high rank
+as artists. Helen M. Knowlton, a pupil of William M. Hunt, is a
+skillful artist in charcoal and has produced some fine pictures.
+Women form a large proportion of the students in the school of
+design recently opened in Boston. A great deal of the ornamental
+painting now so fashionable on cards and all fancy articles is done
+by the deft fingers of women. The census of 1880 reports 268
+artists and 1,270 musicians and teachers of music.
+
+Of woman as actress and public singer, it is unnecessary to speak,
+since she has the right of way in both these professions. Here,
+fortunately, the supply does not exceed the demand; consequently
+she has her full share of rights, and what is better, equitable pay
+for her labor. In 1880 there were 111 actresses. Charlotte Cushman,
+Clara Louise Kellogg and Annie Louise Cary were born in
+Massachusetts.
+
+The drama speaks too feebly on the right side of the woman
+question. No successful modern dramatist has made this "humour" of
+the times the subject of his play. An effort was made in 1879, by
+the executive committee of the New England Association, to secure a
+woman suffrage play: but it was not successful, and there is yet to
+be written a counteractive to that popular burlesque, "The Spirit
+of '76." It is to be regretted that the stage still continues to
+ridicule the woman's rights movement and its leaders; for, as
+Hamlet says:
+
+                "The play's the thing,
+    Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."
+
+In 1650, when Anne Bradstreet lived and wrote her verses, a woman
+author was almost unknown in English literature. This lady was the
+wife of the governor of Massachusetts, and because of her literary
+tendencies was looked upon by the people of her time as a marvel of
+womankind. Her contemporaries called her the "tenth muse lately
+sprung up in America," and one of them, Rev. Nathaniel Ward, was
+inspired to write an address to her, in which he declares his
+wonder at her success as a poet, and playfully foretells the
+consequences if women are permitted to intrude farther into the
+domain of man. The closing lines express so well the conflicting
+emotions which torment the minds of the opponents of the woman
+suffrage movement, that I venture to quote them:
+
+    "Good sooth," quoth the old Don, "tell ye me so?
+    I muse whither at length these Girls will go.
+    It half revives my chil, frost-bitten blood
+    To see a woman once do aught that's good.
+    And, chode by Chaucer's Boots and Homer's Furrs,
+    Let men look to't least Women wear the Spurrs."
+
+In 1818, Hannah Mather Crocker, grand-daughter of Cotton Mather,
+published a book, called "Observations on the Rights of Women." In
+speaking of Mary Wollstonecraft, Mrs. Crocker says, that while that
+celebrated woman had a very independent mind, and her "Rights of
+Woman" is replete with fine sentiments, yet, she continues,
+patronizingly, "we do not coincide with her respecting the total
+independence of the sex." Mrs. Crocker evidently wanted her sex to
+be not too independent, but just independent enough.[151]
+
+In 1841, when Lydia Maria Child edited the _Anti-Slavery Standard_,
+Margaret Fuller the _Dial_, and Harriot F. Curtis and Harriet
+Farley the _Lowell Offering_, there were perhaps in New England no
+other well-known women journalists or editors. Cornelia Walter of
+the _Evening Transcript_ was the first woman journalist in Boston.
+To-day, women are editors and publishers of newspapers all over the
+United States; and the woman's column is a part of many leading
+newspapers. Sallie Joy White was the first regular reporter in
+Boston. She began on the _Boston Post_, a Democratic newspaper, in
+1870. Her first work was to report the proceedings of a woman
+suffrage meeting. She is now on the staff of the _Boston Daily
+Advertiser_. Lilian Whiting is on the staff of the _Traveller_, and
+most of the other Boston newspapers have women among their editors
+and reporters. Some of the best magazine writing of the time is
+done by women; one needs but to look over the table of contents of
+the leading periodicals to see how large a proportion of the
+articles is written by them. Really, the sex seems to have taken
+possession of what Carlyle called the "fourth estate"--the literary
+profession, and they journey into unexplored regions of thought to
+give the omniverous modern reader something new to feed upon. The
+census of 1880 reports 445 women as authors and literary persons.
+
+The newspaper itself, that great engine "whose ambassadors are in
+every quarter of the globe, whose couriers upon every road," has
+slowly swung round, and is at last headed in the right direction.
+Reporters for the daily press in Massachusetts no longer write in a
+spirit of flippancy or contempt, and there is not an editor in the
+State of any account who would permit a member of his staff to
+report a woman's meeting in any other spirit than that of courtesy.
+Teachers occupying high positions and presidents of colleges have
+given pronounced opinions in favor of the reform. Said President
+Hopkins of Williams College, in 1875:
+
+     I would at this point correct my teaching in "The Law of Love,"
+     to the effect that _home_ is peculiarly the sphere of woman, and
+     civil government that of man. I now regard the home as the joint
+     sphere of man _and_ woman, and the sphere of civil government
+     more of an open question between the two.
+
+The New England Women's Club, parent[152] of the modern clubs and
+associations for the advancement of women, has been one of the
+factors in the woman's rights movement. Its members have, in their
+work and in their lives, illustrated the doctrine of woman's
+equality with man. It was formed in February, 1868.[153]
+
+There has never been, from time immemorial, much difference of
+opinion concerning woman's right to do a good share in the
+_drudgery_ of the world. But in the remunerative employments,
+before 1850, she was but sparsely represented. In 1840, when
+Harriet Martineau visited this country, she found to her surprise
+that there were only seven vocations, outside home, into which the
+women of the United States had entered. These were "teaching,
+needlework, keeping boarders, weaving, type-setting, and folding
+and stitching in book-bindery." In contrast, it is only necessary
+to mention that in Massachusetts alone, woman's ingenuity is now
+employed in nearly 300 different branches of industry. It cannot be
+added that for doing the same kind and amount of work women are
+paid men's wages. The census does not include the services of the
+mother and daughter among the _paid_ vocations, though, as is well
+known, in many instances they do all the housework of the family.
+They get no wages, and therefore do not appear among the
+"useful classes." They are not earners, but savers of money. A
+money-_saver_ is not a recognized factor, either in political
+economy or in the State census. The mother, daughter or wife is put
+down in its pages as "keeping house." If they were paid for their
+services they would be called "housekeepers," and would have their
+place among the paid employments.
+
+Among the many rights woman has appropriated to herself must be
+included the "patent right." The charge has often been made that
+women never invent anything, but statistics on the subject declare
+that in 1880 patents for their own inventions were issued to
+eighty-seven different women in the United States. A fair
+proportion of these were from Massachusetts.
+
+This progress in the various departments encountered great
+opposition from certain teachers and writers. Dr. Bushnell's
+"Reform Against Nature," Dr. Fulton's talk both in and out of the
+pulpit, served to show the weakness of that side of the question.
+Frances Parkman, Dr. Holland, Dr. W. H. Hammond, Rev. Morgan Dix,
+and even some women have added their so-called arguments in the
+vain attempt to keep woman as they think "God made her."
+
+Much the stronger writers and speakers have been found on the right
+side of this question. The names of leading speakers, such as
+William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and Theodore Parker, have
+already been mentioned. Perhaps the most suggestive articles in
+favor of the reform were T. W. Higginson's "Ought Women to Learn
+the Alphabet," published in the _Atlantic Monthly_ of February,
+1859, and Samuel Bowles' "The Woman Question and Sex in Politics,"
+published at a later date in the _Springfield Republican_.
+"Warrington," in his letters to the same newspaper, from 1868 to
+1876, never failed to present a good and favorable argument on some
+phase of the woman question. Caroline Healey Dall's lectures before
+1860, and her book "The College, the Market and the Court,"
+published in 1868, were seed-grain sown in the field of this
+reform. Samuel E. Sewall's able digest of the laws relating to the
+legal condition of married women, and William I. Bowditch's
+admirable pamphlets,[154] have done incalculable service.
+
+Of women in the civil service, there are: 58 clerks, 266 employes
+and 387 officials--total, 411. This includes postmasters and clerks
+in bureaus. In 1880, General F. A. Walker, superintendent of the
+census, instructed the supervisors of the several districts to
+appoint women as enumerators when practicable. They were
+accordingly so appointed in many parts of the United States.
+Carroll D. Wright, supervisor of the district of Massachusetts was
+in favor of General Walker's instructions, and out of the 903
+enumerators appointed by him, thirty were women. This was an
+exceedingly large proportion compared with the number appointed in
+States where supervisors were not in favor of women enumerators.
+
+Thanks to the efforts of Caroline Healey Dall, the American Social
+Science Association, formed in 1865, put women on its board of
+officers, as did the Boston Social Science Association, organized
+the same year. These were the first large organizations in the
+country to admit women on an absolute equality with men. The result
+of this action vindicated at once and forever woman's fitness to
+occupy positions of honor in associations that man had hitherto
+claimed for himself alone. This has encouraged women to express
+themselves in the presence of the wisest men, and enabled them to
+present to the public the woman side of some great questions. Women
+are officers as well as members of many societies originally
+established exclusively for men. A national society for political
+education, formed in 1880, of which women are members, has at least
+one woman on its board of officers. What would have been thought
+thirty years ago, if women had studied finance, banks and banking,
+money, currency, sociology and political science?
+
+The Summer School of Philosophy at Concord was founded in
+1879.[155] A majority of the students are women, as was not the
+case in the elder schools of philosophy, and they come from far and
+near to spend a few weeks of their summer vacation in the enjoyment
+of this halcyon season of rest. Day after day they sit patiently on
+the aesthetic benches of the Hillside chapel and bask in the calm
+light of mild philosophy. Its seed was sown forty years ago, in
+what was called the Transcendental movement in New England. The
+Concord school finds in Mr. Sanborn its executive spirit, without
+which it could no more have come into existence at this time than
+its first seed could have been planted forty years ago, without the
+conceptive thought of Mr. Emerson, Mr. Alcott and Margaret Fuller.
+
+Boston University long ago offered the advantages of its law-school
+to women, but they do not much avail themselves of this privilege.
+Lelia J. Robinson, in March, 1881, made her application for
+admission to the bar. In presenting her claim before the court,
+April 23, Mr. Charles R. Train admitted that it was a novel one;
+but in a very effective manner he went on to state the cogent
+reasons why a woman who had carefully prepared herself for the
+profession of the law should be permitted to practice in the
+courts. At the close, Chief-Justice Gray gave the opinion,
+informally, that the laws, as they now exist, preclude woman from
+being attorney-at-law; but he reserved the matter for the
+consideration of the full bench. The Supreme Judicial Court
+rendered an adverse decision. Petitions were then sent to the
+legislature of 1882, and that body passed an act[156] declaring
+that, "The provisions of law relating to the qualification and
+admission to practice of attorneys-at-law shall apply to women."
+The petition of Lelia Josephine Robinson to the Supreme Court was
+as follows:
+
+     1. The best administration of justice may be most safely secured
+     by allowing the representation of all classes of the people in
+     courts of justice.
+
+     2. To allow women to practice at the bar as attorneys is only to
+     secure to the people the right to select their own counsel. It is
+     to give the women of Massachusetts the opportunity of consulting
+     members of their own sex for that advice and assistance which
+     none but authorized attorneys and counsellors are legally
+     qualified to give.
+
+     3. To exclude women from the bar would be to do an injustice to
+     the community, in preventing free and wholesome competition of
+     existing talent, and to do still greater injustice to those women
+     who are qualified for the profession, by shutting them out from
+     an honorable and remunerative means of gaining a livelihood.
+
+     4. To exclude women from the bar because there are certain
+     departments of the profession which are peculiarly ill-adapted to
+     their sex and nature, would be to assume arbitrarily that, with
+     entire lack of judgment or discretion, modesty or policy, they
+     would seek or accept such business; and to close to them those
+     avenues of the profession for which they are generally admitted
+     to be eminently well adapted, for such a reason, and upon such an
+     assumption, would be so grossly unjust that no argument can be
+     based on such an impossible contingency.
+
+     Your applicant, having faithfully and diligently pursued the
+     study of law for three years, being a graduate of the Boston
+     University Law School, and having complied with the other
+     requirements of the statute and the rules of court upon the
+     subject, respectfully prays that her petition for examination,
+     which was duly filed, may be favorably considered, and that it be
+     included in the general notice to the Board of Examiners of
+     Suffolk county. LELIA JOSEPHINE ROBINSON.
+
+The opinion given by the Supreme Judicial Court, so far as it
+relates to the main point at issue, is as follows:
+
+     The question presented by this petition and by the report on
+     which it has been reserved for our determination, is whether,
+     under the laws of the commonwealth, an unmarried woman is
+     entitled to be examined for admission as an attorney and
+     counsellor of this Court. This being the first application of the
+     kind in Massachusetts, the Court, desirous that it might be fully
+     argued, informed the executive committee of the Bar Association
+     of the city of Boston of the application, and has received
+     elaborate briefs from the petitioner in support of her petition
+     and from two gentlemen of the bar as _amici curiae_ in opposition
+     thereto. The statute under which the application is made is as
+     follows: "A citizen of this State, or an alien who has made the
+     primary declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the
+     United States, and who is an inhabitant of this State, at the age
+     of twenty-one years and of good moral character, may, on the
+     recommendation of an attorney, petition the Supreme Judicial or
+     Superior Court to be examined for admission as an attorney,
+     whereupon the Court shall assign a time and place for the
+     examination, and if satisfied with his acquirements and
+     qualifications he shall be admitted." St. 1876, c. 107.
+
+     The word "citizen," when used in its most common and most
+     comprehensive sense, doubtless includes women; but a woman is
+     not, by virtue of her citizenship, vested by the Constitution of
+     the United States, or by the constitution of the commonwealth,
+     with any absolute right, independent of legislation, to take part
+     in the government, either as voter or as an officer, or to be
+     admitted to practice as an attorney. _Miuor vs. Happersett, 51
+     Wall. 162. Bradwell vs. Illinois, 16 Wall. 130._ The rule that
+     "words importing the masculine gender maybe applied to females,"
+     like all other general rules of construction of statutes, must
+     yield when such construction would be either "repugnant to the
+     context of the same statute," or "inconsistent with the manifest
+     intent of the legislature." Gen. Sts. c. 3, Sec. 7.
+
+     The only statute making any provisions concerning attorneys, that
+     mentions women, is the poor-debtor act, which, after enumerating
+     among the cases in which an arrest of the person may be made on
+     execution in an action of contract, that in which "the debtor is
+     attorney-at-law," who has unreasonably neglected to pay to his
+     client money collected, enacts, in the next section but one,
+     "that no woman shall be arrested on any civil process except for
+     tort." Gen. Sts. c. 124, Sec.Sec. 5, 7. If these provisions do not
+     imply that the legislature assumed that women should not be
+     attorneys, they certainly have no tendency to show that it
+     intended that they should. The word "citizen," in the statute
+     under which this application is made, is but a repetition of the
+     word originally adopted with a view of excluding aliens, before
+     the statute of 1852, c. 154, allowed those aliens to be admitted
+     to the bar who had made the preliminary declaration of intention
+     to become citizens. Rev. Sts., c. 88, Sec. 19. Gen. Sts., c. 121, Sec.
+     28.
+
+     The reenactment of the act relating to the admission of attorneys
+     in the same words without more so far as relates to the personal
+     qualifications of the applicant, since other statutes have
+     expressly modified the legal rights and capacity of women in
+     other important respects, tends rather to refute than to advance
+     the theory that the legislature intended that these words should
+     comprehend women. No inference of an intention of the legislature
+     to include women in the statutes concerning the admission of
+     attorneys can be drawn from the mere omission of the word "male."
+     The only statute to which we have referred, in which that word is
+     inserted, is the statute concerning the qualifications of voters
+     in town affairs, which, following the language of the article of
+     the constitution that defines the qualifications of voters for
+     governor, lieutenant-governor, senators and representatives,
+     speaks of "every male citizen of twenty-one years of age," etc.
+     Gen. Sts. c. 18, Sec. 19. Const. Mass. Amendments, art. 3. Words
+     which taken by themselves would be equally applicable to women
+     and to men are constantly used in the constitution and statutes,
+     in speaking of offices which it could not be contended, in the
+     present state of law, that women were capable of holding.
+
+     The Courts of the commonwealth have not assumed by their rules to
+     admit to the bar any class of persons not within the apparent
+     intent of the legislature as manifested in the statutes. The word
+     "persons," in the latest rule of Court upon the subject, was the
+     word used in the rule of 1810 and in the statutes of 1785 and
+     1836, at times when no one contemplated the possibility of a
+     woman's being admitted to practice as an attorney. 121 Mass. 600.
+     6. Mass. 382. St. 1785, c. 23. Rev. St. c. 18, 20. Gen. Sts. c.
+     121, Sec. 29. The United States Court of Claims, at December term,
+     1873, on full consideration, denied an application of a woman to
+     be admitted to practice as an attorney upon the ground "that
+     under the constitution and laws of the United States a Court is
+     without power to grant such an application, and that a woman is
+     without legal capacity to take the office of an attorney."
+     _Lockwood's Case, 9 Ct. of Claims, 346, 356._ At October terms
+     1876 of the Supreme Court of the United States, the same
+     petitioner applied to be admitted to practice as an attorney and
+     counsellor of that Court, and her application was denied.
+
+     The decision has not been officially reported, but upon the
+     record of the Court, of which we have an authentic copy, it is
+     thus stated: "Upon the presentation of this application, the
+     chief-justice said that notice of this application having been
+     previously brought to his attention, he had been instructed by
+     the Court to announce the following decision upon it: By the
+     uniform practice of the Court from its organization to the
+     present time, and by the fair construction of its rules, none but
+     men are permitted to practice before it as attorneys and
+     counsellors. This is in accordance with immemorial usages in
+     England, and the law and the practice in all the States until
+     within a recent period, and the Court does not feel called upon
+     to make a change until such change is required by statute or a
+     more extended practice in the highest Courts of the States." The
+     subsequent act of congress of February 15, 1879, enables only
+     those women to be admitted to practice before the Supreme Court
+     of the United States who have been for three years members of the
+     bar of the highest Court of a State or territory, or of the
+     Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
+
+     The conclusion that women cannot be admitted to the bar under the
+     existing statutes of the commonwealth is in accordance with
+     judgments of the highest Courts of the States of Illinois and
+     Wisconsin. _Bradwell's Case, 55 Ill., 525. Goodell's Case, 39
+     Wis., 232._ The suggestion in the brief of the petitioner that
+     women have been admitted in other States can have no weight here,
+     in the absence of all evidence that (except under clear
+     affirmative words in a statute) they have ever been so admitted
+     upon deliberate consideration of the question involved, or by a
+     Court whose decisions are authoritative.
+
+     It is hardly necessary to add that our duty is limited to
+     declaring the law as it is, and that whether any change in that
+     law would be wise or expedient is a question for the legislative
+     and not for the judicial department of the government.
+
+     Petition dismissed.             MARCUS MORTON, _Chief-Justice_,
+
+     [Signed:]   CHARLES DEVENS,       WILLIAM E. ENDICOTT,
+                 WILLIAM ALLEN,        OTIS P. LORD,
+                 CHARLES ALLEN,        WALBRIDGE A. FIELD.
+
+The three preceding decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court of
+Massachusetts against the rights of the women of the commonwealth
+were as follows:
+
+The first decision was in the case of Sarah E. Wall of Worcester,
+who had refused to pay her taxes under the following protest:
+
+     Believing with the immortal Declaration of Independence that
+     taxation and representation are inseparable; believing that the
+     constitution of the State furnishes no authority for the taxation
+     of woman; believing also that the constitution of the higher law
+     of God, written on the human soul, requires us, if we would be
+     worthy the rich inheritance of the past and true to ourselves and
+     the future, to yield obedience to no statute that shall tend to
+     fetter its aspirations, I shall henceforth pay no taxes until the
+     word _male_ is stricken from the voting clauses of the
+     constitution of Massachusetts.
+
+     Worcester _Daily Spy_, October 5, 1858.            SARAH E. WALL.
+
+Miss Wall was prosecuted by the city collector, and she carried her
+case before the Supreme Court, where she appeared for herself, W.
+A. Williams appearing for the collector. In an account of this
+matter in 1881, Miss Wall says: "Although it was in 1858 that my
+resistance to taxation commenced, it was not until 1863 that the
+contest terminated and the decision was rendered. I think the
+Supreme Court would always find some way to evade a decision on
+this question."
+
+     _Wheeler vs. Wall, 6 Allen, 558_: By the constitution of
+     Massachusetts, c. 1, Sec. 1, article 4, the legislature has power to
+     impose taxes upon all the inhabitants of and persons resident,
+     and estates lying within the said commonwealth. By the laws
+     passed by the legislature in pursuance of this power and
+     authority, the defendant is liable to taxation, although she is
+     not qualified to vote for the officers by whom the taxes were
+     assessed. The Court, acting under the constitution, and bound to
+     support it and maintain its provisions faithfully, cannot declare
+     null and void a statute which has been passed by the legislature,
+     in pursuance of an express authority conferred by the
+     constitution.--[Opinion by the chief-justice, George Tyler
+     Bigelow.
+
+The second decision on the will of Francis Jackson is copied
+_verbatim_ from _Allen's Reports_:
+
+     _Jackson vs. Phillips and others, 14 Allen, 539_: A bequest to
+     trustees, to be expended at their discretion, * * * * "to secure
+     the passage of laws granting whether women, married or unmarried,
+     the right to vote, to hold office, to hold, manage and devise
+     property, and all other civil rights enjoyed by men," is not a
+     charity.
+
+     _Bill in equity by the executor of the will of Francis Jackson of
+     Boston, for instructions as to the validity and effect of the
+     following bequests and devises:_
+
+     Art. 6th. "I give and bequeath to Wendell Phillips of said
+     Boston, Lucy Stone, formerly of Brookfield, Mass., now the wife
+     of Henry Blackwell of New York, and Susan B. Anthony of
+     Rochester, N. Y., their successors and assigns, $5,000, not for
+     their own use, but in trust, nevertheless, to be expended by them
+     without any responsibility to any one, at their discretion, in
+     such sums, at such times and in such places as they may deem fit,
+     to secure the passage of laws granting women, whether married or
+     unmarried, the right to vote, to hold office, to hold, manage and
+     devise property, and all other civil rights enjoyed by men; and
+     for the preparation and circulation of books, the delivery of
+     lectures, and such other means as they may judge best; and I
+     hereby constitute them a board of trustees for that intent and
+     purpose, with power to add two other persons to said board if
+     they deem it expedient. And I hereby appoint Wendell Phillips
+     president and treasurer, and Susan B. Anthony secretary of said
+     board. I direct the treasurer of said board not to loan any part
+     of said bequest, but to invest, and, if need be, sell and
+     reinvest the same in bank or railroad shares, at his discretion.
+     I further authorize and request said board of trustees, the
+     survivor and survivors of them, to fill any and all vacancies
+     that may occur from time to time by death or resignation of any
+     member or any officer of said board. One other bequest,
+     hereinafter made, will, sooner or later, revert to this board of
+     trustees. My desire is that they may become a permanent
+     organization, until the rights of women shall be established
+     equal with those of men; and I hope and trust that said board
+     will receive the services and sympathy, the donations and
+     bequests, of the friends of human rights. And being desirous that
+     said board should have the immediate benefit of said bequest,
+     without waiting for my exit, I have already paid it in advance
+     and in full to said Phillips, the treasurer of said board, whose
+     receipt therefor is on my files."
+
+     OPINION.--Gray, J. IV. It is quite clear that the bequest in
+     trust to be expended "to secure the passage of laws granting
+     women, whether married or unmarried, the right to vote, to hold
+     office, to hold, manage and devise property, and all other civil
+     rights enjoyed by men," cannot be sustained as a charity. No
+     precedent has been cited in its support. This bequest differs
+     from the others, in aiming directly and exclusively to change the
+     laws; and its object cannot be accomplished without changing the
+     constitution also. Whether such an alteration of the existing
+     laws and frame of government would be wise and desirable, is a
+     question upon which we cannot, sitting in a judicial capacity,
+     properly express any opinion. Our duty is limited to expounding
+     the laws as they stand. And those laws do not recognize the
+     purpose of overthrowing or changing them, in whole or in part, as
+     a charitable use. This bequest, therefore, not being for a
+     charitable purpose, nor for the benefit of any particular
+     persons, and being unrestricted in point of time, is inoperative
+     and void. For the same reason, the gift to the same object, of
+     one-third of the residue of the testator's estate after the death
+     of his daughter, Mrs. Eddy, and her daughter, Mrs. Bacon, is also
+     invalid, and will go to his heirs-at-law as a resulting trust.
+
+Decision third was on the right of women to hold judicial offices.
+To quote again from _Allen's Reports_:
+
+     On June 8, 1871, the following order was passed by the governor
+     and council, and on June 10 transmitted to the Justices of the
+     Supreme Judicial Court, who, on June 29, returned the reply which
+     is annexed. _Ordered_, That the opinion of the Supreme Judicial
+     Court be requested as to the following questions: _First_--Under
+     the constitution of this commonwealth, can a woman, if duly
+     appointed and qualified as a justice of the peace, legally
+     perform all acts appertaining to that office? _Second_--Under the
+     laws of this commonwealth, would oaths and acknowledgments of
+     deeds, taken before a married or unmarried woman duly appointed
+     and qualified as a justice of the peace, be legal and valid?
+
+     OPINION.--By the constitution of the commonwealth, the office of
+     justice of the peace is a judicial office, and must be exercised
+     by the officer in person, and a woman, whether married or
+     unmarried, cannot be appointed to such an office. The law of
+     Massachusetts at the time of the adoption of the constitution,
+     the whole frame and purport of the instrument itself, and the
+     universal understanding and unbroken practical construction for
+     the greater part of a century afterwards, all support this
+     conclusion, and are inconsistent with any other. It follows that,
+     if a woman should be formally appointed and commissioned as a
+     justice of the peace, she would have no constitutional or legal
+     authority to exercise any of the functions appertaining to that
+     office. Each of the questions proposed must, therefore, be
+     respectfully answered in the negative.
+
+     [Signed:]    REUBEN A. CHAPMAN,    HORACE GRAY, JR.,
+                  JOHN WELLS,           JAMES D. COLT,
+                  SETH AMES,            MARCUS MORTON.
+
+     _Boston_, June 29, 1871.
+
+It is to be remarked that the clause on which the court determined
+its judgment was of no practical consequence, since the money
+devised had already been paid to Wendell Phillips, who had disposed
+of it as the bequest required, and he had given his receipt to the
+testator for the amount.
+
+Even the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has begun to
+understand the trend of the woman's rights movement, and has
+rendered its first favorable decision, in the famous Eddy-will
+case. Wendell Phillips told me that he drew up this will, and that
+its provisions were so carefully worded, that even the Supreme
+Court could find no flaw in it. It is in his own hand-writing, and
+Chandler R. Ransom was the executor. Eliza F. Eddy was the daughter
+of Francis Jackson, and just before her death in 1882, desiring to
+help the suffrage cause and thus carry out her father's intentions,
+she made her will in which she bequeathed $40,000 for this purpose.
+The clause relating to this bequest is as follows:
+
+     Whatever is left, after paying the above legacies, I direct shall
+     be divided into equal portions. One of said portions I leave to
+     Susan B. Anthony of Rochester, N. Y.; and the other portion I
+     leave to Lucy Stone, wife of Henry B. Blackwell, as her own
+     absolute separate property, free from any control by him. I
+     request said Susan and Lucy to use said fund thus given to
+     further what is called the "Woman's Rights' Cause"; but neither
+     of them is under any legal responsibility to any one or any court
+     to do so.
+
+Her will was filed and the Probate Court declared its validity.
+This decision was appealed from for several unimportant reasons by
+relatives of Mrs. Eddy, Francis W. and Jerome A. Bacon, minors; and
+the case was carried to the Supreme Judicial Court. After many
+delays it was finally decided in favor of the validity of the will,
+March, 1885, R. M. Morse, jr., and S. J. Elder for the plaintiff,
+and B. F. Butler and F. L. Washburn for the defendants. The court's
+final decision, rendered by Hon. Charles Devens, is as follows:
+
+     ALBERT F. BACON and others, executors and others _vs._ CHANDLER
+     R. RANSOM, executor, and others.
+
+     Suffolk. March 18, 19, 1885. W. ALLEN, COLBURN AND HOLMES, _Js._,
+     absent.
+
+     After a bequest in trust to A. and B., to be by them expended in
+     securing the passage of laws granting women the right to vote,
+     had been decreed void as not being a charity, a daughter of the
+     testator bequeathed the residue of her estate (being about the
+     amount she had received from her father's estate) to A. and B.
+     "as their absolute property"; and added: "I request said A. and
+     B. to use said fund thus given to further what is called the
+     Woman's Rights Cause. But neither of them is under any legal
+     responsibility to any one or any court to do so." _Held_, that
+     the bequest was valid, and did not create a trust.
+
+     Bill in equity by the executors of the will of Lizzie F. Bacon,
+     and certain legatees thereunder, against the executor of the will
+     of Eliza F. Eddy, Lucy Stone, wife of H. B. Blackwell, Susan B.
+     Anthony, and other legatees thereunder, and the attorney-general,
+     to compel the executor of said Eddy's will to pay over to the
+     plaintiffs the residue of her estate. The bill alleged the
+     following facts:
+
+     Francis Jackson, the father of said Eliza F. Eddy, died in 1861,
+     leaving a will, by the sixth article of which he gave $5,000 to
+     Wendell Phillips, Lucy Stone Blackwell and Susan B. Anthony, in
+     trust, "to be expended by them without any responsibility to any
+     one, at their discretion, in such sums, at such times, and in
+     such places as they may deem fit, to secure the passage of laws
+     granting women, whether married or unmarried, the right to vote,
+     to hold office, to hold, manage and devise property, and all
+     other civil rights enjoyed by men; and for the preparation and
+     circulation of books, the delivery of lectures, and such other
+     means as they may judge best." By the eighth article he gave
+     one-third of the residue to a trustee, to pay the income to his
+     daughter, Eliza F. Eddy, during her life, and upon her death
+     one-half of the income to the trustees and on the trusts named in
+     the sixth article, and the other half to Mrs. Eddy's daughter,
+     Mrs. Lizzie F. Bacon, during her life, and, on the death of Mrs.
+     Bacon, the principal to the trustees and on the trusts named in
+     the sixth article.
+
+     It was held by this court that these bequests were not a charity
+     (see _Jackson vs. Phillips, 14 Allen, 539_).
+
+     In consequence of this decision, certain agreements, releases,
+     and a partition were made, by which one-third of the residue of
+     Mr. Jackson's estate became the property of Mrs. Eddy, subject to
+     being held in trust for herself for life, and thereafter, as to
+     one-half, for her daughter, Mrs. Bacon, during her life. Mrs.
+     Eddy died December 29, 1881, leaving a will by which she gave
+     absolute legacies to the amount of $24,500 to various persons
+     therein named. This disposed of all her estate except what came
+     to her from her father's estate. Her will then provided as
+     follows:
+
+     "What is left, after paying the above legacies, I direct shall be
+     divided into two equal portions; one of said portions I leave to
+     Miss Susan B. Anthony of Rochester, in the State of New York, as
+     her absolute property, and the other portion I leave to Lucy
+     Stone, wife of H. B. Blackwell, as her own absolute and separate
+     property, free from any control of him. I request said Susan and
+     Lucy to use said fund thus given to further what is called the
+     woman's rights cause; but neither of them is under any legal
+     responsibility to any one or any court to do so."
+
+     The will further alleged that this residue was substantially the
+     estate received from Francis Jackson; that the will was intended
+     by the testatrix to defeat the decision of this court, before
+     mentioned; that the testatrix had no personal acquaintance with
+     Lucy Stone or Susan B. Anthony; that said gift was intended as a
+     gift _in perpetuam_ to the said cause, and was, without limit of
+     time, upon trust in favor of said cause; and that said cause was
+     not a charity within the meaning of the law, and was null and
+     void.
+
+     The defendants demurred to the bill for want of equity. The case
+     was heard by C. Allen, _J._, on the bill and demurrer, and a
+     decree was entered sustaining the demurrer and dismissing the
+     bill. The plaintiffs appealed to the full court.
+
+     R. M. MORSE, Jr., and S. J. ELDER, for the plaintiffs.
+
+     B. F. BUTLER and F. L. WASHBURN, for the defendants.
+
+     Judge CHARLES DEVENS. The fact that the respective portions of
+     the estate bequeathed by Mrs. Eddy to Mrs. Stone and Miss Anthony
+     were in amount equal to-or precisely the same as those which came
+     to her by descent from her father, Francis Jackson, is not of
+     importance in the case at bar. It had been held in _Jackson vs.
+     Phillips, 14 Allen, 539_, that a certain bequest made by Mr.
+     Jackson in trust was not, legally speaking, a public charity, and
+     that it could not therefore pass to the beneficiaries named in
+     his will. The property which he thus attempted to bequeath
+     descended therefore to his legal representatives, of whom Mrs.
+     Eddy was one. She received it with the same right to deal with it
+     or dispose of it in her lifetime, or by will at her decease, that
+     she had in any other estate which was her lawful property.
+
+     The bill alleges "that said will was intended by the testatrix to
+     defeat the decision of the court, before mentioned; that the
+     testatrix had no personal acquaintance with Lucy Stone or Susan
+     B. Anthony; that said gift was intended as a gift _in perpetuam_
+     to the said cause." But if Mrs. Eddy has complied with the rules
+     of law in the disposition of her property, even if she has hoped
+     thereby to attain the same object as that desired by her father,
+     the decision referred to is not defeated, but is recognized and
+     conformed to; and, whatever her intention may have been, her
+     bequest is to be upheld.
+
+     Her gift to her beneficiaries is absolute in terms. They may do
+     what they will with the property bequeathed to them, as they may
+     with any other property which is lawfully their own. It is true
+     that the gift is accompanied by a request that they will use the
+     fund bequeathed "to further what is called the woman's rights
+     cause." A request made by one who has the right to direct is
+     often, perhaps generally, interpreted as a command. For this
+     reason, recommendatory or precatory words used in a bequest are
+     frequently treated as an express direction. Thus, if a legacy
+     were given to A., with a request that out of the sum bequeathed
+     he would pay to another a certain sum, or a portion thereof, it
+     might well be construed as a legacy, to the amount named, to such
+     person. The expression of the desire of the testator would be the
+     expression of his will, and the words in form recommendatory
+     would be held to be mandatory and imperative. Where such words
+     are used, it is therefore a question of the fair construction to
+     be attributed to them (_Whipple vs. Adams, 1 Met., 444; Warner
+     vs. Bates, 98 Mass., 274; Spooner vs. Lovejoy, 108 Mass., 529_).
+
+     But the testatrix in the case at bar has left nothing to
+     construction. Apparently aware that a request, where she had a
+     right to direct, might be treated as a command, and desirous to
+     make it entirely clear that no restraint or duty in any legal
+     sense was imposed upon her legatees, and that the request of the
+     will was such in the limited sense of the word only, and in no
+     respect mandatory, she adds thereto, referring to the legatees,
+     "But neither of them is under any legal responsibility to any one
+     or to any court to do so." Each of the legatees is therefore the
+     sole judge of whether she will follow, or how far or in what way
+     she will follow, the suggestion of the testatrix in the
+     disposition of the estate absolutely bequeathed to her. It is a
+     matter in which she is to be guided only by her judgment and
+     conscience, and no trust is imposed upon the property she
+     receives.
+
+     As no trust is created, it would be superfluous to consider
+     whether, if the request of the testatrix were treated as a
+     command, one would then be indicated capable of enforcement
+     according to the rules of law.
+
+     _Bill dismissed._    [Signed:]   MARCUS MORTON, _Chief-Justice_,
+
+         WALBRIDGE ABNER FIELD,     CHARLES DEVENS,
+         WILLIAM ALLEN,             CHARLES ALLEN,
+         WALDO COBURN,              OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, Jr.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From these decisions our daughters should learn the importance of
+having some knowledge of law. Had not Mrs. Eddy learned from
+experience in her father's case that property could not be left in
+trust to any societies except those called religious and
+charitable, and made her bequest absolutely to persons, the gift of
+$56,000 would have been lost to the woman suffrage movement. As it
+was, nearly $10,000 was swallowed up in litigation to secure what
+the donees did finally obtain. Considering that Mrs. Eddy[157] is
+the only woman who has ever had both the desire and the power to
+make a large bequest to this cause, its friends have great reason
+to rejoice in her wisdom as well as her generosity.
+
+Civilization would have been immeasurably farther advanced than it
+now is, had the many rich women, who have left large bequests to
+churches, and colleges for boys, concentrated their wealth and
+influence on the education, elevation and enfranchisement of their
+own sex. We trust that Mrs. Eddy's example may not be lost on the
+coming generation of women.--[EDITORS.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[104] For details of early history see vol. I., chap. viii. See
+also "Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement," Roberts Bros.,
+Boston.
+
+[105] As an original question, no friend of woman suffrage can deny
+that it was a mean thing to put the word "male" into the fourteenth
+amendment. It was, doubtless, wise to adopt that amendment. It was
+an extension of the right of suffrage, and so far in the line of
+American progress, yet it was also an implied denial of the
+suffrage to women.--[Warrington in the _Springfield Republican_.
+
+[106] See Vol. II., page 178.
+
+[107] John Neal came from Maine; Nathaniel and Armenia White from
+New Hampshire; Isabella Hooker from Connecticut; Thomas W.
+Higginson from Rhode Island; and John G. Whittier, Samuel May, jr.,
+Gilbert Haven, John T. Sargent, Frank W. Bird, Wendell Phillips,
+William Lloyd Garrison, William S. Robinson, Stephen and Abby
+Kelley Foster, with a host of others, from Massachusetts. Lucy
+Stone and Henry B. Blackwell, who then lived in New Jersey, were
+also among the speakers.
+
+[108] In giving an account of her efforts in this direction she
+says: "After my return from Kansas in 1867, I felt that we ought to
+do something for the cause in Massachusetts. There was at that time
+no organization in the State, and there had been no revival of the
+subject in the minds of the people since the war, which had
+swallowed up every other interest. In the spring of 1868, I wrote
+to Abby Kelley Foster, telling her my wish to have something done
+in our own State, and she advised me to call together a few persons
+known to be in favor of suffrage, some day during anniversary week,
+in some parlor in Boston. I corresponded with Adin Ballou, E. D.
+Draper, and others, on the subject, and talked the matter over with
+Prof. T. T. Leonard, teacher of elocution, who offered his hall for
+a place of meeting. I wrote a notice inviting all persons
+interested in woman suffrage to come to Mr. Leonard's hall, on a
+certain day and hour. At the time appointed the hall was full of
+people. I opened the meeting, and stated why I had called it;
+others took up the theme, and we had a lively meeting. All agreed
+that something should be done, and a committee of seven was
+appointed to call a convention for the purpose of organizing a
+woman suffrage association. Caroline M. Severance, Stephen S.
+Foster, Sarah Southwick and myself, were of this committee. We held
+a number of meetings and finally decided to call a convention early
+in the autumn of 1868. This convention was held in Horticultural
+Hall, and the result was the organization of the New England Woman
+Suffrage Association."
+
+[109] _President_, Julia Ward Howe; _Vice-presidents_, William
+Lloyd Garrison, Boston; Paulina W. Davis, Providence, R. I.; James
+Freeman Clarke, Boston; Sarah Shaw Russell, Boston; Neil Dow, Me.;
+Lucy Goddard, Boston; Samuel E. Sewall, Melrose; Lidian Emerson,
+Concord; John Hooker, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Hartford, Ct.;
+Harriot K. Hunt, Boston; James Hutchinson, jr., West Randolph, Vt.;
+Armenia S. White, Concord, N. H.; Louisa M. Alcott, Concord; L.
+Maria Child, Wayland; John Weiss, Watertown. _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Sara Clark, Boston. _Recording Secretary_, Charles K.
+Whipple, Boston. _Treasurer_, E. D. Draper, Boston. _Executive
+Committee_: Lucy Stone, Newark, N. J.; T. W. Higginson, Newport, R.
+I.; Caroline M. Severance, West Newton; Francis W. Bird, East
+Walpole; Mary E. Sargent, Boston; Nathaniel White, Concord, N. H.;
+Richard P. Hallowell, Boston; Stephen S. Foster, Worcester; Sarah
+H. Southwick, Grantville; Rowland Connor, Boston; B. F. Bowles,
+Cambridge; George H. Vibbert, Rockport; Olympia Brown, Weymouth;
+Samuel May, jr., Leicester; Nina Moore, Hyde Park.
+
+[110] Ednah D. Cheney, Rev. C. A. Bartol, Rev. F. E. Abbot, Rev.
+Phoebe Hanaford and Hon. George F. Hoar.
+
+[111] For report of American Association see Vol. II., page 756.
+
+[112] Lucy Stone, Mary A. Livermore, Stephen S. and Abby Kelley
+Foster, H. B. Blackwell, Rev. W. H. Channing, Rev. J. F. Clarke,
+Rev. Gilbert Haven, Julia Ward Howe and Elizabeth K. Churchill made
+eloquent speeches.
+
+The first board of officers of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage
+Association was: _President_, Julia Ward Howe. _Vice-presidents_:
+William Lloyd Garrison, Roxbury; Anne B. Earle, Worcester; John G.
+Whittier, Amesbury; Lidian Emerson. Concord; Hon. Robert C. Pitman,
+New Bedford; Mrs. Richmond Kingman, Cummington; Rev. R. B.
+Stratton, Worcester; Edna D. Cheney, Jamaica Plain; Hon. Isaac
+Ames, Haverhill; Sarah Shaw Ames, Boston; J. Ingersoll Bowditch,
+West Roxbury; Lydia Maria Child, Wayland; Mary Dewey, Sheffield;
+Hon. George F. Hoar, Worcester; Sarah Grimke, Hyde Park; Sarah R.
+Hathaway, Boston; William I. Bowditch, Boston; Harriot K. Hunt, M.
+D., Boston; Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, Melrose; A. Bronson Alcott,
+Concord; Angelina G. Weld, Hyde Park; Hon. Henry Wilson, Natick;
+Rev. James Freeman Clarke, Boston; Charlotte A. Joy, Mendon; Jacob
+M. Manning, D. D., Lucy Sewall, M. D., Boston; Rev. Joseph May,
+Newburyport; Maria Zakrzewska, M. D., Roxbury; Rev. William B.
+Wright, Boston; Rev. Jesse H. Jones, Natick; Phoebe A. Hanaford,
+Reading; Seth Hunt, Northampton: Maria S. Porter, Melrose.
+_Executive Committee_: Rev. Rowland Connor, Boston; Caroline M.
+Severance, West Newton; Rev. W. H. H. Murray, Boston; Gordon M.
+Fiske, Palmer; Sarah A. Vibbert, Rockport; Rev. Gilbert Haven,
+Maiden; Caroline Remond Putman, Salem; Frank B. Sanborn,
+Springfield; Mercy B. Jackson, M. D., Boston; Samuel May, jr.,
+Leicester; Margaret W. Campbell, Springfield; Rev. C. M. Wines,
+Brookline; Mary A. Livermore, Melrose; William S. Robinson, Maiden;
+Henry B. Blackwell, Boston; Lucy Stone, Boston; S. S. Foster,
+Worcester; Mrs. Wilcox, Worcester; Ada R. Bowles, Cambridge.
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Nina Moore, Hyde Park. _Recording
+Secretary_, Charles C. Whipple, Boston. _Treasurer_, E. D. Draper,
+Hopedale.
+
+[113] Mary F. Eastman, Ada C. Bowles, Lorenza Haynes, Elizabeth K.
+Churchill, Hulda B. Loud, Matilda Hindman and other agents in the
+lecture field have also done a great deal of missionary work.
+
+[114] The committee of arrangements were Mrs. Isaac Ames, Harriet
+H. Robinson, Sarah B. Otis, Philip Wheeler, Jane Tenney, Mrs. A. A.
+Fellows, Mrs. Jackson, Miss Talbot and Miss Halsey.
+
+The speakers were: Wendell Phillips, Mary A. Livermore, Frederick
+Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Margaret
+W. Campbell, Mary F. Eastman, Henry B. Blackwell, Lucy Stone and
+others. Julia Ward Howe and Mr. C. P. Cranch, read original poems.
+Two old-time tea-party songs, curiosities in their line, were read.
+One, dated Boston, 1773, entitled "Lines on Bohea Tea," was written
+by Susannah Clarke, great-aunt of W. S. Robinson; the other, copied
+from Thomas' _Boston Journal_, of December 2, 1773, was written by
+Mrs. Ames, a tailoress.
+
+[115] _Committee of Arrangements_--Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley Foster,
+Thomas J. Lothrop, Timothy K. Earle, Sarah E. Wall, Harriet H.
+Robinson and E. H. Church. At this public gathering, Athol, Boston,
+Haverhill, Leicester, Leominster, Lowell, Malden, Melrose, Milford,
+North Brookfield, Taunton, and many other Massachusetts towns were
+well represented.
+
+[116] The speakers were Lucy Stone, Rev. W. H. Channing, Mary A.
+Livermore, Mary F. Eastman, Kate N. Doggett, Rev. F. A. Hinckley,
+Ednah D. Cheney, T. Wentworth Higginson, Isabella Beecher Hooker,
+Anna Garlin Spencer and Julia E. Parker. Harriet H. Robinson read a
+condensed history of Massachusetts in the woman suffrage movement.
+Interesting letters were received from Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, F.
+W. Bird, H. B. Blackwell, Margaret W. Campbell, Mrs. C. I. H.
+Nichols and Frances D. Gage. Two original woman suffrage songs,
+written by Anna Q. T. Parsons and Caroline A. Mason, were sung on
+the occasion.
+
+[117] Board of officers for 1885: _President_, Miss Abby W. May;
+_Vice-president_, Mrs. Edna Dean Cheney; _Secretary_, Miss Brigham;
+_Treasurer_, Miss S. F. King; _Assistant-secretary_, Miss Von
+Arnim; _Directors_, Miss H, Lemist, Mrs. J. W. Smith, Mrs. M. P.
+Lowe, Mrs. H. G. Jackson, Mrs. L. H. Merrick, Mrs. G. L. Ruffin,
+Mrs. Walton, Mrs. Whitman, Miss Rogers, Miss E. Foster, Miss Shaw,
+Miss Lougee, Miss L. M. Peabody, Dr. A. E. Fisher, Mrs. Buchanan,
+Mrs. O. A. Cheney, Mrs. E. Hilt, Mrs. M. W. Nash, Mrs. M. H. Bray,
+Mrs. Fifield, Mrs. J. F. Clarke, Miss L. P. Hale, Mrs. A. H.
+Spalding; _Lecture Committee_, Miss Lucia M. Peabody, Mrs. Fifield
+and Mrs. L. H. King.
+
+[118] It is the only organization in the State whose business is
+managed by its members. Its officers are a president, one or more
+vice-presidents for each county, a secretary, treasurer, auditor,
+and a standing committee of seven with power to add to its number.
+These officers are elected annually. Executive meetings, in which
+all members participate, are held monthly. _President_, Harriette
+R. Shattuck; _Vice-presidents_, Dr. Salome Merritt, Joan D. Foster,
+Emma F. Clarry, Louisa E. Brooks, Esther P. Hutchinson, Sarah S.
+Eddy, Harriet M. Spaulding, Martha E. S. Curtis, Dr. Sarah E.
+Sherman, Sarah G. Todd, Abbie M. Meserve, Sophia A. Forbes, Esther
+B. Smith, Emma A. Todd. _Treasurer_, Sara A. Underwood; _Auditor_,
+Lavina A. Hatch; _Secretaries_, Hannah M. Todd, Elizabeth B.
+Atwell, Harriet H. Robinson; _Standing Committee_, H. R. Shattuck,
+Dr. S. Merritt, H. H. Robinson, Lydia E. Hutchings, Mary R. Brown,
+E. B. Attwill, Lucretia H. Jones.
+
+[119] South Framingham, South Boston, Winchester, Rockland,
+Wakefield, Uxbridge, Millbury, Bedford, Westboro', Salem, Lynn,
+Lowell, Rowley, Concord, Woburn, Malden, Cambridge, Beverly Farms.
+
+[120] Two of these, Harriet H. Robinson and Harriette R. Shattuck,
+spoke at the first hearing before the Senate committee. It chanced
+that Mrs. Robinson was the first woman to speak before this Special
+Committee. The other delegates were: Mary R. Brown, Emma F. Clarry,
+Louisa E. Brooks, Mrs. G. W. Simonds, Sarah S. Eddy, Mr. and Mrs.
+D. W. Forbes, Mary H. Semple, Louisa A. Morrison and Cora B. Smart.
+
+[121] The authors and compilers of these leaflets are Harriette R.
+Shattuck, Sara A. Underwood, Hannah M. Todd and Mary R. Brown.
+
+[122] The speakers at these hearings were Harriette R. Shattuck,
+Mary R. Brown, Sidney D. Shattuck, Nancy W. Covell, Dr. Julia C.
+Smith, Mr. S. C. Fay, Louisa A. Morrison, Sara A. Underwood and
+Harriet H. Robinson.
+
+[123] The speakers were Rev. J. T. Sargent, A. Bronson Alcott, H.
+B. Blackwell, Dr. Mercy B. Jackson, S. S. Foster, Mary A.
+Livermore, Rev. B. F. Bowles, F. B. Sanborn, W. S. Robinson,
+Gilbert Haven and many others.
+
+[124] In the records of the executive meetings of this Association
+I find the following votes. In October, 1872, it was voted, That
+any invitation to speak at Republican meetings, extended to our
+agents by Republican committees in this State, be accepted by them
+until the coming election, their usual salaries being paid by this
+Association; that Miss Loud be notified by Lucy Stone of our
+arrangement in regard to Republican meetings, and be requested,
+after the 15th instant, to hold her meetings in that manner as far
+as practicable; that the balance of expenses of the woman's meeting
+held at Tremont Temple be paid by this Association. [This was a
+political meeting held by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage
+Association to endorse General Grant as the presidential candidate
+of the Republican party.]
+
+[125] The National Association of Massachusetts at its executive
+session, August 23, passed the following:
+
+     _Resolved_, That while we respect the advice of our leaders, as
+     their private political opinion, we deem it worse than useless to
+     "stand by the Republican" or any other party while we are
+     deprived of the only means of enforcing a political opinion; and
+     that we advise all associations, to concentrate their efforts
+     upon securing the ballot to women, withholding all attempt at
+     political influence until they possess the right which alone can
+     make their influence effective.
+
+
+[126] At the executive meeting of the New England Association, May,
+1874, it was voted that a circular be sent to the friends of woman
+suffrage, requesting them to meet in Boston, May 25, to consider
+the expediency of calling a convention to form a political party
+for woman suffrage.
+
+[127] The call for this convention was signed by Harriet H.
+Robinson, Rev. A. D. Sargent, Rev. G. H. Vibbert, William Johnson,
+Mrs. T. R. Woodman, Helen Gale and Mrs. M. Slocum. Judge Robert C.
+Pitman was the candidate for governor.
+
+[128] This "Woman Suffrage ticket," the first ever offered to a
+Massachusetts voter, received 41 votes out of the 1,340 cast in all
+by the voters of the town, a larger proportion than that first cast
+by the old Liberty party in Massachusetts, which began with only
+307 votes in the whole State, and ended in the Free Soil and
+Republican parties.
+
+[129] Election day dawned and it rained hard, but the women braved
+the storm. There they stood from 9 o'clock A.M. till a quarter of 5
+P.M. and distributed votes, only leaving their positions long
+enough to get a cup of coffee and a luncheon, which was provided at
+the headquarters. They distributed 1,700 woman suffrage ballots and
+1,000 circulars containing arguments on the rights of women. They
+were treated with unexceptionable politeness and kindness by the
+voters.
+
+[130] The first time women went to the polls in Massachusetts was
+in 1870, when forty-two women of Hyde Park, led by Angelina Grimke
+Weld and Sarah Grimke, deposited their ballots, in solemn protest
+"against the political ostracism of women, against leaving every
+vital interest of a majority of the citizens to the monopoly of a
+male minority." It is hardly needful to record that these ballots
+were not counted.
+
+[131] For summary of voting laws relating to women from 1691 to
+1822, see "Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement," by
+Harriet H. Robinson: Roberts Brothers, Boston.
+
+[132] Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Lucy Stone, Theodore Parker,
+Wendell Phillips, and other speakers of ability, presented able
+arguments in favor of giving women the right to vote.
+
+[133] This memorial was printed by order of the legislature (Leg.
+Doc. Ho. 57) and is called "Memorial of the Female Signers of the
+Several Petitions of Henry A. Hardy and Others," presented March 1,
+1849. The document is not signed and Mrs. Ferrin's name is not
+found with it upon the records, neither does her name appear in the
+journal of the House in connection with any of the petitions and
+addresses she caused to be presented to the legislature of the
+State. But for the loyal friendship of the few who knew of her work
+and were willing to give her due credit, the name of Mary Upton
+Ferrin [see Vol. I., page 208] and the memory of her labors as well
+as those of many another silent worker, would have gone into the
+"great darkness."
+
+[134] The committee was addressed by Wendell Phillips, Julia Ward
+Howe, Lucy Stone, Rev. James Freeman Clarke and Hon. George F.
+Hoar.
+
+[135] Two years before (1869), while sitting as visitor in the
+gallery of the House of Representatives, I heard the whole subject
+of woman's rights referred to the (bogus) committee on graveyards!
+
+[136] It was perhaps intended to serve as a means of reinstating
+Abby W. May and other women who had been defeated as candidates for
+reelection on the Boston school-board. The names of Isa E. Gray,
+Mrs. C. B. Richmond, Elizabeth P. Peabody and John M. Forbes led
+the lists of petitioners.
+
+[137] At the first annual election for school committees in cities
+and towns in 1879-80, about 5,000 women became registered voters.
+
+[138] Lucretia P. Hale, Abby W. May, Lucia M. Peabody, Mary J. S.
+Blake, Kate G. Wells, Lucretia Crocker.
+
+[139] This act, so brief and so _expressive_, is worthy to be
+remembered. It simply reads: "_Be it enacted, etc., as follows_:
+
+SEC. 1. No person shall be deemed ineligible to serve upon a school
+committee by reason of sex.
+
+SEC. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (_Approved
+June 30, 1874._)
+
+By force of habit, the legislature said not a word in the law about
+_women_. There are now (1885) 102 women members of school-boards in
+Massachusetts.
+
+[140] See "Women under the law of Massachusetts," Henry H. Sprague.
+Boston: W. B. Clarke & Carruth.
+
+[141] The authority for this old "thumb" tradition, that "a man had
+the right to whip his wife with a stick no bigger than his thumb,"
+is found in an early edition of _Phillip's Evidence_. That book was
+authority in English common law and in it Phillips is quoted as
+saying, that according to the law of his day a husband "might
+lawfully chastise his wife with a reasonable weapon, as a
+_broomstick_," adding, however, "but if he use an unreasonable
+weapon, such as an iron bar, and death ensue, it would be
+murder."--[Chamberlin, p. 818.
+
+[142] In an old will, made a hundred and fifty years ago, a husband
+of large means bequeathed to his "dearly beloved wife" $50 and a
+new suit of clothes, with the injunction that she should return to
+her original, or family home. And with this small sum, as her share
+of his property, he returned her to her parents.
+
+[143] The little actual gain in votes since 1874, in favor of
+municipal or general suffrage for women, might cause the careless
+observer to draw the inference that no great progress had been made
+in legislative sentiment during all these years. In 1870 the vote
+in the House of Representatives on the General Woman Suffrage Bill
+was 133 to 68. In 1885 the bill giving municipal suffrage was
+defeated in the House by a vote of 130 to 61. But this is not a
+true index of the progress of public opinion.
+
+[144] Mrs. Ellen M. Richards was the first woman who entered.
+
+[145] The Harvard Annex, so called, began its seventh year with
+sixty-five young ladies enrolled for study. The enrollment for the
+preceding six years was as follows: First year, 29: second, 47;
+third 40; fourth, 39; fifth, 49, sixth, 55. Some of the students
+come from distant places, but a majority are from the Cambridge and
+neighboring high-schools. The institution occupies this year for
+the first time a building which has been conveniently arranged for
+its purposes. The endowment of the association which manages the
+work now amounts to $85,000.
+
+[146] This lady was Lucy Downing, a sister of the first governor of
+Massachusetts. She was the wife of Emanuel Downing, a lawyer of the
+Inner Temple, a friend of Governor Winthrop and afterward a man of
+mark in the infant colony. In a letter to her brother, Lucy Downing
+expresses the desire of herself and husband to come to New England
+with their children, but laments that if they do come her son
+George cannot complete his studies. She says: "You have yet noe
+societies nor means of that kind for the education of youths in
+learning. It would make me goe far nimbler to New England, if God
+should call me to it, than otherwise I should, and I believe a
+colledge would put noe small life into the plantation." This letter
+was written early in 1636, and in October of the same year the
+General Court of the Massachusetts colony agreed to give L400
+towards establishing a school or college in Newtowne (two years
+later called Cambridge). Soon afterwards Rev. John Harvard died and
+left one-half of his estate to this "infant seminary," and in 1638
+it was ordered by the General Court that the "Colledge to be built
+at Cambridge shall be called Harvard Colledge."
+
+Early in 1638 Lucy Downing and her husband arrived in New England,
+and the name of George Downing stands second on the list of the
+first class of Harvard graduates in 1642. The Downings had other
+sons who do not seem to have been educated at Harvard, and
+daughters who were put out to service. The son for whom so much was
+done by his mother, was afterwards known as Sir George Downing, and
+he became rich and powerful in England. Downing street in London is
+named for him. In after life he forgot his duty to his mother, who
+so naturally looked to him for support; and her last letter written
+from England after her husband died, when she was old and feeble,
+tells a sad story of her son's avarice and meanness, and leaves the
+painful impression that she suffered in her old age for the
+necessaries of life.
+
+It is hard to estimate how much influence the earnest longing of
+this one woman for the better education of her son, had in the
+founding of this earliest college in Massachusetts. But for her
+thinking and speaking at the right time the enterprise might have
+been delayed for half a century. It is to be deplored that Lucy
+Downing established the unwise precedent of educating one member of
+the family at the expense of the rest; an example followed by too
+many women since her time. Harvard College itself has followed it
+as well, in that it has so long excluded from its privileges that
+portion of the human family to which Lucy Downing belonged.
+
+Although women have never been permitted to become students of this
+college, or of any of the schools connected with it, yet they have
+always taken a great interest in its pecuniary welfare, and the
+University is largely indebted to the generosity of women for its
+endowment and support. From the records of Harvard College, it
+appears that funds have been contributed by 167 women, which
+amount, in the aggregate, to $325,000. Out of these funds a
+proportion of the university scholarships were founded, and at
+least one of its professors' chairs. In its Divinity school alone
+five of the ten scholarships bear the names of women. Caroline A.
+Plummer of Salem gave $15,000 to found the Plummer Professorship of
+Christian Morals. Sarah Derby bequeathed $1,000 towards founding
+the Hersey Professorship of Anatomy and Physic. The Holden Chapel
+was built with money given for that purpose by Mrs. Samuel Holden
+and her daughters. Anna E. P. Sever, in 1879, left a legacy to this
+college of $140,000. [See Harvard Roll of Honor for women in
+_Harvard Register_ in 1880-81.] Other known benefactors of Harvard
+University are: Lady Moulson, Hannah Sewall, Mary Saltonstall,
+Dorothy Saltonstall, Joanna Alford, Mary P. Townsend, Ann Toppan,
+Eliza Farrar, Ann F. Schaeffer, Levina Hoar, Rebecca A. Perkins,
+Caroline Merriam, Sarah Jackson, Hannah C. Andrews, Nancy Kendall,
+Charlotte Harris, Mary Osgood, Lucy Osgood, Sarah Winslow, Julia
+Bullock, Marian Hovey, Anna Richmond, Caroline Richmond, Clara J.
+Moore and Susan Cabot.--[H. H. R.
+
+The question is often asked, why are women so much more desirous
+than men to see their children educated? Because it is a right that
+has been denied to themselves. To them education means liberty,
+wealth, position, power. When the black race at the South were
+emancipated, they were far more eager for education than the poor
+whites, and for the same reason.--[EDS.
+
+[147] Ruth Barnaby, aged 101 in 1875, Elizabeth Phillips and Hannah
+Greenway were also members of this branch of the profession. The
+last was midwife to Mrs. Judge Sewall, who was the mother of
+nineteen children. Judge Samuel E. Sewall mentions this fact in his
+diary, recently published.
+
+[148] Dr. Jackson had a large practice in Boston, and filled for
+five years the chair of professor of diseases of children in the
+Boston University School of Medicine.
+
+[149] In 1840, a Massachusetts woman could not legally be treasurer
+of even a sewing society without having some man responsible for
+her. In 1809, it was necessary that the subscriptions of a married
+woman for a newspaper or for charities should be in the name of her
+husband.
+
+[150] Olympia Brown's own account of this transaction is as
+follows: In 1864, soon after my settlement in Weymouth, I
+solemnized a marriage. It was the first time a woman had officiated
+in this capacity, and there was so much talk about the legality of
+the act, that I petitioned the legislature to take such action as
+was necessary in order to make marriages solemnized by me legal.
+The committee to whom it was referred reported that no legislation
+was necessary.
+
+[151] This little book is worthy of mention, from the fact that it
+is probably the first publication of its kind in Massachusetts, if
+not in America. The whole title of the book is, "Observations on
+the Rights of Women, with their appropriate duties agreeable to
+Scripture, reason and common sense." Mrs. Crocker, in her
+introduction, says: "The wise author of Nature has endowed the
+female mind with equal powers and faculties, and given them the
+same right of judging and acting for themselves as he gave the male
+sex." She further argues that, "According to Scripture, woman was
+the first to transgress and thus forfeited her original right of
+equality, and for a time was under the yoke of bondage, till the
+birth of our blessed Savior, when she was restored to her equality
+with man."
+
+This is a very fine beginning, and would seem to savor strongly of
+the modern woman's rights doctrine; but, unfortunately, the author,
+with charming inconsistency, goes on to say,--"We shall strictly
+adhere to the principle of the impropriety of females ever
+trespassing on masculine grounds, as it is morally incorrect, and
+physically impossible."
+
+[152] In 1836 there was a small woman's club of Lowell factory
+operatives, officered and managed entirely by women. This may be a
+remote first cause of the origin of the New England Women's Club,
+since it bears the same relation to that flourishing institution,
+that the native crab does to the grafted tree. This was the first
+woman's club in the State, if not in the whole country.
+
+[153] A few ladies met at the house of Dr. Harriot K. Hunt to
+consider a plan for organization. Its avowed object was "to supply
+the daily increasing need of a great central resting place, for the
+comfort and convenience of those who may wish to unite with us, and
+ultimately become a center for united and organized social thought
+and action." Its first president was Caroline M. Severance. On the
+executive board were the names of Julia Ward Howe, Ednah D. Cheney,
+Lucy Goddard, Harriet M. Pitnam, Jane Alexander, Abby W. May, and
+many others who have since become well known. This club held its
+first meetings in private houses, but it has for several years
+occupied spacious club rooms on Park street in Boston. Julia Ward
+Howe is its president. The club has its own historian, and when
+this official gives the result of her researches to the public,
+there will be seen how many projects for the elevation of women and
+the improvement of social life have had their inception in the
+brains of those who assemble in the parlors of the New England
+Woman's Club. In 1874, it projected the movement by which women
+were first elected on the school committee of Boston, and also
+prepared the petition to be sent to the Massachusetts legislature
+of 1879, the result of which was the passage of the law allowing
+women to vote for school committees. In the _Woman's Journal_ for
+1883 will be found a sketch of this club.
+
+[154] "Taxation of Women in Massachusetts"; "Woman Suffrage
+a Right, not a Privilege," and "The Forgotten Woman in
+Massachusetts."
+
+[155] Its projectors were A. Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
+Professor W. T. Harris, Frank B. Sanborn, Professor Benjamin
+Pierce, Dr. H. K. Jones, Elizabeth P. Peabody and Ednah D. Cheney.
+
+[156] This act is almost as brief as a certain clause in one of the
+election laws of the State of Texas, which says: "The masculine
+gender shall include the feminine and neuter."
+
+[157] We deeply regret that we have been unable to procure a good
+photograph of our generous benefactor, as it was our intention to
+make her engraving the frontispiece of this volume, and thus give
+the honored place to her through whose liberality we have been
+enabled at last to complete this work. We are happy to state that
+Mrs. Eddy's will was not contested by any of the descendents of the
+noble Francis Jackson, but by Jerome Bacon, a millionaire, the
+widower of her eldest daughter who survived the mother but one
+week. When the suit was entered the daughters of Mrs. Eddy, Sarah
+and Amy, her only surviving children, in a letter to the executor
+of the estate, Hon. C. R. Ransom, said: "We hereby consent and
+agree that, in case this suit now pending in the court shall be
+decided against the claims of Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony, we
+will give to them the net amount of any sum that as heirs may be
+awarded to us, in accordance with our mother's will."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+CONNECTICUT.
+
+     Prudence Crandall--Eloquent Reformers--Petitions for
+     Suffrage--The Committee's Report--Frances Ellen Burr--Isabella
+     Beecher Hooker's Reminiscences--Anna Dickinson in the Republican
+     Campaign--State Society Formed, October 28, 29,
+     1869--Enthusiastic Convention in Hartford--Governor Marshall
+     Jewell--He Recommends More Liberal Laws for Women--Society Formed
+     in New Haven, 1871--Governor Hubbard's Inaugural, 1877--Samuel
+     Bowles of the _Springfield Republican_--Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford,
+     Chaplain, 1870--John Hooker, esq., Champions the Suffrage
+     Movement.
+
+
+While Connecticut has always been celebrated for its puritanical
+theology, political conservatism and rigid social customs, it was
+nevertheless the scene of some of the most hotly contested of the
+anti-slavery battles. While its leading clergymen and statesmen
+stoutly maintained the letter of the old creeds and constitutions,
+the Burleighs, the Mays, and the Crandalls strove to illustrate the
+true spirit of religion and republicanism in their daily lives by
+"remembering those that were in bonds as bound with them."
+
+The example of one glorious woman like Prudence Crandall,[158] who
+suffered shameful persecutions in establishing a school for colored
+girls at Canterbury, in 1833, should have been sufficient to rouse
+every woman in Connecticut to some thought on the basic principles
+of the government and religion of the country. Yet we have no
+record of any woman in that State publicly sustaining her in that
+grand enterprise, though no doubt her heroism gave fresh
+inspiration to the sermons of Samuel J. May, then preaching in the
+village of Brooklyn, and the speeches and poems of the two eloquent
+reformers, Charles C. and William H. Burleigh. The words and deeds
+of these and other great souls, though seeming to slumber for many
+years, gave birth at last to new demands for another class of
+outraged citizens. Thus liberty is ever born of the hateful spirit
+of persecution. One question of reform settled forever by
+the civil war, the initiative for the next was soon taken. In
+_The Revolution_ of January 16, 1868, we find the following
+well-considered report on woman's enfranchisement, presented by a
+minority of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments to the
+legislature of Connecticut at its session of 1867:
+
+     The undersigned members of the committee believe that the prayer
+     of the petitioners ought to be granted. It would be much easier
+     for us to reject the petition and silently to acquiesce in the
+     opinions of the majority upon the subject to which it relates,
+     but our attention was challenged and an investigation invited by
+     the bold axioms upon which the cause of suffrage for woman was
+     claimed to rest, and the more we have examined the subject the
+     more convinced we have become that the logic of our institutions
+     requires a concession of that right. It is claimed by some that
+     the right to vote is not a natural right, but that it is a
+     privilege which some have acquired, and which may be granted to
+     others at the option of the fortunate holders. But they fail to
+     inform us how the possessors first acquired the privilege, and
+     especially how they acquired the rightful power to withhold that
+     privilege from others, according to caprice or notions of
+     expediency. We hold this doctrine to be pernicious in tendency,
+     and hostile to the spirit of a republican government; and we
+     believe that it can only be justified by the same arguments that
+     are used to justify slavery or monarchy--for it is an obvious
+     deduction of logic that if one thousand persons have a right to
+     govern another thousand without their consent, one man has a
+     right to govern all.
+
+     Mr. Lincoln tersely said, "If slavery is not wrong nothing is
+     wrong." So it seems to us that if the right to vote is not a
+     natural right, there is no such thing as a natural right in human
+     relations. The right to freedom and the right to a ballot both
+     spring from the same source. The right to vote is only the right
+     to a legitimate use of freedom. It is plain that if a man is not
+     free to govern himself, and to have a voice in the taxation of
+     his own property, he is not really free in any enlightened sense.
+     Even Edward I. of England said, "It is a most equitable rule that
+     what concerns all should be approved by all." This must
+     rightfully apply to women the same as to men. And Locke, in his
+     essay on civil government, said, "Nothing is more evident than
+     that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born
+     to the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same
+     faculties, should also be equal, one with another, without
+     subordination or subjection." Talleyrand said, as an argument for
+     monarchy, "The moment we reject an absolutely universal suffrage,
+     we admit the principle of aristocracy." The founders of this
+     nation asserted with great emphasis and every variety of
+     repetition, the essential equality of human rights as a
+     self-evident truth. The war of the Revolution was justified by
+     the maxim, "Taxation without representation is tyranny"; and all
+     republics vindicate their existence by the claim that
+     "Governments derive their just power from the consent of the
+     governed." Yet woman, in Connecticut, is governed without her
+     consent, and taxed without representation.
+
+     Lord Camden, one of England's ablest jurists, long ago declared,
+     "My position is this--taxation and representation are
+     inseparable. The position is founded in a law of nature--nay
+     more, it is itself an eternal law of nature." Our forefathers
+     held to this principle, and fought seven years to establish it.
+     They maintained their favorite theory of government against
+     immense odds, and transmitted to their posterity the great work
+     of putting it logically into practice. It is acknowledged by this
+     legislature that "taxation without representation is tyranny,"
+     and that "governments derive their just power from the consent of
+     the governed." If these phrases are anything more than the
+     meaningless utterances of demagogues, anything more than the
+     hypocritical apologies of rebellious colonies in a strait--then
+     we submit that a _prima facie_ case for woman's right to vote has
+     already been made out. To declare that a voice in the government
+     is the right of all, and then give it to less than half, and that
+     to the fraction to which the theorist himself happens to belong,
+     is to renounce even the appearance of principle.
+
+     It is plain to your committee that neither the State nor the
+     nation can have peace on this suffrage question until some fair
+     standard shall be adopted which is not based on religion, or
+     color, or sex, or any accident of birth--a test which shall be
+     applicable to every adult human being. In a republic the ballot
+     belongs to every intelligent adult person who is innocent of
+     crime. There is an obvious and sufficient reason for excluding
+     minors, state-prison convicts, imbeciles and insane persons, but
+     does the public safety require that we shall place the women of
+     Connecticut with infants, criminals, idiots and lunatics? Do they
+     deserve the classification? It seems to your committee that to
+     enfranchise woman--or rather to cease to deprive her of the
+     ballot, which is of right hers, would be reciprocally beneficial.
+     We believe that it would elevate the character of our
+     office-holders; that it would purify our politics; that it would
+     render our laws more equitable; that it would give to woman a
+     protection against half the perils which now beset her; that it
+     would put into her hands a key that would unlock the door of
+     every respectable occupation and profession; that it would insure
+     a reconstruction of our statute laws on a basis of justice, so
+     that a woman should have a right to her own children, and a right
+     to receive and enjoy the proceeds of her own labor. John Neal
+     estimates that the ballot is worth fifty cents a day to every
+     American laborer, enabling each man to command that much higher
+     wages. Does not gentlemanly courtesy, as well as equal justice,
+     require that that weapon of defense shall be given to those
+     thousands of working women among us who are going down to
+     prostitution through three or four half-paid, over-crowded
+     occupations?
+
+     It is said that woman is now represented by her husband, when she
+     has one; but what is this representation worth when in
+     Connecticut, two years ago, all of the married woman's personal
+     property became absolutely her husband's, including even her
+     bridal presents, to sell or give away, as he saw fit--a statute
+     which still prevails in most of the States? What is that
+     representation worth when even now, in this State, no married
+     woman has the right to the use of her own property, and no woman,
+     even a widow, is the natural guardian of her own children? Even
+     in Connecticut, under man's representation, a widow whose husband
+     dies without a will is regarded by law as an encumbrance on the
+     estate which she, through years of drudgery, has helped to
+     acquire. She can inherit none of the houses or land, but has
+     merely the use of one-third, while the balance goes to his
+     relatives--rich, perhaps, and persons whom she never saw. Does
+     not this suggest reasons why woman should wish to represent
+     herself?
+
+     It is said that women do not desire the ballot. This is by no
+     means certain. It can be ascertained only by taking a vote. It is
+     not proved by the fact that they have not yet generally clamored
+     for the right, nor by the fact that some protest against it. In
+     Persia, it is a law of society that virtuous women shall appear
+     in public with their faces covered, and instead of murmuring at
+     the restraint, they are universal in upholding it, and wonder at
+     the immodesty and effrontery of English women who appear upon the
+     streets unveiled. Custom hardens us to any kind of degradation.
+     When woman was not admitted to the dinner-table as an equal with
+     man, she undoubtedly thought the exclusion was perfectly proper,
+     and quite in the nature of things, and the dinner-table became
+     vile and obscene. When she was forbidden to enter the church, she
+     approved the arrangement, and the church became a scene of
+     hilarity and bacchanalian revel. When she was forbidden to take
+     part in literature, she thought it was not her sphere, and
+     disdained the alphabet, and the consequence was that literature
+     became unspeakably impure, so that no man can now read in public
+     some of the books that were written before woman brought chastity
+     and refinement into letters. The Asiatics are probably not in
+     favor of political liberty, or the American Indians in favor of
+     civilization; but that does not prove that these would be bad for
+     them, especially if thousands of the most enlightened did desire
+     and demand the change. It is assumed that women are not in favor
+     of this right; how can this be better ascertained than by
+     submitting to them the question to vote upon--"yes" or "no."
+
+     If this legislature shall be averse to trusting woman to give her
+     opinion even on the question of her own enfranchisement, we
+     recommend that an amendment, striking the word "male" from the
+     State constitution, be submitted to the qualified electors of the
+     State. Can there be any possible danger in trusting those who
+     have trusted us? They, not we, are the law-makers. An assembly is
+     elected only because it would be inconvenient for all the
+     citizens to vote upon every statute. But when any change in the
+     fundamental law is seriously asked, it should be remitted to the
+     people without hesitation, especially when that proposed change
+     will render our logic consistent, and our institutions
+     harmonious; when it will enforce the democratic doctrine that, in
+     society, every human being has a right to do anything that does
+     not interfere with the rights of others, and when it will
+     establish equality in place of partiality, and vindicate the
+     principle of All Rights for All. We therefore recommend the
+     adoption of the following resolution: [Here follows a resolution
+     submitting to the people an amendment of the constitution giving
+     women the right to vote equally with men.]
+
+The members of the committee who signed this early declaration in
+favor of the rights of women should be remembered with honor. They
+are Henry Ashley, William Steele and J. D. Gallup, jr. The
+resolution recommended received 93 votes in the House of
+Representatives, against 111 in opposition. So strong an expression
+in favor of it at that time is a noteworthy fact in the history of
+the cause.
+
+The petitions that called out this able report were secured through
+the influence of Frances Ellen Burr, who may be said to have been
+the pioneer of woman suffrage in Connecticut. She had made several
+attempts, through conversations with influential friends, to
+organize a State society many years before. From the inauguration
+of the State association until the present time Miss Burr has been
+one of its most efficient members, and has done more to popularize
+the question of woman suffrage throughout the State than any other
+person. Her accomplishments as a writer and speaker, as a reporter
+and stenographer, as well as her connection with the _Hartford
+Times_ (a journal that has a very large circulation in the State),
+edited by her brother, have qualified her for wide and efficient
+influence. Her niece, Mrs. Ella Burr McManus, edits a column in
+that paper, under the head of "Social Notes." She is also an
+advocate of suffrage for women, and makes telling points, from week
+to week, on this question. In issuing the first numbers of _The
+Revolution_, the earliest words of good cheer came from Frances
+Ellen Burr.[159]
+
+The general rebellion among women against the old conditions of
+society and the popular opinions as to their nature and destiny,
+has been organized in each State in this Union by the sudden
+awakening of some self-reliant woman, in whose soul had long
+slumbered new ideas as to her rights and duties, growing out of
+personal experiences or the distant echoes of onward steps in other
+localities. In Connecticut this woman was Isabella Beecher Hooker,
+who had scarcely dared to think, and much less to give shape in
+words, to the thoughts that, like unwelcome ghosts, had haunted her
+hours of solitude from year to year. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
+describes a hero as one who does what others do but say; who says
+what others do but think; and thinks what others do but dream. The
+successive steps by which Mrs. Hooker's dreams at last took shape
+in thoughts, words and actions, and brought her to the woman
+suffrage platform, are well told by herself:
+
+     My mind had long been disturbed with the tangled problem of
+     social life, but it involved so many momentous questions that I
+     could not see where to begin nor what to do. I could only protest
+     in my heart, and leave the whole matter for God[160] to deal with
+     in his wisdom. Thus matters stood until the year 1861, when Anna
+     Dickinson, then a girl of nineteen, came to Hartford to speak in
+     behalf of the Republican party, particularly on its hostility to
+     the extension of slavery. I shall never forget the dismay--I know
+     not what else to call it--which I felt at the announcement of her
+     first speech in one of our public halls, lest harm should come to
+     the political cause that enlisted my sympathies, and anxiety
+     about the speaker, who would have to encounter so much adverse
+     criticism in our conservative and prejudiced city. It was
+     certainly a most startling occurrence, that here in my very home,
+     where there had been hardly a lisp in favor of the rights of
+     women, this girl should speak on political subjects, and that,
+     too, upon the invitation of the leaders of a great political
+     party. Here was a stride, not a mere step; and a stride almost to
+     final victory for the suppressed rights of women.
+
+     My husband and I, full of anxiety and apprehension, but full,
+     too, of determination to stand by one who so bravely shook off
+     her trammels, went to hear this new Joan of Arc, and in a few
+     minutes after she began we found ourselves, with the rest of the
+     large audience, entranced by her eloquence. At the close of the
+     meeting we went with many others to be introduced and give her
+     the right hand of fellowship. She came home with us for the
+     night, and after the family retired she and I communed together,
+     heart to heart, as mother and daughter, and from this sweet,
+     grand soul, born to the freedom denied to all women except those
+     known as Quakers, I learned to trust as never before the
+     teachings of the inner light, and to know whence came to them the
+     recognition of equal rights with their brethren in the public
+     assembly.
+
+     It was she who brought me to the knowledge of Mrs. John Stuart
+     Mill, and her remarkable paper on "The Enfranchisement of Women,"
+     in _The Westminster Review_. She told me, too, of Susan B.
+     Anthony, a fearless defender of true liberty and woman's right of
+     public speech; but I allowed an old and ignorant prejudice
+     against her and Mrs. Stanton to remain until the year 1864, when,
+     going South to nurse a young soldier who was wounded in the war,
+     I met Mrs. Caroline Severance from Boston, who was residing in
+     South Carolina, where her husband was in the service of the
+     government, who confirmed what Miss Dickinson had told me of Miss
+     Anthony, and unfolded to me the whole philosophy of the woman
+     suffrage movement.
+
+     She afterwards invited me to her home near Boston, where I joined
+     Mr. Garrison and others in issuing a call for a convention, which
+     I attended, and aided in the formation of the New England Woman
+     Suffrage Association. At this meeting, which I will not attempt
+     to describe, I met Paulina Wright Davis, whose mere presence upon
+     the platform, with her beautiful white hair and her remarkable
+     dignity and elegance, was a most potent argument in favor of
+     woman's participation in public affairs. I sought an introduction
+     to her, and confessing my prejudice against Mrs. Stanton and Miss
+     Anthony, whom I had never yet seen, she urged me to meet them as
+     guests at her home in Providence; and a few weeks later, under
+     the grand old trees of her husband's almost ducal estate, we went
+     over the whole subject of man's supremacy and woman's subjection
+     that had lain so many years a burden upon my heart, and, sitting
+     at their feet, I said: "While I have been mourning in secret over
+     the degradation of woman, you have been working, through
+     opposition and obloquy, to raise her to self-respect and
+     self-protection through enfranchisement, knowing that with equal
+     political rights come equal social and industrial opportunities.
+     Henceforth, I will at least share your work and your obloquy."
+
+     In September, 1869, just one year from that time, after spending
+     several weeks in correspondence with friends all over the State,
+     and making careful preliminary arrangements, I issued a call for
+     the first woman suffrage convention that was ever held in
+     Connecticut, at which a State society was formed. To my surprise
+     and satisfaction, the city press each day devoted several columns
+     to reports of our proceedings, and the enthusiasm manifested by
+     the large audiences was as unexpected as it was gratifying. The
+     speakers were worthy of the reception given them, and few
+     occasions have gathered upon one platform so notable an
+     assemblage of men and women.[161] The resolutions which formed
+     the basis of the discussions were prepared and presented by Mr.
+     Hooker:
+
+          _Resolved_, That there is no consideration whatever that
+          makes the right of suffrage valuable to men, or that makes
+          it the duty or the interest of the nation to concede it to
+          men, that does not make it valuable to women, and the duty
+          and interest of the nation to concede it to women.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the ballot will bring to woman a higher
+          education, larger industrial opportunities, a wider field
+          for thought and action, a sense of responsibility in her
+          relations to the public welfare, and, in place of mere
+          complaisance and flattery, the higher and truer respect of
+          men.
+
+          _Resolved_, That political affairs, involving nearly all
+          those questions that relate to the welfare of the nation and
+          the progress of society towards a perfect Christian
+          civilization, ought to interest deeply every intelligent
+          mind and every patriotic heart; and, while women love their
+          country and the cause of Christian progress no less than
+          men, they ought to have the same opportunity with men to
+          exert a political power in their behalf.
+
+          _Resolved_, That in the alarming prevalence of public
+          dishonesty and private immorality, which the present forces
+          on the side of public and private virtue are proving wholly
+          unable to control, it is our firm conviction that women,
+          educated to the responsibilities of a participation with men
+          in political rights, would bring to the aid of virtuous men
+          a new and powerful element of good, which cannot be spared,
+          and for which there can be no substitute.
+
+          _Resolved_, That in advocating the opening to woman of this
+          larger sphere, we do not undervalue her relations as a wife
+          and mother, than which none can be more worthy of a true
+          woman's love and pride; but it is only by a full development
+          of her faculties and a wide range for her thought that she
+          can become the true companion of an intelligent husband, and
+          the wise and inspiring educator of her children; while mere
+          domestic life furnishes no occupation to the great number of
+          women who never marry, and a very inadequate one to those
+          who, at middle age, with large experience and ripe wisdom,
+          find their children grown up around them and no longer
+          needing their care.
+
+          _Resolved_, That all laws which recognize a superior right
+          in the husband to the children whom the wife has borne, or a
+          right on the part of the husband to the property of the
+          wife, beyond the right given to her in his property, and all
+          laws which hold that husband and wife do not stand in all
+          respects in the relation of equals, ought to be abrogated,
+          and the perfect equality of husband and wife established.
+
+          _Resolved_, That this equality of position and rights we
+          believe to have been intended by the Creator as the ultimate
+          perfection of the social state, when he said, "Let us make
+          man in our image, after our likeness, and let THEM have
+          dominion"; and to have been a part of our Savior's plan for
+          a perfect Christian society, in which an Apostle says,
+          "there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor
+          female."
+
+The _Hartford Courant_, in its description of the convention, said:
+
+     After a speech by Mr. Garrison, the Hutchinsons sang some of the
+     religious songs of the Southern negroes with excellent taste, and
+     then, led by them, the whole audience united in the chorus; and
+     as the melody rose strong and clear a pathos fell upon the
+     assembly that brought tears to many eyes. The tableau upon the
+     stage was striking and memorable. There stood the family of
+     singers, with the same cheerful, hopeful courage in their
+     uplifted faces with which for twenty years they have sung of the
+     good time _almost_ here, of every reform; there stood William
+     Lloyd Garrison, stern Puritan, inflexible apostle, his work
+     gloriously done in one reform, lending the weight of his
+     unwearied, solid intellect to that which he believes is the last
+     needed; there was Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, a Roman matron in
+     figure, her noble head covered with clustering ringlets of white,
+     courageous after a quarter of a century of unsullied devotion,
+     though she had just confessed that sometimes she was almost
+     weary; there was Miss Anthony, unselfish, patient, wise and
+     practical; the graceful Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, the poet of the
+     movement; the tall and elegant Mrs. Celia Burleigh; the
+     benevolent Dr. Clemence Lozier; Mrs. Isabella B. Hooker, with
+     spiritual face and firm purpose, just taking her place in the
+     reform that has long had her heart and deep conviction, and many
+     others of fine presence and commanding beauty--matrons, with gray
+     hair and countenances illuminated with lives of charity; young
+     women, flushed with hope; and as the grand Christian song went
+     on, many a woman, leaning against a supporting pillar, gave way
+     to the tears that would come, tears of hope deferred, tears of
+     weary longings, tears of willing, patient devotion--e'en though
+     it be a cross that raiseth me--and then the benediction, and the
+     assembly dispersed, touched, it may be, into a moment's sympathy.
+     * * *
+
+     At the closing evening session the opera house was completely
+     filled by an audience whose attendance was a compliment. * * *
+     The chairman, Rev. N. J. Burton, said: "Has not this convention
+     been a success? I say, emphatically, it has. We have had the very
+     best of audiences at every session, and we have provided speakers
+     as good as the audience. We have not given you even one poor
+     speech. I thank the audience and the speakers, one and all. I
+     feel like thanking everybody, myself included, as chairman. In
+     Stewart's store in New York they told me 1,500 persons were
+     employed, all guided by one brain up-stairs, and that one brain
+     giving the store a national reputation. This convention has been
+     inspired and managed by one person--Mrs. Hooker of this city."
+     After speculating as to the possible oratorical power of Mrs. H.,
+     had she received the advantages and enjoyed the practice of her
+     brother, who spoke the previous evening, he said: "But of course
+     Mrs. Hooker couldn't vote, nor be a member of the legislature, or
+     even a justice of the peace. Insufferable nonsense! If such women
+     don't vote before I die--well, like Gough's obstinate deacon, I
+     won't die till they do."
+
+     On motion of Franklin Chamberlin, esq., the thanks of the
+     convention were tendered to Mrs. Hooker for her efforts. At her
+     request the chairman said that she was wholly surprised by this
+     reference to herself. She would only say, "Thank God for our
+     success," to which the chairman added, "Amen and Amen." He then
+     introduced Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, daughter of the late
+     Judge Cady of Albany, wife of the Hon. Henry B. Stanton of New
+     York, and editor of _The Revolution_. She is perhaps fifty, and
+     in general appearance much resembles Mrs. Davis. She is
+     apparently in robust health, dresses in black, with just enough
+     of white lace, and, with her gray hair loosely gathered, and her
+     strong, symmetrical and refined face and perfect self-possession,
+     is a noble-looking woman. Her address, or oration, was before
+     her, but she was not hampered by it. Her voice is clear, her
+     gesticulation simple, and her general manner not surpassed by
+     Wendell Phillips. Rough notes of an oration so finished can only
+     indicate the main drift of her thoughts. * * * The eloquent
+     peroration was heard in profound silence, followed by
+     enthusiastic applause. * * * The chairman read the constitution
+     and offered it for signatures, and the officers of the
+     Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association were chosen.[162]
+
+In _The Revolution_ of November 11, 1869, Mrs. Stanton giving a
+description of the convention, refers to the liberality of the
+governor, Marshall Jewell, and the genial hospitalities of his
+noble wife:[163]
+
+     In company with Mrs. Howe and Miss Anthony, we were entertained
+     at the governor's mansion, a fine brick building in the heart of
+     the town. It has a small pond on one side, and eight acres of
+     land, laid out in gardens, walks and lawns, with extensive
+     greenhouses and graperies. The house is spacious, elegantly and
+     tastefully furnished, with all the comforts and luxuries that
+     wealth can command. With a conservatory, library, pictures,
+     statuary, beautiful (strong-minded) wife and charming daughters,
+     the noble governor is in duty bound to remain the happy, genial,
+     handsome man he is to-day. Though the governor, owing to his
+     pressing executive duties, did not honor our convention with his
+     presence, we feel assured, in reading over his last able message,
+     that he feels a deep interest in the education and elevation of
+     women. In speaking of their school system, he calls attention to
+     the low wages of female teachers, and the injustice of excluding
+     girls from the scientific schools and polytechnic institutions in
+     the State. He says:
+
+          I would especially call the attention of the legislature to
+          the importance of furnishing to women such educational
+          facilities as will better fit them for the industrial
+          pursuits which the true progress of the times is opening to
+          them.
+
+     On the rights of married women, he says:
+
+          While our laws with regard to married women have been
+          amended from time to time for several years past, so as to
+          secure to them in a more ample manner their property, held
+          before or acquired after marriage, yet we are still
+          considerably behind many of our sister States, and even
+          conservative England, in our legislation on the subject. I
+          would recommend to your favorable consideration such an
+          amendment of our laws as will secure to a married woman all
+          her property, with the full control of it during her married
+          life, and free from liability for any debts, except those
+          contracted by herself or for which she has voluntarily made
+          herself responsible, with the same right on the part of the
+          husband to an interest in her property, on his surviving
+          her, that she now has, or that it may be best to give her,
+          in his.
+
+     On the subject of divorce the governor says:
+
+          I recommend a revision of our laws with regard to divorce.
+          According to the report of the State librarian there were in
+          the State last year 4,734 marriages and 478 divorces.
+          Discontented people come here from other States, to take
+          advantage of what is called our liberal legislation, to
+          obtain divorces which would be denied them at home. As the
+          sacredness of the marriage relation lies at the foundation
+          of civilized society, it should be carefully guarded. Under
+          our present laws the causes of divorce are too numerous, and
+          not sufficiently defined, and too wide a discretion is given
+          to the courts. I think the law of 1849 should be modified,
+          and so much of the statute as grants divorces for "any such
+          misconduct as permanently destroys the happiness of the
+          petitioner, and defeats the purposes of the marriage
+          relation," should be repealed. I would also suggest that the
+          law provide that no decree of divorce shall take effect till
+          one year after it is granted.
+
+          In conversation with the governor on this point in his
+          message he stated the singular fact that the majority of the
+          applications for divorce were made by women. If this be so,
+          we suggested that the laws of Connecticut should stand as
+          they are until the women have the right of suffrage, that
+          they may have a voice in a social arrangement in which they
+          have an equal interest with man himself. If Connecticut,
+          with its blue laws, disloyal Hartford convention, and
+          Democracy, has, nevertheless, been a Canada for fugitive
+          wives from the yoke of matrimony, pray keep that little
+          State, like an oasis in the desert, sacred to sad wives, at
+          least until the sixteenth amendment of the federal
+          constitution shall give the women of the republic the right
+          to say whether they are ready to make marriage, under all
+          circumstances, for better or worse, an indissoluble tie. We
+          have grave doubts as to the sacredness of a relation in
+          which the subject-class has no voice whatever in the laws
+          that regulate it. We shall never know what "laws lie at the
+          foundation of all civilized society" until woman's thought
+          finds expression in the State, the church and the home. It
+          is presumption for man longer to legislate alone on this
+          vital question, when woman, too, should have a word to say
+          in the matter.
+
+          The morning after the convention we had a pleasant breakfast
+          under Mr. and Mrs. Hooker's hospitable roof, where Boston
+          and New York amicably broke bread and discussed the
+          fifteenth amendment together. All the wise and witty sayings
+          that passed around that social board, time fails to
+          chronicle.
+
+     In 1877 Governor Hubbard called the attention of the legislature
+     to the wrongs of married women, in the following words:
+
+          There has been for the last few years in this State much
+          slip-shod and fragmentary legislation in respect to the
+          property rights of married women. The old common law assumed
+          the subjugation of the wife, and stripped her of the better
+          part of her rights of person and nearly all her rights of
+          property. It is a matter of astonishment that Christian
+          nations should have been willing for eighteen centuries to
+          hold the mothers of their race in a condition of legal
+          servitude. It has been the scandal of jurisprudence. Some
+          progress has been made in reforming the law in this State,
+          but it has been done, as I have already said, by patch-work
+          and shreds, sometimes ill-considered, and often so
+          incongruous as to provoke vexatious litigation and defy the
+          wisdom of the courts. The property relations of husband and
+          wife do not to-day rest on any just or harmonious system.
+          Not only has the husband absolute disposal of all his own
+          property freed from all dower rights, but he is practically
+          the owner during coverture of all his wife's estate not
+          specially limited to her separate use; and after her death
+          has, in every case, a life use in all her personal, and in
+          most cases in all her real property, by a title which the
+          wife, no matter what may have been his ill-deserts, is
+          powerless to impair or defeat; whereas, on the other hand,
+          the wife has during the husband's life no more power of her
+          own right to sell, convey, or manage her own estate than if
+          she were a lunatic or slave, and in case of his death has a
+          life use in only one-third part of the real estate of which
+          he dies possessed, and no indefeasible title whatever in any
+          of his personal estate. As a consequence, a husband may
+          strip his wife, by mere voluntary disposition to strangers,
+          of all claim on his estate after his death, and thus add
+          beggary to widowhood.
+
+          I am sure this cannot seem right to any fair-minded man.
+          Neither is it strange that some of our countrywomen, stung
+          by the injustice of the law towards their sex, should be
+          demanding, as a mode of redress, a part in the making of the
+          laws which govern them. I am confident there is manhood
+          enough in our own sex to right this obvious wrong to which I
+          have alluded.
+
+          I therefore recommend that the law on this subject be so
+          recast that, in all marriages hereafter contracted, the wife
+          shall hold her property and all her earnings for personal
+          services not rendered to her husband or minor children, as a
+          sole and separate estate, with absolute power of disposition
+          in her own name, and that the surviving wife shall have, by
+          law, the same measure of estate in the property of the
+          deceased husband, as the surviving husband shall be allowed
+          to have in the property of his deceased wife. This will
+          reduce their property relations to a principle of equality,
+          and, in my judgment, is demanded by the most obvious
+          dictates of justice and equity. Those who are not satisfied
+          with this can make a different law for themselves by
+          ante-nuptial settlements.
+
+          I am not unmindful that the husband alone is liable in the
+          first instance for the support of the family; but this is
+          much more than neutralized by the fact that, in most cases,
+          the wife's whole life is spent in the toilsome and unpaid
+          service of the household, and that the whole drift of her
+          estate, in consequence of her more unselfish and generous
+          nature, is towards the husband's pockets, in spite of all
+          the guards of the law and every consideration of prudence.
+
+     Calling attention to this stirring appeal, the _Hartford Times_,
+     Democratic, used the following language:
+
+          Another notable feature of the message is its outspoken and
+          manly call for a reformation in our laws concerning the
+          property rights of married women. Here as in other points it
+          is a model message. The governor's experience as a lawyer
+          has brought him often face to face with this disgraceful
+          one-sidedness of our laws on this subject, and in some terse
+          sentences he shows up the injustice more effectively than
+          has ever been done in any of the so-called women's rights
+          conventions.[164]
+
+     The following editorial from the _Springfield Republican_, gives
+     a good digest of the new law passed upon Governor Hubbard's
+     recommendation:
+
+          Connecticut has taken a great leap forward in the reform of
+          the property relations of married persons. The law had been
+          long neglected in that State, the obvious right of a married
+          woman to property acquired before marriage, which is now
+          secured in most States by constitutional provision, having
+          been there denied. In Massachusetts, the modification of the
+          former inequalities has gone on by piecemeal, till it is
+          said that in some respects the woman is now the more favored
+          party.
+
+          The new Connecticut statute also puts the burden of the
+          family maintenance on the man, as under most circumstances
+          the real bread-winner. It simply lays down the principle of
+          absolute equality in the rights and privileges of the
+          husband and wife, with the above exception. In all marriages
+          hereafter contracted, neither husband nor wife shall acquire
+          any right to or interest in any property of the other,
+          whether held before the marriage or acquired after the
+          marriage, except as provided in this law. The separate
+          earnings of the wife shall be her sole property. She shall
+          have the same right to make contracts with third persons as
+          if she were not married, and to convey her real and personal
+          estate. Her property is liable for her debts and not for
+          his; his is not liable for her debts, except those
+          contracted for the support of the family. Purchases made by
+          either party shall be presumed to be on the private account
+          of the party, but both shall be liable where any article
+          purchased by either shall have in fact gone to the support
+          of the family, or for the joint benefit of both, or for the
+          reasonable apparel of the wife, or for her reasonable
+          support while abandoned by her husband. It shall, however,
+          be the duty of the husband to support his family, and his
+          property, when found, shall be first applied to satisfy any
+          such joint liability. The wife shall be entitled to
+          indemnity for any money of her own used to pay such claims.
+          We have used almost the precise language of the first and
+          second sections of the act.
+
+          On the death of either, the survivor shall be entitled to
+          the use for life of one-third the estate of the deceased,
+          which right cannot be defeated by will. If the deceased
+          leaves no children or representatives of children, the
+          survivor is entitled to one-half instead of one-third. When
+          either party gives a legacy to the other, the latter may
+          choose between its rights under the will, and those under
+          the statute. Abandonment without cause may defeat this
+          provision, and a marriage contract may supersede it
+          entirely. Parties already married may contract to surrender
+          their present rights for those secured by this statute, such
+          contracts to be recorded in the probate court.
+
+          Thus we have a new and clear statute framed in accordance
+          with a simple principle of reform, for which the
+          _Republican_ has long done battle--the equality of married
+          persons in their rights and responsibilities of property.
+          The adoption of the reform is due deeply to the general
+          agitation of the rights of women, the efforts of Mrs.
+          Isabella Beecher Hooker, the Smith girls' cows, and perhaps
+          some flagrant instance of injustice to rich wives by tyrant
+          husbands near the capital. But the great occasion and
+          immediate cause, without which this generation might have
+          pleaded for it in vain, was the perception of the justice of
+          it by Governor Hubbard, and his open advocacy of it in his
+          message. Lawyers have one answer for all reforms regarding
+          property or civil contracts--they are impossible. But here
+          was undeniably the best lawyer in the State who said, and
+          threw the weight of his first State paper on the
+          proposition, that this thing was possible, and, if he said
+          it was possible, there was no man who could gainsay it. The
+          legislature took the reform on its own sense of justice and
+          on the assurance of Richard D. Hubbard, that it would work.
+
+On June 6, 1870, at a second hearing[165] before the Joint
+Committee on Woman Suffrage, in the capitol at New Haven, Rev.
+Phebe A. Hanaford of the Universalist church, Mrs. Benchley and
+Mrs. Russell were the speakers. During that session of the
+legislature Mrs. Hanaford acted as chaplain both in the Senate and
+House of Representatives, and received a check for her services
+which she valued chiefly as a recognition of woman's equality in
+the clerical profession.
+
+Mrs. Hooker was ably sustained in her new position by her husband,
+a prominent lawyer of the State. Being equally familiar with civil
+and canon law, with Blackstone and the Bible, he was well equipped
+to meet the opponents of the reform at every point. While Mrs.
+Hooker held meetings in churches and school-houses through the
+State, her husband in his leisure hours sent the daily press
+articles on the subject. And thus their united efforts stirred the
+people to thought and at last roused a Democratic governor of the
+State to his duty on this question. From the many able tracts
+issued and articles published in the journals we give a few
+extracts. In answer to the common objections of "free love" and
+"easy divorce," in the _Evening Post_ of January 17, 1871, Mr.
+Hooker said:
+
+     The persons who advocate easy divorce would advocate it just as
+     strongly if there was no woman suffrage movement. The two have no
+     necessary connection. Indeed one of the strongest arguments in
+     favor of woman suffrage is, that the marriage relation will be
+     safer with women to vote and legislate upon it than where the
+     voting and legislation are left wholly to the men. Women will
+     always be wives and mothers, above all things else. This law of
+     nature cannot be changed, and I know of nobody who desires to
+     change it. The marriage relation will therefore always be more to
+     woman than to man, and we, who would give her the right to vote,
+     have no fear to trust to her the sanctity and purity of that
+     relation. It is the opponents of woman suffrage who distrust the
+     fidelity of woman to her divine instincts and dare not let her
+     vote. Our little State has been two hundred years under male
+     legislation, and yet a long memorial from hundreds of clergymen
+     and other Christian men went up to our legislature two years ago,
+     representing our legislation on divorce as demoralizing and as
+     fatal to the best interests of the marriage relation. It really
+     seems as if the incompetency for the management of public affairs
+     which by mere assumption is charged in advance upon women, has
+     been proved with regard to men by an actual experience of many
+     years. The true idea is for man and woman to share together the
+     responsibilities and duties of legislation, and until this is
+     done I have no hope for any real progress towards purity in the
+     administration of our public affairs. We who favor woman suffrage
+     speak confidently on this subject because the reform works so
+     well wherever it has been tried, in England, Sweden, Austria and
+     Wyoming Territory.
+
+     No rational man can suppose for a moment that with woman suffrage
+     established in England and on the continent of Europe, we in this
+     country, which so specially stands on equal representation, are
+     going to refuse it. It must be set down as one of the certain
+     things of the future. And when it has come, and women vote, it
+     will excite no more attention or comment than the voting of our
+     colored people.
+
+     Now if woman suffrage is to come, is it worth while to be making
+     the impression that the women of our country are not to be
+     trusted with it, and that the marriage relation is to be
+     imperiled by it? Above all, is it manly or just to be charging
+     corrupt motives on nine-tenths of those who advocate the reform?
+     The notoriety which to some extent its advocates must get is
+     almost universally painful to the women who are the subjects of
+     it. One noble woman, whose whole soul is in this cause, and the
+     purity of whose motives in this, as in everything else, I have
+     had good opportunity to learn, said to me, on reading Dr.
+     Bushnell's remark in his book on woman suffrage, that these women
+     were only trying to make themselves men: "Cruel, cruel words! If
+     so noble a man as Dr. Bushnell so utterly fails to comprehend a
+     woman's nature, shall not she be allowed to speak for herself,
+     and no testimony be taken but hers?"[166]
+
+Much might be said in regard to the most famous women of
+Connecticut, the historic "Maids of Glastonbury," celebrated for
+their resistance to taxation. After the death of Abby, July 23,
+1878, Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith, in a beautiful tribute to the
+sisters, said:
+
+     Many years ago they took a stand akin to that of the illustrious
+     Hampden, which has made his name a synonym for patriotism as well
+     as just and manly opposition to unconstitutional revenue
+     exaction. "The tax may be a small matter for an English gentleman
+     to pay, but it is too much for a British freeman to pay," was
+     the ground of his noble resistance, and this view precipitated
+     that great Revolution which more than all other modern movements
+     consolidated and strengthened the rights of the British subject.
+     These two women deserve to stand upon a platform side by side
+     with the great Hampden. Other women have paid their taxes under
+     protest, but Abby and Julia Smith have done more than protest;
+     they have suffered loss as well as inconvenience, their property
+     having been seized and sold again and again because of their
+     honest conviction that taxation without representation was as
+     unjust to women as to men. Their steadfastness has been the more
+     remarkable because, by their social position, their learning and
+     their wealth, they might be supposed to be indifferent to the
+     ballot-box, as so many thus situated claim to be. Abby and her
+     sister were no ordinary women. The family originally consisted of
+     five sisters, all more or less accomplished. The father was a man
+     of learning, a graduate of Yale and a clergyman. The mother was
+     familiar with French and Italian, and no mean astronomer. Thus
+     parented, it is not surprising that the Glastonbury sisters were
+     of marked individualism as well as superior scholarship. They
+     were more or less acquainted with Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and
+     have made a translation of the Bible from these sources, giving
+     its original meaning.
+
+     The maids of Glastonbury planted themselves upon the right of the
+     sex to suffrage, from purely philosophic and statesman-like
+     grounds. They had no other disabilities of which to complain--no
+     other grievance--no social ostracism, as is so often charged, and
+     most unjustly, against other advocates of the doctrine. They were
+     unmarried, studious, upright, simple-minded gentlewomen, and were
+     much esteemed and honored in the community in which they lived.
+     They occupied the old homestead, doing their own work, their
+     interests well cared for in the person of Mr. Kellogg, an
+     intelligent tenant of theirs, as well as friend and neighbor.
+
+     _The Hartford Post_, in a tender mention of the life and death of
+     Abby, with a brief sketch of the family, thus bears honorable
+     testimony to her worthiness:
+
+          In the death of Miss Smith the cause of woman suffrage has
+          met with a severe loss, as her firm resistance to what she
+          believed to be the unjust treatment of women greatly
+          encouraged her companions in the contest; her sister has
+          lost her chief support, and the community in which she lived
+          a faithful friend and a worthy exponent of the virtues of
+          truthfulness, firmness, and adherence to the right as she
+          understood it.
+
+     _The Hartford Times_ said:
+
+          A notable woman who died last week was Miss Abigail H.
+          Smith, of Glastonbury, Conn., one of the two sisters who
+          resisted the collection of their taxes on the ground that
+          they had no voice in the levy. It will be remembered that
+          their cows were seized and some of their personal property
+          sold two years ago. Of course there were friends who were
+          willing and anxious to pay the taxes, but the plucky old
+          ladies were fighting for a principle, and they would allow
+          no one to stand in the way. The notoriety, which they
+          neither sought nor avoided, undoubtedly did a great deal to
+          call public attention to the anomalous condition of woman
+          under the law. It would be very hard for any man to argue
+          successfully that he possessed any stronger natural claim to
+          the suffrage than was possessed by these shrewd, honest,
+          energetic old ladies.
+
+Many encouraging letters were written the sisters during their many
+trials, of which the following is a fair specimen:
+
+                                   Near BOSTON, January 14, 1874.
+
+     MY DEAR MADAM: The account of your hardships is interesting, and
+     your action will be highly beneficial in bringing the subject to
+     public notice, and in leading to the correction of a great
+     injustice. The taxation of the property of women, without
+     allowing them any representation, even in town affairs, is so
+     unfair that it seems only necessary to bring it to public view to
+     make it odious and to bring about a change. Therefore you deserve
+     the greater honor, not only because you have suffered in a good
+     cause, but because you have set an example that will be followed,
+     and that will lead to happy results.
+
+     Your case has its parallel in every township of New England. In
+     the town where this is written a widow pays into the treasury
+     $7,830 a year, while 600 men, a number equal to half the whole
+     number of voters, pay $1,200 in all. Another lady pays $5,042.
+     Yet neither has a single vote, not even by proxy. That is, each
+     one of 600 men who have no property, who pay only a poll-tax, and
+     many of whom cannot read or write, has the power of voting away
+     the property of the town, while the female _owners_ have no power
+     at all. We have lately spent a day in celebrating the heroism of
+     those who threw overboard the tea; but how trifling was the
+     tea-tax, and how small the injustice to individuals compared with
+     this one of our day! The principle, however, was the same--that
+     there should be no taxation where there is no representation. And
+     this is what we ought to stand by. Please to accept the sympathy
+     and respect of one of your fellow citizens. No doubt you will
+     have the same from all in due time; or, at any rate, from all who
+     love to see fair play.
+
+                         Very truly yours, AMOS A. LAWRENCE.
+
+     _Miss Abby H. Smith, Glastonbury, Conn._
+
+A marked evidence of the advance of public sentiment was manifested
+by a decision of the Supreme Court in 1882, by which the women of
+Connecticut were held to have the right to practice law. The
+opinion of Chief-Justice Park concerning the legality of the
+admission of Miss Mary Hall of Hartford to the bar, giving her the
+right to practice in the courts of the State, is as follows:
+
+     This is an application by a woman for admission to the bar of
+     Hartford county. After having completed the prescribed term of
+     study she has passed the examination required and has been
+     recommended by the bar of the county to the Superior Court for
+     admission, subject to the opinion of the court upon the question
+     whether, as a woman, she can legally be admitted. The Superior
+     Court has reserved the case for our advice.
+
+     The statute with regard to the admission of attorneys by the
+     court is the 29th section of chapter 3, title 4, of the General
+     Statutes, and is in the following words: "The Superior Court may
+     admit and cause to be sworn as attorneys such persons as are
+     qualified therefor agreeably to the rules established by the
+     judges of said court; and no other person than an attorney so
+     admitted shall plead at the bar of any court of this State,
+     except in his own cause."
+
+     It is not contended, in opposition to the application, that the
+     language of this statute is not comprehensive enough to include
+     women, but the claim is that at the time it was passed its
+     application to women was not thought of, while the fact that
+     women have never been admitted as attorneys, either by the
+     English courts or by any of the courts of this country, had
+     established a common-law disability, which could be removed only
+     by a statute intended to have that effect.
+
+     It is hardly necessary to consider how far the fact that women
+     have never pursued a particular profession or occupied a
+     particular official position, to the pursuit or occupancy of
+     which some governmental license or authority was necessary,
+     constitutes a common-law disability for receiving such license or
+     authority, because here the statute is ample for removing that
+     disability if we can construe it as applying to women; so that we
+     come back to the question whether we are by construction to limit
+     the application of the statute to men alone, by reason of the
+     fact that in its original enactment its application to women was
+     not intended by the legislators that enacted it. And upon this
+     point we remark, in the first place, that an inquiry of this sort
+     involves very serious difficulties. No one would doubt that a
+     statute passed at this time in the same words would be sufficient
+     to authorize the admission of women to the bar, because it is now
+     a common fact and presumably in the minds of legislators, that
+     women in different parts of the country are, and for some time
+     have been, following the profession of law. But if we hold that
+     the construction of the statute is to be determined by the
+     admitted fact that its application to women was not in the minds
+     of the legislators when it was passed, where shall we draw the
+     line? All progress in social matters is gradual. We pass almost
+     imperceptibly from a state of public opinion that utterly
+     condemns some course of action to one that strongly approves it.
+     At what point, in the history of this change, shall we regard a
+     statute, the construction of which is to be affected by it, as
+     passed in contemplation of it? When the statute we are now
+     considering was passed, it probably never entered the mind of a
+     single member of the legislature that black men would ever be
+     seeking for admission under it. Shall we now hold that it cannot
+     apply to black men? We know of no distinction in respect to this
+     rule between the case of a statute and that of a constitutional
+     provision. When our State constitution was adopted in 1818 it was
+     provided in it that every elector should be "eligible to any
+     office in the State," except where otherwise provided in the
+     constitution. It is clear that the convention that framed, and
+     probably all the people who voted to adopt the constitution, had
+     no idea that black men would ever be electors, and contemplated
+     only white men as within any possible application of the
+     provision, for the same constitution provided that only white men
+     should be electors. But now that black men are made electors,
+     will it do to say that they are not entitled to the full rights
+     of electors in respect to holding office, because an application
+     of the provision to them was never thought of when it was
+     adopted? Events that gave rise to enactments may always be
+     considered in construing them. This is little more than the
+     familiar rule that in construing a statute we always inquire what
+     particular mischief it was designed to remedy. Thus, the Supreme
+     Court of the United States has held that in construing the recent
+     amendments of the federal constitution, although they are general
+     in their terms, it is to be considered that they were passed with
+     reference to the exigencies growing out of the emancipation of
+     the slaves, and for the purpose of benefiting the blacks
+     (_Slaughter-house Cases, 16 Wall., 67_; _Strauder vs. West
+     Virginia, 100 U. S. Reps., 306_). But this statute was not passed
+     for the purpose of benefiting men as distinguished from women. It
+     grew out of no exigency caused by the relation of the sexes. Its
+     object was wholly to secure the orderly trial of causes and the
+     better administration of justice. Indeed, the preamble to the
+     first statute providing for the admission of attorneys, states
+     its object to be "for the well-ordering of proceedings and pleas
+     at the bar."
+
+     The statute on this subject was not originally passed in its
+     present form. The first act with regard to the admission of
+     attorneys was that of 1708, which was as follows: "That no
+     person, except in his own cause, shall be admitted to make any
+     plea at the bar without being first approved by the court before
+     whom the plea is to be made, nor until he shall take in the said
+     court the following oath," etc. (Col. Records, 1706 to 1716, page
+     48). This act seems to have contemplated an approval by the court
+     in each particular case in which an attorney appeared before it.
+     The first act with regard to the general admission of attorneys
+     appears in the revision of 1750, and is as follows: "That the
+     county courts of the respective counties in this colony shall
+     appoint, and they are hereby empowered to approve, nominate and
+     appoint attorneys in their respective counties, as there shall be
+     occasion, to plead at the bar; * * and that no person, except in
+     his own case, shall make any plea at the bar in any court but
+     such as are allowed and qualified attorneys, as aforesaid." Thus
+     the statute stood until the revision of 1821; when, for the first
+     time, it took essentially its present form. Up to this time the
+     word "person" had been used in this statute only in the clause
+     that "no person" should be allowed to practice before the courts
+     except where formally admitted by the court, a use of the word
+     which, of course, could not be regarded as limited to the male
+     sex, as women would undoubtedly have been held to be included in
+     the term. The language of the statute as now adopted was as
+     follows: "The county courts may make such rules and regulations
+     as to them shall seem proper relative to the admission and
+     practice of attorneys; and may approve of, admit and cause to be
+     sworn as attorneys, such persons as are qualified therefor
+     agreeably to the rules established; * * and no person not thus
+     admitted, except in his own cause, shall be admitted or allowed
+     to plead at the bar of any court." The statute in this form
+     passed through the compilations of 1835 and 1838, the revision of
+     1849 and the compilation of 1854, and appears, with a slight
+     modification, in the revision of 1866. The county courts had now
+     been abolished, and the power to admit attorneys, as well as to
+     make rules on the subject, had been given to the Superior Court;
+     the expression, "such persons," being preserved, and the
+     provision that "no person" not thus admitted should be allowed to
+     plead, being omitted.
+
+     The statute finally took its present form in the revision of
+     1875. It retains the provision that the Superior Court may make
+     rules for the admission of attorneys, and provides that the court
+     "may admit and cause to be sworn as attorneys such persons as are
+     qualified therefor agreeably to the rules established," and
+     restores the provision, dropt in the revision of 1866, that "no
+     person other than an attorney so admitted shall plead at the bar
+     of any court in this State, except in his own cause."
+
+     These changes, though not such as to affect the meaning of the
+     statute at any point of importance to the present question, are
+     yet not wholly without importance. The adoption by the
+     legislature of the revision of the statutes becomes, both in law
+     and in fact, a reenactment of the whole body of statutes; and
+     though in determining the meaning of a statute, we are not to
+     regard it as then enacted for the first time, especially if there
+     be no change in its phraseology, yet, where there is such a
+     change, it follows that the attention of the revisers had been
+     particularly directed to that statute, as of course also that of
+     the legislature, and that with the changes made it expresses the
+     present intent of both. Thus, in this case, it is clear that the
+     revisers gave particular thought to the phraseology of the
+     statute we are considering, and put it in a form that seemed to
+     them best with reference to the present state of things, and
+     decided to leave the words "such persons" to stand with full
+     knowledge that they were sufficient to include women, and that
+     women were already following the profession of law in different
+     parts of the country. The legislators must be presumed to have
+     acted with the same consideration and knowledge. It would have
+     been perfectly easy, if either had thought best, to insert some
+     words of limitation or exclusion, but it was not done. Not only
+     so, but a clause omitted in the revision of 1866 was restored,
+     providing that no "person" not regularly admitted should act as
+     an attorney--a term which necessarily included women, and the
+     insertion of which made it necessary, if the word "persons" as
+     used in the first part of the statute should be held not to
+     include women, to give two entirely different meanings to the
+     same word where occurring twice in the same statute and with
+     regard to the same subject matter.
+
+     The object of a revision of statutes is, that there may be such
+     changes made in them as the changes in political and social
+     matters may demand, and where no changes are made it is to be
+     presumed that the legislature is satisfied with it in its present
+     form. And where some changes are made in a particular statute,
+     and other parts of it are left unchanged, there is the more
+     reason for the inference from this evidence that the matter of
+     changing the statute was especially considered, that the parts
+     unchanged express the legislative will of to-day, rather than
+     that of perhaps a hundred years ago, when it was originally
+     enacted.
+
+     But this statute, in the revision of 1875, is placed immediately
+     after another with regard to the appointment of commissioners of
+     the Superior Court, the necessary construction of which, we
+     think, throws light upon the construction of the statute in
+     question. That act was passed in 1855, after women had begun,
+     with general acceptance, to occupy a greatly enlarged field of
+     industry and some professional and even public positions; and it
+     has been held by the Superior Court, very properly we think, as
+     applying to women, a woman having three years ago been appointed
+     commissioner under it. Its language is as follows: "The Superior
+     Court in any county may appoint any number of persons in such
+     county to be commissioners of the Superior Court, who, when
+     sworn, may sign writs and subpoenas, take recognizances,
+     administer oaths and take depositions and the acknowledgement of
+     deeds, and shall hold office for two years from their
+     appointment." Here the very language is used which is used in the
+     statute with regard to attorneys. In one it is, "any number of
+     persons," in the other, "such persons as are qualified." These
+     two statutes are placed in immediate juxtaposition in the
+     revision of 1875 and deal with kindred subjects, and it is
+     reasonable to presume that the revisers and legislature intended
+     both to receive the same construction. It would seem strange to
+     any common-sense observer that an entirely different meaning
+     should be given to the same word in the two statutes, especially
+     when in giving the narrower meaning to the word in the statute
+     with regard to attorneys, we are compelled to give it a different
+     meaning from that which the same word requires in the next line
+     of the same statute.
+
+     We are not to forget that all statutes are to be construed, as
+     far as possible, in favor of equality of rights. All restrictions
+     upon human liberty, all claims for special privileges, are to be
+     regarded as having the presumption of law against them, and as
+     standing upon their defense, and can be sustained if at all by
+     valid legislation, only by the clear expression or clear
+     implication of the law.
+
+     We have some noteworthy illustrations of the recognition of women
+     as eligible or appointable to office under statutes of which the
+     language is merely general. Thus, women are appointed in all
+     parts of the country as postmasters. The act of congress of 1825
+     was the first one conferring upon the postmaster-general the
+     power of appointing postmasters, and it has remained essentially
+     unchanged to the present time. The language of the act is, that
+     "the postmaster-general shall establish post-offices and appoint
+     postmasters." Here women are not included, except in the general
+     term "postmasters," a term which seems to imply a male person;
+     and no legislation from 1825 down to the present time authorizes
+     the appointment of women, nor is there any reference in terms to
+     women until the revision of 1874, which recognizes the fact that
+     women had already been appointed, in providing that "the bond of
+     any married woman who may be appointed postmaster shall be
+     binding on her and her sureties." Some of the higher grades of
+     postmasters are appointed by the president, subject to
+     confirmation by the Senate, and such appointments and
+     confirmations have repeatedly been made. The same may be said of
+     pension agents. The acts of congress on the subject have simply
+     authorized "the President, by and with the advice and consent of
+     the Senate, to appoint all pension agents, who shall hold their
+     offices for the term of four years, and shall give bond," etc. At
+     the last session of congress a married woman in Chicago was
+     appointed for a third term pension agent for the State of
+     Illinois, and the public papers stated that there was not a
+     single vote against her confirmation in the Senate. Public
+     opinion is everywhere approving of such appointments. They
+     promote the public interest, which is benefitted by every
+     legitimate use of individual ability, while mere justice, which
+     is of interest to all, requires that all have the fullest
+     opportunity for the exercise of their abilities. These cases are
+     the more noteworthy as being cases of public offices, to which
+     the incumbent is appointed for a term of years, upon a
+     compensation provided by law, and in which he is required to give
+     bond. If an attorney is to be regarded as an officer, it is in a
+     lower sense.
+
+     We have had pressed upon us by the counsel opposed to the
+     applicant, the decisions of the courts of Massachusetts,
+     Wisconsin and Illinois, and the United States Court of Claims,
+     adverse to such an application. While not prepared to accede to
+     all the general views expressed in those decisions, we do not
+     think it necessary to go into a discussion of them, as we regard
+     our statute, in view of all the considerations affecting its
+     construction, as too clear to admit of any reasonable question as
+     to the interpretation and effect which we ought to give it.
+
+     In this opinion Carpenter and Loomis, Js., concurred; Pardee, J.,
+     dissented.
+
+In 1884, the State society held a spirited and successful
+convention.[167] Julia Smith gave an extemporaneous talk to the
+great delight of the audience, who applauded continually; Mrs.
+Crane, a fine elocutionist, gave a reading from Carlyle; Mrs.
+Hooker closed with a brief resume of the work the society had
+accomplished.
+
+We are also indebted to Frances Ellen Burr for many facts, as the
+following letter will show:
+
+                                   HARTFORD, September 17, 1885.
+
+     MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I have received your letter of inquiry. As
+     to that petition in 1867, I was one of the signers, and, probably
+     had something to do with getting the other signatures, though I
+     have nothing but my memory to depend on as to that; but I was
+     pretty much alone here in those days, on the woman suffrage
+     question. Who the other signers were I made an attempt to find
+     out in the secretary of state's office the other day, but found
+     that it would take days, instead of the few hours I had at my
+     command. I find in my journal a reference to Lucy Stone and Mr.
+     Blackwell addressing the committee in the House of
+     Representatives, and that was the committee that made the report
+     afterwards published in _The Revolution_. Mr. Croffut made the
+     opening address on the day of the hearing. He was always ready to
+     aid us in whatever way he could, and I felt grateful to him, for
+     a helping hand was doubly appreciated in those days. I find by
+     the journal of the House for that year that the vote on the
+     question was 93 yeas to 111 nays. The name of Miss Susie
+     Hutchinson heads one petition, with 70 others. How many other
+     petitions there were that year I do not know, but I believe there
+     have been several every year since, besides a number of
+     individual petitions. Since that time the House has voted
+     favorably on the question twice, at least, but I believe we have
+     never had a majority in the Senate.
+
+     You ask when I first wrote or spoke for the ballot. My first
+     venture in that line was in 1853. I was then at the age of
+     twenty-two, living with my sister in Cleveland, O., and had never
+     given any attention to the subject of woman suffrage, and cared
+     nothing about it any further than the spirit of rebellion--born
+     with me--against everything unjust, might be said to have made me
+     a radical by nature. In the fall of that year a woman's rights
+     convention met in Cleveland, and I attended it alone, none of the
+     rest of the family caring to go. In my old journal I find this
+     entry:
+
+          October 7, 1853. Attended a woman's rights convention which
+          has met here. Never saw anything of the kind before. A Mr.
+          Barker spent most of the morning trying to prove that
+          woman's rights and the Bible cannot agree. The Rev.
+          Antoinette L. Brown replied in the afternoon in defense of
+          the Bible. She says the Bible favors woman's rights. Miss
+          Brown is the best-looking woman in the convention. They
+          appear to have a number of original and pleasing characters
+          upon their platform, among them Miss Lucy Stone--hair short
+          and rolled under like a man's; a tight-fitting velvet waist
+          and linen collar at the throat; bombazine skirt just
+          reaching the knees, and trousers of the same. She is
+          independent in manner and advocates woman's rights in the
+          strongest terms:--scorns the idea of woman _asking_ rights
+          of man, but says she must boldly assert her own rights, and
+          _take_ them in her own strength. Mrs. Ernestine L. Rose, a
+          Polish lady with black eyes and curls, and rosy cheeks,
+          manifests the independent spirit also. She is graceful and
+          witty, and is ready with sharp replies on all occasions.
+          Mrs. Lucretia Mott, a Philadelphia Quaker, is meek in dress
+          but not in spirit. She gets up and hammers away at woman's
+          rights, politics and the Bible, with much vigor, then
+          quietly resumes her knitting, to which she industriously
+          applies herself when not speaking to the audience. She wears
+          the plain Quaker dress and close-fitting white cap. Mrs.
+          Frances D. Gage, the president, is a woman of sound sense
+          and a good writer of prose and poetry. Mrs. Caroline
+          Severance has an easy, pleasing way of speaking. Mr. Charles
+          Burleigh, a Quaker, appears to be an original character. He
+          has long hair, parted in the middle like a woman's, and
+          hanging down his back. He and Miss Stone seem to reverse the
+          usual order of things.
+
+     My first speech in public, I find by my old journal--which serves
+     me better than I thought it would--was given in Music Hall in
+     this city in November, 1870. This meeting was held under the
+     auspices of the State association, and was presided over by the
+     Rev. Olympia Brown. I find that in the winter of 1871 I made
+     addresses in various parts of the State. The journal also tells
+     of a good deal of trotting about to get signatures to petitions,
+     for I had more time to do that thing then than I have now.
+
+     The first woman suffrage meeting ever held in Hartford, and the
+     first, probably, in Connecticut, was the one you and Mrs. Stanton
+     held in Allyn Hall in December, 1867. Our State Suffrage
+     Association was organized in October, 1869. The signers[168] to
+     the call for that convention were quite influential persons.
+
+     In my hunt through the journals of the two legislative houses I
+     found in the House journal for 1878 that Mr. Pratt of Meriden had
+     presented the petition of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac C. Lewis. Mr. Clark
+     of Enfield, presented the petition of Lucy A. Allen; Mr.
+     Gallagher of New Haven presented several petitions that year, one
+     of them being headed by Mr. Henry A. Stillman of Wethersfield,
+     followed by 532 names, and another by Mrs. D. F. Connor, M. D.
+     Mr. Broadhead of Glastonbury presented the petition of the Smith
+     sisters. This unique petition Miss Mary Hall, who was with me in
+     the secretary's office, chanced to light upon, and she copied it.
+     It is a document well worth handing down on the page of history,
+     and runs as follows:
+
+          _The Petition of Julia E. Smith and Abby H. Smith, of
+          Glastonbury, to the Senate of the State of Connecticut:_
+
+          This is the first time we have petitioned your honorable
+          body, having twice come before the House of Assembly, which
+          the last time gave a majority that we should vote in town
+          affairs; but it was negatived in the Senate.
+
+          We now pray the highest court in our native State that we
+          may be relieved from the stigma of birth. For forty years
+          since the death of our father have we suffered intensely for
+          being born women. We cannot even stand up for the principles
+          of our forefathers (who fought and bled for them) without
+          having our property seized and sold at the sign-post, which
+          we have suffered four times; and have also seen eleven acres
+          of our meadow-land sold to an ugly neighbor for a tax of
+          fifty dollars--land worth more than $2,000. And a threat is
+          given out that our house shall be ransacked and despoiled of
+          articles most dear to us, the work of lamented members of
+          our family who have gone before us, and all this is done
+          without the least excuse of right or justice. We are told
+          that it is the law of the land made by the legislature and
+          done to us, two defenceless women, who have never broken
+          these laws, made by not half the citizens of this State. And
+          it was said in our Declaration of Independence that
+          "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of
+          the governed."
+
+          For being born women we are obliged to help support those
+          who have earned nothing, and who, by gambling, drinking, and
+          the like, have come to poverty, and these same can vote away
+          what we have earned with our own hands. And when men meet to
+          take off the dollar poll-tax, the bill for the dinner comes
+          in for the women to pay. Neither have we husband, or
+          brother, or son, or even nephew, or cousin, to help us. All
+          men will acknowledge that it is as wrong to take a woman's
+          property without her consent as to take a man's without his
+          consent; and such wrong we suffer wholly for being born
+          women, which we are in no wise to blame for. To be sure, for
+          our consolation, we are upheld by the learned, the wise and
+          the good, from all parts of the country, having received
+          communications from thirty-two of our States, as well as
+          from over the seas, that we are in the right, and from many
+          of the best men in our own State. But they have no power to
+          help us. We therefore now pray your honorable body, who have
+          power, with the House of Assembly, to relieve us of this
+          stigma of birth, and grant that we may have the same
+          privileges before the law as though we were born men. And
+          this, as in duty bound, we will ever pray.
+
+                                                 JULIA and ABBY SMITH.
+
+          _Glastonbury, Conn., January 29, 1878._
+
+     The story of the Smith sisters, from 1873 and on, will be handed
+     down as one of the most original and unique chapters in the
+     history of woman suffrage. Abby Smith, with my friend Mrs.
+     Buckingham, attended with me the first meeting of the Woman's
+     Congress, in New York, in October, 1873. While there, she said
+     she should, on her return, address her town's people on woman
+     suffrage and taxation, as they had not been treated fairly in the
+     matter of their taxes. She did so on the fifth of November,
+     addressing the Glastonbury town meeting in the little red-brick
+     town-house of that place--a building that will always hereafter
+     be connected with the names of Abby and Julia Smith. Several
+     years after, wishing to address them again, she was refused
+     entrance there, so she and Julia addressed the people from an
+     ox-cart that stood in front. This was after their continued
+     warfare against "taxation without representation" had aroused the
+     opposition of their townsmen, but that first speech in 1873 was
+     the beginning of their fame. Abby sent it to me for publication
+     in the _Times_ of this city, but the editor not having room for
+     it sent it to the _Courant_, which gave it a place in its
+     columns, thus (unwittingly) setting a ball in motion that ran all
+     round the country, and even over the ocean. The simplicity and
+     uniqueness of the story of "Abby Smith and her cows," gave a boom
+     to the cause of woman suffrage as welcome as it was unexpected.
+     The Glastonbury mails were more heavily laden than ever before in
+     the history of this hitherto unknown town, for letters came
+     pouring in from all quarters to the sisters. The fame did not
+     rest entirely on Abby and her cows; Julia and her Bible came in
+     for an important share, and the newspaper articles in regard to
+     them were a remarkable blending of cows and Biblical lore, dairy
+     products and Greek and Hebrew. Many of the articles were wide of
+     the facts, being written with a view to make a bright and
+     readable column. For instance, a Chicago paper got up a highly
+     colored article in which it said that Abby Smith's mother--Hannah
+     Hickok--was such an intense student that her father had a glass
+     cage made for her to study in. The only vestage of truth in this
+     story was that, lacking our modern facilities for heating, Mr.
+     Hickok had an extra amount of glass put into the south side of
+     his daughter's room that the sun might give it a little more heat
+     in cold weather. Hannah Hickok seems to have had a mental
+     equipment much above that of the average woman of that day; she
+     had a taste for literature, and was something of a linguist, and
+     wrote, moreover, at different times, quite an amount of readable
+     verse. She had a taste for mathematics, and also for astronomy,
+     and made for her own use an almanac, for these were not so plenty
+     then as now; she could, on awakening, tell any hour of the night
+     by the position of the stars. Evidently Hannah Hickok Smith was
+     not an ordinary woman; and it is quite as evident that her
+     daughters were equally original, though in a different direction.
+     Women who have translated the Bible are not to be met with every
+     day--nor men either, for that matter, but Julia Smith not only
+     did this, but translated it five times,--twice from the Hebrew,
+     twice from the Greek, and once from the Latin; and thirty years
+     later, or after the age of eighty, published the translation; and
+     then, to crown the list of marvels, married at the age of
+     eighty-five.
+
+
+[Illustration: Phebe A. Hanaford]
+
+
+     One point more, and the one nearest my heart. You ask me about my
+     "dear friend Mrs. Buckingham." I can give no details of her
+     suffrage work, but her heart was in it, and her name should be
+     handed down in your History. She was at one time chairman of the
+     executive committee of our State association, and she would, if
+     she had thought it necessary, have spent of her little income to
+     the last cent to help along the cause. She made public addresses
+     and wrote many suffrage articles and letters that were published
+     in different papers, but she made no noise about it; her work was
+     all done with her own characteristic gentleness. Generous to a
+     fault, winning and beautiful as the flowers she scattered on the
+     pathway of her friends, she passed on her way; and one memorable
+     Easter morning she left us so gently that none knew when the
+     sleep of life passed into the sleep of death; we only knew that
+     the glorious light of her eyes--a light like that which "never
+     shone on sea or land"--had gone out forever.
+
+          "She died in beauty like the dew
+            Of flowers dissolved away;
+          She died in beauty like a star
+            Lost on the brow of day."
+
+     The Hartford Equal Rights Club[169] was organized in March, 1885,
+     and holds semi-monthly meetings. Its membership is not large, but
+     what it lacks in numbers it makes up in earnestness. Its
+     proceedings are reported pretty fully and published in the
+     _Hartford Times_, which has a large circulation, thus gaining an
+     audience of many thousands and making its proceedings much more
+     important than they would otherwise be. It is managed as simply
+     as possible, and is not encumbered with a long list of officers.
+     There are simply a president, Mrs. Emily P. Collins;[170] a
+     vice-president, Miss Mary Hall; and a secretary, Frances Ellen
+     Burr, who is also the treasurer. Debate is free to all, the
+     platform being perfectly independent, as far as a platform can be
+     independent within the limits of reason. Essays are read and
+     debated, and many interesting off-hand speeches are made. It is
+     an entirely separate organization from the Connecticut State
+     Suffrage Association, founded in 1869. But its membership is not
+     confined to the city; it invites people throughout the State, or
+     in other States, to become members--people of all classes and of
+     all beliefs. Opponents of woman suffrage are always welcome, for
+     these furnish the spice of debate. Among the topics discussed has
+     been that of woman and the church, and upon this subject Mrs.
+     Stanton has written the club several letters.
+
+     Last spring (1885) a number of the members of the club were given
+     hearings before the Committee on Woman Suffrage in the
+     legislature in reference to a bill then under consideration,
+     which was exceedingly limited in its provisions. The House of
+     Representatives improved it and then passed it, but it was
+     afterwards defeated in the Senate. Some of the meetings of the
+     club have been held in Hartford's handsome capitol, a room having
+     been allowed for its use, and a number of members of the House of
+     Representatives have taken part in the discussions. Mrs. Collins,
+     president of the club, is always to be depended upon for good
+     work, and Miss Hall, its vice-president, is active and efficient.
+     She is in herself an illustration of what women can become if
+     they only have sufficient confidence and force of will. She is a
+     practicing lawyer, and a successful one.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[158] The life of William Lloyd Garrison, Vol. 1.: The Century
+Company, New York.
+
+[159] She was soon followed by Mrs. Middlebrook and Mrs. Lucy R.
+Elms, with warm benedictions. The latter called some meetings in
+her neighborhood in the autumn of 1868, and entertained us most
+hospitably at her beautiful home.
+
+[160] Those who leave the tangled problem of life to God for
+solution find, sooner or later, that God leaves it to them to
+settle in their own way.--[E. C. S.
+
+[161] Among them were Paulina Wright Davis, Dr. Clemence Lozier,
+Mary A. Livermore, Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan
+B. Anthony, Celia Burleigh, Caroline M. Severance, Rev. Olympia
+Brown, Frances Ellen Burr, Charlotte B. Wilbour, William Lloyd
+Garrison, Henry Ward Beecher, Nathaniel I. Burton, John Hooker, the
+Hutchinsons, with Sister Abby and her husband, Ludlow Patton.
+
+[162] _President_, Rev. N. J. Burton, Hartford. _Vice-presidents_,
+Brigadier-general B. S. Roberts, U. S. A., New Haven; Mrs. Harriet
+Beecher Stowe, Hartford; Rev. Dr. Joseph Cummings, Middletown; Rev.
+William L. Gage, Hartford; Rev. Olympia Brown, Bridgeport.
+_Secretary_, Miss Frances Ellen Burr. _Executive Committee_, Mrs.
+Isabella B. Hooker, Mrs. Lucy Elmes, Derby; Mrs. J. G. Parsons and
+Miss Emily Manning, M. D., Hartford. _Treasurer_, John Hooker.
+
+[163] On her departure for St. Petersburg, where her husband was
+minister plenipotentiary, Mrs. Jewell left a check of $200 for the
+State society. She was an honored officer of the National Suffrage
+Association until the time of her death, in 1883.
+
+[164] Mrs. Hooker writes us that the act passed upon Governor
+Hubbard's recommendation was prepared at his request by Mr. Hooker,
+and was essentially the same that had been unsuccessfully urged by
+him upon the legislature eight years before. She then goes on to
+say: "What part our society had in our bringing about so beneficent
+a change in legislation, cannot be better set forth than in two
+private letters from Samuel Bowles of the _Springfield Republican_,
+and Governor Hubbard. While these gentlemen were friends of Mr.
+Hooker and myself, yet, as politically opposed to each other, their
+united testimony is exceedingly valuable, and since they have both
+passed on to a world of more perfect adjustments, I feel that
+nothing would give them greater satisfaction than to be put upon
+record here as among the earliest defenders of the rights of women.
+
+                                   "SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 28, 1877.
+
+     "MY DEAR MRS. HOOKER:--I return your letters and paper as you
+     desired. It is an interesting story, and a most gratifying
+     movement forward. I am more happy over the bill passed, than I am
+     sorry over the bill that failed. We shall move fast enough. The
+     first great step is this successful measure in Connecticut--the
+     establishment in practice of the principle of equal, mutual,
+     legal rights, and equal, mutual, legal responsibilities, for
+     which I have been preaching and praying these twenty years. We
+     owe the success this year, _first_ to the right of the matter;
+     _second_, to the agitation of the whole question which has
+     disseminated the perception of that right; _third_, to you and
+     your husband in particular; and _fourth_, to the fact that you
+     had in Connecticut this year a governor who was recognized as the
+     leading lawyer of the State, a genuine natural conservative who
+     yet said the measure was right and ought to go. It is this last
+     element that has given Connecticut its chief leadership. It is a
+     bigger thing than it seems at first to have an eminent
+     conservative lawyer on the side of such legislative reform. I
+     hate very much to take your husband's side against you, and yet
+     now that I am over fifty years old, I find I more and more
+     sympathize with his patience and philosophy with the slow-going
+     march of reform. But with such things going forward in national
+     politics, and such a sign in the heavens as this in Connecticut,
+     we ought all to be very happy--and I believe I am, in spite of
+     debts, hard work, fatigue and more or less chronic invalidism. At
+     any rate I salute you both with honor and with affection."
+
+                         "Very faithfully yours,        SAMUEL BOWLES.
+
+     "This letter I enclosed to Governor Hubbard and received the
+     following reply:
+
+                                        "EASTER, April 1, 1877.
+
+     "MY GOOD FRIEND:--It was a 'Good Friday' indeed that brought your
+     friendly missive. And what a dainty and gracious epistle Sam.
+     Bowles does know how to write! He is a good fellow, upon my word,
+     full of generous instincts and ideas. He ought to be at the head
+     of the _London Times_ and master of all the wealth it brings. Add
+     to this, that the Good Physician should heal him of his 'chronic
+     invalidism' and then--well what's the use of dreaming? Thank
+     _yourself_, and such as you for what there is of progress in
+     respect of woman's rights amongst us. I do believe our bill is a
+     'great leap forward' as Bowles says in his editorial. 'Alas!'
+     says my friend ----, 'it has destroyed the divine conception of
+     the unity of husband and wife.' As divine, upon my soul, as the
+     unity of the lamb and the devouring wolf. * * * But enough of
+     this. I salute you my good friend, with a thousand salutations of
+     respect and admiration. I do not agree with you in all things,
+     but I cannot tell you how much I glorify you for your courage and
+     devotion to womanhood. I am a pretty poor stick for anything like
+     good work in the world, but I am not without respect for it in
+     others. And so I present myself to yourself and to your good and
+     noble husband whom I take to be one of the best, with every
+     assurance of affection and esteem. Thanking you for your kind
+     letter, I remain, dear madam,
+
+                              "Yours very truly,       R. D. HUBBARD."
+
+[165] At the various hearings Mrs. Anna Middlebrook, Mr. and Mrs.
+Joseph Sheldon, Julia and Abby Smith, Rev. Olympia Brown, Mr. and
+Mrs. Hooker were the speakers.
+
+[166] See Appendix for Mr. Hooker's article, "Is the Family the
+Basis of the State?"
+
+[167] At the convention of March 17 and 18, 1884, the speakers were
+Mrs. Hooker, Susan B. Anthony, the Rev. Charles Stowe, Julia Smith
+Parker, Mrs. Emily Collins, Abigail Scott Duniway, Miss Leonard,
+Mrs. C. G. Rogers, the Rev. Dr. A. J. Sage, Mrs. Ellis, Miss Gage,
+the Rev. J. C. Kimball, the Rev. Mr. Everts of Hartford, Mary Hall
+and F. E. Burr. The officers elected at this meeting were: Isabella
+B. Hooker, _President_: F. Ellen Burr, _Secretary_; Mary Hall,
+_Assistant-secretary_; John Hooker, _Treasurer_. _Executive
+Committee_; Mrs. Ellen Burr McManus, Mrs. Emily P. Collins, Mrs.
+Amy A. Ellis, Mrs. J. G. Parsons Hartford; Mrs. Susan J. Cheney,
+South Manchester; Mrs. John S. Dobson, Vernon Depot; Judge Joseph
+Sheldon, Charles Atwater, James Gallagher, New Haven.
+
+[168] John Hooker, Isabella B. Hooker, the Rev. N. J. Burton,
+Rachel C. Burton, Franklin Chamberlin, Francis Gillette, Eliza D.
+Gillette, Frances Ellen Burr, Catharine E. Beecher, Esther E.
+Jewell, Calvin E. Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe and others,
+Hartford; Joseph Cummings, Middletown, President of Wesleyan
+University; Thomas Elmes, Lucy R. Elmes, Derby; Charles Atwater,
+New Haven; Thomas T. Stone, Laura Stone, Brooklyn. The officers
+elected for the Association were: _President_, the Rev. N. J.
+Burton, Hartford; _Secretary_, Frances Ellen Burr; _Executive
+Committee_, Isabella B. Hooker; Mrs. Lucy R. Elmes, Derby; Mrs. J.
+G. Parsons, Miss Emily Manning, M. C., Hartford; Mr. Charles
+Atwater, New Haven; Mr. Ward Cheney, Mrs. Susan J. Cheney, South
+Manchester; Mrs. Virginia Smith, Hartford. _Treasurer_, William B.
+Smith, Hartford. There was a long list of vice-presidents, which I
+presume you do not care for, nor for the other names that were
+added as changes had to be made in the years that followed.
+
+[169] A member of the club says: "We receive more of our life and
+enthusiasm from Frances Ellen Burr than all other members combined;
+indeed, the chief part of the work rests on her shoulders."
+
+[170] See Mrs. Collins's Reminiscences, chapter V., Vol. I.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+RHODE ISLAND.
+
+     Senator Anthony in _North American Review_--Convention in
+     Providence--Work of State Association--Report of Elizabeth B.
+     Chace--Miss Ida Lewis--Letter of Frederick A. Hinckley--Last
+     Words from Senator Anthony.
+
+
+Rhode Island, though one of the smallest, is, in proportion to the
+number of its inhabitants, one of the wealthiest states in the
+Union. In political organization Rhode Island, in colonial times,
+contrasted favorably with the other colonies, nearly all of which
+required a larger property qualification, and some a religious test
+for the suffrage. The home of Roger Williams knew nothing of such
+narrowness, but was an asylum for those who suffered persecution
+elsewhere. Nevertheless this is now, in many respects, the most
+conservative of all the States.
+
+In the November number of the _North American Review_ for 1883,
+Senator Anthony, in an article on the restricted suffrage in Rhode
+Island, stoutly maintains that suffrage is not a natural right, and
+that in adhering to her property qualification for foreigners his
+State has wisely protected the best interests of the people. In his
+whole argument on the question, he ignores the idea of women being
+a part of the people, and ranks together qualifications of sex,
+age, and residence. He quite unfairly attributes much of Rhode
+Island's prosperity--the result of many causes--to her restricted
+suffrage. His position in this article, written so late in life, is
+the more remarkable as he had always spoken and voted in his place
+in the United States Senate (where he had served nearly thirty
+years) strongly in favor of woman's enfranchisement. And the
+_Providence Journal_, which he owned and controlled, was invariably
+respectful and complimentary towards the movement.
+
+While such a man as Senator Anthony, one of the political leaders
+in his State, regarded suffrage as a privilege which society may
+concede or withhold at pleasure, we need not wonder that so little
+has been accomplished there in the way of legislative enactments
+and supreme-court decisions. Nevertheless that State has shared in
+the general agitation and can boast many noble men and women who
+have taken part in the discussion of this subject.
+
+The first woman suffrage association was formed in Rhode Island in
+December, 1868. In describing the initiative steps, Elizabeth B.
+Chace in a letter to a friend, says:
+
+     In October 1868, while in Boston attending the convention that
+     formed the New England society, Paulina Wright Davis[171]
+     conceived the idea that the time had come to organize the friends
+     of suffrage in Rhode Island. After consultation with a few of the
+     most prominent friends of the cause, a call was issued for a
+     convention, to be held in Roger Williams Hall, Providence,
+     December 11th, signed by many leading names. No sooner did the
+     call appear than, as usual, some clergyman publicly declared
+     himself in opposition. The Rev. Mark Trafton, a Methodist
+     minister, gave a lecture in his vestry on "The Coming Woman," who
+     was to be a good housekeeper, dress simply, and not to vote. This
+     was published in the _Providence Journal_, and called out a
+     gracefull vindication of woman's modern demands from the pen of
+     Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman, the poet, and Miss Norah Perry, a
+     popular writer of both prose and verse. The convention was all
+     that its most ardent friends could have desired, and resulted in
+     forming an association.[172] The audience numbered over a
+     thousand, at the different sessions, and among the speakers were
+     some of the ablest men in the State. Though the friends were
+     comparatively few in the early days, yet there was no lack of
+     enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Weekly meetings were held, tracts
+     and petitions circulated; conventions[173] and legislative
+     hearings were as regular as the changing seasons, now in
+     Providence, and now in Newport, following the migratory
+     government.
+
+Mrs. Davis was president of the association for several successive
+years in which her labors were indefatigable. Finally failing
+health compelled her to resign her position as president of the
+association.[174] Since then her able coadjutor Elizabeth B. Chace,
+has been president of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association, and
+with equal faithfulness and persistence, carried on the work. She
+steadily keeps up the annual conventions and makes her appeals to
+the legislature. Among the names[175] of those who have appeared
+from year to year before the Rhode Island legislature we find many
+able men and women from other States as well as many of their own
+distinguished citizens.
+
+In this State an effort was made early to get women on the board of
+managers for schools, prisons and charitable institutions. In a
+letter to Mrs. Davis, John Stuart Mill says:
+
+     I am very glad to hear of the step in advance made by Rhode
+     Island in creating a board of women for some very important
+     administrative purpose. Your proposal that women should be
+     empanneled on every jury where women are to be tried seems to me
+     very good, and calculated to place the injustice to which women
+     are subjected at present by the entire legal system in a very
+     striking light.
+
+In 1873 an effort was made to place women on the Providence School
+Board, with what success the following extracts from the daily
+papers show. The _Providence Press_ of April 25, 1873, says:
+
+     A shabby trick was perpetrated by the friends of John W. Angell,
+     which was certainly anything but "angelic," and which ought to
+     consign the parties who committed it to political infamy.
+
+     Yesterday, for the first time in the history of this city, women
+     were candidates for political honors--in the fifth ward, Mrs.
+     Sarah E. H. Doyle, and in the fourth ward, Mrs. Rhoda A. F.
+     Peckham, were candidates for positions on the school committee;
+     both, however, failed of an election. Mrs. Doyle received the
+     unanimous nomination of the large primary meeting of the National
+     Union Republican party, and Mrs. Peckham was run as an outside
+     candidate against the regular nominee. These ladies would
+     undoubtedly have made excellent members of the committee, and
+     unlike a great portion of that body, would have been found in
+     their places at the meetings, and we should have been glad to
+     have seen the experiment tried of women in the position for which
+     their names were presented. When the polls opened in the fifth
+     ward, instead of Mrs. Doyle's name being on the ballots for the
+     place to which she had been nominated there appeared the name of
+     John W. Angell, esq., and until about 11 o'clock A. M. he had
+     the field to himself. At that hour, however, Mrs. Doyle's friends
+     appeared with the "_regular_" nomination, and from that time to
+     the close of the polls she received 145 votes; Mr. Angell,
+     notwithstanding his several hours' start in the race, only
+     winning by a majority of 38. From this fact it is clear that had
+     Mrs. Doyle's name been in its proper place at the opening of the
+     polls she would have beaten her opponent handsomely. Mrs.
+     Peckham's opponent obtained but 23 majority in a poll of 349. It
+     is evident from the vote yesterday, that if they have but a fair
+     show, women will at the next election be successful as candidates
+     for the school committee. Had the intelligent ladies of the fifth
+     ward been allowed to vote, Mrs. Doyle would have led even the
+     gubernatorial vote of that ward.
+
+The _Providence Journal_ makes the following comment:
+
+     We are sorry to observe that the two estimable and admirably
+     qualified ladies whose names were presented for school committee
+     in this city, failed of success. Their influence in official
+     connection with the schools could not have been other than
+     salutary. The treatment accorded Mrs. Doyle in the fifth ward was
+     wofully shabby. Without her solicitation, the Republican caucus
+     unanimously nominated her for a member of the school committee.
+     Being a novice in political proceedings, she naturally enough
+     supposed that the party that desired her services so much as to
+     place her in nomination, would make provision for electing their
+     candidate. There was not gallantry enough in the ward, however,
+     for that duty, and it was not until 11 o'clock on election day
+     that any tickets bearing the name of Mrs. Doyle were to be found
+     in the ward-room; but a ticket with the names of two men was on
+     hand at sunrise, and the time lost in procuring tickets for the
+     regular nominee proved fatal to her success. Mrs. Doyle has now
+     learned something of the ways of politicians, and is not likely
+     to put her trust again in the faithfulness of ward committees.
+
+At a meeting of the State association, held in Providence, on
+Thursday, May 18, 1871, the following preamble and resolutions
+were, after a full and earnest discussion, unanimously adopted:
+
+     WHEREAS, It is claimed, in opposition to the demand that the
+     elective franchise shall be given to women, that they are
+     represented in the government by men, so that they do not need
+     the ballot for their protection, inasmuch as all their rights are
+     secured to them by the interest of these men in their welfare;
+     and, whereas, in February last, in view of the appalling facts
+     frequently coming to our notice, consequent upon the
+     mismanagement of poor-houses and asylums for the insane, this
+     association did earnestly petition our State legislature to enact
+     a law providing for the appointment of women in all the towns in
+     our State to act as joint commissioners with men in the care and
+     control of these institutions; and, whereas, in utter disregard
+     of our request, the Committee on State Charities, to whom it was
+     referred, in reporting back our petition to the House of
+     Representatives, did recommend that the petitioners be given
+     leave to withdraw, and the House, without (so far as we could
+     learn) one word of protest from any member thereof, did so
+     dispose of our petition; therefore,
+
+     _Resolved_, That this association do most solemnly declare, that
+     so far from being represented in our legislature, the rights of
+     the women of this State were in this instance trampled under foot
+     therein, and the best interests of humanity, in the persons of
+     the poorest and most unfortunate classes, were not sufficiently
+     regarded, under this system of class legislation.
+
+     _Resolved_, That, despairing of obtaining for women even the
+     privileges which would enable them to look after the welfare of
+     the destitute and the suffering, with any power or authority to
+     improve their condition, until equal rights in the government
+     itself are guaranteed to all without regard to sex, we will
+     henceforth make use of this treatment we have received as a new
+     argument in favor of the emancipation of women from the legal
+     status of idiots and criminals, and, with this weapon in our
+     hands, we will endeavor to arouse the women of our State to a
+     keener sense of their degraded condition, and we will never abate
+     our demand until an amendment to the constitution is submitted to
+     the people granting suffrage to the women of Rhode Island.
+
+     _Resolved_, That this preamble and these resolutions be offered
+     for publication to the daily papers of this city.
+
+                                      ELIZABETH B. CHACE, _President_.
+
+     SUSAN B. P. MARTIN, _Secretary_.
+
+For several years the philanthropic women of Rhode Island made many
+determined efforts to secure some official positions in the
+charitable institutions of the State, with what success the
+following report by Elizabeth B. Chace, at the annual meeting of
+the American Association, in Philadelphia, in 1876, will show:
+
+     The Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, while holding its
+     monthly meetings through the year, circulating petitions to the
+     legislature, and, in other ways, constantly endeavoring to
+     revolutionize the entire sentiment of the State on the question
+     of woman suffrage, still has less progress to report than its
+     friends would have desired. Our last annual meeting, as usual,
+     drew together a large audience. Among our speakers from abroad
+     was William Lloyd Garrison, who, in a speech of almost
+     anti-slavery force and fervor, appeared to send conviction into
+     many minds. Our home speakers included a clergyman of Providence
+     and one of our ablest lawyers, and an ex-legislator who had never
+     stood on our platform before.
+
+     As usual, our petitions went into the legislature. They were
+     referred to the Judiciary Committee, before whom we had a
+     hearing, at which three Providence lawyers gave us their
+     unqualified support and earnest advocacy. One of these men set
+     forth in the strongest light the injustice of our laws in regard
+     to the property of married women and their non-ownership of their
+     minor children. The committee made no report to the legislature,
+     and so our petitions lie over until the next session, when we
+     hope for some evidence of progress. In the meantime we intend to
+     very much increase their number. For many years we have been
+     begging of our law-makers to permit women to share in the
+     management of the penal, correctional and charitable institutions
+     of the State; we have, however, only succeeded in obtaining an
+     advisory board of women, which has been in operation for the last
+     six years.
+
+     Last spring a majority of these women, having become weary of the
+     service in which they had no power to decide that any improvement
+     should be made in the management of these institutions, resigned
+     their positions on this board, some of them giving through the
+     press their reasons therefor. When the time came for making the
+     new appointments for the year, the governor earnestly urged
+     these women to permit him to appoint them, voluntarily pledging
+     himself to recommend at the opening of the next session of the
+     legislature, that a bill should be passed providing for the
+     appointment of women on the boards of management of all these
+     prisons and reformatories, with the same power and authority with
+     which the men are invested, who now alone decide all questions
+     concerning them. On this condition these women consented to serve
+     on the advisory board a few months longer, with the understanding
+     that, if the legislature fails to make this important provision,
+     their advice will be withdrawn, and the men will be left to take
+     care of thieves, criminals and paupers until they are ready to
+     ask for our help on terms of equality and justice.
+
+In the _Providence Journal_ appeared the following:
+
+     Mrs. Doyle seems to have learned by experience that the board, as
+     now constituted under the law, can have no real efficiency. The
+     ladies are responsible for the management of no part of any of
+     the institutions which they are permitted officially to visit.
+     Their reports are not made to the boards which are charged with
+     the responsibility of managing these institutions, and, in the
+     case of the reform school, are not made to the body which elects
+     and controls the board of management. The State ought not to
+     place ladies in such an anomalous position. The women's board
+     should have positive duties and direct responsibilities in its
+     appropriate sphere, or it should be abolished. The following is
+     Mrs. Doyle's letter of resignation:
+
+          _To His Excellency Henry Lippitt, Governor of the State:_
+
+          SIR: Please accept my resignation as member of the Board of
+          Lady Visitors to the Penal and Correctional Institutions of
+          the State. The recent action of a part of the board, in
+          regard to the annual report made to the General Assembly,
+          makes it impossible for me to continue longer as a member.
+          Before the report was submitted, it was carefully examined
+          by the members signing it, and was acquiesced in by them, as
+          their signatures testify. Still further, I am confirmed in
+          the opinion that so important a trust as this should be
+          coupled with some power for action; without this we are
+          necessarily confined to suggestions only to the male boards,
+          which suggestions receive only the attention they may
+          consider proper. Believing that this board, as now
+          empowered, can have no efficiency except where its
+          suggestions or criticisms meet the entire approval of the
+          male boards, and failing to see any good which can result
+          from our inspections under such conditions, or any honor to
+          the board thus examining, I respectfully tender my
+          resignation.
+
+                                                    SARAH E. H. DOYLE,
+
+          _Providence, R. I._
+
+     Three more ladies of the Women's Board of Visitors to the Penal
+     and Correctional Institutions of the State attest the correctness
+     of the repeated suggestions that the board, as organized under
+     the existing laws, must be comparatively powerless for good. The
+     question now comes, will the Rhode Island General Assembly enact
+     a law which shall give to women certain definite duties and
+     responsibilities in connection with the care and correction of
+     female offenders? We propose to refer to this matter further. We
+     are requested to publish the following communications to his
+     excellency, the governor:
+
+          _To Henry Lippitt, Governor of Rhode Island:_
+
+          My appointment on the Women's Board of Visitors to the Penal
+          and Correctional Institutions of the State, which I received
+          from your hands for this year, I am now compelled
+          respectfully to resign. My experience in this board for
+          nearly six years has convinced me that this office, which
+          confers on its holders no power to decide that any
+          improvement shall be made in the government or workings of
+          these institutions, is so nearly useless that I am forced to
+          the conclusion that, for myself, the time spent in the
+          performance of its duties can be more effectively employed
+          elsewhere. That the influence of women is indispensable to
+          the proper management of these institutions I was never more
+          sure than I am at this moment; but to make it effectual,
+          that influence must be obtained by placing women on the
+          boards of direct control, where their judgment shall be
+          expressed by argument and by vote.
+
+          A board of women, whose only duties, as defined by the law,
+          are to visit the penal and correctional institutions, elect
+          its own officers and report annually to the legislature,
+          bears within itself the elements of weakness and
+          insufficiency. And if the annual reports contain any
+          exposure of abuses, they are sure to give offense to the
+          managers, to be followed by timidity and vacillation in the
+          board of women itself. Our late report, written with great
+          care and conscientious adherence to the truth, which called
+          the attention of the legislature to certain abuses in one of
+          our institutions, and to some defect in the systems
+          established in the others, has, thus far, elicited no
+          official action, has brought censure upon us from the press,
+          while great dissatisfaction has been created in our own body
+          by the failure of a portion of its members to sustain the
+          allegations to which the entire board, with the exception of
+          one absentee, had affixed their names.
+
+          When the State of Rhode Island shall call its best women to
+          an equal participation with men in the direction of its
+          penal and reformatory institutions, I have no doubt they
+          will gladly assume the duties and responsibilities of such
+          positions; and I am also sure that the beneficent results of
+          such cooeperation will soon be manifest, both in benefit to
+          individuals and in safety to the State. But under present
+          circumstances I most respectfully decline to serve any
+          longer on the advisory board of women.
+
+          _Valley Falls, R. I._               ELIZABETH B. CHACE.
+
+
+          GOVERNOR LIPPITT: _Dear Sir_: When I accepted an appointment
+          on the Ladies' Board of Visitors to the Penal and
+          Correctional Institutions of the State, I did so with the
+          hope that much good might be accomplished, especially toward
+          the young girls at the reform school, in whose welfare I
+          felt a deep interest. To that institution my attention has
+          been chiefly devoted during my brief experience in this
+          office. This experience, however, has convinced me that a
+          board of officers constituted and limited like this can have
+          very little influence toward improvement in an institution
+          whose methods are fixed, and which is under the exclusive
+          control of another set of officers, who see no necessity for
+          change. Those causes render this women's board so weak in
+          itself that I cannot consent to retain my position therein.
+          I therefore respectfully tender to you my resignation.
+
+                                                       ABBY D. WEAVER.
+
+          _Providence, R. I._
+
+
+          GOVERNOR LIPPITT: Please accept the resignation of my
+          commission as a member of the Ladies' Board of Visitors to
+          the Penal and Correctional Institutions of the State,
+          conferred by you in June, 1875.
+
+          Yours respectfully,
+
+          _Westerly, R. I._                      ELIZA C. WEEDEN.
+
+Early in the year 1880 the State association issued the following
+address:
+
+     _To the friends of Woman Suffrage throughout the State of Rhode
+     Island:_
+
+     In behalf of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, we beg
+     leave to call your attention to the result of our last year's
+     work, and to our plans for future effort. We went before the
+     General Assembly with petitions for suffrage for women on all
+     subjects, and also with petitions asking only for school
+     suffrage. The former, bearing nearly 2,500 names, was presented
+     in the Senate and finally referred, with other unfinished
+     business, to the next legislature; they will thus be subject to
+     attention the coming year. The latter, bearing nearly 3,500
+     names, was presented in the House and referred to the Committee
+     on Education. This committee reported unanimously:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the following amendment to the constitution
+          of the State is hereby proposed: Article ----. Women
+          otherwise qualified are entitled to vote in the election of
+          school committees and in all legally organized
+          school-district meetings.
+
+     This resolution was adopted in the House by 48 to 11, but
+     rejected in the Senate by 20 to 13.[176] Nineteen members being
+     required to make a majority of a full Senate, the amendment
+     failed by six votes. Had the ballots in the two branches been
+     upon a proposition to extend general suffrage to women, they
+     would have been the most encouraging, and, as it is, they show
+     signs of progress; but a resolve to submit the question of school
+     suffrage to the voters of Rhode Island, ought to have been
+     successful this year. Why was it defeated? Simply for the lack of
+     political power behind it. To gain this, our cause needs a
+     foothold in every part of the State. We need some person or
+     persons in each town, to whom we can look for hearty cooeperation.
+     If our work is to be effective, it must not only continue as
+     heretofore--one of petitioning--but must include also a constant
+     vigilance in securing senators and representatives in the General
+     Assembly, favorable to woman suffrage. We propose the coming
+     year:
+
+     _First_--To petition congress in behalf of the following
+     amendment to our national constitution, viz.:
+
+          ARTICLE XVI. Section 1--The right of citizens of the United
+          States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
+          States or by any State on account of sex. Section
+          2--Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
+          appropriate legislation.
+
+     _Second_--To secure a hearing and action upon the petitions
+     referred from the last Assembly, for such amendment to our State
+     constitution as shall extend general suffrage to women.
+
+     _Third_--To petition the General Assembly for the necessary
+     legislation to secure school suffrage to women.[177]
+
+The arguments in the various hearings before the legislature with
+the majority and minority reports, are the same as many already
+published, in fact nothing new can be said on the question. As none
+of the women in this State, by trying to vote, or resisting
+taxation, have tested the justice of their laws, they have no
+supreme-court decisions to record.
+
+Honorable mention should be made of Dr. William F. Channing, who
+has stood for many years in Providence the noblest representative
+of liberal thought. He is a worthy son of that great leader of
+reform in New England, Rev. William Ellery Channing. In him the
+advocates of woman's rights have always found a steadfast friend.
+He sees that this is the fundamental reform; that it is the key to
+the problems of labor, temperance, social purity and the
+cooeperative home. Those who have had the good fortune of a personal
+acquaintance with Dr. Channing have felt the sense of dignity and
+self-respect that the delicate courtesy and sincere reference of a
+noble man must always give to woman.
+
+Though Mrs. Channing has not been an active participant in the
+popular reforms, having led a rather retired life, yet her
+sympathies have been with her husband in all his endeavors to
+benefit mankind. She has given the influence of her name to the
+suffrage movement, and extended the most generous hospitalities to
+the speakers at the annual conventions. Their charming daughters,
+Mary and Grace, fully respond to the humanitarian sentiments of
+their parents, constituting a happy family united in life's
+purposes and ambitions.
+
+The New York _Evening Post_ of September, 1875, gives the following
+of one of Rhode Island's brave women, but the State has not as yet,
+thought it worth while to honor her in any fitting manner:
+
+     Yesterday noon Miss Ida Lewis again distinguished herself by
+     rescuing a man who was in danger of drowning in the lower Newport
+     harbor. Miss Lewis first came into prominence in 1866, when she
+     saved the life of a soldier who had set out for a sail in a light
+     skiff. It was one of the coldest and most blustering days ever
+     known in this latitude, yet a girl but 25 years old, impelled by
+     the noblest spirit of humanity, ventured to the assistance of a
+     man who had brought himself into a sorry plight through sheer
+     fool-hardiness. One day, during the autumn of the next year,
+     while a terrible gale was raging, two men sat out to cross the
+     harbor with several sheep. One of the animals fell overboard
+     while the boat was rocked by the heavy sea, and its keepers, in
+     trying to save it, were in imminent peril of swamping their
+     craft. Ida Lewis saw them from the window of her father's
+     lighthouse on Lime Rock, and in a few minutes was rowing them in
+     safety toward the shore. After landing the men, she went back
+     again and rescued the sheep.
+
+     These brave deeds, with others of a less striking character, made
+     Miss Lewis' name famous throughout the world, and won for her the
+     title of "the Grace Darling of America"; but in 1869 the
+     newspapers were filled with the story of what was perhaps her
+     greatest exploit. On March 29 two young soldiers set sail from
+     Newport for Fort Adams in a small boat, under the guidance of a
+     boy who pretended to understand the simple rules of navigation.
+     Mrs. Lewis chanced to be looking out of the lighthouse window,
+     and saw a squall strike the boat and overturn it. She called to
+     her daughter, telling her of the casualty. Ida, though ill at the
+     time, rushed out of the house, launched her life-boat and sprang
+     in, with neither hat on her head nor shoes on her feet. By the
+     time she reached the scene of the disaster the boy had perished,
+     and the two soldiers were clinging desperately to the wreck,
+     almost ready to loose their hold from exhaustion. They were
+     dragged into the life-boat, and carried to Lime Rock, and, with
+     careful nursing, were soon sufficiently restored to proceed to
+     Fort Adams.
+
+     Miss Lewis' repeated acts of philanthropy have been recognized by
+     gifts at various times, but no national testimonial, so far as we
+     are aware, has yet been offered to her. True generosity, like
+     true virtue, is its own reward, and we of the world are not often
+     disposed to meddle with its quiet enjoyment by its possessor. It
+     seems eminently fitting, however, that among the first to receive
+     the new decoration to be bestowed by congress for heroic deeds in
+     saving life, should be the heroine of Newport harbor.
+
+Writing from Valley Falls September 9, 1885, Elizabeth B. Chace,
+president of the Rhode Island Association, in summing up the steps
+of progress, says:
+
+     On December 4, 1884, by unanimous consent of our General Assembly
+     the state-house was granted to us for the first time, for a woman
+     suffrage convention. A large number of our best men and women,
+     and some of our ablest speakers[178] were present. An immense
+     audience greeted them and listened with eager interest
+     throughout. The occasion was one of the most pleasant and
+     profitable we have enjoyed in a long time. At the following
+     session of our Legislature, 1885, an amendment to our State
+     constitution was proposed giving the franchise to women, on equal
+     terms with men. It passed both Houses by a large majority vote,
+     but by some technicality, for which no one seemed to blame, it
+     was not legally started on its round to the vote of the people.
+     Hence the proposition to submit the amendment will be again
+     passed upon this year, and with every promise of success. We have
+     strong hopes of making our little commonwealth the banner State
+     in this grand step of progress.
+
+The following letter from Frederick A. Hinckley, makes a fitting
+mention of some of the noble women who have represented this
+movement in his State:
+
+                                   PROVIDENCE, R. I., Sept. 14, 1885.
+
+     DEAR FRIENDS: You ask for a few words from me concerning salient
+     points in the history of the woman suffrage movement in Rhode
+     Island. As you know, ours is a very small State--the smallest in
+     the Union--and has a very closely compacted population. With us
+     the manufacturing interest overshadows everything else,
+     representing large investments of capital. On the one hand we
+     have great accumulations of wealth by the few; on the other hand,
+     a large percentage of unskilled foreign labor. For good or for
+     ill we feel all those conservative influences which naturally
+     grow out of this two-fold condition. This accounts in the main,
+     for the Rhode Islander's extreme and exceptionally tenacious
+     regard for the institutions of his ancestors. This is why we have
+     the most limited suffrage of any State, many _men_ being debarred
+     from voting by reason of the property qualification still
+     required here of foreign-born citizens. Such a social atmosphere
+     is not favorable to the extension of the franchise, either to men
+     or women, and makes peculiarly necessary with us, the educational
+     process of a very large amount of moral agitation before much can
+     be expected in the way of political changes.
+
+     My own residence here dates back only to 1878, though before that
+     from my Massachusetts home I was somewhat familiar with
+     Rhode-Island people and laws. Our work has consisted of monthly
+     meetings, made up usually of an afternoon session for address and
+     discussion, followed by a social tea; of an annual State
+     convention in the city of Providence; and of petitioning the
+     legislature each year, with the appointment of the customary
+     committees and hearings. For many years the centre of the woman
+     movement with us has been the State association, and since my own
+     connection with that, the leader about whom we have all rallied,
+     has been your beloved friend and mine, Elizabeth B. Chace. Hers
+     is that clear conception of, and untiring devotion to principles,
+     which make invincible leadership, tide over all disaster, and
+     overcome all doubt. By her constant appearance before legislative
+     committees, her model newspaper articles which never fail to
+     command general attention even among those who would not think of
+     agreeing with her, and by her persistent fidelity to her sense of
+     duty in social life, she is the recognized head of our agitation
+     in Rhode Island. But she has not stood alone. She has been the
+     centre of a group of women whose names will always be associated
+     with our cause in this locality. Elizabeth K. Churchill lived and
+     died a faithful and successful worker. The Woman's Club in this
+     city was her child; temperance, suffrage, and the interests of
+     working-women were dear to her heart. She was independent in her
+     convictions, and true to herself, even when it compelled dissent
+     from the attitude of trusted leaders and friends, but her work on
+     the platform, in the press, and in society, made her life a tower
+     of strength to the woman's rights cause and her death a
+     lamentable loss. Another active leader in the work here, though
+     not a speaker, who has passed on since my residence in
+     Providence, was Susan B. P. Martin. I think those of us
+     accustomed to act with her always respected Mrs. Martin's
+     judgment and felt sure of her fidelity. What more can be said of
+     any one than that?
+
+     It is difficult to speak publicly of one's friends while living.
+     But no history of woman suffrage agitation in Rhode Island would
+     be complete which did not place among those ever to be relied on,
+     the names of Anna Garlin Spencer, Sarah E. H. Doyle, Anna E.
+     Aldrich and Fanny P. Palmer. Mrs. Spencer moved from the State
+     just as I came into it, but the influence of her logical mind was
+     left behind her and the loss of her quick womanly tact has been
+     keenly felt. Mrs. Doyle has long been chairman of the executive
+     committee of the association, Mrs. Aldrich a safe and trusted
+     counsellor, and Mrs. Palmer as member of the Providence school
+     committee, and more recently as president of the Woman's Club,
+     has rendered the cause eminent service.
+
+     If final victory seems farther off here than in some of the newer
+     States, as it certainly does, that is only the greater reason for
+     earnest, and ceaseless work. We know we are right, and be it
+     short or long I am sure we have all enlisted for the war.
+
+                    Always sincerely yours,      FREDERIC A. HINCKLEY.
+
+Below is the last utterance of Senator Anthony on this question. In
+writing to Susan B. Anthony, he said:
+
+
+              UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER, WASHINGTON, March 4, 1884.
+
+     MY DEAR COUSIN: I am honored by your invitation to address the
+     National Woman Suffrage Association at the convention to be held
+     in this city. I regret that it is not in my power to comply with
+     your complimentary request. The enfranchisement of woman is one
+     of those great reforms which will come with the progress of
+     civilization, and when it comes those who witness it will wonder
+     that it has been so long delayed. The main argument against it is
+     that the women themselves do not desire it. Many men do not
+     desire it, as is evidenced by their omission to exercise it, but
+     they are not therefore deprived of it. I do not understand that
+     you propose compulsory suffrage, although I am not sure that that
+     would not be for the public advantage as applied to both sexes. A
+     woman has a right to vote in a corporation of which she is a
+     stockholder, and that she does not generally exercise that right
+     is not an argument against the right itself. The progress that is
+     making in the direction of your efforts is satisfactory and
+     encouraging.
+
+                         Faithfully yours,              H. B. ANTHONY.
+
+Senator Anthony was one of the ever-to-be-remembered nine senators
+who voted for woman suffrage on the floor of the United States
+Senate in 1866. He also made a most logical speech on our behalf
+and has ever since been true to our demands.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[171] To Mrs. Davis, a native of the State of New York, belongs the
+honor of inaugurating this movement in New England, as she called
+and managed the first convention held in Massachusetts in 1850, and
+helped to arouse all these States to action in 1868. With New
+England reformers slavery was always the preeminently pressing
+question, even after the emancipation of the slaves, while in New
+York woman's civil and political rights were considered the more
+vital question.--[E. C. S.
+
+[172] _The Revolution_ of December 17, 1868, says: The meeting last
+week in Providence, was, in numbers and ability, eminently
+successful. Mrs. Elizabeth B. Chace, of Valley Falls, presided, and
+addresses were made by Colonel Higginson, Paulina Wright Davis,
+Lucy Stone, Frederick Douglass, Mrs. O. Shepard, Rev. John Boyden,
+Dr. Mercy B. Jackson, Stephen S. and Abbey Kelly Foster. The
+officers of the association were: _President_, Paulina Wright
+Davis. _Vice-presidents_, Elizabeth B. Chace of Valley Falls, Col.
+T. W. Higginson of Newport, Mrs. George Cushing, J. W. Stillman,
+Mrs. Buffum of Woonsocket and P. W. Aldrich. _Recording Secretary_,
+Martha W. Chase. _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Rhoda Fairbanks.
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. Susan B. Harris. _Executive Committee_, Mrs.
+James Bucklin, Catharine W. Hunt, Mrs. Lewis Doyle, Anna Aldrich,
+Mrs. S. B. G. Martin, Dr. Perry, Mrs. Churchill, Arnold B. Chace.
+
+[173] Among the speakers at these annual conventions we find
+Rowland G. Hazard, Rev. John Boyden, Rev. Charles Howard Malcolm,
+the brilliant John Neal, Portland, Maine, Hon. James M. Stillman
+Gen. F. G. Lippett, Theodore Tilton, Rev. Olympia Brown, Rev. Phebe
+A. Hanaford, Elizabeth K. Churchill. For a report of the convention
+held at Newport during the fashionable season, August 25, 26, 1869,
+see vol. II., page 403, also _The Revolution_, September 2, 1869.
+
+[174] Mrs. Chace says in a letter, speaking of Mrs. Davis: "After
+several years absence in Europe she returned, a helpless invalid,
+unable to resume her labors. But her devotion in early years will
+long remain fresh in the memory of those associated with her, who
+were inspired by her self-sacrifice and enthusiasm." For farther
+details of Mrs. Davis' earlier labors, see vol. I, pages 215, 283.
+
+[175] Julia Ward Howe, Celia Burleigh, William Lloyd Garrison,
+Aaron M. Powell, Caroline H. Dall, Mrs. Ednah D. Cheney, Miss Mary
+F. Eastman, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Rev. Augustus Woodbury Hon.
+Amasa M. Eaton, Mr. Stillman, Hon. Thomas Davis, Hon George L.
+Clarke, Rev. Frederick Hinckley, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Hon.
+A. Payne.
+
+[176] IN THE HOUSE. _For the Amendment._--Davis Aldrich, North
+Smithfield; Thomas Arnold, Warwick; Clark Barber, Richmond; Thos.
+P. Barnefield, Pawtucket; Frank M. Bates, Pawtucket; John Beattie,
+Cranston; Amos M. Bowen, Providence; Issac B. Briggs, Jamestown;
+Albert Buffum, Burillville; John C. Barrington, Barrington; Chas.
+Capwell, West Greenwich; Geo. B. Carpenter, Hopkinton; Obadiah
+Chase, Warren; Albert I. Chester, Westerly; Chas. E. Chickering,
+Pawtucket; John F. Clark, Cumberland; LeBaron B. Colt, Bristol;
+James Davis, Pawtucket; Benjamin T. Eames, Providence; Henry H.
+Fay, Newport; Edward L. Freeman, Lincoln; Z. Herbert Gardner,
+Exeter; John P. Gregory, Lincoln; Henry D. Heydon, Warwick; Edwin
+Jenckes, Pawtucket; Thos. E. Kenyon, East Greenwich; Israel B.
+Mason, Providence; B. B. Mitchell, jr., New Shoreham; Francis L.
+O'Reilly, Woonsocket; Joseph Osborn, Tiverton; Abraham Payne,
+Providence; James M. Pendleton, Westerly; Wm. A. Pirce, Johnston;
+Clinton Puffer, Woonsocket; Olney W. Randall, No. Providence; John
+P. Sanborn, Newport; Wm. P. Sheffield, Newport; Israel R. Sheldon,
+Warwick; Martin S. Smith, Scituate; Wm. H. Spooner, Bristol; Henry
+A. Stearns, Lincoln; Simon S. Steere, Smithfield; Joseph
+Tillinghast, Coventry; Wm. C. Townsend, Newport; Stephen A. Watson,
+Portsmouth; Stillman White, Providence; Benj. F. Wilbor, Little
+Compton; Andrew Winsor, Providence--48.
+
+IN THE SENATE. _For the Amendment._--Lieut.-Gov. Howard, E.
+Providence; Ariel Ballou, Woonsocket; Cyrus F. Cooke, Foster;
+Edward T. DeBlois, Portsmouth; Rodney F. Dyer, Johnston; Anson
+Greene, Exeter; Daniel W. Lyman, No. Providence; Jabez W. Mowry,
+Smithfield; Dexter B. Potter, Coventry; Stafford W. Razee,
+Cumberland; T. Mumford Seabury, Newport; Lewis B. Smith,
+Barrington; John F. Tobey, Providence--13.
+
+[177] [Signed:] _President_, Elizabeth B. Chace; _Secretaries_,
+Fanny P. Palmer, Elizabeth C. Hinckley; _Treasurer_, Susan B. P.
+Martin; _Executive Committee_, Sarah E. H. Doyle, Susan Sisson,
+William Barker, Francis C. Frost, Anna E. Aldrich, Frederick A.
+Hinckley, Susan G. Kenyon, Rachael E. Fry, A. A. Tyng, Arnold B.
+Chace.
+
+[178] The speakers were Abraham Payne, John Wyman, Matilda Hindman,
+Frederick A. Hinckley, Rev. Mr. Wendt, Elizabeth B. Chace, William
+I. Bowditch, Mary F. Eastman, William Lloyd Garrison, jr., Lucy
+Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Henry B. Blackwell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+MAINE.
+
+     Women on School Committees--Elvira C. Thorndyke--Suffrage
+     Society, 1868--Rockland--The Snow Sisters--Portland Meeting,
+     1870--John Neal--Judge Goddard--Colby University Open to Girls,
+     August 12, 1871--Mrs. Clara Hapgood Nash Admitted to the Bar,
+     October 26, 1872--Tax-payers Protest--Ann F. Greeley,
+     1872--March, 1872, Bill for Woman Suffrage Lost in the House,
+     Passed in the Senate by Seven Votes--Miss Frank Charles, Register
+     of Deeds--Judge Reddington--Mr. Randall's Motion--Moral Eminence
+     of Maine--Convention in Granite Hall, Augusta, January, 1873,
+     Hon. Joshua Nye, President--Delia A. Curtis--Opinions of the
+     Supreme Court in Regard to Women Holding Offices--Governor
+     Dingley's Message, 1875--Convention, Representatives Hall,
+     Portland, Judge Kingsbury, President, February 12, 1876.
+
+The first movement in Maine, in 1868, turned on the question of
+women being eligible on school committees. Here, as in Vermont, the
+men inaugurated the movement. The following letter, from the
+_Portland Press_, gives the initiative steps:
+
+                                        HIRAM, March 15, 1868.
+
+     MR. EDITOR: A statement is going the rounds of the press that the
+     Democrats of Hiram supported a lady for a member of the school
+     committee. I am unwilling that any person or party shall be
+     ridiculed or censured for an act of which I was the instigator,
+     and for which I am chiefly responsible. I am in favor of electing
+     ladies to that office, and accordingly voted for one, without her
+     knowledge or consent; several Democrats as well as Republicans
+     voted with me. I have reason to believe that scores of Democrats
+     voted for the able and popular candidate of the Republicans (Dr.
+     William H. Smith), and but for my peculiar notion I should have
+     voted for him myself, as I always vote with the Republican party.
+     I am in favor, however, of laying aside politics in voting for
+     school committees, and the question of capability should outweigh
+     the question of sex. A few years ago we had a large number of boy
+     schoolmasters, but agents are learning to appreciate teachers of
+     tact, experience and natural qualifications, as well as
+     book-knowledge. Of eleven schools under the care of the writer
+     the past year, but one had a male teacher, and by turning to the
+     reports I find that of forty-nine schools in Hiram during the
+     past two years, forty-two were taught by ladies. Four of these
+     teachers of the past year have taught respectively twenty,
+     twenty-one, twenty-three and thirty schools. I put the question,
+     why should a lady who has taught thirty schools be considered
+     less suitable for the office of school committee than the
+     undersigned, who has taught but two, or scores of men who never
+     taught school at all? Slowly and with hesitation over the ice of
+     prejudice comes that unreasonable reason--"_O, 'cause._" But
+     regardless of pants or crinoline, the question remains unanswered
+     and unanswerable. It is not deemed improper for the ladies of
+     Hiram to go with their husbands to the town-house to a cattle
+     show and fair, and serve as committees on butter and cheese, but
+     it is considered unreasonable for ladies to serve as
+     superintendents of school committees.
+
+     General Washington gave a lieutenant's commission to a woman for
+     her skill and bravery in manning a battery at the battle of
+     Monmouth. He also granted her half-pay during life. It is stated
+     in "Lincoln's Lives of the Presidents" that "she wore an
+     epaulette, and everybody called her Captain Molly." And yet I do
+     not read in history that General Washington was ever impeached.
+     Females have more and better influence than males, and under
+     their instruction our schools have been improving for some years.
+     There is less kicking and cudgeling, and more attention is given
+     to that best of all rules, "The Golden Rule." If they are more
+     efficient as teachers is it not fair to presume that they would
+     excel as committees?
+
+                         Very respectfully yours,
+
+                                               LLEWELLYN A. WADSWORTH.
+
+The editor of the _Press_ adds to the above his own endorsement, in
+these words:
+
+     We are pleased to have Mr. Wadsworth's explanation of the reform
+     movement in Hiram, which we had been misled into crediting to the
+     Democrats. * * * Go on, Mr. Wadsworth, you have our best wishes.
+     There is nothing in the way of the general adoption of your ideas
+     but a lot of antiquated and obsolete notions, sustained by the
+     laughter of fools.
+
+The same year we have the report of the first suffrage society in
+that State, which seems to place Maine in the van of her New
+England sisters, notwithstanding the great darkness our
+correspondent deplores:
+
+     DEAR REVOLUTION: A society has just been organized here called
+     the Equal Rights Association of Rockland. It bids fair to live,
+     although it requires all the courage of heroic souls to contend
+     against the darkness that envelopes the people. But the
+     foundation is laid, and many noble women are catching the
+     inspiration of the hour. When we are fully under way, we shall
+     send you a copy of our preamble and resolutions.
+
+                                   ELVIRA C. THORNDYKE, _Cor. Sec'y_.
+
+The Hon. John Neal, who was foremost in all good work in Maine, in
+a letter to _The Revolution_, describes the first meeting called in
+Portland, in May, 1870, to consider the subject of suffrage for
+woman. He says:
+
+     DEAR REVOLUTION: According to my promise, I sent an advertisement
+     to all three of our daily papers last Saturday, in substance like
+     the following, though somewhat varied in language:
+
+          ELEVATION OF WOMAN.--All who favor Woman Suffrage, the
+          Sixteenth Amendment, and the restoration of woman to her
+          "natural and inalienable rights," are wanted for
+          consultation at the audience room of the Portland Institute
+          and Public Library, on Wednesday evening next, at half-past
+          seven o'clock. Per order
+
+                                                  JOHN NEAL.
+
+     The weather was unfavorable; nevertheless, the small room,
+     holding from sixty to seventy-five, to which the well-disposed
+     were invited for consultation and organization, was crowded so
+     that near the close not a seat could be had; and crowded, too,
+     with educated and intelligent women, and brave, thoughtful men,
+     so far as one might judge by appearances, and about in equal
+     proportions. Among the latter were Mr. Talbot, United States
+     district-attorney, a good lawyer and a self-convinced fellow
+     laborer, so far as suffrage is concerned; but rather unwilling to
+     go further at present, lest if a woman should be sent to the
+     legislature (against her will, of course!) she might neglect her
+     family, or be obliged to take her husband with her, to keep her
+     out of mischief; just as if Portland, with 35,000 inhabitants and
+     four representatives, would not be likely to find _two_ unmarried
+     women or widows, or married women not disqualified by matrimonial
+     incumbrances or liabilities, to represent the sex; or lest, if
+     she should get into the post-office, being by nature so curious
+     and inquisitive, she might be found peeping--as if the chief
+     distinction between superior and inferior minds was not this very
+     disposition to inquire and investigate; as if, indeed, that which
+     distinguishes the barbarous from the civilized, were not this
+     very inquisitiveness and curiosity; the savage being satisfied
+     with himself and averse to inquiry; the civilized ever on the
+     alert, in proportion to his intelligence, and, like the
+     Athenians, always on the look-out for some "new thing."
+
+     And then, too, we had Judge Goddard, of the Superior Court, one
+     of our boldest and clearest thinkers, who could not be persuaded
+     to take a part in the discussion, though declaring himself
+     entirely opposed to the movement. And yet, he is the very man
+     who, at a Republican convention several years ago, offered a
+     resolution in favor of impartial suffrage, only to find himself
+     in a minority of two; but persevered nevertheless, year after
+     year, until the very same resolution, word for word, was
+     unanimously adopted by another Republican convention! Of course,
+     Judge Goddard will not be likely to shrink from giving his
+     reasons hereafter, if the movement should propagate itself, as it
+     certainly will.
+
+     We had also for consideration a synopsis of what deserves to be
+     called most emphatically "The Maine Law," in relation to married
+     women, prepared by Mr. Drummond, our late speaker and formerly
+     attorney-general, and one of our best lawyers, where it was
+     demonstrated, both by enactments and adjudications, running from
+     March, 1844, to February, 1866, that a married woman--to say
+     nothing of widows and spinsters--has little to complain of in our
+     State, her legal rights being far ahead of the age, and not only
+     acknowledged, but enforced; she being mistress of herself and of
+     her earnings, and allowed to trade for herself, while "her
+     contracts for any lawful purpose are made valid and binding, and
+     to be enforced, as if she were sole agent of her property, but
+     she cannot be arrested."
+
+     Then followed Mr. S. B. Beckett, just returned from a trip to the
+     Holy Land, who testified, among other things, that he had seen
+     women both in London and Ireland who knew "how to keep a hotel,"
+     which is reckoned among men as the highest earthly
+     qualification--and proved it by managing some of the largest and
+     best in the world.
+
+     And then Mr. Charles Jose, late one of our aldermen, who, half in
+     earnest and half in jest, took t'other side of the question,
+     urging, first, that this was a political movement--as if that
+     were any objection, supposing it true; our whole system of
+     government being a political movement, and that, by which we
+     trampled out the last great rebellion, another, both parties and
+     all parties cooeperating in the work; next, that women did not ask
+     for suffrage--it was the men who asked for it, in their names;
+     that there were no complaints and no petitions from women! As if
+     petitions had not gone up and complaints, too, by thousands, from
+     all parts of the country, from school-teachers and office clerks
+     and others, as well as from the women at large, both over sea and
+     here.
+
+     But enough. The meeting stands adjourned for a week. Probably no
+     organization will be attempted, lest it might serve to check free
+     discussion.
+
+                                                                 J. N.
+
+     _May 5, 1870._
+
+Mr. W. W. McCann wrote to the _Woman's Journal_ of this suffrage
+meeting in Portland, in 1870:
+
+     Judge Howe's voice, when he addressed the jury of Wyoming as
+     "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury," fell upon the ears of
+     that crowded court-room as a strange and unusual sound. Equally
+     strange and impracticable seemed the call for a "woman suffrage
+     meeting," at the city building, to the conservative citizens of
+     Portland. However, notwithstanding the suspicion and prejudice
+     with which this movement is regarded, quite a large and highly
+     respectable audience assembled at an early hour to witness the
+     new and wonderful phenomenon of a meeting to aid in giving the
+     ballot to woman.
+
+     Hon. John Neal, who issued the call for the meeting, was the
+     first to speak. He reviewed the history of this movement, both in
+     this country and in England. He gave some entertaining
+     reminiscences of his acquaintance with John Stuart Mill forty
+     years ago. Mr. Mill was not then in favor of universal suffrage;
+     he advocated the enfranchisement of the male sex only. Mr. Neal
+     claimed the right for women also. He was happy to learn that
+     since then Mr. Mill has thrown all the weight of his influence
+     and his masterly intellect in favor of universal suffrage. He
+     then entered into an elaborate discussion of some of the
+     objections brought against woman suffrage, and, much to the
+     surprise of many present, showed that the rights which women
+     demand are just and reasonable, and ought to be granted. John M.
+     Todd remarked that he was not so much impressed by the logical
+     arguments in favor of suffrage as by the shallow and baseless
+     arguments of the opposition. The friends of woman suffrage are
+     becoming active and earnest in their efforts, and discussion is
+     freely going on through the daily papers.
+
+     To-day, the _Eastern Argus_, a leading Democratic organ of this
+     city, denounces this movement as the most "damnable heresy of
+     this generation." We venture the prediction that its friends, if
+     true to the progressive tendencies of the day, will realize the
+     consummation of their cherished heresy in the proposed sixteenth
+     amendment, which will abolish all distinction of class and sex.
+
+On August 12, 1871, the announcement that Colby University would be
+opened to girls gave general satisfaction to the women of Maine. A
+correspondent says:
+
+     Hereafter young women will be admitted to this institution on
+     "precisely the same terms as young men." They may take the
+     regular course, or such a course as they may select, taking at
+     least two studies each term. They will room and board in families
+     in the village, and simply attend the required exercises at the
+     college. The next examination for entrance will be on Wednesday,
+     August 30. One young lady has already signified her purpose to
+     enter the regular course. Four New England colleges are now open
+     to women--Bates, at Lewiston; Colby, at Waterville, Me.; Vermont
+     University, at Burlington, Vt., and Wesleyan, at Middletown,
+     Conn. Let's have no more women's colleges established, for the
+     next decade will make them unnecessary, as by that time all the
+     colleges of the country will be opened to them.
+
+October 26, 1872, another advance step was heralded abroad:
+
+     On motion of the Hon. James S. Milliken, Mrs. Clara Hapgood Nash,
+     of Columbia Falls, was formally admitted to the bar as an
+     attorney-at-law. During the session of the court in the forenoon,
+     Mrs. Nash had presented herself before the examining committee,
+     Messrs. Granger, Milliken and Walker, and had passed a more than
+     commonly creditable examination. After the opening of the court
+     in the afternoon, Mr. Milliken arose and said: "May it please the
+     court, I hold in my hand papers showing that Mrs. Hapgood Nash,
+     of Columbia Falls, has passed the committee appointed by the
+     court to examine candidates for admission to the bar as
+     attorneys-at-law and has paid to the county treasurer the duty
+     required by the statute; and I now move the court that she be
+     admitted to this bar as an attorney-at-law. In making the motion
+     I am not unaware that this is a novel and unusual proceeding. It
+     is the first instance in this county and this State, and, so far
+     as I am aware, the first instance in New England, of the
+     application of a woman to be formally admitted to the bar as a
+     practitioner. But knowing Mrs. Nash to be a modest and refined
+     lady, of literary and legal attainments, I feel safe in assuring
+     Your Honor that by a course of honorable practice, and by her
+     courteous intercourse with the members of the profession, she
+     will do her full part to conquer any prejudice that may now exist
+     against the idea of women being admitted as attorneys at law."
+     Judge Barrows, after examining the papers handed to him, said: "I
+     am not aware of anything in the constitution or laws of this
+     State prohibiting the admission of a woman, possessing the proper
+     qualifications, to the practice of the law. I have no sympathy
+     with that feeling or prejudice which would exclude women from
+     any of the occupations of life for which they may be qualified.
+     The papers put into my hands show that Mrs. Nash has received the
+     unanimous approval of the examining committee, as possessing the
+     qualifications requisite for an acceptable attorney, and that she
+     has paid the legal duty to the county treasurer, and I direct
+     that she be admitted."
+
+On May 10, 1873, the trustees of the Industrial School for Girls
+issued the following appeal to the people of the State:
+
+     The undersigned, trustees of the Maine Industrial School for
+     Girls, hereby earnestly appeal to the generosity of the State, to
+     the rich and poor alike, for aid to this important movement. Our
+     call is to mothers and fathers blessed with virtuous and obedient
+     children; to those who have suffered by the waywardness of some
+     beloved daughter; and to all who would gladly see the neglected,
+     exposed and erring girls in our midst reclaimed. For six years
+     has this subject been agitated in the State and presented to the
+     consideration of several legislatures; and during that time the
+     objects, plans and practical workings of such an institution,
+     have become familiar to the public mind. The project is now so
+     near consummation that by prompt and liberal response to this
+     appeal, the school can be in active operation by the first of
+     July next.
+
+     By the terms of the resolution of the legislature granting State
+     aid of five thousand dollars, the sum of twenty thousand dollars
+     must first be secured from other sources. Of this, five thousand
+     at least has been contributed by two generous ladies in
+     Hallowell. For the balance the trustees confidentially look to
+     the citizens of the whole State as equally to be benefited. Let
+     them send their contributions, whether large or small, freely and
+     at once, to either of the undersigned and the receipt of the same
+     shall be duly acknowledged.[179]
+
+Some of the women tax-payers[180] in Ellsworth, Maine, sent the
+following protest to the assessors of that city:
+
+     We the undersigned residents of the city of Ellsworth, believing
+     in the declaration of our forefathers, that "governments derive
+     their just powers from the consent of the governed," and that
+     "taxation without representation is tyranny," beg leave to
+     protest against being taxed for support of laws that we have no
+     voice in making. By taxing us you class us with aliens and
+     minors, the only males who are taxed and not allowed to vote, you
+     make us the political inferiors of the most ignorant foreigners,
+     negroes, and men who have not intellect enough to learn to write
+     their names, or to read the vote given them. Our property is at
+     the disposal of men who have not the ability to accumulate a
+     dollar's worth and who pay only a poll-tax. We therefore protest
+     against being taxed until we are allowed the rights of citizens.
+
+
+                                        AUGUSTA, March 1, 1872.
+
+     EDITORS WOMAN'S JOURNAL: I have never seen a letter in the
+     _Woman's Journal_ written from Augusta, the capital of Maine, and
+     as some things have transpired lately which might interest your
+     readers, I take the liberty of writing a few lines. The bill for
+     woman suffrage was defeated in the House, fifty-two to forty-one.
+     In the Senate the vote was fifteen in favor to eight against. I
+     think the smallness of the vote was owing to the indifference of
+     some of the members and the determination of a few to kill the
+     bill. Some politicians are afraid of this innovation just now,
+     lest the Republican party be more disrupted than it already is.
+     Day after day, when the session was drawing to a close, women
+     went to the state-house expecting to hear the question debated.
+     Wednesday every available place was filled with educated women.
+     The day was spent--if I should say how, my criticism might be too
+     severe. Gentlemen from Thomaston, Biddeford, Burlington and
+     Waldoborough had the floor most of the time during the afternoon.
+     In the evening, while those same women and some of the members of
+     the legislature were attending a concert, the bill was taken up
+     and voted upon, _without any discussion whatever_. Now, I submit
+     to any fair-minded person if this was right. I have listened to
+     discussions upon that floor this winter for which I should have
+     hung my head in shame had they been conducted by women. The whole
+     country, from Maine to California, calls loudly for better
+     legislation--for morality in politics.
+
+     A member of the House said to me yesterday, that he thought that
+     some of the members from the rural districts were not
+     sufficiently enlightened upon the question of woman suffrage, and
+     the bill ought to have been thoroughly discussed. Yes, and
+     perhaps treated with respect by its friends. I saw the member
+     from Calais while a vote was being taken. Standing in his seat,
+     with his hand stretched toward the rear of the House, where it is
+     generally supposed that members sit who are a little slow in
+     voting at the beck of politicians, he said: "_Yes_ is the way to
+     vote, gentlemen! Yes! Yes!" When women have such politicians for
+     champions equal suffrage is secured. But do we want such men? The
+     member from Calais voted against woman's right of suffrage. He is
+     said to be an ambitious aspirant in the fifth congressional
+     district. See to it, women of the fifth district, that you do not
+     have him as an opponent of equal rights in congress. There is a
+     throne behind a throne. Let woman be _regal_ in the background,
+     where she must stand for the present, in Maine.
+
+     But I am happy and proud to state that some very high-minded men,
+     and some of the best legislators in the House, did vote for the
+     bill, viz.: Brown of Bangor, Judge Titcomb of Augusta, General
+     Perry of Oxford, Porter of Burlington, Labroke of Foxcroft, and
+     many others; in the Senate, the president and fourteen others,
+     the real bone and marrow of the Senate, voted for the bill. The
+     signs of the times are good. The watchman of the night discerns
+     the morning light in the broad eastern horizon.
+
+                         [Signed:]      PATIENCE COMMONSENSE.
+
+The _Portland Press_, in a summary of progress in Maine for 1873,
+says:
+
+     Women certainly have no reason to complain of the year's dealings
+     with them, for they have been recognized in many ways which
+     indicate the gradual breaking down of the prejudices that have
+     hitherto given them a position of _quasi_ subjection. Mrs. Mary
+     D. Welcome has been licensed to preach by the Methodists; Mrs.
+     Fannie U. Roberts of Kittery has been commissioned by the
+     governor to solemnize marriages; Clara H. Nash, of the famous law
+     firm of F. C. & C. H. Nash, of Columbia Falls, has argued a case
+     before a jury in the Supreme Court; Miss Mary C. Lowe of Colby
+     University has taken a college prize for declamation. They are
+     the first Maine women who have ever enjoyed honors of the kind.
+     Miss Cameron spoke, too, at the last Congregational conference,
+     and Miss Frank Charles was appointed register of deeds in Oxford
+     county.
+
+     It is further to be noted that the legislature voted as follows
+     on the question of giving the ballot to women: Senate--14 yeas,
+     14 nays; House--62 yeas, 69 nays. Women are rapidly obtaining a
+     recognized position in our colleges. There are now five young
+     women at Colby, three at Bates, and three at the Agricultural
+     College--eleven in all. Bates has already graduated two. In the
+     latter college a scholarship for the benefit of women has been
+     endowed by Judge Reddington. Finally, the first Woman Suffrage
+     Association ever formed in Maine held its first meeting at
+     Augusta last January, and was a great success. Carmel, Monroe,
+     Etna and some other towns have elected women superintendents of
+     schools, but this has been done in other years. For a little
+     movement in the right direction we must credit Messrs. Amos,
+     Abbott & Co., woolen manufacturers of Dexter, who divide ten per
+     cent. of their profits with their operatives.
+
+Clara H. Nash, the lady who, in partnership with her husband, has
+recently entered upon the practice of law in Maine, says:
+
+     Scarcely a day passes but something occurs in our office to rouse
+     my indignation afresh by reminding me of the utter insignificance
+     with which the law, in its every department, regards woman, and
+     its utter disregard of her rights as an individual. Would that
+     women might feel this truth; then, indeed, would their
+     enfranchisement be speedy.
+
+In the _Woman's Journal_ of January 1, 1873, we find the following
+call:
+
+     The people of Maine who believe in the extension of the elective
+     franchise to women as a beneficent power for the promotion of the
+     virtues and the correction of the evils of society, and all who
+     believe in the principles of equal justice, equal liberty and
+     equal opportunity, upon which republican institutions are
+     founded, and have faith in the triumph of intelligence and reason
+     over custom and prejudice, are invited to meet at Granite Hall,
+     in the city of Augusta, on Wednesday, January 29, 1873, for the
+     purpose of organizing a State Woman Suffrage Association, and
+     inaugurating such measures for the advancement of the cause as
+     the wisdom of the convention may suggest.[181]
+
+The _Portland Press_, in a leading editorial on the "Moral Eminence
+of Maine," says:
+
+     Maine has been first in many things. She has taught the world how
+     to struggle with intemperance, and pilgrims come hither from all
+     quarters of the earth to learn the theory and practice of
+     prohibition. She was among the first to practically abolish
+     capital punishment and to give married women their rights in
+     respect to property. She is, perhaps, nearer giving them
+     political rights, also, than any of her sister commonwealths. If
+     Maine should be first among the States to give suffrage to women,
+     she would do more for temperance than a hundred prohibitory laws,
+     and more for civilization and progress than Massachusetts did
+     when she threw the tea into Boston harbor in 1773, or when she
+     sent the first regiment to the relief of Washington in 1861.
+
+     The leaders of the temperance reform in Maine are fully alive to
+     the necessity of woman suffrage as a means to that end. At the
+     meeting of the State Temperance Association of Maine, in Augusta,
+     recently, Mr. Randall said that "as the woman suffrage convention
+     has adjourned over this afternoon in order to attend the
+     temperance meeting, he would move that when we adjourn it be to
+     Thursday morning, as the work at both conventions is intimately
+     connected. If the women of Maine went to the ballot-box, we
+     should have officers to enforce the law." Mr. Randall's motion
+     was carried, and the temperance convention adjourned.
+
+The Woman Suffrage Association assembled Wednesday, January 29, in
+Granite Hall, Augusta. There was a very large attendance, a
+considerable number of those present being members of the
+legislature. Hon. Joshua Nye presided. He made a few remarks
+relating to the removal of political disabilities from women, and
+introduced Mrs. Agnes A. Houghton of Bath, who spoke on the
+"Turning of the Tide," contending that woman should be elevated
+socially, politically and morally, enjoying the same rights as man.
+She was followed by Judge Benjamin Kingsbury, jr., of Portland, who
+declared himself unequivocally in favor of giving woman the right
+to vote, and who trusted that she would be accorded this right by
+the present legislature. More than 1,000 persons were in the
+audience, and great enthusiasm prevailed. The morning session was
+devoted to business and the election of officers.[182] In order not
+to conflict with a meeting of the State Temperance Association, no
+afternoon session was held, and, in return, the State Temperance
+Society gave up its evening meeting to enable its members to attend
+the suffrage convention.
+
+Speeches were made by Henry B. Blackwell of Boston, Rev. Ellen
+Gustin of Mansfield, Mary Eastman of Lowell, and others.
+Resolutions were passed pledging the association not to cease its
+efforts until the unjust discrimination with regard to voting is
+swept away; that in the election of president, and of all officers
+where the qualifications of voters are not prescribed by the State
+constitution, the experiment should be tried of allowing women to
+vote; that in view of the large amount of money which has been
+expended in Maine for the exclusive benefit of the Boys' Industrial
+School during the past twenty years, it is the prayer of the ladies
+of Maine that the present legislature vote the sum asked for the
+establishment of an Industrial School for girls.
+
+In 1874 we find notices of other onward steps:
+
+     EDITORS JOURNAL: Woman's cause works slowly here, though in one
+     respect we have been successful. Our county school-superintendent
+     is a lady. She had a large majority over our other candidate, and
+     over two gentlemen, and she is decidedly "the right person in the
+     right place." She is a graduate from the normal school, the
+     mother of four children, a widow for some six years past, and a
+     lady. What more can we ask, unless, indeed, it be for a very
+     conscientious idea of duty? That, too, she has, and also energy,
+     with which she carries it out. The sterner sex admit that women
+     are competent to hold office. But some say we are not intelligent
+     enough to vote. What an appalling amount of wisdom they show in
+     this idea! It would be "unwomanly" in us to suggest such a word
+     as inconsistency.
+
+                                   Fraternally,               M. J. M.
+
+     _Cairo, Me., April, 1874._
+
+In Searsport a woman was elected one of the two
+school-superintendents of the town. The following advertisement
+appears in the local newspaper:
+
+     SEARSPORT SCHOOL NOTICE.--The superintending school-committee of
+     Searsport will meet to examine teachers at the town library,
+     April 17 and May 1, 1874, at 1 o'clock P. M.
+
+                                   DELIA A. CURTIS,
+                                   JOHN NICHOLS,
+                                          _S. S. Com. of Searsport._
+
+     Teachers will be expected to discountenance the use of tobacco
+     and intoxicating liquors, and to use their best endeavors to
+     impress on the minds of the children and youth committed to their
+     care and instruction a proper understanding of the evil tendency
+     of such habits; and no teacher need apply for a certificate to
+     teach in this town, the ensuing year, who uses either.
+
+                                             DELIA A. CURTIS.
+
+
+     DEAR JOURNAL: Aroostook, though occupying the extreme
+     northeastern portion of our good State of Maine, and still in the
+     blush of youth, is not behind her sister counties in recognition
+     of woman's fitness for office. The returns of town elections, so
+     far as I have yet seen, give three towns in the county which have
+     elected ladies[183] to serve as members of the school committee.
+
+                                                           L. J. Y. W.
+     _Houlton, Maine._
+
+In the autumn of 1874 the governor and council requested the
+opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court on the following questions:
+
+     _First_--Under the constitution and laws of this State, can a
+     woman, if duly appointed and qualified as a justice of the peace,
+     legally perform all acts pertaining to that office?
+
+     _Second_--Would it be competent for the legislature to authorize
+     the appointment of a married woman to the office of justice of
+     the peace; or to administer oaths, take acknowledgment of deeds
+     or solemnize marriages, so that the same may be legal and valid?
+
+The following responses to these inquiries were received by the
+governor: the opinion of the court, drawn by Chief-justice
+Appleton, and concurred in by Justices Cutting, Peters, Danforth
+and Virgin; a dissenting opinion from Justices Walton and Barrows
+and one from Justice Dickerson. The opinion of the court is given
+below:
+
+     To the questions proposed we have the honor to answer as follows:
+
+     Whether it is expedient that women should hold the office of
+     justice of the peace is not an inquiry proposed for our
+     consideration. It is whether, under the existing constitution,
+     they can be appointed to such office, and can legally discharge
+     its duties.
+
+     By the constitution of Massachusetts, of which we formerly
+     constituted a portion, the entire political power of that
+     commonwealth was vested under certain conditions, in its male
+     inhabitants of a prescribed age. They alone, and in the exclusion
+     of the other sex, as determined by its highest court of law,
+     could exercise the judicial function as existing and established
+     by that instrument.
+
+     By the act relating to the separation of the district of Maine
+     from Massachusetts, the authority to determine upon the question
+     of separation, and to elect delegates to meet and form a
+     constitution was conferred upon the "inhabitants of the several
+     towns, districts and plantations in the district of Maine
+     qualified to vote for governor or senators," thus excluding the
+     female sex from all participation in the formation of the
+     constitution, and in the organization of the government under it.
+     Whether the constitution should or should not be adopted, was
+     especially, by the organic law of its existence, submitted to the
+     vote of the male inhabitants of the State.
+
+     It thus appears that the constitution of the State was the work
+     of its male citizens. It was ordained, established, and ratified
+     by them, and by them alone; but by the power of government was
+     divided into three distinct departments: legislative, executive
+     and judicial. By article VI., section 4, justices of the peace
+     are recognized as judicial officers.
+
+     By the constitution, the whole political power of the State is
+     vested in its male citizens. Whenever in any of its provisions,
+     reference is made to sex, it is to duties to be done and
+     performed by male members of the community. Nothing in the
+     language of the constitution or in the debates of the convention
+     by which it was formed, indicates any purpose whatever of any
+     surrender of political power by those who had previously enjoyed
+     it or a transfer of the same to those who had never possessed it.
+     Had any such design then existed, we cannot doubt that it would
+     have been made manifest in appropriate language. But such
+     intention is nowhere disclosed. Having regard then, to the rules
+     of the common law as to the rights of women, married and
+     unmarried, as then existing--to the history of the past--to the
+     universal and unbroken practical construction given to the
+     constitution of this State and to that of the Commonwealth of
+     Massachusetts upon which that of this State was modeled, we are
+     led to the inevitable conclusion that it was never in the
+     contemplation or intention of those framing our constitution that
+     the offices thereby created should be filled by those who could
+     take no part in its original formation, and to whom no political
+     power was intrusted for the organization of the government then
+     about to be established under its provisions, or for its
+     continued existence and preservation when established.
+
+     The same process of reasoning which would sanction the conferring
+     judicial power on women under the constitution would authorize
+     the giving them executive power by making them sheriffs and
+     major-generals. But while the offices enacted by the constitution
+     are to be filled exclusively by the male members of the State, we
+     have no doubt that the legislature may create new ministerial
+     offices not enumerated therein, and if it deem expedient, may
+     authorize the performance of the duties of the offices so created
+     by persons of either sex.
+
+     To the _first_ question proposed, we answer in the negative.
+
+     To the _second_, we answer that it is competent for the
+     legislature to authorize the appointment of married or unmarried
+     women to administer oaths, take acknowledgment of deeds or
+     solemnize marriages, so that the same shall be legal and valid.
+
+                         JOHN APPLETON,       JOHN A. PETERS,
+                         JONAS CUTTING,       WM. WIRT VIRGIN,
+                                   CHARLES DANFORTH.
+
+The dissenting opinion was as follows:
+
+     We, the undersigned, Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court,
+     concur in so much of the foregoing opinion as holds that it is
+     competent for the legislature to authorize the appointment of
+     women to administer oaths, take the acknowledgment of deeds and
+     solemnize marriages. But we do not concur in the conclusion that
+     it is not equally competent for the legislature to authorize the
+     appointment of women to act as justices of the peace.
+
+     The legislature is authorized to enact any law which it deems
+     reasonable and proper, provided it is not repugnant to the
+     constitution of this State, nor to that of the United States. A
+     law authorizing the appointment of women to act as justices of
+     the peace would not, in our judgment, be repugnant to either. We
+     fail to find a single word, or sentence, or clause of a sentence,
+     which, fairly construed, either expressly or impliedly forbids
+     the passage of such a law. So far as the office of justice of the
+     peace is concerned, there is not so much as a masculine pronoun
+     to hang an objection upon.
+
+     It is true that the right to vote is limited to males. But the
+     right to vote and the right to hold office are distinct matters.
+     Either may exist without the other. And it may be true that the
+     framers of the constitution did not contemplate--did not
+     affirmatively intend--that women should hold office. But it by no
+     means follows that they intended the contrary. The truth probably
+     is that they had no intention one way or the other; that the
+     matter was not even thought of. And it will be noticed that the
+     unconstitutionality of such a law is made to rest, not on any
+     expressed intention of the framers of the constitution that women
+     should not hold office, but upon a presumed absence of intention
+     that they should.
+
+     This seems to us a dangerous doctrine. It is nothing less than
+     holding that the legislature cannot enact a law unless it appears
+     affirmatively that the framers of the constitution intended that
+     such a law should be enacted. We cannot concur in such a
+     doctrine. It would put a stop to all progress. We understand the
+     correct rule to be the reverse of that; namely, that the
+     legislature may enact any law they may think proper, unless it
+     appears affirmatively that the framers of the constitution
+     intended that such a law should not be passed. And the best and
+     only safe rule for ascertaining the intention of the makers of
+     any written law, is to abide by the language which they have
+     used. And this is especially true of written constitutions; for
+     in preparing such instruments it is but reasonable to presume
+     that every word has been carefully weighed, and that none is
+     inserted and none omitted without a design for so doing. Taking
+     this rule for our guide we can find nothing in the constitution
+     of the United States, or of this State, forbidding the passage of
+     a law authorizing the appointment of women to act as justices of
+     the peace. We think such a law would be valid.
+
+                                             C. W. WALTON,
+                                             WM. G. BARROWS.
+
+The right of women to hold office was affirmed in the message of
+Governor Dingley, January, 1875:
+
+     In response to the questions propounded by the governor and
+     council, a majority of the justices of the Supreme Court have
+     given an opinion that, under the constitution of Maine, women
+     cannot act as justices of the peace, nor hold any other office
+     mentioned in that instrument; but that it is competent for the
+     legislature to authorize persons of either sex to hold any
+     ministerial office created by statute. As there can be no valid
+     objection to, but on the contrary great convenience in, having
+     women who may be acting as clerks in public or private offices
+     authorized to administer oaths and take acknowledgment of deeds,
+     I recommend the passage of an act providing for the appointment
+     of persons of either sex, to perform such official duties.
+     Indeed, if further legislation be necessary to establish that
+     principle, I suggest the justice and expediency of an enabling
+     act recognizing the eligibility of women to office in the same
+     manner as men; for I know of no sufficient reason why a woman,
+     otherwise qualified, should be excluded from any position adapted
+     to her tastes and acquirements, which the people may desire she
+     should fill.
+
+The legislature passed the bill recommended by the governor.
+
+In 1875 the Constitutional Committee, by a vote of six to two,
+defeated the proposition to so amend the constitution as to make
+women electors under the same regulations and restrictions as men.
+
+     The Maine Woman Suffrage Association held its third annual
+     meeting at Augusta on January 12, 1876, in the hall of the House
+     of Representatives, the use of which had been courteously
+     extended to the association. The hall and galleries were crowded
+     in every part with an intelligent audience, whose close attention
+     through all the sessions showed an earnest interest in the cause.
+
+     The meeting was called to order by Judge Kingsbury of Portland,
+     president of the association.[184] Prayer was offered by Miss
+     Angell of Canton, N. Y. Judge Kingsbury made the introductory
+     address. Addresses were also made by H. B. Blackwell, Miss
+     Eastman and Lucy Stone, showing the right and need of women in
+     politics, and the duty of law-makers to establish justice for
+     them. It was especially urged that the centennial celebration
+     would be only a mockery if the Fourth of July, 1876, finds this
+     government still doing to women what the British government did
+     to the colonists a hundred years ago. Rev. Mr. Gage of Lewiston
+     urged the right of women to vote in the interest of civilization
+     itself. In the perilous times upon which we have fallen in the
+     great experiment of self-government, some new force is needed to
+     check growing evils. The influence in the home is that which is
+     needed in legislation, and it can only be had by the ballot in
+     the hand of woman. Mrs. Quinby, from the Business Committee,
+     reported a series of resolutions. After their adoption Mrs. Abba
+     G. Woolson, in an earnest and forcible speech, claimed the right
+     of women to vote, as the final application of the theory of the
+     consent of the governed. She had personally noticed the good
+     effects of the ballot conferred upon the women in Wyoming, and
+     should be glad to have her native State of Maine lead in this
+     matter, and give an illustration of the true republic. Miss
+     Lorenza Haynes, who had been the day before ordained over the
+     Universalist Church in Hallowell, followed with a speech of
+     remarkable wit and brilliancy, to which no report can do justice.
+
+A writer in the _Woman's Journal_ about this time said:
+
+     During the early part of the session of our late legislature
+     woman suffrage petitions were numerously signed by the leading
+     men and women throughout the State receiving an earnest and
+     respectful consideration from the people generally, even from
+     those who were not quite ready to sign petitions. Consequently,
+     it seemed an easy matter to get a bill before the legislature,
+     and we were almost certain of a majority in one branch of the
+     House, at least, especially as it was generally understood that
+     our new governor favored the cause; and it is believed yet that
+     Governor Dingley does sympathize with it, even though he failed
+     to mention it in his otherwise admirable message. The petitions
+     were duly presented and referred to a joint committee, where the
+     matter was allowed to quietly drop.
+
+     It is neither riches, knowledge, nor culture that constitutes the
+     electoral qualifications, but gender and a certain implied brute
+     force. By this standard legislative bodies have been wont to
+     judge the exigency of this mighty question. More influential than
+     woman, though unacknowledged as such by the average legislator of
+     States and nations, even the insignificant lobster finds earnest
+     champions where woman's claims fail of recognition; which
+     assertion the following incident will substantiate: Being present
+     in the Representatives Hall in Augusta when the "lobster
+     question" came up for discussion (the suffrage question was then
+     struggling before the committee), I was struck by the air of
+     earnestness that pervaded the entire House on that memorable
+     occasion. And why not? It was a question that appealed directly
+     to man's appetite, and there he is always interested. After the
+     morning hour a dozen ready debators sprang to their feet,
+     eloquent in advocating the rights of this important member of the
+     crustacean family. The discussion waxed into something like
+     enthusiasm, when finally an old tar exclaimed with terrific
+     violence: "Mr. Speaker, I insist upon it, this question must be
+     considered. It is a great question; one before which all others
+     will sink into insignificance; one of vastly more importance than
+     any other that will come before this honorable body during this
+     session!"
+
+                                                    DIRIGO.
+
+In closing this chapter it is fitting to mention some of our
+faithful friends in Maine, whose names have not appeared in
+societies and conventions as leaders or speakers, but whose
+services in other ways have been highly appreciated.
+
+Rockland is the home of Lucy and Lavinia Snow, who, from the
+organization of the first society in 1868, have never failed to
+send good words of cheer and liberal contributions to all our
+National conventions. Another branch of the worthy Snow family,
+from the town of Hamlin, has given us equally generous coaedjutors
+in Mrs. Spofford and her noble sisters in Washington.
+
+As early as 1857, Mrs. Anna Greeley and Miss Charlotte Hill of
+Ellsworth constituted themselves a committee to inaugurate a course
+of lyceum lectures in that town, taking the entire financial
+responsibility. Miss Hill was an excellent violinist and taught a
+large class of boys and girls, and also played at balls and
+parties, thus gaining a livelihood. Some of her patrons threatened
+that if she persisted in bringing such people[185] to that town and
+affiliated with them, they would no longer patronize her. "Very
+well" she replied, "I shall maintain my principles, and if you
+break up my classes I can go back to the sea-shore and dig clams
+for a living as I have done before." Tradition says the lecture
+course was a success. She continued her classes and the neighbors
+danced as ever to her music.
+
+Gail Hamilton, who resides in Maine at least half her time, is one
+of the most brilliant and pungent American writers. In denouncing
+the follies and failures of her sex, her critical pen has
+indirectly aided the suffrage movement by arousing thought upon all
+phases of the question as to what are the rights and duties of
+woman, though she stoutly maintains that she is opposed to woman's
+enfranchisement.
+
+In Portland there has always been a circle of noble men and women,
+steadfast friends alike of the anti-slavery, temperance and woman
+suffrage movements. The names of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Dennett, Miss.
+Charlotte A. Thomas and Mrs. Ellen French Foster are worthy of
+mention. That untiring reformer, the Hon. Neal Dow, has clearly
+seen and declared in the later years of his labors, that suffrage
+for women is the short path to the advancement of prohibition.
+
+The Hon. Thomas B. Reed has done us great service in congress as
+leader of the Republican party in the House, and member of the
+Judiciary Committee. His report,[186] in 1884, on the submission of
+the sixteenth amendment has had an extended influence. It is an
+able argument, and as a keen piece of irony it is worthy the pen of
+a Dean Swift. In the Senate we have a fast friend in William P.
+Frye, who has always voted favorably in both houses on all
+questions regarding the interests of woman. In 1878, in presenting
+Miss Willard's petition of 30,000 for woman's right to vote on the
+temperance question, he made an able speech recommending the
+measure.[187]
+
+And in closing, the name of Maine's venerable statesman, Hannibal
+Hamlin, so long honored by his State in a succession of official
+positions from year to year, must not be forgotten. As chairman of
+the Committee on the District of Columbia in 1870 he presided at
+the first hearing of the National Woman Suffrage Association,
+listened with respect and courtesy, and at the close introduced the
+ladies to each member of the committee, and said "he had been
+deeply impressed by the arguments, and was almost persuaded to
+accept the new gospel of woman's equality." Mr. Hamlin's vote has
+always been favorable and we have no words of his recorded in the
+opposition.
+
+Hon. James G. Blaine has generally maintained a dignified silence
+on the question. Thus far in his History, a reviewer says, "he has
+ignored the existence of woman"; but perhaps in his researches he
+has not yet reached the garden of Eden, nor taken cognizance of the
+part the daughters of Eve have played in the rise and fall of
+mighty nations.
+
+Nevertheless in our prolonged struggle of half a century for equal
+rights for woman, we have found in every State the traditional ten
+righteous men necessary to save its people from destruction.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[179] Signed: _President_, Benj. Kingsbury, Portland; _Secretary_,
+E. R. French, S. Chesterville; _Treasurer_, William Deering
+Portland; _ex officio_, Gov. Sidney Perham, Secretary of State Geo.
+G. Stacy, Superintendent of Schools Warren Johnson; John B.
+Nealley, S. Berwick; Nelson Dingley, jr., Lewiston; J. S.
+Wheelright, Bangor; H. K. Baker, Hallowell; Mrs. C. A. L. Sampson,
+Bath; Mrs. James Fernald, Portland.
+
+[180] Ann F. Greely, Sarah Jarvis, C. B. Grant, E. E. Tinker, A. D.
+Hight, M. J. Brooks, C. W. Jarvis, E. B. Jarvis, Rebecca M. Avery.
+
+[181] Signed by John Neal, S. T. Pickard, Mrs. Oliver Dennet, Mrs.
+Eleanor Neal, Portland; J. J. Eveleth, mayor, Joshua Nye, Chandler
+Beal, William H. Libbey, George W. Quinby, William P. Whitehouse,
+General Selden Conner. H. H. Hamlen, H. S. Osgood, Mrs. C. A.
+Quinby, Mrs. W. K. Lancey, Mrs. D. M. Waitt, Mrs. William B.
+Lapham, Mrs. S. M. Barton, Augusta; Mary A. Ross and fifty others;
+Rev. W. L. Brown, Mrs. E. A. Dickerson, Mrs. W. H. Burrill, Mrs. N.
+Abbott, Mrs. Thomas N. Marshall, Miss A. A. Hicks, Belfast; John D.
+Hopkins, Rev. William H. Savary, C. J. Peck, mayor, A. E.
+Drinkwater, Mrs. Ann F. Greely, Ellsworth; Mrs. A. H. Savary and
+twenty others; Mrs. M. C. Crossman, Mrs. S. D. Morison, Mrs. J.
+Tillson, Mrs. Sarah J. Prentiss, Mrs. Amos Pickard, Bangor; Miss M.
+Phillips and twelve others; Rev. John W. Hinds, Lewiston; Rev. T.
+P. Adams, Bowdoinham; A. H. Sweetser and twenty others, Rockland;
+Rev. W. H. Bolster, Wiscasset; W. T. C. Runnels, Searsport; Rev. M.
+V. B. Stinson, Kittery; John U. Hubbard, Alfred Winslow, West
+Waterville; Mrs. M. S. Philbrick, Skowhegan; Mrs. Simeon Conner,
+Fairfield; George Gifford, Mrs. Mary W. Southwick, H. M. N. Bush,
+M. A. Bush, A. E. Prescott, Vassalboro; A. R. Dunham and fourteen
+others; R. C. Caldwell and eight others, Gardiner; Albert Crosby,
+Mrs. S. G. Crosby, Albion; Noah F. Norton, Mercy G. Norton,
+Penobscot.
+
+[182] _President_, Benjamin Kingsbury of Portland; _Secretary_,
+Miss Addie Quimby of Augusta; _Treasurer_, Mrs. W. K. Lancey of
+Augusta. Among the vice-presidents are the Hon. S. F. Hersey of
+Bangor, and John Neal of Portland. An Executive Committee was
+elected, which included John P. Whitehouse, Hon. Joshua Nye, Neal
+Dow, jr., and other leading citizens.
+
+[183] Miss Louisa Coffin, Dalton; Miss Annie Lincoln, Mapleton;
+Miss Ada DeLaite, Littleton.
+
+[184] The following officers were elected: _President_, Hon.
+Benjamin Kingsbury of Portland; _Chairman Executive Committee_,
+Hon. Joshua Nye; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mr. C. A. Quinby,
+Augusta; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. W. D. Eaton, Dexter;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. W. K. Lancey, Pittsfield.
+
+[185] Those invited were Wendell Philips, Harriet K. Hunt, Caroline
+H. Dall and Susan B. Anthony.
+
+[186] Mr. Reed's report is published in full in our annual report,
+of 1884, which can be obtained of Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N.
+Y.
+
+[187] See page 104.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+NEW HAMPSHIRE.
+
+     Nathaniel P. Rogers--First Organized Action, 1868--Concord
+     Convention--William Lloyd Garrison's Letter--Rev. S. L. Blake
+     Opposed--Rev. Mr. Sanborn in Favor--_Concord Monitor_--Armenia S.
+     White--A Bill to Protect the Rights of Married Men--Minority and
+     Majority Reports--Women too Ignorant to Vote--Republican State
+     Convention--Women on School Committees--Voting at School-District
+     Meetings--Mrs. White's Address--Mrs. Ricker on Prison
+     Reform--Judicial Decision in Regard to Married Women,
+     1882--Letter from Senator Blair.
+
+
+A State that could boast four such remarkable families as the
+Rogers, the Hutchinsons, the Fosters, and the Pillsburys, all
+radical, outspoken reformers, furnishes abundant reason for its
+prolonged battles with the natural conservatism of ordinary
+communities. Every inch of its soil except its mountain tops, where
+no man could raise a school-house for a meeting, has been overrun
+by the apostles of peace, temperance, anti-slavery, and woman's
+rights in succession.
+
+To the early influence of Nathaniel P. Rogers and his revolutionary
+journal, _The Herald of Freedom_, we may trace the general
+awakening of the true men and women of that State to new ideas of
+individual liberty. But while some gladly accepted his words as
+harbingers of a new and better civilization, others resisted all
+innovations of their time-honored customs and opinions. And when
+the clarion voices of Foster and Pillsbury arraigned that State for
+its compromises with slavery, howling mobs answered their arguments
+with brickbats and curses; mobs that nothing could quell but the
+sweet voices of the Hutchinson family. Their peans of liberty, so
+readily accepted when set to music, were obstinately resisted when
+uttered by others, though in most eloquent speech. Thus with music,
+meetings and mobs, New Hampshire was at least awake and watching,
+and when the distant echoes of woman's uprising reverberated
+through her mountains she gave a ready response.
+
+In 1868, simultaneously with other New England States, she felt the
+time had come to organize for action on the question of suffrage
+for women. A call for a convention was issued to be held in
+Concord, December 22, 23, and signed by one hundred and twenty men
+and women,[188] some of the most honored and influential classes of
+all callings and professions. Nathaniel P. White, always ready to
+aid genuine reformatory movements, was the first to sign the call.
+As a member of the legislature he had helped to coin into law many
+of the liberal ideas sown broadcast in the early days[189] by the
+anti-slavery apostles. Galen Foster, a brother of Stephen, used his
+influence also as a member of the legislature, to vindicate the
+rights of women to civil and political equality. This first
+convention was held in Eagle Hall, Concord, with large and
+enthusiastic audiences. A long and interesting letter was read from
+William Lloyd Garrison:
+
+                                   BOSTON, December 21, 1868.
+
+     DEAR MRS. WHITE: I must lose the gratification of being present
+     at the Woman Suffrage Convention at Concord and substitute an
+     epistolary testimony for a speech from the platform.
+
+     The two conventions recently held in furtherance of the movement
+     for universal and impartial suffrage--one in Boston, the other in
+     Providence--were eminently successful in respect to numbers,
+     intellectual ability, moral strength and unity of action; and
+     their proceedings such as to challenge attention and elicit
+     wide-spread commendation. I have no doubt that the convention in
+     Concord will exhibit the same features, be animated by the same
+     hopeful spirit and produce as cheering results.
+
+     The only criticism seemingly of a disparaging tone, I have seen,
+     of the speeches made at the conventions alluded to, is, that
+     there was nothing new advanced on the occasion; as though novelty
+     were the main thing, and the reiteration of time-honored truths,
+     with their latest application to the duties of the hour, were
+     simply tedious! For one, I ask no more light upon the subject;
+     nor am I so vain as to assume to be capable of throwing any
+     additional light upon it. One drop of water is very like another,
+     but it is the perpetual dropping that wears away the stone. The
+     importunate widow had nothing fresh or new to present to the
+     unjust judge, but by her persistent coming she wearied him into
+     compliance with her petition. The end of the constant assertion
+     of a right withheld is restitution and victory. The whole
+     anti-slavery controversy was expressed and included in the Golden
+     Rule, morally, and in the Declaration of Independence,
+     politically; nor could anything new be added to these by the
+     wisest, the most ingenious, or the most eloquent. "Line upon
+     line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little";
+     that is the essential method of reform. If there is nothing new
+     to be said in favor of suffrage for women, is there anything new
+     to be urged against it? But though the objections are exceedingly
+     trite and shallow, it is still necessary to examine and refute
+     them by arguments and illustrations none the less forcible
+     because exhausted at an earlier period.
+
+
+[Illustration: Armenia S. White]
+
+
+     The first objection is positively one of the most urgent reasons
+     for granting suffrage to women; for it is predicated on the
+     concession of the superiority of woman over man in purity of
+     purpose and excellence of character. Hence the cry is, that it
+     will not only be descending, but degrading for her to appear at
+     the polls. But, if government is absolutely necessary, and voting
+     not wrong in practice, it is surely desirable that the admittedly
+     purest and best in the nation should find no obstacle to their
+     reaching the ballot-box. Nay, the way should be opened at once,
+     by every consideration pertaining to the public welfare, the
+     justice of legislation, the preservation of popular liberty. It
+     is impossible for a portion of the people, to be wiser and more
+     trustworthy than the whole people, or better qualified to decide
+     what shall be the laws for the government of all. The more minds
+     consulted, the more souls included, the more interests at stake,
+     in determining the form and administration of government, the
+     more of justice and humanity, of security and repose, will be the
+     result. The exclusion of half the population from the polls, is
+     not merely a gross injustice, but an immense loss of brain and
+     conscience, in making up the public judgment. As a nation we have
+     discarded absolutism, monarchy, and hereditary aristocracy; but
+     we have not fully attained even to manhood suffrage. Men are
+     proscribed on account of their complexion, women because of their
+     sex. The entire body politic suffers from this proscription.
+
+     The second objection refutes the first; it is based on the
+     alleged natural inferiority of woman to man, and the transition
+     is thus quickly made for her, from a semi-angelic state, to that
+     of a menial, having no rights that men are bound to respect
+     beyond what they choose to allow. In the scale of political
+     power, therefore, one male voter, however ignorant or depraved,
+     outweighs all the women in America! For, no matter how
+     intelligent, cultured, refined, wealthy, intellectually vigorous,
+     or morally great, any of their number may be,--no matter what
+     rank in literature, art, science, or medical knowledge and skill
+     they may reach,--they are political non-entities, unrepresented,
+     discarded, and left to such protection under the laws, as brute
+     force and absolute usurpation may graciously condescend to give.
+     Yet they are as freely taxed and held amendable to penal law as
+     strictly as though they had their full share of representation in
+     the legislative hall, on the bench, in the jury-box, and at the
+     polls. This cry of inferiority is not peculiar in the case of
+     woman. It was the subterfuge and defiance of negro slavery. It
+     has been raised in all ages by tyrants and usurpers against the
+     toiling, over-burdened millions, seeking redress for their
+     wrongs, and protection for their rights. It always indicates
+     intense self-conceit, and supreme selfishness. It is at war with
+     reason and common-sense, and is a bold denial of the oneness of
+     the human race.
+
+     The third objection is, that women do not wish to vote. If this
+     were true, it would not follow that they should not be
+     enfranchised, and left free to determine the matter for
+     themselves. It was confidently declared that the slaves at the
+     south neither wished to be free, nor would they take their
+     liberty if offered them by their masters. Had that assertion been
+     true, it would have furnished no justification whatever, for
+     making man the property of his fellow-man, or for leaving the
+     slaves in their fetters. But it was not true. Nor is it true that
+     women do not wish to vote. Tens of thousands are ready to go to
+     the polls and assume their share of political responsibility, as
+     soon as they shall be legally permitted to do so; and they are
+     not the ignorant and degraded of their sex, but women remarkable
+     for their intelligence and moral worth. The great mass will, ere
+     long, be sufficiently enlightened to claim what belongs to them
+     of right. I hope to be permitted to live to see the day when
+     neither complexion nor sex shall be made a badge of degradation,
+     but men and women shall enjoy the same rights and privileges, and
+     possess the same means for their protection and defense.
+
+                    Very faithfully yours,         WM. LLOYD GARRISON.
+
+     Mrs. A. S. WHITE.
+
+At the close of this convention a State association was formed with
+Mrs. Armenia S. White president.[190] This society has been
+unremitting in its efforts to rouse popular thought, holding annual
+conventions, scattering tracts, rolling up petitions, and
+addressing legislatures. Many of the best speakers, from time to
+time, from other States[191] have rendered valuable aid in keeping
+up the agitation.
+
+The opposition of a clergyman produced a sensation in Concord.
+
+     On last fast-day, 1871, Rev. S.L. Blake of the Congregational
+     church in Concord, preached a sermon in which he came out against
+     the woman's rights convention held there last January, bringing
+     the stale charge of "free-love" against its advocates--a charge
+     that always leaps to the lips of men of prurient
+     imagination--with much similar clap-trap of the Fulton type. Rev.
+     Mr. Sanborn of the Universalist church replied to him the next
+     Sunday evening, an immense audience being in attendance, and
+     completely disproved the baseless allegations of the reverend
+     maligner, to the satisfaction of all. Rev. Mr. Blake has
+     published his discourse in pamphlet form, repeating his disproved
+     charges, whereupon Rev. J.F. Lovering of the Unitarian church
+     came out with a reply, in which he characterized Mr. Blake's
+     charges as "unmitigated falsehoods" and "an insult to every
+     member of the convention," and demanded of the author to "unsay
+     his words."
+
+Brainard Cogswell, in his journal, the _Concord Monitor_, of July
+2, 1870, published the following letter:
+
+     Petitions for woman's enfranchisement have been pouring into the
+     New Hampshire legislature, until at last they have been referred
+     to a special committee. On Thursday week this committee gave the
+     petitioners a hearing; and on their invitation, Mrs. Julia Ward
+     Howe, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Churchill and ourself went to Concord to
+     give "the reasons why" women should have the ballot. The members
+     of the legislature came out in force to hear, and our good, tried
+     friends, Nathaniel and Armenia White, learning their intention in
+     advance, opened the spacious Eagle Hall for their convenience,
+     and that of the towns-people who wished to see and to hear. Warm
+     as the evening was, the thermometer up in the nineties, the hall
+     was packed, and great numbers went away that could not gain
+     admittance. Rev. Mr. Blake, a Congregationalist minister of
+     Concord, has done the cause good service by vilifying and abusing
+     it, until he roused quite an interest. It was partly owing to his
+     efforts that we had so grand an audience.
+
+     General Wilson, who twenty years ago was famed throughout New
+     Hampshire for his eloquence and oratory, was chairman of the
+     committee, and presided at the meeting, and very handsomely
+     introduced the speakers. Mrs. Howe spoke with more pointed and
+     pungent power than usual, dwelling on the deterioration of
+     American womanhood, showing the cause, and suggesting the remedy.
+     We have never been so impressed by her as on this occasion. Mrs.
+     Churchill read a letter from Rev. Mr. Savage, a Congregationalist
+     clergyman of the State, who advocates woman suffrage, and who, in
+     a late ministerial gathering, took up the gauntlet thrown down by
+     Mr. Blake, and defended the woman's cause and its advocates from
+     the slanders of his brother minister.
+
+The president of the New Hampshire association, in writing from
+Concord to the _Woman's Journal_, January 30, 1871, says:
+
+     Our second annual meeting was a grand success, if we count by
+     money and numbers. The intense cold on Wednesday and Thursday
+     made our audiences thinner than heretofore, but they were large
+     in spite of the elements, Mrs. Churchill and Mrs. Emma Coe Still,
+     who had never presented the subject here before, were well
+     received. Rev. Dr. Savage of Franklin made an excellent address,
+     and encouraged us by timely suggestions. Stephen S. Foster
+     aroused us, as he always does, with his bold declarations. The
+     resolutions adopted look toward future work, and embody the
+     principles which move us to act.
+
+Lucy Stone, in the _Woman's Journal_ of June 14, 1871, says:
+
+     The Select Committee, Harry Bingham, chairman, to whom was
+     referred a bill for the further protection of the rights of
+     married men, reported the bill in a new draft as follows:
+
+          Marriages shall not hereafter render the husband liable for
+          the debts contracted by his wife prior to their marriage:
+          _Second section_--No marriage shall hereafter discharge the
+          wife from liability to pay the debts contracted by her
+          before such marriage, but she, and all property which she
+          may hold in her own right, shall be held liable for the
+          payment of all debts, whether contracted before or after
+          marriage; in the same manner as if she continued sole and
+          unmarried.
+
+     This report was signed by eight of the ten members of the
+     committee. The minority, through Mr. Sprague of Swanzey, made a
+     report recommending that the whole subject be postponed to the
+     time when women in New Hampshire have the right to vote. Mr.
+     Sprague moved that the minority report be substituted for the
+     majority, but the motion was lost by an almost unanimous vote.
+     The majority report was sustained in remarks by Messrs. Wadleigh
+     of Milford and Cogswell of Gilman. The latter, hard pushed by an
+     interrogatory concerning his social status, admitted that he was
+     not married, but intended to be soon. The bill reported by the
+     majority was then ordered to a second reading.
+
+     If this action should be sustained by the legislature, we can
+     imagine some future suitor for a lady's hand telling her that he
+     shall expect her duly to keep his house and his wardrobe in
+     order, to prepare his meals, to entertain his visitors, to bear
+     his children, and that she will be required by law to pay her own
+     bills; that for this inestimable privilege she shall be called
+     Mrs. John Snooks, and may, perhaps, have the honor of being
+     written in the newspapers, and on her tombstone, as the relic of
+     Mr. John Snooks. Could any woman withstand that?
+
+The following statistics have been used by speakers in the
+opposition, to show that women are too ignorant to vote:
+
+     A decided sensation has been produced throughout the country by
+     the publication in the third number of the "Transactions of the
+     American Social Science Association" of statistics concerning the
+     illiteracy of women in the United States. The subject has
+     received very general discussion, and these are the conclusions
+     reached:
+
+          1. That there is a large excess of female illiteracy. 2.
+          That from 1850 to 1860 there was an increase of illiterate
+          women to the extent of 53 per cent. in New Hampshire, 27 in
+          Vermont, 24 in Massachusetts, 33 in Rhode Island, 16 in
+          Connecticut, 37 in the District of Columbia, 33 in
+          Wisconsin and 32 in Minnesota. 3. That this state of things
+          is alarming, and ought to be remedied.
+
+     When the London _Saturday Review_ raised the cry of alcoholic
+     drunkenness among women, the conservative journals all over the
+     world swelled the sound and confirmed the charges. Now that that
+     story has run itself to death, a new assault is projected, and a
+     general clamor concerning their illiteracy follows. If the
+     charges are true, there is nothing very astonishing about them.
+     The education of women has been considered a matter of secondary
+     importance until very recently, and with our foreign population
+     the education of girls has been almost wholly neglected. When the
+     customs and usages of the world have made ignorance largely
+     compulsory in women, it is somewhat inconsistent in men to go
+     into spasms about the results.
+
+January 17, 1874, at the Republican State convention, Mayor Briggs
+of Manchester, on taking the chair, made a speech, rehearsing the
+history of the party and laying out its programme for the future,
+closing as follows:
+
+     The Republican party has future duties. Its mission cannot end
+     and its work should not, so long as any radical reform shall yet
+     urge its demands in behalf of humanity. The civil service reform
+     is eminent and important. In this regard the movement of the
+     present administration is in the right direction, and yet it is
+     only a first step of many which must ultimately be taken. To the
+     people, not to a part of the people, belongs the sovereignty of
+     this nation. Let them keep it. To this end great care should be
+     taken to guard against the caucus system. Nothing should be more
+     scrupulously avoided in the management of political parties.
+     Anti-republican in spirit, it is sometimes exclusive in practice.
+     The people have the same right to nominate that they have to
+     elect their own officers. Why not? Ultimately, too, they will
+     take that right, and for its own sake no party can afford to make
+     itself the nursery of caucus power. The political machinery
+     should be simplified, that nothing which mere politicians can
+     desire shall stand between the people and their government. In a
+     genuine republic, every act of the government should be but a
+     practical expression of its subjects. All the subjects, too,
+     should share equally the power of such expression. There should
+     be no exclusion among intelligent, qualified classes. Involved in
+     this principle is the idea of woman suffrage, the next great
+     moral issue, in my judgment, which this country must meet, and a
+     reform which no party can afford to despise. Indubitably right,
+     as I believe it to be, I regard its success as inevitable, and
+     that whatever party opposes it is as surely destined to defeat,
+     as was the party which arrayed itself in opposition to the
+     anti-slavery cause.
+
+The following letter in the _Woman's Journal_ shows that something
+of the spirit of the Connecticut Smith-sisters has been found in
+New Hampshire:
+
+     I have long felt a deep interest in the subject of woman's
+     rights, and some fifteen years ago I resisted taxation two
+     successive years. The second year I worked out my highway tax,
+     for which crime I brought down upon my guilty head a severe
+     persecution from both men and women, from clergymen and lawyers,
+     as well as other classes of my fellow townsmen. The
+     tax-collectors came into my house and attached furniture and sold
+     it at auction in order to collect my tax, one of whom made me all
+     the cost the laws would allow. The most incensed town officers
+     threatened that if I resisted taxation the next year, they would
+     take my house from me and sell it at auction. One of the
+     tax-gatherers asked me what I thought I could do alone in
+     resisting taxation. He said he did not believe there was another
+     woman in the State of New Hampshire who possessed the hardihood
+     to take such a stand against the laws. The editor of one of our
+     weekly journals, who professed to be an advocate of woman's
+     rights, and who was a candidate for representative in the State
+     legislature, condemned me through the columns of his paper, in
+     order to secure the votes of his fellow townsmen who were opposed
+     to woman's rights. He had nothing to fear from me, knowing that I
+     was only a disfranchised slave. Such unjust treatment seemed so
+     cruel that I sometimes felt I could willingly lay down my life,
+     if it would deliver my sex from such degrading oppression. I
+     have, every year since, submissively paid my taxes, humbly hoping
+     and praying that I may live to see the day that women will not be
+     compelled to pay taxes without representation.
+
+                                                   MARY L. HARRINGTON.
+
+     _Claremont, N. H., January 17, 1874._
+
+In 1870 a law was passed allowing women to be members of school
+committees; and eight years later a law was enacted permitting
+women to vote at school meetings. On the evening of August 7, 1878,
+the House Special Committee granted a hearing to the friends[192]
+of the School-suffrage bill, which had already passed the Senate by
+a unanimous vote; and the next day, when the bill came up for final
+action in the House, the following debate occurred:
+
+     Mr. BATCHELDER of Littleton said: This bill is one of the
+     greatest importance, and before we vote upon it let us have the
+     views of the committee.
+
+     Mr. GALEN FOSTER of Canterbury called upon Mr. Blodgett to give
+     his opinion as to the power of the legislature upon the question.
+
+     Mr. BLODGETT of Franklin said he had no doubt of the
+     constitutionality of the bill. School districts were created by
+     statute and not by the constitution; hence the legislature had a
+     perfect right to say who should vote in controlling their
+     affairs.
+
+     Mr. FOSTER said: The mothers of our children should have a voice
+     in their education. We have allowed women to hold certain offices
+     in connection with schools, but we have never given them a voice
+     in the control of the money expended upon them. The mothers take
+     ten times more interest in the education of the young than the
+     fathers do, and should have an equal voice in the affairs of the
+     school districts. This is a matter of right and justice.
+
+     Mr. SINCLAIR of Bethlehem said: There ought not to be any
+     objection to this bill. If there is any class that ought to have
+     a voice in the education of children, it is the mothers.
+     [Applause.] Some of the best school committees in the State are
+     women. If they can be elected to that office, is it proper to say
+     they shall have no voice in the elections?
+
+     Mr. WHICHER of Strafford thought they would get a little mixed in
+     carrying out the provisions of this bill, in the face of the
+     statutes relating to school-district meetings. He would move to
+     indefinitely postpone the bill.
+
+     Mr. MOSHER of Dover said: There ought to be a new motion gotten
+     up; to "indefinitely postpone" is getting to be stereotyped. This
+     bill needs no further championing. Its justice is apparent.
+
+     Mr. HOBBS of Ossippee said: If women are capable of holding
+     office they are also capable of saying who shall hold it.
+     [Applause.]
+
+     Mr. PATTEN of Manchester favored the bill and hoped the motion of
+     Mr. Whicher would be voted down.
+
+     The SPEAKER [Mr. WOOLSON of Lisbon] said: The bill had passed the
+     Senate unanimously, been reported unanimously by the committee,
+     and he hoped it would be passed promptly by the House.
+     [Applause.]
+
+     Mr. PATTERSON of Hanover said he would congratulate the gentleman
+     from Bethlehem on being orthodox on this question.
+
+     Mr. SINCLAIR congratulated his friend from Hanover on his display
+     of courage in waiting until the ice was broken all round before
+     making a forward step.
+
+Mr. Whicher withdrew his motion to postpone and then moved to lay
+the bill upon the table. This being lost, the bill was passed,
+August 8, 1878. Mrs. White, the president of the State association,
+in a letter to a friend, wrote as follows:
+
+     To our surprise and delight the bill allowing women to vote at
+     school-district meetings passed the House yesterday amid much
+     cheering and clapping of hands, the ladies in the gallery joining
+     in the demonstration. Thus conservative New Hampshire leads New
+     England in this branch of reform for women.
+
+The governor, B. F. Prescott, signed the bill without delay and
+words of cheer poured into the capital city from all quarters;
+especially were Mr. and Mrs. White congratulated upon this good
+result of their earnest and persistent labors. The following is
+from the _Woman's Journal_:
+
+     At the first election at the State capital of New Hampshire under
+     the new law allowing women to vote on school questions, the
+     result was a wonderfully full vote, not less than 2,160 ballots
+     being cast, of which over half were deposited by women. The
+     Boston _Investigator_, from which we gather these facts, says:
+
+          The balloting extended over three meetings and the number of
+          women who participated was almost exactly doubled on the
+          second and third evenings--150, 299, 662. Another
+          interesting feature of this election was the fact that the
+          sexes did not rally to the support of opposing tickets, but
+          men and women divided their votes very evenly. A ticket
+          bearing the names of two men was elected by a narrow
+          majority over another which bore the names of a man and
+          woman.
+
+     Of the first evening's election the telegraphic dispatch to the
+     _Boston Globe_ was headed, "Crowds of Women Voting in New
+     Hampshire":
+
+          CONCORD, N. H., March 22.--The occasion of the annual
+          meeting of the Union-school district of this city, which
+          comprises all of the city proper, this evening, was one of
+          unprecedented interest. For months school matters have been
+          sharply agitated and the election has been looked forward to
+          as an opportunity by all parties. To the uncommon interest
+          centered in the matter the right of women to vote at school
+          meetings, delegated by the last session of the legislature,
+          greatly added. The new condition of affairs had been fully
+          canvassed and the women had determined on making the best of
+          their first opportunity and winning a decisive victory if
+          possible. The night of the meeting proved inauspicious, but
+          notwithstanding the severe storm of snow and sleet that was
+          falling the newly constituted citizens were out in force. At
+          the hour of opening the meeting the City Hall was packed to
+          suffocation, 500 of the audience, at least, being ladies.
+          The first business was the choice of a moderator, and in
+          this the ladies may claim a victory, as the candidate a
+          majority of them supported was elected in the person of
+          ex-mayor John Kimball. After this came the reading of the
+          report of the board of education, which was strenuously
+          objected to by the male supporters of the ladies. In this
+          they were beaten by a large majority. The reading completed,
+          the meeting commenced to ballot for three members of the
+          board. The scene then became one beyond the power of the
+          reportorial pen to describe. It was an old-fashioned New
+          Hampshire town-meeting, with the concomitant boisterousness
+          and profanity subdued by the presence of the ladies. A line
+          was formed to the polls and a struggling mass of humanity in
+          which male and female citizens were incongruously and
+          indecorously mixed, surged towards the ballot-box. The
+          crowding, squeezing and pushing were severe enough for the
+          taste of the masculine voter, and were harsh enough to make
+          it extremely unpleasant for the dear creatures who were
+          undergoing so much to cast their maiden vote. To add to the
+          delay the Hon. Nathaniel White had planted his somewhat
+          corpulent form directly in front of the ballot-box and
+          stayed the surging tide to shake hands with every woman that
+          voted. Having voted, the men were only too glad to leave the
+          crowded hall and let the anxious crowd rush in. The vote was
+          at last all in, and the work of counting completed shortly
+          before 11 o'clock. It was found that there were some ten
+          different tickets in the field, and forty-two candidates
+          voted for; but from this mass of votes there was no choice,
+          though the regular candidates, the outgoing members of the
+          board, who would have been elected had it not been for the
+          new element in the election, were ahead, having a plurality.
+          The meeting was then adjourned till next Saturday evening,
+          when the scenes of to-night will be intensified by a larger
+          attendance and still greater interest. The meeting to-night
+          obtains importance in New Hampshire, as this is the center
+          of female suffrage sentiment in this State, and the women
+          are determined to win here if possible.
+
+In the opening convention of November 5, 1879, Mrs. White, the
+president, made the following address:
+
+     _Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends of the N. H. Woman Suffrage
+     Association_: We hold the seventh meeting of this association
+     under circumstances that mark an epoch in the progress of equal
+     rights, irrespective of sex, in this State. After more than a
+     decade of agitation, and petitioning of our legislature, women
+     hold in their hand the ballot on one important matter. Let us
+     exchange congratulations on this occasion, that so much has been
+     gained toward the final triumph of our cause.
+
+     You will remember when this association was last in session,
+     July, 1878, that the bill giving the women of New Hampshire the
+     right to vote on the public-school questions, was pending in our
+     legislature. At our first hearing before that body, we hardly
+     dared anticipate the passage of the bill during that session. But
+     agitation, vigilance and perseverance ever bring their sure
+     reward in the end, therefore we continued to press our claim, and
+     soon learned to our great satisfaction that our allies in behalf
+     of this bill, were the very _cream_ of our legislature. We at
+     once took courage, and as day after day we went up to the
+     state-house, with friends who plead for it before the committee,
+     who kindly gave us several hearings; we saw the gradual growth of
+     interest in behalf of this bill soon ripen into a final decision
+     causing it to pass; thereby enacting a law, to which our worthy
+     governor, B. F. Prescott, immediately gave his willing signature,
+     securing to the women of this State the high privilege many of
+     them gladly exercised last spring. Many feared this law would be
+     repealed; but to show with what favor it has been received, we
+     have only to refer to the legislature of the present year, which
+     passed an additional law, giving to women not only the right to
+     vote for and serve on school boards, but also the power to serve
+     as moderator or clerk in school meetings, for which the former
+     law did not provide. This, it would seem must remove all fears of
+     a repeal.
+
+     Petitions asking municipal suffrage for women, were sent to our
+     last legislature, and a bill to that effect, introduced in the
+     House, was referred to a special committee, who reported in its
+     favor: and after more or less discussion, although the bill did
+     not pass, about one hundred members voted for it, and their names
+     are registered, and with the committee, will be kindly remembered
+     by those women whose cause they did not desert. From past
+     experience we see the importance of continued labor and proper
+     measures for the accomplishment of our work. The present degree
+     of progress indicates the fact that we are not to obtain the full
+     recognition of our rights at one bound, but that they are coming
+     step by step. To note the growth of our principles in the various
+     reform movements, let us look at the temperance organizations
+     throughout the length and breadth of this country; we find nearly
+     all of them now discussing the ballot for women. Why, no sooner
+     had Massachusetts, following the example of New Hampshire,
+     obtained the school ballot for women, than the Woman's Christian
+     Temperance Unions all over the State were a unit for the
+     temperance ballot, and the past year have had their agents
+     canvassing the State in the interest of school suffrage and "home
+     protection."
+
+     All who read the reports last winter of Frances E. Willard's
+     labors in Illinois in behalf of her Home Protection bill (for it
+     originated with her), of the list of petitioners of both sexes
+     she secured and took to Springfield, of the delegation of women
+     who accompanied her there to advocate her bill, must acknowledge
+     the educating force of all such untiring devotion for the right
+     to vote. Although she was not victorious, she was successful
+     beyond all expectation, for it is said, "Success is not always a
+     victory, nor is victory always a success in the end." Let me say
+     here, Miss Willard believes in the entire enfranchisement of her
+     sex, but in her earnest and faithful labors makes a specialty of
+     the temperance ballot.
+
+     At the annual meeting of the New Hampshire Woman's Christian
+     Temperance Union, held here one year ago, a resolution was
+     offered by a most worthy lady, indorsing suffrage for women on
+     all temperance questions. It was at once vigorously opposed by
+     some, while others, although believing in it, feared it would
+     divide their ranks if it passed, and felt too timid to give it
+     their support. The lady offering it, seeing it would be defeated,
+     withdrew it, at the same time giving notice that she should
+     present the same, or one similar, to that body every year as long
+     as she lived, or until it passed. Last month the same
+     organization held its annual meeting in Portsmouth, and that
+     lady, as good as her word, was there with her resolution on
+     temperance suffrage, and it passed unanimously, about 100
+     delegates being present and voting, many of whom acknowledged the
+     timidity they felt last year, but now earnestly gave it their
+     support. Such experiences give us some idea of the different
+     instrumentalities by which our cause is forced upon conservative
+     minds for consideration, ending in honest conviction.
+
+     In closing, I know you will all unite with me in tributes to Mr.
+     Garrison. Now that he has gone to join that innumerable host of
+     philanthropists in the higher life, let us rejoice that he was
+     one of the leaders of that reform which brings us here to-day.
+     And now, friends, in view of the present status of our cause,
+     have we not much to encourage us in our work? May we go forward
+     in that spirit of good-will that shall bring us a speedy victory.
+
+Resolutions of respect to the memory of Mrs. Abby P. Ela, William
+Lloyd Garrison and Angelina Grimke Weld were adopted by a rising
+vote.
+
+In the _National Citizen_ of December 14, 1879, we find the
+following:
+
+     Marilla M. Ricker of New Hampshire had an executive hearing
+     before the governor and council of that State, November 18, in
+     regard to the management of the State prison. Mrs. Ricker, who in
+     winter practices law in Washington, and is known as "the
+     prisoner's friend," referred to the cruel treatment of convicts
+     in various States, notably in New Hampshire, where prisoners are
+     not permitted to read the magazines or the weekly newspapers
+     which contain no record of crime, nor to receive words from their
+     friends, as in other States they are allowed at stated times to
+     do. When Mrs. Ricker desired to see a certain prisoner and let
+     him know he had friends who were yet mindful of his comfort, the
+     warden replied that he did not wish that man "to think he had a
+     friend in the world." Mrs. Ricker warmly protested against such
+     brutality. The attorney-general agreed with Mrs. Ricker,
+     remarking that the line between crimes punished and those not
+     punished, and the lines between those in prison and those
+     outside who ought to be there, were so dim and shadowy that great
+     care should be exercised in order to secure just and humane
+     treatment for prisoners. Mrs. Ricker's remarks were earnest and
+     dignified, and were listened to with the closest attention by the
+     governor and his official advisers. At the close of the hearing
+     the governor referred the subject to the special prison committee
+     of the council, directing its members to procure all possible
+     information as to the management of penitentiaries in other
+     States, and report at the next meeting. Through Mrs. Ricker's
+     influence the last legislature passed an act providing that any
+     convict may send sealed letters to the governor or council
+     without their being read by the warden.
+
+In 1882 a judicial decision in New Hampshire recognized the advance
+legislation of that State in regard to the position of married
+women. This decision shows that they are no longer under the shadow
+of the old common law, but now hold equal dignity and power as
+individuals and joint heads in family life. The "divinely ordained
+head," with absolute control in the home, to rule according to his
+will and pleasure, is at last ruled out of the courts altogether,
+as the following case illustrates:
+
+     Mrs. Harris and her husband sued Mrs. Webster and her husband for
+     slanders uttered by Mrs. Webster against Mrs. Harris. The suit
+     was brought on the old theory that the legal personality of the
+     wife is merged in that of her husband; that she is under his
+     control, his chattel, his ox, and therefore he is responsible for
+     her trespasses as for those of his other domestic cattle. The
+     Court held that the wife is no longer an "ox" or "chattel," but a
+     person responsible for her acts, and that her innocent husband
+     could not be held responsible for her wrong. In rendering the
+     decision in this case, Judge Foster further said: "It is no
+     longer possible to say that in New Hampshire a married woman is a
+     household slave or a chattel, or that in New Hampshire the
+     conjugal unity is represented solely by the husband. By custom
+     and by statute the wife is now joint master of the household, and
+     not a slave or a servant. The rule now is that her legal
+     existence is not suspended. So practically has the ancient unity
+     become dissevered and dissolved that the wife may not only have
+     her separate property, contracts, debts, wages, and causes of
+     separate action growing out of a violation of her personal
+     rights, but she may enter into legal contract with her husband
+     and enforce it by suit against him."
+
+The writer of the following letter is a successful farmer,
+remarkable for her executive ability in all the practical affairs
+of life, as well as for her broad philanthropy. One year she sent,
+as a contribution to our Washington convention, a tub of butter
+holding about sixty pounds, which was sold on the platform and the
+proceeds put into the treasury of the National Association:
+
+     _Dear Friends assembled in the Washington Convention:_
+
+     Last week our new town-house was dedicated. The women accompanied
+     their husbands. One man spoke in favor of woman suffrage--said it
+     was "surely coming." In this town, at the Corners, for several
+     years they tried to get a graded school, but the men voted it
+     down. After the women had the school-suffrage, one lady, who had
+     a large family and did not wish to send her children away from
+     home, rallied all the women of the Corners, carried the vote, and
+     they now have a good graded school. Our village is moving down,
+     that the boys and girls may have the benefit of the good school
+     there. I think the women who have been indifferent and not
+     availed themselves of their small voting privilege, by which we
+     might have established the same class of school in our village,
+     will now regret their negligence, at least every time they have
+     to send three miles for a doctor. Thus, stupid people, blind to
+     their own interest, punish themselves. I regret not being able to
+     send a fuller report of the good that woman's use of the ballot,
+     in a limited form, has done for us in this State. The voting in
+     the town-hall is the "infant school" for women in the use of the
+     ballot. Thanking the ladies all for meeting at the capital of the
+     nation, and regretting not to be counted among the number, I am,
+
+                         Yours sincerely,           MARY A. P. FILLEY.
+
+     _North Haverill, January 5, 1884._
+
+In closing this chapter some mention should be made of the
+invaluable services of Senator Blair,[193] who, in his place, has
+always nobly defended the rights of women. He was a member of the
+first special committee ever appointed to look after the interests
+of women in the United States Senate. The leaders of the movement
+in that State claim that they helped to place Senator Blair in his
+present position by defeating his predecessor, Mr. Wadleigh, who
+was hostile to the enfranchisement of women.
+
+               UNITED STATES SENATE, WASHINGTON, D. C., March 5, 1884.
+
+     MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I had the honor duly to receive your
+     invitation to address the National Association during its
+     sessions in this city, for which I heartily thank you; but the
+     pressure of duties in the Senate, service upon committees being
+     just now specially exacting, makes it impossible for me to
+     accept.
+
+     I trust that I need not assure you of my full belief that woman
+     has the right and ought to have the privilege to vote. Whenever a
+     fundamental right exists both public and individual welfare are
+     promoted by its exercise and injured by its suppression. The
+     exercise of rights is only another name for the discharge of
+     duties, and the denial of the suffrage to an adult human being,
+     not deprived of it for mental or penal disability, is an
+     intolerable wrong. Such denial is not only a deprivation of right
+     to the individual, but it is an injury to the State, which is
+     only well governed when controlled by the conflicting opinions,
+     sentiments and interests of the whole, harmonized in the
+     ballot-box, and, by its fiat, elevated to the functions of law.
+     But you have no occasion for expression of theoretical views from
+     me.
+
+     If I may be pardoned a suggestion, it would be the specification
+     to the public mind of the practical uses and benefits which would
+     result from the exercise of the suffrage by women. Men are not
+     conscious that women lack the practical protection of the laws or
+     the comforts and conveniences of material and social relations
+     more than themselves. The possession of the ballot as a practical
+     means of securing happiness does not appear to the masses to be
+     necessary to women in our country. Men say: "We do the best we
+     can for our wives and children and relatives. They are as well
+     off as we." In a certain sense this appears to be true. The other
+     and higher truth is that woman suffrage is necessary in order
+     that society may advance. The natural conservatism of an existing
+     order of things will not give way to a new factor in the control
+     of affairs, until it has been shown in what way enlightened
+     selfishness may hope for good to society if the change be made.
+     Here it seems to me that the convention may now strike a blow
+     more powerful than for many years. Society has not so labored
+     with the great problems which concern its own salvation for
+     generations.
+
+     What would woman do with the ballot if she had it? What for
+     education? What for sobriety? What for social purity? What for
+     equalizing the conditions and the rewards of labor--the labor of
+     her own sex first--and towards a just division of production
+     among all members of the community? What for the removal, or for
+     the amelioration when removal is impossible, of hunger, cold,
+     disease and degradation, from the daily lives of human beings?
+     What could and what _would_ woman do with the ballot which is not
+     now as well done by man alone, to improve the conditions which
+     envelope individual existence as with bands of iron? What good
+     things--state them _seriatim_, as the lawyers say--could woman do
+     in New Hampshire and in New York city, and ultimately among the
+     savage tribes of the earth, which she cannot do as well without
+     as with the suffrage? Would woman by her suffrage even _help_ to
+     remove illiteracy from Louisiana, intemperance from New England,
+     and stop society from committing murder by the tenement-house
+     abuses of New York? Let the convention specify what practical
+     good woman will try to achieve with her God-given rights,
+     provided that men will permit her to enjoy them. Show us wherein
+     you will do _us_ good if we will rob you no longer. It might
+     influence us greatly. Why should we do right for nothing? In
+     fact, unless you show that the exercise of your alleged right
+     will be useful, can you logically conclude that you have any? We
+     must have proof that the experiment will not fail before we will
+     even try it. You must connect the ballot with progress and reform
+     and convince men that they, as well as women, will be better off
+     for its possession by the whole of the adult community rather
+     than only by a part. Theories may be true, but they are seldom
+     reduced to practice by society unless it can be clearly seen that
+     their adoption will heal some hurt or introduce some broad and
+     general good.
+
+     The increasing discussion of industrial, educational, sanitary,
+     and social questions generally, indicates the domain of argument
+     and effort where victories for the advocates of enlarged suffrage
+     are most likely, and I think are sure to be won. Woman should
+     study specially what is called, for the want of a better term,
+     the labor problem--a problem which includes in its scope almost
+     everything important to everybody. I know this is an unnecessary
+     suggestion, for it is just what you are doing. I only write it
+     because repetition of the important is better than to recite
+     platitudes or even to quote the declaration. I believe in your
+     success because I believe in justice and in the advancement of
+     mankind.
+
+          Very respectfully, your obedient servant,    HENRY W. BLAIR.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[188] _Concord_, Nathaniel P. White, Mrs. Sarah Pillsbury, Rev. J.
+F. Lovering, P. B. Cogswell, Mrs. Eliza Morrill, Mrs. Louisa W.
+Wood, Col. James E. Larkin, Mrs. J. F. Lovering, Charles S. Piper,
+Mrs. Armenia S. White, Mrs. M. M. Smith, Mrs. F. E. Kittredge, Mrs.
+Sarah Piper, Mrs. Ira Abbott, Mrs. L. M. Bust, Dr. A. Morrill, Mrs.
+P. Ladd, Mrs. R. A. Smith, George W. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. J. V.
+Aldrich, Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Smith, Mrs. T. H. Brown, Mrs. R. Hatch,
+Mrs. J. L. Crawford, Mrs. Anna Dumas, Miss Harriet C. Edmunds, Miss
+Salina Stevens, Miss Mary A. Denning, Miss N. E. Fessender, Miss M.
+L. Noyes, Miss Clara Noyes, James H. Chase, Peter Sanborn;
+_Lancaster_, Rev. J. M. L. Babcock; _Rochester_, Mrs. Abby P. Ela;
+_Bradford_, Mrs. L. A. T. Lane, Miss M. J. Tappan; _Laconia_, Rev.
+J. L. Gorman, William M. Blair; _Manchester_, Dr. M. O. A. Hunt;
+_Plymouth_, Hon. D. R. Burnham; _Portsmouth_, Hon. A. W. Haven;
+_Canterbury_, Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Clough; _Lebanon_, A. M. Shaw;
+_Keene_, Col. and Mrs. Wilson; _Grafton_, Mr. and Mrs. Peter
+Kimball; _Northfield_, Mrs. D. E. Hill; _Franklin_, Rev. Wm. T.
+Savage; _Canaan_, William W. George; _Littleton_, R. D. Runneville.
+
+[189] They had their influence in the church as well as the State,
+as the following item in _The Revolution_, July 16, 1868, shows:
+"The New Hampshire convention of Universalists, at their late
+anniversary, adopted unanimously a resolution in favor of woman's
+elevation to entire equality with man in every civil, political and
+religious right."
+
+[190] _President_, Mrs. Armenia S. White. _Vice-Presidents_, Rev.
+J.F. Lovering, Concord; Mrs. A.L. Thomas, Laconia; Ossian Ray,
+Lancaster; Mrs. S. Pillsbury, Concord; J.V. Aldrich, West Concord;
+Mrs. Mary Worcester, Nashua; Mrs. Mary Barker, Alton; Peter
+Kimball, Grafton; E.J. Durant, Lebanon; Mrs. Fannie V. Roberts,
+Dover; Miss A.C. Payson, Peterboro; Mrs. E.A. Bartlett, Kingston;
+Mr. Springfield, South Wolfboro; Galen Foster, Canterbury; Mrs.
+R.M. Miller, Manchester; Mrs. Nancy Gilman, Tilton; C. Ballou,
+North Weare; D. Burnham, Plymouth. _Executive Committee_, Nathaniel
+White, Mrs. E.C. Lovering, Col. J.E. Larkin, Concord; Mrs. J. Abby
+Ela, Rochester; Rev. Wm. T. Savage, Franklin; Mrs. Eliza Morrill,
+Mrs. Daniel Holden, West Concord; Miss Caroline Foster, Canterbury;
+P.B. Cogswell, Mrs. Louisa Wood, Mrs. M.M. Smith, Concord; Dr.
+M.V.A. Hunt, Manchester. _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. E.C. Lovering,
+Concord. _Corresponding Secretary_, Dr. J. Gallinger. _Treasurer_,
+Jas. H. Chase.
+
+[191] Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Thomas Wentworth
+Higginson, Frederick Hinckley, Lucy Stone, Frances Ellen Harper,
+Dr. Sarah H. Hathaway, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Rev. Mr. Connor,
+Rev. Ada C. Bowles, Emma Coe Still, Rev. Lorenza Haynes, Mary Grew,
+Mary A. Livermore, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Margaret W. Campbell,
+Anna Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Rev.
+Olympia Brown, Lillie Devereux Blake, Elizabeth A. Meriwether,
+Elizabeth Lisle Saxon, Susan B. Anthony.
+
+[192] The speakers at this hearing were Mr. Galen Foster of
+Canterbury, Senators Gallinger and Shaw, Mrs. Abby Goold Woolson,
+H. P. Rolfe, S. B. Page, Rev. E. L. Conger and Mrs. Armenia S.
+White.
+
+[193] Reelected to the Senate, June, 1885.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+VERMONT.
+
+     Clarina Howard Nichols--Council of Censors--Amending the
+     Constitution--St. Andrew's Letter--Mr. Reed's Report--Convention
+     Called--H. B. Blackwell on the _Vermont Watchman_--Mary A.
+     Livermore in the _Woman's Journal_--Sarah A. Gibbs' Reply to Rev.
+     Mr. Holmes--School Suffrage.
+
+
+After the miseries growing out of the civil war were in a measure
+mitigated, there was a general awakening in the New England States
+on the question of suffrage for women, and in 1868 one after
+another organized for action. What Nathaniel P. Rogers was to New
+Hampshire in the anti-slavery struggle that was Clarina Howard
+Nichols[194] to Vermont in early calling attention to the unjust
+laws for woman. From 1843 to 1853 she edited the _Windham County
+Democrat_, in which she wrote a series of editorials on the
+property rights of women, and from year to year made her appeals in
+person to successive legislatures. Her patient labors for many
+years prepared the way for the organized action of 1868. The women
+of that State can never too highly appreciate all that it cost that
+noble woman to stand alone, as she did, through such bitter
+persecutions, vindicating for them the great principles of
+republican government.
+
+And now, after a quarter of a century, instead of that one solitary
+voice in the district school-house and the State capitol, are heard
+in all Vermont's towns and cities, echoing through her valleys and
+mountains, the clarion voices of a whole band of distinguished men
+and women from all the Eastern States. The revival of the woman
+question in Vermont began with propositions to amend the
+constitution. We are indebted to a series of letters, written by a
+citizen of Burlington, signed "St. Andrew," for many of the
+interesting incidents and substantial facts as to the initiative
+steps taken in this campaign. He said:
+
+     The only way of amending the constitution is for the people
+     (meaning the male voters) to elect, every seventh year, a board
+     called the Council of Censors, consisting of thirteen persons.
+     This council can, within a certain time, propose amendments to
+     the constitution, and call a convention of one delegate from each
+     town, elected by the freemen, to adopt or reject the articles of
+     amendment proposed by the council. The Council of Censors,
+     elected in March, 1869, proposed six amendments: (1) In relation
+     to the creation of corporations; (2) in relation to biennial
+     sessions and elections; (3) in relation to filling vacancies in
+     the office of senators and town representatives; (4) in relation
+     to the appointment, terms, etc., of judges of the Supreme Court;
+     (5) providing that women shall be entitled to vote, and with no
+     other restrictions than the law shall impose on men; (6) in
+     relation to the manner of amending the constitution.
+
+     The election of delegates occurs on Tuesday, May 10, and the
+     convention meets on the first Wednesday in June. There is no
+     general excitement in the State in relation to any of the
+     proposed changes; and now, upon the eve of the election, it is
+     impossible for the most sagacious political observer to predict
+     the fate of any of the amendments. The fifth is the only one in
+     support of which public meetings have been held, and those took
+     place the early part of the spring at the larger places in the
+     State. The friends have never expected to obtain a majority, nor
+     even a considerable vote in the convention, and the meetings that
+     have been held were not expected to settle the question, but to
+     awaken the public mind upon the subject. These meetings have been
+     a decided success, attended by hundreds of intelligent citizens,
+     many of whom for the first time listened to an address upon the
+     subject. It is true that ladies were advised to remain away, but
+     such advice generally resulted in a larger attendance; and to-day
+     the measure has a firmer support than ever before, and its
+     advocates are more confident of final success. We may not have
+     more than "_ten righteous_" men elected to the convention, but
+     that number was enough to save the cities of the _plain_, and we
+     have full faith that as small a number can save the cities of the
+     _mountains_.
+
+     The press of the State is divided on the subject. We have two
+     dailies--one, the _Rutland Herald_, the oldest paper in the
+     State, in favor of the movement, and the _Free Press_ of
+     Burlington, opposed to it. After the coming convention, no change
+     can be made in our constitution for seven years, at least, and if
+     the sixth amendment be adopted, not for ten years. But, in the
+     meantime, the question will assume more importance by a constant
+     agitation as to the equality of the sexes, the admission of women
+     to the State University, the professions, and other rights to
+     which men are entitled. Vermont can never emulate in wealth and
+     population the manufacturing States of the seaboard, or the
+     prairie States of the West; but she can win a nobler preeminence
+     in the quality of her institutions. She may be the first State,
+     as Wyoming already is the first territory, to give political
+     equality to woman, and to show the world the model of a true
+     republic.
+
+                                                           ST. ANDREW.
+
+     _Burlington, Vt., May 1, 1870._
+
+Mr. Reed of Washington county submitted the report in favor of the
+woman suffrage amendment, from which we give the following:
+
+     One-half of the people of our State are denied the right of
+     suffrage. Yet woman has all the qualifications--the capacity, the
+     desire for the public welfare, that man has. She is among the
+     governed. She pays taxes. Even-handed justice, a fair application
+     of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and of our
+     State constitution, give woman the ballot. There is no reason why
+     woman should not be allowed to do what she is so eminently fit to
+     do. We know no good reason why the most ignorant man should vote
+     and the intelligent woman be refused. Our present political
+     institutions were formed and shaped when men had their chief
+     interests and pursuits out of doors, and women remained the
+     humble slaves at home. The social change has been immense. Now
+     woman sits by the side of man, is his companion and associate in
+     his amusements, and in his labors, save the one of governing the
+     country. And it is time that she should be in this.
+
+     The position of woman in regard to the common schools of the
+     State is the most unjust. She must always be the chief instructor
+     of the young in point of time and influence. She is their best
+     teacher at home and in the school. And her share in this
+     ever-expanding work is becoming vaster every day. Woman as
+     mother, sister, teacher, has an intelligence, a comprehension of
+     the educational needs of our youth, and an interest in their
+     development, far in advance of the other sex. She can organize,
+     control and teach the most difficult school in the State; yet she
+     has no vote in the selection of teachers, the building,
+     arrangements and equipments of school-houses, nor in the method
+     and extent of instruction. She can pay her share of the expenses
+     of schools, but can have no legal voice in their management. She
+     can teach, but she can have no vote in determining what shall be
+     taught. She is the very corner-stone of institutions which she
+     has no power in shaping. Let us have her open, avowed and public
+     cooeperation--always safer than indirect influence.
+
+The submission of an amendment to the constitution necessarily
+aroused a general agitation on the proposed changes. The fifth
+amendment decided on by the board of censors seemed to create a
+more general interest than either of the others, and accordingly a
+meeting was called for its full consideration, that efficient steps
+might be taken for a thorough canvass of the State, preparatory to
+the May election, and issued the following call:
+
+     The friends of woman suffrage in Vermont are requested to meet in
+     mass convention at Montpelier on Wednesday, February 2, at 10
+     o'clock, for the purpose of considering and advancing the best
+     interests of the cause in this State, in view of the
+     constitutional amendment proposed by the council of censors. The
+     convention will be addressed by several ladies and prominent
+     gentlemen of this State, and by William Lloyd Garrison, Julia
+     Ward Howe and Rev. Ada C. Bowles of Massachusetts; Lucy Stone and
+     Henry B. Blackwell of New Jersey, and Mary A. Livermore of
+     Illinois. A public meeting will also be held the evening before
+     the convention, which will be addressed by some of the eminent
+     speakers above named. The Hutchinson family will be present and
+     sing their woman suffrage songs. The Vermont Central, Passumpsic,
+     Rutland and Burlington and Bennington and Rutland lines of
+     railroad will extend the courtesy of free return checks, provided
+     they shall be applied for by twenty-five or more persons paying
+     full fare one way over an average distance of each of their
+     respective roads, which will be determined by the secretary.
+
+               C. W. WILLARD,             JAMES HUTCHINSON, JR.,
+               GEORGE H. BIGELOW,         CHARLES REED,
+               NEWMAN WEEKS,              JONATHAN ROSS,
+                               JAMES S. PECK.
+                _Ex. Com. Vermont Woman Suffrage Association_.[195]
+
+     _Montpelier_, January 10, 1870.
+
+It is a noticeable fact that the movement for the enfranchisement
+of woman in Vermont was inaugurated wholly by men. Not a woman was
+on its official board, nor was there one to speak in the State. Men
+called the first woman's rights convention, and chose Hon. Charles
+Reed of Montpelier as its presiding officer, as well as president
+of the State association.
+
+However, these gentlemen invited ladies from other States, and a
+series of meetings[196] was inaugurated through the chief towns and
+cities of Vermont. The speakers[197] were heartily welcomed at some
+points and rudely received at others. The usual "free-love" cry was
+started by some of the opposition papers--a cry that like "infidel"
+in the anti-slavery days, oft' times frightened even the faithful
+from their propriety. Henry B. Blackwell came to the rescue, and
+ably answered the _Vermont Watchman_:
+
+     The _Vermont Watchman_ evades the discussion of the question
+     whether women shall be entitled to vote, by raising false issues.
+     The editor asserts that "many of the advocates of suffrage have
+     thrown scorn upon marriage and upon the Divine Word." That
+     assertion we denounced as an unfounded and wicked calumny. We
+     also objected to it as an evasion of the main question. Thereupon
+     the _Watchman_, instead of correcting its mistake and discussing
+     the question of suffrage, repeats the charge, and seeks to
+     sustain it by garbled quotations and groundless assertions, which
+     we stigmatized accordingly. The _Watchman_ now calls upon us to
+     retract the stigma. We prefer to prove that our censure is
+     deserved, and proceed to do so.
+
+     The first quotation of the _Watchman_ is from an editorial in the
+     _Woman's Journal_, entitled "Political Organization." The object
+     of which was to show the propriety of doing what the _Watchman_
+     refuses to do--viz.: of discussing woman suffrage upon its own
+     merits. It showed the unfairness of complicating the question
+     with other topics upon which friends of woman suffrage honestly
+     differ. It regretted that "many well-meaning people insist on
+     dragging in their peculiar views on theology, temperance,
+     marriage, race, dress, finance, labor, capital--it matters not
+     what." It condemned "a confusion of ideas which have no logical
+     connection," and protested "against loading the good ship, Woman
+     Suffrage, with a cargo of irrelevant opinions." The _Watchman_
+     cites this article as an admission that some of the friends of
+     suffrage advocate free-love. Not at all. The editor of the
+     _Watchman_ is himself one of the well-meaning people alluded to.
+     He insists on dragging in irrelevant theological and social
+     questions. He refuses to confine himself to the issue of
+     suffrage. The _Watchman_ quotes a single sentence of the
+     following statement:
+
+          The advocates of woman's equality differ utterly upon every
+          other topic. Some are abolitionists, others hostile to the
+          equality of races. Some are evangelical Christians; others
+          Catholics, Unitarians, Spiritualists, or Quakers. Some hold
+          the most rigid theories with regard to marriage and divorce;
+          others are latitudinarian on these questions. In short,
+          people of the most opposite views agree in desiring to
+          establish woman suffrage, while they anticipate very
+          different results from the reform, when effected.
+
+     The above is cited as evidence against us. How so? A man may hold
+     "latitudinarian theories in regard to marriage and divorce"
+     without "throwing scorn upon the marriage relation," or having
+     the slightest sympathy with free-love. For instance: The present
+     law of Vermont is latitudinarian is these very particulars. It
+     grants divorce for many other causes than adultery. Measured by
+     the more conservative standard of Henry Ward Beecher and Mary A.
+     Livermore, it allows divorce upon insufficient grounds. This law
+     represents the public sentiment of a majority of the people of
+     Vermont. Will the _Watchman_ assert that the people of Vermont
+     "throw scorn on the marriage relation"? Or that he is in "low
+     company" because he is surrounded by the citizens of a State who
+     entertain views upon the marriage relation less rigid than his
+     own? Our indignant protest against the injustice of the common
+     law, which subjects the person, property, earnings and children
+     of married women to the irresponsible control of their husbands,
+     is not a protest against marriage. It is a vindication of
+     marriage, against the barbarism of the law which degrades a
+     noble and life-long partnership of equals into a mercenary and
+     servile relation between superior and dependant.
+
+     The _Watchman_ assails prominent supporters of woman suffrage,
+     and misquotes and misrepresents them. Because Theodore Tilton is
+     unwilling "that men or women shall be compelled to live together
+     as husband and wife against the inward protest of their own
+     souls," therefore he is charged with advocating free-love. Is it
+     possible that the editor regards such a relation of protest and
+     disgust as consistent with the unity of Christian marriage? Is it
+     right that a pure and noble man, the tender husband of a happy
+     wife, the loving father of affectionate children, should be thus
+     causelessly traduced for showing that the essential fact of
+     marriage is in that unity of soul which is recognized and
+     affirmed by the outward form? When the _Watchman_ undertakes to
+     brand men and women of irreproachable character for an
+     intellectual difference, he is engaged in a very unworthy
+     business. When he charges immorality upon the _New York
+     Independent_ and infidelity upon John Stuart Mill, he forgets
+     that his readers have minds of their own.
+
+     But, suppose it were true that newspapers and individuals who
+     believe in woman suffrage held objectionable views on other
+     subjects, what has this to do with the merit of the proposed
+     reform? There are impure and intemperate men in the Republican
+     party. Is the Republican party therefore "low company"? There are
+     brutal and ignorant and disloyal men in the Democratic party.
+     Does this prove that Dr. Lord and every other Democrat in the
+     State of Vermont is brutal and ignorant and disloyal? The Supreme
+     Court of the United States has just decided that a divorce
+     obtained under the laws of Indiana is legal and binding in every
+     other State. In thus affirming Mrs. McFarland's right to marry
+     Mr. Richardson, has the Supreme Court of the United States
+     sanctioned free-love? Will the _Watchman_ call Chief-Justice
+     Chase and the Supreme Court free-lovers? We have very little hope
+     that the _Watchman_ will treat this question with fairness or
+     candor. Our cause is too strong. The argument from reason, from
+     revelation, from nature, from history, is on our side. The
+     _Watchman_ is fighting against the Declaration of Independence,
+     the bill of rights of the State of Vermont, and the principles of
+     representative government. No wonder that it raises false issues.
+     No wonder that it evades the question.
+
+                                                  H. B. B.
+
+The following editorial in the _Woman's Journal_, from the pen of
+Mary A. Livermore, does not give a very rose-colored view of the
+reception of the Massachusetts missionaries on their first advent
+into Vermont:
+
+     The Vermont constitutional convention has rejected a proposition
+     to give the ballot to woman, by a vote of 231 to 1. It flouted
+     all discussion of the question, and voted it down with the utmost
+     alacrity. No one cognizant of the bigotry, narrowness and general
+     ignorance that prevail there will be surprised at this result. It
+     is not a progressive State, but the contrary. Great stress has
+     been laid on the fact that "Vermont never owned a slave"--and
+     from this it has been argued that the Green Mountain State is
+     and has been especially liberty-loving. But during the two brief
+     visits we made last winter, we were told again and again, by
+     Vermont men, that the only reason for the non-introduction of
+     slavery was the impracticability of that form of labor among the
+     Green Mountains--that slavery could never have been made
+     profitable there, and that this, and not principle and heroic
+     love of freedom, prevented Vermont from ever being a slave State.
+     Nowhere, not even in the roughest and remotest West, have we met
+     with such vulgar rudeness, ill-manners and heroic lying as we
+     encountered in Vermont. The lecturers who were invited into the
+     State by the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association, composed wholly
+     of men, were in many instances left unsupported by them, allowed
+     to meet the frequently rough audiences as best they could, to pay
+     their own bills, and to manage the campaign as they might. At the
+     very first intimation of opposition on the part of the
+     _Montpelier Argus_, the _Watchman_ and the _Burlington Free
+     Press_--an unworthy trio of papers that appear to control the
+     majority--many members of the State association showed the "white
+     feather," and either apologetically backed out of the canvass, or
+     ignominiously kept silent in the background. There was,
+     therefore, nothing like a thorough discussion of the question, no
+     fair meeting of truth and error, not even an attempt to canvass
+     the State. For, not ambitious to waste their efforts on such
+     flinty soil, the men and women who were invited to labor there
+     shook off the dust (snow) of Vermont from their feet, and turned
+     to more hopeful fields of labor.
+
+     Let it not be supposed, however, that this vote of the delegates
+     of the constitutional convention is any indication of the
+     sentiment of the women on this question. The fact that 231 women
+     of lawful age, residents of Brattleborough, and 96 of Newfane,
+     sent a petition for woman suffrage, with their reasons for asking
+     it, to Charles K. Field, delegate from that town to the
+     constitutional convention; that petitions from other hundreds of
+     women have been forwarded to congress, praying for a sixteenth
+     amendment; that, by letters and personal statements, we know the
+     most intelligent and thoughtful women everywhere rebel against
+     the State laws whose heathenism, despotism and absurdity were so
+     well shown by Mrs. Nichols in 1845--all these facts are proofs
+     that the sentiment of Vermont women is not represented by the
+     constitutional convention now in session at Montpelier.--[M. A.
+     L.
+
+August 12, 1871, our Burlington correspondent says:
+
+     While conventions, picnics and bazar meetings, in the cause of
+     woman suffrage, have been held in our sister States, an event has
+     very quietly occurred with us which we deem an important step in
+     the right direction, viz.: the admission of women to the
+     University. By an almost unanimous vote of the corporation, a few
+     conservatives opposing it, the matter was referred to the
+     faculty, who are understood to be heartily in favor of the "new
+     departure." The college that has thus thrown its doors wide open
+     to all, is the University of Vermont and State Agricultural
+     College, founded by the munificence of General Ira Allen in 1791.
+     It commenced operations in 1800; the Federal troops used its
+     buildings for barracks in the war of 1812; the buildings (and
+     library) were burned in 1824, and reconstructed in the following
+     year, when the corner-stone was laid by General Lafayette. It
+     sent forth nearly all its sons to the great rebellion. Indeed, at
+     one time its condition served to remind one of the lines of
+     Holmes--
+
+          "Lord, how the _Senior_ knocked about
+            That Freshman class of _one_."
+
+     It has graduated such men as the late Senator Collamer, John G.
+     Smith, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad; William G. T.
+     Shedd, the learned theologian; the late Henry J. Raymond of the
+     New York _Times_; John A. Kasson of Iowa, Frederick Billings, and
+     a host of others, eminent in all the walks of life. Its late
+     president, who was an "Angell from Providence," and has just been
+     elected president of Michigan University, is heartily in favor of
+     the movement, and the president-elect, Matthew H. Buckham, is no
+     less so. With its new president and its "new departure" the
+     future bids fair even to outshine the past.
+
+     It may be well to inquire the reason why a college located in a
+     State regarded by outsiders "as the most conservative of the
+     Union on the woman suffrage question," should take a step so far
+     in advance of what has been deemed the prevailing sentiment.
+     Editors who have been battling the new reform with a zeal equaled
+     only by that manifested against abolitionism a few years since,
+     can see no necessary connection between the new movement and the
+     general cause of woman's emancipation. Whether necessary or not,
+     there is a practical connection between them which is being felt
+     more and more every day. I assert, with no fear of contradiction
+     by any observing man, that Vermont is no more committed against
+     woman suffrage than any other State in the East, and the fact
+     that but one man in our late convention voted to extend the right
+     of suffrage to all, can well be explained when we consider the
+     manner of choosing delegates by towns; one town, for instance,
+     with twelve voters, having the same voice in the representation
+     that this city has with 1,500. With a popular vote upon that
+     question the State would give such a majority as would fairly
+     astonish all those who regarded the late convention as a complete
+     demolition of the "reformers."
+
+                                             ST. ANDREW.
+
+The following criticism of the Rev. Mr. Holmes, from the pen of a
+woman, shows the growing self-assertion of a class hitherto held in
+a condition of subordination by clerical authority. Such
+tergiversation in the pulpit as his has done much to emancipate
+woman from the reverence she once felt for the teaching of those
+supposed to be divinely ordained of heaven:
+
+                                   BENSON, Vt., June 20, 1871.
+
+     I have heard it stated from the pulpit within a year that the
+     woman suffrage question in Vermont is dead. Well, we believe in
+     the resurrection. Week by week this question of the hour and of
+     the age confronts those who claim to have given it decent burial.
+     The same clergyman who pronounced it dead has since spoken of it
+     as one of the "growing evils of the times," and in this beautiful
+     summer weather he has felt called upon to preach another sermon,
+     ostensibly on "marriage," really upon this "dead question,"
+     dragging it out to daylight again, that we might see how easily
+     he could bury it fifty fathoms deep--with mud. It reminded me of
+     Robert Laird Collier's sermon, "The Folly of the Woman Movement,"
+     in its logic and its spirit. Mr. Collier and our Mr. Holmes see
+     but one thing in all this struggle for truth and justice, and
+     that is "free-love." Here are some specimens of Mr. Holmes'
+     assertions:
+
+          The advocates of woman's rights want, not the ballot so much
+          as the dissolution of the marriage tie. They propose to form
+          a tie for the term of five, six or seven years. Mark the men
+          or women who are the most strenuous advocates of woman
+          suffrage. They are irreligious and immoral.
+
+     Who are more strenuous advocates of woman suffrage than Mrs.
+     Julia Ward Howe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mrs. Isabella
+     Beecher Hooker, Mrs. Lucy Stone, Mrs. Lucretia Mott, Mrs.
+     Livermore, T. W. Higginson, Henry Ward Beecher, Bishop Simpson,
+     Governor Claflin, Gilbert Haven, Wendell Phillips, and scores of
+     others whose lives are as pure and intellects as fine as his who
+     dares stand in the sacred desk and call these persons
+     "irreligious and immoral"? His argument seems to be like this:
+     Some advocates of woman suffrage are in favor of easy divorces.
+     These men and women advocate woman suffrage; therefore these men
+     and women are in favor of easy divorces. Or, to make the matter
+     still plainer, some ministers of the Gospel are immoral. Mr. H.
+     is a minister of the Gospel; therefore Mr. H. is immoral. The
+     method of reasoning is the same, but it don't sound quite fair
+     and honorable, does it?
+
+     "In our land woman is a queen; she is loved and cared for," says
+     Mr. Holmes. In sight from the window where I write is a sad
+     commentary upon this. One of these queens, so tenderly cared for,
+     is hoeing corn, while her five-months-old baby--the youngest of
+     nine children--lies on the grass while she works. Her husband is
+     away from home, but has left word for the "old woman" to "take
+     care of the corn and potatoes, for he has to support the family."
+     When they are out of meat, she must go out washing and earn some,
+     for "he has to support the family," and cannot have her idle. Not
+     long since they were planting corn together, she doing as much as
+     he. At noon, although she had a pail of milk and another of eggs,
+     he brought her the two hoes to carry home, as he could not be
+     troubled with them. Had he ever read:
+
+          "I will be master of what is my own;
+          She is my goods, my chattels--
+          My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything"?
+
+     "No woman reaches such dignity as the New England wife and
+     mother," says Mr. H. Is wifehood more honorable, or motherhood
+     more sacred, in New England than in other places? Is to be a wife
+     and mother, and nothing else, the sole end and aim of woman? Or
+     is there not other work in God's universe which some woman may
+     possibly be called upon to do? Is Florence Nightingale or Anna
+     Dickinson less dignified than Mrs. John Smith, who happens
+     physically to be the mother of half-a-dozen children, but
+     mentally and morally is as much of a child as any of them?
+
+     "Woman has just the sphere she wants. She has more privileges
+     than she could vote herself into," says Mr. H. Has she, indeed? I
+     know women, who would gladly vote themselves into the privilege
+     of having the custody of their own children, whose husbands are
+     notoriously drunken and licentious. They are pure, good women,
+     who, rather than part with their children, live on with men whose
+     very breath is pollution. I know others who would like to vote
+     themselves into the privilege of retaining their own hard
+     earnings instead of having them sacrificed by a drunken husband.
+     Widows have been literally turned out of doors after their
+     husbands' death, and the property they had helped to accumulate
+     divided among those who never earned it. Do you think such women
+     would not change the laws of inheritance if they had the power?
+
+     "Husband and wife are one, hence one vote is sufficient," says
+     Mr. H. Follow out the reasoning, if you please. "Both one," hence
+     one dinner is sufficient, "both one," hence if a man is a member
+     of a church his wife is also. In plain English, "the husband and
+     wife are both one," and the husband is that one. Now in case
+     _that one_ should die, is it fair, or just, or fitting, that the
+     widow--"the relict"--or, in the words of Mr. H., "the feminine
+     spirit that has supplemented this masculine nature," whose hands
+     have been tied all these years, should be called upon to pay
+     taxes upon the share of property the law allows her? Taxation
+     without representation was the immediate cause of the famous
+     tea-party in Boston harbor, and, in fact, of a good many other
+     unpleasant things that followed.
+
+     "Woman has just the sphere she wants," says Mr. H., closing the
+     discussion. No, sir, she has not. Had those young ladies in
+     Philadelphia who were studying medicine, and were insulted day
+     after day by the male medical students, the sphere they wanted?
+     Our American girls have been to Europe for the sake of pursuing
+     their studies in medicine, and have met with kindness and
+     courtesy, while in this land, where they are called "queens,"
+     they received only hisses. Last winter Governor Claflin of
+     Massachusetts--one of those "irreligious and immoral" advocates
+     of woman suffrage--reminded the gentlemen of that State who claim
+     to be woman's representatives in the legislature, "that a wife in
+     that State is deprived of the free control of property that was
+     her own before marriage, and is denied an equal right in the
+     property accumulated during the marriage partnership; that a
+     married mother has no legal right to her child; and that a widow
+     has not equal rights with a widower." When woman has the sphere
+     she wants, these things will be changed.
+
+     As a majority of the men in this community are opposed to woman
+     suffrage, I will relate one circumstance that will do to "point a
+     moral or adorn a tale." Of course, the voters in this or any
+     other place always elect their best men to hold office, and the
+     board of selectmen would naturally be the very wisest and best,
+     the "_creme de la creme_." Now it so happens that one selectman
+     being away from home, there was not enough arithmetic left with
+     the other two to make out the tax-bills for the town, and they
+     hired a woman, the mother of two children, to do it for them. It
+     certainly took more of her time than it would for her to have
+     walked across the street and voted for men who could make out
+     their own tax-bills. Then arithmetic is not a womanly
+     accomplishment, like tatting, crocheting, etc. These things sink
+     into our hearts, and will bear fruit in due season.
+
+                                             SARAH A. GIBBS.
+
+In 1877, July 21, Miss Thyrza F. Pangborn, for the last six years
+the capable and efficient recorder in the probate office of
+Burlington, was appointed and sworn as a notary public. In a letter
+of December 7, 1872, our correspondent says:
+
+     In the year 1870, the world was somewhat startled by the fact
+     that in the constitutional convention, held that year in Vermont,
+     but one vote was cast for the enfranchisement of woman; and no
+     one wonders that the friends of that movement exclaimed, "Can any
+     good come out of--Vermont"? Yesterday the first biennial session
+     of the legislature closed its session of fifty-seven days. A bill
+     has been pending in each House, giving female tax-payers a right
+     to vote at all school-district meetings. It was advocated by Mr.
+     Butterfield, one of the leading members of the House, in an able
+     and learned speech, and received 64 votes to 103 against. Is not
+     that doing well for such a staid old State as Vermont, and one
+     where the enemies of equal suffrage supposed, two years since,
+     that the measure was indefinitely postponed? But this is not all.
+     The measure was introduced in the Senate, composed of thirty
+     members, who are supposed to be the balance-wheel of the General
+     Assembly. It was warmly discussed by several Senators, and the
+     vote taken, when there were three members absent, resulting in,
+     yeas 13, nays 14. Had the Senate been full, the vote would have
+     been, yeas 14,[198] nays 16. A change of one of the "no" votes
+     would have carried the measure, as the lieutenant-governor, who
+     presides in the Senate, would have given the casting vote in its
+     favor.
+
+     The supporters of the measure included some of the ablest members
+     of the Senate, among them the chairmen of the very important
+     Committees on Finance, Claims, Education, Agriculture,
+     Manufactures, Railroads and Printing.
+
+     Following the defeat of the above-mentioned bill came up a
+     measure granting to women the same right to vote as men have in
+     all elections everywhere in the State. It received the support of
+     all who voted for the school measure, save two, Mr. Mason and Mr.
+     Rogers, who prefer to see the first tried as an experiment in the
+     school meetings. You thus perceive that twelve out of our thirty
+     grave and reverend Senators are real out-and-out equal suffrage
+     men. Verily, the world moves! Another year, 1874, we hope will
+     carry off the measure. Meanwhile, we say, three cheers for old
+     Vermont, and glory enough for one day!
+
+                                             ST. ANDREW.
+
+     _Burlington, Vt._
+
+In 1880 the School Suffrage bill passed the Vermont House of
+Representatives, with only four dissenting votes. When the bill
+came to a third reading and only four men stood up for the
+negative, there was so marked an expression of derision that the
+speaker called for "order," and reminded the House that "no man was
+to be scorned for voting alone any more than with a crowd." The
+action and the voting came cheerily. More than one man, to the
+objection of "an entering wedge," said "he was ready to grant the
+whole." The bill passed the Senate triumphantly and was approved by
+the governor, December 18, 1880:
+
+          Women shall have the same right to vote as men have, in all
+          school-district meetings and in the election of school
+          commissioners in towns and cities, and the same right to
+          hold office relating to school affairs.
+
+An item in the _Woman's Journal_, from Vergennes, March 22, 1881,
+says:
+
+     At the city election to-day General J. H. Lucia, a staunch friend
+     of woman suffrage, was elected mayor, and principally through his
+     management Miss Electa S. Smith has been chosen to the office of
+     city clerk, which office he has held for the past two years. The
+     legislature of 1880 authorized the election of women to the
+     offices of superintendent of schools and town clerk, and some of
+     the friends of the cause were disposed to try the working of the
+     law here. They selected a candidate whose ability, qualifications
+     and thorough fitness all had to concede, and against whom the
+     only objection that could be raised was her being a woman. It
+     took the conservatives some time to get over their surprise at
+     the first suggestion of her name, but they admitted the propriety
+     of the thing and gallantly lent a hand, so that when the election
+     came all the candidates who had been talked about were
+     conspicuous by their absence, and Miss Smith was elected by
+     acclamation. Surely the world does move.
+
+                                   SPRINGFIELD, February 7, 1884.
+
+     _Miss Lydia Putnam, Brattleboro', Vt.:_
+
+     Your letter is at hand. I think but few women have, as yet,
+     availed themselves of the privilege of voting in school meetings
+     in this State, and I am not able to say what the effect upon our
+     schools has been up to the present time.
+
+                         Very respectfully,              JUSTUS DARTT.
+
+Notwithstanding the above reply from the state-superintendent of
+the public schools of Vermont, the Associated Press reports of
+every year[199] since 1881 make mention of women being elected to
+school offices in the various towns and counties of the State.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[194] No woman in so many varied fields of action has more steadily
+and faithfully labored than Mrs. Nichols, as editor, speaker,
+teacher, farmer, in Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio,
+Kansas, and California where she spent the closing years of her
+life; and though always in circumstances of hardship and privation,
+yet no annual convention was held without a long letter from her
+pen, uniformly the most cheerful and able of all that were
+received. A great soul that seemed to rise above the depressing
+influences of her surroundings! The last letter she ever wrote us
+was in January, 1885, a few days before she passed away. See Volume
+I., page 171.
+
+[195] Officers of the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association:
+_President_, Hon. Charles Reed, Montpelier. _Vice-presidents_, Hon.
+John B. Hollister, Bennington; Hon. Seneca M. Dorr, Rutland; Rev.
+Addison Brown, Brattleboro'; Col. Lynus E. Knapp, Middlebury; Hon.
+James Hutchinson, jr., West Randolph; Hon. Russell S. Taft,
+Burlington; Hon. A. J. Willard, St. Johnsbury; Hon. H. Henry
+Powers, Hyde Park; Hon. Jasper Rand, St. Albans. _Recording
+Secretary_, Henry Clark, Rutland. _Corresponding Secretary_, Albert
+Clarke, St. Albans. _Treasurer_, Albert D. Hager, Proctorsville.
+_Executive Committee_, Hon. C. W. Willard, Montpelier; Hon. Charles
+Reed, Montpelier; George H Bigelow, Burlington; Newman Weeks,
+Rutland; Hon. Jonathan Ross, St. Johnsbury; Rev. Eli Ballou, D. D.,
+Montpelier.
+
+[196] Following the convention at Montpelier, meetings were held at
+St. Albans, Northfield, Barre, Burlington, St. Johnsbury,
+Brattleboro', Rutland, Fairhaven, Castleton, Springfield and
+Bellows Falls.
+
+[197] Among the speakers were Mr. Garrison, Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Stone,
+Leo Miller, Mrs. Churchill, Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Campbell, Dr.
+Sarah Hathaway, Mrs. Bowles, Mr. Blackwell, Hon. A. J. Williard.
+Mr. Taft, Mr. Clark, Judge Carpenter, Mr. Ivison, the Rev. Messrs.
+Brigham, Eastwood, Brown and Emerson.
+
+[198] The fourteen who favored the bill were: Mr. Bigelow of
+Burlington, one of the leading editors in the State; Mr.
+Butterfield of Grafton, one of the most experienced legislators in
+the State; Mr. Carpenter of Northfield, who is known to be right on
+all questions that concern humanity, Mr. Colton of Irasburgh, now
+serving his second term in the Senate; Mr. Estey of Brattleboro',
+the manufacturer of the celebrated cottage organ; Mr. Houghton of
+North Bennington, a leading banker and business man who has just
+been elected one of the directors of our state-prison; Mr. King of
+North Montpelier, farmer; Mr. Lamb of Royalton, the oldest member
+in the Senate, a lawyer; Mr. Mason of Richmond, a man who would be
+described by a Yankee as "chock full of honesty and common-sense";
+Mr. Rogers of Wheelock and Mr. Stiles of Montgomery, both farmers,
+and as near like Mr. Mason as two peas are alike; Mr. Reynolds of
+Alburgh Springs, one of the absentees, but in favor of the bill, a
+prominent merchant; Mr. Powers, one of the ablest lawyers in the
+State, and, finally, Mr. Sprague of Brandon, a leading banker and
+manufacturer, the head and principal owner of the Brandon
+Manufacturing Company.
+
+[199] In 1885 there were thirty-three women elected to the office
+of school superintendent in eleven of the fourteen counties of the
+State, as follows: _Addison_, Miss A. L. Huntley; _Bennington_,
+Mrs. R. R. Wiley; _Caledonia_, Miss Nellie Russell, Mrs. A. F.
+Stevens, Mrs. E. Bradley, Miss S. E. Rogers; _Chittenden_, Mrs. S.
+M. Benedict, Mrs. L. M. Bates, Mrs. J. C. Draper; _Essex_, Mrs.
+Henry Fuller, Hettie W. Matthews, Jennie K. Stanley, Mrs. S. M.
+Day; _Franklin_, none; _Grand Isle_, Miss I. Montgomery; _La
+Moille_, Carrie P. Carroll, Miss C. A. Parker; _Orange_, Miss F. H.
+Graves, Miss A. A. Clement, Miss V. L. Farnham, Miss F. Martin;
+_Orleans_, none; _Rutland_, Mrs. I. C. Adams, Miss H. M.
+Bromley, Miss M. A. Mills, Lillian Tarbell, Mrs. H. M. Crowley;
+_Washington_, none; _Windham_, Mrs. J. M. Powers, Mrs. J. E.
+Phelps; _Windsor_, Mrs. E. G. White, Miss C. A. Lamb, Mrs. H. F.
+VanCor, Clara E. Perkins, Mrs. E. M. Lovejoy, Mrs. L. M. Hall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+NEW YORK--1860-1885.
+
+     Saratoga Convention, July 13, 14, 1869--State Society Formed,
+     Martha C. Wright, President--_The Revolution_ Established,
+     1868--Educational Movement--New York City Society, 1870,
+     Charlotte B. Wilbour, President--Presidential Campaign,
+     1872--Hearings at Albany, 1873--Constitutional Commission--An
+     Effort to Open Columbia College, President Barnard in
+     Favor--Centennial Celebration, 1876--School Officers--Senator
+     Emerson of Monroe, 1877--Gov. Robinson's Veto--School Suffrage,
+     1880--Gov. Cornell Recommended it in his Message--Stewart's Home
+     for Working Women--Women as Police--An Act to Prohibit
+     Disfranchisement--Attorney-General Russell's Adverse Opinion--The
+     Power of the Legislature to Extend Suffrage--Great Demonstration
+     in Chickering Hall, March 7, 1884--Hearing at Albany, 1885--Mrs.
+     Blake, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Howell, Gov. Hoyt of
+     Wyoming.
+
+
+The New York chapter in Volume I. closes with an account of some
+retrogressive legislation on the rights of married women,[200]
+showing that until woman herself has a voice in legislation her
+rights may be conceded or withheld at the option of the ruling
+powers, and that her only safety is in direct representation. The
+chapter on "Trials and Decisions" in Volume II., shows the
+injustice women have suffered in the courts, where they have never
+yet enjoyed the sacred right of trial by a jury of their own peers.
+
+After many years of persistent effort for the adjustment of special
+grievances, many of the leaders, seeing by what an uncertain tenure
+their civil rights were maintained by the legislative and judicial
+authorities, ceased to look to the State for redress, and turned to
+the general government for protection in the right of suffrage, the
+fundamental right by which all minor privileges and immunities are
+protected. Hence the annual meeting of the National Association,
+which had been regularly held in New York as one of the May
+anniversaries, was, from 1869, supplemented by a semi-annual
+convention in Washington for special influence upon congress.
+
+Until the war the work in New York was conducted by a central
+committee; but in the summer of 1869, the following call was issued
+for a convention at Saratoga Springs, to organize a State Society:
+
+     The advocates of woman suffrage will hold a State convention at
+     Saratoga Springs on the thirteenth and fourteenth of July, 1869.
+     The specific business of this convention will be to effect a
+     permanent organization for the State of New York. Our friends in
+     the several congressional districts should at once elect their
+     delegates, in order that the whole State may be represented in
+     the convention. In districts where delegates cannot be elected,
+     any person can constitute himself or herself a representative.
+     The convention will be attended by the ablest advocates of
+     suffrage for woman, and addresses may be expected from Elizabeth
+     Cady Stanton, president of the National Association, Celia
+     Burleigh, president of the Brooklyn Equal Rights Association,
+     Matilda Joslyn Gage, advisory counsel for the State, Susan B.
+     Anthony, of _The Revolution_, Charlotte B. Wilbour of New York
+     city, and others. Every woman interested for her personal freedom
+     should attend this convention, and by her presence, influence and
+     money, aid the movement for the restoration of the rights of her
+     sex.
+
+     Mrs. ELIZABETH B. PHELPS,
+                 _Vice-President for the State of New York_.
+     MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Advisory Counsel_.
+
+The opening session of the convention was held in the spacious
+parlors of Congress Hall the audience composed chiefly of
+fashionable ladies[201] from all parts of the country, who listened
+with evident interest and purchased the tracts intended for
+distribution. The remaining sessions were held in Hawthorn Hall,
+Matilda Joslyn Gage presiding. A series of spirited resolutions was
+adopted, also a plan of organization presented by Charlotte B.
+Wilbour, for a State association.[202] Many able speakers[203] were
+present. The formation of this society was the result of a very
+general agitation in different localities on several vital
+questions in the preceding year:
+
+_First_--On taxation. Women being large property holders, had felt
+the pressure during the war, especially of the tax on incomes, and
+had resolved on resistance: Accordingly, large meetings[204] were
+called at various points, in 1868. While women of wealth were
+organizing to resist taxation, the working women[205] were uniting
+to defend their earnings, and secure better wages. It seemed for a
+few months as if they were in a chronic condition of rebellion. But
+after many vain struggles for redress in the iron teeth of the law,
+and equally vain appeals to have unjust laws amended, the women
+learned the hopelessness of all efforts made by disfranchised
+classes.
+
+_Second_--On prostitution. For the first time in the history of the
+government, a bill was presented in the New York legislature, in
+1868, proposing to license prostitution. This showed the
+degradation of woman's position as no other act of legislation
+could have done, and although the editors of _The Revolution_ were
+the only women who publicly opposed the bill (which they did both
+before the committee of the legislature, and in their journal), yet
+there was in the minds of many, a deep undercurrent of resistance
+to the odious provisions of that bill. Horace Greeley, too, in his
+editorials in the New York _Tribune_, denounced the proposition in
+such unmeasured terms that, although pressed at three different
+legislative sessions, no member of the committee could be found
+with sufficient moral hardihood to present the bill.
+
+In connection with this question, the necessity of "women as
+police," was for some time a topic of discussion. They had proved
+so efficient in many cases, that it was seriously proposed to have
+a standing force in New York and Brooklyn, to look after young
+girls,[206] new to the temptations and dangers of city life. In
+_The Revolution_ of March 26, 1868, we find the following:
+
+     It is often asked, would you make women police officers? It has
+     already been done. At least a society of women exists in this
+     country, for the discovery of crimes, conspiracies and such
+     things. The chief of this band was Mrs. Kate Warn, a native of
+     this State, who lately died in Chicago. She was engaged in this
+     business, fifteen years ago, by Mr. Pinkerton, of the National
+     Police Agency. She did good service for many years in watching,
+     waylaying, exploring and detecting; especially on the critical
+     occasion of President Lincoln's journey to Washington in 1861. In
+     1865 she was sent to New Orleans, as head of the Female Police
+     Department there.
+
+There was a general movement in these years for the more liberal
+education of women in various departments of art and industry, as
+well as in letters. First on the list stands Vassar College,
+founded in 1861, richly endowed with fine grounds and spacious
+buildings. We cannot estimate the civilizing influence of the
+thousands of young women graduating at that institution, now, as
+cultivated wives and mothers, presiding in households all over this
+land. Cornell University[207] was opened to girls in 1872, more
+richly endowed than Vassar, and in every way superior in its
+environments; beautifully situated on the banks of Cayuga Lake,
+with the added advantage and stimulus of the system of coeducation.
+To Andrew D. White, its president, all women owe a debt of
+gratitude for his able and persevering advocacy of the benefits to
+both sexes, of coeducation. The university at Syracuse, in which
+Lima College was incorporated, is also open alike to boys and
+girls. Rochester University,[208] Brown, Columbia, Union, Hamilton,
+and Hobart College at Geneva, still keep their doors barred against
+the daughters of the State, and the three last, in the small number
+of their students, and their gradual decline, show the need of the
+very influence they exclude. Could all the girls desiring an
+education in and around Rochester, Geneva,[209] Clinton and
+Schenectady, enter these institutions, the added funds and
+enthusiasm they would thus receive would soon bring them renewed
+life and vigor.
+
+Peter Cooper and Catharine Beecher's efforts for the working
+classes of women were equally praiseworthy. Miss Beecher formed
+"The American Woman's Educational Association," for the purpose of
+establishing schools all over the country for training girls in the
+rudiments of learning and practical work. The Cooper Institute,
+founded in 1854, by Peter Cooper, has been invaluable in its
+benefits to the poorer classes of girls, in giving them advantages
+in the arts and sciences, in evening as well as day classes. Here
+both boys and girls have free admission into all departments,
+including its valuable reading-room and library. It had long been a
+cherished desire of Mr. Cooper to found an institution to be
+devoted forever to the union of art and science in their
+application to the useful purposes of life. The School of Design is
+specially for women.
+
+The Ladies Art Association of New York was founded in 1867, now
+numbering over one hundred members. One of the most important
+things accomplished by this society has been the preparation of
+thoroughly educated teachers, many of whom are now filling
+positions in Southern and Western colleges.
+
+                                   NEW YORK, June 3, 1869.
+
+     EDITORS OF THE REVOLUTION: Inclosed please find the report of a
+     meeting of New York ladies to consider the important subject of
+     woman's education. The within slip will show that this is a
+     movement quite as earnest and pronounced as the woman suffrage
+     agitation of the day, and more in consonance with prevailing
+     public opinion. We trust that you will aid the effort by
+     inserting the report and resolutions into your columns, and add
+     at least a brief editorial notice.
+
+                    Very respectfully,       MRS. MARSHALL O. ROBERTS.
+
+
+     IMPORTANT MEETING OF NEW YORK LADIES.--WOMAN'S EDUCATION.--On
+     Monday, the 31st of May, a large number of influential ladies
+     gathered at Dr. Taylor's, corner Sixth avenue and Thirty-eighth
+     street, in response to the call of the secretary of The American
+     Woman's Educational Association. A meeting was organized, Mrs.
+     Marshall O. Roberts presiding, and after a long and interesting
+     discussion the following resolutions were unanimously passed. It
+     is proper to state that the society has been an organized and
+     efficient power in woman's education for over twenty years. The
+     object of its present action is to forward a movement to secure
+     endowed institutions for the training of women to their special
+     duties and professions as men are trained for theirs,
+     particularly the science and duties of home-life:
+
+          _Resolved_, That one cause of the depressed condition of
+          woman is the fact that the distinctive profession of her
+          sex, as the nurse of infancy and of the sick, as educator of
+          childhood, and as the chief minister of the family state,
+          has not been duly honored, nor such provision been made for
+          its scientific and practical training as is accorded to the
+          other sex for their professions; and that it is owing to
+          this neglect that women are driven to seek honor and
+          independence in the institutions and the professions of men.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the science of domestic economy, in its
+          various branches, involves more important interests than any
+          other human science; and that the evils suffered by women
+          would be extensively remedied by establishing institutions
+          for training woman for her profession, which shall be as
+          generously endowed as are the institutions of men, many of
+          which have been largely endowed by women.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the science of domestic economy should be
+          made a study in all institutions for girls; and that certain
+          practical employments of the family state should be made a
+          part of common school education, especially the art of
+          sewing, which is so needful for the poor; and that we will
+          use our influence to secure these important measures.
+
+          _Resolved_, That every young woman should be trained to some
+          business by which she can earn an independent livelihood in
+          case of poverty.
+
+          _Resolved_, That in addition to the various in-door
+          employments suitable for woman, there are other out-door
+          employments especially favorable to health and equally
+          suitable, such as raising fruits and flowers, the culture of
+          silk and cotton, the raising of bees and the superintendence
+          of dairy farms and manufactures. All of these offer avenues
+          to wealth and independence for women as properly as men, and
+          schools for imparting to women the science and practice of
+          these employments should be provided and as liberally
+          endowed as are the agricultural schools for men.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the American Woman's Educational
+          Association is an organization which aims to secure to women
+          these advantages, that its managers have our confidence, and
+          that we will cooeperate in its plans as far as we have
+          opportunity.
+
+          _Resolved_, That the Protestant clergy would greatly aid in
+          these efforts by preaching on the honor and duties of the
+          family state. In order to this, we request their attention
+          to a work just published by Miss Beecher and Mrs. Stowe,
+          entitled "The American Woman's Home," which largely
+          discusses many important topics of this general subject,
+          while the authors have devoted most of their profits from
+          this work to promote the plans of the American Woman's
+          Educational Association.
+
+          _Resolved_, That editors of the religious and secular press
+          will contribute important aid to an effort they must all
+          approve by inserting these resolutions in their columns.
+
+Among the influences that brought new thought to the question of
+woman suffrage was the establishment of _The Revolution_ in 1868.
+Radical and defiant in tone, it awoke friends and foes alike to
+action. Some denounced it, some ridiculed it, but all read it. It
+needed just such clarion notes sounded forth long and loud each
+week to rouse the friends of the movement from the apathy into
+which they had fallen after the war. One cannot read its glowing
+pages to-day without appreciating the power it was just at that
+crisis.[210]
+
+Miss Lucy B. Hobbs of New York was the first woman that ever
+graduated in the profession of dentistry. She matriculated in the
+Cincinnati Dental College in the fall of 1864--passing through a
+full course of study, missing but two lectures, and those at the
+request of the professor of anatomy. She graduated from that
+institution in February, 1866. A letter from the dean of the
+college testifies to her worth as follows:
+
+     She was a woman of great energy and perseverance. Studious in her
+     habits, modest and unassuming, she had the respect and kind
+     regard of every member of the class and faculty. As an operator
+     she was not surpassed by her associates. Her opinion was asked
+     and her assistance sought in difficult cases almost daily by her
+     fellow-students. And though the class of which she was a member
+     was one of the largest ever in attendance, it excelled all
+     previous ones in good order and decorum--a condition largely due
+     to the presence of a lady. In the final examination she was
+     second to none.
+
+Having received her diploma, she opened an office in Iowa; from
+thence she removed to Chicago, and practiced successfully. The
+following letter from Mrs. Taylor (formerly Miss Hobbs) gives
+further interesting details. Writing to Matilda Joslyn Gage, she
+says:
+
+     I am grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to place in
+     history the fact of my study of dentistry. I was born in Franklin
+     county, New York, in 1833. You ask my reason for entering the
+     profession. It was to be independent. I first studied medicine,
+     but did not like the practice. My preceptor, Professor Cleveland,
+     advised me to try dentistry, and I commenced with Dr. Samuel
+     Warde of Cincinnati, finishing my studies in March, 1861. At that
+     time the faculty of the Ohio Dental College would not permit me
+     to attend, and there was not a college in the United States that
+     would admit me, and no amount of persuasion could change their
+     minds. So far as I know, I was the first woman who had ever taken
+     instruction of a private tutor.
+
+     I went to Iowa to commence practice, and was so successful that
+     the dentists of the State insisted I should be allowed to attend
+     the college. Their efforts prevailed, and I graduated from the
+     Ohio Dental College at Cincinnati in the spring of 1866--the
+     first woman in the world to take a diploma from a dental college.
+     I am a New-Yorker by birth, but I love my adopted country--the
+     West. To it belongs the credit of making it possible for women to
+     be recognized in the dental profession on equal terms with men.
+     Should you wish any further proof, write to Dr. Watt, who was
+     professor of chemistry at the time I graduated, and I know he
+     will take pleasure in giving you any additional information.
+
+As early as 1866 a system of safe-deposit companies was inaugurated
+in New York, which has proved a boon to women, enabling them to
+keep any private papers they may wish to preserve. In 1880, we find
+the following in the _National Citizen_:
+
+     A ladies' exchange for railroad and mining stocks has been
+     started at 71 Broadway, New York. The rooms are provided with an
+     indicator, desks and such other conveniences as are required for
+     business. Messenger boys drop in and out, and a telephone
+     connects with the office of a prominent Wall-street brokerage
+     firm. Miss Mary E. Gage, daughter of Frances Dana Gage, is the
+     manager and proprietor of the business. In reply to the inquiries
+     of a _Graphic_ reporter, Miss Gage said she had found so much
+     inconvenience and annoyance in transacting her own operations in
+     stocks that she concluded to establish an office. After Miss Gage
+     was fairly settled, other women who labored under the same
+     disadvantages, began to drop in, their number increasing daily. A
+     ladies' stock exchange also exists at No. 40 Fourth street, under
+     charge of Mrs. Favor. The banking houses of Henry Clews and the
+     wealthy Russell Sage are said to be working in union with this
+     exchange. In January we chronicled the formation of a woman's
+     mining company and this month of a woman's stock exchange, each
+     of them an evidence of the wide range of business women are
+     entering.
+
+In _The Revolution_ of May 14, 1868, we find the following:
+
+     SOROSIS.--This is the name of a new club of literary women, who
+     meet once a month and lunch at Delmonico's, to discuss questions
+     of art, science, literature and government. Alice Carey, who is
+     president, in her opening speech states the object of the club,
+     which is summed up in this brief extract:
+
+          We have proposed the inculcation of deeper and broader ideas
+          among women, proposed to teach them to think for themselves
+          and get their opinions at first hand, not so much because it
+          is their right as because it is their duty. We have also
+          proposed to open new avenues of employment to women--to make
+          them less dependent and less burdensome--to lift them out of
+          unwomanly self-distrust and disqualifying diffidence into
+          womanly self-respect and self-knowledge. To teach them to
+          make all work honorable, by each doing the share that falls
+          to her, or that she may work out to herself agreeably to her
+          own special aptitude, cheerfully and faithfully--not going
+          down to it, but bringing it up to her. We have proposed to
+          enter our protest against all idle gossip, against all
+          demoralizing and wicked waste of time, also, against the
+          follies and the tyrannies of fashion, against all external
+          impositions and disabilities; in short, against each and
+          every thing that opposes the full development and use of the
+          faculties conferred upon us by our Creator.
+
+     We most heartily welcome all movements for the cultivation of
+     individual thought and character in woman, and would recommend
+     the formation of such clubs throughout the country. The editors
+     of the New York press have made known their dissatisfaction that
+     no gentlemen were to be admitted into this charmed circle. After
+     a calm and dispassionate discussion of this question, it was
+     decided to exclude gentlemen, not because their society was not
+     most desirable and calculated to add brilliancy to the club, but
+     from a fear lest the natural reverence of woman for man might
+     embarrass her in beginning to reason and discuss; lest she should
+     be awed to silence by their superior presence. It was not because
+     they love man less, but their own improvement more. For the
+     comfort of these ostracised ones, we would suggest a hope for the
+     future. After these ladies become familiar with parliamentary
+     tactics, and the grave questions that are to come before them for
+     consideration, it is proposed to admit gentlemen to the
+     galleries, that they may enjoy the same privileges vouchsafed to
+     the fair sex in the past, to look down upon the feast, to listen
+     to the speeches, and to hear "the pale, thoughtful brow," "the
+     silken moustache," "the flowing locks," "the manly gait and form"
+     toasted in prose and verse.
+
+This club has met regularly ever since the day of its inauguration,
+and has been remarkable for the harmony maintained by its members.
+Mrs. Charlotte Wilbour was president for several years, until she
+went to reside in Paris, in 1874. Since that time Mrs. Croly has
+been, from year to year, elected to that office. Beginning with 12
+members,[211] this club now numbers 320.
+
+The most respected live-stock reporter in New York is a woman. Miss
+Middie Morgan, pronounced the best judge of horned cattle in this
+country. She can tell the weight of a beef on foot at a glance, and
+reports the cattle market for the New York _Times_. A correspondent
+says:
+
+     Her father was a cattle-dealer, and taught her to handle
+     fearlessly the animals he delighted in. She learned to tell at a
+     glance the finest points of live-stock, and to doctor bovine and
+     equine ailments with the utmost skill. With all this, she became
+     a proficient in Italian and French, and a terse and rapid writer.
+     A few years ago, after her father's death, she traveled in Italy
+     with an invalid sister, having an eye to her pet passion--the
+     horse. While there she met Prince Poniatowsky, also an ardent
+     admirer of that animal. He mentioned her zooelogical
+     accomplishments to Victor Emanuel, and the consequence was Miss
+     Middie was deputed by His Majesty to purchase a hundred or so of
+     fine horses. She had charge of the blood-horses of King Victor
+     Emanuel, who owns the finest stud in Europe, and breeds horses of
+     a superior shape, vigor and fire. He beats Grant in his
+     admiration for that noble animal. When she decided to come to
+     this country, she made known the fact to Hon. George P. Marsh,
+     our minister to Italy; and he gave her a letter of recommendation
+     to Mr. Bigelow, of the _Times_, who employed her. She is an
+     expert among all kinds of animals. Her judgment about the
+     different breeds is sought after and much quoted. She can discuss
+     the nice points about cattle as easily as Rosa Bonheur can paint
+     them.[212]
+
+From the Woman's Journal, Oct. 1, 1870:
+
+     Miss Barkaloo, the lady just admitted to the St. Louis bar as a
+     lawyer, and who has received a license to practice as
+     attorney-at-law from the Supreme Court of that State, is a native
+     of Brooklyn, N. Y., and is a woman of more than ordinary ability.
+     Two years ago, after having read Blackstone and other elementary
+     law-books, she made application for admission as a student at
+     Columbia College, New York, and was promptly refused. Nothing
+     daunted, she went to St. Louis, where she was admitted to the Law
+     School. For eighteen months she assiduously devoted her energies
+     to the study of the science, and her fellow-students all agreed
+     in declaring her by far the brightest member of the class. That
+     there was no question of her ability was clearly shown at her
+     examination. Judge Knight, although overflowing with gallantry,
+     gave the lady no quarter. The most abstruse and erudite questions
+     were propounded to the applicant, but not once did the judge
+     catch the fair student tripping. Miss Barkaloo was about 22 years
+     of age, of a fine figure, intelligent face and large, expressive
+     eyes. The St. Louis papers of last week reported her sudden death
+     of typhoid fever. According to custom, a meeting of the members
+     of the St. Louis bar was held to take suitable action and pay
+     respect to her memory. It was the first meeting of the kind in
+     the United States, and was largely attended, not only by the
+     young members of the bar, but by the most distinguished
+     attorneys. Miss Phoebe Couzins, herself a member of the Law
+     School, was in attendance, attired in deep mourning for the
+     recent death of a beloved sister. The following resolutions were
+     adopted:
+
+          _Resolved_, That in the death of Miss Helena Barkaloo we
+          deplore the loss of the first of her sex ever admitted to
+          the bar of Missouri.
+
+          _Resolved_, That in her erudition, industry and enterprise
+          we have to regret the loss of one who, in the morning of her
+          career, bade fair to reflect credit on our profession, and a
+          new honor upon her sex.
+
+          _Resolved_, That our sympathy and condolence be extended to
+          the relatives of the deceased.
+
+     Major Lucien Eaton, into whose office she had entered to seek
+     opportunities of perfecting herself in the knowledge of her
+     profession, said  that--
+
+          He had been requested by an accomplished lady of St. Louis
+          to afford her that opportunity, and at first had hesitated
+          to do so; yet he felt that she should have a trial, and
+          when he took her into his office his conduct met with the
+          approbation of the legal fraternity generally. That
+          fraternity cordially sympathized with the efforts she was
+          making, and both old lawyers and young ones tried to put
+          business into her hands, the taking of depositions and other
+          such work as she could perform. He testified to finding her
+          a true woman; modest and retiring, carefully shunning all
+          unnecessary publicity, and avoiding all display. She was
+          earnest in her studies, and being gifted with a fine
+          intellect and a good judgment, gave promise of great
+          attainments. He had never known a student more assiduous in
+          study; she wanted to become mistress of her profession. Her
+          death is a calamity, not to her friends alone, but to all
+          who are making an effort for the enlargement of woman's
+          sphere.
+
+After the closing of the doors of the Geneva Medical School to
+women, the Central Medical College of Syracuse was the first to
+admit them. Four were graduated in 1852. Since then the two medical
+colleges in New York city have graduated hundreds of women. Among
+the many in successful practice are Clemence S. Lozier, Emily
+Blackwell, Mary Putnam Jacobi, New York; Eliza P. Mosher, Brooklyn;
+Sarah R. A. Dolley, Anna H. Searing, Fannie F. Hamilton, Rochester;
+Amanda B. Sanford, Auburn; Eveline P. Ballintine, Le Roy; Rachel E.
+Gleason, Elmira.
+
+In May, 1870, the New York City Society was formed, with efficient
+officers,[213] and pleasant rooms, at 16 Union Square, where
+meetings were regularly held on Friday afternoon of each week.
+These meetings were well attended and sustained with increasing
+interest from month to month. This society held its first meeting
+November 27, 1871, which was addressed by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe; and
+on January 13, 1872, another, addressed by Jennie Collins, the
+indefatigable Bostonian who has done so much for the benefit of the
+working girls. A series of meetings was held under the auspices of
+this association in many of the chief cities around New York and on
+the Hudson, the chief speakers being the officers of the
+association. An active German society was soon after formed, with
+Mrs. Augusta Lillienthal, president, and Mrs. Matilda F. Wendt,
+secretary. The latter published a paper, _Die Neue Zeit_, devoted
+to woman suffrage. She was also the correspondent of several
+leading journals in Germany. The society held its first public
+meeting March 21, 1872, in Turner Hall, Mrs. Wendt presiding. Mrs.
+Lillienthal, Mrs. Clara Neyman and Dr. Adolphe Doney were the
+speakers. Clara Neyman became afterwards a popular speaker in many
+suffrage and free-religious associations.
+
+Petitions were rolled up by both the German and American societies
+to the legislature, praying for the right of suffrage, and on
+April 3, 1871, the petitioners[214] were granted a hearing, before
+the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly, Hon. L. Bradford Prince
+presiding. Mrs. Wilbour's able address made a most favorable
+impression. The question was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
+The majority report was adverse, the minority, signed by Robert A.
+Strahan and C. P. Vedder, favorable.
+
+A grand demonstration was made April 26, 1872, in Cooper Institute,
+intended specially to emphasize the claims of wives and mothers to
+the ballot, and to show that the City Association had no sympathy
+with any theories of free-love. Five thousand cards of invitation
+were distributed.
+
+In 1871 women attempted to vote in different parts of the State,
+among whom were Matilda Joslyn Gage at Fayetteville, and Mrs.
+Louise Mansfield at Nyack, but were repulsed. In 1872 others did
+vote under the fourteenth amendment, conspicuously Susan B.
+Anthony, who, as an example for the rest, was arrested, tried,
+convicted and fined.[215] Mrs. Gage published a woman's rights
+catechism to answer objections made at that time to woman's voting,
+which proved a valuable campaign document. We find the names of
+Mary R. Pell of Flushing, Helen M. Loder of Poughkeepsie, and
+Elizabeth B. Whitney of Harlem, frequently mentioned at this time
+for their valuable services.
+
+The following items show the varied capacity of women for many
+employments:
+
+     In March, 1872, Miss Charlotte E. Ray (colored) of New York, was
+     graduated at the Howard University Law School, and admitted to
+     practice in the courts of the District of Columbia at
+     Washington.--The headquarters of the Women's National Relief
+     Association is in New York; its object is supplying government
+     stations along the coast with beds, blankets, warm clothing and
+     other necessaries for shipwrecked persons.----Miss Leggett, for a
+     long time proprietor of a book and paper store in New York,
+     established a home, in 1878, for women, on Clinton Square, which
+     is in all respects antipodal to Stewart's Hotel. It is governed
+     by no stringent rules or regulations. No woman is liable without
+     cause, at the mere caprice of the founder, to be suddenly
+     required to leave, as was the case in Judge Hilton's home. On the
+     contrary, it is the object of the founder to provide a _real_
+     home for women. The house is not only provided with a library,
+     piano, etc., but its inmates are allowed to bring their
+     sewing-machines, hang pictures upon the walls, put up private
+     book-racks, etc. The price, too, but $4 a week, falls more nearly
+     within the means of laboring women than the $6 to $10 of the
+     Stewart Hotel.----The first penny lunch-room in New York was
+     established by a woman, who made it a source of revenue.----The
+     inventor of the submarine telescope, a woman, has received
+     $10,000 for her invention.----Deborah Powers, now over ninety
+     years of age, is the head of a large oil-cloth manufactory in
+     Troy. Her sons are engaged in business with her, but she, still
+     bright and active, remains at the head of the firm. This is the
+     largest oil-cloth factory in the United States. She was left a
+     widow with three sons, with a heavy mortgage on her estate. She
+     secured an extension of time, built up the business and educated
+     her sons to the work. She is also president of a bank.----A
+     successful nautical school in New York is conducted by two
+     ladies, Mrs. Thorne and her daughter, Mrs. Brownlow. These ladies
+     have made several voyages and studied navigation, both
+     theoretically and practically. During the late war they prepared
+     for the navy 2,000 mates and captains bringing their knowledge of
+     navigation up to the standard required by the strict examiners of
+     the naval board.----Mrs. Wilson, since a New York custom-house
+     inspector, took charge, in 1872, of her husband's ship, disabled
+     in a terrific gale off Newfoundland in which his collar-bone was
+     broken and a portion of the crew badly hurt. The main-mast having
+     been cut down she rigged a jury-mast, and after twenty-one days
+     brought ship and crew safe to port.
+
+     Miss Jennie Turner, a short-hand writer of New York, is a notary
+     public. In a recent law-suit some of the papers were "sworn to"
+     before her in her official capacity, and one of the attorneys
+     claimed that it was not verified, inasmuch as a woman "could not
+     legally hold public office." The judge decided that the paper
+     must be accepted as properly verified, and said that the only way
+     to oust her was in a direct action by the attorney-general. The
+     judge said:
+
+          Whether a female is capable of holding public office has
+          never been decided by the courts of this State, and is a
+          question about which legal minds may well differ. The
+          constitution regulates the right of suffrage and limits it
+          to "male" citizens. Disabilities are not favored, and are
+          seldom extended by implication, from which it may be argued
+          that if it required the insertion of the term "male" to
+          exclude female citizens of lawful age from the right of
+          suffrage, a similar limitation would be required to
+          disqualify them from holding office. Citizenship is a
+          condition or status and has no relation to age or sex. It
+          may be contended that it was left to the good sense of the
+          executive and to the electors to determine whether or not
+          they would select females to office, and that the power
+          being lodged in safe hands was beyond the danger of abuse.
+          If, on the other hand, it be seriously contended that the
+          constitution, by necessary implication, disqualifies females
+          from holding office, it must follow as a necessary
+          consequence that the act of the legislature permitting
+          females to serve as school officers, and all other
+          legislative enactments of like import removing such
+          disqualification, are unconstitutional and void. In this
+          same connection it may be argued that if the use of the
+          personal pronoun "he" in the constitution does not exclude
+          females from public office, its use in the statute can have
+          no greater effect. The statute, like the constitution, in
+          prescribing the qualifications for office, omits the word
+          "male," leaving the question whether female citizens of
+          lawful age are included or excluded, one of construction.
+
+     Miss Anna Ballard, a reporter on the staff of the New York _Sun_,
+     was elected a member of the Press Club, in 1877, by a vote of 24
+     to 10. Within the last ten years women contributors to the press
+     have become numerous. The book-reviewer of the _Herald_ is a
+     woman; one of the book-reviewers of the _Tribune_, one of its
+     most valued correspondents and several of its regular
+     contributors are women; the agricultural and market reporter of
+     the New York _Times_ is a woman; the New York _Sun's_ fashion
+     writer is a woman, and also one of its most industrious and
+     sagacious reporters. Female correspondents flood the evening
+     papers with news from Washington. We instance these not at all as
+     a complete catalogue; for there are, we doubt not, more than a
+     hundred women known and recognized in and about Printing-house
+     Square as regular contributors to the columns of the daily and
+     weekly press. As a rule they are modest, reputable pains-taking
+     servants of the press; and it is generally conceded that if they
+     are willing to put up with the inconveniences attending
+     journalistic work, it is no part of men's duty to interfere with
+     their attempt to earn an honest livelihood in a profession which
+     has so many avenues as yet uncrowded. Miss Ellen A. Martin,
+     formerly of Jamestown, N. Y., a graduate of the Law School of Ann
+     Arbor, in 1875, was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of
+     Illinois, at the January term, and is practicing in Chicago,
+     occupying an office with Miss Perry, Room 39, No. 143 La Salle
+     street. Mrs. Martha J. Lamb was the first woman ever admitted to
+     membership in the New York State Historical Society. Her "History
+     of New York City" is recognized as a standard authority, and has
+     already taken rank among the great histories of the world.
+
+During the summer of 1872 the presidential campaign agitated the
+country. As Horace Greeley, who was opposed to woman suffrage, was
+running against Grant and Wilson, who were in favor, and as the
+Republican platform contained a plank promising some consideration
+for the loyal women of the nation, a great demonstration was held
+in Cooper Institute, New York, October 7. The large hall was
+crowded by an excited throng. Hon. Luther R. Marsh presided. The
+speakers[216] were all unusually happy. Mrs. Blake's[217] address
+was applauded to a recall, when she went forward and asked the
+audience to give three cheers for the woman suffrage candidates,
+Grant and Wilson, which they did with hearty good will.
+
+During the winter of 1873 a commission was sitting at Albany to
+revise the constitution of New York. As it seemed fitting that
+women should press their claims to the ballot, memorials were
+presented and hearings requested by both the State and City
+societies. Accordingly Mr. Silliman, the chairman, appointed
+February 18, to hear the memorialists. A large delegation of ladies
+went from New York.[218] The commission was holding its sessions in
+the common-council chamber, and when the time arrived for the
+hearing the room was crowded with an attentive audience. The
+members of the Committee on Suffrage were all present, Mr. Silliman
+presided. Matilda Joslyn Gage represented the State association,
+speaking upon the origin of government and the rights pertaining
+thereto. Mrs. Wilbour and Mrs. Blake represented the New York City
+Society, and each alike made a favorable impression. The Albany
+_Evening Journal_ gave a large space to a description of the
+occasion. The respectful hearing, however, was the beginning and
+the end, as far as could be seen, of all impression made on the
+committee, which coolly recommended that suffrage be secured to
+colored men by ratifying the fifteenth amendment, while making no
+recognition whatever of the women of the State. A memorial was at
+once sent to the legislature and another hearing was granted on
+February 27. Mrs. Blake[219] was the only speaker on that occasion.
+The Hon. Bradford Prince, of Queens, presided. At the close of Mrs.
+Blake's remarks James W. Husted of Westchester, in a few earnest
+words, avowed himself henceforth a champion of the cause. Shortly
+afterwards the Hon. George West presented a constitutional
+amendment giving to every woman possessed of $250 the right to
+vote, thus placing the women of the State in the same position with
+the colored men before the passage of the fifteenth amendment; but
+even this was denied. The amendment was referred to the Judiciary
+Committee and there entombed. Large meetings[220] were held at
+Robinson Hall during the winter, and at Apollo Hall in May, and in
+different localities about New York.
+
+July 2, 1873, an indignation meeting was held by the City Society
+to protest against the sentence pronounced by Judge Hunt in the
+case of Susan B. Anthony. De Garmo Hall was crowded. The platform
+was decorated with the United States flag draped with black
+bunting, while on each side were banners, one bearing the
+inscription, "Respectful Consideration for a Loyal Woman's Vote!
+$100 Fine!" the other, "Shall One Federal Judge Abolish Trial by
+Jury?" Dr. Clemence Lozier presided, and Mrs. Devereux Blake made a
+stirring speech reviewing Miss Anthony's trial and Judge Hunt's
+decision.[221] Mr. Hamilton Wilcox made a manly protest against
+Judge Hunt's high-handed act of oppression, and Mrs. Marie Rachel
+made another, in behalf of the German association.
+
+In October, 1873, Mrs. Devereux Blake made an effort to open the
+doors of Columbia College to women. A class of four young
+ladies[222] united in asking admission. Taking them with her, Mrs.
+Blake went before the president and faculty, who gave her a
+respectful hearing. She argued that the charter of the college
+itself declared that it was founded for "the education of the youth
+of the city", and that the word _youth_ was defined in all
+dictionaries as "young persons of both sexes," so that by its very
+foundation it was intended that girls as well as boys should enjoy
+the benefits of the university, and it was no more than just that
+they should, seeing that the original endowment was by the "rectors
+and inhabitants of the city of New York," one-half of these
+inhabitants being women. Mrs. Blake's[223] application was referred
+to "the Committee on the Course of Instruction," and after some
+weeks of consideration was refused, on the ground that "it was
+inexpedient," the Rev. Morgan Dix being especially active in his
+opposition. However, soon after this, the lectures of the college
+were open to ladies, and a few years later President Barnard warmly
+recommended that young women should be admitted as students to all
+the privileges of the university.
+
+A Woman's Congress was organized at New York, October 15, 16, 17,
+1873, in the Union League Theater. Representative women[224] were
+there from all parts of the country. Its object was similar to the
+social science organizations--the discussion of a wider range of
+subjects than could be tolerated on the platforms of any specific
+reform. Mary A. Livermore presided, and the meeting was considered
+a great success. The speeches and proceedings were published in
+pamphlet form, and still are from year to year. This had been an
+idea long brewing in many minds, and was at last realized through
+the organizing talent of Mrs. Charlotte B. Wilbour, the originator
+of Sorosis. From year to year they have held regular meetings in
+the chief cities of the different States.
+
+Dr. Clemence Lozier,[225] president of the city society, early
+opened her spacious parlors to the monthly meetings, where they
+have been held for many years. This association has been active and
+vigilant, taking note of and furthering every step of progress in
+Church and State. Mrs. Lozier and Mrs. Blake have worked most
+effectively together, the former furnishing the sinews of war, and
+the latter making the attack all along the line, to the terror of
+the faint-hearted.
+
+The era of centennial celebrations was now approaching, and it was
+proposed to hold a suitable commemoration on the one-hundredth
+anniversary of the Boston tea-party, December 16, 1873. Union
+League Theater was, on the appointed evening, filled to its utmost
+capacity. The platform was decorated with flowers and filled with
+ladies, Dr. Lozier presiding. Miss Anthony was the speaker of the
+evening, and made a most effective address; Helen Potter gave a
+recitation; Hannah M'L. Shepherd read letters of sympathy; Mrs.
+Blake made a short closing address, and presented a series of
+resolutions, couched in precisely the same language as that adopted
+by our ancestors in protesting against taxation without
+representation:
+
+     _Resolved_, That as an expression of the sentiments of the
+     tax-paying women of New York, we reiterate, as applied to
+     ourselves, the declaration contained in the bill of rights put
+     forth by our ancestors 100 years ago: _First_--That the women of
+     the country are entitled to equal rights and privileges with the
+     men; _Second_--That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of
+     a people, and the undoubted right of all men and women, that no
+     taxes be imposed on them but by their own consent, given in
+     person or by their representatives; _Third_--That the only
+     representatives of these women are persons chosen by themselves,
+     and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally
+     imposed upon them but by legislatures composed of persons so
+     chosen.
+
+The report of the State assessors[226] of 1883 brought forcibly to
+view the injustice done in taxing non-voters. At their meeting with
+the supervisors of Onondaga county, Mr. Pope of Fabius said: "Mrs.
+Andrews is assessed too much." Mr. Hadley replied: "Well, Mr.
+Briggs says that is the way all the women are assessed." Mr. Briggs
+responded: "Yes, that is the way we find the assessors treat the
+women; they can't vote, you know! I am in favor of letting the
+women vote now."
+
+Two women in the village of Batavia were assessed for more personal
+property than the entire assessment of like property, exclusive of
+corporations, in the city of Rochester with a population of 70,000!
+While declaring they had found very little personal property
+assessed, Mr. Fowler said: "We found some cases where town
+assessors had taxed the personal property of women, and one case
+of a ward who was assessed to full value, while upon the guardian's
+property there was no assessment at all." This report not only
+proved a good woman suffrage document, but the work done by the
+State assessors, Messrs. Hadley, Briggs and Fowler, convinced them
+personally of woman's need of the ballot for the protection of her
+property.
+
+Early in the year 1874, memorials from societies in different parts
+of the State were sent to the legislature, asking "that all taxes
+due from women be remitted until they are allowed to vote." The
+most active of these anti-tax societies was the one formed in
+Rochester through the efforts of Mrs. Lewia C. Smith, whose
+earnestness and fidelity in this, as in many another good word and
+work, have been such as to command the admiration even of
+opponents--a soul of that sweet charity that makes no account of
+self. A hearing was appointed for the memorialists on January 24,
+and the journals[227] made honorable mention of the occasion.
+
+The centennial was approaching and the notes of preparation were
+heard on all sides. The women who understood their status as
+disfranchised citizens in a republic, regarded the coming event as
+one for them of humiliation rather than rejoicing, inasmuch as the
+close of the first century of the nation's existence found one half
+the people still political slaves. At the February meeting of the
+association, Mrs. Blake presented the following resolution:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the members of this society do hereby pledge
+     themselves not to aid either by their labor, time or money, the
+     proposed celebration of the independence of the men of the
+     nation, unless before July 4, 1876, the women of the land shall
+     be guaranteed their political freedom.
+
+In their own way, however, the members of the society intended to
+observe such centennials as were fitting, and so preparation was
+made for a suitable commemoration of the battle of Lexington. They
+held a meeting[228] in the Union League Theatre, the evening of
+April 19, to protest against their disfranchisement. The journals
+contained fair reports, with the exception of _The Tribune_, which
+sent no reporter, and closed its account next day of many
+observances elsewhere by saying, "there was no celebration in New
+York city." Several of the papers published Mrs. Blake's speech:
+
+     Just as the first rays of dawn stole across our city this
+     morning, the century was complete since the founders of this
+     nation made their first great stand for liberty. The early April
+     sunshine a hundred years ago saw a group of men and boys gathered
+     together, "a few rods north of the meeting-house," in the
+     Massachusetts village of Lexington. Un-uniformed and
+     undisciplined, standing in the chilly morning, that handful of
+     patriots represented the great Republic which on that day was to
+     spring from their martyrdom. The rebellious colonists had
+     collected in the hamlets near Boston some military stores; these
+     the British officers in command at Boston resolved should be
+     seized and destroyed. Warned of their design Paul Revere made his
+     famous ride to arouse the country to resistance, and in the dead
+     of night Adams and Hancock went out to summon their comrades to
+     arms. As the last stars vanished before the dawn, the drum beat
+     to summon the patriots to action, and in response a little band
+     of about eighty men and boys assembled on the village green. Few
+     as they were in numbers, they presented a brave front as the
+     British regulars came up the quiet street, 200 strong. What
+     followed was not a battle, but a butchery. The minute-men refused
+     to surrender to Major Pitcairn's haughty demand, and a volley of
+     musketry, close and deadly, was poured on this devoted band. In
+     response only a few random shots were fired, which did absolutely
+     no harm, and then, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, the
+     commander of the minute-men ordered them to disperse. The
+     British, elated with their easy victory, pushed on toward
+     Concord, thinking that there another speedy success awaited them.
+     In this they soon bitterly learned their error. Although they
+     were reinforced on the way, when they reached that village they
+     were met by such a resistance as drove them back, broken and
+     disorganized, on the road they had so proudly followed in the
+     morning. Concord nobly avenged the slaughter at Lexington.
+
+     So much for what men did on that day, and let us see what share
+     the women had in its dangers and its sorrows. Jonathan Harris was
+     shot in front of his own house, while his wife was watching him
+     from a window, seeing him fall with such anguish as no poor words
+     of mine can describe. He struggled to his feet, the blood gushing
+     from a wound in his breast, staggered forward a few paces and
+     fell again, and then crawled on his hands and knees to his
+     threshold only to expire just as his wife reached him. Did not
+     this woman bear her portion of the martyrdom? Isaac Davis, a man
+     in the prime of life, went forth from his home in the morning,
+     and before the afternoon sunlight had grown yellow, was brought
+     back to it dead, and was laid, pale and cold, in his wife's bed,
+     only three hours after he had left her with a solemn benediction
+     of farewell. Did not this woman also suffer? She was left a widow
+     in the very flower of her youth, and for seventy years she
+     faithfully mourned his taking off! Nor were these the only ones;
+     for every man who fell that day, some woman's heart was wrung.
+     There were others who endured actual physical hardship and
+     suffering. Hannah Adams lay in bed with an infant only a week old
+     when the British reached her house in their disorderly retreat
+     to Boston; they forced her to leave her sick room and to crawl
+     into an adjoining corn shed, while they burned her house to ashes
+     in her sight. Three companies of British troops went to the house
+     of Major Barrett and demanded food. Mrs. Barrett served them as
+     well as she was able, and when she was offered compensation,
+     refused it, saying gently, "We are commanded if our enemy hunger
+     to feed him." So, in toil or suffering or anguish the women
+     endured their share of the sorrows of that day. Do they not
+     deserve a share of its glories also? The battles of Lexington and
+     Concord form an era in our country's history. When, driven to
+     desperation by a long course of oppression, the people first
+     resolved to revolt against the mother country. Discontent,
+     resentment and indignation had grown stronger month by month
+     among the hardy settlers of the land, until they culminated in
+     the most splendid act of audacity that the world has ever seen. A
+     few colonies, scattered at long intervals along the Atlantic
+     seaboard, dared to defy the proudest nation in Europe, and a few
+     rustics, undisciplined, and almost unarmed, actually ventured to
+     encounter in battle that army which had boasted its conquests
+     over the flower of European chivalry. What unheard of oppressions
+     drove these people to the mad attempt? What unheard of atrocities
+     had the rulers of these people practiced, what unjust
+     confiscations of property, what cruel imprisonments and wicked
+     murders? None of all these; the people of this land were not
+     starving or dying under the iron heel of an Alva or a
+     Robespierre, but their civil liberties had been denied, their
+     political freedom refused, and rather than endure the loss of
+     these precious things, they were willing to encounter danger and
+     to brave death. The men and women who suffered at Concord and at
+     Lexington 100 years ago to-day, were martyrs to the sacred cause
+     of personal liberty! Looking over the records of the past we
+     find, again and again repeated, the burden of their complaints.
+     Not that they were starving or dying, but that they were taxed
+     without their consent, and that they were denied personal
+     representation.
+
+     The congress which assembled at Philadelphia in 1774, declared
+     that "the foundation of liberty and of all free governments is
+     the right of the people to participate in their legislative
+     council"; and the House of Burgesses, assembled in Virginia in
+     the same year, asserted "That a determined system is formed and
+     pressed for reducing us to slavery, by subjecting us to the
+     payment of taxes imposed without our consent." Strong language
+     this, as strong as any we women have ever employed in addressing
+     the men of this nation. Our ancestors called the imposition of
+     taxes without their consent, slavery, and the denial of personal
+     representation, tyranny. Slavery and tyranny! words which they
+     tell us to-day are too strong for our use. We must find some mild
+     and lady-like phrases in which to describe these oppressions. We
+     must employ some safe and gentle terms to indicate the crimes
+     which our forefathers denounced! My friends, what was truth a
+     century ago is truth to-day! Other things may have changed, but
+     justice has not changed in a hundred years!
+
+In 1876 a presidential election was again approaching, and to meet
+the exigencies of the campaign a woman suffrage committee was
+formed to ask the legislature to grant presidential suffrage to
+women, as it was strictly within their power to do without a
+constitutional amendment. To this end Mrs. Gage prepared an appeal
+which was widely circulated throughout the State:
+
+     Within a year the election of President and Vice-President of the
+     United States, will again take place. The right to vote for these
+     functionaries is a National and not a State right; the United
+     States has unquestioned control of this branch of suffrage, and
+     in its constitution has declared to whom it has delegated this
+     power. Article 2 of the Constitution of the United States, is
+     devoted to the president; the manner of choosing him, his power,
+     his duties, etc. In regard to the method of choosing the
+     president, Par. 2, Sec. 1, Art. 2, reads thus: "Each State shall
+     appoint in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a
+     number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and
+     representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
+     congress." There is no other authority for the appointment of
+     presidential electors, either in the Constitution of the United
+     States, or in the constitution of any State. The constitution of
+     the State of New York is entirely silent upon the appointment of
+     presidential electors, for the reason that the constitution of
+     the United States declares that they _shall_ be appointed in such
+     manner as the legislature may direct. With the exception of South
+     Carolina, every State in the Union has adopted the plan of
+     choosing presidential electors by ballot, and it is in the power
+     of the legislature of each State to prescribe the qualifications
+     of those who shall be permitted to vote for such electors.
+
+     The authority to prescribe the qualifications of those persons in
+     the State of New York who shall be permitted to vote for electors
+     of President and Vice-President of the United States, therefore
+     lies alone in the legislature of this State. That body has power
+     in this respect superior to the State constitution; it rises
+     above the constitution; it is invested with its powers by the
+     Constitution of the United States; it is under national
+     authority, and need in no way be governed by any representative
+     clause which may exist in the State constitution. In prescribing
+     the qualifications of those persons who shall vote for electors,
+     the legislature has power to exclude all persons who cannot read
+     and write. It has power to say that no person unless possessing a
+     freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars,
+     shall vote for such electors. It has power to declare that only
+     tax-payers shall vote for such electors, it is even vested with
+     authority to say that no one but church members shall be entitled
+     to vote for electors of President and Vice-President of the
+     United States. The legislature of this State at its next session
+     has even power to cut off the right of all white men to vote for
+     electors at the presidential election next fall. It matters not
+     what qualifications the State itself may have prescribed for
+     electors of State officers, the question who shall vote for
+     president and vice-president is on an entirely different basis,
+     and prescribing the qualifications for such electors lies in
+     entirely different hands. It is a question of national import
+     with which the State (in its constitution) has nothing to do, and
+     over which even congress has no power. The legislature which is
+     to assemble in Albany, the first Tuesday in January next, will
+     have power, by the passage of a simple bill, to secure to the
+     women of this State the right to vote for electors at the
+     presidential election in the fall of 1876, and thus to inaugurate
+     the centennial year by an act of equity and justice that will be
+     in accordance with that part of the Declaration of Independence
+     which declares that "governments derive their _just_ powers from
+     the consent of the governed." Shall it not be done?
+
+                                   MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
+                                   LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE,
+                                   CLEMENCE S. LOZIER, M. D.,
+                                       _N. Y. State Woman Suffrage Com._
+
+
+[Illustration: Lillie Devereux Blake]
+
+
+A memorial embodying this claim was presented to the legislature,
+and on, January 18, the committee went to Albany and were heard by
+the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly, to whom their paper had
+been referred. Hon. Robert H. Strahan of New York presided. On
+February 8, the memorialists[229] had another meeting before the
+Judiciary Committee of the Senate, in the Senate chamber, Hon.
+Bradford L. Prince presiding. The audience was overflowing, and the
+corridors so crowded that the meeting adjourned to the Assembly
+chamber by order of the chairman. Soon after, Hon. George H. West
+of Saratoga presented a bill giving the women of the State the
+right to vote for president. It was referred to the Judiciary
+Committee and reported adversely, notwithstanding it was twice
+called up and debated by its friends, Messrs. Strahan, Husted,
+Ogden, Hogeboom and West. No vote was reached on the measure, but
+this much of consideration was a gain over previous years, when
+nothing had been done beyond the presentation of a bill and its
+reference to a committee.
+
+In 1876 Governor Samuel J. Tilden appointed Mrs. Josephine Shaw
+Lowell as commissioner of the State Board of Charities, the first
+official position a woman ever held in this State.
+
+During the winter of 1877 a memorial was sent to the legislature,
+asking that women be allowed to serve as school officers. The Hon.
+William N. Emerson, senator from Monroe, presented the following
+bill:
+
+     AN ACT _to Authorize the Election of Women to School Offices._
+
+     The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
+     Assembly, do enact as follows:
+
+     SECTION 1. Any woman of the age of twenty-one years and upwards,
+     and possessing the qualifications prescribed for men, shall be
+     eligible to any office under the general or special school laws
+     of this State, subject to the same conditions and requirements as
+     prescribed to men.
+
+     SEC. 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
+
+Petitions and memorials from all parts of the State were poured
+into the legislature, praying for the passage of the bill. Mr.
+Emerson made an eloquent speech in its favor, and labored earnestly
+for the measure. It passed the Senate by a vote of 19 to 9; the
+Assembly by a vote of 84 to 19. This success was hailed with great
+rejoicing by the women of the State who understood the progress of
+events. But their delight was turned into indignation and
+disappointment when the governor, Lucius Robinson, returned the
+bill to the Senate with the following veto:
+
+                              STATE OF NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, }
+                                               ALBANY, May 8, 1877. }
+
+     _To the Senate:_
+
+     I return without approval Senate bill No. 61, entitled "An act to
+     authorize the election of women to school offices."
+
+     This bill goes too far or not far enough. It provides that women
+     may hold any or all of the offices connected with the department
+     of education, that is to say, a woman may be elected
+     superintendent of public instruction, women may be appointed
+     school commissioners, members of boards of education and trustees
+     of school districts. In some of these positions it will become
+     their duty to make contracts, purchase materials, build and
+     repair school-houses, and to supervise and effect all the
+     transactions of school business, involving an annual expenditure
+     of over twelve million dollars in this State. There can be no
+     greater reason that women should occupy these positions than the
+     less responsible ones of supervisors, town clerks, justices of
+     the peace, commissioners of highways, overseers of the poor, and
+     numerous others. If women are physically and mentally fitted for
+     one class of these stations, they are equally so for the others.
+
+     But at this period in the history of the world such enactments as
+     the present hardly comport with the wisdom and dignity of
+     legislation. The God of nature has appointed different fields of
+     labor, duty and usefulness for the sexes. His decrees cannot be
+     changed by human legislation. In the education of our children
+     the mother stands far above all superintendents, commissioners,
+     trustees and school teachers. Her influence in the family, in
+     social intercourse and enterprises, outweighs all the mere
+     machinery of benevolence and education. To lower her from the
+     high and holy place given her by nature, is to degrade her power
+     and to injure rather than benefit the cause of education itself.
+     In all enlightened and Christian nations the experience and
+     observations of ages have illustrated and defined the relative
+     duties of the sexes in promoting the best interests of society.
+     Few, if any, of the intelligent and right-minded among women
+     desire or would be willing to accept the change which such a law
+     would inaugurate.
+
+     The bill is moreover a clear infraction of the spirit if not the
+     letter of the constitution. Under that instrument women have no
+     right to vote, and it cannot be supposed that it is the intention
+     of the constitution that persons not entitled to the right of
+     suffrage should be eligible to some of the most important offices
+     in the State.
+
+                                             L. ROBINSON.
+
+On May 24, 25, 1877, the National and State conventions were again
+held in New York, at Steinway Hall. Both conventions passed
+resolutions denouncing Governor Robinson's action in his veto. The
+following address was issued by the State association:
+
+     _To the Voters and Legislators of New York:_
+
+     The women of the State of New York, in convention assembled, do
+     most earnestly protest against the injustice with which they are
+     treated by the State, where in point of numbers they are in
+     excess of the men:
+
+          _First_--They are denied the right of choosing their own
+          rulers, but are compelled to submit to the choice of a
+          minority consisting of its male residents, fully one-third
+          of whom are of foreign birth. _Second_--They are held
+          amenable to laws they have had no share in making and in
+          which they are forbidden a voice--laws which touch all their
+          most vital interests of education, industry, children,
+          property, life and liberty. _Third_--While compelled to bear
+          the burdens and suffer the penalties of government, they are
+          debarred the honors and emoluments of civil service, and the
+          control of offices in the righteous discharge of whose
+          duties their interest is equal to that of men.
+          _Fourth_--They are taxed without their consent to sustain
+          men in office who enact laws directly opposing their
+          interests, and inasmuch as the State of New York pays
+          one-sixth the taxes of the United States, its women feel the
+          arm of oppression--like Briareus with his hundred
+          hands--touching and crushing them with its burdens.
+          _Fifth_--They are under the power of an autocrat whose
+          salary they must pay, but who, in opposition to the will of
+          the people--as recently shown in the passage of the School
+          bill by the legislature--has by his veto denied them all
+          official authority in the control of the public schools, and
+          this despite the fact of there being 3,670 more girls of
+          school age than boys, and 14,819 more women than men
+          teaching in the State. _Sixth_--Under pretence of regulating
+          public morals, women of the _femme de pave_ class, many of
+          whom have been driven to this mode of life as a livelihood,
+          are subjected to more oppressive laws than their partners in
+          vice. _Seventh_--The laws treat married women as criminals
+          by taking from them all legal control of their children,
+          while those born outside of marriage belong absolutely to
+          the mothers. _Eighth_--They forbid the mother's inheritance
+          of property from her children in case the father is living,
+          thus making her of no consideration in the eyes of those to
+          whom she has given birth. _Ninth_--They give the husband
+          control of the common property--allow him to spend the whole
+          personal estate in riotous living, or even to sell the home
+          over his wife's head, subject only to her third
+          life-interest in case she survives him. _Tenth_--They allow
+          the husband to imprison her at his pleasure within his own
+          house, the court sustaining him in this coercion until the
+          wife "submits herself to her husband's will."
+          _Eleventh_--They allow the husband while the common property
+          is in his possession, "without even the formality of a legal
+          complaint, the taking of an oath or the filing of a bond for
+          the good faith of his action," to advertise his wife through
+          the public press as a deserter and to forbid her credit.
+          _Twelfth_--They deny the widow the right of inheritance in
+          the common property that they give the widower, allow her
+          but forty days' residence in the family mansion before
+          paying rent to her husband's heirs, thus treating her as if
+          she were an alien to her own children--set off to her a few
+          paltry articles of household use, close the estate through a
+          process of law, and make the days of her bereavement doubly
+          days of sorrow.
+
+     The above laws of marriage, placing irresponsible authority in
+     the hands of the husband, have given him a power of moral
+     coercion over the wife, making her virtually his slave. Without
+     entering into fuller details of the injustice and oppression of
+     the laws upon all women, married and single, we will sum the
+     whole subject up in the language of the French Woman's Rights
+     League, which characterizes woman's position thus:
+
+          (1) Woman is held _politically_ to have no existence; (2)
+          _civilly_, she is a minor; (3) in marriage she is a serf;
+          (4) in labor she is made inferior and robbed of her
+          earnings; (5) in public instruction she is sacrificed to
+          man; (6) out of marriage, answers to the faults committed by
+          both; (7) as a mother is deprived of her right to her
+          children; (8) she is only deemed equally responsible,
+          intelligent and answerable in taxes and crimes.
+
+     By order of the New York State Woman Suffrage Society.
+
+     May, 1877.            MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Secretary_.
+
+In the summer of 1877 another effort was made by women of wealth to
+be relieved from taxation. Several memorials to that effect were
+sent to the legislature, one headed by Susan A. King[230] of New
+York, a self-made woman who had accumulated a large fortune and
+owned much real estate. Her memorial, signed by a few others,
+represented $9,000,000. The committee bearing these waited on many
+members of the legislature to secure their influence when such a
+bill should be presented, which was done March 11, by Col. Alfred
+Wagstaff, with warm recommendations. He was followed by Senator
+McCarthy of Onondaga, who also introduced a bill for an amendment
+to the constitution to secure to women the right of suffrage. Both
+these bills called out the determined opposition of Thomas C.
+Ecclesine, senator from the eleventh district, and the ridicule of
+others. The delegation of ladies, sitting there as representatives
+of half the people of the State, felt insulted to have their
+demands thus sneered at; it was for them a moment of bitter
+humiliation. In the evening, however, their time for retaliation
+came, as they had a hearing in the Senate chamber, before the
+Judiciary Committee, where an immense crowd assembled at an early
+hour. The chairman of the committee Hon. William H. Robertson,
+presided. Each of the ladies, in the course of her speech, referred
+to the insulting remarks of Mr. Hughes of Washington county. That
+gentleman, being present, looked as if he regretted his unfortunate
+jokes, and winced under the sarcasm of the ladies.
+
+Soon after this, great excitement was created by the close of
+Stewart's Home for Working Women. This fine building, on the corner
+of Thirty-second street and Fourth avenue, had been erected by the
+merchant prince for the use of working women, who could there find
+a home at a moderate expense. The millionaire dead, his large
+fortune passed into other hands. The building was completed and
+furnished in a style of elegance far beyond what was appropriated
+to that purpose. On April 2, with a great flourish, the immense
+building was thrown open for public inspection. A large number of
+women applied at once for admission, but encountered a set of rules
+that drove most of them away. This gave Judge Hilton an excuse for
+violating his obligation to carry out the plan of his dead
+benefactor, and in a few weeks he closed the house to working women
+and opened it as the Park Hotel, for which it was so admirably
+furnished and fitted that it was the general opinion that it was
+intended for this from the beginning. Great indignation was felt in
+the community, the women calling a meeting to express their
+disappointment and dissatisfaction. This was held in Cooper
+Institute, under the auspices of the Woman Suffrage
+Association.[231] Had Mr. Stewart provided a permanent home for
+working women it would have been but a meager return for the
+underpaid toil of the thousands who had labored for half a century
+to build up his princely fortune. But even the idea of such an act
+of justice died with him.
+
+In 1879 that eminent philanthropist Dr. Hervey Backus Wilbur,
+superintendent of the State Idiot Asylum at Syracuse, urged the
+passage of a law requiring the employment of competent women as
+physicians in the female wards of the State insane asylums.
+Petitions prepared by him were circulated by the officers of the
+Women's Medical College, of the New York Infirmary, by Mrs.
+Josephine Shaw Lowell of the State Board of Charities, and by Drs.
+Willard Parker, Mary Putnam Jacobi, and other eminent physicians of
+New York. The bill prepared by Dr. Wilbur was introduced in the
+Assembly by Hon. Erastus Brooks, and required the trustees of each
+of the four State asylums for the insane, "to employ one or more
+competent, well-educated female physicians to have the charge of
+the female patients of said asylum, under the direction of the
+medical superintendents of the several asylums, as in the case of
+the other or male assistant physicians, and to take the place of
+such male assistant physician or physicians in the wards of the
+female patients." Although Dr. Wilbur stood at the head of his
+profession, his authority upon everything connected with the
+feeble-minded being not only recognized in this country but in
+Europe also as absolute, yet this bill, which did not contemplate
+placing a woman in charge of such an institution, and which was so
+purely moral in its character, met with ridicule and opposition
+from the press of the State, to which Dr. Wilbur made an exhaustive
+reply, showing the need of women as physicians in all institutions
+in which unfortunate women are incarcerated.
+
+When the fall elections of 1879 approached, a circular letter was
+sent to every candidate for office in the city, asking his views on
+the question of woman suffrage, and delegations waited on the
+nominees for mayor. Mr. Edward Cooper, the Republican candidate,
+declared he had no sympathy with the movement, while Hon. Augustus
+Schell, the Democratic candidate, received the ladies with great
+courtesy, and avowed himself friendly at least to the demand for
+equal wages and better opportunities for education, and in the
+trades and professions. From the answers received, a list of
+candidates was prepared. On the evening of October 30, a crowded
+mass-meeting was held in Steinway Hall to advocate the election of
+those men who were favorable to the enfranchisement of woman. Mr.
+Schell was chosen Mayor. The re-nomination in 1879, of Lucius
+Robinson for governor by the Democratic convention, aroused the
+opposition of the women who understood the politics of the State.
+He had declared that "the God of Nature did not intend women for
+public life"; they resolved that the same power should retire Mr.
+Robinson from public life, and held mass-meetings to that end.[232]
+These meetings were all alike crowded and enthusiastic, and the
+speakers[233] felt richly paid for their efforts. A thorough
+canvass of the State was also made, and a protest[234] extensively
+circulated, condemning the governor for his veto of the
+school-bill.
+
+Mr. F. B. Thurber, and Miss Susan A. King contributed liberally to
+this campaign. Handbills containing the protest and a call for a
+series of mass-meetings, were distributed by the thousands all over
+the State. The last meeting was held at the seventh ward Republican
+wigwam, an immense structure, in Brooklyn: its use was given by the
+unanimous vote of the club.[235] At every one of these meetings
+resolutions were passed condemning Mr. Robinson, and electors were
+urged to cast their votes against him. No doubt the enthusiasm the
+women aroused for his opponent helped in a measure to defeat him.
+
+In the meantime, women in the eleventh senatorial district were
+concentrating their efforts for the defeat of Thomas H. Eccelsine.
+His Republican opponent, Hon. Chas. E. Foster, was a pronounced
+advocate of woman suffrage. Miss King,[236] who resided in this
+district, exerted all her influence for his election, giving time,
+money and thought to the canvass. On the morning of November 5, the
+day after election, the papers announced that Mr. Cornell was
+chosen governor, and that Mr. Ecclesine, who two years before had
+been elected by 7,000 majority, was defeated by 600, and Mr. Foster
+chosen senator in his stead.
+
+This campaign attracted much attention. The journals throughout the
+country commented upon the action of the women. It was conceded
+that their efforts had counted for something in influencing the
+election, and from this moment the leaders of the woman suffrage
+movement in New York regarded themselves as possessing some
+political influence.
+
+In January, 1880, Governor Alonzo B. Cornell, in his first message
+to the legislature, among other recommendations, embodied the
+following:
+
+     The policy of making women eligible as school officers has been
+     adopted in several States with beneficial results, and the
+     question is exciting much discussion in this State. Women are
+     equally competent with men for this duty, and it cannot be
+     doubted that their admission to representation would largely
+     increase the efficacy of our school management. The favorable
+     attention of the legislature is earnestly directed to this
+     subject.
+
+With such words from the chief executive it was an easy matter to
+find friends for a measure making women eligible as school
+officers. Early in the session the following bill was introduced by
+Hon. Lorraine B. Sessions of Cattaraugus:
+
+     No person shall be deemed ineligible to serve as any school
+     officer, or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, who
+     has the voter's qualifications required by law.
+
+Senator Edwin G. Halbert of Broome rendered efficient aid and the
+bill passed at once in the Senate by a nearly unanimous vote. Hon.
+G. W. Husted of Westchester introduced it at once in the assembly
+and earnestly championed the measure. It passed by a vote of 87 to
+3. The bill was laid before the governor, who promptly affixed his
+signature to it, and thus, at last, secured to the women of the
+Empire State the right to vote on all school matters, and to hold
+any school offices to which they might be chosen. The bill was
+signed on February 12, and the next day being Friday, was the last
+day of registration in the city of Syracuse, the election there
+taking place on the following Tuesday. The news did not reach there
+until late in the day, the evening papers being the first to
+contain it. But, although so little was known of the measure,
+thirteen women registered their names as voters, and cast their
+ballots at the election. This was the first time the women of New
+York ever voted, and Tuesday, February 18, 1880, is a day to be
+remembered.[237] The voting for officers, like all other-school
+matters, was provided for, not under the general laws, but by the
+school statutes. There are two general elections in chartered
+cities and universal suffrage for school as well as all other
+officers; no preparation being required of voters but registration.
+In the rural districts school meetings are held for elections, and
+there are, by the statutes, three classes of voters described by
+law.
+
+     1. Every person (male or female) who is a resident of the
+     district, of the age of twenty-one years, entitled to hold lands
+     in this State, who either owns or hires real estate in the
+     district liable to taxation for school purposes.
+
+     2. Every citizen of the United States (male or female) above the
+     age of twenty-one years, who is a resident of the district, and
+     who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding
+     assessment roll of the town exceeding $50 in value, exclusive of
+     such as is exempt from execution.
+
+     3. Every citizen of the United States (male or female) above the
+     age of twenty-one years, who is a resident of the district and
+     who has permanently residing with him, or her, a child or
+     children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have
+     attended the school of the district for a period of at least
+     eight weeks within the year preceding the time at which the vote
+     is offered.
+
+Several of the large cities hold their elections on the first
+Tuesday in March, while the majority of the rural districts hold
+their school meetings on the second Tuesday in October.
+Preparations were at once made to call out a large vote of women in
+the cities holding spring elections, but all such efforts were
+checked by official action. The mayor of Rochester wrote to the
+governor, asking him if the new law applied to cities. Mr. Cornell
+laid the question before Attorney-General Ward, who promptly gave
+an opinion that inasmuch as the words "school meeting" were used in
+the law, women could only vote where such meetings were held, but
+were not entitled to vote at the elections in large cities.
+Meantime the New York City Association called a meeting of
+congratulation on the passage of the bill on February 25, when
+Robinson Hall was crowded to overflowing with the friends of woman
+suffrage, some of whom addressed the vast audience.[238]
+
+A mass-meeting of women was held at Albany, in Geological Hall,
+Mrs. Blake presiding. It was especially announced that the meeting
+was only for ladies, but several men who strayed in were permitted
+to remain, to take that part in the proceedings usually allowed to
+women in masculine assemblies, that is, to be silent spectators.
+Resolutions were passed, urging the women to vote at the coming
+election, and the names of several ladies were suggested as
+trustees. March 19, 1880, the Albany County Woman Suffrage
+Association[239] was formed, whose first active duty was to rouse
+the women to vote in the coming school election, which they did, in
+spite of the attorney-general's opinion.
+
+Mr. Edwin G. Halbert of Broome also introduced a bill in the
+Senate, for a constitutional amendment, to secure to women the
+right of suffrage, which was passed by that conservative body just
+before its adjournment. Meantime Mr. Wilcox urged the passage of
+the bill to prohibit disfranchisement, which was brought to a third
+reading in the Assembly. He prepared and circulated among the
+members of the legislature a brief,[240] showing their power to
+extend the suffrage. The argument is unanswerable, establishing the
+fact that women had voted through the early days of the Colonies,
+and proving, by unanswerable authorities, their right to do so;
+thus establishing the right of women to vote in 1885. Mr.
+Wilcox' researches on this point will prove invaluable in the
+enfranchisement of woman, as his facts are irresistible. Following
+is the proposed bill:
+
+     AN ACT _to Prohibit Disfranchisement_.
+
+     Introduced in the Assembly by Hon. Alex. F. Andrews, March 31,
+     1880. Reported by the Judiciary Committee for consideration, May
+     24. Ordered to third reading, May 27. Again so reported,
+     unanimously, March 16, 1881. Again ordered to third reading, May
+     3, 1881; ayes 60, noes 40. Vote on passage, May 11, 1881; ayes
+     59, noes 55, majority 4. (65 necessary to pass).
+
+     _Whereas_, the common law entitles women to vote under the same
+     qualifications as men; and
+
+     _Whereas_, said common law has never been abrogated in this
+     State; and
+
+     _Whereas_, a practice nevertheless obtains of treating as
+     disfranchised all persons to whom suffrage is not secured by
+     express words of the constitution; and
+
+     _Whereas_, the constitution makes no provision for this practice,
+     but on the contrary declares that its own object is to secure the
+     blessings of freedom to the people, and provides that no member
+     of this State shall be disfranchised or deprived of any of the
+     privileges secured to any citizen unless by constitutional
+     provision and judicial decision thereunder; and
+
+     _Whereas_, this practice, despite the want of authority therefor,
+     has by continuance acquired the force of law; and
+
+     _Whereas_, many citizens object to this practice as a violation
+     of the spirit and purpose of the constitution, as well as against
+     justice and public policy; and
+
+     _Whereas_, the legislature has corrected this practice in
+     repeated instances, its power to do so being in such instances
+     fully recognized and exercised; therefore
+
+     The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
+     Assembly, do enact as follows:
+
+     SECTION 1. Every woman shall be free to vote, under the
+     qualifications required of men, or to refrain from voting, as she
+     may choose; and no person shall be debarred, by reason of sex,
+     from voting at any election, or at any town meeting, school
+     meeting, or other choice of government functionaries whatsoever.
+
+     SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act,
+     are hereby repealed.
+
+     SEC. 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
+
+Various memorials were sent to the legislature in behalf of this
+bill, and a hearing was granted to its advocates.[241] The
+Assembly chamber in the beautiful new capitol was crowded as it
+had never been before. A large proportion of the senators and
+assemblymen were present, many of the judges from the various
+courts, while the governor and lieutenant-governor occupied
+prominent places, and large crowds of fashionable ladies and
+leading gentlemen filled the seats and galleries. The chairman of
+the committee, Hon. George L. Ferry, presided. The ladies were
+graciously received by the governor, who, at their request, gave
+them the pen with which he signed the bill providing "school
+suffrage for women," and in return they presented him a handsome
+gold-mounted pen, a gift from the City Society.
+
+The first voting by women after the passage of the new law, was at
+Syracuse, February 17, only five days after the bill received the
+governor's signature, but the great body of women had not the
+opportunity until October. At that time in Fayetteville, the home
+of Matilda Joslyn Gage, women voted in large numbers; the three who
+had been placed upon the ticket, trustee, clerk and librarian were
+all elected. It was an hour of triumph for Mrs. Gage who was
+heartily congratulated upon the result. It was remarked that so
+quiet an election had seldom been known. At Middletown, Orange
+county, Dr. Lydia Sayre Hasbrook urged the women to take advantage
+of their new privilege, and when the day of election came, although
+it was cold and stormy, over 200 voted, and elected the entire
+ticket of women for trustees, Mrs. Hasbrook herself being chosen as
+one.
+
+There were many places, however, where no women voted, for the
+reform had all the antagonisms and prejudices of custom to
+overcome. Many obstacles were thrown in the way to prevent them
+from exercising this right. The men of their families objecting,
+and misconstruing the law, kept them in doubt both as to their
+rights and duties. The clergy from their pulpits warned the women
+of their congregations not to vote, fathers forbade their
+daughters, husbands their wives. The wonder is that against such a
+pressure so many women did vote after all.
+
+October 12, 1880, the elections took place in a large proportion of
+the eleven thousand school districts of the State, and the daily
+journals were full of items as to the result. We copy a few of
+these:
+
+     LOWVILLE, Lewis County, Oct. 16, 1880.--The business meeting was
+     held on the evening of the 12th, and was attended by twenty
+     ladies. On the following day at 1 P.M., the election was held.
+     The ladies had an independent ticket opposing the incumbent clerk
+     and trustee. Seven voted. Four were challenged. They swore their
+     votes in. Boys just turned twenty-one years of age voted
+     unchallenged. The clerk, who is a young sprig of a lawyer, made
+     himself conspicuous by challenging our votes. He first read the
+     opinion of the State superintendent of public instruction, and
+     said that the penalty for illegal voting was not less than six
+     months' imprisonment. My vote was challenged, and although my
+     husband is an owner of much real estate and cannot sell one foot
+     of it without my consent, I could not vote.
+
+     From Penn Yan a woman writes:--About seventy ladies voted here,
+     but none who did not either own or lease real estate. The
+     argument so often used against woman suffrage--viz: that the
+     first to avail themselves of the privilege would be those least
+     qualified to do so, is directly refuted, in this town at least,
+     since the ladies who voted are without doubt those who by natural
+     ability and by culture are abundantly competent to vote
+     intelligently as well as conscientiously.
+
+     A woman in Nunda writes:--Only six women attended the school
+     meeting in the first district on the 12th, but over forty went to
+     the polls on the 13th. Two women were on one of the tickets; the
+     opposition ticket was made up entirely of males. We were
+     supported by the best men in the village. The ticket bearing the
+     names of Mrs. Fidelia J. M. Whitcomb, M. D., and Mrs. S. Augusta
+     Herrick, was elected.
+
+     From Poland a woman writes:--Our school meeting was attended by
+     about thirty men and two women. The population of the village is
+     between three and four hundred. My neighbor and I were proud of
+     the privilege of casting our first vote. There was nothing of
+     special interest to call out voters, as our trustees are
+     satisfactory to all. If circumstances required, there would be
+     many women voters here.
+
+     David Hopkins and Gustave Dettloff were candidates for school
+     trustee in district No. 1 of New Lots, Long Island, at the last
+     election. Mr. Hopkins is a farmer and was seeking reelection. Mr.
+     Dettloff is connected with an insurance company in this city, and
+     is a well-known resident of the town. The friends of Mr. Hopkins
+     about an hour before the closing of the polls, perceived that
+     there was danger of their candidate's defeat. A consultation was
+     held, and it was decided to utilize the new law giving women the
+     privilege of voting. Accordingly, several farm wagons were
+     procured and sent through the district to gather in the farmers'
+     wives and daughters. The wagons returned to the polls with 107
+     women, all of whom voted for Mr. Hopkins, thus saving him from
+     defeat. It was too late to use a counter poison. The total number
+     of votes cast was 329, Mr. Hopkins receiving eighty majority.
+
+     PORT JERVIS. Oct. 13.--The annual election of school trustees
+     occurred to-day and was attended with unusual excitement. Eight
+     hundred and thirty votes were polled, 150, for the women's
+     ticket, the remainder being divided. Only fifty ladies voted, a
+     great many being kept from the polls by the crowd of loafers
+     standing around. The Protestant ticket, composed of three men,
+     was elected. The election was held in a small room, and this was
+     crowded with men who amused themselves by passing remarks about
+     the ladies until the police were called in. Every lady who
+     offered her vote was challenged and a great many left the polls
+     in disgust. In Carpenter's Point and Sparrowbush, two suburbs of
+     the village, the ladies voted and were not molested.
+
+     Only a few women voted on Tuesday evening at the election for
+     school trustees in the first district of Southfield, Staten
+     Island. When the poll was opened Judge John G. Vaughan, the
+     retiring trustee, presided. A motion was made to reelect him by
+     acclamation. Amid great confusion Judge Vaughan put the motion
+     and declared it carried. Then Officers Fitzgerald and Leary had
+     to take charge of the meeting to preserve order, and Judge
+     Vaughan's opponents withdrew, threatening proceedings to have the
+     election declared invalid. Abram C. Wood was elected school
+     trustee in the West New Brighton (S. I.) district by 69 majority,
+     which included the votes of eight of eleven women present. Other
+     women promised to vote if Mr. Wood needed their support. Mr.
+     Robert B. Minturn presided.
+
+     SING SING, Oct. 13.--Five women voted at the school meeting last
+     night.
+
+     MOUNT MORRIS, Oct. 13.--One hundred and twenty women voted at the
+     school election here last evening.
+
+     GLEN'S FALLS, Oct. 13.--I am informed that women did vote here
+     and in the neighborhood last evening.
+
+     PERRY, Oct. 13.--A large woman vote was cast here. Two women were
+     elected members of the school-board.
+
+     PEEKSKILL, Oct. 13.--Five women voted in one district.
+
+     SHELTER ISLAND, Oct. 13.--Women voted at our school meeting.
+
+     COFFIN SUMMIT, Oct. 15.--Six women voted at the school meeting
+     here. A lady was nominated for trustee and received many votes,
+     but was defeated.
+
+     STAMFORD, Oct. 15.--Four ladies voted at the school meeting.
+
+     PORT RICHMOND, Oct. 15.--Six ladies attended the school meeting.
+     The chairman, Mr. Sidney P. Ronason, made a speech, welcoming
+     them, stating that an unsuccessful effort had been made by
+     citizens to induce a leading lady to become a candidate for
+     trustee; also, that Lester A. Scofield, the retiring trustee,
+     would cheerfully give way if any competent lady would take his
+     place. This Mr. Scofield confirmed, but, no lady being nominated,
+     he was reelected without opposition.
+
+     BALDWINVILLE, Oct. 15.--Thirty-three ladies voted at the school
+     election.
+
+     LOCKPORT, Oct. 15.--Two Quaker ladies voted at the school meeting
+     of the first district of this township. One of them, Dr. Sarah
+     Lamb Cushing, was chosen tax-collector by 23 votes out of 26. On
+     the entrance of the ladies, smoking and all disorder ceased, and
+     the meeting was uncommonly well-conducted.
+
+     LAWTON STATION, Oct. 15.--Of the 16 votes cast at the school
+     meeting here, 15 were given by women. A woman received the
+     highest vote for school trustee, but withdrew in favor of one of
+     the male candidates. The proceedings were enlivened with singing
+     by the pupils under the direction of the teacher. Several
+     improvements in the building were ordered at the instance of the
+     ladies.
+
+     KNOWLESVILLE, Oct. 15.--Many women meant to vote at the school
+     meeting, but a person went from house to house and threatened
+     them with legal penalties if they did. Mrs. James Kernholtz was
+     nominated for tax-collector at the meeting, but declined, saying
+     the pay was too small. Miss Adelina Lockwood, being nominated for
+     librarian, declined, but was elected by acclamation, amid great
+     applause. The meeting was very large, but unusually orderly.
+
+     FLUSHING, Oct. 15.--Forty women voted at the school meeting here,
+     and in the adjoining district.
+
+     SYRACUSE, Oct. 14, 1881.--At the Fayetteville, Onondaga county,
+     school district election yesterday, a direct issue was made on
+     the question of woman's rights. The candidate of the women was
+     chosen. This is the women's second victory in that place, giving
+     them control of the school-board.
+
+A correspondent describing what the voters had to encounter, said:
+
+     Is the question asked, why have not more women voted? I answer,
+     hundreds of women in this State were debarred by falsehood and
+     intimidation. No sooner had the school suffrage law passed than
+     the wildest statements about it were made. It was given out that
+     the Governor had recalled the bill from the Secretary of State
+     after signing it (which he could not do), and vetoed it; that the
+     law was unconstitutional; that it was defective and inoperative;
+     that it did not apply to cities and villages; that it had been
+     repealed; and like untruths. Pains was taken to hide its
+     existence by corrupt officials, who told the women that the law
+     did not apply to the places where they lived, or who withheld the
+     fact of its passage. The State was flooded just before the
+     elections with an incorrect statement that only the rich women
+     could vote; that the children's mothers could not unless they
+     held real estate. The story was also set afloat that the
+     attorney-general had indorsed this statement; which that
+     gentleman promptly repudiated. All this we corrected as fast and
+     as far as we could; but it unavoidably did much harm.
+
+     Wholesale hindrance and terrorism too, were used. A few samples
+     are these: In Albany, many women were threatened by their own
+     husbands with expulsion from house and home, imprisonment, bodily
+     violence or death if they dared vote; while many others were
+     deterred by insults and threats of social persecution. Many
+     persons ridiculed and abused those who sought to vote. In some
+     districts the inspectors refused to register qualified women,
+     while in others votes were refused. Statements were widely
+     published that the law did not apply to Albany. In Knowersville,
+     the village teacher went to every house, and threatened the women
+     with state-prison if they dared to vote. In Mount Morris, the
+     president of the Board of Education denounced the ladies who
+     induced others to vote. In Fayetteville, Saratoga and elsewhere,
+     the ladies' request for some share in making the tickets was
+     scornfully ignored. In Port Jervis, the Board of Education
+     declined a hall that was offered, and had the election in a low,
+     dirty little room. Smoke was puffed in the ladies' faces,
+     challenges were frequent, and all sorts of impudent questions
+     were asked of the voters. In Long Island City many ladies were
+     challenged, and stones were thrown in the street at Mrs. Emma
+     Gates Conkling, the lady who was most active in bringing out the
+     new voters. In New Brighton, the village paper threatened the
+     women with jail if they voted; and when a motion was made in one
+     district that the ladies be invited to attend, a large negative
+     vote was given, one man shouting, "We have enough of women at
+     home; we don't want'em here!" At West New Brighton it was openly
+     announced that the meeting should be too turbulent for ladies,
+     insomuch that many who intended to go staid away, and the few who
+     went were obliged to wait till all the men had voted. In Newham a
+     gang of low fellows took possession of the polling place early,
+     filled it with smoke of the worst tobacco, and covered the floor
+     with tobacco juice; and through all this the few ladies who
+     ventured to vote had to pass. In New York a man who claims to be
+     a gentleman said: "If my wife undertook to vote I would trample
+     her under my feet." In New Rochelle the school trustee told the
+     women they were not entitled to vote, and tried to prevent a
+     meeting being held to inform them. Clergymen from the pulpit
+     urged women not to vote, and a mob gathered at the polls and
+     blocked the way. These are but samples of the difficulties under
+     which the new law went into operation; and it is the truth that
+     there was as much bulldozing of voters in New York as ever in the
+     South, though sometimes by other means.
+
+In 1880 Mrs. Blake was sent by the New York society to the
+Republican and Democratic presidential conventions at Chicago and
+Cincinnati, and on her return a meeting was called in Republican
+Hall, July 9, to hear her report as to the comparative treatment
+received by the delegates in the two conventions. Soon afterwards a
+delegation of ladies[242] waited on Winfield S. Hancock, the
+Democratic nominee, who received them with much courtesy, saying he
+was quite willing to interpret, in its broadest sense, that clause
+of his letter of acceptance wherein he said: "It is only by a full
+vote and a fair count that the people can rule in fact, as required
+by the theory of our government." "I am willing, ladies," said the
+general, "to have you say that I believe in a free ballot for all
+the people of the United States, women as well as men."
+
+Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Slocum and Mr. Wilcox made quite an extensive
+canvass through many counties of the State, to rouse the women to
+use their right to vote on all school matters.
+
+The bill to prohibit disfranchisement was again introduced in the
+legislature of 1881, by Joseph M. Congdon, and ordered to a third
+reading May 3, by a vote of 60 to 40, and on May 11 came up for
+final action, when the ladies, by special courtesy, were admitted
+to the floor of the Assembly chamber to listen to the discussion.
+General Francis B. Spinola and General James W. Husted made earnest
+speeches in favor of the bill, and Hon. Erastus Brooks and General
+George A. Sharpe in opposition. The roll-call gave 57 ayes to 55
+noes--a majority of those present, but not the majority (65) of all
+the members of the Assembly, which the constitution of New York
+requires for the final passage of a bill. The vote astonished the
+opponents, and placed the measure among the grave questions of the
+day. This substantial success inspired the friends to renewed
+efforts.[243]
+
+The necessity of properly qualified women in the police stations
+again came up for consideration. The condition of unfortunate women
+nightly consigned to these places had long been set forth by the
+leaders of the suffrage movement. In New York there were thirty-two
+station-houses in which, from night to night, from five to forty
+women were lodged, some on criminal charges, some from extreme
+poverty. All there, young and old, were entirely in the hands of
+men, in sickness or distress. If search was to be made on charge of
+theft, it was always a male official who performed the duty. If the
+most delicate and refined lady were taken ill on the street, or
+injured in any way, she was liable to be taken to the nearest
+station, where the needful examinations to ascertain if life yet
+lingered must be made by men. In view of these facts, a resolution
+was again passed at the State convention, and request made to the
+police commissioners, to permit a delegation of ladies to meet with
+them in conference. The commissioners deigned no reply, but gave
+the letter to the press, whereupon ensued a storm of comment and
+ridicule.
+
+On consultation with Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell, commissioner of
+the State Board of Charities, a bill was drawn up and sent to
+Albany, providing for the appointment of one or more police-matrons
+at every station-house in cities of 50,000 inhabitants and upwards,
+the salaries to be $600 each. Hon. J. C. Boyd presented the bill in
+the Senate, where it passed April 18. In the Assembly its passage
+was urged by Hon. Michael C. Murphy, chairman of the Committee on
+Cities. Meantime Mayor Grace and Comptroller Campbell entered their
+protest against the bill, declaring the measure ought to originate
+in the city departments, where there was full power to appoint
+police-matrons; also, that the proposed salaries would be a heavy
+drain upon the city treasury. The comptroller was at once informed
+of the previous application to the police commissioners, from whom
+no reply had been received, which virtually compelled appeal to the
+legislature. And as to salaries, it was suggested that there were
+now on the pay-roll of the police of New York 2,500 men whose
+salaries amounted to over $2,500,000, whereas the bill before the
+legislature asked for only sixty matrons, whose salaries would
+amount to but $36,000. This was certainly a most reasonable demand
+for the protection of one-half the people of the city, who paid
+fully half the indirect taxes as well as a fair proportion of the
+direct taxes. Finally, it was proposed to the comptroller that the
+bill should be withdrawn if he would recommend the appointment of
+police-matrons in the city departments. This was not accepted. The
+Committee on Cities gave a hearing to Mrs. Blake, and reported
+unanimously in favor of the bill. Public sentiment supported the
+measure, the press generally advocated it, and the Assembly passed
+the bill by a vote of 96 to 7; but it failed to receive the
+signature of the governor,--a most striking proof of the need of
+the ballot for women; since, friendly as he was to woman's
+enfranchisement, when he found the police department, with its
+thousands of attaches, _all with votes_ in their hands, opposed,
+Governor Cornell was found wanting in courage and conscience to
+sign this bill for women who had no votes.[244] The next year
+application was again made to the city authorities for the
+appointment of matrons, but they refused to act. The bill was
+reintroduced in the legislature, passed by a large majority in the
+Assembly, but defeated in the Senate by the adverse report of the
+Committee on Cities. A mass-meeting to discuss this question of
+police-matrons was held in Steinway Hall, March 1, at which the
+speakers[B] all urged such appointments.
+
+During the winter of 1882 an effort was made in New York city to
+secure the enforcement of the law enacted by the previous
+legislature, which provided that seats should be furnished for the
+"shop-girls." Mrs. Emma Gates Conkling caused the arrest of certain
+prominent shop-keepers on the charge of not complying with the law,
+but on coming to trial the suits were withdrawn on the promise of
+the delinquents to give seats to their employes.
+
+During the winter of 1882 agitation for the higher education of
+women was renewed, and a society organized by some of the most
+influential ladies in the city. They rolled up a petition of 1,200,
+asking that Columbia College be opened to women. President Barnard
+had recommended this in his reports for three years. The agitation
+culminated in a grand meeting[245] in the new Union League Theater.
+Parke Godwin of the _Evening Post_ presided. The audience was
+chiefly composed of fashionable ladies, whose equipages filled
+Thirty-eighth street blocks away, yet not a woman sat on the
+platform; not a woman's voice was heard; even the report of the
+society was read by a man, and every inspiration of the occasion
+was filtered through the brain of some man. Among other things, Mr.
+Godwin, son-in-law of the poet Bryant, said:
+
+     We speak of the higher education of women. Why not also of men?
+     Because they already have the opportunity for obtaining it. The
+     idea upon which our government is built is the idea of equal
+     rights for all; and that means equal opportunities. Every society
+     needs all the best intellect that it can get. We have many evil
+     influences acting upon our society here, and we need the
+     all-controlling influence of woman. We cannot fix a standard for
+     her. History shows what she has done, in a Vespasia, Vittoria
+     Colonna, De Stael, Bremer, Evans, Somerville and Maria Mitchell.
+     She does not go out of her sphere when she is so highly educated.
+     She can darn her stockings just as well if she does know the word
+     in half-a-dozen languages. There is no longer novelty in this
+     movement; it has been tried successfully here and abroad in the
+     universities, and always with success.
+
+Addresses were also made by Rev. Dr. Stowe, Dr. William Draper,
+Joseph Choate, and others eminent in one way or another. The
+meeting closed by circulating a petition for presentation to the
+trustees of Columbia College, asking that properly qualified women
+be admitted to lectures and examinations.
+
+The bill to prohibit disfranchisement on account of sex was again
+introduced in the Assembly by Hon. J. Hampden Robb, and referred to
+the Committee on Grievances, of which Major James Haggerty was
+chairman, who gave to it his hearty approval and granted two
+hearings to the officers of the State society, on behalf of the
+large number of memorialists who had sent in their petitions from
+all parts of the State. The women of Albany were indefatigable in
+their personal appeals to the different members of the Assembly,
+urging them to vote for the bill, while Major Haggerty was untiring
+in his advocacy of the measure. On May 3 there was an animated
+discussion:[246] the bill passed to its third reading by an
+overwhelming vote, which alarmed the opponents into making a
+thorough canvass, that proved to them the necessity of some
+decisive action for the defeat of the bill. The Hon. Erastas Brooks
+presented a resolution, calling on the attorney-general for his
+opinion on the constitutionality of the proposed law, which was
+passed in a moment of confusion, and when many of our friends were
+absent. Following is the opinion elicited:
+
+
+                  STATE OF NEW YORK. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL,}
+                                               ALBANY, May 10, 1882.}
+
+     _To the Assembly:_
+
+     I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the resolution of
+     the Assembly requesting the attorney-general to report his
+     opinion as to the constitutionality of Assembly bill No. 637,
+     which provides that "every woman shall be free to vote under the
+     qualifications required of men, or to refrain from voting, as she
+     may choose; and no person shall be debarred by reason of sex from
+     voting at any election, or at any town meeting, school meeting,
+     or other choice of government functionaries whatsoever," and
+     whether, without an amendment to the constitution, suffrage can
+     be granted to any class of persons not named in the constitution.
+     I reply:
+
+     _First_--It has been decided so often by the judicial tribunals
+     of the various States of the Union, and by the Supreme Court of
+     the United States, that suffrage is not a natural inherent right,
+     but one governed by the law-making power and regulated by
+     questions of availability and expediency, instead of absolute,
+     inalienable right (1, 3), that the question is no longer open for
+     discussion, either by the judicial forum or legislative
+     assemblies (_Burnham vs. Laning, 1 Legal Gazette Rep., 411,
+     Supreme Court Penn.; Minor vs. Happersett, 21 Wallace, 162; Day
+     vs. Jones, 31 California, 261; Anderson vs. Baker, 23 Maryland,
+     531; Abbott vs. Bayley, 6 Pickering, 92; 2 Dallas, 471-2; In re
+     Susan B. Anthony, 11 Blatchford, 200_). At the common law women
+     had no right to vote and no political status (2, 4) (_Maine's
+     Ancient Law, 140; Cooley's Const. Lim., 599; Blackstone's Comm.,
+     171_).
+
+     _Second_--Therefore the constitution of the State of New York,
+     providing that every male citizen of the age of 21 years who
+     shall have certain other qualifications, may vote, the
+     determination of the organic law specifying who shall have the
+     privilege of voting, excludes all other classes (5), such as
+     women, persons under 21 years of age and aliens. The argument
+     that, because women are not expressly prohibited, they may vote,
+     fails to give the slightest force to the term "male" in the
+     constitution; and by the same force of reasoning, the expression
+     of the term "citizen" and the statement of the age of 21 years
+     would not necessarily exclude aliens and those under 21 years of
+     age from voting (6). Therefore, assuming that our organic law was
+     properly adopted without the participation of women either in
+     making or adopting it (7), that organic law controls.
+
+     _Third_--It follows, therefore, as a logical consequence that the
+     proposed reform cannot be accomplished except by an amendment of
+     the constitution ratified by two successive legislatures and the
+     people, or by a constitutional convention, whose work shall be
+     sanctioned by a vote of the people.
+
+                         LESLIE W. RUSSELL, _Attorney-General_.[247]
+
+Weak as was this document, and untenable as were its assertions, it
+had great weight with many of the members of the legislature coming
+as the opinion did from the attorney-general of the State. The
+friends of the bill resolved to call for the vote when the bill
+should be reached, and on May 16, the women were present in large
+numbers, listening with intense interest to the brief speeches of
+the members for and against, and watching and counting the vote as
+the roll-call proceeded, which resulted in 54 ayes and 59 noes,
+lacking three votes of a majority of those present and only eleven
+of the requisite number, sixty-five. In view of the official
+opinion against its constitutionality amounting to a legal
+decision, this was a most gratifying vote.[248]
+
+The presence of Leslie W. Russell in Albany, as attorney-general,
+rendered it useless to reintroduce the bill to prohibit
+disfranchisement on account of sex in the legislature of 1883, but
+in its stead, Dr. John G. Boyd of New York introduced a proposition
+to strike "male" from the suffrage clause of the constitution,
+which, however, received only fifteen votes.
+
+To pass from the State to the Church, the winter of 1883 was
+notable for the delivery of a series of Lenten lectures on woman by
+the Rev. Morgan Dix, D. D., rector of Trinity Church, New York,
+afterwards published in book form under the title, "The Calling of
+a Christian Woman and her Training to Fulfill it." The lectures
+were delivered each Friday evening during Lent, in Trinity Chapel,
+and at once attracted attention from their conservative,
+reaectionary, almost monastic views of woman's position and duties.
+
+After reading a report of one of these remarkable essays in which
+women were gravely told their highest happiness should be found in
+singing hymns, Mrs. Blake decided to reply to them. She secured a
+hall on Fourteenth street, and on successive Sunday evenings gave
+addresses in reply. Both courses of lectures were well attended.
+The moderate audiences of Trinity Chapel soon became a throng that
+more than filled the large building, while the hall in which Mrs.
+Blake spoke was packed to suffocation, hundreds going away unable
+to gain admittance. The press everywhere favored the broad and
+liberal views presented by Mrs. Blake, and denounced the old-time
+narrow theories of Dr. Dix. Mrs. Blake's lectures were also
+published in book form with the title of "Woman's Place To-day" and
+had a large circulation.
+
+The Republicans again nominating Mr. Russell for attorney-general,
+an active campaign was organized against him and in favor of the
+Democratic nominee, Mr. Dennis O'Brien. Protests[249] against
+Russell were circulated throughout the State; Republican tickets
+were printed with the name of Denis O'Brien for attorney-general,
+and on election day women distributed these tickets, and made every
+possible effort to ensure the defeat of Russell; and he was
+defeated by 13,000 votes.
+
+The legislature of 1884 showed a marked gain; Hon. Erastus Brooks,
+General George A. Sharpe, and other prominent opponents had been
+retired, and their seats filled by active friends. Our bill was
+introduced by Mr. William Howland of Cayuga, and referred to the
+Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Howland also secured the passage of
+a special act, granting women the right to vote at the charter
+elections of Union Springs, Cayuga county. Under similar enactments
+women have the right to vote for municipal officers in Dansville,
+Newport and other villages and towns in the State.
+
+On March 11, 12, the annual meeting of the State society was held
+in the City Hall, Albany, with a good representation[250] from the
+National Convention at Washington, added to our own State
+speakers.[251] On the last evening there was an overflow meeting
+held in Geological Hall, presided over by Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage.
+
+Governor Cleveland accorded the delegates a most courteous
+reception in his room in the capitol. A hearing was had before the
+Judiciary Committee March 13. The assembly-chamber was crowded.
+General Husted, chairman of the committee, presided, and Mrs.
+Blake, the president of the society, introduced the speakers.[252]
+A few days later the same committee gave a special hearing to Mrs.
+Gougar, who made the journey from Indiana to present the case. The
+committee reported adversely, but by the able tactics of General
+Husted, after an animated debate the bill was placed on the
+calendar by a vote of 66 to 62, and shortly after ordered to a
+third reading by a vote of 74 to 39. On May 8 the bill was reached
+for final action. Frederick B. Howe of New York was the principal
+opponent, trying to obstruct legislation by one and another
+pretext. General Husted took the floor in an able speech on the
+constitutionality of the bill, and the vote stood 57 ayes to 61
+noes, lacking eight votes of the requisite 65.
+
+While the right of suffrage is still denied, gains in personal and
+property rights have been granted:
+
+     In 1880, the law requiring the private acknowledgment by a
+     married woman of her execution of deeds, or other written
+     instruments, without the "fear or compulsion" of her husband, was
+     abolished, leaving the wife to make, take and certify in the same
+     manner as if she were a _feme sole_.
+
+     March 21, 1884, the penal code of the State was amended, raising
+     the age of consent from ten to sixteen years, and also providing
+     penalties[253] for inveigling or enticing any unmarried woman,
+     under the age of twenty-five years, into a house of ill-fame or
+     assignation.
+
+     Under the act of May 28, 1884, a married woman may contract to
+     the same extent, with like effect and in the same form as if
+     unmarried, and she and her separate estate shall be liable
+     thereon, whether such contract relates to her separate business
+     or estate, or otherwise, and in no case shall a charge upon her
+     separate estate be necessary.
+
+It is by court decisions that we most readily learn the legal
+status of married women, under the favorable legislation of the
+period covered by this History. While referring the reader to
+Abbott's Digest of New York Laws for full knowledge upon this
+point, we give a few of the more recent decisions as illustrating
+general legal opinion:
+
+     TROY, March 23, 1882.--The Court of Appeals decided that married
+     women are the rightful owners of articles of personal adornment
+     or convenience coming from husbands, and can bequeath them to
+     their heirs. The court held that separate and personal possession
+     by a wife of articles specially fitted for and adapted to her
+     personal use, and differing in that respect from household goods
+     kept for the common use of husband and wife, would draw after it
+     a presumption of the executed gift if the property came from the
+     husband, and of the wife's ownership, but for disabilities of the
+     marital relations. Now that these disabilities are removed the
+     separate existence and separate property of the wife are
+     recognized, and her capacity to take and hold as her own the gift
+     in good faith and fairly made to her by her husband established,
+     it seemed to the court time to clothe her right with natural and
+     proper attributes, and apply to the gift to her, although made by
+     her husband, the general rules of law unmodified and unimpaired
+     by the old disabilities of the marriage relations.
+
+This decision was important as further destroying the old
+common-law theory of the husband's absolute ownership of his wife's
+person, property, services and earnings. The same year (1882) the
+Supreme Court, at its general term, rendered a decision that a
+married woman could sue her husband for damages for assault and
+battery; that by the act of 1860 the legislature intended to, and
+did, change the common-law rule, that a wife could not sue her
+husband. Judge Brady rendered the opinion, Judge Daniels
+concurring; Presiding Judge Noah Davis dissenting. Judge Brady
+said:
+
+     To allow the right (to sue) in an action of this character, in
+     accordance with the language of the statute, would be to promote
+     greater harmony by enlarging the rights of married women and
+     increasing the obligations of husbands, by affording greater
+     protection to the former, and by enforcing greater restraint upon
+     the latter in the indulgence of their evil passions. The
+     declaration of such a rule is not against the policy of the law.
+     It is in harmony with it, and calculated to preserve peace and,
+     in a great measure, prevent barbarous acts, acts of cruelty,
+     regarded by mankind as inexcusable, contemptible, detestable. It
+     is neither too early nor too late to promulgate the doctrine that
+     if a husband commits an assault and battery upon his wife he may
+     be held responsible civilly and criminally for the act, which is
+     not only committed in violation of the laws of God and man, but
+     in direct antagonism to the contract of marriage, its
+     obligations, duties, responsibilities, and the very basis on
+     which it rests. The rules of the common law on this subject have
+     been dispelled, routed, and justly so, by the acts of 1860 and
+     1862. They are things of the past which have succumbed to more
+     liberal and just views, like many other doctrines of the common
+     law which could not stand the scrutiny and analysis of modern
+     civilization.
+
+The utter insecurity of woman without the ballot is shown in the
+reversal of this decision within a few months, by the Court of
+Appeals, on the ground that it would be "contrary to the policy of
+the law, and destructive to the conjugal union and tranquility
+which it had always been the object of the law to guard and
+protect." Could satire go farther? We record with satisfaction the
+fact that Judge Danforth uttered a strong dissenting opinion.
+
+The friends of woman suffrage in the legislature of 1884 secured
+the passage of a bill empowering women to vote on all questions of
+taxation submitted to a popular vote in the village of Union
+Springs. Governor Cleveland was urged to veto it; but after hearing
+all the objections he signed the bill and it became a law.
+
+At Clinton, Oneida county, twenty-two women voted on June 21, 1884,
+at an election on the question of establishing water-works. Eight
+voted for the tax, fourteen against it. Fifteen other women
+appeared at the polls, but were excluded from voting because,
+though they were real-estate tax-payers, the assessor had left
+their names off the tax-roll. Judge Theodore W. Dwight, president
+of the Columbia Law School, pronounced women tax-payers entitled to
+vote under the general water-works act, and therefore that the
+election-officials violated the law in refusing to accept the votes
+of the women whose names were omitted from the assessors' tax-list.
+
+In 1879, there was a report of the committee to allow widows an
+active voice in the settlement of the family estate and to have the
+sole guardianship of minor children. A petition in favor of the
+bill had upon it the names of such well-known men as Peter Cooper,
+George William Curtis, Henry Bergh and J. W. Simonton.
+
+September 13, 1879, Mrs. MacDonald of Boston argued her own case
+before the United States Circuit Court in New York city, in a
+patent suit. It was a marked event in court circles, she being the
+first lady pleader that ever appeared in that court, and the second
+woman who ever argued a case in this State. Anne Bradstreet was for
+years a marked character in Albany courts, but her claims for
+justice were regarded as an amusing lunacy.
+
+In 1880, Governor Cornell appointed Miss Carpenter on the State
+Board of Charities.
+
+In the suit of Mr. Edward Jones to recover $860 which he alleged he
+had loaned to the Rev. Anna Oliver for the Willoughby Avenue
+Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, of which she was pastor, a
+verdict for the defendant was rendered. Miss Oliver addressed the
+following letter to the court:
+
+     _To his Honor, the Judge, the Intelligent Jury, the Lawyers and
+     all who are engaged in the case of Jones vs. Oliver_:
+
+     GENTLEMEN:--Thanking you for the politeness, the courtesy, the
+     chivalry even, that has been shown me to-day, allow me to make of
+     you the following request: Please sit down at your earliest
+     leisure, and endeavor to realize in imagination how you would
+     feel if you were sued by a woman, and the case was brought before
+     a court composed entirely of women; the judge a woman; every
+     member of the jury a woman; women to read the oath to you, and
+     hold the Bible, and every lawyer a woman. Further, your case to
+     be tried under laws framed entirely by women, in which neither
+     you nor any man had ever been allowed a voice. Somewhat as you
+     would feel under such circumstances, you may be assured, on
+     reading this, I have felt during the trial to-day. Perhaps the
+     women would be lenient to you (the sexes do favor each other),
+     but would you be satisfied? Would you feel that such an
+     arrangement was exactly the just and fair thing? If you would
+     not, I ask you on the principle of the Golden Rule, to use your
+     influence for the enfranchisement of women.
+
+     _New York, 1881._
+
+Mrs. Roebling, wife of the engineer in charge of the construction
+of the marvelous Brooklyn bridge, made the patterns for various
+necessary shapes of iron and steel such as no mills were making,
+after her husband and other engineers had for weeks puzzled their
+brains over the difficulties.
+
+When Frank Leslie died, his printing-house was involved, and Mrs.
+Leslie undertook to redeem it, which she did, and in a very short
+time. Speaking of it she says:
+
+     "I had the property in reach, and the assignees were ready to
+     turn it over to me, but to get it, it was necessary for me to
+     raise $50,000, I borrowed it from a woman. How happy I was when
+     she signed the check, and how beautiful it seemed to me to see
+     one woman helping another. I borrowed the money in June, and was
+     to make the first payment of $5,000, on the 1st of November. On
+     the 29th of October I paid the $50,000 with interest. From June
+     to the 29th of October, I made $50,000 clear. I had also to pay
+     $30,000 to the creditors who did not come under the contract.
+     While I was paying this $80,000 of my husband's debts, I spent
+     but $30 for myself, except for my board. I lived in a little
+     attic room, without a carpet, and the window was so high that I
+     could not get a glimpse of the sky unless I stood on a chair and
+     looked out. When I had paid the debts and raised a monument to my
+     husband, then I said to myself, 'now for a great big pair of
+     diamond earrings,' and away I went to Europe, and here are the
+     diamonds." The diamonds are perfect matches, twenty-seven carats
+     in weight, and are nearly as large as nickles.
+
+In Lansingburgh the women tax-payers offered their ballots and were
+repulsed, as follows:
+
+     September 2, 1885, the special election of the taxable
+     inhabitants of the village of Lansingburgh took place, to vote
+     upon a proposition to raise by tax the sum of $15,000 for
+     water-works purposes. The measure was voted by 102 for it to 46
+     against. But a small amount of interest was manifested in the
+     election. Several women tax-payers offered their votes, but the
+     inspectors would not receive them, and the matter will be
+     contested in the courts. The call for the election asked for an
+     expression from "the taxable inhabitants," and women tax-payers
+     in the 'burgh claim under the law their rights must be
+     recognized. Lansingburgh inspectors have on numerous occasions
+     refused to receive the ballots thus tendered, and the women have
+     lost patience. They are to employ the best of counsel and settle
+     the question at as early a day as possible. Women pay tax upon
+     $367,394 of the property within the village boundaries, and they
+     believe that they, to the number of 317 at least, are entitled to
+     votes on all questions involving a monetary expenditure. In
+     Saratoga, Clinton, and a number of other places in this State,
+     where elections in relation to water-works have taken place, it
+     has been held by legal authority that women property owners have
+     a right to vote, and they have voted accordingly the same as
+     other tax-payers.
+
+In regard to recent efforts to secure legislation favorable to
+women, Mr. Wilcox writes:
+
+     The impression that the School Act, passed in 1880, did not apply
+     to cities, led to the introduction by the Hon. Charles S. Baker
+     of Rochester, of a bill covering cities. A test vote showed the
+     Assembly practically unanimous for it, but it was referred to the
+     Judiciary Committee to examine its constitutionality. The
+     chairman, Hon. Geo. L. Ferry, and other members, asked me to
+     look up the point and inform the committee, supposing a
+     constitutional amendment needful. When the point was made on this
+     bill, I for the first time closely examined the constitution, and
+     finding there was nought to prevent the legislature enfranchising
+     anyone, promptly apprised the committee of the discovery. The
+     acting-chairman, Major Wm. D. Brennan, requested me to furnish
+     the committee a legal brief on the matter. This (Feb. 19, 1880) I
+     did, and arranged a public hearing before them in the
+     assembly-chamber, which was attended by Governor Cornell,
+     Lieutenant-Governor Hoskins, many senators, assemblymen, and
+     State officers; at which Mrs. Blake, the sainted Helen M. Slocum
+     and Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon were the speakers. From that year to
+     the present there has been a "Bill to Prohibit Disfranchisement"
+     before each legislature. In 1881, it was carried to a majority
+     vote in the Assembly. In 1883, two-thirds of the Assembly were
+     ready to pass the bill when the attorney-general declared it
+     unconstitutional. In 1884, Governor Cleveland had approved two
+     suffrage acts, and promised to sign all the friends could carry.
+     In 1885, growing tired of the senseless clamor of
+     "unconstitutionality," I resolved to show how little law the
+     clamorers knew. To the knowledge gained by five years'
+     discussion, I added that obtained by several months' research in
+     the State Library at Albany, that of the New York Bar
+     Association, those of the New York Law Institute and Columbia
+     College, and elsewhere. The result was the publication of "Cases
+     of the Legislature's Power over Suffrage," wherein it was shown,
+     condensed from a great number of authorities, that all classes
+     have received suffrage, not from the constitution but from the
+     legislature, and that the latter has exercised the power of
+     extending suffrage in hundreds of cases. This document received
+     high praise from General James W. Husted and Major James
+     Haggerty, who have manfully championed our bills in the Assembly,
+     General Husted reading from it in his speech and it was signally
+     sanctioned by the Assembly which, after being supplied with
+     copies, voted down by more than three to one a motion to
+     substitute a constitutional amendment.
+
+     But while working at this document, I was fortunate enough to
+     make a still greater discovery--that portions of statute law
+     which formerly prevented women's voting were repealed long since;
+     that the constitution and statutes in their present shape secure
+     women the legal right to vote.
+
+February 19, 1885, a hearing was granted to Mrs. Stanton, Mrs.
+Rogers and Mrs. Blake in the assembly-chamber before the Committee
+on Grievances, on the "Bill to Prohibit Disfranchisement." The
+splendid auditorium was crowded for two hours, and members of the
+committee lingered a long time after the audience had dispersed to
+discuss the whole question still further with the speakers. On the
+next day Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell and Governor John W. Hoyt of
+Wyoming Territory had a second hearing. The committee reported for
+consideration. When the bill came up for a third reading, General
+Martin L. Curtis of St. Lawrence moved that it be sent to
+the Judiciary Committee with instructions to substitute a
+constitutional amendment; lost, ayes 25, noes 75; carried to a
+third reading by _viva voce_ vote. The vote on the final passage
+was, ayes 57, noes 56; the constitutional majority in this State
+being 65 of the 128 members, it was lost by eight votes. Of the 73
+Republicans, 29 voted for the bill; of the 55 Democrats, 28 voted
+for the bill, showing that more than half the Democratic vote was
+in favor, and only two-fifths of the Republican; thus our defeat
+was due to the Republican party.
+
+Thus stands the question of woman suffrage in the Empire State
+to-day, where women are in the majority.[254] After long years of
+unremitting efforts who can read this chapter of woman's faith and
+patience, under such oft-repeated disappointments, but with pity
+for her humiliations and admiration for her courage and
+persistence. For nearly half a century the petitions, the appeals,
+the arguments of the women of New York have been before the
+legislature for consideration, and the trivial concessions of
+justice thus far wrung from our rulers bear no proportion to the
+prolonged labors we have gone through to achieve them.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[200] It has recently been ascertained that the first woman's
+rights petition sent to the New York State legislature was by Miss
+Mary Ayers, in 1834, for a change in the property laws. It was ten
+or fifteen feet long when unrolled, and is still buried in the
+vaults of the capitol at Albany.
+
+[201] Many years afterwards, lecturing in Texas, I met a party of
+ladies from Georgia, thoroughly awake on all questions relating to
+women. Finding ourselves quite in accord, I said, "how did you get
+those ideas in Georgia?" "Why," said one, "some of our friends
+attended a woman's convention at Saratoga, and told us what was
+said there, and gave us several tracts on all phases of the
+question, which were the chief topics of discussion among us long
+after." Southern women have suffered so many evils growing out of
+the system of slavery that they readily learn the lessons of
+freedom.--[E. C. S.
+
+[202] The following were elected officers of the association.
+_President_, Martha C. Wright, Auburn. _Vice-Presidents_, Celia
+Burleigh, Brooklyn; Rachel S. Martin, Albany; Lydia A. Strowbridge,
+Cortland; Jennie White, Syracuse; Eliza W. Osborn, Auburn; Sarah G.
+Love, Ithaca; W. S. V. Rosa, Watertown; Mary M. R. Parks, Utica;
+Amy Post, Rochester; Candace S. Brockett, Brockett's Bridge; Ida
+Greeley, Chappaqua; Mary Hunt, Waterloo. _Secretary_, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, Fayetteville. _Executive Committee_, Lucy A. Brand,
+Emeline A. Morgan, Mrs. H. Stewart, Samuel J. May, Rhoda Price, all
+of Syracuse. _Advisory Counsel_, for First Judicial District, Susan
+B. Anthony, New York; Second, Sarah Schram, Newburgh; Third, Sarah
+H. Hallock, Milton; Fourth, Caroline Mowry Holmes, Greenwich;
+Fifth, Ann T. Randall, Oswego; Sixth, Mrs. Professor Sprague,
+Ithaca, Seventh, Harriet N. Austin, Dansville; Eighth, Helen P.
+Jenkins, Buffalo.
+
+[203] The speakers were Celia Burleigh, Susan B. Anthony, Charlotte
+B. Wilbour, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mrs. Bedortha, of Saratoga, Mrs.
+Strowbridge, of Cortland, Mrs. Norton, J. N. Holmes, esq., Judge
+McKean, Rev. Mr. Angier, Hon. Wm. Hay. See Vol. II., page 402, for
+Mrs. Burleigh's letter on this Saratoga convention.
+
+[204] The Board of Trustees of Mt. Vernon, Westchester county,
+called a meeting of taxpayers of that village on July 19, 1868, to
+vote upon the question of levying a tax of $6,000 for the purpose
+of making and repairing highways and sidewalks, and for sundry
+other public improvements. Over sixty per cent. of the real-estate
+owners being women, they resolved upon asserting their right to a
+voice in the matter, and issued a call for a meeting, signed by the
+following influential ladies: Mrs. M. J. Law, Mrs. H. H. Leaver,
+Mrs. Olive Leaver, Mrs. J. Haggerty, Mary H. Macdonald, Mrs.
+Dorothy Ferguson, Mrs. M. J. Farrand, Mrs. Jeanette Oron, Mrs.
+Thirza Clark, Mrs. S. J. Clark, Mrs. Nettie Morgan, Mrs. D. Downs,
+Miss L. M. Hale, Miss Susie Law, Mrs. Celia Pratt, Mrs. Sabra
+Talcott, Mrs. Mary Wilkie, Mrs. Elizabeth Latham, Mrs. Mary C.
+Brown, Mrs. J. M. Lockwood, Mrs. May Howe, Mrs. Adaline Baylis,
+Mrs. J. Harper, Miss Elizabeth Eaton, Miss C. Frederiska Scharft,
+Mrs. S. A. Hathaway, Mrs. Margaret Hick, Mrs. Rebecca Dimmic, Mrs.
+Catharine Alphonse, Miss Julia Cheney, Mrs. E. Watkins, Mrs. L. M.
+Pease, Mrs. Margaret Coles, Mrs. Ruth Smith, Mrs. Mary A. Douglas,
+Mrs. Sarah Valentine, Mrs. H. C. Jones, Mrs. J. Tomlinson, Mrs.
+Amanda Carr, Mrs. Margaret Wooley, Mrs. S. Seeber, Mrs. B. Powers,
+Mrs. S. A. Waterhouse, Mrs. H. M. Smith. But notwithstanding the
+numbers, wealth, and social influence of the women, their demand
+was rejected, while hundreds of men, who had never paid a dollar's
+tax into the village treasury, were permitted to deposit their
+votes, though challenged by friends, and well known to the officers
+as not possessors of a foot of real estate.
+
+[205] The Working Women's Association was organized in New York,
+September 17, 1868, with Mrs. Anna Tobitt, _President_;
+Miss Augusta Lewis, Miss Susan Johns, Miss Mary Peers.
+_Vice-Presidents_; Miss Elizabeth C. Browne, _Secretary_, and Miss
+Julia Browne, _Treasurer_. The three vice-presidents were young
+ladies of about twenty. Miss Lewis worked upon a newly invented
+type-setting machine.
+
+[206] "Sergeant Robinson, of the Twenty-sixth Precinct, made a raid
+on the abandoned women patroling the park last evening. At 11 p. m.
+six unfortunates were caged." Thus runs the record. Will some one
+now be kind enough to tell us whether Sergeant Robinson, or any
+other sergeant, made a raid upon the abandoned men who were
+patrolling Broadway at the same hour? Did any one on that night,
+or, indeed, upon any other night, within the memory of the oldest
+Knickerbocker, make a raid upon the gamblers, thieves, drunkards
+and panders that infest Houston street? By what authority do the
+police call women "abandoned" and arrest them because they are
+patrolling any public park or square? If these women belonged to
+the class euphemistically called "unfortunate," they were doubtless
+there because men were already there before them. And if it was
+illegal in women and deserving of punishment, why should men
+escape? _Prima facie_, if crime were committed, the latter are the
+greater criminals of the two. We humbly suggest to all who are
+endeavoring to reform this class of women, that they turn their
+attention to reforming the opposite sex. If you can make men so
+pure that they will not seek the society of prostitutes, you will
+soon have no prostitutes for them to seek; in other words,
+prostitution will cease when men become sufficiently pure to make
+no demand for prostitutes. In any event, the police should treat
+both sexes alike. Making a raid, as it is called, upon abandoned
+women, and shutting them up in prison, never can procure good
+results. The most repulsive and bestial features of "the social
+evil" have their origin in the treatment that women receive at the
+hands of the police; and society itself would be much better if the
+police would keep their hands off such women.--[P. P. in _The
+Revolution_.
+
+[207] An important decision relating to the eligibility of
+candidates for the Cornell free scholarship has been rendered by
+Judge Martin of the Supreme Court. Mary E. Wright, who stood third
+in the recent examination here for the scholarship, contested the
+appointment on the ground that the candidates who were first and
+second in the examination were not pupils of a school in the
+county. The judge decided that candidates for the position must be
+residents of the county and pupils of a school therein, to be
+eligible, and he awarded the scholarship to Miss Wright. This is
+the first contested scholarship since the establishment of the
+University.--_Ithaca dispatch to New York Times._
+
+[208] Dr. Lewis H. Morgan, who died in 1882, famed in both
+hemispheres as an ethnologist, left a considerable estate to be
+devoted at the death of his wife (which has since occurred) and of
+his son without issue, to the establishment, in connection with the
+University of Rochester, of a collegiate institution for women.
+This makes it very probable that Rochester will ultimately offer
+equal opportunities to both sexes.
+
+[209] At one time it was said that Hobart College had more
+professors than students, and one year had arrived at such a point
+of exhaustion as to graduate but one young man. When the
+proposition to incorporate Geneva Medical College with the Syracuse
+University was made, Hon. George F. Comstock, a trustee of the
+latter institution, vigorously opposed it unless equal advantages
+were pledged to women.
+
+[210] See Volume II., page 264.
+
+[211] The twelve were:. Mrs. H. M. Field, Mrs. Anna Lynch Botta,
+Miss Kate Field, Mrs. Anna B. Allen, Miss Josephine Pollard, Mrs.
+Celia Burleigh, Mrs. Fanny Barrow, Mrs. C. B. Wilbour, Mrs. J. C.
+Croly, Miss Ella Dietz, Alice and Phebe Cary.
+
+[212] She now reports the cattle-market for four New York papers
+including the _Tribune_ and _Times_.
+
+[213] _President_, Charlotte B. Wilbour; _Vice-Presidents_, Dr.
+Clemence S. Lozier, Mrs. Devereux Blake; _Secretary_, Frances V.
+Hallock; _Treasurer_, Miss Jeannie McAdam.
+
+[214] The petitioners were represented by Mrs. Wilbour, Mrs. Hester
+M. Poole, Elizabeth B. Phelps, Elizabeth Langdon, Mrs. I. D. Hull,
+Mrs. Charlotte L. Coleman, Mrs. M. E. Leclover, Matilda Joslyn
+Gage.
+
+[215] See Vol. II., page 628.
+
+[216] Isabella Beecher Hooker, Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Olympia
+Brown, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Dr. Clemence Lozier, Helen M. Slocum,
+Lillie Devereux Blake.
+
+[217] Lillie Devereux Blake was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in
+August, 1833. Her father, George Devereux, was a wealthy Southern
+gentleman of Irish descent. Her mother's maiden name was Sarah
+Elizabeth Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut, a descendant of
+William Samuel Johnson who was one of the first two senators from
+that State. Both her parents were descended from Jonathan Edwards.
+Her father died in 1837, and the widow subsequently removed to New
+Haven, Conn., where she was well known for her large and generous
+hospitality. Her daughter, the future favorite writer and lecturer,
+was a much admired belle, and in 1855 was married to Frank Umsted,
+a lawyer of Philadelphia, with whom she lived two years in St.
+Louis, Mo. Mr. Umsted died in 1859, and his widow, who had written
+sketches for _Harper's Magazine_ and published a novel called
+"Southwold," from that date contributed largely to leading
+newspapers and magazines. She was Washington correspondent of the
+_Evening Post_ in the winter of 1861, published "Rockford" in 1862,
+and wrote many stories for _Frank Leslie's Weekly_, the
+_Philadelphia Press_ and other publications. In 1866 she married
+Greenfill Blake of New York. In 1872 Mrs. Blake published "Fettered
+for Life," a novel designed to show the legal disadvantages of
+women. Ever since she became interested in the suffrage movement
+Mrs. Blake has been one of the most ardent advocates. She has taken
+several lecturing tours in different States of the Union. Mrs.
+Blake is an easy speaker and writer, and of late has contributed to
+many of our popular magazines. Much of the recent work in the New
+York legislature is due to her untiring zeal.
+
+[218] Mrs. Jennie McAdam, Mrs. Hester Poole, Charlotte Coleman,
+Mrs. Hull, Mrs. Morse and others. A month before, January 23, Miss
+Anthony was invited to address the commission, giving her
+constitutional argument, showing woman's right to vote under the
+fourteenth amendment. Hon. Henry R. Selden was in the audience,
+being in the city on Miss Anthony's case. At the close of her
+argument he said: "If I had heard that speech before, I could have
+made a stronger plea before Judge Hall this morning."
+
+[219] She was escorted to the capitol by Phoebe H. Jones and the
+venerable Lydia Mott, who for a quarter of a century had
+entertained at their respective homes the various speakers that had
+come to Albany to plead for new liberties, and had accompanied
+them, one after another, to the halls of legislation.
+
+[220] Addressed by Mrs. Wilbour, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Lozier, Mrs.
+Hallock, Hamilton Wilcox and Dr. Hallock.
+
+[221] For Judge Hunt's decision, see Volume II., page 677.
+
+[222] Miss Charlotte C. Jackson, the valedictorian of the Normal
+College of New York; Miss Mary Hussey of Orange, New Jersey; Miss
+Mosher of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Miss Emma Wendt, daughter of
+Mathilde Wendt. In 1867, Mrs. Stanton had made a similar
+application to Theodore D. Dwight, that the law school might be
+opened to young women. In the course of their conversation
+Professor Dwight said; "Do you think girls know enough to study
+law?" Mrs. Stanton replied: "All the liberal laws for women that
+have been passed in the last twenty years are the results of the
+protests of women; surely, if they know enough to protest against
+bad laws, they know enough to study our whole system of
+jurisprudence."
+
+[223] It was peculiarly fitting that this application should be
+made by Mrs. Blake, as two of her ancestors had been presidents of
+the college. The first it ever had, when founded as King's
+College in 1700, was the Rev. Samuel Johnson, D. D., her
+great-great-grandfather. His son, the Hon. Samuel William Johnson,
+was the first president after the Revolution, when the name was
+changed to Columbia College.
+
+[224] Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Antoinette Brown
+Blackwell, Mary F. Eastman, Helen Potter, Sarah Andrews Spencer,
+Augusta Cooper Bristol, Alice Fletcher, Maria Mitchell, professor
+at Vassar College, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr,
+Abby Smith, Rossella E. Buckingham, and others.
+
+[225] Dr. Clemence Lozier was born of a good family in New Jersey.
+She was married at the early age of 16, and widowed at 27, left
+with a young family without means of support. But being an
+excellent teacher, she soon found employment. For eleven years she
+was principal of a young ladies' seminary. By natural instinct a
+physician and a healer, she determined to fit herself for that
+profession. A physician of the old school assisted her in her
+medical studies, and in 1853 she received a diploma from the
+Eclectic College of Syracuse, and shortly after established herself
+in New York, where her practice steadily increased, until her
+professional income was one of the largest in the city. In 1860 she
+began a course of free medical lectures to women, which continued
+for three years, culminating in "The New York Medical College for
+Women," which was chartered in 1863. The foundation and
+establishment of this institution was the crowning work of her
+life, to which she has devoted time and money. From the first she
+has been dean of the faculty, and after years of struggle at last
+has the satisfaction of seeing it a complete success, owning a fine
+building up town, with hospital and dispensary attached.
+
+[226] Several ladies appeared last week before the New York
+Supervisors' Committee to protest against excessive taxation. The
+New York _World_ informs us that Mrs. Harriet Ramsen complained
+that the appraisement of lot 5 West One Hundred and Twenty-second
+street, was increased from $7,000 to $9,000. Mrs. P. P. Dickinson,
+house 48 West Fifty-sixth street, increased from $15,000 to
+$20,000; Mrs. Cynthia Bunce, house 37 West Fifty-fourth street,
+last year's valuation $10,000; this year's, $15,000. Mrs. Daly, who
+owns a house in Seventy-second street, informed the committee that
+the assessment on the house (a small dwelling) was put at $2,000,
+an increase of $700 over last year's valuation. This house stands
+in an unopened street. Supervisor McCafferty said that the
+committee would do all in its power to have the assessment reduced,
+and also remarked that it was a positive outrage to assess such a
+small house at so high a figure. Mrs. Louisa St. John, who is
+reputed to be worth $2,000,000, complained because three lots on
+Fifth avenue, near Eighty-sixth street, and five lots on the
+last-named street, have been assessed at much higher figures than
+other lots in the neighborhood. Mrs. St. John addressed the
+committee with much eloquence and force. Said she: "I do not
+complain of the assessments that have been laid on my property. I
+complain of the inequalities practiced by the assessors, and I
+should like to see them set right." Supervisor McCafferty assured
+Mrs. St. John that everything in the power of the committee would
+be done to equalize assessments in future. Mrs. St. John is a heavy
+speculator in real estate. She attends sales and has property
+"knocked down" to her. She makes all her own searches in the
+register's office, and is known, in fact, among property-owners as
+a very thorough real-estate lawyer. Many years ago she was the
+proprietor of the Globe Hotel, now Frankfort House, corner of
+Frankfort and William streets.
+
+[227] The Albany _Evening Journal_ of January 22 said: A hearing
+was granted by the Judiciary Committee to-night, on the petition of
+the Woman's Tax-payers Association of the City of Rochester, for
+either representation or relief from taxation. The petitioners were
+heard in the assembly chamber, and in addition to members of the
+committee, a large audience of ladies and gentlemen were drawn
+together, including the president of the Senate, speaker of the
+House, and nearly all the leading members of both branches of the
+legislature. The first speaker was Mrs. Blake, the youngest of the
+trio, who occupied about twenty minutes and was well received. She
+was followed by Miss Anthony, who made a telling speech, frequently
+eliciting applause. She recounted her long service in the woman's
+rights cause, and gave a brief history of the different enactments
+and repeals on the question for the last thirty years. She related
+her experience in voting, and said she was fined $100 and costs,
+one cent of which she had never paid and never meant to. She
+claimed Judge Waite was in favor of woman suffrage, and believed
+the present speaker of the Assembly of New York was also in favor
+of the movement. Calls being made for General Husted, that
+gentleman replied that Miss Anthony was perfectly correct in her
+statement. She summed up by asking the committee to report in favor
+of legislation exempting women from taxation unless represented by
+the ballot, remarking that she would not ask for the right to vote,
+as that was guaranteed her by the Constitution of the United
+States. Miss Anthony then introduced Mrs. Joslyn Gage, who said if
+any member of the committee had objections to offer or questions to
+ask she would like the privilege of answering; but as none of the
+committee availed themselves, she proceeded for fifteen minutes in
+about the same strain as her predecessors. Calls being made for Mr.
+Spencer and eliciting no reply from that gentleman, Mrs. Blake said
+they should consider him a convert.
+
+[228] The speakers were Dr. Clemence Lozier, Helen M. Slocum,
+Henrietta Westbrook, Mrs. Devereux Blake. Mrs. J. E. Frobisher
+recited Paul Revere's ride, and Helen M. Cooke read the
+resolutions.
+
+[229] Helen M. Slocum, Dr. Clemence Lozier, Mrs. Devereux Blake.
+
+[230] Miss King, the head of a New York tea-dealing firm composed
+of women, who control a capital of $1,000,000, has recently gone to
+China to make purchases. Her previous business experience, as
+narrated by a correspondent of the Chicago _Tribune_, explains her
+fitness for her mission, while it incidentally throws some light on
+the secrets of the tea-company business:
+
+"Previous to the outbreak of our civil war Miss King was
+extensively engaged in utilizing the leaves of the great blackberry
+and raspberry crops running to waste in the rich lowlands of
+Georgia and Alabama, and kept in that fertile region a large levy
+of Northern women--smart, like herself--to superintend the
+gathering of the leaves and their preparation for shipment to
+headquarters in New York. These leaves were prepared for the market
+at their manipulating halls in one of the narrow streets on the
+Hudson side of New York city. Over this stage of the tea
+preparations Miss King had special supervision, and, by a generous
+use of the genuine imported teas, worked up our American
+productions into all the accredited varieties of the black and
+green teas of commerce. Here the female supervision apparently
+ended. In their extensive tea ware-rooms in Walker street the
+business was conducted by the shrewdest representatives of
+Gothamite trade, with all the appliances of the great Chinese
+tea-importing houses. Here were huge piles of tea-chests, assorted
+and unassorted, and the high-salaried tea-taster with his row of
+tiny cups of hot-drawn tea, delicately sampling and classifying the
+varieties and grades for market. The breaking out of the war
+stopped the Southern supplies and sent Miss King's female agents to
+their Northern homes. But the business was made to conform to the
+new order of things. Large cargoes of imported black teas were
+bought as they arrived and were skillfully manipulated into those
+high-cost varieties of green teas so extensively purchased by the
+government for its commissary and medical departments."
+
+[231] Mrs. Lozier presided. Addresses were made by Matilda Fletcher
+of Iowa, Mrs. Helen Slocum and Mrs. Devereux Blake.
+
+[232] In Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, Harlem, Williamsburgh, Brighton,
+and in several districts in the city of New York.
+
+[233] Matilda Joslyn Gage, Helen M. Loder, Mrs. Clara Neyman, Mrs.
+Slocum, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Blake.
+
+[234] _To the Women of the State of New York:_
+
+The undersigned, citizens of the State of New York, who if free to
+do so, would express themselves at the ballot box, but who by
+unjust enactments are debarred the exercise of that political
+freedom whereto "the God of nature" entitles them, earnestly
+protest against the proposed reelection of Lucius Robinson as
+governor. They say naught against his honor as a man, but they
+protest because when the legislature of the Empire State had passed
+a bill making women eligible to school-boards. Lucius Robinson, by
+his veto, kept this bill from becoming law. They therefore call on
+all men and women who respect themselves and dare maintain their
+rights, to do all in their power to defeat the reelection of one
+who has set himself against the advance made by Iowa, Kansas,
+Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, California, Minnesota,
+Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, in many of which
+States woman's right to vote on school questions is also
+recognized.
+
+[Signed:] Matilda Joslyn Gage, _President N. Y. State Woman
+Suffrage Association_. Jennie M. Lozier, M. D., _Secretary_. Lillie
+Devereux Blake, _Vice-President National Association_. Clemence S.
+Lozier, M. D., _President N. Y. City Association_. Susan A. King,
+Cordelia S. Knapp, Helen M. Slocum, Susan B. Anthony, Amanda Deyo,
+Helen M. Cooke, Elizabeth B. Phelps, Charlotte Fowler Wells, Emma
+S. Allen.
+
+[235] Chester A. Arthur, chairman of the Republican campaign
+committee, presented the motion.
+
+[236] She threw her spacious apartments open, and gave some of the
+voters a free lunch, that she might have the opportunity of adding
+her personal persuasions to the public protests. Miss King and Miss
+Helen Potter, the distinguished reader, then residing with Miss
+King, assisted in raising a banner for Cornell and Foster,
+applauded by the multitude of by-standers.
+
+[237] Mrs. Lucy A. Brand, principal of the Genesee school of this
+city, a woman with abilities as good as those of any male
+principal, but who, because she is a woman, receives $550 less
+salary a year than a male principal, was the first woman in the
+State of New York to cast a vote under the new school law. On
+Saturday afternoon she was at a friend's house, when the _Journal_
+was thrown in, containing the first editorial notice of the passage
+of the law. Mrs. Brand saw the welcome announcement. "Let us go and
+register," she at once said, her heart swelling with joy and
+thankfulness that even this small quantity of justice had been done
+woman. "Where is my shawl? I feel as if I should die if I don't get
+there," for the hour was late, and the time for closing the
+registry lists was near at hand. To have lost this opportunity
+would have placed her in the position of a second Tantalus, the cup
+withdrawn just as it touched her lips. But she was in time, and the
+important act of registering accomplished, she had but to possess
+her soul in patience until the following Tuesday. Who shall say how
+long the two intervening days were to her; but Tuesday morning at
+last arrived, when, for the first time, Mrs. Brand was to exercise
+the freeman's right of self-government. A gentleman, the owner of
+the block in which she resided, offered to accompany her to the
+polls, although he was a Democrat and knew Mrs. Brand would vote
+the Republican ticket. Although not hesitating to go alone, Mrs.
+Brand accepted this courtesy. As she entered the polling place the
+men present fell back in a semi-circle. Not a sound was heard, not
+a whisper, not a breath. In silence and with a joyous solemnity
+well befitting the occasion, Mrs. Brand cast her first vote, at
+five minutes past eight in the morning. The post-master of the
+city, Mr. Chase, offered his congratulations. A few ordinary
+remarks were exchanged, and then Mrs. Brand left the place. And
+that was all; neither more nor less. No opposition, no rudeness, no
+jostling crowd of men, but such behavior as is seen when Christians
+come together at the sacrament. I have long known Mrs. Brand as a
+noble woman, but talking with her a few days since I could but
+notice the added sense of self-respecting dignity that freedom
+gives. "I feel a constant gratitude that even some portion of my
+rights have been recognized," said she, and I left her, more than
+ever impressed, if that is possible, with the beauty and sacredness
+of freedom.--[M. J. G.
+
+[238] Rev. Robert Collyer, Elizabeth L. Saxon, Clara Neyman,
+Augusta Cooper Bristol, Helen M. Slocum, Hamilton Wilcox, Mrs.
+Devereux Blake, and Dr. Clemence Lozier who presided.
+
+[239] Mary Seymour Howell, _President_; Miss Kate Stoneman,
+_Secretary_. Miss Stoneman cast the first vote at the school
+election in Albany.
+
+[240] See appendix.
+
+[241] Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Slocum, Mrs. Saxon, of Louisiana.
+
+[242] Miss Helen Potter, Miss Susan A. King, Miss Helen M. Slocum,
+Miss Harriet K. Dolson and Mrs. Devereux Blake.
+
+[243] Mrs. Rogers organized a society in Lansingburg, Mrs. Loder in
+Poughkeepsie, Miss Stoneman held meetings in Chautauqua county,
+Mrs. Howell in Livingston county, Mrs. Blake in ten other counties,
+and held several parlor meetings in New York city. The annual
+convention of the State society was held in Chickering Hall,
+February 1, 2, 1882.
+
+[244] The press generally commented unfavorably. The _Herald_ said:
+"The legislature passed a bill in the interest of decency and
+humanity, authorizing the appointment of matrons in the several
+police stations in the city of New York to look after female
+prisoners who might be placed in the station-houses. This bill was
+recommended by our best charitable and religious societies, but
+failed to receive the sanction of the governor, although he very
+promptly signed a bill to increase the number of the detective
+force."
+
+[245] Mrs. Emma Gates Conkling, Mrs. Clara Neyman, Dr. Clemence
+Lozier and Mrs. Blake.
+
+[246] Major Haggerty, ex-Governor Thomas G. Alvord and Hon. James
+D. McMellan in its favor; Hon. Erastus Brooks and General Sharpe
+against.
+
+[247] Mr. Hamilton Wilcox at once prepared an able paper, refuting
+the attorney-general's assertion. It was widely circulated
+throughout the State.
+
+[248] When the vote was announced, the ladies sent the pages with
+bouquets to the leading speakers in behalf of the bill, and
+button-hole sprigs to the fifty-four who voted aye.
+
+[249] _To the Women of the State of New York_:
+
+The undersigned urge you to exert yourselves to turn every
+vote possible against Leslie W. Russell's reelection as
+attorney-general. His official acts prove him the unscrupulous foe
+of your liberties. By informing the legislature that you have no
+right to vote at common law, he has denied your sacred rights and
+misrepresented the law to your hurt. By stating that you have no
+natural right to vote, he has denied your title to freedom and
+sought to keep your rights at the mercy of those in power. By
+informing the legislature that the bill to repeal the statutes
+which keep you from voting was unconstitutional he misled the
+legislature and kept you disfranchised. By thus continuing your
+disfranchisement, he has subjected you to many misfortunes and
+wrongs which the repeal of your disfranchisement would cure, and is
+personally responsible for these sufferings. He has also sought to
+rob the mothers of this State of their votes at school elections,
+and thus to deprive them of the power to control their children's
+education.
+
+[Signed:] Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., New York; Mary R. Pell,
+Queens; Lillie Devereux Blake, New York; Caroline A. Bassett, Erie;
+Susan A. King, New York; Lucy Shawler, Chenango; Mary E. Tallman,
+Oneida; Hannah M. Angel, Allegany; Ida Louise Dildine, Broome;
+Zerivah L. Watkeys, Onondaga; Asenath C. Coolidge, Jefferson; Sarah
+H. Hallock, Ulster; N. W. Cooper, Jefferson, and others.
+
+_To the Republican and Independent Voters of the State of New
+York_:
+
+The undersigned earnestly ask you to cast your votes against Leslie
+W. Russell, the present attorney-general. When the legislature last
+year was about to repeal the election laws which prevent women from
+exercising the right of suffrage, Leslie W. Russell stated to that
+body that women had no right at common law to vote, and that this
+bill was unconstitutional. By these misstatements he misled the
+legislature, defeated this most righteous bill and prolonged the
+disfranchisement of women. Thus he inflicted on a majority of our
+adult citizens, who had committed no offense, the penalty of
+disfranchisement and the great mischiefs which flow thence, and,
+like Judge Taney in the Dred-Scott decision, perverted law and
+constitution to justify injustice and continue wrong. A vote for
+Leslie W. Russell is a vote to keep these women disfranchised and
+to prolong these mischiefs. He who thus blocks the way of freedom
+should be removed from the place which enables him to do this. You
+can vote at this election for fifteen or more officers. It is but a
+small thing to ask, that each of you cast one-fifteenth part of his
+vote to represent women's interest at the polls.
+
+[Signed:] Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., Bronson Murray, Susan A. King,
+Hamilton Wilcox, Lillie Devereux Blake, Albert O. Wilcox.
+
+[250] Abigail Scott Duniway, editor _New Northwest_, Oregon;
+Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, editor "Woman's Kingdom," Chicago
+_Inter-Ocean_; Helen M. Gougar, editor _Our Herald_, Indiana.
+
+[251] On the evening of March 8 the New York city society gave a
+reception in honor of the delegates to the National Convention,
+recently held at Washington, in the elegant parlors of the Hoffman
+House.
+
+[252] Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Duniway and Mrs.
+Gougar.
+
+[253] Imprisonment for not more than five years, or a fine of not
+more than $1,000, or both.
+
+[254] The last census shows there are 72,224 more women than men in
+New York; that there are 360,381 women and girls over ten years of
+age who support themselves by work outside their own homes, not
+including the house-keepers who, from the raw material brought into
+the family, manufacture food and clothing three times its original
+value.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+     Carrie Burnham--The Canon and Civil Law the Source of Woman's
+     Degradation--Women Sold with Cattle in 1768--Women Arrested in
+     Pittsburgh--Mrs. McManus--Opposition to Women in the Colleges and
+     Hospitals; John W. Forney Vindicates their Rights--Ann
+     Preston--Women in Dentistry--James Truman's Letter--Swarthmore
+     College--Suffrage Association Formed in 1866, in
+     Philadelphia--John K. Wildman's Letter--Judge William S.
+     Pierce--The Citizens' Suffrage Association, 333 Walnut Street,
+     Edward M. Davis, President--Petitions to the
+     Legislature--Constitutional Convention, 1873--Bishop Simpson,
+     Mary Grew, Sarah C. Hallowell, Matilda Hindman, Mrs. Stanton,
+     Address the Convention--Messrs. Broomall and Campbell Debate With
+     the Opposition--Amendment Making Women Eligible to School
+     Offices--Two Women Elected to Philadelphia School Board,
+     1874--The Wages of Married Women Protected--J. Edgar Thomson's
+     Will--Literary Women as Editors--The Rev. Knox Little--Anne E.
+     McDowell--Women as Physicians in Insane Asylums--The Fourteenth
+     Amendment Resolution, 1881--Ex-Governor Hoyt's Lecture on
+     Wyoming.
+
+
+In the demand for the right of suffrage, women are constantly asked
+by the opposition if they cannot trust their own fathers, husbands
+and brothers to legislate for them. The answer to this question may
+be found in an able digest of the old common laws and the Revised
+Statutes of Pennsylvania,[255] prepared by Carrie S. Burnham[256]
+of Pennsylvania. A careful perusal of this paper will show the
+relative position of man and woman to be that of sovereign and
+subject.
+
+To get at the real sentiments of a people in regard to the true
+status of woman we must read the canon and civil laws that form the
+basic principles of their religion and government. We must not
+trust to the feelings and actions of the best men towards the
+individual women whom they may chance to love and respect. The
+chivalry and courtesy that the few command through their beauty,
+wealth and position, are one thing; but justice, equality, liberty
+for the multitude, are quite another. And when the few, through
+misfortune, are made to feel the iron teeth of the law, they regret
+that they had not used their power to secure permanent protection
+under just laws, rather than to have trusted the transient favors
+of individuals to shield them in life's emergencies.
+
+The law securing to married women the right to property,[257]
+inherited by will or bequest, passed the legislature of
+Pennsylvania, and was approved by the governor April 11, 1848, just
+five days after a similar law had been passed in New York. Judge
+Bovier was the mover for the Pennsylvania Married Women's Property
+Law. His feelings had been so often outraged with the misery caused
+by men marrying women for their property, that he was bound the law
+should be repealed. He prevailed on several young Quakers who had
+rich sisters, to run for the legislature. They were elected and did
+their duty. Judge Bovier was a descendent of the Waldenses, a
+society of French Quakers who fled to the mountains from
+persecution. Their descendants are still living in France.[258]
+
+The disabilities and degradation that women suffer to-day grow out
+of the spirit of laws that date from a time when women were viewed
+in the light of beasts of burden. Scarce a century has passed since
+women were sold in this country with cattle. In the _Pennsylvania
+Gazette_ for January 7, 1768, is the following advertisement:
+
+     TO BE SEEN.--At the Crooked Billet, near the Court-house,
+     Philadelphia (Price Three Pence), A Two Year Old Hogg, 12 Hands
+     high, and in length 16 Feet; thought to be the largest of its
+     Kind ever seen in America.
+
+In the same paper of the following week occurs this yet more
+extraordinary announcement:
+
+     TO BE SOLD.--A Healthy Young Dutch Woman, fit for town or country
+     business; about 18 years old; can spin well; she speaks good
+     English, and has about five years to serve. Inquire at James Der
+     Kinderen's, Strawberry alley.
+
+In one century of growth a woman's sewing machine was better
+protected than the woman herself under the old common law:
+
+     AN ACT _to exempt Sewing Machines belonging to Seamstresses in
+     this Commonwealth from levy and sale on execution or distress for
+     rent_:
+
+     SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
+     Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general
+     assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the
+     same, That hereafter all sewing machines belonging to
+     seamstresses in this commonwealth shall be exempt from levy and
+     sale on execution or distress for rent, in addition to any
+     article or money now exempt by law. Approved, April 17, 1869.
+
+While the following order reflects the spirit of the seventeenth
+century, the comments show the dawning of the right idea, and are
+worthy the time in which the great State of Pennsylvania could
+boast such women as Lucretia Mott, Anna E. Dickinson, Jane G.
+Swisshelm and Sarah J. Hale:
+
+     A WOMAN ORDER IN PITTSBURGH.--The mayor of Pittsburgh has ordered
+     the arrest of every woman found on the streets alone after 9
+     o'clock in the evening; the consequence of which has been that
+     some respectable ladies have recently seen the inside of the
+     lock-up.--_Exchange, June, 1869._
+
+     Now let the mothers, wives and daughters of Pittsburgh obtain the
+     passage, by the city council, of an ordinance causing the arrest
+     of every _man_ found in the streets after 9 o'clock in the
+     evening, and the law will then be equal in its operation. This
+     legislating upon the behavior of one sex by the other
+     exclusively, is one-sided and despotic. Give both sexes a chance
+     at reforming each other.
+
+Another step in progress was indicated by the assumption of some
+women to influence civil administration, not only for their own
+protection, but for that of their sires and sons:
+
+     An exchange says that women are becoming perfect nuisances, and
+     to substantiate the assertion adds that 1,500 women in Chester
+     county, Pennsylvania, have petitioned the court to grant no more
+     liquor licenses.
+
+Suppose wives should come reeling home, night after night, with
+curses on their lips, to destroy the food, the dishes, the
+furniture for which husbands toiled; to abuse trembling children,
+making the home, from year to year, a pandemonium on earth--would
+the good men properly be called "nuisances," who should rise up and
+say this must end; we must protect our firesides, our children,
+ourselves, society at large? To have women even suggest such
+beneficent laws for the men of their families is called "a
+nuisance," while the whole barbarous code for women was declared by
+Lord Coke to be the "perfection of reason."
+
+The prejudice against sex has been as bitter and unreasonable as
+against color, and far more reprehensible, because in too many
+cases it has been a contest between the inferior, with law on his
+side, and the superior, with law and custom against her, as the
+following facts in the _Sunday Dispatch_, by Anne E. McDowell,
+fully show:
+
+     The decision of the Court of Common Pleas in the case of Mrs.
+     McManus, elected principal of the Mount Vernon Boys' Grammar
+     School, is to the effect that, no rule being in existence
+     prohibiting the exercise of the duties of such office by a woman,
+     the resolution of the controllers against the exercise of the
+     duties of that office by the lady was unjustifiable and illegal.
+     Since the decision was pronounced the controllers have come up to
+     the boundary of the principle held by the court, and a rule has
+     been proposed that in future women shall be ineligible to be
+     principals of boys' grammar schools--the case of Mrs. McManus
+     being specially excepted. That lady, therefore, will be
+     undisturbed. But she may be, like the celebrated "Lady
+     Freemason." an exception to her sex. The controllers have not
+     favored the public with their reasons for opposition to the
+     employment of females in the higher positions of teaching. Women
+     are good enough for inferior service about a boys'
+     grammar-school, it seems, but they are not capable of
+     superintending it. They may be, and are, teachers in all the
+     classes in such schools, even to the highest; but when the
+     question arises whether a woman, perfectly competent, shall be
+     superintendent of all the classes--for a principal is little
+     more--the controllers say _no_. If this action is influenced by a
+     belief that women cannot control a school of boys, we hope that
+     the experience in the case of Mrs. McManus will dispel the
+     illusion, and the public can afford to await the result of the
+     trial. But if it is caused by a regard to tradition or precedent,
+     or because there never has yet been an instance of a woman being
+     a principal of a boys' grammar-school before this case of Mrs.
+     McManus, we hope that the controllers will soon see the error of
+     their course. The complaints from the sections are to the effect
+     that it is very difficult to get a competent male teacher to
+     remain principal of a boys' grammar-school for any length of
+     time. The salary attached to that position is inadequate,
+     according to the increased cost of living of the times. Gentlemen
+     who are competent to act as principals of the public schools find
+     that they can make more money by establishing private schools;
+     and hence they are uneasy and dissatisfied while in the public
+     service. A woman able to take charge of a boys' grammar-school
+     will be paid a more liberal salary (such is the injustice of our
+     social system in relation to female labor) in that position than
+     in any other connected with education that she can command, and
+     she will therefore be likely to be better satisfied with the
+     duties and to perform them more properly. That such advantage
+     ought to be held out to ladies competent to be teachers of the
+     highest grade, we firmly believe. The field of female avocations
+     should be extended in every legitimate direction; and it seems to
+     us, unless some reason can be given for the exception, which has
+     not yet been presented in the case of Mrs. McManus, that the
+     principalships of the boys' grammar-schools ought to be
+     accessible to ladies of the proper character and qualification,
+     without the imputation that by reason of their sex they must
+     necessarily be unfitted for such duties.
+
+In preparing themselves for the medical profession, for which the
+most conservative people now admit that women are peculiarly
+adapted, students have encountered years of opposition, ridicule
+and persecution. After a college for women was established in
+Philadelphia,[259] there was another long struggle before their
+right to attend the clinics in the hospitals was accorded. The
+faculty and students alike protested against the admission of women
+into mixed classes; but as there was no provision to give them the
+clinics alone, a protest against mixed classes was a protest
+against such advantages to women altogether. One would have
+supposed the men might have left the delicacy of the question to
+the decision of the women themselves. But in this struggle for
+education men have always been more concerned about the loss of
+modesty than the acquirement of knowledge and wisdom. From the
+opinions usually expressed by these self-constituted guardians of
+the feminine character, we might be led to infer that the virtues
+of women were not a part of the essential elements of their
+organization, but a sort of temporary scaffolding, erected by
+society to shield a naturally weak structure that any wind could
+readily demolish.
+
+At a meeting convened November 15 at the University of
+Pennsylvania, to consider the subject of clinical instruction to
+mixed classes the following remonstrance was unanimously adopted:
+
+     The undersigned, professors in the University of Pennsylvania,
+     professors in Jefferson Medical College, members of the medical
+     staff of various hospitals of Philadelphia, and members of the
+     medical profession in Philadelphia at large, out of respect for
+     their profession, and for the interests of the public, do feel it
+     to be their duty, at the present time, to express their
+     convictions upon the subject of "clinical instruction to _mixed
+     classes_ of male and female students of medicine." They are
+     induced to present their views on this question, which is of so
+     grave importance to medical education, from the fact that it is
+     misunderstood by the public, and because an attempt is now being
+     made to force it before the community in a shape which they
+     conceive to be injurious to the progress of medical science, and
+     to the efficiency of clinical teaching. They have no hesitation
+     in declaring that their deliberate conviction is adverse to
+     conducting clinical instruction in the presence of students of
+     _both sexes_. The judgment that has been arrived at is based upon
+     the following considerations:
+
+     I. Clinical instruction in practical medicine demands an
+     examination of all the organs and parts of the body, as far as
+     practicable; hence, personal exposure becomes for this purpose
+     often a matter of absolute necessity. It cannot be assumed, by
+     any right-minded person, that male patients should be subjected
+     to inspection before a class of females, although this inspection
+     may, without impropriety, be submitted to before those of their
+     own sex. A thorough investigation, as well as demonstration, in
+     these cases--so necessary to render instruction complete and
+     effective--is, by a mixed audience, precluded; while the clinical
+     lecturer is restrained and embarrassed in his inquiries, and must
+     therefore fall short in the conclusions which he may draw, and in
+     the instruction which he communicates.
+
+     II. In many operations upon male patients exposure of the body is
+     inevitable, and demonstrations must be made which are unfitted
+     for the observation of students of the opposite sex. These
+     expositions, when made under the eye of such a conjoined
+     assemblage, are shocking to the sense of decency, and entail the
+     risk of unmanning the surgeon--of distracting his mind, and
+     endangering the life of his patient. Besides this, a large class
+     of surgical diseases of the male is of so delicate a nature as
+     altogether to forbid inspection by female students. Yet a
+     complete understanding of this particular class of diseases is of
+     preeminent importance to the community. Moreover, such affections
+     can be thoroughly studied only in the clinics of the large
+     cities, and the opportunity for studying them, so far from being
+     curtailed, should be extended to the utmost possible degree. To
+     those who are familiar with such cases as are here alluded to, it
+     is inconceivable that females should ever be called to their
+     treatment.
+
+     III. By the joint participation, on the part of male and female
+     students, in the instruction and in the demonstrations which
+     properly belong to the clinical lecture-room, the barrier of
+     respect is broken down, and that high estimation of womanly
+     qualities, which should always be sustained and cherished, and
+     which has its origin in domestic and social associations, is
+     lost, by an inevitable and positive demoralization of the
+     individuals concerned, thereby entailing most serious detriment
+     to the morals of society. In view of the above considerations,
+     the undersigned[260] do earnestly and solemnly protest against
+     the admixture of the sexes at clinical instruction in medicine
+     and surgery, and do respectfully lay these their views before the
+     board of managers of the hospitals in Philadelphia.
+
+     _November 15, 1869._
+
+At meetings held at the University and Jefferson Medical Colleges,
+by the students, on Wednesday evening, the following preambles and
+resolutions were adopted:
+
+     WHEREAS, The managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital have seen fit
+     to admit female students to the clinics of that establishment,
+     thereby excluding from the lectures many cases, medical and
+     surgical; and
+
+     WHEREAS, We consider that in our purchase of tickets of admission
+     there was a tacit agreement that we should have the benefit of
+     all cases which the medical and surgical staff of that hospital
+     should deem fit for our instruction:
+
+     _Resolved_, That a respectful request be made to the managers of
+     the Pennsylvania Hospital that we be informed as to whether the
+     usual character of the clinics will be changed.
+
+     _Resolved_, That pending the action of the managers on this
+     question, we as a class and individually absent ourselves from
+     the clinical lectures. And
+
+     WHEREAS, The levity of a few thoughtless young men in the
+     presence of the females at the hospital has caused the journals
+     of this city to assume that the whole class of medical students
+     are utterly devoid of all the attributes of gentlemen,
+
+     _Resolved_, That while we do not by any means concede that the
+     published accounts of the affair are correct, we deplore the fact
+     that _any_ demonstration should have taken place; for although
+     the female students may be considered by their presence at the
+     hospital where male students are present, to have cast aside that
+     delicacy and modesty which constitutes the aegis of their sex,
+     they are women, and as such demand our forbearance, if not our
+     respect.
+
+     _Resolved_, That these preambles and resolutions be published in
+     some respectable journal of this city.[261]
+
+On these remonstrances of the faculty and students, _The Press_,
+John W. Forney, editor, had many able editorials condemning the
+action of the medical fraternity. The leading journals throughout
+the country advocated the right of the women to enjoy the
+advantages of the hospital clinics. _The Press_, November 22, 1869,
+said:
+
+     The proceedings of the meeting held by the faculties of our two
+     leading medical schools evince the disposition which lurks at the
+     bottom of the movement against women as physicians. The hospital
+     managers are to be browbeaten into the stand taken by the
+     students, and now sanctioned by the professors. If the women are
+     to be denied the privilege of clinical lectures, why do not
+     learned professors, or students, or both, have the manliness to
+     suggest and advocate some means of solving the difficulty so that
+     the rights of neither sex shall be impaired? Would any professor
+     agree to lecture to the women separately? Would any professor
+     favor the admission of women into the female wards of the
+     hospitals? Would any professor agree to propose anything, or do
+     anything that would weaken the firm stand taken against the
+     admission of women to professional privileges? If so, why not do
+     it at once? Nothing else will make protestations of fairness
+     appear at all genuine. Nothing else will remove the stigma of
+     attempting to drag the hospitals into a support of this crusade
+     against women. * * * How absurd the solemn declaration, "it
+     cannot be assumed by any right-minded person that male patients
+     should be subjected to inspection before a class of females,
+     although this inspection may, without impropriety, be submitted
+     to before those of their own sex." This cuts both ways. If it be
+     improper for female students to be present when patients of the
+     other sex are treated, is it proper for male students to witness
+     the treatment of female patients?
+
+The practical good sense shown in the following report of a
+committee of the Faculty of the Woman's Medical College of
+Pennsylvania, makes a very favorable contrast with the unreasonable
+remonstrances of the so-called superior sex:
+
+                                   PHILADELPHIA, NOV. 15, 1869.
+
+     As the relation of students of medicine to public clinics, and
+     the views entertained by those entitled to speak for their
+     medical education, are now extensively discussed in the public
+     journals, it seems necessary for us to state our position.
+     Considering it decided that, as practitioners of medicine, the
+     guardianship of life and health is to be placed in the keeping of
+     women, it becomes the interest of society and the duty of those
+     entrusted with their professional training to endeavor to provide
+     for them all suitable means for that practical instruction which
+     is gained at hospital clinics.
+
+     The taunt has heretofore been frequently thrown out that ladies
+     have not attended the great clinical schools of the country, nor
+     listened to its celebrated teachers, and that, consequently, they
+     cannot be as well prepared as men for medical practice. We
+     believe, as we have always done, that in all special diseases of
+     men and women, and in all operations necessarily involving
+     embarrassing exposure of person, it is not fitting or expedient
+     that students of different sexes should attend promiscuously;
+     that all special diseases of men should be treated by men in the
+     presence of men only, and those of women, where it is
+     practicable, by women in the presence of women only. It was this
+     feeling, founded on the respect due to the delicacy of women as
+     patients, perhaps more than any other consideration, which led to
+     the founding of the Women's Hospital in Philadelphia. There the
+     clinical demonstration of special diseases is made by and before
+     women alone. As we would not permit men to enter these clinics,
+     neither would we be willing--out of regard to the feelings of men
+     as patients, if for no other considerations--that our students
+     should attend clinics where men are specially treated, and there
+     has been no time in the history of our college when our students
+     could intentionally do so, save in direct contravention of our
+     known views. In nearly all the great public hospitals, however,
+     by far the larger proportion of cases suited for clinical
+     illustration--whether medical or surgical--is of those which
+     involve no necessary exposure, and are the results of diseases
+     and accidents to which man and woman are subject alike, and which
+     women are constantly called upon to treat. Into these clinics,
+     women also--often sensitive and shrinking, albeit poor--are
+     brought as patients to illustrate the lectures, and we maintain
+     that wherever it is proper to introduce women as patients, there
+     also is it but just and in accordance with the instincts of the
+     truest womanhood for women to appear as physicians and students.
+
+     We had arranged when our class was admitted to the Pennsylvania
+     hospital to attend on alternate clinic days only, so as to allow
+     ample opportunity for the unembarrassed exhibition of special
+     cases to the other students by themselves. We encouraged our
+     students to visit the hospital upon this view, sustained by our
+     confidence in the sound judgment and high-minded courtesy of the
+     medical gentlemen in charge of the wards. All the objections that
+     have been made to our students' admission to these clinics seem
+     to be based upon the mistaken assumption that they had designed
+     to attend them indiscriminately. As we state distinctly and
+     unequivocally that this was not the fact, that they had no idea
+     or intention of being present except on one day of the week, and
+     when no cases which it would not be proper to illustrate before
+     both classes of students would necessarily be brought in--it
+     seems to us that all these objections are destroyed, and we
+     cannot but feel that those fair-minded professional gentlemen,
+     who, under this false impression as to facts, have objected to
+     our course, will, upon a candid reconsideration, acknowledge that
+     our position is just and intrinsically right. The general
+     testimony of those who attended the Saturday clinics last winter
+     at the Philadelphia Hospital at Blockley, when about forty ladies
+     made regular visits, was that the tone and bearing of the
+     students were greatly improved, while the usual cases were
+     brought forward and the full measure of instruction given without
+     any violation of refined propriety.
+
+     We maintain, in common with all medical men, that science is
+     impersonal, and that the high aim of relief to suffering humanity
+     sanctifies all duties: and we repel, as derogatory to the science
+     of medicine, the assertion that the physician who has risen to
+     the level of his high calling need be embarrassed, in treating
+     general diseases, by the presence of earnest women. The movement
+     for woman's medical education has been sustained from the
+     beginning by the most refined, intelligent, and religious women,
+     and by the noblest and best men in the community. It has ever
+     been regarded by these as the cause of humanity, calculated in
+     its very nature to enlarge professional experience, bless women,
+     and refine society. It has in our own city caused a college and a
+     hospital not only to be founded, but to be sustained and endowed
+     by those who have known intimately the character and objects of
+     this work, and the aims and efforts of those connected with it.
+     It has this year brought to this city some fifty educated and
+     earnest women to study medicine, women who have come to this
+     labor enthusiastically but reverently, as to a great
+     life-interest and a holy calling. These ladies purchased tickets,
+     and entered the clinic of the Pennsylvania Hospital, with no
+     obtrusive spirit, and with no intention of interfering with the
+     legitimate advantages of other students. If they have been forced
+     into an unwelcome notoriety, it has not been of their own
+     seeking.
+
+                                            ANN PRESTON, M. D., _Dean_.
+
+     EMELINE H. CLEVELAND, M. D., _Secretary_.
+
+We are indebted to James Truman, D. D. S., of the Pennsylvania
+College of Dental Surgery, for the following account of the
+admission of women into that branch of the medical profession:
+
+     The general agitation of the question: What are women best
+     qualified for in the struggle for existence? naturally led
+     liberal minds to the opening of new avenues for the employment of
+     their talents, shared equally with men. Her right to practice in
+     medicine had been conceded after a long and severe conflict. Even
+     the domain of the theologian had been invaded, but law and
+     dentistry were as yet closed, and in the case of the latter,
+     unthought of as an appropriate avocation for women. The subject,
+     however, seemed so important, presenting a field of labor
+     peculiarly suited to her, that one gentleman, then professor in
+     the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, felt it his duty to
+     call public attention to this promising work. In a valedictory
+     delivered by him to the class of 1866, at Musical Fund Hall of
+     Philadelphia, he included in his theme the peculiar fitness of
+     dentistry for women. The question was briefly stated, but it
+     rather startled the large audience by its novelty, and the effect
+     was no less surprising on the faculty, board of trustees and
+     professional gentlemen on the platform.
+
+     In the fall of 1868 the dean of the Pennsylvania College of
+     Dental Surgery was waited upon by a German gentleman, who desired
+     to introduce a lady who had come to this country with the
+     expectation that all colleges were open to women. Although
+     informed that this was not the case, he still entertained the
+     hope that she might be admitted as a student of dentistry. She
+     gave her name as Henrietti Hirschfeld, of Berlin. The matter came
+     up before the faculty, and after a free discussion of the whole
+     subject, she was rejected by a majority vote, but two voting in
+     her favor.
+
+     In a subsequent interview with Professor Truman, he learned that
+     she had left her native land with the full assurance that she
+     would have no difficulty in "free America" in securing a dental
+     education. She had also the positive sanction of her government,
+     through the then minister of instruction, Dr. Falk, that on
+     condition of receiving an American diploma she would be permitted
+     to practice on her return. Her distress, therefore, at this
+     initial failure was, naturally, very great. The excitement that
+     this application made was intensified when it was rumored among
+     the students that a woman desired to be matriculated. The
+     opposition became very bitter, and manifested itself in many
+     petty annoyances. In the course of a day or two one gentleman of
+     the faculty, and he the dean, concluded to change his vote, and
+     as this decided the question, she was admitted. The opposition of
+     the professor of anatomy, who belonged to the old school of
+     medical teachers, was so manifest that it was deemed advisable to
+     have her take anatomy in the Woman's Medical College for that
+     winter. The first year of this was in every way satisfactory.
+     Although the students received her and Mrs. Truman, who
+     accompanied her on the first visit, with a storm of hisses, they
+     gradually learned not only to treat her with respect, but she
+     became a favorite with all, and while not convinced as to the
+     propriety of women in dentistry, they all agreed that Mrs.
+     Hirschfeld might do as an exception. The last year she was
+     permitted by the irate professor of anatomy, Dr. Forbes, to take
+     that subject under him.
+
+     She graduated with honor, and returned to Berlin to practice her
+     profession. This was regarded as an exceptional case, and by no
+     means settled the status of the college in regard to women. The
+     conservative element was exceedingly bitter, and it was very
+     evident that a long time must elapse before another woman could
+     be admitted. The great stir made by Mrs. Hirschfeld's graduation
+     brought several other applications from ladies of Germany, but
+     these were without hesitation denied. Failing to convince his
+     colleagues of the injustice of their action, Dr. Truman tried to
+     secure more favorable results from other colleges, and applied
+     personally to Dr. Gorgas of the Baltimore College of Dental
+     Surgery. The answer was favorable, and he accompanied the
+     applicant and entered her in that institution. This furnished
+     accommodation for the few applicants. The loss in money began to
+     tell on the pockets, if not the consciences, of the faculty of
+     the Philadelphia school. They saw the stream had flown in another
+     direction, swelling the coffers of another institution, when,
+     without an effort, they could have retained the whole. They
+     concluded to try the experiment again, and accepted three ladies
+     in 1872 and 1873--Miss Annie D. Ramborger of Philadelphia,
+     Fraulein Veleske Wilcke and Dr. Jacoby of Germany. Their first
+     year was very satisfactory, but at its close it was very evident
+     that there was a determination on the part of the minority of the
+     class to spare no effort to effect their removal from the school.
+     A petition was forwarded to the faculty to this effect, and
+     although one was presented by the majority of the students in
+     their favor, the faculty chose to accept the former as
+     representing public sentiment, and it was decided not to allow
+     them to take another year at this college. This outrage was not
+     accomplished without forcible protest from the gentleman
+     previously named, and he appealed from this decision to the
+     governing power, the board of trustees.[262] To hear this appeal
+     a special meeting was called for March 27, 1873, at which the
+     communication of Professor Truman was read and ordered filed. A
+     similar communication, in opposition, was received, signed by
+     Professors T. L. Buckingham, E. Wildman, George T. Barker, James
+     Tyson and J. Ewing Mears. The matter was referred to a committee
+     consisting of Hon. Henry C. Carey, W. S. Pierce and G. R.
+     Morehouse, M. D. At a special meeting convened for this purpose,
+     March 31, 1873, this committee made their report. They say:
+
+          Three ladies entered as students of this college at the
+          commencement of the session, 1872-73, paid their
+          matriculation fees, attended the course of lectures, and
+          were informed, by a resolution adopted by a majority of the
+          faculty at the close of the session, that they would not be
+          permitted to attend the second course of lectures. No other
+          cause was assigned for the action of the faculty than that
+          they deemed it against the interest of the college to permit
+          them to do so, on account of the dissatisfaction which it
+          gave to certain male students, etc. * * * The goal to which
+          all medical and dental students look, is graduation and the
+          diploma, which is to be the evidence of their qualification
+          to practice their art. To qualify themselves for this they
+          bestow their time, their money and their labor. To deprive
+          them of this without just cause is to disappoint their
+          hopes, and to receive from them money and bestowal of time
+          and labor without the full equivalent which they had a right
+          to expect.
+
+     After discussing at length the legal aspects of the case, the
+     summing up is as follows:
+
+          We, therefore, respectfully report that in our opinion it is
+          the legal right of these ladies to attend, and it is the
+          legal duty of this college to give them, as students, a
+          second course of lectures on the terms of the announcement
+          which forms the basis of the contract with them.
+
+     This report was signed by all the committee, and read by W. S.
+     Pierce, one of the number, and judge of the Court of Common Pleas
+     of Philadelphia. It carried with it, therefore, all the force of
+     a judicial decision, and was so accepted by the board, and
+     adopted at once. This left the majority of the faculty no choice
+     but to accept the decision as final as far as these ladies were
+     concerned. This they did, and the three were invited to resume
+     their studies. Two, Misses Ramborger and Wilcke, accepted, Miss
+     Jacoby refused and went to Baltimore.
+
+     The most interesting feature of this matter, and that which
+     clearly demonstrated a marked advance in public opinion, was the
+     stir it made in the press. The daily and Sunday papers bristled
+     with strong leaders, the faculty being denounced in no measured
+     terms for their action. To such an extent was this carried, and
+     so overwhelming was the indignation, that it practically settled
+     the question for Philadelphia, although several years elapsed
+     after these ladies were graduated before others were accepted.
+     When that time did arrive, under the present dean, Dr. C. N.
+     Pierce, they were accorded everything, without any reservation,
+     and the school has continued ever since to accept them. At the
+     meeting of the National Association of Dentists, held at
+     Saratoga, 1869, Dr. Truman introduced a resolution looking to the
+     recognition of women in the profession. The resolution and the
+     remarks were kindly received, but were, of course, laid on the
+     table. This was expected, the object being to make the thought
+     familiar in every section of the country.
+
+     These efforts have borne rich fruit, and now women are being
+     educated at a majority of the prominent dental colleges, and no
+     complaints are heard of coeducation in this department of work.
+     The college that first accepted and then rejected--the
+     Pennsylvania of Philadelphia--has a yearly average of seven to
+     eight women, nearly equally divided between America and Germany.
+     Of the three dental schools in Philadelphia, two accept women,
+     and the third--the Dental Department of the University of
+     Pennsylvania--would, if the faculty were not overruled by the
+     governing powers.
+
+     The learned theories that were promulgated in regard to the
+     injury the practice of dentistry would be to women, have all
+     fallen to the ground. The advocates of women in dentistry were
+     met at the outstart with the health question, and as it had never
+     been tested, the most favorably inclined looked forward with some
+     anxiety to the result. Fifteen years have elapsed since then, and
+     almost every town in Germany is supplied with a woman in this
+     profession. Many are also established in America. These have all
+     the usual requisites of bodily strength, and the writer has yet
+     to learn of a single failure from physical deterioration.
+
+     The first lady, Miss Lucy B. Hobbs, to graduate in dentistry, was
+     sent out from the Cincinnati College, and she, I believe, is
+     still in active practice in Kansas. She graduated in 1866. Mrs.
+     Hirschfeld, before spoken of, returned to Germany and became at
+     once a subject for the fun of the comic papers, and for the more
+     serious work of the _Bajan_ and _Uberlana und Meer_, both of them
+     containing elaborate and illustrated notices of her. She had some
+     friends in the higher walks of life; notable amongst these was
+     President Lette of the _Trauen-Verein_, whose aid and powerful
+     influence had assisted her materially in the early stages of her
+     effort. The result of these combined forces soon placed her in
+     possession of a large practice. She was patronized by ladies in
+     the highest circles, including the crown princess. She
+     subsequently married, had two boys to rear and educate, and a
+     large household to supervise. She has assisted several of her
+     relatives into professions, two in medicine and two in dentistry,
+     besides aiding many worthy persons. She has established a clinic
+     for women in Berlin, something very badly needed there. This is
+     in charge of two physicians, one being her husband's sister, Dr.
+     Fanny Tiburtius. She has also started a hospital for women.
+     These are mainly supported by her individual exertions.
+     Notwithstanding all these multifarious and trying duties, she
+     practices daily, and is as well physically and mentally as when
+     she commenced. Fraulein Valeske Wilcke of Koenigsberg has been
+     over twelve years in a very large practice with no evil results;
+     Miss Annie D. Ramborger, an equal time, with an equally large
+     practice, and enjoys apparently far better health than most
+     ladies of thirty.
+
+     Dentistry is, probably, one of the most trying professions, very
+     few men being equal to the severe strain, and many are obliged to
+     succumb. No woman has as yet failed, though it would not be at
+     all remarkable if such were the case. The probabilities are that
+     comparatively few will choose it as a profession, but that
+     another door has been opened for employment is a cause for
+     congratulation with all right-thinking minds.
+
+For opening this profession to women a debt of gratitude is due to
+Dr. Truman from all his countrywomen, as well as to those noble
+German students, who have so ably filled the positions he secured
+for them. Similar struggles, both in medicine and dentistry, were
+encountered in other States, but the result was as it must be in
+every case, the final triumph of justice for women. Already they
+are in most of the colleges and hospitals, and members of many of
+the State and National associations.
+
+In 1870, the Society of Friends founded Swarthmore College[263] for
+the education of both sexes, erecting a fine building in a
+beautiful locality. At the dedication of this institution, Lucretia
+Mott was elected to honorary membership and invited to the
+platform. With her own hands she planted the first tree, which now
+adorns those spacious grounds.
+
+The persecutions that women encountered in every onward step soon
+taught them the necessity of remodeling the laws and customs for
+themselves. They began to see the fallacy of the old ideas, that
+men looked after the interests of women, "that they were their
+natural protectors," that they could safely trust them to legislate
+on their personal and property rights; for they found in almost
+every case that whatever right and privilege man claimed for
+himself, he proposed exactly the opposite for women. Hence the
+necessity for them to have a voice as to the laws and the rulers
+under which they lived. Whatever reform they attempted they soon
+found their labors valueless, because they had no power to remedy
+any evils protected by law. After laboring in temperance,
+prison-reform, coeducation, and women's rights in the trades and
+professions, their hopes all alike centered at last in the suffrage
+movement.
+
+In 1866, a suffrage association was formed in Philadelphia at a
+meeting of the American Equal Rights Society,[264] held in Franklin
+Institute. This convention was marked by a heated debate on the
+duty of the abolitionists now that the black man was emancipated,
+to make the demand for the enfranchisement of women, as well as the
+freedmen.
+
+We are indebted to John K. Wildman of Philadelphia for the
+following:
+
+     The Pennsylvania association was organized December 22, 1869, in
+     Mercantile Library Hall, Philadelphia. The meeting was called to
+     order by John K. Wildman, who said: "The time has arrived when it
+     is necessary for us to take some action towards promoting the
+     cause of woman suffrage. We desire to do our part as far as
+     practicable, in the work of enlightening the people of our State
+     upon this important subject. With this end in view we propose to
+     organize, hoping that all friends of the movement will cordially
+     give us their influence." Edward M. Davis then proposed the
+     appointment of Judge William S. Pierce as chairman of the
+     meeting. This was agreed to, and Judge Pierce announced that the
+     meeting was ready for business, reserving for another stage of
+     the proceedings any remarks he might wish to make. Annie Heacock
+     was chosen to act as secretary. In accordance with a motion that
+     was adopted, the chairman appointed a committee of five
+     persons[265] to prepare a constitution, and present the same for
+     the action of the meeting. Mary Grew spoke at length in her
+     earnest and impressive manner, presenting forcibly those familiar
+     yet solid arguments in favor of woman suffrage which form the
+     basis of the discussion, and which should irrevocably settle the
+     question. Dr. Henry T. Child followed with a brief address,
+     showing his zealous interest in the object of the meeting, and
+     trusting that at no distant period the ballot would be placed in
+     the hands of the women of the land. Judge Pierce said:
+
+          I am in favor of giving woman a chance in the world. I feel
+          very much in regard to woman as Diogenes did when Alexander
+          the Great went to see him. When the monarch arrived at the
+          city in which Diogenes lived, he sent a request for him to
+          come to see him. Diogenes declined to go. The monarch then
+          went to the place of his residence, and found him lying in
+          his court-yard sunning himself. He did not even rise when
+          Alexander approached. Standing over him, the warrior asked,
+          "Diogenes, what can I do for you?" And the philosopher
+          answered, "Nothing, except to stand out of my sunshine."
+          Now, I am disposed to stand out of woman's sunshine. If she
+          wants the light of the sun upon her, and the breath of
+          heaven upon her, and freedom of action necessary to develop
+          herself, heaven forbid that I should stand in her way. I
+          believe that everything goes to its own place in God's
+          world, and woman will go to her place if you do not impede
+          her. We should not be afraid to trust her, or to apply the
+          same principles to her in regard to suffrage that we apply
+          to ourselves. There should be no distinction. Her claims to
+          the ballot rest upon a just and logical foundation.
+
+     The venerable Sojourner Truth spoke a few words of encouragement,
+     showing in her humble and fervid way a reverent faith in the
+     final triumph of justice. After the adoption of the constitution,
+     the organization was completed by the election of officers[266]
+     to serve for the ensuing year.
+
+     The first thing that claimed the attention of the officers of the
+     new society was the representation of the different counties on
+     the executive committee; and for this purpose the chairman wrote
+     to nearly all of the sixty-three counties, chiefly to the
+     postmasters of the principal towns. The replies that were
+     received presented a curious medley of sentiment and opinion
+     touching the object in view, disclosing every shade of tone and
+     temper between the two extremes of cold indifference and warm
+     enthusiasm. It was evident that, in a large number of cases, the
+     inquiries promptly found their resting-place in the waste-basket.
+     Before the close of the year twenty-two counties were
+     represented. Thus reinforced, the committee took immediate steps
+     towards distributing documents and circulating petitions
+     throughout the State. Many of the county members cooeperated
+     earnestly in this work. Some of them, not satisfied to limit
+     their action to this particular form of service, aided the
+     movement by collecting funds and holding public meetings in their
+     respective localities. Matilda Hindman, representing Alleghany
+     county, evinced both energy and enterprise in forwarding the
+     movement through the agency of public meetings. She did good
+     service from the beginning, relying almost solely upon her own
+     determined purpose. Her deep interest in the work and its object,
+     and the courage that animated her at the first impulse of duty,
+     have continued without abatement to the present time. Her
+     usefulness and activity have not confined themselves within the
+     limits of Pennsylvania, but have extended to other States, both
+     in the East and West.
+
+     Miss Matilda Hindman, of Philadelphia, pays the following tribute
+     to her parents:
+
+          In 1837, my father being a member of the school committee of
+          the Union township, Washington county, secured equal
+          salaries for women; and in spite of steady opposition, there
+          was no difference made for four years. The women who taught
+          the schools in the summer were paid the same as the men who
+          taught in the winter. At the death of my father the board
+          returned to the old system of half pay for women; the result
+          was "incompetent teachers," furnishing the opposition with
+          just the plea they desired--that women were not fit for
+          school teachers. My mother remonstrated, but in vain. They
+          replied, "women never received as much as men for any work";
+          "it did not cost as much to keep a woman as a man," and
+          moreover, these school matters belonged to men, and women
+          had no right to interfere. In 1842, my mother offered to
+          board the teacher in her district, gratis, if the board
+          would raise her salary proportionally. They received her
+          proposition with scorn. She then refused to pay her taxes.
+          Such was the respect for her in the community, and the sense
+          of justice in regard to the teachers, that the authorities
+          suffered the tax to go unpaid, and at the end of the year
+          accepted the proposition, and for many years after, she
+          boarded the teacher in her district, making the woman's net
+          salary equal to that of the man.
+
+          My mother lived to see her daughters employed in her
+          township on equal salaries with men. But in process of time,
+          another board, for the express purpose of humiliating mother
+          and daughters alike, passed a resolution to take two dollars
+          a month from each of their salaries, when all three
+          resigned. They all honored her, by carrying into their
+          life-work the noble principles for which she suffered so
+          much.
+
+          She was the grand-daughter of a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian
+          minister, who, with his young family, was among the earliest
+          settlers in the wilderness of what is now known as the
+          prosperous and beautiful county of Washington, Pennsylvania.
+          Her name was Sarah Campbell. She was born in 1798. From her
+          earliest girlhood she rebelled against the injustice done
+          women by the law. She felt acutely the wrong done her and
+          her sisters by being denied an education equal to their
+          brothers, and denied also an equal share of their
+          inheritance. While the father possessed a large estate, and
+          provided liberally for his sons, he left his daughters a
+          mere pittance.
+
+     In view of such facts, it is folly to say that women were ever
+     satisfied with the humiliating discriminations of sex they have
+     endured in all periods, and in all ranks in society.
+
+     The first annual report of the association was prepared by Eliza
+     Sproat Turner. She said:
+
+          We do not complain that man is slow to realize the injustice
+          of his present attitude towards woman--an attitude once,
+          from necessity, endurable; now, from too long continuance,
+          grown intolerable. It would not be natural for him to feel
+          it with equal keenness. It takes a great-minded fox to find
+          out, what every goose knows, that foxes' teeth are cruel.
+          And while we do not complain of this incapacity on his part,
+          the advocates of this cause feel the necessity for woman to
+          take upon herself whatever share in the management of their
+          mutual affairs shall be needed to right the balance;
+          concluding that the defects in legislation which she is, by
+          reason of her position, more competent to understand, she
+          should be more competent to remedy. Not these innovations
+          alone, but others involving matters beyond individual
+          interests, she expects to achieve by the power she shall
+          gain through the exercise of her right of suffrage. We
+          discern, in the consideration of nearly all questions of
+          national welfare, a disposition to press unduly the
+          interests of trade and commerce rather than the interests of
+          the fireside.
+
+     Mary Grew presided, and has been elected president of the
+     association every year from the beginning, performing the duties
+     of the position with ability, earnestness and satisfaction. In
+     the winter of 1870-71 the executive committee recommended the
+     passage of a law that should give married women the control of
+     their own earnings. The appeal to the legislature in behalf of
+     such a law was renewed the following winter, and its passage
+     finally secured. Among the resolutions adopted at the annual
+     meeting was the following:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the vote of the legislature of this State
+          for a convention to amend the constitution, makes it our
+          duty to work for the exclusion of the word "male" from the
+          provision defining the qualifications for the elective
+          franchise, and that we call upon all friends of justice to
+          give their best energies to the sustaining of this object.
+
+     Subsequently the executive committee prepared a petition with
+     reference to the formation of the constitutional convention,
+     asking the legislature, in making the needful regulations, to
+     frame them in such a way as to secure the representation of the
+     women of the State. This petition was unavailing. At the next
+     annual meeting, which was held at the time the constitutional
+     convention was in session, a resolution was adopted containing an
+     appeal to that body, earnestly requesting it to present to the
+     people of the State a constitution that should secure the right
+     of suffrage to its citizens without distinction of sex,
+     accompanied by a request for a hearing at such time and place as
+     the convention should decide. The request was willingly granted,
+     and an evening assigned for that purpose. An evening was also
+     given to the Citizens' Suffrage Society of Philadelphia for a
+     like object. These meetings were held in the hall of the
+     convention, and were largely attended by the members and by the
+     people generally. Addresses were delivered by various friends of
+     woman suffrage, as representatives of the two societies.[267]
+     Still another evening was granted the Pennsylvania association
+     for a meeting to be addressed by Bishop Matthew Simpson of the
+     Methodist Episcopal Church. The earnest and forcible words of the
+     eloquent speaker, and his solid array of arguments, made a deep
+     impression on the attentive audience.
+
+     In the convention the question was discussed during five
+     successive days. Hon. John M. Broomall introduced a provision in
+     favor of making the ballot free to men and women alike, proposing
+     that it be incorporated in the new constitution. This provision
+     was ably advocated by Mr. Broomall and many other members of the
+     convention. Their firm convictions in behalf of equal and exact
+     justice, however well sustained by sound reasoning and earnest
+     appeal, was an unequal match for the rooted conservatism which
+     recoiled from such a new departure. Although the measure was
+     defeated, its discussion had an influence. It was animated,
+     intelligent and exhaustive, and drew public attention more
+     directly to the subject than anything that had occurred since the
+     beginning of its agitation in the State.
+
+     The only act of the convention that gave hope to the friends of
+     impartial suffrage was the adoption of the third section of
+     Article X.: "Women twenty-one years of age and upwards shall be
+     eligible to any office of control or management under the school
+     laws of this State." It was a very faint gleam of comfort, too
+     small to stir more than a breath of praise. It had the merit of
+     being a step in the right direction, though timid and feeble, and
+     as it has never disturbed the equilibrium of society, it may
+     ultimately be followed by others of more importance.
+
+     The annual meetings of the association have been held in
+     Philadelphia, Westchester, Bristol, Kennett Square and Media,
+     respectively. An interesting feature of the Westchester meeting
+     was the reading of an essay, entitled "Four quite New Reasons why
+     you should wish your Wife to Vote." It was written for the
+     occasion by Eliza Sproat Turner, and was subsequently printed and
+     re-printed in tract form by order of the executive committee, and
+     freely circulated among the people. It was likewise published in
+     the _Woman's Journal_. Other documents relative to the question
+     have been printed from time to time by authority of the
+     committee, and large numbers of suffrage tracts have been
+     purchased for distribution year after year, embodying the best
+     thoughts, the soundest arguments, and the most forcible reasoning
+     that the question has elicited. Frequent petitions have been sent
+     to the legislature and to congress, all having in view the one
+     paramount object, and showing by their repeated and persistent
+     appearance the indefatigable nature of a living, breathing
+     reform. The executive committee at one time employed Matilda
+     Hindman as State agent. Meetings were held by her chiefly in the
+     western part of the State. In 1874 her services extended to the
+     State of Michigan, where the question of woman suffrage was
+     specially before the people. Lelia E. Patridge also represented
+     the association in Michigan at that time, where she performed
+     excellent service in addressing numerous meetings in different
+     parts of the State. In 1877 Miss Patridge was appointed to
+     represent the society in Colorado. There she labored with others
+     to secure the adoption of a constitutional amendment providing
+     for suffrage without regard to sex. On several occasions the
+     executive committee has contributed to woman suffrage purposes in
+     other States. Massachusetts, Michigan, Colorado and Oregon have
+     been recipients of the limited resources of the association. The
+     executive committee has felt the cramping influence of an
+     unfriended treasury. Its provision has been the fruit of
+     unwearied soliciting, and should the especial object of the
+     association ever be accomplished, the honors of success may be
+     fitly contested by the fine art of begging.
+
+The following report was sent us by Mrs. Mary Byrnes:
+
+     March 22, 1872, the Citizens' Suffrage Association of
+     Philadelphia was formed, William Morris Davis, president, with
+     fifty members. The name of the society was chosen to denote the
+     view of its members as to the basis of the elective franchise.
+     The amendments to the United States constitution had clearly
+     defined who were citizens, and shown citizenship to be without
+     sex. Woman was as indisputably a citizen as man. Whatever rights
+     he possessed as a citizen she possessed also. The supreme law of
+     the land placed her on the same plane of political rights with
+     him. If man held the right of suffrage as a citizen of the United
+     States, either by birthright within the respective States, or by
+     naturalization under the United States, then the right of the
+     female citizen to vote was as absolute as that of the male
+     citizen; and woman's disfranchisement became a wrong inflicted
+     upon her by usurped power. Men became voters by reason of their
+     citizenship, having first complied with certain police
+     regulations imposed within and by the respective States. The
+     Citizens' Suffrage Association demanded the same political rights
+     for all citizens, nothing more, nothing less. It repudiated the
+     idea that one class of citizens should ask of another class
+     rights which that other class never possessed, and which those
+     who were denied them never had lost. This society held that the
+     right to give implied the right to take away; and further, that
+     the right to give implied a right lodged somewhere in society,
+     which society had never acquired by any direct concession from
+     the people.
+
+     This society held also, that the theory of the right to the
+     franchise, as a gift, bore with it the power somewhere to
+     restrict the male citizen's suffrage, and to strike at the
+     principle of self-government. They had seen this doctrine
+     earnestly advanced. They knew that there was a growing class in
+     the country who were inimical to universal suffrage. In view of
+     this they chose the name of citizen suffrage, as the highest and
+     broadest term by which to designate their devotion to the
+     political rights of all citizens. They held that the political
+     condition of the white women of the United States was totally
+     unlike that of the slave population in this: that while the
+     slaves were not considered citizens until the adoption of the
+     fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, white women had always been
+     citizens, and always entitled to all the political rights of
+     citizenship. The colored male citizen became a voter--subject to
+     the police regulations of the different States--upon acquiring
+     citizenship. No constitutional enactment denied equal political
+     rights to women as citizens. No constitutional enactment was
+     therefore required to enable them to exercise the right to vote,
+     which became the right of male slaves upon their securing
+     citizenship under the law. The first legal argument on the
+     subject of woman's right to the ballot as a citizen of the United
+     States, was made by Jacob F. Byrnes before the Pennsylvania
+     Society. Had it been published as soon as written, instead of
+     being circulated privately, surprising person after person with
+     the position taken, it would have antedated the report of General
+     Benjamin F. Butler in the House of Representatives in the winter
+     of 1871.
+
+Edward M. Davis, president for many years, was one of the most
+active and untiring officers of this association, giving generously
+of his time and money not only to its support but to the general
+agitation of the suffrage question in every part of the country.
+The meetings were held regularly at his office, 333 Walnut street,
+as were also those of the Radical Club. This was composed largely
+of the same members as the suffrage society, but in this
+organization they had a greater latitude in discussion, covering
+all questions of political, religious and social interest. As the
+division in the National Society produced division everywhere,
+some of the friends in Philadelphia made themselves auxiliary to
+the American Association, and the sympathy of others was with the
+National, thus forming two rival societies, which together kept the
+suffrage question before the people and roused their attention,
+particularly to the fact of a pending constitutional convention.
+Hence the necessity of holding meetings throughout the State, and
+rolling up petitions asking that the constitution be so amended as
+to secure to women the right to vote. The following appeal was
+issued by this association:
+
+     _To the Editor of the Post:_
+
+     SIR: There is no political question now before the people of this
+     commonwealth more important than the consideration of the changes
+     to be made in our constitution. The citizens of the State, by an
+     enormous majority of votes, have re-claimed the sovereign powers
+     of government, and evinced a determination to re-form the
+     fundamental law, the constitution of this State, in the interest
+     of a government "of the people, by the people, and for the
+     people." In this new adaptation of old rules of government to the
+     advanced ideas of the age, it seems to us fitting and opportune
+     that woman in her new status as a citizen of the United States
+     (under the fourteenth amendment of the constitution), should be
+     allowed the exercise of rights which have been withheld under old
+     rules of action. Therefore we respectfully ask you to give this,
+     with our appeal, an insertion in your paper, and to continue the
+     appeal until further notice. And we ask all the friends of woman
+     suffrage to aid our association in placing this appeal in each
+     paper of our city, as well as of the neighboring towns.
+
+     "There is no distinction in citizenship as has been determined by
+     the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United
+     States. The citizens of Pennsylvania have decided on a revision
+     of the constitution of the commonwealth. The power of revision is
+     to be delegated by the citizens of the commonwealth to a
+     convention. The foundation of free government is based on the
+     consent of the governed. Therefore, the Citizens' Suffrage
+     Association of Pennsylvania appeals to the sense of right and
+     justice in the hearts of the citizens of this State, to aid in
+     securing to every citizen, irrespective of sex, an equal voice in
+     the selection of delegates, and an equal right, if elected
+     thereto, to a seat in said constitutional convention."
+
+                                   WM. MORRIS DAVIS, _Controller_.
+
+Mr. Robert Purvis, at the request of the Citizens' Suffrage
+Association of Philadelphia, waited upon Mrs. President Hayes and
+presented to her an address adopted by that society. Mr. Purvis
+wrote:
+
+     I have just returned from a very satisfactory and delightful
+     interview with Mrs. Hayes. She received me most cordially. I read
+     to her the eloquent address from the Citizens' Suffrage
+     Association. She listened with marked attention, was grateful for
+     the high favor conferred upon her, and sent her best wishes for
+     the success of the cause. I made reference to the fact that the
+     address bore the honored name of Lucretia Mott, which she
+     received with a ready acknowledgment of her great worth and
+     usefulness, and her distinguished place as a reformer and
+     philanthropist.
+
+Through the liberality of Edward M. Davis, this society was able to
+publish and circulate an immense number of tracts covering all
+phases of the question. He has been one of the few abolitionists
+who have thrown into this movement all the old-time fervor
+manifested in the slavery conflict. A worthy son of the sainted
+Lucretia Mott, her mantle seems to have fallen on his shoulders.
+
+The Hon. John M. Broomall was ever ready to champion the cause of
+equality of rights for women, not only in the legislature and in
+the constitutional conventions of his own State, but on the floor
+of congress as well. In a letter giving us valuable information on
+several points, he says:
+
+     You ask when I made my first declaration for woman suffrage. I
+     cannot tell. I was born in 1816, and one of the earliest settled
+     convictions I formed as a man was that no person should be
+     discriminated against on account of sect, sex, race or color, but
+     that all should have an equal chance in the race which the Divine
+     Ruler has set before all; and I never missed an opportunity to
+     give utterance to this conviction in conversation, on the stump,
+     on the platform and in legislative bodies. My views were set out
+     concisely in my remarks in congress, on January 30, 1869, and I
+     cite the commencement and conclusion, as I find them in _The
+     Globe_ of that date:
+
+          Every person owing allegiance to the government and not
+          under the legal control of another, should have an equal
+          voice in making and administering the laws, unless debarred
+          for violating those laws; and in this I make no distinction
+          of wealth, intelligence, race, family or sex. If just
+          government is founded upon the consent of the governed, and
+          if the established mode of consent is through the
+          ballot-box, then those who are denied the right of suffrage
+          can in no sense be held as consenting, and the government
+          which withholds that right is as to those from whom it is
+          withheld no just government. * * * * The measure now before
+          the House is necessary to the complete fulfillment of what
+          has gone before it. To hesitate now is to put in peril all
+          we have gained. Let this, too, pass into history as an
+          accomplished fact. Let it be followed, in due course of
+          time, by the last crowning act of the series--an amendment
+          to the constitution securing to all citizens of full age,
+          without regard to sex, an equal voice in making and amending
+          the laws under which they live, to be forfeited only for
+          crime. Then the great mission of the party in power will be
+          fulfilled; then will have been demonstrated the capacity of
+          man for self-government; then a just nation, founded upon
+          the full and free consent of its citizens will be no longer
+          a dream of the optimist.
+
+Mrs. Virginia Barnhurst writes:
+
+     I think you should make mention of the few men who, against the
+     greatest opposition, stood boldly up and avowed themselves in
+     favor of woman's cause. When I think of some of the speeches that
+     I heard from the opposite side--expressions which sent the hot
+     blood to my face, and which showed the low estimate law-makers
+     put upon woman, those few men who dared to defend mothers and
+     sisters, stand out in my mind as worthy of having their names go
+     down in history--and especially in a history written by women. I
+     had a good talk with Lawyer Campbell. He is one of the most
+     ardent in the cause; he believes the ballot to be a necessity to
+     woman, as a means of self-protection, this necessity being seen
+     in the unequal operation of many laws relating to the
+     guardianship of children and the ownership of property. Caleb
+     White's words have in them the just consciousness of their own
+     immortality: "I want my vote to be recorded; not to be judged of
+     here, but to be judged of by coming generations, who, at least,
+     will give to woman the rights which God intended she should
+     have."
+
+
+[Illustration: Rachel G. Foster]
+
+
+The constitutional convention to which reference has been so
+frequently made in this chapter, assembled November 12, 1872, and
+as early as the 22d, resolutions relative to women holding
+school-offices and to the property-rights of women were presented.
+Numberless petitions for these and full suffrage for women were
+sent in during the entire sitting of the convention. February 3,
+1873, John H. Campbell presented the minority report of the
+Committee on Suffrage and Elections:
+
+     The undersigned, members of the Committee on Suffrage, Election
+     and Representation, dissent from that part of the majority report
+     of said committee, which limits the right of suffrage to male
+     electors. We recommend that the question, "Shall woman exercise
+     the right of suffrage," be submitted by the convention to the
+     qualified electors of this commonwealth, and also upon the same
+     day therewith, to those women of the commonwealth who upon the
+     day of voting shall be of the age of twenty-one years and
+     upwards, and have been residents of the State one year, and in
+     the district where they offered to vote at least sixty days prior
+     thereto; and that if the majority of all the votes cast at said
+     election should be in the affirmative, then the word "male" as a
+     qualification for an elector, contained in section ----, article
+     ---- on suffrage and election shall be stricken out, and women in
+     this State shall thereafter exercise the right of suffrage,
+     subject only to the restrictions placed upon the male voters.
+
+                                             JOHN H. CAMPBELL,
+                                             LEWIS C. CASSIDY,
+                                             LEVI ROOKE.
+
+The amendment for full suffrage was lost by a vote of 75 to 25,
+with 33 absent, while the amendment making women eligible for
+school offices was carried by a vote of 60 to 32.[268] The debate
+by those in favor of the amendment was so ably and eloquently
+conducted that we would gladly reproduce it, had not all the
+salient points been so often and so exhaustively presented on the
+floor of congress, and by some of the members from Pennsylvania.
+
+After the passage of the school law of 1873, it was immediately
+tested all over the State, rousing opposition and conflict
+everywhere, but the struggle resulted favorably to women, who now
+hold many offices to which they were once ineligible. At the first
+election of school directors in Philadelphia the nomination of two
+women was hotly contested. The _Evening Telegraph_ of February 6,
+1874, gives the following:
+
+     There is progressing in the Thirteenth ward a contest which
+     involves so peculiar and important an issue as to merit the
+     widest publicity. It illustrates how the rights guaranteed to
+     women under the new constitution are to be denied them, if
+     cunning and bold chicanery are to be tolerated, by a few ward
+     politicians. At the Republican primary election, held January 20,
+     Mrs. Harriet W. Paist and Mrs. George W. Woelpper were duly
+     nominated as candidates for members of the board of school
+     directors of the ward. Both of these ladies received their
+     certificates, that given to Mrs. Paist reading as follows:
+
+     This is to certify that at a meeting of the judges of the
+     different divisions of the Thirteenth ward, held in accordance
+     with the rules of the Republican party, on the evening of January
+     20, 1874, Mrs. Harriet W. Paist was found to be elected as
+     candidate upon the Republican ticket from the Thirteenth ward,
+     for school director.
+
+                                    CHARLES M. CARPENTER, _President_.
+
+     JAMES M. STEWART, } _Clerks_.
+     DAVID J. SMITH,   }
+
+
+     No sooner was it ascertained that the ladies had actually become
+     candidates on the Republican ticket than a movement was
+     inaugurated to oust them, the old war tocsin of "Anything to beat
+     Grant" being for this purpose amended thus: "Anything to beat the
+     women." This antagonism to the fair candidates was based entirely
+     upon the supposition that their names would so materially weaken
+     the ticket as to place the election of the Republican common
+     councilman, Henry C. Dunlap, in the greatest jeopardy. To save
+     him, therefore, the managers of the movement must sacrifice
+     Mesdames Woelpper and Paist. How was this to be accomplished?
+     Each was fortified in her position by a genuine certificate of
+     election, and had, furthermore, expressed her determination to
+     run. What could not be done fairly must be accomplished by
+     strategy. Mr. Ezra Lukens called upon Mrs. Paist, stating that if
+     she did not withdraw the Republicans who were opposed to the lady
+     candidates would unite with the "other party" and defeat the
+     Republican ward ticket. Mrs. Paist inquired if she had not been
+     regularly nominated, and his reply was that she had been, but
+     that her opponents in the party would unite with the "other
+     party" and defeat her. Mrs. Paist was firm, and Mr. Lukens
+     retired foiled. A day or two after, the chairman of the
+     Thirteenth ward Republican executive committee received somehow
+     this letter:
+
+
+                                   PHILADELPHIA, February 2, 1874.
+
+     DEAR SIR: Please accept this as my declination as school director
+     on the Thirteenth ward Republican ticket. Hoping it will please
+     those opposed to a lady director.
+
+                         Respectfully yours,         HARRIET W. PAIST.
+
+
+     A week previous to this the husband of Mrs. Woelpper was called
+     upon by Mr. William B. Elliott, a member of this executive
+     committee, and was informed by him that Mrs. Paist had withdrawn,
+     and that it would be unpleasant, if not inexpedient, for Mrs.
+     Woelpper to run alone. Mr. Woelpper expressed his belief that if
+     such were the case his wife would withdraw. At a meeting of the
+     executive committee a short time after, it was announced that
+     both the ladies had withdrawn, and everything looked serene for
+     victory, when the next day the members were individually informed
+     that the letter of declination written above was a base forgery,
+     and that neither of the ladies intended to withdraw from the
+     contest. Another meeting of the executive committee was held on
+     the 2d inst., at which Mr. Woelpper, jr., was present. He
+     declared that the statement made to his father was false, and
+     that he was present to say for his mother that she was still a
+     candidate. This announcement fell like a bomb in a peaceful camp,
+     causing great confusion. After order was restored, William B.
+     Elliott, the collector, offered a resolution declaring it
+     inexpedient to have any ladies on the ticket at this time. This
+     resolution was opposed by F. Theodore Walton and a number of the
+     members, who denied the power of the committee to change the
+     ticket regularly chosen at the primary election. They favored the
+     fair candidates, for whose election as school directors the
+     constitution had made special provisions, and whose presence in
+     the school-boards had been very favorably commented upon by all
+     the papers of the city. Besides, the ladies were as legitimately
+     entitled to their candidacy as Mr. Dunlap, and it would be a
+     gross and unparalelled outrage to sacrifice them from mere
+     prejudice, or in the belief that their presence would injure the
+     chances of Mr. Dunlap. Then arose Collector Elliott, his face
+     fairly glowing with honest indignation, and his voice sharp and
+     stinging in his tirade against the newspapers. What did he care
+     what the newspapers said? What are the newspapers but sheets sold
+     out to the highest bidder? The newspapers, he cried, are all in
+     the market, to be bought and sold the same as coal! That was
+     their business, and they didn't want stability so long as there
+     was cash to be got. Then he came down upon them in a perfect
+     whirlwind of wrath for daring to favor the women candidates for
+     school directors of the Thirteenth ward, and sat down as though
+     he had accomplished a noble purpose.
+
+     The question on the resolution was pressed, and resulted in its
+     adoption by a vote of 20 to 12.[269] A resolution was offered by
+     David T. Smith that Mrs. Paist and Mrs. Woelpper be thrown off
+     the ticket, and this resolution was carried by the same vote as
+     the preceding one. The meeting then adjourned. In consequence of
+     this action Mrs. Paist addressed to the citizens of the
+     Thirteenth ward the following card, in which she declares that
+     she does not intend to resign:
+
+     _To the Citizens of the Thirteenth Ward.:_
+
+     Unpleasant though it may be to thus appear before the public, I
+     feel that I must, in justice to myself, expose the fraud and
+     deception that have been practiced to defeat my election on the
+     17th of February next. I received the nomination and certificate
+     of election signed by James M. Stewart, David T. Smith, clerks,
+     and Charles M. Carpenter, president. Certainly they would not be
+     guilty of deceiving, for are they not "all honorable men"? John
+     B. Green, George M. Taylor and A. W. Lyman then (Ezra Lukens
+     having been on a similar fruitless mission) called on the eve of
+     January 30, 1874, wishing me to withdraw; stating that Mrs.
+     Woelpper had done so (which was false), and they thought it would
+     not be pleasant for me to serve. They also placed it on the
+     ground of expediency, fearing that their candidate for council
+     (Mr. Dunlap) was so weak that a woman on the ticket might
+     jeopardize the election. I knew not before that woman held the
+     balance of power. After sending their emissaries under the false
+     garb of friendship to induce me to decline, without success, they
+     were reduced to the desperate means of producing a letter, which
+     was read by the secretary of the executive meeting, February 2,
+     purporting to come from me, and withdrawing my name. I pronounce
+     it publicly to be a forgery. I have not withdrawn, neither do I
+     intend to withdraw. Would that I had the power of Brutus or a
+     Patrick Henry, that I might put these designing, intriguing
+     politicians in their true light! They deserve to be held up to
+     the contumely and scorn of the community.
+
+     _February 3, 1874._                        HARRIET W. PAIST.
+
+     Despite the action of the committee, these talented ladies will
+     be run as the regular candidates for school directors. A
+     committee of citizens of the Republican party will prepare the
+     tickets and see that they are properly distributed, and take all
+     precautions against fraud at the election and against any effort
+     that may be made to count out the fair candidates at the meeting
+     of the ward return judges. It is of the greatest importance that
+     all good citizens of the ward shall do all in their power to
+     secure not only the fullest possible number of votes for the lady
+     candidates, but a fair count when they have been received. It
+     remains to be seen whether the Republican citizens of the ward
+     will endorse the action of a committee which from mere prejudice
+     can throw off regularly-elected candidates from a ticket.
+
+The ladies were elected, and Mrs. Paist served her term. Mrs.
+Woelpper died immediately after the election.
+
+Anna McDowell, in the _Sunday Republic_ of April 8, 1877, in a long
+article shows the necessity of some legal knowledge for women,
+enough at least to look after their own interests, and not be
+compelled through their ignorance to trust absolutely to the
+protection of others. They should be trained to understand that all
+pecuniary affairs should be placed on a business basis as strictly
+between themselves and their fathers and brothers as men require in
+their contracts with each other. After giving many instances in
+which women have been grossly defrauded by their relatives, she
+points to the will of the great railroad king of Pennsylvania:
+
+     Let us glance for a moment at the will of the late J. Edgar
+     Thomson, than which no more unjust testament was ever offered for
+     probate. This gentleman, the sole object of affection of two most
+     worthy and self-sacrificing sisters, married late in life without
+     making any adequate settlement upon the relatives to whom, in a
+     great measure, he owed his success. He always promised to provide
+     for them amply, saying, repeatedly, in effect, in letters which
+     we have seen, "As my fortune advances so also shall yours; my
+     prosperity will be your prosperity," etc. Oblivious to the ties
+     of nature and affection, however, when he came to make his will
+     he, out of a fortune of two millions, bequeathed to these
+     sisters, during life, an annuity of $1,200 per annum only,
+     leaving the rest of the income of his estate to his wife and her
+     niece, the latter a young lady whom he had previously made
+     independent by his skilful investment of a few thousand dollars
+     left her by her father. Not content with the will which gave her
+     also a large income for life out of Mr. Thomson's estate, this
+     niece of his wife brought suit against the executors to recover
+     bonds found after the death of the testator in an envelope on
+     which her name was written, and through the ruling of Judge
+     Thayer, a relation by marriage to the husband of the lady, the
+     case was decided in her favor, and $100,000 was thus absolutely
+     and permanently taken from the fund designed for the asylum which
+     it was Mr. Thomson's long-cherished desire to found for the
+     benefit and education of orphan girls whose fathers had been or
+     might be killed by accident on the Pennsylvania and other
+     railroads. The injustice of this decision is made manifest when
+     we reflect that the Misses Anna and Adeline Thomson, who worked
+     side by side with their brother as civil engineers in their
+     father's office, and labored, without pay, therein, that he might
+     be educated and sent abroad further to perfect himself in his
+     profession, were cut off with a comparatively paltry stipend for
+     life, this being still further reduced by the
+     collateral-inheritance tax. As high an authority as Dr. William
+     A. Hammond says that, "for a man to cut off his natural heirs in
+     his will is _prima facie_ evidence of abberation of mind," and we
+     believe this to be true.
+
+Had these sisters[270] been brothers they would have been
+recognized as partners and had their legal proportion of the
+accumulations of the business in which they labored in early years
+with equal faithfulness, side by side. This is but another instance
+of women's blind faith in the men of their families and of the
+danger in allowing business matters to adjust themselves on the
+basis of honor, courtesy and protection.
+
+Among the literary women of the State are Sarah C. Hallowell, on
+the editorial staff of the _Public Ledger_; the daughters of John
+W. Forney, for many years in charge of the woman's department of
+_Forney's Progress_; Anne McDowell, editor of the woman's
+department in _The Sunday Republic_; Mrs. E. A. Wade; "Bessie
+Bramble" of Pittsburg has for many years ably edited a woman's
+department in the _Sunday Leader_; Matilda Hindman, an excellent
+column in the _Pittsburg Commercial Gazette_. In science Grace Anna
+Lewis stands foremost. Her paper read before the Woman's Congress
+in Philadelphia in 1876, attracted much attention. These ladies
+with others organized "The Century Club"[271] in 1876, for
+preeminently practical and benevolent work. Its objects are
+various: looking after working girls, sending children into the
+country for fresh air during summer, and improving the houses of
+the poor and needy. The Club has a large house to which is attached
+a cooking-school and lodgings for unfortunates in great
+emergencies.
+
+Woman's ambition was not confined at this period to literature and
+the learned professions; she found herself capable of practical
+work on a large scale in the department of agriculture. The
+_Philadelphia Press_ has the following:
+
+     The beautiful farm of Abel C. Thomas, at Tacony, near
+     Philadelphia, is remarkable chiefly because it is managed by a
+     woman, Mrs. Louise H. Thomas. Her husband, the intimate friend of
+     Horace Greeley, and well known as an author and theologian, in
+     time past, has long been too feeble to take any part in managing
+     the property. That duty has devolved upon Mrs. Thomas. The house,
+     two hundred yards from the Pennsylvania railroad, is hidden from
+     view by the trees which surround it. The grounds are tastefully
+     laid out, and the lawn mowed with a regularity that indicates
+     constant feminine attention. The plot is 20 acres in extent. Six
+     acres comprise the orchard and garden. In addition to apple,
+     apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry, there are specimens of all
+     kinds of trees, from pine to poplar.
+
+     A _Press_ reporter recently walked over the premises, and Mrs.
+     Thomas explained her manner of doing business. "I look after
+     everything about the farm; take my little sample bags of wheat to
+     the mills, and sell the crop by it; and twice I got ten cents
+     more a bushel than any of my neighbors. But the things I take
+     most interest in are my cows, chickens and bees. My cattle are
+     from Jersey island, and pure Alderney. They are very gentle and
+     good milkers. From four of them I get about 800 pounds of butter
+     a year. The price of this butter varies from 50 cents to $1.00
+     per pound. There's my dog. When it's milking time, the hired man
+     says to the dog, 'Shep, go after the cows,' and away he goes, and
+     in a little while the herd come tinkling up. Why send a man to do
+     a boy's work, or a boy to do that which a shepherd dog can do
+     just as well? The cows understand him, and readily come when they
+     are sent after. Well, so much for the milk department. Now, as to
+     the garden; I don't sell much from that. Still, if the vegetables
+     were not grown, they would have to be bought, and I take all that
+     into consideration in closing accounts. And that's one thing most
+     farmers don't do; they don't put on the cash side of the ledger
+     the cost of their living, for which they have been to no expense.
+     Now, as to the bees. The first cost is about the only expense
+     attached to these little workers. I have twenty-five colonies,
+     and can, and do handle them with as much safety as if they were
+     so much dry wheat. I sell about $100 worth of honey yearly, and
+     consume half as much at home. The bees are not troublesome when
+     you know how to handle them, but they require to be delicately
+     handled at swarming time.
+
+     "Now, as to chickens. My stock consists exclusively of the light
+     Brahma breed. They come early, grow fast, sell readily, are
+     tender, and have no disposition to forage; they are not all the
+     time wandering round and flying over the garden fence, and
+     scratching up flower and vegetable seeds. In fact, if you'll
+     notice, there is a docility about my live-stock that is very
+     attractive. The cows and chickens only need articulation to carry
+     on conversation. You didn't see the hatching department of my
+     chicken-house? I modeled the building after one used by a Madame
+     de Linas, a French lady living near Paris, and am much pleased
+     with it. I sometimes raise 1,000 chickens a season. I sell them
+     at prices all the way up from $1 to $3 apiece. You must remember
+     that they are full-blooded, and I always have my stock
+     replenished. I keep the best and sell for the highest prices.
+     They are generally sold to private families, who wish to get the
+     stock, and I always sell them alive. They are not much trouble to
+     raise, provided you know how, and have the accommodations for
+     doing it. I feed them corn, milk, meal and water, and pay
+     particular attention to their being properly housed. The eggs of
+     this breed are very rich, and I charge one dollar and a half for
+     a setting--that is, thirteen eggs.
+
+     "I have some three or four acres of wheat growing and it is
+     heading out finely. Oh!" said Mrs. Thomas, becoming more
+     enthusiastic, as she reviewed the incomes from the cereals, cows,
+     and chickens, "I am making money, and money is a standard of
+     success, although there is to me a greater pleasure than the mere
+     financial part of the business, which comes from the passion I
+     have for the life. I wish, indeed, that young ladies would turn
+     their attention to this matter. To me, it seems to open to them
+     an avenue for acquiring a competency in an independent way; and
+     to one who would pursue it earnestly, I know of no avocation
+     scarcely worth being classed with it."
+
+     "And you are not lonesome out here?"
+
+     "Oh! no. I never was lonesome an hour in my life--don't have
+     time; I have a great deal of work to do, and am always ready to
+     do it. Indeed, the only people I pity are those who do not work,
+     or find no interest in it. No, no; I have plenty of visitors, and
+     last week Jennie June, Lucretia Mott, and Anna Dickinson paid me
+     a visit and were very much pleased while here. I have two
+     grown-up boys, one in New York and the other in California; and
+     have reared thirteen children besides my own family--colored,
+     French, Italian, and I know not what nationalities."
+
+     Mrs. Thomas, who is certainly a remarkable woman, is a thoroughly
+     educated one; has traveled extensively both in Europe and this
+     country. Herself and husband have been intimate acquaintances of
+     many eminent men, among whom were President Lincoln and Secretary
+     Stanton. The activity displayed in managing the estate indicates
+     the possession of marked executive ability, and the exercise she
+     thus receives has doubtless had its share in keeping her young,
+     well-preserved, and good-natured.
+
+When the Rev. Knox Little visited this country in 1880, thinking
+the women of America specially needed his ministrations, he
+preached a sermon that called out the general ridicule of our
+literary women. In the Sunday _Republic_ of December 12, Anne E.
+M'Dowell said:
+
+     The reverend gentlemen of St. Clement's Church, of this city,
+     with their frequent English visiting clergymen, are not only
+     trying their best to carry Christianity back into the dark ages,
+     by reinvesting it with all old-time traditions and mummeries, but
+     they are striving anew to forge chains for the minds,
+     consciences, and bodies of women whom the spirit of Christian
+     progress has, in a measure, made free in this country. The sermon
+     of the Rev. Knox Little, rector of St. Alban's Church,
+     Manchester, England, recently delivered at St. Clement's in this
+     city, and reported in the daily _Times_, is just such an one as
+     might be looked for from the class of thinkers whom he on that
+     occasion represented. These ritualistic brethren are bitterly
+     opposed to divorce, and hold the belief that so many Britons
+     adhere to on their native soil, viz., that "woman is an inferior
+     animal, created only for man's use and pleasure, and designed by
+     Providence to be in absolute submission to her lord and master."
+     The feeling engendered by this belief breeds contempt for and
+     indifference to the nobler aspirations of women amongst men of
+     the higher ranks, while it crops out in tyranny in the middle,
+     and brutality in the lower classes of society. Even the gentry
+     and nobility of Great Britain are not all exempt from brutal
+     manifestations of power toward their wives. We once sheltered in
+     our own house for weeks the wife of an English Earl who had been
+     forced to leave her home and family through the brutality of her
+     high-born husband--brutality from which the law could not or
+     would not protect her. She died at our house, and when she was
+     robed for her last rest much care had to be taken to arrange the
+     dress and hair so that the scars of wounds inflicted on the
+     throat, neck and cheek by her cruel husband might not be too
+     apparent.
+
+     The reports of English police courts are full of disclosures of
+     ill-treatment of women by their husbands, and year by year our
+     own courts are more densely thronged by women asking safety from
+     the brutality of men who at the altar have vowed to "love, honor
+     and protect" them. In nearly all these cases, the men who are
+     brought into our courts on the charge of maltreating women are of
+     foreign birth who have been born and brought up under the
+     spiritual guidance of such clergymen as the Rev. Knox-Little, who
+     tell them, as he told the audience of women to whom he preached
+     in this city: "To her husband a wife owes the duty of unqualified
+     obedience. There is _no crime that a man can commit which
+     justifies his wife in leaving him_ or applying for that monstrous
+     thing, a divorce. It is her duty to submit herself to him
+     _always_, and no crime he can commit justifies her lack of
+     obedience. If he is a bad or wicked man she may gently
+     remonstrate with him, but disobey him, never." Again, addressing
+     his audience at St. Clement's, he says: "You may marry a bad man,
+     but what of that? You had no right to marry a bad man. If you
+     knew it, you deserved it. If you did not know it, you must endure
+     it all the same. You can pray for him, and perhaps he will
+     reform; but leave him--never. Never think of that accursed
+     thing--divorce. Divorce breaks up families--families build up the
+     church. The Christian woman lives to build up the church." This
+     is the sort of sermonizing, reiterated from year to year, that
+     makes brutes of Englishmen, of all classes, and sinks the average
+     English woman to the condition of a child-bearing slave,
+     valuable, mostly, for the number of children she brings her
+     husband. She is permitted to hold no opinion unaccepted by her
+     master, denied all reason and forced to frequent churches where
+     she is forbidden the exercise of her common-sense, and where she
+     is told: "Men are logical; women lack this quality, but have an
+     intricacy of thought. There are those who think that women can be
+     taught logic; this is a mistake. They can never, by any process
+     of education, arrive at the same mental status as that enjoyed by
+     man; but they have a quickness of apprehension--what is usually
+     called leaping at conclusions--that is astonishing."
+
+Divorce is a question over which woman now disputes man's absolute
+control. His canon and civil laws alike have made marriage for
+her a condition of slavery, from which she is now seeking
+emancipation; and just in proportion as women become independent and
+self-supporting, they will sunder the ties that bind them in
+degrading relations.
+
+In September, 1880, Governor Hoyt was petitioned to appoint a woman
+as member of the State Board of Commissioners of Public Charities.
+The special business of this commission is to examine into the
+condition of all charitable, reformatory and correctional
+institutions within the State, to have a general oversight of the
+methods of instruction, the well-being and comfort of the inmates,
+with a supervision of all those in authority in such institutions.
+Dr. Susan Smith of West Philadelphia, from the year of the cruel
+imprisonment of the unfortunate Hester Vaughan, regularly for
+twelve years poured petitions into both houses of the legislature,
+numerously signed by prominent philanthropists, setting forth the
+necessity of women as inspectors in the female wards of the jails
+of the State, and backing them by an array of appalling facts, and
+yet the legislature, from year to year, turned a deaf ear to her
+appeals. Happily for the unfortunate wards of the State, the law
+passed in 1881.
+
+     STATE HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, NORRISTOWN, Pa., Sept. 28, 1885.
+
+     MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I have referred your letter to my old
+     friend, Dr. Hiram Corson, of Plymouth, Pa., who can, if he will,
+     give a much better history of the movement in this State, than
+     any one else, being one of the pioneers. I hope that you will
+     hear from him. If, however, he returns your letter to me, I will
+     give you the few facts that I know. I should be glad to have you
+     visit our hospital and see our work.
+
+                         Very respectfully yours,      ALICE BENNETT.
+
+
+                              PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Oct. 2, 1885.
+
+     MISS SUSAN B. ANTHONY: _Esteemed Friend_:--Dr. Alice Bennett has
+     referred your letter with questions to me. Alice Bennett, M. D.,
+     Ph. D., is chief physician of the female department of the
+     eastern hospital of Pennsylvania, for the insane. She is also
+     member of the Montgomery County Medical Society, and member of
+     the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania. She is the only
+     woman in the civilized world, of whom I have ever heard, who has
+     entire charge of the female patients in an institution for the
+     care and treatment of the insane. We have in the Harrisburg
+     hospital, Dr. Jane Garver, as physician for the female insane,
+     but she is subordinate to the male physician. She has a female
+     physician to assist her. Dr. Bennett was appointed and took
+     charge in July, 1880, with Dr. Anna Kingler as her assistant. Dr.
+     Kingler resigned, and went to India as medical missionary; was
+     succeeded by Dr. Rebecca S. Hunt, who, after more than a year's
+     service, also resigned to go to India as medical missionary. Dr.
+     Bennett has now two women physicians to assist her in the care of
+     more than six hundred patients, nearly as many as, if not more
+     than, are in the female departments of the Harrisburg, Danville,
+     and Warren hospitals all combined.
+
+     Dr. Bennett's hospital is a model one. There is a total absence
+     of physical restraint, as used formerly under male
+     superintendents, and, I may say, as still used in other hospitals
+     than that of Norristown. Her skill in providing amusement,
+     instruction and employment of various kinds, for the comfort and
+     restoration of her patients to sanity and physical health, I feel
+     sure has never been equaled in any hospital for the treatment of
+     insane women. It is exceedingly interesting to see the school
+     which she has established, and in which a large number of the
+     insane are daily instructed, amused and interested. It is well
+     known, now, that when the mind of the insane can be drawn away
+     from their delusions by employment, or whatever else may interest
+     them and absorb their attention, they are on the road to health.
+     The public are not yet fully awake to the great reform effected
+     in having women physicians for the women insane. Insane women
+     have been treated as though there were no diseases peculiar to
+     the sex. Never, so far as I have been able to learn, have they
+     been treated by the means used for the relief of women in their
+     homes. An eminent surgeon of Philadelphia informed me a few days
+     since, that thirty years ago he was an assistant to Dr.
+     Kirkbride, and desired to treat a patient for uterine troubles,
+     but was rebuked by Dr. K., and told never to attempt to use the
+     appliances relied on in private practice. My informant added that
+     he believed not a single insane woman had ever received special
+     treatment for affections in any of the hospitals under the care
+     of male physicians. While we realize that great advantages would
+     have come to these poor unfortunates by proper treatment, we feel
+     that no male physician having due regard for his own reputation,
+     should attempt to treat an insane woman for uterine diseases by
+     means used in private practice, or even in hospitals with sane
+     women. And this shows the importance of women physicians for
+     women insane. One of the most intellectual and prominent women of
+     this State was, 30 years ago, on account of domestic application,
+     an inmate of our then champion hospital for the insane, for
+     several months, during all of which time her sufferings were, to
+     use her own words, indescribable, and yet she was not once asked
+     in relation to her physical condition. Let us turn aside from
+     this, and glance at the last annual report of Dr. Alice Bennett.
+     She reports 180 patients examined for uterine diseases; 125 were
+     placed under treatment; 67 treated for a length of time; 60
+     benefited by treatment. While Dr. Bennett does not say that their
+     insanity was caused by the uterine disease, or that they were
+     cured by curing that affection, she observes that in some cases
+     the relief of the mind kept pace with the progress of cure of
+     the uterine affections. I have, perhaps, written more than was
+     needed on this subject, but I am so anxious that we shall have
+     women doctors in every hospital for the treatment of insane
+     women, and know, too, what influence yourself and good Mrs.
+     Stanton can exert by turning your attention to it, which I am
+     sure you will as you become informed in relation to the facts,
+     that I could not stop short of what I have said. I have prepared
+     a full account of our struggles with the State Society during six
+     years to obtain for women doctors their proper recognition by the
+     profession, and also the obstacles and opposition we encountered
+     in our attempt to procure the law empowering boards of trustees
+     to appoint women to hospitals for the insane of their sex. It
+     will give me pleasure to send them to you if they would be of any
+     use to you.
+
+                         Respectfully,               HIRAM CORSON.
+
+     As I am within a week of my 82d birthday, and am writing while my
+     heart is beating one hundred and sixty times per minute, you must
+     not criticise me too sharply.
+
+                                                                 H. C.
+
+January 24, 1882, Miss Rachel Foster made all the arrangements for
+a national convention, to be held in St. George's Hall,
+Philadelphia.[272] She also inaugurated a course of lectures, of
+which she took the entire financial responsibility, in the popular
+hall of the Young Men's Christian Association. Ex-Governor Hoyt of
+Wyoming, in his lecture, gave the good results of thirteen years'
+experience of woman's voting in that Territory. Miss Foster
+employed a stenographer to report the address, had 20,000 copies
+printed, and circulated them in the Nebraska campaign during the
+following summer.
+
+At its next session (1883) the legislature passed a resolution
+recommending congress to submit a sixteenth amendment, securing to
+women the right to vote:
+
+     HARRISBURG, Pa., March 21, 1883.--In the House, Mr. Morrison of
+     Alleghany offered a resolution urging congress to amend the
+     national constitution so that the right of suffrage should not be
+     denied to citizens of any State on account of sex. It was adopted
+     by 78 ayes[273] to 76 noes, the result being greeted with both
+     applause and hisses.
+
+The Philadelphia _Evening Bulletin_ of November 8, 1882, mentions
+an attempt to open the University of Pennsylvania to women:
+
+     The trustees held several meetings to consider the applications.
+     Beside Miss Craddock's, there were two others which the faculty
+     referred to the trustees, and which appear not to have been
+     reached in the regular course of business. Miss Florence Kelley,
+     a post-graduate from Cornell University, daughter of Judge
+     Kelley, who applied for admission as a special student in Greek,
+     and Miss Frances Henrietta Mitchell, a junior student from
+     Cornell, who asked to be admitted in the junior class. Our
+     information comes from these ladies, who were notified that their
+     cases would be presented. The question of coeducation, which has
+     been seriously occupying the minds of the trustees of the
+     University of Pennsylvania, was settled last evening, at least
+     for the present, by the passage of a resolution refusing the
+     admission of girls to the department of arts, but proposing to
+     establish a separate collegiate department for them, whenever the
+     requisite cost, about $300,000, is provided. There has been an
+     intelligent and honest difference among both trustees and
+     professors on this interesting question, and the diversity has
+     been complicated by the various grounds upon which the _pros_ and
+     _cons_ are maintained. There are those who advocate the admission
+     of girls to the University as a proper thing _per se_. Others
+     consent to it, because the University cannot give the desired
+     education separately. Others hold that girls should be admitted
+     because of their equal rights to a university education, although
+     their admission is very undesirable. Others oppose coeducation in
+     the abstract, conceding that girls should be as well educated as
+     boys, but insisting that they must be differently and therefore
+     separately educated. These draw a clear line between "equal" and
+     "similar" education, and hold that no university course of
+     studies can be laid out that will not present much of classical
+     literature and much of the mental, moral and natural sciences,
+     that cannot be studied and recited by boys and girls together,
+     without serious risk of lasting injury to both.
+
+Would it not be better, all things considered, to abjure this kind
+of classical literature, and instead of subjecting our sons to its
+baneful influence, give them the refining, elevating companionship
+of their sisters? If we would preserve the real modesty and purity
+of our daughters, it is quite as important that we should pay some
+attention to the delicacy and morality of the men with whom they
+are to associate.
+
+If a girl cannot read the classics with a young man without
+contamination, how can she live with him in all the intimacies of
+family life without a constant shock to her refined sensibilities?
+So long as society considers that any man of known wealth is a fit
+husband for our daughters, all this talk of the faculties and
+trustees of our colleges about protecting woman's modesty is the
+sheerest nonsense and hypocrisy. It is well to remember that these
+professors and students have mothers, wives and sisters, and if man
+is coarse and brutal, he invariably feels free to show his worst
+passions at his own fireside. To warn women against coeducation is
+to warn them against association with men in any relation
+whatsoever.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[255] See Appendix.
+
+[256] Carrie S. Burnham after long years of preparation and
+persistent effort for admission to the bar of Philadelphia, was
+admitted in 1884. She was thoroughly qualified to enter that
+profession and to practice in the courts of that State, and the
+only reason ever offered for her rejection from time to time was,
+"that she was a woman."
+
+[257] By an oversight this law was not mentioned in Vol. I. in its
+proper place.
+
+[258] George W. Childs married Judge Bovier's grand-daughter.
+
+[259] Transcriber's Note: Footnote text is missing in original.
+
+[260] _University of Pennsylvania_--Joseph Carson, Robert E.
+Rogers, Joseph Leidy, Henry H. Smith, Francis G. Smith, R. A. T.
+Penrose, Alfred Stille, George B. Wood, Samuel Jackson, Hugh L.
+Hodge, R. La Roche, George W. Norris. _Jefferson Medical
+College_--Joseph Pancoast, S. D. Gross, Samuel Henry Dickson,
+Ellerslie Wallace, B. Howard Rand, John B. Biddle, James Aitken
+Meigs. _Pennsylvania Hospital_--J. Forsyth Meigs, James H.
+Hutchinson, J. M. Da Costa, Addinell Hewson, William Hunt, D. Hayes
+Agnew. _Philadelphia Hospital_--R. J. Levis, William H. Pancoast,
+F. F. Maury, Alfred Stille, J. L. Ludlow, Edward Rhodes, D. D.
+Richardson, E. L. Duer, E. Scholfield, R. M. Girvin, John S. Parry,
+William Pepper, James Tyson. _Medical Staff of Episcopal
+Hospital_--John H. Packard., John Ashhurst, jr., Samuel Ashhurst,
+Alfred M. Slocum, Edward A. Smith, William Thomson, William S.
+Forbes. _Wills Hospital for the Blind and Lame_--Thomas George
+Morton, A. D. Hall, Harrison Allen, George C. Harlan, R. J. Levis.
+_St. Joseph's Hospital_--William V. Keating, Alfred Stille, John J.
+Reese, George R. Morehouse, A. C. Bournonville, Edward A. Page,
+John H. Brinton, Walter F. Atlee, C. S. Boker. _St. Mary's
+Hospital_--C. Percy La Roche, J. Cummiskey, A. H. Fish, J.
+H. Grove, W. W. Keen, W. L. Wells, L. S. Bolles. _German
+Hospital_--Albert Fricke, Emil Fischer, Joseph F. Koerper, Julius
+Schrotz, Julius Kamerer, Karl Beeken, Theodore A. Demme,
+_Children's Hospital_--Thomas Hewson Bache, D. Murray Cheston, H.
+Lenox Hodge, F. W. Lewis, Hilborn West. _Charity Hospital_--A. H.
+Fish. L. K. Baldwin, Horace Y. Evans, John M. McGrath, H. St. Clair
+Ash, J. M. Boisnot, N. Hatfield, W. M. Welch, H. Lycurgus Law, H.
+Leaman, J. A. McArthur. _Howard Hospital_--Thomas S. Harper,
+Laurence Turnbull, T. H. Andrews, Horace Williams, Joseph Klapp,
+William B. Atkinson, S. C. Brincklee. _Physicians-at-Large of the
+City of Philadelphia_--E. Ward, George H. Beaumont, William W.
+Lamb, Thomas B. Reed, Charles Schaffer, J. Heritage, W. Stump
+Forwood, W. J. Phelps, Richard Maris, Frank Muhlenberg, George M.
+Ward, James Collins, William F. Norris, Samuel Lewis, Isaac Hays,
+G. Emerson, W. W. Gerhard, Caspar Morris, B. H. Coates, George
+Strawbridge, S. Weir Mitchell, I. Minis Hays, Edward B. Van Dyke,
+J. Sylvester Ramsey, G. W. Bowman, W. H. H. Githens, T. W. Lewis,
+T. M. Finley, S. W. Butler, Robert P. Harris, C. Moehring, George
+L. Bomberger, Philip Leidy, D. F. Willard, James V. Ingham, Edward
+Hartshorne, W. S. W. Ruschenberger, Thomas Stewardson, James
+Darrach, S. L. Hollingworth, William Mayburry, Lewis Rodman, Casper
+Wister, A. Nebinger, Horace Binney Hare, Edward Shippen, S.
+Littell, F. W. Lewis, Robert Bridges, William H. Gloninger, James
+Markoe, Charles Hunter, D. F. Woods, Herbert Norris, Harrison
+Allen, Charles B. Nancrede, W. J. Grier, Edward J. Nolan, Richard
+Thomas, Lewis H. Adler, G. B. Dunmire, John Neill, Wharton Sinkler,
+George Pepper, J. J. Sowerby, Henry C. Eckstein, Eugene P.
+Bernardy, Charles K. Miles, J. Solis Cohen.
+
+[261] C. L. Schlatter, J. Wm. White, Daniel Bray, C. E. Cassady,
+Robert B. Burns, Albert Trenchard, John G. Scott, J. J. Bowen, P.
+Collings, E. Cullen Brayton, joint committee of the University and
+Jefferson Medical Colleges.
+
+[262] As through the influence of Dr. Truman Miss Hirschfeld had
+first been admitted to the college, he felt in a measure
+responsible for the fair treatment of her countrywomen who came to
+the United States to enjoy the same educational advantages. When
+the discussion in regard to expelling the young women was pending,
+Dr. Truman promptly and decidedly told the faculty that if such an
+act of injustice was permitted he should leave the college also.
+Much of Dr. Truman's clearsightedness and determination may be
+traced to the influence of his noble wife and no less noble
+mother-in-law, Mary Ann McClintock, who helped to inaugurate the
+movement in 1848 in Central New York. She lamented in her declining
+years that she was able to do so little. But by way of consolation
+I often suggested that her influence in many directions could never
+be measured; and here is one: Her influence on Dr. Truman opened
+the Dental College to women, and kept it open while Miss Hirschfeld
+acquired her profession. With her success in Germany, in the royal
+family, every child in the palace for generations that escapes a
+toothache will have reason to bless a noble friend, Mary Ann
+McClintock, that she helped to plant the seeds of justice to woman
+in the heart of young James Truman. We must also recognize in Dr.
+Truman's case that he was born and trained in a liberal Quaker
+family, his own father and mother having been disciples of Elias
+Hicks.
+
+[263] PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 10, 1870.--The formal opening of
+Swarthmore College took place this afternoon, when a large number
+of its friends were conveyed thither in a special train on the
+Westchester railroad. The audience assembled in the lecture room,
+where addresses were delivered by Samuel Willets and John D. Hyoks,
+of New York, Edward Parrish, president of the college, Wm. Dorsey,
+and Lucretia Mott. It was stated that the amount spent in land and
+buildings amounted to $205,000 and contributions were solicited for
+$100,000 additional to fully furnish the building, and supply a
+library, philosophical and astronomical apparatus. The building is
+a massive one of five stories, constructed of Pennsylvania
+granite, and appointed throughout, from dormitory, bathroom,
+recitation-hall, to parlor, kitchen and laundry, in the most
+refined and substantial taste. It is 400 feet in length, by 100
+deep, presenting two wings for the dormitories of the male and
+female students respectively, and a central part devoted to parlor,
+library, public hall, etc. Especially interesting in this division
+of the college is a room devoted to Quaker antiquities, comprising
+portraits and writings of the founders of the sect. Among them we
+notice the treaty of William Penn, a picture of the treaty
+assembly, a letter of George Fox, etc. The college opens with 180
+pupils, about equally divided between the sexes, the system of
+instruction being a joint education of boys and girls, though each
+occupy separate wings of the building. The institution was built by
+the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends, but the pupils are
+not confined to members of that persuasion.
+
+[264] The speakers at this convention were Lucretia Mott, Frances
+Dana Gage, Wendell Phillips, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B.
+Anthony, Edward M. Davis, Robert Purvis, Aaron M. Powell. The
+officers of the society were: _President_, Robert Purvis;
+_Vice-presidents_, Lucretia Mott, William Whipper, Dinah
+Mendenhall; _Recording Secretary_, Mary B. Lightfoot;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Frances B. Jackson; _Treasurer_, John K.
+Wildman; _Executive Committee_, William Still, Ellen M. Child,
+Harriet Purvis, Elisha Meaner, Octavius Catts, Sarah S. Hawkins,
+Sarah Pugh, Clementina Johns, Alfred H. Love, Louisa J. Roberts,
+Jay Chapel.
+
+[265] J. K. Wildman, Miss A. Ramborger, Clementina L. John, Ellen
+M. Child, and Passmore Williamson.
+
+[266] _President_, Mary Grew; _Vice-Presidents_, Edward M. Davis,
+Mrs. C. A. Farrington, Mary K. Williamson; _Recording Secretary_,
+Annie Heacock; _Corresponding Secretary_, Eliza Sproat Turner;
+_Treasurer_, Gulielma M. S. P. Jones; _Executive Committee_, John
+K. Wildman, Ellen M. Child, Annie Shoemaker, Charlotte L. Pierce,
+and Dr. Henry T. Child.
+
+[267] Among those who addressed the members of the convention were
+Bishop Matthew Simpson, Rev. Charles G. Ames, Fanny B. Ames, Mary
+Grew, Sarah C. Hallowell, Matilda Hindman, Elizabeth S. Bladen and
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
+
+[268] Among the men who spoke for woman's enfranchisement were John
+M. Broomall, John M. Campbell, Lewis C. Cassidy, Benjamin L.
+Temple, Levi Rooke, George F. Horton, H. W. Palmer, William
+Darlington, Harry White, Frank Mantor, Thomas MacConnell, Henry
+Carter, Thomas E. Cochran. In addition to those who spoke, those
+who voted _yes_ are John E. Addicks, William H. Ainey, William D.
+Baker, Charles O. Bowman, Charles Brodhead, George N. Corson, David
+Craig, Matthew Edwards, J. Gillingham Tell, Thomas Howard, Edward
+C. Knight, George Lear, John S. Mann, H. W. Patterson, T. H. B.
+Patton, Thomas Struthers, John W. F. White.
+
+[269] _Ayes_--William Styles, William McLain, clerks in the water
+department; A. W. Lyman, clerk in the custom-house; M. C. Coppeck,
+clerk in the highway department, who was defeated by one of the
+ladies for school directorship; John B. Green, a member of the
+board of education; John Buckley, clerk in the post-office;
+Theodore Canfield, sergeant of police; John Murray, contractor of
+the highway department; George W. Schrack, an ex-clerk, lately
+resigned from the tax receiver's office; Daniel T. Smith,
+ex-detective; Asher W. Dewees, Oliver Bowler, Mr. Agnew, Ezra
+Lukens, clerk in the United States assistant treasurer's office,
+president of the Republican Invincibles, candidate last year
+against Mr. Jonathan Pugh for commissioner of city property, and a
+candidate for the same office next year; William B. Elliott,
+collector of internal revenue; Charles M. Carpenter, alderman, who
+signed Mrs. Paist's certificate; Jackson Keyser, an employe in the
+navy yard; Alfred Ruhl, clerk in the custom-house; Mr. Jones, and
+Henry C. Dunlap, who is Republican candidate for common
+council--20. _Nays_--James W. Sayre, Joseph B. Ridge, Samuel
+Caldwell, Dr. Charles Hooker, John E. Lane, Lewis Bogy, John
+Mansfield. Daniel Rieff, William Githens, Thomas Evans, George
+Schimpf and F. Theodore Walton--12. So the resolution was carried
+by 20 yeas to 12 nays.
+
+[270] Their modest home at 114 North Eleventh street has long been
+a hospitable retreat for reformers, where many of us identified
+with the suffrage movement have been most courteously entertained.
+Anna and Adeline Thomson after long lives of industry have been,
+too, the steadfast representatives of great principles in religious
+and political freedom, always giving freely of their means to the
+unpopular reforms of their day and generation.--[E. C. S.
+
+[271] The Executive Board of the New Century Club for 1879-1880,
+was: _President_, Mrs. Eliza S. Turner; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs.
+Emily W. Taylor, Mrs. S. C. F. Hallowell; Mrs. Henry C. Townsend,
+Mrs. Aubrey H. Smith; _Corresponding Secretary_, Miss Louise
+Stockton; _Recording Secretary_, Miss Anna C. Bliss; _Treasurer_,
+Mrs. Charlotte L. Pierce; _Directors_, Mrs. Susan I. Lesley, Mrs.
+Henry Cohen, Mrs. Huldah Justice, Miss Emily Sartain, Miss Mary
+Grew, Mrs. S. B. F. Greble, Mrs. M. W. Coggins, Miss Mary A.
+Burnham, Mrs. Ellison L. Perot, Mrs. Thomas Roberts. Others names
+found in its annual report as contributing to the efficiency of the
+club are: Mrs. Fannie B. Ames, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Mrs. Emma J.
+Bartol, Mrs. E. L. Head, Miss Mary C. Coxe, Mrs. Charlotte L.
+Pierce, Madam Emma Seiler, Miss Amanda L. Dods, Miss Lelia
+Patridge, Miss Lily Ray, Miss Ella Cole, Mrs. Susan I. Lesley, Mrs.
+E. C. Mayer, Miss Bennett, Mlle. Frasson. The work of the club has
+its divisions of science, literature, art, music, entertainment,
+cooking, hospitalities, charities, employment for women, legal
+protection for working women, prisons and reformatory institutions.
+
+[272] See Chapter 30 for an account of this Philadelphia
+convention.
+
+[273] The _yeas_ were as follows: Messrs. Ayers, Barnes, Blackford,
+Boyer, Boyle, Brooks, W. C. Brown, I. B. Brown, J. L. Brown,
+Brosius, Burnite, Burchfield, Chadwick, Coburn, E. L. Davis,
+Deveney, Duggan, Eckels, Ellsworth, Emery, Fetters, Gahan, Gardner,
+Gavitt, Gentner, Glenn, Grier, G. W. Hall, F. Hall, A. W. Hayes,
+Hines, Higgins, Hoofnagle, Hulings, Hughes, Jenkins, Klein,
+Kavanaugh, Landis, Lafferty, Merry, B. B. Mitchell, S. N. Mitchell,
+Millor, Molineaux, A. H. Morgan, W. D. Morgan, J. W. Morrison, E.
+Morrison, Myton, McCabe, McClaran, Neill, Neeley, Nelson, Nesbit,
+Nicholson, Parkinson, Powell, Romig, Schwartz, Short, Sinex,
+Slocum, J. Smith, Sneeringer, Snodgrass, Stees, Sterett, Stewart,
+Stubbs, Sweeney, Trant, Vanderslice, Vaughn, Vogdes, Wayne and
+Ziegler--78.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+NEW JERSEY.
+
+     Women Voted in the Early Days--Deprived of the Right by
+     Legislative Enactment in 1807--Women Demand the Restoration of
+     Their Rights in 1868--At the Polls in Vineland and Roseville
+     Park--Lucy Stone Agitates the Question--State Suffrage Society
+     Organized in 1867--Conventions--A Memorial to the
+     Legislature--Mary F. Davis--Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford--Political
+     Science Club--Mrs. Cornelia C. Hussey--Orange Club, 1870--July 4,
+     1874, Mrs. Devereux Blake Gives the Oration--Dr. Elizabeth
+     Blackwell's Letter--The Laws of New Jersey in Regard to Property
+     and Divorce--Constitutional Commission, 1873--Trial of Rev. Isaac
+     M. See--Women Preaching in His Pulpit--The Case Appealed--Mrs.
+     Jones, Jailoress--Legislative Hearings.
+
+
+New Jersey was the only State that, in adopting her first
+constitution, recognized woman's right to suffrage which she had
+exercised during the colonial days, and from time immemorial in the
+mother country. The fact that she was deprived of this right from
+1807 to 1840 by a legislative enactment, while the constitution
+secured it,[274] proves that the power of the legislature, composed
+of representatives from the people, was considered at that early
+day to be above the State constitution. If, then, the legislature
+could abridge the suffrage, it must have the power to extend it,
+and all the women of this State should demand is an act of the
+legislature. They need not wait for the slow process of a
+constitutional amendment submitted to the popular vote. In 1868, in
+harmony with a general movement in many other States, the women of
+New Jersey began to demand the restoration of their ancient rights.
+The following is from _The Revolution_ of November 19, 1868,
+written by Elizabeth A. Kingsbury:
+
+                                   VINELAND, N. J., Nov. 5, 1868.
+
+     At a meeting of women, held the week before election, a unanimous
+     vote was taken that we would go to the polls. John Gage, chairman
+     of the Woman Suffrage Association of Vineland, called a meeting,
+     and though the day was an inclement one, there was a good
+     attendance. A number of earnest men as well as women addressed
+     the audience. Among them were Colonel Moss of Missouri, and James
+     M. Scovel of Camden, State senator, who strengthened us by their
+     words of earnest eloquence. At 7:30 A. M., November 3, John and
+     Portia Gage and myself entered Union Hall, where the judges of
+     election had already established themselves for the day. Instead
+     of occupying the center of the platform, they had taken one side
+     of it, apparently for the purpose of leaving us room on the
+     other. We seated ourselves in chairs brought for the occasion,
+     when one gentleman placed a small table for our use. Another
+     inquired if we were comfortable and the room sufficiently warm.
+     "Truly," we thought, "this does not look like a very terrible
+     opposition." As time passed, there came more men and women into
+     the hall. Quite a number of the latter presented their votes
+     first at the table where those of men were received, where they
+     were rejected with politeness, and then taken to the other side
+     of the platform and deposited in our box. Shall I describe this
+     box, twelve inches long and six wide, and originally a grape-box?
+     Very significant of Vineland. Soon there came to the aid of Mrs.
+     Gage and myself a blooming and beautiful young lady, Estelle
+     Thomson, who, with much grace and dignity, sat there throughout
+     the day, recording the names of the voters. It would have done
+     you good to have witnessed the scene. Margaret Pryor,[275] who is
+     better known to you perhaps than to many of your readers, as one
+     whose life has been active in the cause of freedom for the negro
+     and for woman; a charming old lady of eighty-four years, yet with
+     the spirit, elasticity and strength of one of thirty-five, sat
+     there in her nice Quaker bonnet by the side of Miss Thomson a
+     great part of the day. Sarah Pearson, also advanced in years and
+     eminent for her labors of love for the suffering and oppressed
+     everywhere; with her peculiarly delicate organization and placid
+     countenance, remained with us till the last moment. There was no
+     lack of friends and supporters. The platform was crowded with
+     earnest, refined, intellectual women, who felt that it was good
+     for them to be there. One beautiful girl said in my hearing, "I
+     feel so much stronger for having voted." It was pleasant to see
+     husbands and wives enter the hall together, only they had to
+     separate, one turning to the right hand and the other to the
+     left, when no separation should have taken place.
+
+     Some women spent the day in going after their friends and
+     bringing them to the hall. Young ladies, after voting, went to
+     the homes of their acquaintances, and took care of the babies
+     while the mothers came out to vote. Will this fact lessen the
+     alarm of some men for the safety of the babies of enfranchised
+     women on election day? One lady of refinement and aristocratic
+     birth brought her little girl of ten years with her, and I assure
+     you it did the men good as well as us. They said they never had
+     so quiet and pleasant a time at the polls before, though it is
+     always more quiet here than in many other towns, because the sale
+     of ardent spirits is forbidden. John Gage--bless his dear
+     soul--identifies himself completely with this glorious cause, and
+     labors with an earnestness and uniformity of purpose that is
+     truly charming. His team was out all day, bringing women to vote,
+     half-a-dozen at a time, while his personal efforts were
+     unremitting and eminently successful. He and his noble wife,
+     Portia, seem to be, indeed, one in thought and action. Some time
+     ago he sent a pledge to the candidates for office in this State.
+     By signing it, they promise to sustain the cause of woman
+     suffrage by every means in their power. Nixon, candidate for the
+     Senate, signed it last year. House, candidate for the Assembly,
+     signed the pledge at the eleventh hour, and though he lost two of
+     our votes by the delay, yet he, too, is elected. Thus we have, at
+     least, three public men in New Jersey pledged to sustain the
+     woman suffrage cause. We think it is time to say to candidates
+     for office: "You tell us we have a good deal of influence, and
+     ask us to exert it for your election. We will do so, if you will
+     promise to advocate our cause. If you do not, we will oppose your
+     election." The result of the ballots cast by the women of
+     Vineland is this: For president--Grant, 164; Seymour, 4; E. Cady
+     Stanton, 2; Fremont, 1; and Mrs. Governor Harvey of Wisconsin, 1.
+     The president of the Historical Society of Vineland, S. C.
+     Campbell, has petitioned for the ballot-box and list of voters,
+     to put into its archives. He will probably get them.
+
+     A gentleman said to me last week: "What is the use of your doing
+     this? Your votes will count nothing in the election." "It will do
+     good in two ways," I replied. "You say there will not be five
+     women there. We will show you that you are mistaken; that women
+     do want to vote, and it will strengthen them for action in the
+     future." Both these ends have been accomplished; and on November
+     12 we are to meet again, to consider and decide what to do about
+     the taxation that is soon coming upon us.
+
+While the Vineland women expressed their opinion by voting, other
+true friends of woman's enfranchisement were moved to do the same.
+_The Revolution_ of November 12, 1868, gave the following:
+
+     The Newark _Daily Advertiser_ says that Mrs. Hannah Blackwell, a
+     highly esteemed elderly lady, long resident in Roseville, and
+     Mrs. Lucy Stone, her daughter-in-law, both of them
+     property-holders and tax-payers in the county, appeared at the
+     polls in Roseville Park, accompanied by Messrs. Bathgate and
+     Blackwell as witnesses, and offered their votes. The judges of
+     election were divided as to the propriety of receiving the votes
+     of the ladies, one of them stating that he was in favor of doing
+     so, the two others objecting on the ground of their illegality.
+     The ladies stated that they had taken advice of eminent lawyers,
+     and were satisfied that in New Jersey, women were legally
+     entitled to vote, from the fact that the old constitution of the
+     State conferred suffrage upon "all inhabitants" worth $250. Under
+     that constitution women did in fact vote until, in 1807, by an
+     arbitrary act of the legislature, women were excluded from the
+     polls. The new constitution, adopted in 1844, was framed by a
+     convention and adopted by a constituency, from both of which
+     women were unconstitutionally excluded, so that they have never
+     been allowed to vote upon the question of their own
+     disfranchisement. The article in the present constitution on the
+     right of suffrage confers it upon white male citizens, but does
+     not expressly limit it to such. It is claimed that from the
+     absence of any express limitation in the present constitution,
+     and from the compulsory exclusion of the parties interested from
+     its adoption, the political rights of women under the old
+     constitution still remain. Mrs. Stone stated these points to the
+     judges of election with clearness and precision. After
+     consultation, the votes of the ladies were refused. The crowd
+     surrounding the polls gathered about the ballot-box and listened
+     to the discussion with respectful attention; but every one
+     behaved with the politeness which gentlemen always manifest in
+     the presence of ladies.
+
+The women of New Jersey may have been roused to assert their right
+to vote by an earnest appeal of that veteran of equal rights,
+Parker Pillsbury, in _The Revolution_ of March 25, 1868, suggested
+by the following:
+
+     At the recent election in Vineland, New Jersey, a unanimous vote
+     in favor of "no rum" was polled. The Vineland _Weekly_ says:
+     "Among the incidents of the late election was the appearance of a
+     woman at the polls. Having provided herself with a ballot, she
+     marched up to the rostrum and tendered it to the chairman of the
+     board of registry. The veteran politician, John Kandle, covered
+     with blushes, was obliged to inform the lady that no one could
+     vote unless his name was registered. She acquiesced in the
+     decision very readily, saying she only wished to test a
+     principle, and retired very quietly from the hall."
+
+While thus mentioning the women with uncounted votes, it may be
+well to embalm here a historical fact, published in April, 1868:
+
+     In the year 1824 widows were allowed to vote in New Jersey on
+     their husbands' tax receipts. The election officers paid great
+     deference to the widows on these occasions, and took particular
+     care to send carriages after them, so as to get their votes early
+     and make sure of them. The writer of this has often heard his
+     grandmother state that she voted for John Quincy Adams for
+     president of the United States when he was elected to that
+     office. Her name was Sarah Sparks, and she voted at Barnsboro',
+     her husband having died the year previous.
+
+                                   N. M. WALLINGTON, Washington, D. C.
+
+Miss Anthony held a spirited meeting in Rahway on Christmas eve,
+December 24, 1867. The following October, 1868, Mrs. Stanton and
+Miss Anthony attended a two days' convention in Vineland, and
+helped to rouse the enthusiasm of the people. A friend, writing
+from there, gives us the following:
+
+     The Unitarian church in this town is highly favored in having for
+     its pastor a young man of progressive and thoroughly liberal
+     ideas. Rev. Oscar Clute is well known as an earnest advocate in
+     the cause of woman. Last Sunday the communion or Lord's Supper
+     was administered in his church. One of the laymen who usually
+     assists in the distribution of the bread and wine, was absent,
+     and Mr. Clute invited one of the women to officiate in his stead.
+     She did so in such a sweet and hospitable manner that it gave new
+     interest to the occasion. Even those who do not like innovations
+     could not find fault. And why should any one be displeased? The
+     Christ of the sacrament was the emancipator of women. In olden
+     time they had deaconesses, and in most of our churches women
+     constitute a majority of the communicants, so it seems
+     particularly appropriate that they should be served by women.
+     Women vote on all matters connected with this church, they are on
+     all "standing committees," and sometimes are chosen and act as
+     trustees.
+
+Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford sends us the following reports of the
+progress of the movement in this State:
+
+
+     While Lucy Stone resided in New Jersey, she held several series
+     of meetings in the chief towns and cities before the formation of
+     the State Society.[276] The agitation that began in 1867 was
+     probably due to her, more than to any other one person in that
+     State. The State society was organized in the autumn of 1867, and
+     from year to year its annual meetings have been held in Vineland,
+     Newark, Trenton, and other cities. On its list of officers[277]
+     are some of the best men and women in the State. Several
+     distinguished names from other States are among the speakers[278]
+     who have taken part in their conventions. County and local
+     societies too have been extensively organized. These associations
+     have circulated tracts and appeals, memorialized the legislature,
+     and had various hearings before that body. At the annual meeting
+     held in Newark February 15, 1871, the following memorial to the
+     legislature, prepared by Mary F. Davis, was unanimously adopted:
+
+          _To the Honorable the Senate and General Assembly of the
+          State of New Jersey:_
+
+          Section 2, Article 1, of the constitution of the State of
+          New Jersey, expressly declares that "All political power is
+          inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the
+          protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they
+          have the right at all times to alter or reform the same,
+          whenever the public good may require it." Throughout the
+          entire article the words "people" and "person" are used, as
+          if to apply to all the inhabitants of the State. In direct
+          contradiction to this broad and just affirmation, section 1,
+          article 2, begins with the restrictive and unjust sentence:
+          "Every white male citizen of the United States, at the age
+          of twenty-one years * * * shall be entitled to vote," etc.,
+          and the section ends with the specification that "no pauper,
+          idiot, insane person, or person convicted of a crime * * *
+          shall enjoy the right of an elector."
+
+          Of the word "white" in this article your memorialists need
+          not speak, as it is made a dead letter by the limitations of
+          the fifteenth amendment to the United States constitution.
+          To the second restriction, indicated by the word "male" we
+          beg leave to call the attention of the legislature, as we
+          deem it unjust and arbitrary, as well as contradictory to
+          the spirit of the constitution, as expressed in the first
+          article. It is also contrary to the precedent established by
+          the founders of political liberty in New Jersey. On the
+          second of July, 1776, the provincial congress of New Jersey,
+          at Burlington, adopted a constitution which remained in
+          force until 1844; in which section 4 specified as voters,
+          "all the inhabitants of this Colony, of full age," etc. In
+          1790, a committee of the legislature reported a bill
+          regulating elections, in which the words "he and she" are
+          applied to voters, thus giving legislative endorsement to
+          the alleged meaning of the constitution.
+
+          The legislature of 1807 departed from this wise and just
+          precedent, and passed an arbitrary act, in direct violation
+          of the constitutional provision, restricting the suffrage to
+          white male adult citizens, and this despotic ordinance was
+          deliberately endorsed by the framers of the State
+          constitution which was adopted in 1844. This was plainly an
+          act of usurpation and injustice, as thereby a large
+          proportion of the law-abiding citizens of the State were
+          disfranchised, without so much as the privilege of
+          signifying their acceptance or rejection of the barbarous
+          fiat which was to rob them of the sacred right of
+          self-protection by means of a voice in the government, and
+          to reduce them to the political level of the "pauper, idiot,
+          insane person, or person convicted of crime."
+
+          If this flagrant wrong, which was inflicted by one-half the
+          citizens of a free commonwealth on the other half, had been
+          aimed at any other than a non-aggressive and
+          self-sacrificing class, there would have been fierce
+          resistance, as in the case of the United Colonies under the
+          British yoke. It has long been borne in silence. "The right
+          of voting for representatives," says Paine, "is the primary
+          right, by which other rights are protected. To take away
+          this right is to reduce man to a state of slavery, for
+          slavery consists in being subject to the will of another,
+          and he that has not a vote in the electing of
+          representatives is in this condition." Benjamin Franklin
+          wrote: "They who have no voice nor vote in the electing of
+          representatives do not enjoy liberty, but are absolutely
+          enslaved to those who have votes and to their
+          representatives; for to be enslaved is to have governors
+          whom other men have set over us, and be subject to laws made
+          by the representatives of others, without having had
+          representatives of our own to give consent in our behalf."
+          This is the condition of the women of New Jersey. It is
+          evident to every reasonable mind that these unjustly
+          disfranchised citizens should be reinstated in the right of
+          suffrage. Therefore, we, your memorialists, ask the
+          legislature at its present session to submit to the people
+          of New Jersey an amendment to the constitution, striking out
+          the word "male" from article 2, section 1, in order that the
+          political liberty which our forefathers so nobly bestowed on
+          men and women alike, may be restored to "all inhabitants" of
+          the populous and prosperous State into which their brave
+          young colony has grown.
+
+
+[Illustration: Cornelia Collins Hussey]
+
+
+     With but a slight change of officers and arguments, these
+     conventions were similar from year to year. There were on all
+     occasions a certain number of the clergy in opposition. At one of
+     these meetings the Rev. Mr. McMurdy condemned the ordination of
+     women for the ministry. But woman's fitness[279] for that
+     profession was successfully vindicated by Lucretia Mott and Phebe
+     A. Hanaford. Mrs. Portia Gage writes, December 12, 1873:
+
+          There was an election held by the order of the township
+          committee of Landis, to vote on the subject of bonding the
+          town to build shoe and other factories. The call issued was
+          for all legal voters. I went with some ten or twelve other
+          women, all taxpayers. We offered our votes, claiming that we
+          were citizens of the United States, and of the State of New
+          Jersey, also property-holders in and residents of Landis
+          township, and wished to express our opinion on the subject
+          of having our property bonded. Of course our votes were not
+          accepted, whilst every _tatterdemalion_ in town, either
+          black or white, who owned no property, stepped up and very
+          pompously said what he would like to have done with his
+          property. For the first time our claim to vote seemed to
+          most of the voters to be a just one. They gathered together
+          in groups and got quite excited over the injustice of
+          refusing our vote and accepting those of men who paid no
+          taxes.
+
+     In 1879, the Woman's Political Science Club[280] was formed in
+     Vineland, which held its meetings semi-monthly, and discussed a
+     wide range of subjects. Among the noble women in New Jersey who
+     have stood for many years steadfast representatives of the
+     suffrage movement, Cornelia Collins Hussey of Orange is worthy of
+     mention. A long line of radical and brave ancestors[281] made it
+     comparatively easy for her to advocate an unpopular cause. Her
+     father, Stacy B. Collins, identified with the anti-slavery
+     movement, was also an advocate of woman's right to do whatever
+     she could even to the exercise of the suffrage. He maintained
+     that the tax-payer should vote regardless of sex, and as years
+     passed on he saw clearly that not alone the tax-payer, but every
+     citizen of the United States governed and punished by its laws,
+     had a just and natural right to the ballot in a country claiming
+     to be republican. The following beautiful tribute to his memory,
+     by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, is found in a letter to his daughter:
+
+
+                                        LONDON, July 27, 1873.
+
+          My last letter from America brought me the sad intelligence
+          of your dear father's departure from amongst you; and I
+          cannot refrain from at once writing and begging you to
+          accept the sincere sympathy and inevitable regret which I
+          feel for your loss. The disappearance of an old friend
+          brings up the long past times vividly to my remembrance--the
+          time when, impelled by irresistible spiritual necessity, I
+          strove to lead a useful but unusual life, and was able to
+          face, with the energy of youth, both social prejudice and
+          the hindrance of poverty. I have to recall those early days
+          to show how precious your father's sympathy and support were
+          to me in that difficult time; and how highly I respected his
+          moral courage in steadily, for so many years, encouraging
+          the singular woman doctor, at whom everybody looked askance,
+          and in passing whom so many women held their clothes aside,
+          lest they should touch her. I know in how many good and
+          noble things your father took part; but, to me, this brave
+          advocacy of woman as physician, in that early time, seems
+          the noblest of his actions.
+
+     Speaking of the general activity of the women of Orange, Mrs.
+     Hussey says:
+
+          The Women's Club of Orange was started in 1871. It is a
+          social and literary club, and at present (1885) numbers
+          about eighty members. Meetings are held in the rooms of the
+          New England Society once in two weeks, and a reception, with
+          refreshments, given at the house of some member once a year.
+          Some matter of interest is discussed at each regular
+          meeting. This is not an equal suffrage club, yet a steady
+          growth in that direction is very evident. Very good work has
+          been done by this club. An evening school for girls was
+          started by it, and taught by the members for awhile, until
+          adopted by the board of education, a boys' evening school
+          being already in operation. Under the arrangements of the
+          club, a course of lectures on physiology, by women, was
+          recently given in Orange, and well attended. At the house of
+          one of the members a discussion was held on this subject:
+          "Does the Private Character of the Actor Concern the
+          Public?" Although the subject was a general one, the
+          discussion was really upon the proper course in regard to
+          M'lle Sarah Bernhardt, who had recently arrived in the
+          country. Reporters from the New York _Sun_ attended the
+          meeting, so that the views of the club of Orange gained
+          quite a wide celebrity.
+
+     Of Mrs. Hussey's remarks, the Newark _Journal_ said:
+
+          The sentiments of the first speaker, Mrs. Cornelia C.
+          Hussey, were generally approved, and therefore are herewith
+          given in full: "I have so often maintained in argument that
+          one has no right to honor those whose lives are a dishonor
+          to virtue or principle, that I cannot see any other side to
+          our question than the affirmative. That the stage wields a
+          potent influence cannot be doubted. Let the plays be
+          immoral, and its influence must be disastrous to virtue. Let
+          the known character of the actor be what we cannot respect,
+          the glamour which his genius or talent throws around that
+          bad character will tend to diminish our discrimination
+          between virtue and vice, and our distaste for the latter.
+          Some one says: 'Let me write the songs of a nation, and I
+          care not who makes the laws.' The poetry that Byron wrote,
+          together with his well-known contempt for a virtuous life,
+          is said to have had a very pernicious influence on the young
+          men of his time, and probably, too, blinded the eyes of the
+          young women. I recall being quite startled by reading the
+          essay of Whittier on Byron, which showed him as he was, and
+          not with the halo of his great genius thrown around his
+          vices. It seemed to me that our national government
+          dethroned virtue when it sent a homicide, if not a murderer,
+          to represent us at a foreign court; and again when it sent
+          as minister to another court on the continent a man whose
+          private character was well known to be thoroughly immoral.
+          Even to trifle with virtue, or to be a coward in the cause
+          of principle, is a fearful thing; but when, a person comes
+          before the public, saying by his life that he prefers the
+          pleasures of sin to the paths of virtue, it seems to me that
+          the way is plain--to withhold our patronage as a matter of
+          public policy."
+
+          On the Fourth of July, 1874, Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake was
+          invited to make the usual address in East Orange, which she
+          did before a large audience in the public hall. Says the
+          _Journal_: "Mrs. Blake's speech was characterized by
+          simplicity of style and appropriateness of sentiment." She
+          made mention of Molly Pitcher, Mrs. Borden and Mrs. Hall of
+          New Jersey, and of noted women of other States, who did good
+          service in Revolutionary times, when the country needed the
+          help of her daughters as well as her sons.
+
+          In the summer of 1876 a noteworthy meeting was held in
+          Orange in the interest of women. A number of ladies and
+          gentlemen met in my parlor to listen to statements in
+          relation to what is called the "social evil," to be made by
+          the Rev. J. P. Gledstone and Mr. Henry J. Wilson, delegates
+          from the "British, Continental and General Federation for
+          the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution." It
+          is due to the English gentlemen to say that they gave some
+          very strong reasons for bringing the disagreeable subject
+          before the meeting, and that they handled it with becoming
+          delicacy, though with great plainness.
+
+          "Ann A. Horton, who died in June, 1875, at the Old Ladies'
+          Home, Newark, bequeathed $2,000 to Princeton College, to
+          found a scholarship to be called by her name." Would not the
+          endowment of a "free bed" in Mrs. Horton's true alma-mater,
+          the Old Ladies' Home, have been a far wiser bequest than the
+          foundation of a scholarship in Princeton--a college which,
+          while fattening on enormous dole received from women, offers
+          them nothing in return?
+
+     In relation to the law giving the mothers of New Jersey some
+     legal claim to their children, Mrs. Hussey writes:
+
+          I have often heard it said that Kansas is the only State
+          where the married mother has any legal ownership in her
+          children; but the women of New Jersey have enjoyed this
+          _privilege_ since 1871, when it was gained for them by the
+          efforts of Mrs. Ann H. Connelly of Rahway. She was an
+          American woman, the mother of one daughter, and unhappily
+          married. She desired to be divorced from her husband, but
+          she knew that in such case he might legally take her child
+          from her. Such a risk could not be thought of for a moment;
+          so she applied to the legislature for a change of the law.
+          She was assisted by many influential citizens, both men and
+          women; petitions largely signed were presented, and the
+          result was the amendment of the law making the mother and
+          father equal in the ownership of their children. When a copy
+          of the new law appeared in our papers I wrote to Mrs.
+          Connelly, inclosing a resolution of thanks from the Essex
+          County Woman Suffrage Society, of which I was then
+          secretary. In her reply she said: "This unexpected and
+          distinguishing recognition of my imperfect, but earnest,
+          efforts for justice is inexpressibly gratifying." Several
+          years after, I went with my daughter to Rahway to see Mrs.
+          Connelly. She seemed to be well known and much respected.
+          She was teaching in one of the public schools, but seemed
+          quite feeble in health. In 1881 I saw the notice of her
+          death. She was a woman of much intelligence, and strongly
+          interested in suffrage, and should certainly be held in
+          grateful remembrance by the mothers of New Jersey, to whom
+          she restored the right which nature gave them, but which
+          men had taken away by mistaken legislation.
+
+     This law of February 21, 1871, composed of several acts
+     purporting to give fathers and mothers equal rights in cases of
+     separation and divorce, is not so liberal as it seems in
+     considering this provision:
+
+          Upon a decree of divorce the court may make such further
+          decree as may be deemed expedient concerning the custody and
+          maintenance of minor children, and determine with which of
+          the parents the children shall remain.
+
+     This act, though declaring that the mother and father are equal,
+     soon shows by its specifications that the courts can dispose of
+     all woman's interests and affections as they may see fit. What
+     avails a decree of divorce or separation for woman, if the court
+     can give the children to the father at its pleasure? Here is the
+     strong cord by which woman is held in bondage, and the courts,
+     all composed of men, know this, and act on it in their decisions.
+
+     A petition was addressed to the constitutional commission of
+     1873, requesting an amendment restoring to the women of New
+     Jersey their original right to vote, which that body decided
+     would be "inexpedient." A bill introduced in the legislature by
+     Senator Cutler, of Morris county, making women eligible to the
+     office of school-trustee, became a law March 25, 1873:
+
+          Be it enacted, That hereafter no person shall be eligible to
+          the office of school-trustee, unless he or she can read and
+          write; and women who are residents in the district and over
+          twenty years of age, shall also be eligible to the office of
+          school-trustee, and may hold such office and perform the
+          duties of the same, when duly elected by ten votes of the
+          district.--[Chap. 386.
+
+     February 26, 1874, a law for the better protection of the
+     property of married women was passed:
+
+          1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the
+          State of New Jersey, That any married woman who now is, or
+          may hereafter become, entitled, by gift, devise or bequest,
+          to any contingent estate, or any interest in any real or
+          personal property or estate, may, with the concurrence of
+          her husband, compound and receipt for, assign and convey the
+          same, in all cases where she lawfully might, if a _feme
+          sole_; and every release, receipt, assignment, discharge,
+          agreement, covenant, or contract, thereupon entered into by
+          her in regard to the same and to the said property, shall be
+          as valid and binding in every respect, upon her, her heirs,
+          executors, administrators, and assigns, and any and all
+          persons claiming under her, them or either of them, as if
+          she were at the time of entering into the same, a _feme
+          sole_, and when duly executed and acknowledged in the manner
+          provided by law for conveyance of real estate, may be
+          recorded in the surrogate's office, and whenever it relates
+          to real estate in the clerk's or recorder's office, of the
+          proper county or counties, in the same manner and with like
+          effect as other receipts and discharges may now be recorded
+          therein. 2. And be it enacted. That this act shall take
+          effect immediately.
+
+     A most remarkable trial, lately held in Newark, New Jersey, which
+     involved the question whether it was contrary to Scripture, and a
+     violation of the rules of the Presbyterian Church, to admit women
+     to the pulpit, is well reported by the New York _World_, January
+     1, 1877:
+
+          Since the time that the Rev. Theodore Cuyler was obliged by
+          the Presbytery of Long Island to apologize for inviting Miss
+          Sarah Smiley, the Quaker preacher, to occupy the pulpit of
+          the Lafayette Avenue Church in Brooklyn, the question of the
+          right of women to preach in Presbyterian churches, has come
+          up in various parts of the country, but has never been
+          brought judicially before any ecclesiastical body until
+          yesterday, when it occupied the attention of the Newark
+          Presbytery, under the following circumstances. October 29,
+          1876, Mrs. L. S. Robinson and Mrs. C. S. Whiting, two ladies
+          who were much interested in the temperance movement, asked
+          and received permission of the Rev. Isaac M. See, of the
+          Wickliffe Presbyterian Church at Newark, to occupy his
+          pulpit, morning and evening of that day. They accordingly
+          addressed the congregation on the subject of temperance. To
+          this the Rev. E. R. Craven, of the Third Presbyterian
+          Church, of Newark, objected, and brought before the Newark
+          Presbytery the following charge:
+
+          "The undersigned charges the Rev. Isaac M. See, pastor of
+          the Wickliffe Church, of Newark, N. J., a member of your
+          body, with disobedience to the divinely enacted ordinance in
+          reference to the public speaking and teaching of women in
+          churches, as recorded in I. Corinthians, xiv., 33 to 37, and
+          I. Timothy, ii., 13, in that: First specification--On
+          Sunday, October 29, 1876, in the Wickliffe Church of the
+          city of Newark, N. J., he did, in the pulpit of the said
+          church, and before the congregation there assembled for
+          public worship at the usual hour of the morning service,
+          viz., 10:30 A.M., introduce a woman, whom he permitted and
+          encouraged then and there publicly to preach and teach." The
+          second specification is couched in similar language, except
+          that it charges Mr. See with introducing another woman at
+          the evening service upon the same day. The charge was
+          presented at the regular meeting of the Presbytery, a short
+          time ago, and the hearing of the case was adjourned until
+          yesterday. The meeting was held in the lecture room of the
+          Second Presbyterian Church in Washington street. Rev. John
+          L. Wells, pastor of the Bethany Mission Chapel, presided,
+          and there was a fair attendance of the members of the body.
+          Of the audience at least nine-tenths were women.[282] Dr.
+          Craven, the prosecutor, sat on the front row of seats, near
+          to the clerk's table, while Dr. See, who is very stout, with
+          a double chin, and the picture of good-nature, sat in the
+          rear of the members of the Presbytery, and among the front
+          rows of spectators. Dr. McIllvaine introduced the following
+          resolution:
+
+          _Resolved_, That this charge, by common consent of the
+          parties, be dismissed at this stage of the proceedings, with
+          affectionate council to the Rev. Dr. See not to go contrary
+          to the usages of the Presbyterian Church for the future.
+
+          This brought Brother See to his feet. He could not, he said,
+          assent to Brother McIllvaine's resolution. He had not
+          consented that the charge should be dismissed, as in the
+          resolution. Brother McIllvaine expressed himself as sure
+          that Brother See had consented, but Brother See was again
+          equally sure that he had not. Some member here suggested
+          that Dr. Craven should first have been asked if he consented
+          to dismiss the charge, and this brought that gentleman to
+          his feet. A more complete antithesis to Dr. See cannot be
+          imagined. He is tall, gaunt, with full beard and mustache,
+          short, bristling hair, that stands upright in a row from the
+          centre of his forehead to the crown of his head. He said
+          that at the request of Dr. McIllvaine and another respected
+          member of the Presbytery he had said that if the party
+          charged would give full and free consent to the resolution,
+          he would also assent; "and," he added, "such is now my
+          position." Dr. McIllvaine then gave at length his reasons
+          for desiring to arrest the case where it was. No good could
+          come of its discussion, and the result could not but be
+          productive of discord. The Moderator reminded Dr. See that
+          they waited for an answer from him.
+
+          Dr. See--May we have a season of prayer, sir? The Moderator
+          said there was no objection. Dr. See explained that the
+          matter at issue was not a personal one; it was a question as
+          to the meaning of the Scriptures upon a certain point, and
+          he was there simply to know what the Presbytery would do.
+          Rev. Drs. Brinsmayd and Fewsmith then prayed, but Dr. See's
+          frame of mind was not in the least changed. He still
+          insisted that his was the passive part, to sit and see what
+          they would do with his case. Rev. Dr. Wilson thought that if
+          Brother See did not desire to do anything contrary to the
+          usages of the church, he might say so. Brother See said it
+          was a question of whether God Almighty had said certain
+          things or not, and that he could not answer. In his formal
+          answer to the charge the accused then said: "I believe
+          myself to be not guilty of the charge, but I admit the
+          specifications." Dr. Craven, in his speech, said it was in
+          no spirit of animosity that he had brought the charge. He
+          believed that the law of God had been broken in this case;
+          not designedly, perhaps, but really. A custom had found
+          lodgment in a Presbyterian church that would impair its
+          efficiency and would also injure woman in the sphere which
+          she was called upon by God to fill. No judicial decision had
+          been arrived at upon this question. The case of Dr. Cuyler
+          was the first that had come before a Presbytery, and that
+          was hardly a trial of the question. "Why should I," he
+          continued, "bring this charge? Because I have felt it to be
+          wrong, and feeling thus, resolved to take the duty upon
+          myself, painful and agonizing as the task may be. I deem it
+          my duty to God to do so." Dr. See (_sotto voce_)--"And the
+          Lord will bless you for it."
+
+          Dr. Craven, continuing, read the passages of Scripture
+          referred to in this charge. He did not, he said, affirm that
+          woman had no work in the church. She had a great and
+          glorious sphere; she had no right to teach and speak in
+          public meetings, but she could teach children and ignorant
+          men in private. He would not affirm that some women could
+          not preach as well as, or better than some men, and he did
+          not know but that in the future she might occupy the
+          platform on an equality with men; but at present she could
+          not, and it was expressly forbidden in the passages which he
+          had read. "You may run to hear another man's wife preach, or
+          another man's daughter," said he, "but who would have his
+          own wife stand upon the platform, or his own daughter face
+          the mob? Woman is the heart of man, but man is the head. Let
+          woman go upon the platform, and she loses that shrinking
+          modesty that gives her such power over children. What child
+          would wish to have a public-speaking mother? I trust this
+          evil will not creep in upon the church. I felt bound to
+          resist it at the outset, and unless I am convinced of my
+          error shall withstand it to the death." * * * *
+
+          January 2, 1877, Rev. Dr. See continued his defense of
+          himself for letting a woman into his pulpit. Then the roll
+          was called for the views of the Presbytery. Dr. McIllvaine
+          said that the two sources of light, as he understood it,
+          were the teachings of the Lord and his disciples. The Lord
+          didn't select women for his twelve, and vacancies were not
+          filled by women. It wasn't a woman who was chosen to do
+          Paul's work. He was the chosen teacher of the church in that
+          and all succeeding ages, and he had said, "I suffer not
+          women to teach, or to usurp authority in the church." Dr.
+          Brinsmade, who was the pastor of the Wickliffe Church before
+          Dr. See was called there, admitted that women could preach
+          well, but thought the Presbytery had better stick by the
+          divine command. Dr. Canfield also agreed with Paul. He loved
+          women and loved their work, but it seemed from the
+          experience of the world that God intended that the pulpit
+          should be the place for men. Such, at any rate, had been the
+          principle and the practice of the Presbyterian Church; and
+          if Brother See could not conform to its rules, he would say
+          to him, "Go, brother; there are other churches in which you
+          can find a place." Dr. Canfield was called to order for that
+          addendum. Dr. Hutchings, of Orange, referred to the ancient
+          justification of slavery from the Bible, and in view of
+          honest differences of construction accepted by the church,
+          thought the question should be left to the discretion of
+          pastors and church-sessions. Rev. Jonathan F. Stearns,
+          pastor of the First Church, demurred to this and stood by
+          the Scripture text. Nine-tenths of the ladies of the church,
+          he said, would vote against preaching by women.
+
+          Rev. James E. Wilson, pastor of the South Park Church, said
+          that in churches where women had been permitted to preach,
+          they had lost ground. "I have never heard a Quaker woman,"
+          said he, "preach a sermon worth three cents (laughter), and
+          yet I have heard the spirit move them to get up and speak at
+          most improper times and on most inopportune occasions, and
+          have heard them say most improper and impertinent things."
+          In the Methodist Church he did not believe that there were
+          over twenty-five women preachers, so the women were losing
+          ground, and not gaining. Even the woman suffragists, who
+          made so much noise a few years ago, had subsided, and he did
+          not believe there were a hundred agitators in the whole
+          country now. "See," he said, "where Brother See's argument
+          would carry him. Any woman that has the spirit upon her may
+          speak, and so, by and by, two or three women may walk up
+          into Brother See's pulpit and say,'Come down; it's our turn
+          now, we are moved by the spirit.' (Laughter). A woman's
+          voice was against her preaching; a man's voice came out with
+          a 'thud,' but a woman spoke soft and pleasing; however, here
+          were the plain words of the text, and any man that could
+          throw it overboard could throw over the doctrine of the
+          atonement. If a mother should teach her son from the pulpit
+          by preaching to him, thus disobeying the plain words of the
+          apostle, she must not be surprised if her son went contrary
+          to some other teaching of the apostle. But the fact was, the
+          women did not desire to preach; otherwise they would have
+          preached long ago. He rejoiced when that convention of
+          temperance women assembled in Newark, but he could not help
+          pitying their husbands and families away out in Chicago and
+          elsewhere. (Laughter).
+
+          Rev. Ferd. Smith, the pastor of the Second Church, said the
+          president of the Woman's Temperance Union had asked him if
+          they could have the use of the church, and he had said
+          "yes"; "and," said Dr. Smith, "I am glad that I did it, and
+          I am sorry that I was not there to hear the address; and
+          now, brethren, I am going to confess that I have sinned a
+          little in this matter of women preaching. Two or three years
+          ago I went and heard Miss Smiley preach. I had heard in the
+          morning--I won't mention his name--one of the most
+          distinguished men of the country preach a very able
+          sermon--a very long one, too. [Laughter.] I had heard in the
+          afternoon a doctor of divinity; I don't see him here now,
+          but I have seen him, and I won't mention his name; and I
+          heard Miss Smiley in the evening. It may be heresy to say
+          it, but I do think I was more fed that evening than I had
+          been by both the others; but I do not on that account say
+          that it is good for women to go, as a regular thing, into
+          the pulpit. If I had heard her a dozen times, I should not
+          have been so much moved. Woman-preaching may do for a little
+          time, but it won't do for a permanency. I heard at Old
+          Orchard, at a temperance convention, the most beautiful
+          argument I ever listened to, delivered with grace and
+          modesty and power. The words fell like dew upon the heart,
+          enriching it, and the speaker was Miss Willard; but for all
+          this, brethren, I do not approve of women preaching. [Great
+          laughter.] We must not, for the sake of a little good,
+          sacrifice a great principle." Dr. Pollock of Lyons Farms
+          wanted to shelter women, to prevent them from being talked
+          about as ministers are and criticised as ministers are; it
+          was for this that he would keep them out of the pulpit. Rev.
+          Drs. Findley and Prentiss de Neuve were in favor of
+          sustaining the charge. Rev. Dr. Haley contended that Brother
+          See ought not to be condemned, because he had not offended
+          against any law of the church. Drs. Seibert, Ballantine and
+          Hopwood spoke in favor of sustaining the charge. A vote of
+          16 to 12 found Rev. Dr. See guilty of violating the
+          Scriptures by allowing women to preach, and the case was
+          appealed to the General Assembly.
+
+     The General Assembly adopted the following report on this case:
+
+          The Rev. Isaac W. See, pastor of the Wickliffe Church,
+          Newark, N. J., was charged by Rev. Elijah R. Craven, D. D.,
+          with disobedience to the divinely enacted ordinance in
+          reference to the public speaking and teaching of women in
+          the churches as recorded in I Corinthians, xiv., 33-37, and
+          in I Timothy, ii., 11-13, in that twice on a specified
+          Sabbath, in the pulpit of his said church, at the usual time
+          of public service, he did introduce a woman, whom he
+          permitted and encouraged then and there publicly to preach
+          and teach.
+
+          The Presbytery of Newark sustained the charge, and from its
+          decision Mr. See appealed to the synod of New Jersey, which
+          refused by a decided vote to sustain the appeal, expressing
+          its judgment in a minute of which the following is a part:
+
+          In sustaining the Presbytery of Newark as against the appeal
+          of the Rev. I. M. See, the synod holds that the passages of
+          scripture referred to in the action of the Presbytery, do
+          prohibit the fulfilling by women of the offices of public
+          preachers in the regular assemblies of the church.
+
+          From this decision Mr. See has further appealed to the
+          General Assembly, which, having thereupon proceeded to issue
+          the appeal, and having fully heard the original parties and
+          members of the inferior judicatory, decided that the said
+          appeal from the synod of New Jersey be not sustained by the
+          following vote: To sustain, 85. To sustain in part, 71. Not
+          to sustain, 201.
+
+     From the following description by Mrs. Devereux Blake, we have
+     conclusive evidence of woman's capacity to govern under most
+     trying circumstances:
+
+          A certain little woman living in Jersey City has, from time
+          to time, occupied a portion of public consideration; this is
+          Mrs. Ericka C. Jones, for four years and a half warden of
+          the Hudson county jail, probably the only woman in the world
+          who holds such a position. Her history is briefly this: Some
+          seven years ago her husband obtained the appointment of
+          jailor at this institution, and moved to it with his bride.
+          From the time of their incoming a marked improvement in the
+          administration of the jail became apparent, which continued,
+          when, after two years, Mr. Jones was stricken down with
+          softening of the brain, which reduced him to a condition of
+          idiocy for six months before his death. When at last this
+          occurred, by unanimous vote of the board of freeholders the
+          woman who had really performed the duties of jailor was
+          appointed warden of Hudson county jail. All this has been a
+          matter of report in the papers, as well as the attempt to
+          oust her from the position, which was made last fall, when
+          certain male politicians wanted the place for some friend
+          and voter, and appealed to Attorney-General Vanetta, who
+          gave an opinion adverse to the lady's claims. Resolutions on
+          the subject were passed by various woman suffrage societies,
+          and anxious to see the subject of so much dispute, and hear
+          her story from her own lips, a party of ladies was made up
+          to call upon her.
+
+          Hudson-county jail stands in the same inclosure with the
+          court-house, a small, neatly-kept park, well shaded by fine
+          trees, and being on very high ground commands a view over
+          the North River and New York Bay. The building is a
+          substantial one of stone, with nothing of the repulsive
+          aspect of a jail about it. Asking for Mrs. Jones, we were at
+          once shown into the office. We had expected to see a woman
+          of middle age and somewhat stern aspect. Instead, we beheld
+          a pretty, young person, apparently not more than twenty-five
+          years old, with bright, black eyes, waving brown hair, good
+          features and plump figure. She was very neatly dressed and
+          pleasant in manner, making us cordially welcome. We were
+          conducted into the parlor and at once begged her to tell us
+          all about her case, which she did very clearly and
+          concisely. When she was left a widow with two little
+          children she had no idea that this place would be given her,
+          but it was tendered to her by unanimous vote of the board of
+          freeholders. At that time there were in jail three desperate
+          criminals, Proctor, Demsing and Foley, bank robbers, and
+          some persons feared that a woman could not hold them, but
+          they were safely transferred at the proper time from the
+          jail to the state-prison. "And," she added, with a bright
+          smile, "I never have lost a prisoner, which is more than
+          many men-jailors can say. Some of them tried to escape last
+          fall, but I had warning in time, sent for the police, and
+          the attempt was prevented."
+
+          "And do you think there is any danger of your being turned
+          out?" "I don't know. I intend to remain in the place until
+          the end of my term, if possible, since as long as the effort
+          to dismiss me is based solely on the ground of my sex and
+          not of my incompetency, it ought justly to be resisted."
+          "But Attorney-General Vanetta gave an adverse opinion as to
+          the legality of your appointment?" "Yes, but
+          ex-Attorney-General Robert Gilchrist, a very able lawyer,
+          has given an opinion in my favor, while Mr. Lippincott,
+          counsel of the board when I was appointed, also held that I
+          was eligible for the place."
+
+          She then went on to tell us some of the petty persecutions
+          and indirect measures Which have been resorted to in order
+          to induce her to resign, as her term of office will not
+          expire for two years. When her husband was given the
+          position, the allowance consisted of 40 cents a day for each
+          prisoner, 50 cents for each sick person, 25 cents for every
+          committal, and 12-1/2 cents for every discharge. The daily
+          allowance has been cut down from 40 to 25 cents, and all the
+          other allowances have been entirely done away with. She is,
+          therefore, at this moment running that jail on 25 cents a
+          day for each prisoner. Out of this sum she must pay for all
+          food, all salaries of assistant jailors, etc., all wages of
+          servants, and even the furniture of the place. She is
+          supplied with fuel and gas, but no stores of any
+          description. She has also had other annoyances. The payment
+          of money justly due has been opposed or delayed; and whereas
+          her husband was required to give bond for only $5,000, she
+          has been forced to give one for $10,000. She has also been
+          troubled by the visits of persons representing themselves to
+          be reporters of papers, who have wished to borrow money of
+          her, and failing in this, have printed disagreeable articles
+          about her. She has, of course, no salary whatever. "However,
+          I do as well as I can with the money I receive," she said,
+          with that pleasant smile. "And now would you like to see the
+          jail?" * * * *
+
+          Ex-Attorney Gilchrist's opinion on her case is an able
+          indorsement of her position. He says, in the first place,
+          that as Attorney-General Vanetta's adverse view was not
+          given officially, it is not binding on the Board of
+          Freeholders, and then goes on to cite precedents. "Alice
+          Stubbs, in 1787, was appointed overseer of the poor in the
+          county of Stafford, England, and the Court of King's Bench
+          sustained her in the office. A woman was appointed governor
+          of the work-house at Chelmsford, England, and the court held
+          it to be a good appointment. Lady Brangleton was appointed
+          keeper of the Gate-House jail in London. Lady Russell was
+          appointed keeper of the Castle of Dunnington. All these
+          cases are reported in _Stranges R._, as clearly establishing
+          the right and duty of woman to hold office. The case of Ann,
+          Countess of Pembroke, Dorsett and Montgomery, who was
+          sheriff of Westmoreland, is very well known." The opinion
+          winds up by saying: "The argument that a woman is
+          incompetent to perform the duties of such an office is
+          doubly answered--first, by the array of cases in which it is
+          held that she is competent; second, by the resolution of the
+          board when Mrs. Jones was appointed, that she had for a long
+          time prior thereto actually kept the jail while her husband
+          was jailor." How this whole matter would be simplified if
+          women could vote and hold office, so that merit and not sex
+          should be the only qualification for any place.--_New York
+          Record, 1876._
+
+     The following incident shows not only what physical training will
+     do in giving a girl self-reliance in emergencies, but it shows
+     the nice sense of humor that grows out of conscious power with
+     which a girl can always take a presuming youth at disadvantage.
+     No doubt Miss McCosh, as a student in Princeton, could as easily
+     distance her compeers in science, philosophy and the languages,
+     as she did the dude on the highway. Why not open the doors of
+     that institution and let her make the experiment?
+
+          The distinguished president of Princeton College, Dr.
+          McCosh, has two daughters who are great walkers. They are in
+          the habit of going to Trenton and back, a distance of about
+          twenty miles, where they do their shopping. One day a dude
+          accosted Miss Bridget on the road, and said, in the usual
+          manner: "Beg pardon, but may I walk with you?" She replied,
+          "Certainly," and quickened her pace a little. After the
+          first half-mile the masher began to gasp, and then, as she
+          passed on with a smile, he sat down panting on a mile-stone,
+          and mopped the perspiration from his brow.
+
+     At the sixteenth national convention, held in Washington, March,
+     1884, the State was well represented;[283] Mrs. Hanaford gave an
+     address on "New Jersey as a Leader." In her letter to the
+     convention, Mrs. Hussey wrote:
+
+          An old gentleman, Aaron Burr Harrison, a resident of East
+          Orange, has just passed on to his long home, full of
+          years--eighty-eight--and with a good record. He told me
+          about his sister's voting in New jersey, when he was a
+          child--probably about 1807. The last time I took a petition
+          for woman suffrage to him, he signed it willingly, and his
+          daughter also.
+
+     February 12, 1884, a special committee of the New Jersey Assembly
+     granted a hearing[284] on the petition of Mrs. Celia B.
+     Whitehead, and 220 other citizens of Bloomfield, asking the
+     restoration of woman's right to vote; fully one-half of the
+     members of the Assembly were present. Mrs. Seagrove handed the
+     committee an ancient printed copy of the original constitution of
+     New Jersey, dated July 2, 1776. The name of James Seagrove, her
+     husband's grandfather, is endorsed upon it in his own
+     hand-writing. In the suffrage clause of this document the words
+     "all inhabitants" were substituted for those of "male
+     freeholders" in the provincial charter. Hence the constitution of
+     1776 gave suffrage to women and men of color. Mrs. Seagrove made
+     an appeal on behalf of the women of the State. Mr. Blackwell gave
+     a resume of the unconstitutional action of the legislature in its
+     depriving women of their right to vote. Mrs. Hanaford, in answer
+     to a question of the committee, claimed the right for women not
+     only to vote but to hold office; and instanced from her own
+     observation the need of women as police officers, and especially
+     as matrons in the police stations. The result of these appeals
+     may be seen in a paragraph from the Boston _Commonwealth_, a
+     paper in hearty sympathy:
+
+          In the lower House of the New Jersey legislature a
+          Democratic member recently moved that the word "male" be
+          stricken from the constitution of the State. After some
+          positive discussion a non-partisan vote of 27 to 24 defeated
+          the motion. This occurrence, it is to be observed, is
+          chronicled of one of the most conservative States in the
+          Union. The arguments used on both sides were not new or
+          remarkable. But the vote was very close. If such a measure
+          could in so conservative a State be nearly carried, we can
+          have reasonable hope of its favorable reception, in more
+          radical sections. In New Jersey we did not expect success
+          for the resolution proposed. The favorable votes really
+          surprised us. We do not mistake the omen. Gradually the
+          point of woman's responsibility is being conceded. The
+          arbitrary lines now drawn politically and socially are
+          without reason. Indeed, one of the members of the New Jersey
+          Assembly called attention to the fact that to grant suffrage
+          now would not be the conferring of a new gift on women, but
+          only a restoration of rights exercised in colonial times.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[274] See Vol. I., page 447.
+
+[275] Mrs. Pryor lived formerly in Waterloo, New York. She was
+present at the first convention at Seneca Falls, and sustained the
+demand for woman suffrage with earnest sympathy. I have been
+indebted to her for a splendid housekeeper, trained by her in all
+domestic accomplishments, who lived in my family for thirty years,
+a faithful, devoted friend to me and my children. Much that I have
+enjoyed and accomplished in life is due to her untiring and
+unselfish services. My cares were the lighter for all the heavy
+burdens she willingly took on her shoulders. The name of Amelia
+Willard should always be mentioned with loving praise by me and
+mine. Her sympathies have ever been in our reform. When Abby Kelly
+was a young girl, speaking through New York in the height of the
+anti-slavery mobs, Margaret Pryor traveled with her for company and
+protection. Abby used to say she always felt safe when she could
+see Margaret Pryor's Quaker bonnet.--[E. C. S.
+
+[276] In a letter to Mary F. Davis, February 13, 1882, asking her
+for some facts in regard to that period, Lucy Stone says: "I have
+never kept any diary or record of my work. I have been too busy
+with the work itself. I could not answer your questions without a
+search among old letters and papers, which have been packed away
+for years, and I have not time to make the search, and cannot be
+accurate without. I know we had many meetings in New Jersey in all
+the large towns, beginning in Newark and Orange, and following the
+line of the railroad to Trenton, Camden, and Vineland, and then
+another series that included towns reached by stage, Salem being
+one, but I cannot tell whether these meetings were before or after
+the formation of the State Society." The records show that they
+were before, says Mrs. Davis; newspaper reports of them are in the
+archives of the Historical Society.
+
+[277] _President_, Lucy Stone, Roseville; _Vice-Presidents_,
+Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Thomas B. Peddie, Portia Gage, Rev.
+Robert McMurdy, Cornelia Collins Hussey, George T. Cobb, Sarah E.
+Webb, Dr. James Brotherton, Isaac Stevens, Rev. H. A. Butler, A. J.
+Davis, James H. Nixon, Dr. G. H. Haskell, I. M. Peebles, Rev. C. H.
+Dezanne, William Baldwin; _Corresponding Secretaries_, Phebe A.
+Pierson, Miss P. Fowler; _Recording Secretary_, C. A. Paul;
+_Treasurer_, S. G. Silvester; _Executive Committee_, Mary F. Davis,
+Mrs. E. L. Bush, H. B. Blackwell, Rev. Oscar Clute, Miss Charlotte
+Bathgate, Rowland Johnson, Mrs. Robert McMurdy, Dr. D. N. Allen,
+Sarah Pierson, Lizzie Prentice, W. D. Conan, John Whitehead.
+
+[278] Among those who addressed the conventions and the legislature
+we find the names of Lucretia Mott, Ernestine L. Rose, Lucy Stone,
+Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Mary F. Davis, Charlotte B. Wilbour,
+Elizabeth R. Churchill, Elizabeth A. Kingsbury, Deborah Butler,
+Olive F. Stevens, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Mrs. Devereux Blake, Rev.
+Oscar Clute, Rev. Olympia Brown, Rev. Mr. McMurdy, Mr. Taylor, John
+Whitehead, Mrs. Seagrove, Henry B. Blackwell, Hon. James Scovell.
+
+[279] This has been well illustrated by Mrs. Hanaford in her own
+case, she having preached for nearly twenty years with but three
+changes of place, and ten of these passed successively in the
+Universalist churches in Jersey City.--[E. C. S.
+
+[280] VINELAND, July 15, 1879.--Club met at the residence of Mrs.
+Bristol. The meeting was opened with music by Mrs. Parkhurst,
+followed by a recitation by Miss Etta Taylor. Mrs. Andrew read an
+excellent essay, opposing the national bank system. Mrs. Bristol
+gave an instructive lesson in political economy on "Appropriation."
+The next lesson will be upon "Changes of Matter in Place."
+Appropriate remarks were made by Mrs. Neyman of New York, Mr.
+Broom, Mrs. Duffey and Mr. Bristol. Several new names were added to
+the list of membership. Miss Etta Taylor gave another recitation,
+which closed the exercises of the afternoon. In the evening a
+pleasant reception was held, and many invited guests were present.
+The exercises consisted of vocal and instrumental music, social
+converse and dancing. The club will meet again in two weeks.--[C.
+L. LADD, _Secretary_.
+
+[281] Isaac Collins, her grandfather, died at Burlington, March 21,
+1817, a man remarkable alike for his uprightness, industry,
+intelligence and enterprise. He was a Quaker by birth and
+conviction, and a printer, appointed by King George III. for the
+province of New Jersey. He printed many valuable books, almanacs,
+Bibles, revised laws, government money, and a weekly paper, _The
+New Jersey Gazette_. In making his will he so divided his property
+that each of his six daughters received twice the sum that he gave
+to each of the seven sons. This he explained by saying that the
+latter could go into business and support themselves, but his
+daughters must have enough to live upon, if they chose to remain
+single; he did not wish them to be forced to marry for a support.
+
+[282] In the audience were several advocates of woman suffrage,
+probably there to take observations of the manner in which
+Christian clergymen conduct their meetings. This class of men had
+been so severe in their criticisms of woman suffrage conventions
+that we hoped to learn lessons of wisdom from the dignity,
+refinement and parliamentary order of their proceedings. Among
+these ladies were Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Miss Arathusia Forbes,
+Mrs. Devereux Blake and Miss Susan King of New York, a wealthy
+tea-merchant and extensive traveler, and myself. That day the Rev.
+Dr. Craven was the principal speaker. The whole tenor of his
+remarks were so insulting to women that Miss King proposed to send
+an artist the following Sunday to photograph the women possessing
+so little self-respect as to sit under his ministrations. He
+punctuated his four-hours' vulgar diatribe by a series of
+resounding whacks with the Bible on the table before him.--[M. J.
+G.
+
+[283] Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Miss Ellen Miles and Mrs. Jackson of
+Jersey City.
+
+[284] Mrs. Theresa Walling Seagrove of Keyport, Rev. Phebe A.
+Hanaford of Jersey City and Henry B. Blackwell of Boston were the
+speakers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+OHIO.
+
+     The First Soldiers' Aid Society--Mrs. Mendenhall--Cincinnati
+     Equal Rights Association, 1868--Homeopathic Medical College and
+     Hospital--Hon. J. M. Ashley--State Society, 1869--Murat
+     Halstead's Letter--Dayton Convention, 1870--Women Protest against
+     Enfranchisement--Sarah Knowles Bolton--Statistics on
+     Coeducation--Thomas Wentworth Higginson--Woman's Crusade,
+     1874--Miriam M. Cole--Ladies' Health Association--Professor
+     Curtis--Hospital for Women and Children, 1879--Letter from J. D.
+     Buck, M. D.--March, 1881, Degrees Conferred on Women--Toledo
+     Association, 1869--Sarah Langdon Williams--_The Sunday
+     Journal_--_The Ballot-Box_--Constitutional Convention--Judge
+     Waite--Amendment Making Women Eligible to Office--Mr. Voris,
+     Chairman Special Committee on Woman Suffrage--State Convention,
+     1873--Rev. Robert McCune--Centennial Celebration--Women Decline
+     to Take Part--Correspondence--Newbury Association--Women Voting,
+     1871--Sophia Ober Allen--Annual Meeting, Painesville, 1885--State
+     Society, Mrs. Frances M. Casement, President--Adelbert College.
+
+
+Early in the year 1862, Cincinnati became a hospital for the army
+operations under General Grant and was soon filled with wounded
+heroes from Fort Donelson and Pittsburg Landing, and the women
+here, as in all other cities, were absorbed in hospital and
+sanitary work. To the women of Cleveland is justly due the honor of
+organizing the first soldiers' aid society, a meeting being called
+for this purpose five days after the fall of Fort Sumter. Through
+the influence of Mrs. Mendenhall were inaugurated the great
+sanitary fairs[285] there, and by her untiring energy and that of
+the ladies who labored with her, many of our brave soldiers were
+restored to health. Mrs. Annie L. Quinby writes:
+
+     In the autumn of 1867 Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony made a
+     lecturing tour through Ohio and roused popular thought on the
+     question of suffrage. March 28, 1868, the Cincinnati Equal Rights
+     Association[286] was formed, auxiliary to the National Society,
+     of which Lucretia Mott was president. April 7, 1869, Mrs. Ryder
+     called the attention of the meeting to a resolution offered by
+     Mr. Gordon in the State legislature, to amend the constitution so
+     as to strike out the word male, proposing that at the October
+     election, "in all precincts in the State, there shall be a
+     separate poll, at which all white women over 21 years of age
+     shall be permitted to vote, and if the votes cast be a majority
+     of all the white women, the constitution shall be amended." Mrs.
+     Ryder seemed to think the proposition a very fair one, or
+     intended by the mover to give the women, if they wanted to vote,
+     the opportunity of saying so on this amendment to the
+     constitution. Mrs. Blangy also concurred in this view of the
+     subject. Mrs. Quinby expressed her indignation at the
+     proposition, saying she believed its passage by the legislature
+     would be detrimental to the cause, both on account of its
+     provisions and the mode of accomplishing the object of the
+     resolution. As it stood, it could but fail, as women were not
+     prepared for it at the present time, and the proposition was not
+     that the majority of votes cast should settle the question, but
+     that the number cast in favor of it should be a majority of all
+     the women in the State 21 years of age. She therefore thought we
+     should express our decided disapproval of this amendment. Mrs.
+     Leavitt also declared her opposition to this resolution,
+     believing it to have been offered for the sole purpose of
+     stalling the woman suffrage movement for years to come. She
+     thought this association should express its decided opposition to
+     this resolution. Mrs. Butterwood and others followed in the same
+     strain, and it was finally agreed unanimously that the
+     corresponding secretary be instructed to write to the mover of
+     the resolution, expressing disapprobation of some of the terms of
+     the amendment, with the hope that it will not pass in the form
+     offered, and politely requesting Mr. Gordon to define his
+     position as the resolution is susceptible of being construed both
+     for and against equal rights.
+
+     At a meeting held April 21, 1869, delegates[287] were elected to
+     attend the May anniversary of the American Equal Rights
+     Association in New York. Mrs. Margaret V. Longley was placed on
+     the executive committee of the National Association to represent
+     Ohio. On her return from New York she joined with the Cincinnati
+     Equal Rights Society in a call for a convention in Pike's Hall,
+     September 15, 16, 1869, for the organization of an Ohio State
+     Society.[288] Mrs. Longley presided; the audiences were large and
+     enthusiastic;[289] the press of the city gave extended reports.
+     Murat Halstead, editor of the Cincinnati _Commercial_, sent the
+     following reply to his invitation:
+
+                                   CINCINNATI, July 28, 1869.
+
+          Mrs. M. V. LONGLEY: _Dear Madam_--I cannot sign your call
+          for a woman suffrage convention, for I do not feel a serious
+          interest in the subject. That there are woman's wrongs that
+          the law-makers should right, I believe. For instance, I
+          think married women should hold property independently; that
+          they should be able to save and enjoy the fruits of their
+          own industry; and that they should not be absolutely in the
+          power of lazy, dissipated or worthless husbands. But I
+          cannot see clearly how the possession of the ballot would
+          help women in the reform indicated. If, however, a majority
+          of the women of Ohio should signify by means proving their
+          active interest in the subject that they wanted to acquire
+          the right of suffrage, I don't think I would offer
+          opposition.
+
+                                             M. HALSTEAD.
+
+     Mrs. Livermore and Miss Anthony made some amusing strictures on
+     Mr. Halstead's letter, which called out laughter and cheers from
+     the audience. April 27 and 28, 1870, a mass-meeting was held in
+     Dayton. Describing the occasion, Miss Sallie Joy, in a letter to
+     a Boston paper, says:
+
+          The west is evidently wide awake on the suffrage question.
+          The people are working with zeal almost unknown in the East,
+          except to the more immediately interested, who are making a
+          life-labor of the cause. The two days' convention at Dayton
+          was freighted with interest. Earnest women were there from
+          all parts of the State. They of the west do not think much
+          of distances, and consequently nearly every town of note was
+          represented. Cleveland sent her women from the borders of
+          the lake; Cincinnati sent hers from the banks of the Ohio;
+          Columbus, Springfield, Toledo and Sydney were represented.
+          Not merely the leaders were there, but those who were
+          comparatively new to the cause; all in earnest,--young girls
+          in the first flush of youth, a new light dawning on their
+          lives and shining through their eyes, waiting, reaching
+          longing hands for this new gift to womanhood,--mothers on
+          the down-hill side of life, quietly but gladly expectant of
+          the good that was coming so surely to crown all these human
+          lives. Most of the speakers were western women--Mrs. Cutler,
+          Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Stewart, of Ohio, and Miss Boynton, of
+          Indiana. The East sent our own Susan B. Anthony, and Mrs.
+          Livermore of Boston. Like every other convention, it grew
+          more interesting the longer it continued, and just when the
+          speakers were so tired that they were glad the work for the
+          time was done, the listeners, like a whole army of Oliver
+          Twists, were crying for more. They are likely to have
+          more--a great deal more--before the work is done completely,
+          for it is evident the leaders don't intend to let the thing
+          rest where it is, but to push it forward to final success.
+          From the list of resolutions considered and adopted, I send
+          the following:
+
+          _Resolved_, That as the Democratic party has long since
+          abolished the political aristocracy of wealth; and the
+          Republican party has now abolished the aristocracy of race;
+          so the true spirit of Republican Democracy of the present,
+          demands the abolition of the political aristocracy of sex.
+
+          _Resolved_, That as the government of the United States has,
+          by the adoption of the fifteenth amendment, admitted the
+          theory that one man cannot define the rights and duties of
+          another man, so we demand the adoption of a sixteenth
+          amendment on the same principle, that one sex cannot define
+          the rights and duties of another sex.
+
+          _Resolved_, That we rejoice in the noble action of the men
+          of Wyoming, by which the right of suffrage has been granted
+          to the women of that territory.
+
+          _Resolved_, That we feel justly proud of the action of those
+          representatives of the General Assembly of Ohio, who have
+          endeavored to secure an amendment to the State constitution,
+          striking out the word "male" from that instrument.
+
+It is rather remarkable that in a State which so early established
+two colleges admitting women--Oberlin in 1834, and Antioch in
+1853--any intelligent women should have been found at so late a
+date as April 15, 1870, to protest against the right of
+self-government for themselves, yet such is the case, as the
+following protest shows:
+
+     We acknowledge no inferiority to men. We claim to have no less
+     ability to perform the duties which God has imposed upon us than
+     they have to perform those imposed upon them. We believe that God
+     has wisely and well adapted each sex to the proper performance of
+     the duties of each. We believe our trusts to be as important and
+     as sacred as any that exist on earth. We feel that our present
+     duties fill up the whole measure of our time and abilities; and
+     that they are such as none but ourselves can perform. Their
+     importance requires us to protest against all efforts to compel
+     us to assume those obligations which cannot be separated from
+     suffrage; but which cannot be performed by us without the
+     sacrifice of the highest interests of our families and of
+     society. It is our fathers, brothers, husbands and sons, who
+     represent us at the ballot-box. Our fathers and brothers love us.
+     Our husbands are our choice, and one with us. Our sons are what
+     _we_ make them. We are content that they represent us in the
+     corn-field, the battle-field, at the ballot-box and the jury-box,
+     and we them, in the church, the school-room, at the fireside and
+     at the cradle; believing our representation, even at the
+     ballot-box, to be thus more full and impartial than it could
+     possibly be, were all women allowed to vote. We do, therefore
+     respectively protest against legislation to establish woman
+     suffrage in Ohio.
+
+The above paper, signed by more than one hundred ladies of Lorain
+county, was presented, March 14, 1870, to the legislature assembled
+at Columbus. Mrs. Sarah Knowles Bolton, criticising the Oberlin
+protestants, said:
+
+     That so many signed is not strange, because the non-suffrage side
+     is the popular one at present. Years hence, when it shall be
+     customary for women to vote, it is questionable whether the lady
+     who drew up that document would have many supporters.
+
+     If "we are not inferior to men," we must have as clear opinions
+     and as good judgment as they. To say, then, that we are not
+     capable of judging of political questions, is untrue. To say that
+     we are not interested in such things is absurd, for who can be
+     more anxious for good laws and good law-makers than women, who,
+     for the most part, have sons and daughters in this whirlpool of
+     temptation, called social and business life. If we are too
+     ignorant to have an opinion, the fault lies at our own door.
+
+     These ladies reason upon the premises that the duties imposed
+     upon us as we find them in this nineteenth century, are the
+     duties, conditions, and relations established of God. Two things
+     we do certainly find in the Bible with regard to this matter;
+     that women are to bear children, and men to earn bread. The first
+     duty we believe has been confined entirely to the female sex, but
+     the male sex have not kept the other in all cases. If anybody has
+     belonged for any considerable time to a benevolent institution,
+     he has ascertained that women sometimes are obliged to earn bread
+     and bear children also. A century or two ago, when women seldom
+     thought of writing books, or being physicians or lawyers,
+     professors or teachers, or doing anything but housework, probably
+     they thought, as the ladies of Lorain county do to-day, they were
+     in the blessed noonday of woman's enlightenment and happiness.
+     Their husbands, very likely, needed something of the same
+     companionship as the men of the present, but it was unpopular for
+     girls to attend school. If these ladies, after careful study and
+     thought, believe that woman suffrage will work evil in the land,
+     they ought to say that, rather than base it upon lack of time.
+     The enfranchisement of 15,000,000 women will be a balance of
+     power for good or evil that will need looking after. As for our
+     representing men at the fireside, I think it a great deal
+     pleasanter that they be there in person. Nothing is more blessed
+     than the home circle, and here I think if husbands were not so
+     often represented by their wives, while they are absent evening
+     after evening on "important business," the condition of things
+     would be improved. If the ladies aforesaid cannot vote without
+     the highest interests of their families being sacrificed, they
+     ought to be allowed to remain in peace. I am glad they made this
+     protest, not only because this is a country where honest views
+     ought to be expressed, but because agitation pushes forward
+     reform. I am glad that nearly half of our representatives were in
+     favor of submitting this question to the women of the State, and
+     that our interests were so ably defended by a talented
+     representative from our own district. I do not think, however, by
+     submitting it to the women, they would get a correct expression
+     upon the subject. A good many would vote for suffrage, a few
+     against it, and thousands would be afraid to vote. If it is
+     granted, I do not suppose all women will vote immediately. Many
+     prejudices will first have to give way. If women vote what they
+     wish to vote, and there is no disorderly conduct at the polls in
+     consequence, and no general disorder in the body politic, I do
+     not see any objection to the voting being continued from year to
+     year.
+
+     When women like Miss Jones of our city, now in California, take a
+     few more professorships in a university over half-a-hundred
+     competitors, write a few more libraries, show themselves capable
+     of solving great questions, become ornaments to their
+     professions, it will seem more absurd for them not to be
+     enfranchised than it does now for them to be so.
+
+Hon. J. M. Ashley, of Toledo, in a speech on the floor of congress,
+June 1, 1868, said:
+
+     I want citizenship and suffrage to be synonymous. To put the
+     question beyond the power of States to withhold it, I propose the
+     amendment to article fourteen, now submitted. A large number of
+     Republicans who concede that the qualifications of an elector
+     ought to be the same in every State, and that it is more properly
+     a national than a State question, do not believe congress has the
+     power under our present constitution to enact a law conferring
+     suffrage in the States, nevertheless they are ready and willing
+     to vote for such an amendment to the constitution as shall make
+     citizenship and suffrage uniform throughout the nation. For this
+     purpose I have added to the proposed amendment for the election
+     of president a section on suffrage, to which I invite special
+     attention.
+
+     This is the third or fourth time I have brought forward a
+     proposition on suffrage substantially like the one just presented
+     to the House. I do so again because I believe the question of
+     citizenship suffrage one which ought to be met and settled now.
+     Important and all-absorbing as many questions are which now press
+     themselves upon our consideration, to me no one is so vitally
+     important as this. Tariffs, taxation, and finance ought not to be
+     permitted to supersede a question affecting the peace and
+     personal security of every citizen, and, I may add, the peace and
+     security of the nation. No party can be justified in withholding
+     the ballot from any citizen of mature years, native or foreign
+     born, except such as are _non compos_ or are guilty of infamous
+     crimes; nor can they justly confer this great privilege upon one
+     class of citizens to the exclusion of another class.
+
+The _Revolution_ of March 19, 1868, said:
+
+     Notwithstanding the most determined hostility to the demands of
+     the age for female physicians, institutions for their educational
+     preparation for professional responsibilities are rapidly
+     increasing. The ball first began to move in the United
+     States,[290] and now a female medical college is in successful
+     operation in London, where the favored monopolizers of physic and
+     surgery were resolved to keep out all new ideas in their line by
+     acts of parliament. But the ice-walls of opposition have melted
+     away, and even in Russia a woman has graduated with high medical
+     honors.
+
+The following statistics from Thomas Wentworth Higginson settle
+many popular objections to a collegiate education for women:
+
+     GRADUATES OF ANTIOCH COLLEGE.--In a paper read before the Social
+     Science Association in the spring of 1874 I pointed out the
+     presumption to be, that if a desire for knowledge was implanted
+     in the minds of women, they had also as a class the physical
+     capacity to gratify it; and that therefore the burden of proof
+     lay on those who opposed such education, on physiological
+     grounds, to collect facts in support of their position. In
+     criticising Dr. Clarke's book, "Sex in Education," I called
+     attention to the fact that he has made no attempt to do this, but
+     has merely given a few detached cases, whose scientific value is
+     impaired by the absence of all proof whether they stand for few
+     or many. We need many facts and a cautious induction; not merely
+     a few facts and a sweeping induction. I am now glad to put on
+     record a tabular view[291] of the graduates of Antioch, with
+     special reference to their physical health and condition; the
+     facts being collected and mainly arranged by Professor J. B.
+     Weston of Antioch--who has been connected with that institution
+     from its foundation--with the aid of Mrs. Weston and Rev. Olympia
+     Brown, both graduates of the college. For the present form of the
+     table, however, I alone am responsible.
+
+     It appears that of the 41 graduates, ranging from the year 1857
+     to 1873, no fewer than 36 are now living. Of these the health of
+     11 is reported as "very good"; 19 "good"; making 30 in all; 1 is
+     reported as "fair"; 1 "uncertain"; 1 "not good," and 3 "unknown."
+     Of the 41 graduates, 30 are reported as married and 11 are
+     single, five of these last having graduated within three years.
+     Of the 30 married, 24 have children, numbering 48 or 49 in all.
+     Of the 6 childless, 3 are reported as very recently married; one
+     died a few months after marriage, and the facts in the other
+     cases are not given. Thirty-four of the forty-one have taught
+     since graduated, and I agree with Professor Weston that teaching
+     is as severe a draft on the constitution as study. Taking these
+     facts as a whole, I do not see how the most earnest advocate of
+     higher education could ask for a more encouraging exhibit; and I
+     submit the case without argument, so far as this pioneer
+     experiment at coeducation is concerned. If any man seriously
+     believes that his non-collegiate relatives are in better physical
+     condition than this table shows, I advise him to question
+     forty-one of them and tabulate the statistics obtained.
+
+In the following editorial in the _Woman's Journal_ Mr. Higginson
+pursues the opposition still more closely, and answers their
+frivolous objections:
+
+     I am surprised to find that Professor W.S. Tyler of Amherst
+     College, in his paper on "The Higher Education of Woman," in
+     _Scribner's Monthly_ for February, repeats the unfair statements
+     of President Eliot of Harvard, in regard to Oberlin College. The
+     fallacy and incorrectness of those statements were pointed out on
+     the spot by several, and were afterwards thoroughly shown by
+     President Fairchild of Oberlin; yet Professor Tyler repeats them
+     all. He asserts that there has been a great falling off in the
+     number of students in that college; he entirely ignores the
+     important fact of the great multiplication of colleges which
+     admit women; and he implies, if he does not assert, that the
+     separate ladies' course at Oberlin has risen as a substitute for
+     the regular college course. His words are these, the italics
+     being my own:
+
+          In Oberlin, where the experiment has been tried under the
+          most favorable circumstances, it has proved a failure so far
+          as the regular college course is concerned. The number of
+          young women in that course, instead of increasing with the
+          prosperity of the institution, _has diminished, so that it
+          now averages only two or three to a class_. The rest pursue
+          a different curriculum, live in a separate dormitory, and
+          study by themselves in a course of their own, reciting,
+          indeed, with the young men, and by way of reciprocity and in
+          true womanly compassion, allowing some of them to sit at
+          their table in the dining-hall, but yet constituting
+          substantially a female seminary, or, if you please, a
+          woman's college in the university.--_Scribner, February,
+          page 457._
+
+     Now, it was distinctly stated by President Fairchild last summer,
+     that this "different curriculum" was the course originally marked
+     out for women, and that the regular college course was an
+     after-thought. This disposes of the latter part of Professor
+     Tyler's statement. I revert, therefore, to his main statement,
+     that "the number of young women in the collegiate course has
+     diminished, so that it now averages only two or three to a
+     class." Any reader would suppose his meaning to be that taking
+     one year with another, and comparing later years with the early
+     years of Oberlin, there has been a diminution of women. What is
+     the fact? The Oberlin College triennial catalogue of 1872 lies
+     before me, and I have taken the pains to count and tabulate the
+     women graduated in different years, during the thirty-two years
+     after 1841, when they began to be graduated there. Dividing them
+     into decennial periods, I find the numbers to be as follows:
+     1841-1850, thirty-two women were graduated; 1851-1860, seventeen
+     women were graduated; 1861-1870, forty women were graduated. From
+     this it appears that during the third decennial period there was
+     not only no diminution, but actually a higher average than
+     before. During the first period the classes averaged 3.2 women;
+     during the second period 1.7 women, and during the third period 4
+     women. Or if, to complete the exhibit, we take in the two odd
+     classes at the end, and make the third period consist of twelve
+     classes, the average will still be 3.8, and will be larger than
+     either of the previous periods. Or if, disregarding the even
+     distribution of periods, we take simply the last ten years, the
+     average will be 3.1. Moreover, during the first period there was
+     one class (1842) which contained no women at all; and during the
+     second period there were three such classes (1852-3, 7); while
+     during the third period every class has had at least one woman.
+
+     It certainly would not have been at all strange if there had been
+     a great falling off in the number of graduates of Oberlin. At the
+     outset it had the field to itself. Now the census gives
+     fifty-five "colleges" for women, besides seventy-seven which
+     admit both sexes. Many of these are inferior to Oberlin, no
+     doubt, but some rose rapidly to a prestige far beyond this
+     pioneer institution. With Cornell University on the one side, and
+     the University of Michigan on the other--to say nothing of minor
+     institutions--the wonder is that Oberlin could have held its own
+     at all. Yet the largest class of women it ever graduated
+     (thirteen) was so late as 1865, and if the classes since then
+     "average but two or three," so did the classes for several years
+     before that date. Professor Tyler knows very well that classes
+     fluctuate in every college, and that a decennial period is the
+     least by which the working of any system can be tested. Tried by
+     this test, the alleged diminution assumes a very different
+     aspect. If, however, there were a great decline at Oberlin, it
+     would simply show a transfer of students to other colleges, since
+     neither Professor Tyler nor President Eliot will deny that the
+     total statistics of colleges show a rapid increase in the number
+     of women.
+
+     Moreover, I confess that my confidence in Professor Tyler's sense
+     of accuracy is greatly impaired by these assertions about
+     Oberlin, and also by his statement, which I must call reckless,
+     at least, in regard to the inferiority in truth, purity and
+     virtue of those women who seek the suffrage. He asserts (page
+     456) that "women--women generally--the truest, purest and best of
+     the sex--do not wish for the right of suffrage." Now, if the
+     women who oppose suffrage are truest, purest and best, the women
+     who advocate it must plainly be inferior at all these points; and
+     that is an assertion which not only these women themselves, but
+     their brothers, husbands and sons are certainly entitled to
+     resent. Mr. Tyler has a perfect right to argue for his own views,
+     for or against suffrage, but he has no right to copy the Oriental
+     imprecation, and say to his opponents, "May the grave of your
+     mother be defiled!." He claims that he holds official relations
+     to one "woman's college," one "female seminary" and one "young
+     ladies' institute." Will it conduce to the moral training of
+     those who enter those institutions that their officers set them
+     the example of impugning the purity and virtue of those who
+     differ in opinion from themselves?
+
+     But supposing Professor Tyler not to be bound by the usual bonds
+     of courtesy or of justice, he is at least bound by the
+     consistency of his own position. Thus, he goes out of his way to
+     compliment Mrs. Somerville and Miss Mitchell. Both these ladies
+     are identified with the claim for suffrage. He lauds "Uncle Tom's
+     Cabin," but Mrs. Stowe has written almost as ably for the
+     enfranchisement of woman as for the freedom of the blacks. He
+     praises the "sacramental host of authoresses," who, he says,
+     "will move on with ever-growing power, overthrowing oppression,
+     restraining vice and crime, reforming morals and manners,
+     purifying public sentiment, revolutionizing business, society and
+     government, till every yoke is broken and all nations are won to
+     the truth." But it has been again and again shown that the
+     authoresses of America are, with but two or three exceptions, in
+     favor of woman suffrage, and, therefore, instead of being
+     "sacramental," do not even belong to Professor Tyler's class of
+     "wisest, truest and best." He thus selects for compliment on one
+     page the very women whom he has traduced on another. His own
+     witnesses testify against him. It is a pity that such phrases of
+     discourtesy and unfairness should disfigure an essay which in
+     many respects says good words for women, recommends that they
+     should study Greek, and says, in closing, that their elevation
+     "is at once the measure and the means of the elevation of
+     mankind."
+
+In the autumn of 1884 an effort was made to exclude women from
+Adelbert College. We give an account thereof from the pen of Mrs.
+Sarah Knowles Bolton, published in the _English Woman's Review_ of
+January, 1885:
+
+     DEAR EDITOR: The city of Cleveland has been stirred for weeks on
+     this question of woman's higher education. Western Reserve
+     College, founded in 1826, at Hudson, was moved to Cleveland in
+     1874, because of a gift of $100,000 from Mr. Amasa Stone, with
+     the change of name to Adelbert College, in memory of an only son.
+     A few young women had been students since 1873. In Cleveland,
+     about twenty young ladies availed themselves of such admirable
+     home privileges. Their scholarship was excellent--higher than
+     that of the young men. They were absent from exercises only half
+     as much as the men. Their conduct was above reproach. A short
+     time since the faculty, except the president, Dr. Carroll Cutler,
+     petitioned the board of trustees to discontinue coeducation at
+     the college, for the assumed reasons that girls require different
+     training from boys, never "identical" education; that it is
+     trying to their health to recite before young men; "the strain
+     upon the nervous system from mortifying mistakes and serious
+     corrections is to many young ladies a cruel additional burden
+     laid upon them in the course of study"; "that the provision we
+     offer to girls is not the best, and is even dangerous"; that
+     "where women are admitted, the college becomes second or
+     third-rate, and that, worst of all, young men will be deterred
+     from coming to this college by the presence of ladies." An
+     "annex" was recommended, not with college degrees, but a
+     subordinate arrangement with "diploma examinations, so far and so
+     fast as the resources of the college shall allow."
+
+     As soon as the subject became known, the newspapers of the city
+     took up the question. As the public furnishes the means and the
+     students for every college, the public were vitally interested.
+     Ministers preached about it, and they, with doctors and lawyers,
+     wrote strong articles, showing that no "annex" was desired; that
+     parents wished thorough, high, self-reliant education for their
+     daughters as for their sons; that health was not injured by the
+     embarrassment (?) of reciting before young men; that young men
+     had not been deterred from going to Ann Arbor, Oberlin, Cornell,
+     and other institutions where there are young women; that it was
+     unjust to make girls go hundreds of miles away to Vassar or Smith
+     or Wellesley, when boys were provided with the best education at
+     their very doors; that, with over half the colleges of this
+     country admitting women, with the colleges of Italy, Switzerland,
+     Sweden, Holland and France throwing open their doors to women,
+     for Adelbert College to shut them out, would be a step backward
+     in civilization.
+
+     The women of the city took up the matter, and several thousands
+     of our best names were obtained to a petition, asking that girls
+     be retained members of the college; judges and leading persons
+     gladly signed. The trustees met November 7, 1884. The whole city
+     eagerly waited the result. The chairman of the committee, Hon. I.
+     W. Chamberlain of Columbus, who had been opposed to coeducation
+     at first, from the favorable reports received by him from
+     colleges all over the country, had become a thorough convert, and
+     the report was able and convincing.
+
+     President Angell of Michigan University, where there are 1,500
+     students, wrote: "Women were admitted here under the pressure of
+     public sentiment against the wishes of most of the professors.
+     But I think no professor now regrets it, or would favor the
+     exclusion of women. We made no solitary modification of our rules
+     or requirements. The women did not become hoydenish; they did not
+     fail in their studies; they did not break down in health; they
+     have been graduated in all departments; they have not been
+     inferior in scholarship to the men. We count the experiment here
+     successful."
+
+     Galusha Anderson, president of Chicago University, wrote: "Our
+     only law here is that the students shall act as gentlemen and
+     ladies. They mingle freely together, just as they do in society,
+     as I think God intended that they should, and the effect in all
+     respects is good. I have never had the slightest trouble from the
+     association of the sexes."
+
+     Chancellor Manatt of Nebraska University, for four years engaged
+     in university work at Yale, in answer to the questions as to
+     whether boys would be driven away from the institution, replied:
+     "This question sounds like a joke in this longitude. As well say
+     a girl's being born into a family turns the boys out of doors. It
+     rather strengthens the home attraction. So in the university. I
+     believe there is not a professor or student here who would not,
+     for good and solid reasons, fight for the system."
+
+     President Warren of Boston University, lately the recipient of,
+     L200,000, wrote: "The only opponents of coeducation I have ever
+     known are persons who know nothing about it practically, and
+     whose difficulties are all speculative and imaginary. Men are
+     more manly and women more womanly when concerted in a wholly
+     human society than when educated in a half-human one."
+
+     President White of Cornell wrote: "I regard the 'annex' for women
+     in our colleges as a mere make-shift and step in the progress
+     toward the full admission of women to all college classes, and I
+     think that this is a very general view among men who have given
+     unprejudiced thought to the subject. Having now gone through one
+     more year, making twelve in all since women were admitted, I do
+     not hesitate to say that I believe their presence here is good
+     for us in every respect."
+
+     Professor Moses Coit Tyler of Cornell said: "My observation has
+     been that under the joint system the tone of college life has
+     grown more earnest, more courteous and refined, less flippant and
+     cynical. The women are usually among the very best scholars, and
+     lead instead of drag, and their lapses from good health are
+     rather, yes, decidedly, less numerous than those alleged by the
+     men. There is a sort of young man who thinks it not quite the
+     thing, you know, to be in a college where women are; and he goes
+     away, if he can, and I am glad to have him do so. The vacuum he
+     causes is not a large one, and his departure is more than made up
+     by the arrival in his stead of a more robust and manlier sort."
+
+     The only objectors to coeducation were from those colleges which
+     had never tried it; President Porter of Yale thought it a
+     suitable method for post-graduate classes, and President Seeley
+     for a course of "lower grade" than Amherst.
+
+     President Cutler of Adelbert College made an able report, showing
+     that the progress of the age is towards coeducation. Only
+     fifty-three Protestant colleges, founded since 1830, exclude
+     women; while 156 coeducational institutions have been established
+     since that date.
+
+     Some of the trustees thought it desirable to imitate Yale,[292]
+     and others felt that _they_ knew what studies are desirable for
+     woman better than she knew herself! When the vote was taken, to
+     their honor be it said, it was twelve to six, or two to one, in
+     favor of coeducation. The girls celebrated this just and manly
+     decision by a banquet.
+
+The inauguration of the women's crusade at this time (1874) in Ohio
+created immense excitement, not only throughout that State, but it
+was the topic for the pulpit and the press all over the nation.
+Those identified with the woman suffrage movement, while deeply
+interested in the question of temperance, had no sympathy with what
+they felt to be a desecration of womanhood and of the religious
+element in woman. They felt that the fitting place for petitions
+and appeals was in the halls of legislation, to senators and
+congressmen, rather than rumsellers and drunkards in the dens of
+vice and the public thoroughfares. It was pitiful to see the faith
+of women in God's power to effect impossibilities. Like produces
+like in the universe of matter and mind, and so long as women
+consent to make licentious, drunken men the fathers of their
+children, no power in earth or heaven can save the race from these
+twin vices. The following letter from Miriam M. Cole makes some
+good points on this question:
+
+     If the "woman's war against whisky" had been inaugurated by the
+     woman suffrage party, its aspect, in the eyes of newspapers,
+     would be different from what it now is. If Lucy Stone had set the
+     movement on foot, it would have been so characteristic of her!
+     What more could one expect from such a disturber of public peace?
+     She, who has no instinctive scruples against miscellaneous crowds
+     at the polls, might be expected to visit saloons and piously
+     serenade their owners, until patience ceases to be a virtue. But
+     for women who are so pressed with domestic cares that they have
+     no time to vote; for women who shun notoriety so much that they
+     are unwilling to ask permission to vote; for women who believe
+     that men are quite capable of managing State and municipal
+     affairs without their interference; for them to have set on foot
+     the present crusade, how queer! Their singing, though charged
+     with a moral purpose, and their prayers, though directed to a
+     specific end, do not make their warfare a whit more feminine, nor
+     their situation more attractive. A woman knocking out the head of
+     a whisky barrel with an ax, to the tune of Old Hundred, is not
+     the ideal woman sitting on a sofa, dining on strawberries and
+     cream, and sweetly warbling, "The Rose that All are Praising."
+     She is as far from it as Susan B. Anthony was when pushing her
+     ballot into the box. And all the difference between the musical
+     saint spilling the precious liquid and the unmusical saint
+     offering her vote is, that the latter tried to kill several birds
+     with one stone, and the former aims at only one.
+
+     Intemperance, great a curse as it is, is not the only evil whose
+     effects bear most heavily on women. Wrong is hydra-headed, and to
+     work so hard to cut off one head, when there is a way by which
+     all may be dissevered, is not a far-sighted movement; and when
+     you add to this the fact that the head is not really cut off, but
+     only dazed by unexpected melodies and supplications, there is
+     little satisfaction in the effort. We learn that, outside of town
+     corporations that have been lately "rectified," the liquor
+     traffic still goes on, and the war is to be carried into the
+     suburbs. What then? Where next? Which party can play this game
+     the longer? Tears, prayers and songs will soon lose their
+     novelty--this spasmodic effort will be likely soon to spend
+     itself; is there any permanent good being wrought? Liquor traffic
+     opposes woman suffrage, and with good reasons. It knows that
+     votes change laws, and it also knows that the votes of women
+     would change the present temperance laws and make them worth the
+     paper on which they are printed. While this uprising of women is
+     a hopeful sign, yet it cannot make one law black or white. It
+     may, for a time, mold public opinion, but depraved passions and
+     appetites need wholesome laws to restrain them. If women would
+     only see this and demand the exercise of their right of suffrage
+     with half the zeal and unanimity with which they storm a man's
+     castle, it would be granted. This is the only ax to lay at the
+     root of the tree.
+
+     Springfield, Ohio, has just had a case in a Justice Court which
+     attracted much attention and awakened much interest. A woman
+     whose husband had reduced his family to utter want by
+     drunkenness, entered a suit against the rumseller. An appeal from
+     the drunkard's wife to the ladies of Springfield had been
+     circulated in the daily papers, which so aroused them that a
+     large delegation of the most respectable and pious women of the
+     city came into the court. But the case was adjourned for a week.
+     During this time the excitement had become so great that when the
+     trial came on the court-room was full of spectators, and the
+     number of ladies within the rail was increased three-fold. Mrs.
+     E. D. Stewart made the plea to the jury. A verdict was rendered
+     against the rumseller. An appeal will be taken; but the citizens
+     of Springfield will never forget the influence which the presence
+     of women, in sympathy with another wronged woman, had upon the
+     court. And what added power those women would have had as
+     judges, jurors and advocates; citizens crowned with all the
+     rights, privileges and immunities justly theirs by law and
+     constitution.
+
+Of the work in Geauga county, Mrs. Sophia Ober Allen, of South
+Newbury writes:
+
+     In the winter of 1851-2, Anson Read circulated a petition praying
+     the legislature to protect married women in their property
+     rights; and from that time the subject of women's rights was
+     frequently discussed in social and literary gatherings. In 1871,
+     Mrs. Lima Ober proposed to be one of six women to go to the
+     township election and offer her vote. Nine[293] joined her, but
+     all their votes were rejected, the judges saying they feared
+     trouble would be the result if they received them. From that year
+     to 1876 these heroic women of South Newbury persisted in offering
+     their votes at the town, state and presidential elections; and
+     though always refused, they would repair to another room with the
+     few noble men who sustained them, and there duly cast their
+     ballots for justice and equality. On one occasion they polled
+     fifty votes--thirty-one women and nineteen men. In 1876 they
+     adopted a series of stirring resolutions with a patriotic
+     declaration of principles.
+
+     In 1873, large meetings were held, and a memorial sent to the
+     constitutional convention, asking for an amendment, that "the
+     right to vote shall not be denied or abridged to any adult
+     citizen except for crime, idiocy or lunacy." On January 12, 1874,
+     a political club was organized,[294] which has been active in
+     holding meetings and picnics, circulating petitions and tracts.
+     On July 4, 1874, a basket picnic was held in Ober and Allen's
+     grove, at which Gen. A. C. Voris was among the speakers.[295]
+     Hon. A. G. Riddle, whose early life was spent mostly in Newbury,
+     encouraged and assisted the work, both by voice and pen. During
+     the winter of 1878, Susan B. Anthony, in company with my husband
+     and myself, lectured in several towns under the auspices of the
+     club. Miss Eva L. Pinney, a native of Newbury, was employed by
+     the club to canvass the county. Her success was marked. In 1879
+     the treasury received a bequest of $50, from Reuben H. Ober, who,
+     though spending much of his time in the East, ever sustained a
+     live interest in the home society.[296]
+
+Mrs. Sarah Langdon Williams sends us the following report from the
+Toledo society:
+
+     In the winter of 1869, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony returning
+     from an extended trip through the West, spent a few days in
+     Toledo. In addition to public meetings, their coming was the
+     occasion for many pleasant and hospitable gatherings. A large
+     circle of intelligent and earnest women were longing and waiting
+     to do something to speed the movement for woman suffrage, when
+     the coming of these pioneers of reform roused them to action. It
+     was like the match to the fire all ready for kindling, and an
+     organization was speedily effected.[297] From that time forward,
+     the air seemed magnetized with reform ideas, and to the loyal
+     band who stood true to their flag, new members were added from
+     time to time, and from this little band went forth an influence,
+     a steady force which has operated silently though continuously
+     through both visible and invisible channels, moulding the thought
+     and action of the community. The meetings of this association
+     were regularly reported by the daily press, with more or less
+     justice, according as the reporter present, or the newspaper
+     which reported the proceedings, was more or less friendly.
+
+     A letter published in _The Revolution_ of June 10, 1869,
+     indicates the practical work of our association:
+
+          The first skirmish along the line of the suffrage army in
+          Ohio has been fought, and the friends of reformation may
+          well rejoice at the result. In this city there has existed
+          for a long time a library association to which women were
+          admitted as members, but in the control or management of
+          which they had no voice. Under the pressure of influences
+          set in motion by your visit, it was resolved that this relic
+          of the past should be swept away, that women should be
+          represented in the management as well as in the membership
+          of the association. At the late election six directors were
+          to be chosen among other officers, and Miss Anna C.
+          Mott,[298] Mrs. M. W. Bond and Mrs. M. J. Barker were
+          candidates upon a ticket called the Equal Rights Ticket,
+          headed by Mr. A. W. Gleason, for president. The dangerous
+          proposition, not only of allowing women to vote, but of
+          giving them offices, was a bombshell in the camp of
+          conservatism, and every influence that could be, was brought
+          to bear against this ticket. After an exciting contest, the
+          result showed that notwithstanding a powerful and
+          influential opposition, the ticket was elected by a vote of
+          from 186 to 220 out of 327 votes. This result has been all
+          the more grateful, because in the opposition were to be
+          found many of the most wealthy and respected citizens of
+          Toledo.
+
+          As an index of the interest the women manifested in that
+          election, three-fourths of them voted. It was interesting to
+          notice the firmness with which the women walked up to the
+          ballot-box. No trembling was perceptible. They carried the
+          ballot with ease, deposited it with coolness, watched to see
+          that no fraud was perpetrated, and then departed as
+          noiselessly as they came. The deed was done. Woman's honor,
+          woman's purity, woman's domestic felicity, woman's conjugal
+          love, woman's fidelity to her home duties, all these and a
+          thousand other of the finer qualities were destroyed. No
+          more peace in families; no more quiet home evenings; no more
+          refined domestic women; but wrangling and discords instead.
+          Soldiers and sailors, policemen and gravel-shovelers had
+          taken the place of wives and mothers. Sick at heart I went
+          to my home and wept for American womanhood. But the sun rose
+          as usual, and the world still revolved. I went to the
+          police-court--all was quiet. I passed to the county-court,
+          and looked over the docket--no new divorce cases met my
+          gaze. With unsteady hand I have opened the morning papers
+          for the past few days, but nothing there betrayed the
+          terrible results of that false step. Oh, women! women! In
+          the days of Indian warfare, the skilled hunter would tell
+          you that after an attack, when all was quiet, and you
+          thought the enemy had departed, the greatest danger awaited,
+          and the most careful vigilance was required. So I still keep
+          watching, for I know the vengeance of the gods must fall
+          upon this worse than Sodom, for since women have voted,
+          surely there be not five righteous within the city. Real
+          estate is not falling, however, but then!--
+
+          The evening after the election, the friends of the
+          association and of the successful tickets, gathered to
+          witness the incoming of the new administration. Hearty words
+          of cheer for the future were spoken. The president, Mr.
+          Gleason, delivered a beautiful inaugural address, of which I
+          send you a few sentences, and the meeting adjourned.
+
+          The president said: While thanking you most heartily, ladies
+          and gentlemen, for the distinguished honor conferred upon me
+          in the election, I do not forget that it is due to the great
+          principles of equal rights and universal suffrage--not to
+          any merits of my own. We live in an age of progress. In my
+          humble opinion we have taken a great step forward in
+          admitting ladies to the management of this association--not
+          only from the fact that in this particular institution they
+          hold an equal footing with ourselves, and of right are
+          entitled to all its privileges, but from the more important
+          fact that it is a recognition here of those principles which
+          are now claiming recognition in the political institutions
+          of our country. It is in the natural order of events that
+          this "equal rights" movement should meet with opposition.
+          All movements of a novel and radical character at their
+          commencement meet with opposition. This is the ordeal
+          through which they must pass, but their success or failure
+          depends upon their intrinsic merit. Nothing is to be feared
+          from opposition to any movement that possesses these
+          elements. Whatsoever idea has its origin in the recesses of
+          human nature, will, sooner or later, become embodied in
+          living action, and so we have this assurance--that as here,
+          so also in the political institutions of our country--this
+          principle of equal rights, both to man and woman, will at
+          last prevail.
+
+     In 1871 the _Sunday Journal_ offered the association half a
+     column, which was gratefully accepted, and Mrs. Sarah Langdon
+     Williams appointed editor. The department increased to a full
+     page, and the circulation of the paper became as large as that of
+     either of the city dailies. When there was danger of its being
+     sold to opponents of the cause, Mrs. Williams purchased one-half
+     interest, and by so doing kept the other half in the hands of the
+     friendly proprietor. In the _Sunday Journal_ the association had
+     a medium through which it could promptly answer all unjust
+     attacks, and thus kept up a constant agitation. In November,
+     1875, the sale of the paper closed for a while direct
+     communication between the association and the public. But soon
+     becoming restive without any medium through which to express
+     itself, the society started _The Ballot-Box_ in April, 1876,
+     raising money among the citizens in aid of the enterprise. With
+     this first assistance the paper became at once self-supporting,
+     and continued thus until April, 1878,[299] when it was
+     transferred to Matilda Joslyn Gage, and published at Syracuse, N.
+     Y.
+
+     The convention for the remodeling of the constitution of the
+     State, in 1873-74, afforded an opportunity for unflagging efforts
+     of the members of the association in the circulation of
+     petitions; and so successful were they that when their delegates
+     presented themselves with 1,500 signatures, asking for an
+     amendment securing the right of suffrage to women, a member of
+     the convention, on scanning the roll, exclaimed: "Why, you have
+     here all the solid men of Lucas county." Mr. M. R. Waite, since
+     chief-justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was
+     president of the convention, and in presenting the petition said
+     the names on that paper represented fifteen millions of dollars.
+     Mr. Waite's courtesy indicated stronger convictions regarding the
+     rights of women than he really possessed. In an interview with
+     our committee, appointed to secure a hearing from the
+     members-elect--Mr. Waite and Mr. Scribner--Mr. Waite declared
+     himself in favor of according equal wages to women, and believed
+     them entitled to all other rights, except the right to vote. He
+     thought women were entitled to a hearing in the convention, and
+     would aid them all he could to secure the privilege. Mr. Waite,
+     with great kindness of nature, possesses an inborn conservatism
+     which curbs his more generous impulses. He adhered to this
+     position in his decision in the case of _Minor vs. Happersett_,
+     declaring that "the constitution of the United States has no
+     voters." Many of the most sanguine friends were greatly
+     disappointed. They had fully believed his love of justice would
+     lead him to the broad interpretation of the constitution, so
+     clearly the true one, set forth in the first article of the
+     fourteenth amendment. It did prevail, however, when, after saying
+     the constitution does not confer the right of suffrage with
+     citizenship, he said: "If the law is wrong, it ought to be
+     changed; but the power is not with the Supreme Court."
+
+     When, in February, 1873, an irascible judge of the Court of
+     Common Pleas refused to ratify the appointment of a woman--Miss
+     Mary Sibley--to the office of deputy clerk, which she had filled
+     for eight years with unusual acceptance, on the ground that not
+     being an elector she was legally disqualified, the association
+     determined to dispute the decision in her behalf, and on applying
+     through their president to Mr. Waite to act as counsel, he gave
+     his unhesitating acceptance, and declared that if the appointment
+     was illegal, the law ought to be changed at once. True to his
+     promise, he defended her most ably, and engaged other counsel to
+     act with him. His services were given gratuitously.
+
+     Subsequently, in the constitutional convention, an amendment was
+     adopted making women eligible to appointive offices, and also to
+     any office under the school control, with the exception of State
+     commissioner. But when voted upon, the new constitution was lost,
+     and with it these amendments. The cause had able advocates in the
+     convention, leading whom was General A. C. Voris of Akron, who
+     was made chairman of the Special Committee on Woman Suffrage. The
+     Standing Committee on Elective Franchise was extremely
+     unfriendly, conspicuously so the chairman, Mr. Sample. A Special
+     Committee on Woman Suffrage was appointed, which performed its
+     duty faithfully, and reported unanimously in favor. Mr. Voris
+     worked for the measure with an enthusiasm equaled only by his
+     ability. When the report came up for discussion he made a
+     masterly speech of two hours, during which the attention was so
+     close that a pin could be heard to drop. Other able speeches were
+     also made in favor of the measure by some of the most talented
+     members of the convention. It came within two votes of being
+     carried. The defeat was largely due to the liquor influence in
+     the convention. The cause, however, received a new impetus
+     through the exertions of General Voris, to whom, second to no
+     other person in Ohio, should the thanks of the women be rendered.
+     During the contest the Toledo society was constantly on the
+     alert. On three occasions it sent its delegates to the
+     convention; but it has not limited its work to Ohio alone; it has
+     given freely of its means whenever it could to aid the struggle
+     in other States, and has rolled up large petitions to congress
+     asking for a sixteenth amendment.
+
+     When the State convention met in Toledo, February, 1873, the
+     members of the city society exerted themselves to the utmost to
+     have all arrangements for their reception and entertainment of
+     the most satisfactory character, and the delegates unanimously
+     agreed they had never before had so delightful and successful a
+     meeting. Many lasting friendships were formed. The opera-house
+     was well filled at every session of the three days' convention.
+     At the opening session a cordial address of welcome was given by
+     Rev. Robert McCune, one of Toledo's most eloquent Republicans.
+     The mayor of the city, Dr. W. W. Jones, a staunch Democrat, also
+     made a courteous speech.
+
+     The Toledo Society has always held itself an independent
+     organization, though its members, individually, have identified
+     themselves as they chose with other associations. Its attitude
+     has been of the most uncompromising character. It has never been
+     cajoled into accepting a crumb in any way in the place of the
+     whole loaf. Sometimes this has brought upon it the condemnation
+     of friends, but in the long run it has won respect, even from
+     bitter opponents. An illustration of this was given in its action
+     with regard to the centennial celebration. The Fourth of July,
+     1876, was to be observed in Toledo as a great gala day. Long
+     before its arrival preparations were in progress through which
+     patriotic citizens were to express their gratitude over the
+     nation's prosperity on the one-hundredth anniversary of freedom.
+     All trades, professions and organizations were to join in one
+     vast triumphal procession. A call was issued for a meeting, to
+     which all organizations were requested to send representatives.
+     The Woman Suffrage Association was not neglected, and a circular
+     of invitation was mailed to its president. This raised a delicate
+     question, for how could women take part in celebrating the
+     triumphs of their country whose laws disfranchised them? But,
+     having received a courteous recognition, they must respond with
+     equal courtesy. The letter was laid before the society, and the
+     president instructed to politely decline the honor. _The
+     Ballot-Box_ of May, 1876, contains the correspondence:
+
+                                   TOLEDO, Ohio, April 8, 1876.
+
+          At a meeting of citizens, held at White's Hall, on the
+          evening of the 6th inst., the undersigned were instructed to
+          invite your organization, with others, to send a
+          representative to a meeting to be held at White's Hall, on
+          the evening of Monday, April 17, which will elect an
+          executive committee, and make other arrangements for a
+          celebration by Toledo of the one-hundredth anniversary of
+          American independence in a manner befitting the occasion and
+          the character of our city. It is earnestly desired that
+          every organization, of whatever nature, in Toledo, be
+          represented at this meeting. We would, therefore, ask of you
+          that you lay the matter before your organization at its next
+          regular meeting, or in case it shall hold no meeting before
+          the 17th, that you appear as a representative yourself.
+
+                                               GUIDO MARX, _Chairman_.
+
+          D. R. LOCKE, JAMES H. EMORY, _Secretaries_.
+
+     This was laid before the association at a meeting which occurred
+     the same afternoon, and by the order of the society the
+     invitation therein conveyed was replied to in season to be read
+     at the meeting at White's Hall, April 17:
+
+
+                                   TOLEDO, Ohio, April 15, 1876.
+
+          _Hon. Guido Marx, Messrs. D. R. Locke and James H. Emory_:
+
+          GENTLEMEN: The printed circular, with your names attached,
+          inclosed to my address as president of the Toledo Woman
+          Suffrage Association, inviting that body to send a
+          representative to a meeting to be held at White's Hall,
+          Monday evening, April 17, to elect an executive committee
+          and make other arrangements for a celebration by Toledo of
+          the one-hundredth anniversary of American independence, was
+          received just in time to lay before the meeting held April
+          10. It was there decided that while the members of the
+          association fully appreciate the generosity of the men of
+          Toledo, and feel grateful for the implied recognition of
+          their citizenship, yet they manifestly have no centennial to
+          celebrate, as the government still holds them in a condition
+          of political serfdom, denying them the greatest right of
+          citizenship--representation.
+
+          Conscious, however, of the great results which the nation's
+          hundred years have achieved in building up a great people,
+          we are aware that you, as American men, have cause for
+          rejoicing, and we bid you God-speed in all efforts which you
+          may make in the approaching celebration. In an equal degree
+          we feel it inconsistent, as a disfranchised class, to unite
+          with you in the celebration of that liberty which is the
+          heritage of but one-half the people. It is the will,
+          therefore, of the association that I respond to the above
+          effect, thanking you for your courteous invitation, and
+          recognizing with pleasure among your names those who have
+          heretofore extended to us their sympathy and aid. I remain,
+          with sincere respect, yours,
+
+                         SARAH R. L. WILLIAMS, _President T. W. S. A._
+
+     The letter was intended to be in all respects courteous, as the
+     writer and the society which she represented had naught but the
+     kindest of feelings toward those who, in so friendly a manner,
+     recognized their citizenship by inviting them to take part in the
+     meeting, and also toward the Toledo public, who, as a general
+     thing, had treated their organization with friendly
+     consideration. It appears, however, that their attitude was
+     misconstrued, according to articles subsequently published in the
+     _Blade_ and _Commercial_, which we reproduce below:
+
+          The women say they "manifestly have no centennial to
+          celebrate." If we are not mistaken, the women of this
+          country have enjoyed greater progress than the men under our
+          free government, and it illy becomes them now to steadily
+          and persistently pout because they have not yet attained the
+          full measure of their earthly desires--the ballot-box.
+          Better by far give a hearty show of appreciation of benefits
+          received, and thereby materially aid in further progress.
+          Nothing can be gained by their refusing to celebrate the
+          one-hundredth anniversary of civil and religious liberty.
+          The rights of all are necessarily restricted wherever there
+          is a government, and time and experience can alone
+          demonstrate just what extension or contraction of rights and
+          liberties may be essential to the general good. In our
+          judgment the women, by refusing to participate in the coming
+          Fourth of July celebration, have committed an error, the
+          influence of which cannot but prove prejudicial to the
+          interests of their association. The opposite course would
+          undoubtedly have won friends.--_Blade._
+
+          A singularly uncourteous letter was the one sent by the
+          Woman Suffrage Association to the meeting at White's Hall.
+          Ninety-nine-hundredths of the women of the country will be
+          surprised to learn that they "have no centennial to
+          celebrate," and will be still more surprised when they
+          discover that it is "inconsistent" for them to unite with
+          their brothers, fathers, sons and husbands "in the
+          celebration of the liberty which is the heritage" of _all_
+          the people. We cannot but feel that the claims set forth by
+          the association would command more respectful consideration
+          with the display of a different spirit. The maids and
+          matrons of 1776 were of a different mold.--_Commercial._
+
+     The _Blade_ has been a good friend to woman suffrage for many
+     years, but we feel that the present article was written in a
+     spirit of needless irritability, such as we should think might
+     ensue from a fit of indigestion. The _Commercial_, since its
+     change of management, has certainly not been unfriendly, and we
+     have thought fair. Its present comments are unjust. The following
+     editorial appeared in _The Ballot-Box_ of the same date:
+
+          WHY WE CANNOT CELEBRATE THE CENTENNIAL.--The city dailies
+          criticise the suffrage association somewhat severely for
+          declining to unite in the centennial celebration. Perhaps
+          from the outlook of masculine satisfaction it may seem
+          astonishing that patriotism should not inspire us with
+          gratitude for the crumbs from the national table; that we
+          should not rejoice at the great banquet being prepared. But
+          it is as impossible for us to look from their standpoint, as
+          for them to see from ours. While appreciating the kindnesses
+          measured out to us in this city by our friends and the
+          press, yet laboring without visible results for the
+          recognition of our rights as citizens of the United States,
+          we cannot, even through the potent incentive of sympathizing
+          with our "husbands, fathers, brothers and sons," lay aside
+          our grievances and rejoice in a triumph which more clearly
+          marks our own humiliation.
+
+          Can our friends inform us what is our crime, that we are
+          denied the right of representation? Can they point to any
+          mental or moral deficiency, to render justifiable our being
+          denied political rights? If not--if there is no just cause
+          for our disfranchisement, it surely should not excite
+          surprise that we cannot rejoice with those who
+          systematically persist in perpetrating this great wrong.
+          With no discredit to any of the sovereign voters of this
+          nation, we cannot forget that the most ignorant negro, the
+          most degraded foreigner, even refugees from justice, are
+          accorded the rights which we have been demanding in vain;
+          and we are conscious every day and hour these privileges are
+          denied us, that we are not only wronged by the American
+          government, but insulted. Every year that our appeals for
+          political rights to congress and the legislature are denied,
+          insult is heaped upon injury. Women are told by those who
+          are in the full enjoyment of all the privileges which this
+          government can confer, to rejoice in what little they have,
+          and wait patiently until more is bestowed. Wait we must,
+          because they have the reins of power, but to wait patiently,
+          with the light we have to perceive our relative condition,
+          would be doing that for which we should despise ourselves.
+
+          We are not laboring for to-day alone, but for the fruition
+          which must come from the establishment of justice. If we
+          fail in this memorial year, a brighter day must surely come.
+          Our failure now will be the failure of the country to
+          improve its opportunities. All the successes which may be
+          rejoiced over, all the triumphs of trade, commerce and
+          invention are secondary to the rights of citizens, to those
+          principles which lie at the foundation of national liberty.
+          When women are recognized as citizens of this republic,
+          there will be some occasion for their thankfulness and
+          rejoicing; then they can join in the jubilee which
+          celebrates the birthday of a mighty nation.
+
+     At the June meeting of the association, a declaration of rights,
+     and a series of radical resolutions were adopted. The president
+     urged the society to stand firm in the determination to take no
+     part in the centennial celebration, and the members of the
+     suffrage association passed the Fourth of July quietly at their
+     own homes, but they caused a banner, bearing the inscription,
+     "Woman Suffrage and Equal Rights," to be hung across one of the
+     principal streets, under which the whole procession passed. Of
+     the original members of the society,[300] some who during its
+     earlier years took an active part have removed elsewhere, and a
+     few have passed to the beyond. But the majority still remain, and
+     are earnest in their labors with the hope for a better day,
+     undampened by the delays and disappointments which attend every
+     step in progress.
+
+There is a flourishing association at Cleveland called the Western
+Reserve Club;[301] Mrs. Sarah M. Perkins and her highly educated
+daughters, graduates of Vassar College, are among the leading
+members. They hold regular meetings, have a course of lectures
+every winter and are exerting a wide influence. The club consists
+of thirty members, paying five dollars annually into the treasury.
+
+     The Painesville Equal Rights Society,[302] formed November 20,
+     1883, is one of the most flourishing county associations in the
+     State. It numbers 150 members, and it has organized many local
+     societies in the vicinity. The annual meeting of the State
+     society,[303] held at Painesville, May 11, 12, 13, 1885, with a
+     large representation of the most active friends present, by a
+     unanimous vote declared itself no longer auxiliary to the
+     American, and thereby secured the cooeperation of the Toledo,
+     South Newbury, and other independent local organizations of the
+     State.
+
+We are indebted to Annie Laurie Quinby for the following account of
+the founding of a hospital for women and children, and of some of
+the difficulties women encountered in gaining admittance into the
+medical colleges:
+
+     Mrs. Quinby says: In 1867, some Cincinnati ladies met at the
+     residence of Mrs. J. L. Roberts and organized a health
+     association, the object of which was to obtain and disseminate
+     knowledge in regard to the science of life and health. Mrs.
+     Leavett addressed the ladies on the importance of instituting a
+     medical school for women, stating a recent conversation she had
+     with Prof. Curtis, and suggesting that he be invited to lay his
+     views before them. A vote to that effect was passed, and in his
+     address Professor Curtis touched the following points:
+
+          Women have greater need than men of the knowledge of the
+          science of life, and can make more profitable use of it.
+          _First_: They need this knowledge. In a practice of
+          thirty-six years, full seven-tenths of my services have been
+          devoted to women who, had they been properly instructed in
+          the science of life, and careful to obey those instructions,
+          would not have needed one-seventh of those services, while
+          they would have prevented six-sevenths of their sickness,
+          suffering and loss of time, and a like proportion of the
+          expenses of doctoring, nursing, medicines, etc., etc.
+          _Second_: They can make a far better and more profitable use
+          of this knowledge than men can, because they can better
+          appreciate the liabilities, sufferings and wants of their
+          sex, which are far more numerous and imperative than ours;
+          and they are always with us, from infancy to boyhood and
+          womanhood, to watch us and protect us from injury, and to
+          relieve us promptly from the sufferings that may afflict us,
+          as well as to teach us how to avoid them. _Third_: Their
+          intellectual power to learn principles is as great as ours,
+          their perceptions are quicker than ours, their sympathies
+          are more tender and persistent, and their watchfulness and
+          patient perseverance with the sick are untiring. I regard
+          the teaching and practice of the science of life as woman's
+          peculiarly appropriate sphere. Its value to the family of
+          the wife and the mother, is beyond estimation in dollars and
+          cents, by the husband and father. No money that he can
+          properly spend to secure it to his daughters, should be
+          otherwise appropriated; for, should they never enter the
+          family relation, it will be a means of escape from sickness
+          mortification and expense to themselves, and of useful and
+          honorable subsistence, not only priceless in its possession,
+          but totally inalienable by any reverses of fortune. The
+          possession of this knowledge from their infancy up, would do
+          more to prevent their becoming poor and "friendless," than
+          do all the alms houses for the former, and "homes" for the
+          latter that society can build, while it would cost less to
+          each individual than does an elegant modern piano. Forty
+          years ago your speaker obtained from the legislature of Ohio
+          a liberal university charter under the title of "The
+          Literary and Botanical Medical College of Ohio," which was
+          afterwards changed to "The Cincinnati Literary and
+          Scientific Institute and Physio-Medical College." By the aid
+          of able assistants he conducted this institution for the
+          benefit of men only, till, in 1851, the students of the
+          class were between eighty and ninety. From that time to the
+          present, he has received women into the classes and
+          demonstrated that they are not only as competent as men to
+          learn all parts of the science of life, but, in very many
+          particulars, far better qualified for the practice of the
+          art of curing disease. The last session of the college was
+          suspended that he might travel in the country and learn the
+          disposition of the friends of progress to establish the
+          institution on a permanent foundation, and is happy to say
+          that all that seems necessary to that glorious consummation
+          is the prompt and concentrated effort of a few judicious and
+          influential ladies and their friends to secure pecuniary
+          aid.
+
+     June 11, 1879, a dispensary for women and children was opened in
+     Cincinnati, by Drs. Ellen M. Kirk, and M. May Howells, graduates
+     of the New York College and Hospital for Women. Their undertaking
+     proving successful, with other ladies of wealth and ability they
+     soon after established a hospital. November 1, 1881, the
+     certificate of incorporation[304] was filed in the office of the
+     secretary of state. The ladies labored unweariedly for the
+     support of these institutions. At two public entertainments they
+     realized nearly a thousand dollars. For the establishment of a
+     homeopathic college they manifested equal earnestness and
+     enthusiasm. Many of them interested in this mode of practice,
+     seeing the trials of Dr. Pulte in introducing this new theory of
+     medicine, determined to help him in building up a college and
+     hospital for that practice. By one fair they raised $13,500, net
+     profits, and the Pulte Medical College was established. But the
+     remarkable fact about these institutions is that after being
+     started through the labors of women, women appealed in vain for
+     admission for scholarships for a long time. For a clear
+     understanding of the matter, and a knowledge of the defense made
+     in behalf of the right of women to enter the college, I send you
+     the following from Dr. J. D. Buck:
+
+          Pulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, was organized under
+          the common law, and opened in 1872, for the admission of
+          students, with no provision, either for or against the
+          admission of women. From time to time, during the first
+          seven years, the subject of the admission of women was
+          broached, but generally bullied out of court amid sneers and
+          ridicule. The faculty stood five against and four for. The
+          opposition was the most pronounced and bitter imaginable,
+          the staple argument being that the mingling of the sexes in
+          medical colleges led always and necessarily to
+          licentiousness.
+
+          Finally, in the fall of 1877, seven of the nine members of
+          the faculty voted to admit women. One professor voted no,
+          and the leader of the opposition, Prof. S. R. Beckwith--a
+          life-long opponent of the broader culture of women--left the
+          meeting with the purpose of arresting all action. In this,
+          however, he failed; the vote was confirmed.
+
+          On the following day another meeting was held, when the vote
+          was re-considered and again confirmed, each of the seven
+          members agreeing to stand by it. Still again, another
+          meeting was called, at the instance of the leader of the
+          opposition, and in the absence of two of the staunch
+          friends, a bare majority of the whole faculty voted to
+          exclude women, as heretofore, and notified the applicants
+          for admission, who had been officially informed of the
+          previous resolution to admit them, that they would not be
+          admitted.
+
+          Forbearance on the part of the friends of justice was no
+          more to be thought of, and notice was given that the wrong
+          should be righted, at all hazards. For the next two years
+          war raged persistent and unflinching on the part of the
+          friends of the rights of women, bitter and slanderous on the
+          part of the opposition. All the tricks of the politician
+          were resorted to to defeat the cause of right, and more than
+          once by misrepresentation they obtained the announcement in
+          the public press that the case was decided, and women
+          forever excluded. Still the cause moved on to complete
+          triumph, and to the disgrace and final exclusion from the
+          college of two of the most bitter leaders of the opposition.
+
+          In the fall of 1879 it was announced in the annual
+          catalogue, "that students will be admitted to the lectures
+          of Pulte college without distinction of sex," a very simple
+          result indeed, as the outcome of two years' warfare. At the
+          opening of lectures the first of October, four female
+          students presented themselves, and were admitted to
+          matriculation. Every prophecy of disaster had failed. The
+          class was an increase in numbers over that of any preceding
+          year, and showed a marked improvement in deportment and
+          moral tone from the presence of ladies, who from their high
+          character and bearing exerted a restraining influence, as
+          they always do, on those disposed to be gentlemen. At the
+          commencement exercises in March, 1881, three women, viz:
+          Miss S. C. O'Keefe, Mrs. Mary N. Street, and Mrs. M. J.
+          Taylor, received the degree of the college, after having
+          attended the same lectures and been submitted to the same
+          examination as the male graduates. The prize for the best
+          examination (in writing) in physiology, was awarded to Miss
+          Stella Hunt, of Cincinnati. The right of women to admittance
+          to this college cannot again be raised except by a
+          two-thirds vote of both faculty and trustees--a majority
+          which will be difficult to obtain after the record which the
+          women have already made as students in the institution.
+
+                         Yours truly,                    J. D. BUCK.
+
+After all this educational work and this seeming triumph for the
+recognition of an equal status in the colleges for women, we find
+this item going the rounds of the daily journals, under date of
+Cleveland, March 29, 1885:
+
+     Considerable excitement prevails among the homeopathists of
+     Cleveland. Commencement exercises of the college are to be held
+     next Tuesday evening, and Miss Madge Dickson, of Chambers, Pa.,
+     was to have delivered the salutatory address. Dr. H. H. Baxter, a
+     prominent professor of the college, objected, saying a woman
+     salutatorian would disgrace the college. Miss Dickson resigned
+     the honor, and no address will be delivered.
+
+In April, 1873, Miss Nettie Cronise of Tiffin, was admitted to the
+bar. In the following September, her sister Florence was admitted,
+and they practiced as N. & F. Cronise, until Miss Nettie's marriage
+with N. B. Lutes, with whom she has since been associated under the
+firm name of Lutes & Lutes. Miss Florence Cronise has her office in
+Tiffin. Soon after commencing practice Mrs. Lutes was appointed to
+examine applicants for admission to the bar, the first instance of
+a woman serving in this capacity in the United States, although
+Florence Cronise and one or two other women have since done like
+duty. These ladies and Miss Hulett were the first women to open law
+offices and begin an active, energetic practice of the profession.
+
+In 1885, Miss Mary P. Spargo of Cleveland, was admitted to the bar.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[285] Among those associated with Mrs. Mendenhall were Mrs. Calvin
+W. Starbuck, Mrs. W. Woods, Miss Elizabeth Morris, Miss Ellen
+Thomas, Mrs. Kendrick, sister to General Anderson, Mrs. Caldwell,
+Mrs. Annie Ryder, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs. Louisa Hill, Mrs. Hoadly.
+
+[286] The officers of Cincinnati Equal Rights Society were:
+_President_, Mrs. H. A. Leavitt; _Vice-President_, Mr. J.
+B. Quinby; _Corresponding-Secretary_, Mrs. A. L. Ryder;
+_Recording-Secretary_, Mrs. L. H. Blangy; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Mary
+Moulton; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. J. B. Quinby, Mr. ---- Hill,
+Mrs. A. L. Ryder. Mrs. Dr. Mortell, Mrs. Mary Moulton, Mrs. Mary
+Graham, Mrs. Annie Laurie Quinby, Mrs. L. H. Blangy and Mrs. Dr.
+Gibson.
+
+[287] The delegates appointed were, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Quinby, Mrs.
+Mary Graham, Mrs. Charles Graham, Mrs. Mary Moulton, Mrs. Dr.
+Morrel, Mrs. Blangy, Mrs. M. V. Longley, Mr. and Mrs. A. G. W.
+Carter, and Mrs. Soula and daughter.
+
+[288] The officers of the State Society were: _President_, Mrs. H.
+Tracy Cutler, M. D., Cleveland; _Vice-President_, Mrs. M. V.
+Longley; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. H. M. Downey, Xenia;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Miriam M. Cole, Sidney;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. L. H. Crall, Cincinnati; _Warden_, Mr. J. B.
+Quinby, Cincinnati; _Business Committee_, A. J. Boyer, esq.,
+Dayton; Elias Longley, esq., Cincinnati; Mrs. R. L. Segur, Toledo;
+Mrs. Morgan K. Warwick, Cleveland; Dr. M. T. Organ, Urbana; Mrs. E.
+D. Stewart, Springfield; Miss Rebecca S. Rice, Yellow Springs.
+
+[289] The speakers at Pike's Hall were Susan B. Anthony, Mary A.
+Livermore, Lucy Stone, Henry B. Blackwell, Mrs. Dr. Chase, Miriam
+M. Cole, Mr. A. J. Boyer, Dr. Mary Walker, J. J. Bellville, Mary B.
+Hall, Mrs. Dr. Keckeler, Mrs. Longley, Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Griffin,
+and Elizabeth Boynton.
+
+[290] At a meeting of the corporators of the Cleveland Homeopathic
+Medical College and Hospital for Women, the following board of
+trustees was appointed: Stillman Witt, T. S. Beckwith, Bolivar
+Butts, N. Schneider, M. D., T. S. Lindsey, Mrs. D.R. Tilden, Mrs.
+S. F. Lester, Mrs. Peter Thatcher, Mrs. C. A. Seaman, M. D., Mrs.
+M. K. Merrick, M. D., Mrs. S. D. McMillan, Mrs. M. B. Ambler, Mrs.
+Lemuel Crawford, Mrs. Henry Chisholm, Mrs. G. B. Bowers. At a
+subsequent meeting of the board of trustees, the following
+officers were chosen: _President_, Mrs. C. A. Seaman, M. D.;
+_Vice-president_, Mrs. S. F. Lester; _Secretary_, Mrs. M. B.
+Ambler; _Treasurer_, Mrs. S. D. McMillan.
+
+[291]
+
+ A = Individual.
+ B = Year of Graduation.
+ C = Married or Single.
+ D = Number of Children.
+ E = Health.
+
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | A|  B |   C   |   D   |    E     |Remarks                             |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 1|1857|Married|   3   |Not living|Died, 1874.                         |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 2|  " |   "   |   1   |   Good   |Taught eleven years; now in Indiana.|
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 3|  " |   "   |   2   |    "     |Has taught ever since graduating;   |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |now in Ohio.                        |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 4|1858|   "   |   2   |Very good |Taught five years; now in Ohio.     |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 5|  " |   "   |   6   |   Good   |Has taught school; slight bronchial |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |trouble.                            |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 6|1859|   "   |   3   |    "     |                                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 7|  " |   "   |   3   |Uncertain |Has taught school.                  |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 8|  " |   "   |       |   Good   |Taught thirteen years, till married,|
+ |  |    |       |       |          |in 1872.                            |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ | 9|  " |   "   |2 or 3 |          |No recent intelligence; health good |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |so far as known.                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |10|1860|Single |       |    "     |Taught some years; now in England.  |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |11|  " |Married|   2   |          |Taught three years.                 |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |12|  " |Single |       |    "     |Has taught school.                  |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |13|  " |   "   |       |Very good |Physician in Missouri.              |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |14|  " |Married|   1   |   " "    |Has taught school.                  |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |15|  " |Single |       |   " "    |Constantly a teacher, except two    |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |years in Europe.                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |16|  " |Married|       |   " "    |Minister in Connecticut; lately     |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |married.                            |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |17|1861|   "   |       |   Good   |Taught three years; journalist in   |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |Ohio.                               |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |18|  " |   "   |   1   |          |Has taught school.                  |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |19|1862|   "   |   1   |Not living|Died of hereditary consumption.     |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |20|  " |   "   |   1   |   " "    |                                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |21|  " |   "   |   1   |   Good   |                                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |22|  " |   "   |   2   |Very good |Resides in Ohio.                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |23|  " |   "   |   2   |   " "    |Resides in Vermont.                 |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |24|  " |   "   |   2   |   " "    |Resides in New York.                |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |25|  " |   "   |       |   Good   |Lately married.                     |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |26|  " |   "   |   3   |    "     |Has taught school.                  |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |27|1863|   "   |   2   |Very good |Taught four years, till married.    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |28|1864|   "   |   3   |   " "    |Taught one year.                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |29|1866|   "   |       | Not good |Troubled with scrofula, dating back |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |earlier than her school days;       |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |practices medicine in Missouri.     |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |30|1868|Single |       |   Good   |Very good & Has just returned from  |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |three years in Europe, where she    |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |took long pedestrian journeys.      |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |31|  " |Married|   1   |    "     |Has taught school and is teaching   |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |now.                                |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |32|  " |   "   |   2   |    "     |Taught three years.                 |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |33|1869|Single |       |          |Taught constantly and is teaching   |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |now.                                |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |34|1870|Married|       |Not living|Died, 1871.                         |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |35|  " |   "   |   1   |   Good   |Has taught school in Missouri.      |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |36|  " |   "   |   1   |    "     |Taught one year.                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |37|1871|Single |       | Unknown  |Came to college in delicate health, |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |which improved while there; the     |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |youngest woman ever graduated at    |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |Antioch.                            |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |38|1872|   "   |       |Not living|Died, 1873, of hereditary           |
+ |  |    |       |       |          |consumption.                        |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |39|  " |   "   |       |   Fair   |Teaching in Massachusetts.          |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |40|1873|   "   |       |   Good   |                                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+ |41|  " |   "   |       |    "     |                                    |
+ +--+----+-------+-------+----------+------------------------------------+
+
+
+[292] But even old Yale has to succumb to the on-sweeping tide of
+equal chances to women, as will be seen by the following Associated
+Press item in the New York _Sun_ of October 2, 1885: "NEW HAVEN,
+Conn., Oct. 1.--Miss Alice B. Jordin, of Coldwater, Mich., a
+graduate of the academic and law departments of the University of
+Michigan, entered the Yale law school to-day. She is the first
+woman ever entered in any department of Yale outside of the art
+school.
+
+[293] Mesdames Lima H. Ober, Lovina Greene, Hophni Smith, Ruth F.
+Munn, Perleyette M. Burnett, Sophia L. O. Allen, Mary Hodges, Lydia
+Smith, Sarah A. Knox. The men who sustained and voted with these
+women were Deacon Amplias Greene, Darius M. Allen, Ransom Knox,
+Apollos D. Greene, Wesley Brown. Their tickets were different each
+year; their first read, "Our Motto--Equal Rights for all--Taxation
+without Representation is Tyranny. Our Foes--Tradition and
+Superstition." Among the speakers invited to address the people at
+the polls were Mrs. Organ, of Yellow Springs, and Mrs. Hope
+Whipple, of Clyde.
+
+[294] _President_, Ruth F. Munn; _Vice-Presidents_, Joel Walker, D.
+M. Allen; _Recording Secretary_, Ellen Munn; _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Julia P. Greene; _Treasurer_, Mary Hodges; _Executive
+Committee_, William Munn, Sophia L. O. Allen, Amanda M. Greene,
+Apollos D. Greene, Ransom Knox.
+
+[295] At other picnics the speakers were, Mrs. S. B. Chase, M. D.,
+Colonel S. D. Harris, J. W. Tyler Jane O. DeForrest, T. W. Porter.
+
+[296] The Society of South Newbury, like that of Toledo, refrained
+from auxiliaryship with the State Association from the time of its
+organization to June, 1885, when such relationship was made
+possible by the State Society voting itself an independent
+organization, free to cooeperate with all national or local
+associations that have for their object the enfranchisement of
+women; and to Mrs. Allen may be ascribed a large share of the
+credit for the good work and broad platform of the South Newbury
+club.
+
+[297] The presidents of the Toledo Society have been, Emma J.
+Ashley, Elizabeth R. Collins, Sarah R. L. Williams, Rosa L. Segur,
+Julia P. Cole, Sarah S. Bissell, Ellen S. Fray, Mary J. Cravens.
+The vice-presidents, Martha Stebbins, Julia Harris, S. R. L.
+Williams, Sarah S. Bissell, Ellen Sully Fray, Mary J. Barker. Miss
+Charlotte Langdon Williams rendered valuable service in the
+business department of _The Ballot-Box_, and served for three years
+as secretary and treasurer of the association.
+
+[298] Miss Anna C. Mott, and her father, Richard Mott, were two
+strong pillars of the woman suffrage movement in Ohio; their
+beautiful home has for many years been a harbor of rest alike to
+the advocates of anti-slavery, temperance and woman's rights.
+
+[299] Mrs. Williams further adds that _The Ballot-Box_ became also
+a foster child of the National Association, Miss Anthony canvassing
+for it after each of her lectures during the winters of 1877 and
+1878, thus largely increasing the circulation. It, on the other
+hand, gave full and faithful account of the work of the National
+Association, so that in reality it was the organ of the National as
+well as of the Toledo society.
+
+[300] The officers of the Toledo Society are, 1885, _President_,
+Mrs. Mary J. Cravens; _Vice-president_, Sarah R. L. Williams;
+_Recording Secretary_ Mrs. E. R. Collins; _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Mrs. Sarah S. Bissell; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Mary J.
+Barker; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. Rosa L. Segur, Mrs. Julia P.
+Cole, Mrs. Caroline T. Morgan, Miss Anna C. Mott, Mrs. E. M.
+Hawley.
+
+[301] _President_, Mrs. Judge Caldwell; _Secretary_, Mrs. Bushnell;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. Ammon.
+
+[302] The officers of the Painesville Society, 1885, are,
+_President_, Mrs. Frances Jennings Casement; _Vice-Presidents_,
+Mrs. Eliza P. Chesney, Mrs. Lydia Wilcox, Mrs. Cornelia Swezey;
+_Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Martha Paine; _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Mrs. Lou J. Bates; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Adelia J. Bates;
+_Trustees_, Mrs. J. B. Burrows, Mrs. A. G. Smith, Mrs. C. C.
+Beardslee.
+
+[303] The officers of the Ohio State Association for 1885
+are, _President_, Mrs. Frances M. Casement, Painesville;
+_Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. N. Coe Stewart, Cleveland; Mrs. C. C.
+Swezey, Painesville; Hon. Richard Mott, Toledo; Mrs. U. R. Walker,
+Cincinnati; Mrs. Dr. Warren, Elyria; _Recording Secretary_, Miss
+Mary P. Spargo, Cleveland; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Rosa L.
+Segur, Toledo; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Elizabeth Coit, Columbus;
+_Executive Committee_, Dr. N. S. Townshend, Columbus; Mrs. M. B.
+Haven, Cleveland; Mrs. M. Cole, Painesville; Mrs. W. J. Sheppard,
+Cleveland; Mrs. Elizabeth Coit, Columbus; Mrs. Ports Wilson,
+Warren; Mrs. Sarah M. Perkins, Cleveland.
+
+[304] The incorporators were, Mrs. Davies Wilson, Mrs. John
+Goddard, Mrs. Jane Wendte, Mrs. William N. Hobart, Dr. Ellen M.
+Kirk, Dr. M. May Howells, Miss Jennie S. Smith, and Miss Harriet M.
+Hinsdale; _Resident Physician_, Dr. Sarah J. Bebout; _Visiting
+Physicians_, Drs. Ellen M. Kirk, M. May Howells.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+MICHIGAN.
+
+     Women's Literary Clubs and Libraries--Mrs. Lucinda H.
+     Stone--Classes of Girls in Europe--Ernestine L. Rose--Legislative
+     Action, _1849-1885_--State Woman Suffrage Society, 1870--Annual
+     Conventions--Northwestern Association--Wendell Phillips'
+     Letter--Nannette Gardner Votes--Catharine A. F. Stebbins
+     Refused--Legislative Action--Amendments Submitted--An Active
+     Canvass of the State by Women--Election Day--The Amendment Lost,
+     40,000 Men Voted in Favor--University at Ann Arbor Opened to
+     Girls, 1869--Kalamazoo Institute--J. A. B. Stone, Miss Madeline
+     Stockwell and Miss Sarah Burger Applied for Admission to the
+     University in 1857--Episcopal Church Bill--Local
+     Societies--Quincy--Lansing--St. Johns--Manistee--Grand
+     Rapids--Sojourner Truth--Laura C. Haviland--Sybil Lawrence.
+
+
+Traveling through the State of Michigan, sufficiently at leisure to
+make acquaintances, one would readily remark the unusual
+intelligence and cultivation of the women. Every large town can
+boast a woman's literary club, a reading-room, nicely furnished,
+with a library containing, in many cases, one and two thousand
+volumes, a choice collection of scientific, historical and
+classical works. This may be attributed in part to the fact that
+the population is largely from New York and New England, partly to
+the many institutions of learning early opened to girls, and partly
+to the extensive social influence of Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone,[305]
+whose rare culture, foreign travels and liberal views have fitted
+her, both as a woman and as a teacher, to inspire the girls of
+Michigan with a desire for thorough education. Mrs. Stone has
+traveled through many countries in the old world with large classes
+of young ladies under her charge, superintending their reading and
+studies, and giving them lectures on history and art on classic
+ground, where some of the greatest tragedies of the past were
+enacted; in ancient palaces, temples and grand cathedrals; upon the
+very spots still rich with the memories of kings and popes, great
+generals, statesmen, poets and philosophers. We cannot estimate the
+advantages to these young travelers of having one always at hand,
+able to point out the beauties in painting and statuary, to
+interpret the symbols and mysteries of architecture, the language
+of music, the facts of history, and the philosophy of the rise and
+fall of mighty nations. Mrs. Stone has also given courses of parlor
+lectures to large classes of ladies in every city of the State,
+thus, with her rare experiences and extensive observations,
+enriching every circle of society in which she moved.
+
+To Catharine A. F. Stebbins we are indebted for compiling many of
+the facts contained in this chapter. Reviewing the last forty
+years, she says:
+
+     The agitation on the question of woman suffrage began in this
+     State in 1846, with the advent of Ernestine L. Rose,[306] who
+     spoke twice in the legislative hall in Detroit--once on the
+     "Science of Government," and once on the "Antagonisms in
+     Society." A resolution was passed by the House of
+     Representatives, expressing a high sense of her ability,
+     eloquence and grace of delivery. Her work in Detroit, Ann Arbor
+     and other places was three or four years prior to the first
+     report by the Special Committee of the Senate in the general
+     revision of the constitution, nine years before the House
+     Committee's report on elections in response to women's petitions,
+     and a dozen years before the favorable "report of the Senate upon
+     the memorial of ladies praying for the privilege of the elective
+     franchise," signed by Thomas W. Ferry.
+
+     _The Revolution_ of April 30, 1868, gives an account of the
+     manner the women of Sturgis voted on the question of prohibition:
+
+          "A few weeks ago, at a large meeting of the citizens of
+          Sturgis, Michigan, the ladies were asked to help in the
+          coming election the cause of prohibition. They replied that
+          they would if they were allowed to vote. At a subsequent
+          meeting the gentlemen could do no less than to invite them.
+          A committee of twelve was appointed. They canvassed the
+          village and invited all the ladies to come out and join in
+          the demonstration. At 2 o'clock on election day they
+          assembled at Union School Hall and marched to the room where
+          the election was held, and one hundred and fourteen
+          deposited their votes in favor of prohibition, and six
+          against it. Whilst they were marching through the room the
+          utmost order prevailed, and when they were retiring three
+          hearty cheers were given for the ladies of Sturgis. Great
+          credit is due to Mrs. William Kyte, chairman of the
+          committee, as well as to all the other members, for their
+          management of the whole affair. The utmost good feeling
+          prevailed, and not a sneer or a jeer was heard from the
+          lords of creation, but a large majority seemed to hail this
+          as a precursor of what they expect in the future, when the
+          people shall be educated to respect the rights of all."
+
+          We find the above in the Sturgis _Journal_, by the way, one
+          of the best in tone and talent of all our western
+          exchanges. Its editor, Mr. Wait, is a prominent leader in
+          the State, a member of the legislature, and a believer in
+          the equal civil and political rights of women. We have more
+          than once suggested in _The Revolution_ that the women
+          should appear at the polls on election days and demand their
+          rights as citizens. The effect could not but be beneficial
+          wherever tried. Any considerable number of intelligent women
+          in almost any locality would in this way soon inaugurate a
+          movement to result in a speedy triumph. Let these noble
+          Sturgis women persevere. Methodist Bishop Simpson was right
+          when he declared the vote of woman at the polls would soon
+          extinguish the perdition fires of intemperance. The Sturgis
+          women have begun the good work, a hundred and fourteen to
+          six! Surely, blessed are the husbands and children of such
+          wives and mothers.
+
+                                                            P. P.
+
+     In _The Revolution_ of September 3, 1868, we find the following
+     from the Sturgis _Star_:
+
+          Last spring the ladies of Sturgis went to the polls one
+          hundred and twenty in number, and demonstrated the propriety
+          of the movement. Their votes did not count, for they could
+          only be cast in a separate box, and the movement was only
+          good in its moral effect. But at the school meeting the
+          ladies have an equal right to vote with the men. Whatever
+          qualifications a man must possess to exercise privileges in
+          that meeting, any woman possessing like qualifications can
+          exercise like privileges there. To substantiate this, it is
+          only necessary to read the school law. Section 145 of the
+          Primary School law: "The words 'qualified voter' shall be
+          taken and construed to mean and include _all taxable
+          persons_ residing in the district of the age of twenty-one
+          years, and who have resided therein three months next
+          preceding the time of voting."
+
+          Ex-State Superintendent John M. Gregory's opinion of that
+          is, that "under this section (145) all persons liable to be
+          taxed in the district, and twenty-one years of age, and
+          having resided three months in the district, without
+          distinction of sex, color, or nationality, may vote in the
+          district meetings." In districts where they elect only a
+          director, assessor and moderator, the women can vote on all
+          questions except the election of officers. In graded
+          districts they can vote on all questions, election of
+          trustees included. Men having no taxable property, but who
+          vote at town meetings and general elections, can only vote
+          for trustees at a school meeting. Any woman, then, having a
+          watch, cow, buggy, or personal property of any kind, subject
+          to tax, or who has real estate in her own name, or jointly
+          with her husband, can vote. Here, then, is a lawful right
+          for women to vote at school meetings, and as there can be no
+          impropriety in it, we advocate it. We believe that it will
+          work good. Our Union school is something that all should
+          feel an active interest in. We hope, then, that those ladies
+          entitled to vote will exercise the rights that the law
+          grants them. To give these suggestions a practical effect,
+          we cheerfully publish the following notice:
+
+          The undersigned respectfully request those ladies residing
+          in District No. 3, of the township of Sturgis, who are
+          entitled to vote at the annual meeting, to assemble in Mrs.
+          Pendleton's parlor, at the Exchange Hotel, on Friday evening
+          next, August 28, at 7:30 o'clock, to consider the matter of
+          exercising the privilege which the law gives them.
+
+          This call is signed by about twenty of the best women of the
+          borough. Last week we called attention in _The Revolution_
+          to the earnestness of the English women in urging their
+          claim to the right of suffrage, and appealed to American
+          women from their example. We hear from different sources
+          that American women will attempt, to some extent, to be
+          registered this year as voters, and we hope so brave an
+          example will become a contagion. A boastful warrior once
+          demanded of his foe, "Deliver up your arms." The answer was,
+          "Come, if you dare, and take them!" Let women become brave
+          enough to take their rights, and there will not be much
+          resistance. According to their faith and their courage, so
+          shall it be.
+
+                                                            P. P.
+
+     The Michigan State Suffrage Society--always an independent
+     association--was organized at the close of the first convention
+     held in Hamblin's Opera-house, Battle Creek,[307] January 20,
+     1870, and has done the usual work of aiding in the formation of
+     local societies, circulating tracts and petitions, securing
+     hearings before the legislature, and holding its annual meetings
+     from year to year in the different cities of the State.
+
+     The Northwestern Association held its first annual convention in
+     the Young Men's Hall, Detroit, November 28, 29, 1870, with large
+     and appreciative audiences.[308] Legislative action on the
+     question of woman suffrage began in Michigan in 1849, when:
+
+          The special report favorable to Senate document No. 10, for
+          universal suffrage, was signed by Dwight Webb, Edward H.
+          Thompson and Rix Robinson.--House document No. 31,
+          legislature of 1855: "The Committee on Elections, to whom
+          was referred the petition of Betsy P. Parker, Lucinda Knapp,
+          Nancy Fleming, Electa Myers, and several other
+          'strong-minded' ladies of Lenawee county, asking such
+          amendments to the constitution of the State as will secure
+          to women an equal right to the elective franchise with men,"
+          reported adversely, ridiculed the petitioners, and was
+          signed by A. P. Moorman.--Senate document No. 27, in the
+          session of 1857: On a memorial of ladies praying the
+          legislature to grant them the elective franchise, the report
+          was signed by Thomas W. Ferry, and was favorable and
+          respectful.--House document No. 25, legislature of 1859: On
+          constitutional amendments in favor of universal suffrage,
+          the report was favorable for extending suffrage to colored
+          men, but doubtful as to the wisdom of extending it to women.
+          This was signed by Fabius Miles, chairman.--Senate document
+          No. 12: Upon the same constitutional amendments, in the
+          legislature of 1859, the report signed by R. E. Trowbridge,
+          chairman of the committee, was adverse to extending suffrage
+          to women.
+
+          On February 13, 1873, Mr. Lamb introduced "a joint
+          resolution granting the privilege of the elective franchise
+          to the women of the State." Mr. Bartholomew introduced "a
+          joint resolution proposing an amendment to section 1,
+          article 1., of the constitution, in relation to the
+          qualifications of electors." Both were referred to the
+          Committee on Elections, which made the following report:
+
+          The Committee on Elections, to whom was referred the joint
+          resolution granting the privilege of the elective franchise
+          to women of this State, respectfully report that they have
+          had the same under consideration, and have directed me to
+          report the same back to the House without recommendation. We
+          think the time has not arrived for us to decide on so
+          important a matter. We await further developments, and are
+          under the impression that there is no popular demand for the
+          change--at least not sufficient to warrant us in
+          recommending so important a change in our form of government
+          at the present session of the legislature--and ask to be
+          discharged from the further consideration of the subject.
+
+                         [Signed:]       A. HEWITT, _Acting Chairman._
+
+          Motion carried to lay the joint resolution on the table.
+          March 4, it was taken from the table and referred to the
+          Committee of the Whole, who recommended its passage, and
+          April 10 it was lost by a vote of 50 to 24:
+
+          The committee have considered the matters embraced in the
+          several resolutions referred to them relative to providing
+          for woman's suffrage, and have instructed me to report
+          against adding any such provision to the constitution at
+          present. The committee ask to be discharged from the further
+          consideration of the subject.
+
+                         [Signed:]       E. W. MEDDAUGH, _Chairman._
+
+          October 14.--A bill for separate submission to a vote of the
+          people of an amendment to the constitution relating to
+          woman's suffrage, was lost by a tie vote--7 for and 7
+          against.
+
+          At the extra session of the legislature, 1874, in the House,
+          March 10, Mr. Hoyt introduced a joint resolution for
+          separate submission to a vote of the people of an amendment
+          to the constitution relating to woman suffrage. Referred to
+          the Committee on Elections and State Affairs, jointly. On
+          March 12 the following memorial from the State Woman
+          Suffrage Association[309] was presented in the House:
+
+
+          _To the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of
+          Michigan, in Special Session Convened: _
+
+          The Executive Committee of the Michigan State Woman Suffrage
+          Association, at their meeting held in Kalamazoo, February
+          10, 1874, voted to memorialize your honorable body, at your
+          special session now being held.
+
+          We beg leave to represent to you that the object of this
+          association is to secure, in a legal way, the
+          enfranchisement of the women of the State. They are, as you
+          well know, already recognized as citizens of the State
+          according to the laws of the United States. They are now
+          taxed for all purposes of public interest as well as the
+          men. But they are not represented in the legislature, nor in
+          any branch of the State government, thus affording a great
+          example, and an unjust one for women, of taxation without
+          representation, which our fathers declared to be tyranny;
+          and which is contrary to the genius of our republican
+          institutions, and to the general polity of this
+          commonwealth. Women are also governed, while they have no
+          direct voice in the government, and made subject to laws
+          affecting their property, their personal rights and liberty,
+          in whose enactment they have no voice.
+
+          We therefore petition your honorable body, that in preparing
+          a new constitution, to be submitted for adoption or
+          rejection by the people of this State, you will strike out
+          the word "male" from the article defining the qualifications
+          of electors; or if deemed best by you, will provide for the
+          separate submission of an article for the enfranchisement of
+          the women of Michigan, giving them equal rights and
+          privileges with the men. By thus taking the lead of the
+          States of the Union, to more fully secure the personal
+          rights of all the citizens, you will show yourselves in
+          harmony with the spirit of the age and worthy to be called
+          pioneers in this cause, as you are already most honorably
+          accounted pioneers in your educational system, which affords
+          equal and impartial advantages to the population of our
+          State, irrespective of sex or condition in life--thus aiming
+          to elevate the entire people to the highest practicable
+          plane of intelligence and true civilization.
+
+          By order, and in the name of the Michigan Woman Suffrage
+          Association.
+
+                          LUCINDA H. STONE, _Corresponding Secretary._
+
+          Mrs. A. H. WALKER, _President._
+
+          On March 14, the joint committee made the following report:
+
+          The committees on State affairs and elections, to whom was
+          referred the joint resolution proposing an amendment to
+          section I, article VII., of the constitution, in relation to
+          the qualifications of electors, respectfully report that
+          they have had the same under consideration, and have
+          directed us to report the same back to the House without
+          amendment, and recommend that it do pass and ask to be
+          discharged from the further consideration of the subject.
+
+          The reasons which have influenced the committee in
+          recommending an amendment so radical and sweeping in the
+          changes which it will create if finally adopted by the
+          people, are briefly these: The question of granting the
+          right of suffrage to women equally with men, is one that has
+          been seriously and widely agitated for years, and while,
+          like other political reforms which change in any
+          considerable degree the old and established order of things,
+          it has met with strong opposition, on the other hand it has
+          been ably advocated by men and women distinguished alike for
+          their intellectual ability and their excellent judgment.
+          Although we believe that there should be certain necessary
+          and proper restrictions to the exercise of the elective
+          franchise, we are of the opinion that there are reasonable
+          grounds to doubt whether the distinction of sex in the
+          matter of voting, is not, in a large measure, a fictitious
+          one. The interests of women in all matters pertaining to
+          good government are certainly identical with those of men.
+          In the matter of property their rights conceded by law are
+          equal, and in some respects superior to those of men; and if
+          the principle of no taxation without representation is a
+          just one as applied among men, it would seem that it might
+          in justice be extended to women. As the reasons given above
+          are strongly urged by the advocates of woman suffrage, and
+          as several petitions, numerously signed by citizens of the
+          State, asking for some action on the part of the House in
+          this matter, are in the hands of the committee, we have
+          deemed it advisable, although not equally agreed as to the
+          main question involved, to recommend the passage of the
+          resolution by the House, in order that the people of the
+          State may have an opportunity of expressing their will at
+          the ballot-box as to the expediency of extending the right
+          of suffrage to women.
+
+          SAMUEL H. BLACKMAN, _Chairman of Committee on State Affairs._
+          JAMES BURNES, _Chairman of Committee on Elections._
+
+          Report accepted, and joint resolution placed on the general
+          order.
+
+          On March 18 the following joint resolution passed the House
+          by a vote of 67 to 27, and passed the Senate by a vote of 26
+          to 4,[310] proposing an amendment to section I of article
+          VII. of the constitution, in relation to the qualification
+          of electors:
+
+          _Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+          State of Michigan_, That at the election when the amended
+          constitution shall be submitted to the electors of this
+          State for adoption or rejection, there shall be submitted to
+          such electors the following propositions, to be substituted
+          in case of adoption, for so much of section I, of article
+          VII., as precedes the proviso therein, in the present
+          constitution of this State as it now stands, and substituted
+          for section I, article VII., in said amended constitution,
+          if the latter is adopted, to wit:
+
+          SECTION 1. In all elections, every person of the age of
+          twenty-one years who shall have resided in this State three
+          months, and in the township or ward in which he or she
+          offers to vote ten days next preceding an election,
+          belonging to either of the following classes, shall be an
+          elector and entitled to vote:
+
+          _First_--Every citizen of the United States; _Second_--Every
+          inhabitant of this State, who shall have resided in the
+          United States two years and six months, and declared his or
+          her intention to become a citizen of the United States
+          pursuant to the laws thereof, six months preceding an
+          election; _Third_--Every inhabitant residing in this State
+          on the twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand eight hundred
+          and seventy-five.
+
+          Said proposition shall be separately submitted to the
+          electors of this State for their adoption or rejection, in
+          form following, to wit: A separate ballot may be given by
+          every person having the right to vote, to be deposited in a
+          separate box. Upon the ballot given for said proposition
+          shall be written, or printed, or partly written and partly
+          printed, the words, "Woman Suffrage,--Yes"; and upon ballots
+          given against the adoption thereof, in like manner, the
+          words, "Woman Suffrage,--No." If at said election a majority
+          of the votes given upon said proposition shall contain the
+          words, "Woman Suffrage,--Yes," then said proposition shall
+          be substituted for so much of section I, of article VII., as
+          includes the proviso therein in the present constitution of
+          the State as it now stands, or substituted for section I, of
+          article VII., in said amended constitution, if the latter is
+          adopted.
+
+     This bill was promptly signed by Governor Bagley, and from that
+     hour the attention of the advocates of suffrage for women was
+     centered on Michigan.
+
+     The submission of this amendment to a vote of the people, gave an
+     unusual interest and importance to the annual meeting held at
+     Lansing, May 6, 1874,[311] at which plans were to be made, and
+     money raised for a vigorous campaign throughout the State. The
+     large number of women ready to do the speaking, and the equally
+     large number of men ready to make generous contributions, were
+     most encouraging in starting. Women who could not aid the cause
+     in any other way cast their gold watches into the treasury. From
+     the large number of letters received at this convention we may
+     judge how thoroughly aroused the friends were all over the
+     country. Lydia Maria Child wrote:
+
+          It is urged, that if women participated in public affairs,
+          puddings would be spoiled, and stockings neglected.
+          Doubtless some such cases might occur; for we have the same
+          human nature as men, and men are sometimes so taken up with
+          elections as to neglect their business for a while. But I
+          apprehend that puddings and stockings, to say nothing of
+          nurseries, suffer much greater detriment from the present
+          expenditure of time and thought upon the heartless
+          ostentation of parties, and the flounces and fripperies of
+          fashion, than can possibly accrue from the intellectual
+          cultivation of women, or their participation in public
+          affairs. Voting is a mere incident in the lives of men. It
+          does not prevent the blacksmith from shoeing horses, or the
+          farmer from planting fields, or the lawyer from attending
+          courts; so I see no reason why it need to prevent women from
+          attending to their domestic duties. On certain subjects,
+          such as intemperance, licentiousness and war, women would be
+          almost universally sure to exert their influence in the
+          right directions, for the simple reason that they peculiarly
+          suffer from the continuance of these evils. In the discharge
+          of this new function, they would doubtless make some
+          mistakes, and yield to some temptations, just as men do. But
+          the consciousness of being an acknowledged portion of the
+          government of the country would excite a deeper interest in
+          its welfare, and produce a serious sense of responsibility,
+          which would gradually invigorate and ennoble their
+          characters.
+
+          THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON wrote: I believe that we fail to
+          establish a truly republican government, or to test the
+          principle of universal suffrage, so long as we enfranchise
+          one sex only.
+
+          A. BRONSON ALCOTT wrote: * * * Where women lead--the best
+          women--is it unsafe for men to follow? Woman's influence
+          cannot be confined to her household; woman is, and will be,
+          womanly wherever placed. No condition can unsex the sexes.
+          The ten commandments will not suffer in her keeping. Her
+          vote will tell for the virtues, against the vices all. Plato
+          said: "Either sex alone is but half itself." Socially, we
+          admit his assertion, and are just beginning to suspect that
+          our republican institutions need to be complemented and
+          rounded with woman's counsels, and administrations also.
+          Good republicans are asking if our legislation is not
+          unsettled, demoralized by the debauchery of hasty politics,
+          by private vices, and the want of manly integrity, woman's
+          honor. Let our courtesy to women be sincere--paid to her
+          modesty as to her person; her intelligence as to her
+          housekeeping; her refining influence in political as in
+          social circles. Where a husband would blush to take his wife
+          and daughters, let him blush to be seen by his sons. "Revere
+          no god," says Euripides, "whom men adore by night." And
+          Sophocles: "Seek not thy fellow-citizens to guide till thou
+          canst order well thine own fireside." Mrs. Alcott and Louisa
+          join in hearty hopes for your success.
+
+          EDNA D. CHENEY wrote: * * * How I long for the time when
+          this question being settled, we can all go forward, working
+          together, to discuss and settle the really great questions
+          of political and social economy, of labor, of education, and
+          the full development of human life in State and society.
+
+          JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER wrote: * * * I hope and trust the
+          electors will be wise and generous enough to decide it in
+          your favor. Were I a citizen of the State I should esteem it
+          alike a duty and a privilege to vote in the affirmative.
+
+          ASA MAHAN, president of Oberlin College, wrote: The cause
+          which has called you together is a very plain one. It is
+          simply this, whether "taxation without representation" is
+          tyranny to all but one-half of the human race, and the
+          principle that rulers derive their authority to make and
+          administer law from the consent of the governed, holds true
+          of the white man and the black man, of man native or foreign
+          born, and even of the "heathen Chinee," if he belong to the
+          male sex, and is a lie in its application to woman.[312]
+
+     Dr. Stone, of Kalamazoo, read an able report of what had been
+     done, and all it was necessary to do if the friends desired to
+     carry the pending amendment. The following extract will give some
+     idea of the momentous undertaking in canvassing a State:
+
+          When the governor decided to call an extra session of the
+          legislature, so as to submit the new constitution to a
+          popular vote next November, the committee had but little
+          time for the circulation of petitions; but enough was done
+          to secure the vote in favor of submission. This was the more
+          easily accomplished because we have in the present
+          legislature so many warm and active friends, who gave that
+          body no rest until their point was carried. And here we find
+          ourselves suddenly brought into a campaign almost as novel
+          as momentous, with scarce a precedent to guide us. We ask
+          the electors of Michigan to share their civil and political
+          power with those who have always been denied all electoral
+          rights--to vest the popular sovereignty not merely in
+          themselves, in a quarter of a million of men, as hitherto,
+          but in half a million of men and women, and so make our
+          State what it is not now, a truly republican commonwealth.
+          We have a great work before us, and no time should be lost
+          in organizing a general canvass of the entire State.
+          Competent lecturers should be employed wherever hearers can
+          be found, and money raised to defray the expenses. Printed
+          documents too, must be circulated; arguments and conclusions
+          framed by those who have thought on these subjects for men,
+          and sometimes for women, who are too indolent to think for
+          themselves. And there are many other things which we must do
+          before the November election; ballots must be furnished for
+          every township and polling place, especially affirmative
+          ballots, and placed in the hands of all the voters. The
+          Executive Committee cannot be ubiquitous enough to
+          discharge all these multifarious duties. We therefore
+          suggest that there be appointed during this meeting,
+          _First_, a Committee on Finance. _Second_, a Committee on
+          Printed Documents. _Third_, a Committee on Lecturers.
+          _Fourth_, a County Committee of perhaps three persons in
+          each county, who shall have power also to appoint a
+          sub-committee in each township. Whether so many distinct
+          committees will be needed, or more than one class of duties
+          can be entrusted to the same committee, the association can
+          determine. We do not want too much, nor too complicated
+          machinery, but just enough to accomplish the work. We must
+          fall into line; woman expects every man to do his duty;
+          surely she will not fail to be true to herself.
+
+     Representatives from the different counties gave their names[313]
+     as ready to begin the work arranged by the several committees.
+     With this large and enthusiastic convention the campaign may be
+     said fairly to have opened at Lansing early in May, a political
+     organization being formed of Republicans and Democrats alike,
+     representing nearly every district in the State. Governor Bagley
+     having promptly signed the bill, and his wife being an earnest
+     advocate of the measure, the social influence of the family was
+     all in the right direction. The influence of the church, too, was
+     in a measure favorable. The Methodist denomination, in its
+     general conference, passed a resolution indorsing woman suffrage.
+     Mrs. Stanton, in a letter to the _Golden Age_, said:
+
+          During the time I spent in Michigan, speaking every night
+          and twice on Sunday to crowded houses, I had abundant
+          opportunities of feeling the pulse of the people, both in
+          public and private, and it seemed to me that the tide of
+          popular thought and feeling was running in the right
+          direction. The people are beginning to regard the idea of
+          woman's equality with man as not only a political, but a
+          religious truth, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian,
+          Baptist and Unitarian churches being all alike thrown open
+          to its consideration. Sitting Sunday after Sunday in the
+          different pulpits with reverend gentlemen, my discourses
+          given in the place of the sermon, in the regular services, I
+          could not help thinking of the distance we had come since
+          that period in civilization when Paul's word was law, "Let
+          your women keep silence in the churches." Able men and women
+          are speaking in every part of the State, and if our triumph
+          should not be complete at the next election, at all events a
+          great educational work will have been accomplished in the
+          distribution of tracts, in the public debates, and in
+          reviewing the fundamental principles of our government and
+          religion. Being frequently told that women did not wish to
+          vote, I adopted the plan of calling for a rising vote at the
+          close of my lectures, and on all occasions a majority of the
+          women would promptly rise. Knowing that the men had the
+          responsibility of voting before their eyes, and might be
+          diffident about rising, I reversed the manner of expression
+          in their case, requesting all those in favor of woman
+          suffrage to keep their seats, and those opposed to rise up,
+          thus throwing the onerous duty of changing their attitudes
+          on the opposition. So few arose under such circumstances
+          that it was somewhat embarrassing for those who did.
+
+     Those who were engaged in the canvass[314] had enthusiastic
+     meetings everywhere. They not only filled all their regular
+     appointments, but spoke in the prisons, asylums; even the deaf
+     and dumb were refreshed with the gospel of woman suffrage. The
+     press, too, was generally favorable, though the opposition
+     magnified the occasional adverse criticisms out of all proportion
+     to their severity and number. Towards the last of September Miss
+     Anthony, by invitation of Mrs. Briggs and Mrs. Bliss of Grand
+     Rapids, came into the State and remained until election day. She
+     often brought down the house with her witty comments on the
+     criticisms of the press.[315]
+
+     Everything that could be done was done by the friends of the
+     amendment throughout the State; meetings held and tracts on every
+     phase of the question scattered in all the most obscure
+     settlements; inspiring songs sung, earnest prayers offered, the
+     press vigilant in its appeals, and on election day women
+     everywhere at the polls, persuading voters to cast their ballots
+     for temperance, moral purity and good order, to be secured only
+     by giving the right of suffrage to their mothers, wives and
+     daughters. But the sun went down, the polls were closed, and in
+     the early dawn of the next morning the women of Michigan learned
+     that their status as citizens of the United States had not been
+     advanced one iota by the liberal action of their governor, their
+     legislature, the appeals of the women nor the votes of 40,000 of
+     the best men of the State.
+
+     When the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the national
+     constitution were passed, many advocates of suffrage believed
+     that the right was conferred on women. In a letter to a State
+     convention held at that time, Wendell Phillips said:
+
+          The new phase of the woman movement--that claiming the right
+          to vote under the fourteenth amendment--is attracting great
+          attention in Washington. Whether it ever obtains judicial
+          sanction or not, it certainly gives a new and most effective
+          means of agitation. The argument of the minority report,
+          understood to be written by General Butler, is most able. *
+          * * The statement of the argument, and the array of cases
+          and authorities, are very striking. Nothing more cogent can
+          be imagined or desired. When two years ago a Western
+          advocate of woman's rights started this theory, we never
+          expected to see it assume such importance.
+
+     In accordance with this opinion, certain women resolved to apply
+     for registration, and offer their votes. On March 25, 1871,
+     Catherine A. F. Stebbins and Mrs. Nannette B. Gardner of Detroit
+     made the attempt to have their names regularly enrolled as
+     legally qualified voters. Mrs. Stebbins, accompanied by her
+     husband, made application in the fifth ward to have her name
+     registered, but was refused. She then proposed to her friend,
+     Mrs. Gardner, to make the trial in her ward, to which she
+     assented. Accordingly, they went to the first district of the
+     ninth ward, where Peter Hill was the enrolling officer. Mrs.
+     Gardner gave her name, saying she was a "person" within the
+     meaning of the fourteenth amendment, and that she was a widow,
+     and a tax-payer without representation. Mr. Hill, seeing the
+     justice of her demand, entered her name upon the register.
+
+     This action took some of the board of registration by surprise,
+     and a motion was made to erase her name, but was decided in the
+     negative.[316] The board was now asked for a decision in regard
+     to Mrs. Stebbins' name, as the question very naturally suggested
+     itself to the inspectors, if one woman can vote why not another.
+     Mrs. Stebbins was notified that her case would have a hearing.
+     When asked to submit her reasons for demanding the right to vote,
+     Mrs. S. stated that she asked it simply as the right of a human
+     being under the constitution of the United States. She had paid
+     taxes on personal and real estate, and had conformed to the laws
+     of the land in every respect. Since the fourteenth amendment had
+     enfranchised woman as well as the black man, she had the
+     necessary qualifications of an elector.
+
+     A long debate followed. Inspectors Bagg, Hill and Folsom argued
+     in favor of the petitioner; Allison, Brooks, Henderson and Hughes
+     against. The opposition confessed that the negro had voted before
+     the word "white" had been expunged from the State constitution;
+     but that was done from a "political necessity." The question of
+     acceptance being put to vote, was negatived--13 to 10. This was
+     counted a victory, and stimulated the opposition to make another
+     effort to strike Mrs. Gardner's name from the register; but
+     failing in that, the board adjourned. There was now much
+     curiosity to know if Alderman Hill would have the nerve to stand
+     by his initiative; but with him the Rubicon was passed, and on
+     April 3, Messrs. Hill and Durfee accepted Mrs. Gardner's vote,
+     Mr. Bond protesting. The Detroit _Post_ gave the following
+     account:
+
+          Mrs. Gardner arrived at the polls of the first precinct of
+          the ninth ward at about half-past ten o'clock in a carriage,
+          accompanied by her son, a lad of ten years, Mrs. Starring
+          and Mrs. Giles B. Stebbins. Barely a dozen by-standers were
+          present, and the larger part of these were laboring men. No
+          demonstration followed the appearance of the ladies, the men
+          remaining quiet, and contenting themselves with comments
+          _sotto voce_ on this last political development, and with
+          speculations as to how the newly enfranchised would vote.
+          Mrs. Gardner presented herself at the polls with a vase of
+          flowers and also a prepared ballot, which she had decorated
+          with various appropriate devices. The inspectors asked the
+          questions usually put to all applicants, and her name being
+          found duly registered, her ballot was received and deposited
+          in the box. There was no argument, no challenge, no
+          variation from the routine traversed by each masculine
+          exerciser of the elective franchise. Mrs. Gardner voted, as
+          we understand; for the Republican candidates generally, with
+          one Democrat and one lady.
+
+     At Battle Creek, Mrs. Mary Wilson voted at the election of 1871.
+     When she registered, she was accompanied by her lawyer.
+
+     In the fall of 1872, Peter Hill again registered Mrs. Gardner,
+     and received her vote. Mr. Hill had been exposed to many
+     animadversions for his persistence, and as an acknowledgment of
+     her appreciation of his course, Mrs. Gardner presented him a silk
+     banner suitably inscribed. A city paper gives this account of it:
+
+          Mrs. Gardner, who has for years been a recognized voter in
+          the ninth ward of Detroit, again voted on Tuesday. She came
+          on foot, with Mrs. Stebbins, in a drenching rain, as no
+          carriage could be obtained. After voting, she presented a
+          beautiful banner of white satin, trimmed with gold fringe,
+          on which was inscribed, "A Woman's Voting Hymn." The reverse
+          side, of blue silk, contained the dedication: "To Peter
+          Hill, Alderman of the Ninth Ward, Detroit. First to Register
+          a Woman's Vote. By recognizing civil liberty and equality
+          for woman, he has placed the last and brightest jewel on the
+          brow of Michigan."
+
+     The city board now felt called upon to pass a vote of censure
+     upon Mr. Hill's action. The record runs thus:
+
+          Canvasser BAXTER: _Resolved_, That the act of the inspectors
+          of election of the first district of the ninth ward, in
+          receiving the vote of Mrs. Nannette B. Gardner at the
+          election just passed, is emphatically disapproved by this
+          board, on the ground that said act is a plain violation of
+          the election laws and constitution of the State of Michigan,
+          and is liable to lead to the grossest abuses and
+          complications.
+
+          Canvasser FULDA moved to lay the resolution on the
+          table--lost. Adopted as follows: _Yeas_--Langley, Flower,
+          House, Lichtenberg, Phelps, Parsons, Christian, Allison,
+          Buehle, Dullea, Daly, Barbier, Baxter--13. _Nays_--Wooley
+          and Fulda--2.
+
+          CHAS A. BORGMAN, _Secretary_.
+                                            PHILO PARSONS, _Chairman_.
+
+     Mrs. Stebbins attempted to register at this election with the
+     same result as before. Upon the fourth of November she provided
+     herself with a sworn statement that she had been "wrongfully
+     prevented" the record of her name, and offered her vote at the
+     polls, calling attention to the "enforcing act," provided for
+     such cases. It had no terror, however, for the valiant inspectors
+     of the fifth ward. In the fall of 1873, there was the following
+     correspondence between the board and the city counselor:
+
+          _Hon. D. C. Holbrook, City Counselor_: DEAR SIR:--Mrs. Giles
+          B. Stebbins has applied to this board and demands the right
+          to register. This board has declined to grant the request on
+          the ground that it does not believe her to be a legal
+          elector. Mrs. Stebbins would have all the required
+          qualifications of an elector, but for the fact of her being
+          a woman, and we therefore respectfully request that you
+          instruct us as to our duty in the premises. Very
+          respectfully,
+
+                                        S. B. WOOLLEY,
+                                        ALBERT BOTSFORD,
+                                          _Inspectors of First Ward_.
+
+          Woman cannot be enrolled or registered. Let her try it
+          on.[317]
+
+          _Oct. 24, 1873._      D. C. HOLBROOK, _City Counselor_.
+
+     In company with Mrs. H. J. Boutelle, Mrs. Stebbins offered her
+     vote in the fifth ward. Mr. Farwell was in favor of receiving it,
+     and wished to leave the question to a dozen responsible citizens
+     whom he called in as referees, but Col. Phelps would not be
+     influenced by the judgment of outsiders, and would not agree to
+     the proposal.[318]
+
+     Mrs. Gardner's name was retained on the ward voting list, and she
+     voted every year until she left the city for the education of her
+     children.
+
+     Before the University at Ann Arbor was opened to girls in 1869,
+     there had been several attempts to establish seminaries for girls
+     alone.[319] But they were not successful for several reasons. As
+     the State would not endow these private institutions, it made the
+     education of daughters very expensive, and fathers with
+     daughters, seeing their neighbors' sons in the State University
+     educated at the public expense, from financial considerations
+     were readily converted to the theory of coeducation. Again the
+     general drift of thought was in favor of coeducation throughout
+     the young western States. Then institutions of learning were too
+     expensive to build separate establishments for girls and boys,
+     and the number of boys able to attend through a collegiate course
+     could not fill the colleges ready for their reception. Hence from
+     all considerations it was a double advantage both to the State
+     and the girls, to admit them to the universities.
+
+     James A. B. Stone and Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone went to Kalamazoo in
+     1843, immediately after his election to take charge of the
+     Literary Institute. The name was afterwards changed to Kalamazoo
+     College. It is the oldest collegiate institute in the State,
+     having been chartered in 1833, and was designed from the outset
+     for both sexes. In the beginning it did not confer degrees, but
+     was the first, after Oberlin, to give diplomas to women.
+     Kalamazoo was an object of derision with some of the professors
+     of the University, because it was, they averred, of doubtful
+     gender. But a liberal-minded public grew more and more in favor
+     of epicene colleges. Literary seminaries had been established for
+     coeducation at Albion, Olivet, Adrian and Hillsdale, but some of
+     their charters were not exactly of a collegiate grade, and it was
+     doubtful whether under the new constitution, new college charters
+     would be granted, so that Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor had the field.
+     In January, 1845, a bill was introduced in the legislature to
+     organize literary institutions under a general law, no collegiate
+     degrees being allowed, unless on the completion of a curriculum
+     equal to that of the State University. The championship of this
+     bill fell to Dr. Stone, for while it would have no special effect
+     on Kalamazoo, it concerned the cause of coeducation in the State,
+     and the friends of the University made it a kind of test of what
+     the State policy should be in reference to the higher learning
+     for women. Dr. Tappan, then the able president of the University,
+     appeared at Lansing, supported by Rev. Dr. Duffield and a force
+     of able lawyers, to oppose it, and the far-seeing friends of
+     education in the legislature and in the lobby, rallied with Dr.
+     Stone for its support. For several weeks the contest was carried
+     on with earnestness, almost with bitterness, before the
+     legislative committees, before public meetings called in the
+     capitol for discussion, and on the floor of both houses. Dr.
+     Tappan made frantic appeals to Michigan statesmen not to disgrace
+     the State by such a law, which he prophesied would result in
+     "preparatory schools for matrimony," and, shocking to
+     contemplate, young men would marry their classmates. Among the
+     friends of the measure present, were President Fairfield,
+     Professor Hosford, and Hon. Mr. Edsell, of Otsego, all graduates
+     of Oberlin, who had married their classmates, and "been glad ever
+     since." They replied, "What of it? Are not those who have met
+     daily in the recitation-room for four years, as well prepared to
+     judge of each other's fitness for life-companionship, as if they
+     had only met a few times at a ball, a dress party, or in private
+     interview?" The legislature was an intelligent one, and the bill
+     passed amid great excitement, crowds of interested spectators
+     listening to the final discussions in the lower House. Governor
+     Bingham was friendly to the bill from the first. After its
+     passage, he sent a handsome copy signed by himself and other
+     officers, to Dr. and Mrs. Stone, at Kalamazoo, to be preserved as
+     a record of the Thermopylae fight for coeducation in Michigan.
+
+     Rev. E. O. Havens succeeded Dr. Tappan in the presidency, and was
+     supposed to be less strong in his prejudices, but when efforts
+     were made to open the doors to both sexes, he reported it
+     difficult and inexpedient, if not impossible. But he counted
+     without the broad-minded people of Michigan. A growing conviction
+     that the legislature would stop the appropriations to the
+     University unless justice was done to the daughters of the State,
+     finally brought about, at Ann Arbor, a change of policy. Under
+     the light that broke in upon their minds, the professors found
+     there was really no law against the admission of women to that
+     very liberal seat of learning. "To be sure, they never had
+     admitted women, but none had formally applied." This, though
+     somewhat disingenuous, was received in good faith, and soon
+     tested by Miss Madeline Stockwell, who had completed half her
+     course at Kalamazoo, and was persuaded by Mrs. Stone to make
+     application at Ann Arbor. Mrs. Stone knew her to be a thorough
+     scholar, as far as she had gone, especially in Greek, which some
+     had supposed that women could not master. When she presented
+     herself for examination some members of the faculty were far from
+     cordial, but they were just, and she entered in the grade for
+     which she applied. She sustained herself ably in all her studies,
+     and when examined for her degree--the first woman graduate from
+     the literary department--she was commended as the peer of any of
+     her class-mates, and took an honorable part in the commencement
+     exercises. Moreover, she fulfilled the doleful prophecy of Dr.
+     Tappan, as women in other schools had done before her, and
+     married her class-mate, Mr. Turner, an able lawyer.
+
+     The statement by the faculty, or regents, that "no woman had
+     formally applied," was untrue, as we shall see. The University
+     was opened to them in 1869; eleven years before, Miss Sarah
+     Burger, now Mrs. Stearns, made the resolve, the preparation, and
+     the application to enter the University of Michigan; and young as
+     she was, her clear-sightedness and courage called forth our
+     admiration. As a child, in Ann Arbor, from 1845, to 1852, she had
+     often attended the commencement exercises of the University, and
+     on those occasions had felt very unhappy, because all the culture
+     given to mind and heart and soul by this institution was given to
+     young men alone. It seemed a cruel injustice to young women that
+     they could not be there with their brothers, enjoying the same.
+     In connection with her efforts and those of her friends to enter
+     those enchanted portals, she bears grateful testimony to the
+     discussions on the question of woman's rights, as follows:
+
+          When it was my blessed privilege to attend a women's rights
+          convention at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853,--and it was a grand
+          meeting--where dear Lucretia Mott, Ernestine L. Rose,
+          Frances D. Gage, Antoinette Brown, Lucy Stone, and others,
+          dwelt upon the manifold wrongs suffered by women, and called
+          upon them to awake and use their powers to secure justice to
+          all, I felt their words to mean that the Michigan University
+          as well as all others, should be opened to girls, and that
+          women themselves should first move in the matter.
+
+     Thus aroused, though but sixteen years old, she resolved at once
+     to make application for admission to the State University. Early
+     in the autumn of 1856, she entered the high school at Ann Arbor,
+     and studied Greek and Latin two years, preparatory to taking the
+     classical course. Four young ladies besides herself, recited with
+     the boys who were preparing for college, and they were all
+     declared by a university professor who had attended frequent
+     examinations, to stand head and shoulders in scholarship above
+     many of the young men. Miss Burger wishing as large a class as
+     possible to appeal for admission, wrote to a number of classical
+     schools for young women, asking cooeperation, and secured the
+     names of eleven[320] who would gladly apply with her. In the
+     spring of 1858, she sent a note to the regents, saying a class of
+     twelve young ladies would apply in June, for admission to the
+     University in September. A reporter said "a certain Miss B. had
+     sent the regents warning of the momentous event." At the board
+     meeting in June, the young ladies presented their promised letter
+     of application, and received as reply, that the board should have
+     _more time to consider_. In September their reply was, that it
+     seemed inexpedient for the University to admit ladies at present.
+     In the meantime, a great deal had been said and done on the
+     subject; some members of the faculty had spoken in favor, some
+     against. University students, and citizens of Ann Arbor also
+     joined in the general discussion. The subject was widely
+     discussed in the press and on the platform; members of the
+     faculty and board of regents applied to the presidents of
+     universities east and west, for their opinions. The people of
+     Michigan, thus brought to consider the injustice of the exclusion
+     of their daughters from this State institution, there was offered
+     for signature during the winter of 1859, the following petition:
+
+          _To the Regents of the University of Michigan:_
+
+          The undersigned, inhabitants of ----, in the county of ----,
+          and State of Michigan, respectfully request that young women
+          may be admitted as students in the University, for the
+          following among other reasons: _First_--It is incumbent on
+          the State to give equal educational advantages to both
+          sexes. _Second_--All can be educated in the State University
+          with but little more expense than is necessary to educate
+          young men alone. _Third_--It will save the State from the
+          expenditure of half a million of dollars, necessary to
+          furnish young ladies in a separate institution with the
+          advantages now enjoyed by young men. _Fourth_--It will admit
+          young ladies at once to the benefits of the highest
+          educational privileges of the State.
+
+     Among the most active in lectures, debates, circulation of
+     petitions and general advocacy were James B. Gott, Judge Edwin
+     Lawrence, Giles B. Stebbins and O. P. Stearns, the last at that
+     time a student, since a lawyer, and the husband of Mrs. Sarah
+     Burger Stearns of Minnesota.
+
+     In the spring of 1859 formal application was again made to the
+     regents by a class of young ladies, only to receive the same
+     answer. But the discussion was not dropped; indeed, that was
+     impossible. Some of the most intelligent on this question believe
+     that the final admission of women to the University was due to a
+     resolve on the part of the people of the State to place upon the
+     board of regents, as the terms of old members expired, men well
+     known to be favorable. On the election of Professor Estabrook of
+     the State Normal School there was one more noble man "for us,"
+     who, with other new members, made a majority in favor of justice.
+     In the autumn of that year (1869) young women were admitted to
+     full privileges in Michigan University, and, like political
+     freedom in Wyoming, it has for years been confessed to have
+     yielded only beneficent results. As long ago, however, as the
+     first application was made (1858) women were permitted to attend
+     certain lectures. They could not join a class or read a book, but
+     it was the custom for them to go and listen to the beautiful and
+     highly instructive lectures by Professor Andrew D. White on
+     history, sculpture, and mediaeval architecture, and they highly
+     appreciated the privilege.
+
+     In March, 1869, President Havens said in the House of
+     Representatives at Lansing, "he believed the University should be
+     opened to those who desired to obtain the benefit of the branches
+     of education which they could not obtain elsewhere." The Rev.
+     Gilbert Haven wrote to the American Society's meeting held in
+     Detroit, in 1874: "I have been identified with your cause through
+     its evil report, and, I was going to add, good report, but that
+     part has not yet very largely set in. I also had the honor to
+     preside over the first ecclesiastical body that has, just now,
+     pronounced in your favor." This church assembly was the Methodist
+     State Association, which adopted the following in October, 1874,
+     without a negative vote, though several of the delegates refused
+     to vote:
+
+          WHEREAS, The legislature of Michigan, at its recent session,
+          has submitted to the electors of the State a proposition to
+          change the State constitution so as to admit the women of
+          Michigan to the elective franchise; therefore,
+
+          _Resolved_, That this convention recognizes the action of
+          the legislature as a step toward a higher and purer
+          administration of the government of our country, and we hope
+          the provision will be adopted.
+
+     But the above was not the strongest utterance of Bishop Gilbert
+     Haven. Once at an equal rights society convention in the Academy
+     of Music, Brooklyn, where from floor to ceiling was gathered an
+     admirable and immense audience, with profound respect I heard
+     these memorable words:
+
+     "I shall never be satisfied until a _black woman_ is seated in
+     the presidential chair of the United States," than which no more
+     advanced claim for the complete legal recognition of woman has
+     been made in our country.
+
+     In February, 1879, a spirited debate took place in the
+     legislature upon an amendment to the Episcopal Church bill, which
+     struck out the word "male" from the qualification of voters. The
+     Detroit _Post and Tribune_ says a vigorous effort was made to
+     defeat the measure, but without success. The justice of allowing
+     women to take part in church government was recognized, and the
+     amendment carried.
+
+     We have written persistently to leading women all over the State
+     for facts in regard to their local societies, and such responses
+     as have been received are embodied in this chapter. We give
+     interesting reports of a few of the county societies in which
+     much has been accomplished.
+
+     Of the work in Quincy Mrs. Sarah Turner says:
+
+          We never organized a woman suffrage society, although our
+          literary club has done much for the cause in a general way.
+          We had crowded houses on the occasions of a very able speech
+          from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a most spirited one from
+          Miss Phoebe Couzins. For the past eight years a dozen
+          tax-paying women of this town have availed themselves of the
+          privilege granted them years ago, and voted at the school
+          meetings; and two years ago a woman was elected member of
+          the school-board.
+
+          Lansing reports for January, 1871, Mrs. Livermore's lecture
+          on "The Reasons Why" [women should be enfranchised]; the
+          organization of a city society with sixty members at the
+          close of the annual meeting of the State Association held in
+          that city in March; a lecture from Mrs. Stanton before the
+          Young Men's Association; the adoption of a declaration of
+          rights by the Ingham County Society, March, 1872, signed by
+          169 of the best people of the county. In 1874, of the many
+          meetings held those of Mrs. Stanton and Miss Couzins are
+          specially mentioned.
+
+          The St. Johns society, formed in 1872 with six members,
+          reported sixty at the State annual meeting of 1874, and also
+          $171.71, raised by fees and sociables, mainly expended in
+          the circulation of tracts and documents throughout the
+          county.
+
+     From Manistee Mrs. Fannie Holden Fowler writes:
+
+          In the campaign of 1874 Hon. S. W. Fowler, one of the
+          committee for Northern Michigan appointed by the State
+          Society, canvassed Manistee county and advocated the cause
+          through his paper, the _Times and Standard_. The election
+          showed the good of educational work, as a large vote was
+          polled in the towns canvassed by Mr. Fowler, two of them
+          giving a majority for the amendment. In an editorial, after
+          the election, Mr. Fowler said: "The combined forces of
+          ignorance, vice and prejudice have blocked the wheels of
+          advancing civilization, and Michigan, once the proudest of
+          the sisterhood of States, has lost the opportunity of
+          inaugurating a reform; now let the women organize for a
+          final onset." However, no active suffrage work was done
+          until December 3, 1879, when Susan B. Anthony was induced to
+          stop over on her way from Frankfort to Ludington and give
+          her lecture, "Woman Wants Bread; Not the Ballot." She was
+          our guest, and urged the formation of a society, and through
+          her influence a "Woman's Department" was added to the _Times
+          and Standard_, which is still a feature of the paper. In the
+          following spring (April, 1880), Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave
+          her lecture, "Our Girls," with two "conversations," before
+          the temperance women and others, which revived the courage
+          of the few who had been considering the question of
+          organization. A call was issued, to which twenty-three
+          responded, and the society was formed June 8, 1880,[321]
+          adopting the constitution of the National and electing
+          delegates to attend a convention to be held under the
+          auspices of that association the following week at Grand
+          Rapids. The society at once made a thorough canvass of the
+          city, which resulted in the attendance of seventy tax-paying
+          women at the school election in September, when the first
+          woman's vote was cast in Manistee county. Each succeeding
+          year has witnessed more women at the school election, until,
+          in 1883, they outnumbered the men, and would have elected
+          their ticket but for a fraud perpetrated by the old
+          school-board, which made the election void.
+
+          In August 1881, Mrs. May Wright Sewall delivered two
+          lectures in Manistee. In February 1882, a social,
+          celebrating Miss Anthony's birthday, was given by the
+          association at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, and was
+          voted a success. Through the untiring efforts of Mrs. Lucy
+          T. Stansell, who was also a member of the Ladies' Lever
+          League, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert gave a Manistee
+          audience a rich treat in her "Homes of Representative
+          Women," and her conversation on suffrage elicited much
+          interest.
+
+          During the autumn of 1882, petitions asking for municipal
+          suffrage were circulated. The venerable Josiah R. Holden of
+          Grand Rapids, father of Mrs. Fowler, then in his 88th year,
+          obtained the largest number of signatures to his petition of
+          any one in the State. A bill granting municipal suffrage to
+          women was drawn by Mrs. Fowler, introduced in the
+          legislature by Hon. George J. Robinson, and afterwards
+          tabled. At the session of 1885 a similar bill came within a
+          few votes of being carried.
+
+          In Grand Rapids there was no revival of systematic work
+          until 1880, when the National Association held a very
+          successful two days' convention in the city. In response to
+          a petition from the society, the legislature in the winter
+          of 1885 passed a law, giving to the tax-paying women of the
+          city the right to vote on school questions at the charter
+          elections. At the first meeting a hundred women were
+          present, and hundreds availed themselves of their new power
+          and voted at the first election.
+
+     The State Society held its annual meeting at Grand Rapids,
+     October 7, 8, 9, 1885, at which the address of welcome was given
+     by Mrs. Loraine Immen, president of the City Society,[322] and
+     responded to by Mrs. Stebbins of Detroit.[323]
+
+     The only religious sect in the world, unless we except the
+     Quakers, that has recognized the equality of woman, is the
+     Spiritualists. They have always assumed that woman may be a
+     medium of communication from heaven to earth, that the spirits of
+     the universe may breathe through her lips messages of loving
+     kindness and mercy to the children of earth. The Spiritualists in
+     our country are not an organized body, but they are more or less
+     numerous in every State and Territory from ocean to ocean. Their
+     opinions on woman suffrage and equal rights in all respects must
+     be learned from the utterances of their leading speakers and
+     writers of books, from their weekly journals, from resolutions
+     passed at large meetings, and from their usage and methods. A
+     reliable person widely familiar with Spiritualism since its
+     beginning in 1848, says that he has known but very few
+     Spiritualists who were not in favor of woman suffrage; that all
+     their representative men and women, and all their journals
+     advocate it, and have always done so; that expressions in its
+     favor in public meetings meet with hearty approval, and that men
+     and women have spoken on their platforms, and held official
+     places as co-workers in their societies through all of these
+     thirty-seven years. All this has taken place with very little
+     argument or discussion, but from an intuitive sense of the
+     justice and consequent benefits of such a course. A single
+     testimony, of many that might be given from their writings, must
+     suffice. In the _Religio-Philosophical Journal_, Chicago, Ill.,
+     November 22, 1884, its editor, J. C. Bundy, says: "Although not
+     especially published in the interest of woman, this journal is a
+     stalwart advocate of woman's rights, and has for years given
+     weekly space to 'Woman and the Household,' a department under the
+     care of Mrs. Hester M. Poole, who has done much to encourage
+     women to renewed and persistent effort for their own
+     advancement."
+
+     It has been the custom of some of our journals to ask for letters
+     of greeting from distinguished people for New Year's day. We find
+     the following in the _Inter-Ocean_: "Sojourner Truth, the Miriam
+     of the later Exodus, sends us this remarkable letter. She is the
+     most wonderful woman the colored race has ever produced, and thus
+     conveys her New Year's greeting to our readers:
+
+          "DEAR FRIENDS: More than a hundred New Years have I seen
+          before this one, and I send a New Year's greeting to one and
+          all. We talk of a beginning, but there is no beginning but
+          the beginning of a wrong. All else is from God, and is from
+          everlasting to everlasting. All that has a beginning will
+          have an ending. God is without end, and all that is good is
+          without end. We shall never see God, only as we see him in
+          one another. He is a great ocean of love, and we live and
+          move in Him as the fishes in the sea, filled with His love
+          and spirit, and His throne is in the hearts of His people.
+          Jesus, the Son of God, will be as we are, if we are pure,
+          and we will be like him. There will be no distinction. He
+          will be like the sun and shine upon us, and we will be like
+          the sun and shine upon him; all filled with glory. We are
+          the children of one Father, and he is God; and Jesus will be
+          one among us. God is no respecter of persons, and we will be
+          as one. If it were not so, there would be jealousy. These
+          ideas have come to me since I was a hundred years old, and
+          if you, my friends, live to be a hundred years old, too, you
+          may have greater ideas than these. This has become a new
+          world. These thoughts I speak of because they come to me,
+          and for you to consider and look at. We should grow in
+          wisdom as we grow older, and new ideas will come to us about
+          God and ourselves, and we will get more and more the wisdom
+          of God. I am glad to be remembered by you, and to be able to
+          send my thoughts; hoping they may multiply and bear fruit.
+          If I should live to see another New Year's Day I hope to be
+          able to send more new thoughts.
+
+                                                 SOJOURNER TRUTH.
+
+          "_Grand Rapids, Mich._, Dec. 26, 1880."
+
+     This was accompanied by a note from her most faithful friend,
+     Mrs. Frances W. Titus, relating matters of interest as to her
+     present circumstances. She also said: "We have recently another
+     proof that she is over one hundred years old. Mention of the
+     'dark day' May 19, 1780, was made in her presence, when she said,
+     'I remember the dark day'; and gave a description of that
+     wonderful phenomenon. As the narrative of Sojourner's life has
+     long been before the public, we prefer to anything this latest
+     thought of hers, standing then on the verge of the life of the
+     spirit."
+
+     Sojourner was long a resident and laborer in reform in Michigan,
+     from which State she went out to the District of Columbia to
+     befriend her people, as well as to other distant fields. She went
+     to help feed and clothe the refugees in Kansas in 1879-80, and in
+     reaching one locality she rode nearly a hundred miles in a lumber
+     wagon. She closed her eventful life in Battle Creek, where she
+     passed her last days, having reached the great age of one hundred
+     and ten years.
+
+          Mrs. Laura C. Haviland is another noble woman worthy of
+          mention. She has given a busy life to mitigating the
+          miseries of the unfortunate. She helped many a fugitive to
+          elude the kidnappers; she nursed the suffering soldiers, fed
+          the starving freedmen, following them into Kansas,[324] and
+          traveled thousands of miles with orphan children to find
+          them places in western homes. She and her husband at an
+          early day opened a manual-labor school, beginning by taking
+          nine children from the county-house, to educate them with
+          their own on a farm near Adrian. Out of her repeated
+          experiments, and petitions to the legislature for State aid,
+          grew at last the State school for homeless children at
+          Coldwater, where for years she gave her services to train
+          girls in various industries.
+
+          Mrs. Sybil Lawrence, a woman of strong character, and
+          charming social qualities, exerted a powerful influence for
+          many years in Ann Arbor. Being in sympathy with the suffrage
+          movement, and in favor of coeducation, she did all in her
+          power to make the experiment a success, by her aid and
+          counsels to the girls who first entered the University. Her
+          mother, sister, and nieces made a charming household of
+          earnest women ready for every good work. Their services in
+          the war were indispensable, and their sympathies during the
+          trying period of reconstruction were all on the side of
+          liberty and justice.
+
+     There are many other noble women in Michigan worthy of mention
+     did space permit, such as Miss Emily Ward, a woman of remarkable
+     force of character and great benevolence; Mrs. Lucy L. Stout, who
+     has written many beautiful sentiments in prose and verse: Eliza
+     Legget and Florence Mayhew, identified with all reform movements;
+     Mrs. Tenney, the State librarian; and Mrs. Euphemia Cochrane, a
+     Scotch woman by birth, who loved justice and liberty, a staunch
+     friend alike of the slave and the unfortunate of her own sex.
+     Under her roof the advocates of abolition and woman suffrage
+     always found a haven of rest. Henry C. Wright, Wendell Phillips,
+     William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, Theodore Tilton,
+     Frederick Douglass, Abbey Kelley and Stephen Foster could all
+     bear testimony to her generous and graceful hospitality. She was
+     president of the Detroit Woman Suffrage Association at the time
+     she passed from earth to a higher life.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[305] Having made many lyceum trips through Michigan, I have had
+several opportunities of meeting Mrs. Stone in her own quiet home,
+and I can readily understand the wide influence she exerted on the
+women of that State, and what a benediction her presence must have
+been in all the reform associations in which she took an active
+part. I always felt that Michigan would be a grand State in which
+to make the experiment of woman suffrage, especially as in
+Mrs. Stone we had an enthusiastic coaedjutor. In paying this
+well-deserved tribute to Mrs. Stone, I must not forget to mention
+that Mrs. Janney of Flint, a woman of great executive ability,
+started the first woman's reading-room and library many years
+ago.--[E. C. S.
+
+[306] A sketch of this brilliant Polish woman, who has taken such
+an active part in the woman suffrage movement, both in this country
+and England, will be found in Volume I., page 95.
+
+[307] The speakers at the Battle Creek convention were Miriam M.
+Cole, editor of _The Woman's Advocate_, Dayton, Ohio; Mary A.
+Livermore, editor _Woman's Journal_, Boston; Hannah Tracy Cutler,
+Illinois; Rev. J. M. McCarthy, Saginaw; Mrs. J. C. Dexter, Ionia;
+Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Lucinda H. Stone, Kalamazoo; Adelle Hazlett,
+Hillsdale; Rev. J. S. Loveland, D. M. Fox, Battle Creek; Mary T.
+Lathrop, Jackson. Letters of sympathy were received from B. F.
+Cocker and Moses Coit Tyler, professors of the Michigan State
+University. The officers of the State association were:
+_President_, Professor Moses Coit Tyler, Ann Arbor;
+_Vice-President_, Lucinda H. Stone; _Recording Secretary_, Mary T.
+Lathrop; _Corresponding Secretary_, Euphemia Cochran, Detroit;
+_Treasurer_, Colin Campbell, Detroit; _Executive Committee_, Dr. S.
+B. Thayer, Frances W. Titus, Battle Creek; Eliza Burt Gamble, East
+Saginaw; Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Detroit; Hon. J. G. Wait,
+Sturgis; Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Kalamazoo; Mrs. L. H. T. Dexter,
+Ionia.
+
+[308] The speakers at the Northwestern convention were Mrs.
+Hazlett, the president; Hon. C. B. Waite, Professor D. C. Brooks,
+Chicago; Susan B. Anthony, Celia Burleigh, New York; Lillie
+Peckham, Wisconsin; Mrs. Lathrop, Jackson; Giles B. Stebbins, Adam
+Elder, J. B. Bloss, Detroit. Letters were reported from Henry Ward
+Beecher, Wendell Phillips, Rev. E. O. Haven, Professor B. F.
+Cocker, Moses Coit Tyler, Mrs. Livermore, Lucy Stone, H. B.
+Blackwell, Mrs. Josephine Griffing, T. W. Higginson, Theodore
+Tilton, Phoebe Couzins, Anna E. Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
+Miriam M. Cole and Rev. Robert Collyer. The officers elected were:
+_President_, Mrs. A. M. Hazlett, Michigan; _Recording Secretary_,
+Mrs. Rebecca W. Mott, Chicago; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs.
+Harriet S. Brooks, Chicago; _Treasurer_, Hon. Fernandol Jones,
+Chicago; _Vice-Presidents_, J. B. Bloss, Michigan; Mrs. Myra
+Bradwell, Illinois; Mrs. E. R. Collins, Ohio; Mrs. Dr. Ferguson,
+Indiana; Miss Phoebe Couzins, Missouri; _Executive Committee_, C.
+B. Waite, Chicago; Colin Campbell, Detroit; Mrs. Francis Minor,
+Missouri; Madame Anneke, Wisconsin; Mrs. Charles Leonard and Mrs.
+E. J. Loomis, Chicago.
+
+[309] _President_, Mrs. A. H. Walker; _Corresponding Secretary_,
+Lucinda H. Stone; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. S. E. Emory;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. E. Metcalf; _Executive Committee_, Dr. J. A.B.
+Stone, Mrs. Frances Titus, Mrs. O. A. Jennison, Mrs. C. A. F.
+Stebbins, Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Mrs. L. B. Curtiss, Dr. J. H.
+Bartholomew.
+
+[310] The following named representatives voted _yea_: Messrs,
+Armstrong, Bailey, Bartholomew, Blackman, Briggs, Brown, Brunson,
+Buell, Burns, Cady, Carter, Chamberlain, Collins, Dintruff, Drake,
+Drew, Edwards, Fancher, Ferguson, Garfield, Gravelink, Gilmore,
+Goodrich, Gordon, Green, Haire, Harden, Hewitt, Hosner, Howard,
+Hoyt, Kellogg, Knapp, Lamb, Luce, E. R. Miller, R. C. Miller,
+Mitchell, Morse, O'Dell, Parker, Parsons, Pierce, Priest, Remer,
+Rich, Robinson, Sanderson, Scott, Sessions, Shaw, Smith, Taylor,
+Thomas, Thompson, VanAken, VanScoy, A. Walker, F. Walker, Walton,
+Warren, Welch, Welker, Wheeler, Withington, Wixon, Speaker--67. The
+following named Senators voted _yea_: Messrs. Anderson, Beattie,
+Brewer, Butterfield, Childs, Clubb, Cook, Crosby, Curry, DeLand,
+Ely, Goodell, Gray, Hewitt, Isham, Lewis, Mickley, Mitchell,
+McGowan, Neasmith, Prutzman, Richardson, Sparks, Sumner, Sutton,
+Wells--26.
+
+[311] Officers of the Michigan State Woman Suffrage Association:
+_President_, Hon. Jonas H. McGowan, Coldwater; _Vice-Presidents_,
+Rev. Richmond Fiske Jr., Grand Haven, Mrs. John J. Bagley, Detroit;
+_Recording Secretary_, Mrs. N. Geddes, Lenawee; _Secretary and
+Treasurer_, George H. Stickney, Grand Haven; _Executive Committee_,
+Chairman, Hon. William M. Ferry, Grand Haven; First District--Giles
+B. Stebbins, Z. R. Brockway, Wayne; Second District--Hon. Charles
+E. Mickley, Lenawee, Mrs. M. A. Hazlett, Hillsdale; Third
+District--Hon. W. H. Withington, Jackson, Morgan Bates, Calhoun;
+Fourth District--James H. Stone, Kalamazoo, Miss Sarah Clute, St.
+Joseph; Fifth District--Hon. B. A. Harlan, Mrs. M. C. Bliss, Kent;
+Sixth District--Hon. I. H, Bartholomew, Ingham, Mrs. A. Jenney,
+Genesee; Seventh District--Hon. J. C. Lamb, Lapeer, J. P. Hoyt,
+Tuscola; Eighth District--Hon. C. V. DeLand, Saginaw, Hon. J. D.
+Lewis, Bay; Ninth District--Hon. E. L. Gray, Newaygo, Mrs. J. G.
+Ramsdell, Grand Traverse; _Vice-Presidents by Congressional
+Districts_, First District--Mrs. Eliza Leggett, Hon. W. N. Hudson,
+Wayne; Second District--Hon. W. S. Wilcox, Lenawee, Hon. Talcott E.
+Wing, Monroe; Third District--Mrs. Ann E. Graves, Calhoun, Mrs.
+Mary Lathrop, Jackson; Fourth District--Hon. Levi Sparks, Berrien,
+Rev. H. C. Peck, Kalamazoo; Fifth District--Hon. S. L. Withey, Hon.
+James Miller, Kent; Sixth District--Hon. Randolph Strickland,
+Clinton, C. F. Kimball, Oakland; Seventh District--Hon. Ira
+Butterfield, Lapeer, John M. Potter, Macomb; Eighth District--Hon.
+Ralph Ely, Gratiot, Mrs. S. M. Green, Bay; Ninth District--Elvin L.
+Sprague, Grand Traverse, S. W. Fowler, Manistee.
+
+[312] Among many others were letters from Amos Dresser, Parker
+Pillsbury, Henry B. Blackwell, Rev. S. Reed, of Ann Arbor, William
+Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Lucretia Mott,
+Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Dr. Henry B. Baker, Miriam M. Cole,
+Margaret V. Longley, Abby and Julia Smith, of Glastonbury, Conn.,
+A. C. Voris, from the Ohio constitutional convention, Hon. J. Logan
+Chipman.
+
+[313] The following persons were announced and requested to
+communicate at once with the Executive Committee, George H.
+Stickney, Secretary, Grand Haven, Mich.: _Allegan_, Mrs. E. S.
+Nichols; _Barry_, Mrs. Goodyear; _Bay_, Mrs. S. M. Green, Mrs.
+Judge Holmes; _Berrien_, Hon. Levi Sparks, O. E. Mead; _Branch_,
+Mrs. Celia Woolley, Mrs. H. J. Boutelle; _Calhoun_, W. F. Neil,
+Mrs. Judge Graves, Morgan Bates, Dr. G. P. Jocelyn; _Cass_, Mr.
+Rice, William L. Jaques; _Chippewa_, Mrs. Charles G. Shepherd;
+_Clinton_, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Gole; _Eaton_, J. Chance, Hon. A. K.
+Warren, Mrs. J. Musgrave, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Foote; _Genesee_, Mrs.
+D. Stewart; _Grand Traverse_, Hon. W. H. C. Mitchell, Hon. J. G.
+Ramsdell; _Gratiot_, Hon. Ralph Ely; _Hillsdale_, Mrs. M. A.
+Pendill, Mrs. Dr. Swift, Mrs. E. Samm; _Ingham_, Dr. I. H.
+Bartholomew, Mrs. O. A. Jenison, A. R. Burr; _Ionia_, Mrs. A.
+Williams, Mrs. Chaddock, Mr. J. B. Smith; _Isabella_, Mrs. Douglas
+Nelson; _Jackson_, Mrs. Mary Lathrop, Fidus Livermore; _Kalamazoo_,
+J. H. Stone, Col. F. W. Curtenius, Merritt Moore. Dr. N. Thomas;
+_Kent_, Mrs. E. L. Briggs, E. G. D. Holden, E. P. Churchill;
+_Lapeer_, Hon. J. C. Lamb, Mrs. J. B. Wilson; _Lenawee_, Mrs. Dr.
+Fox, Mrs. F. A. Rowley, Hon. Charles E. Mickley; _Livingston_, E.
+P. Gregory; _Macomb_, Mrs. Ambrose Campbell, Daniel B. Briggs;
+_Manistee_, S. W. Fowler, Hon. B. M. Cutcheon, T. J. Ramsdell;
+_Marquette_, Sidney Adams, Hiram A. Burt; _Mason_, Mr. Foster;
+_Midland_, Dr. E. Jennings, Mrs. Sumner; _Missaukee_, S. W. Davis;
+_Monroe_, Hon. J. J. Sumner; _Montcalm_, Mr. J. M. Fuller;
+_Muskegon_, Lieutenant-Governor H. H. Holt, Mrs. O. B. Ingersoll,
+Mrs. Barney; _Newaygo_, Hon. E. L. Gray, Mrs. Lucy Utley;
+_Oakland_, Mrs. D. B. Fox, J. Holman, jr., Mrs. Alexander;
+_Oceana_, John Halsted; _Osceola_, B. F. Gooch; _Ottawa_, Dwight
+Cutler, Mrs. W. C. Sheldon; _Roscommon_, Messrs. Davis & Hall;
+_Saginaw_, Mrs. Whiting, Mrs. Gamble, J. F. Driggs, W. P. Burdick;
+_Shiawassee_, Mrs. Dr. Parkill, J. H. Hartwell, Hon. J. M. Goodell,
+Dr. King; _St. Clair_, Hon. B. W. Jenks; _St. Joseph_, W. S. Moore,
+Mrs. Mary Peck; _Tuscola_, Mrs. J. P. Hoyt; _Van Buren_, Mr. and
+Mrs. C. D. Van Vechten, A. S. Dyckman, Hon. S. H. Blackman;
+_Washtenaw_, Mrs. Israel Hall, Mrs. Seth Reed, D. Cramer, Mary E.
+Foster; _Wayne_, Mrs. C. A. F. Stebbins, Colin Campbell, G. W.
+Bates, Lucy L. Stout.
+
+[314] Miss Eastman, Miss Hindman, Phoebe Couzins, Margaret W.
+Campbell, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Lelia Partridge, Mrs. Hazlett,
+Mrs. Samms, Miss Matilda Victor; George W. Julian of Indiana, Giles
+B. Stebbins and Clinton R. Fisk, representing the Michigan
+Association, and the following among volunteer workers: B. A.
+Harlan of Grand Rapids, Mrs. Hathaway of Cass county, Mrs. Judge
+Fuller, the Hon. J. H. McGowan and Mrs. Boutelle of Branch county;
+Mrs. L. A. Pearsall of Macomb, Mrs. F. W. Gillette of Oakland, Miss
+Strickland of Clinton, J. B. Stone of Kalamazoo, Mrs. Lucy L. Stout
+of Wayne, and the Rev. T. H. Stewart of Indiana.
+
+[315] It was in this campaign that an editor in a Kalamazoo journal
+said: "That ancient daughter of Methuselah, Susan B. Anthony,
+passed through our city yesterday, on her way to the Plainwell
+meeting, with a bonnet on her head looking as if she had recently
+descended from Noah's ark." Miss Anthony often referred to this
+description of herself, and said, "Had I represented 20,000 votes
+in Michigan, that political editor would not have known nor cared
+whether I was the oldest or the youngest daughter of Methuselah, or
+whether my bonnet came from the ark or from Worth's.--[E. C. S.
+
+[316] The inspectors voting were: _Yeas_--Adams, Baxter, Brooks,
+Dullea, Henderson, Smith. _Nays_--Bragg, Balch, Barclay, Barry,
+Bond, Christian, Hill, Hughes, Langley, Mahoney, O'Keefe,
+Sutherland.
+
+[317] We can easily see how little the opponents who talk so much
+of chivalry, respect women or themselves, by the language they use
+when they are opposed on this very question.
+
+[318] Mrs. Boutelle and Mrs. Stebbins were in the polling place two
+or three hours, while Mr. Farwell made efforts to gain favorable
+opinions enough to convert Colonel Phelps; many excellent men were
+in favor of her vote. The ladies lunched from a daintily filled
+basket, prepared by the wife of inspector Farwell.
+
+[319] Miss Abby Rogers, Miss Delia Rogers, Miss Emily Ward, and
+Miss Clapp, were all deeply interested in establishing a seminary
+where girls could have equal advantages with students in the
+university. This seminary was in existence ten years, but without
+State aid the struggle was too great, and Miss Abby Rogers, the
+founder, abandoned the undertaking.
+
+[320] The names of the eleven young women Mrs. Stearns is unable to
+recall.
+
+[321] The officers of the Manistee Society are (1885): _President_,
+Mrs. Lucy T. Stansell; _Corresponding Secretary_, Fannie Holden
+Fowler; _Recording Secretary_, Miss Nellie Walker; _Treasurer_,
+Mrs. Susan Seymour.
+
+[322] The officers of the Grand Rapids Society are: _President_,
+Mrs. Cordelia F. Briggs; _Vice-Presidents_, Loraine Immen, Emma
+Wheeler; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Henry Spring; _Secretary_, Mrs. J. W.
+Adams.
+
+[323] Following is a complete list of all officers elected in 1885:
+_President_, Mrs. Mary L. Doe of Carrollton; _Vice-President_, Mrs.
+Loraine Immen of Grand Rapids; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. H. S.
+Spring of Grand Rapids; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Fannie H.
+Fowler of Manistee; _Treasurer_, Mrs. C. A. F. Stebbins of Detroit;
+_Advisory Committee_, Mrs. E. L. Briggs of Grand Rapids, and Mrs.
+S. E. V. Emery of Lansing; _Executive Committee_--First District,
+Mrs. Harriet J. Boutell of Detroit; Second District, Mrs. Annette
+B. Gardner Smith of Ann Arbor; Fifth District, Mrs. Emily H.
+Ketchum of Grand Rapids; Sixth District, Francis M. Stuart of
+Flint; Eighth District, Mrs. Frances C. Stafford of Milwaukee;
+Ninth District, Col. S. W. Fowler of Manistee; Eleventh and Twelfth
+Districts, Mrs. R. A. Campbell, Traverse City.
+
+[324] Spending the summer of 1865 at Leavenworth, I frequently
+visited Mrs. Haviland, then busily occupied in ministering to the
+necessities of the 10,000 refugees just then from the Southern
+States. On May 29, I aided her in collecting provisions for the
+steamer, which was to transport over a hundred men, women and
+children, for whom she was to provide places in Michigan. I shall
+never forget that day nor the admiration and reverence I felt for
+the magnanimity and self-sacrifice of that wonderful woman.--[S. B.
+A.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+INDIANA.
+
+     The First Woman Suffrage Convention After the War, 1869--Amanda
+     M. Way--Annual Meetings, 1870-85, in the Larger
+     Cities--Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, 1878--A Course of
+     Lectures--In May, 1880, National Convention in
+     Indianapolis--Zerelda G. Wallace--Social Entertainment--Governor
+     Albert G. Porter--Susan B. Anthony's Birthday--Schuyler
+     Colfax--Legislative Hearings--Temperance Women of Indiana--Helen
+     M. Gougar--General Assembly--Delegates to Political
+     Conventions--Women Address Political Meetings--Important Changes
+     in the Laws for Women, from 1860 to 1884--Colleges Open to
+     Women--Demia
+     Butler--Professors--Lawyers--Doctors--Ministers--Miss Catherine
+     Merrill--Miss Elizabeth Eaglesfield--Rev. Prudence Le Clerc--Dr.
+     Mary F. Thomas--Prominent Men and Women--George W. Julian--The
+     Journals--Gertrude Garrison.
+
+
+This was one of the first States to form a Woman Suffrage
+Society[325] for thoroughly organized action, with a president,
+secretary, treasurer, and constitution and by-laws. From October,
+1851, this association held annual meetings, sent petitions and
+appeals to the legislature, and had frequent hearings at the
+capitol, diligently pressing the question of political equality for
+woman for ten consecutive years. Then, although the society did not
+disband, we find no record of meetings or aggressive action until
+1869, for here, as elsewhere, all other interests were forgotten in
+the intense excitement of a civil war. But no sooner were the
+battles fought, victory achieved, and the army disbanded, than
+woman's protests against her wrongs were heard throughout the
+Northern States; and in Indiana the same Amanda M. Way who took the
+initiative step in 1851 for the first woman's convention, summoned
+her coaedjutors once more to action in 1869[326], and with the same
+platform and officers renewed the work with added determination for
+a final victory.
+
+For this interesting chapter we are indebted to Mrs. May Wright
+Sewall, who has patiently gathered and arranged this material, and
+laid it, as a free gift, at our feet. Those who have ever attempted
+to unearth the most trivial incidents of history, will appreciate
+the difficulties she must have encountered in this work, as well as
+in condensing all she desired to say within the very limited space
+allowed to this chapter. Mrs. Sewall writes:
+
+     The first convention after the war, June 8, 9, 1869, was held in
+     Masonic Hall, and continued two days. The Indianapolis _Journal_
+     devoted several columns daily to the proceedings, closing with
+     the following complimentary editorial:
+
+          As a deliberative assembly it compared favorably with the
+          best that have ever been conducted by our own sex. To say
+          that there was as much order, propriety and dignity as
+          usually characterizes male conventions of a political
+          character is but to put the matter in a very mild shape.
+          Whatever was said, was said with earnestness and for a
+          purpose, and while several times the debate was considerably
+          spiced, the ladies never fell below their brothers in sound
+          sense. We have yet to see any sensible man who attended the
+          convention whose esteem for woman has been lowered, while
+          very many have been converted by the captivating speeches of
+          Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Swank and Mrs. Livermore.
+
+     In the _Sentinel_ of June 11, 1869, an editorial appeared whose
+     evident object was to reaessure the public mind and to restore to
+     peace and confidence any souls that might have been agitated
+     during the convention by so unusual and novel an exercise as
+     thought. The nature of the sedative potion thus editorially
+     administered to an alarmed public may be inferred from this
+     sample:
+
+          No amount of human ingenuity can change the arrangement of
+          nature. The history of the race furnishes the evidence that
+          the species of man and woman are opposite. The distinctions
+          that now exist have existed from the time that the "Lord God
+          caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam," and said: "Thy
+          desire shall be to thy husband; he shall rule over thee."
+          This brief story comprises the history of man and woman, and
+          defines the relations which shall ever exist between them.
+          When woman ceases to be womanly, woman's rights associations
+          become her fitting province.
+
+     The editor of the _Journal_ at that time was Colonel W. R.
+     Holloway, the present very liberal manager of the _Times_. The
+     editor of the _Sentinel_ was Joseph J. Bingham. The State was
+     then Republican, and as the organ of that party the _Journal_
+     probably had the larger number of readers.
+
+     The State Woman Suffrage Association convened in Indianapolis,
+     June 8, 1870, and held a two days' meeting. The _Journal_
+     contains, as usual, a full report. The _Sentinel's_ tone is quite
+     different from that which distinguished its utterances the
+     preceding year. Its reports are full and perfectly respectful.
+     This convention is memorable as that at which the Indiana Society
+     became auxiliary to the American Association. The records show
+     that this union was accomplished by a majority of _one_, the
+     ballot on the proposition standing 15 for and 14 against. As soon
+     as the union was thus effected the following was adopted:
+
+          _Resolved_, That this association is in favor of the union
+          of the National and American Associations as soon as
+          practicable.
+
+     On the same day Judge Bradwell of Chicago submitted a resolution
+     favoring the union of the two national societies, which was laid
+     on the table. Of the annual meetings from 1871 to 1878 the
+     Indianapolis papers contain no reports, save the briefest mention
+     of those of 1873-4. From 1878 to 1885 short but fair reports may
+     be found. Since 1870, the conventions of this society[327] have
+     been held in different towns throughout the State.[328] The
+     minutes show that the propriety of withdrawing from the American
+     Association and remaining independent was brought before the
+     convention of 1871, under the head of _special business_; that it
+     was decided to postpone action until the next annual meeting, and
+     to make the matter of withdrawal a special order of business, but
+     it does not appear that from that time the subject has ever been
+     broached. At the annual meeting of 1875, held at a time when
+     preparations for celebrating our national centennial were in
+     progress, the following resolution was passed:
+
+          _Resolved_, That we congratulate the voters of the United
+          States on their enjoyment of the right of suffrage, and
+          commend them for the great centenary celebration of the
+          establishment of that right, which they are about to have.
+          But we do earnestly protest against the action of the
+          Indiana legislature by which it made appropriations for that
+          purpose of moneys collected by taxing women's property.
+
+     In November, 1878, the ninth annual meeting of the American
+     Association was held in Indianapolis, by invitation from the
+     State Society.[329]
+
+     In the month of March, 1878, some very mysterious whisperings
+     advertised the fact that there was to be a meeting of the ladies
+     of Indianapolis known to have "advanced ideas" concerning their
+     sex. In response to a secretly circulated summons, there met at
+     No. 18 Circle Hall nine women and one man, who, though not
+     mutually acquainted, were the most courageous of those to whom
+     the call had come. Probably each of the ten often thinks with
+     amusement of the suspicious glances with which they regarded one
+     another. As a participant, I may say that the company had the air
+     of a band of conspirators. Had we convened consciously to plot
+     the ruin of our domestic life, which opponents predict as the
+     result of woman's enfranchisement, we could not have looked more
+     guilty or have moved about with more unnatural stealth. That
+     demeanor I explain as an unconscious tribute to what "Madam
+     Grundy" would have thought had she known of our conclave.
+
+     At that meeting one point only was definitely settled; which was,
+     whether the new society should take a name which would conceal
+     from the public its primary object, or one which would clearly
+     advertise it. The honesty of the incipient organization was
+     vindicated by its deciding upon the latter. I do not record in
+     detail the initiative steps of this flourishing society in order
+     to awaken in its members any humiliating memories, but because
+     the fact that ten conscientious, upright persons could thus
+     secretly convene in an obscure room, and that such a question
+     could agitate them for more than two hours, is the best
+     indication that could be given of the conservative atmosphere
+     which enveloped Indianapolis, even as late as 1878. The next
+     meeting was appointed for April 2, at the residence of Mrs.
+     Zerelda G. Wallace. Notices were inserted in the papers, and in
+     the meantime some pains was taken to secure not only the presence
+     of persons who had not previously been identified with any reform
+     movement, but also that of some well-known friends. It was
+     attended by twenty-six men and women, representing various
+     religious and political parties, most of whom enjoyed the
+     advantages of education and social position, and resulted in a
+     permanent organization under a constitution whose first article
+     is as follows:
+
+          This organization shall be known as the Indianapolis Equal
+          Suffrage Society, and shall consist of such men and women as
+          are willing to labor for the attainment of equal rights at
+          the ballot-box for all citizens on the same conditions.
+
+     On the principle that that which has some restrictions is most
+     desired, membership was at first hedged about with certain
+     formalities. While most reform organizations welcome as members
+     all who will pay their annual fee and subscribe to the
+     constitution, this society requires that the names of candidates
+     be presented at one meeting and formally balloted on at the next,
+     thus providing a month for consideration. Since 1878 this
+     society[330] has held forty-three public meetings, and
+     distributed throughout the city several thousand tracts. At
+     intervals the society has engaged speakers from abroad. Miss
+     Anthony gave her "Bread and Ballot" to a large audience in
+     Masonic Hall, and many date their conversion from that evening.
+     Mrs. Stanton has appeared twice under the auspices of the
+     society. On the first occasion it secured for her the court-room
+     in which the upper house of the general assembly was then
+     sitting. Tickets of admission were sent to all the members of
+     both houses. Her lecture on "The Education of Girls," made a
+     profound impression. On her second appearance she spoke in the
+     First Christian Church, on "Boys." For Miss Frances E. Willard,
+     Robert's Park Church was obtained, and thus suffrage principles
+     were presented to a new class of minds. Mrs. J. Ellen Foster
+     spoke on "Women before the Law," in the Criminal-court room. The
+     society made every effort to secure the general attendance of
+     members of the bar. Before one of its regular meetings in the
+     Christian chapel, Mrs. Louise V. Boyd read a very bright paper on
+     "A Cheerful Outlook for Women." At its present parlors, Mrs.
+     Harbert delivered an address for the benefit of the suffrage
+     campaign in Oregon.
+
+     In May, 1880, this society invited the National Association to
+     hold its annual convention in Indianapolis. Entertainment was
+     provided for eighty-seven delegates, besides the friends who came
+     from different parts of the State. In Park Theatre, the largest
+     auditorium of the city, eloquent voices for two days pleaded the
+     cause of freedom. The reports in the city press were full and
+     fair, and the editorials commendatory. The fact that the
+     _Sentinel_ contained a long editorial advocating the doctrines of
+     equal suffrage, shows the progress since 1869. The evening after
+     the convention a reception was given to the members and friends
+     of the National Association in the spacious parlors of Mrs. John
+     C. New.
+
+     From its origin the Indianapolis society has held aloof from all
+     formal alliances. Thus it has been free to work with individuals
+     and organizations that have woman suffrage for their aim. It
+     habitually sends delegates to the State annual conventions, and
+     in those of the American and National it is usually represented.
+
+     In December, 1880, the society issued a letter, secured its
+     publication in the leading papers of the State, and addressed a
+     copy to each member of the General Assembly, in order to advise
+     that body that there were women ready to watch their official
+     careers and to demand from them the consideration of just claims:
+
+                                   INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 22, 1880.
+
+          DEAR SIR: The Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis, in
+          behalf of citizens of Indiana who believe that liberty to
+          exercise the right of suffrage should neither be granted nor
+          denied on the ground of sex, would respectfully notify you
+          that during the next session of the State legislature it
+          will invite the attention of that body to the consideration
+          of what is popularly called "The Suffrage Question." The
+          society will petition the legislature to devote a day to
+          hearing, from representative advocates of woman suffrage,
+          appeals and arguments for such legislation as may be
+          necessary to abolish the present unjust restriction of the
+          elective franchise to one sex, and to secure to women the
+          free exercise of the ballot, under the same conditions and
+          such only, as are imposed upon men. To this matter we ask
+          your unprejudiced attention, that when our cause shall be
+          brought before the legislature its advocates may have your
+          cooeperation.
+
+          Very respectfully yours,    ZERELDA G. WALLACE, _President_.
+
+          MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, _Secretary_,
+
+          By order of the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis.
+
+     The society has lately taken a new departure, giving lunches,
+     parties and literary entertainments, to which invitations[331]
+     are issued, by the officers, thus becoming a factor in the social
+     life of the city. The invitation, programme, and press comments
+     of its last entertainment indicate the character of these
+     reuenions, and the esteem in which they are held. These occasions
+     have been the means of securing for the society greater popular
+     favor than it has hitherto enjoyed. At the conclusion of the
+     formal toasts, the president called upon Gov. Albert G. Porter,
+     who had come in a few minutes before. He thanked the meeting for
+     its reference to what he had done for the cause of equal
+     suffrage, and announced that while he remained governor of
+     Indiana he would do all he could for the rights of women.[332] He
+     referred to the progress made, and to the refining influence that
+     women would have on political matters. Of all the social
+     entertainments given, none has secured more converts than the
+     celebration of Susan B. Anthony's sixty-second birthday. The
+     arrangements for this event were placed in the hands of Mrs. Mary
+     E.N. Carey and Mrs. May Wright Sewall. The following account,
+     prepared by the author of this chapter for the Indianapolis
+     _Times_ of February 18, 1882, will sufficiently indicate the
+     spirit of the occasion:
+
+          The anniversary was a unique event. A number of invitations
+          were issued to citizens interested in suffrage who were not
+          formally connected with the association. As a result, on the
+          evening of February 15, there were gathered in the spacious
+          parlors of Dr. Carey's hospitable home, one hundred and
+          fifty persons representing the best circles of Indianapolis
+          society. A portrait of Miss Anthony rested upon an easel,
+          conspicuously placed, that all might see the serene face of
+          the woman who for thirty years has preached the gospel of
+          political freedom, and expounded the constitution of the
+          United States in favor of justice to all. The programme was
+          somewhat informal, all but two of the speeches[333] being
+          spontaneous expressions of admiration for Miss Anthony and
+          her fidelity to principle. There were two regrets connected
+          with the programme. These were caused by the absence of Gov.
+          Porter and Hon. Schuyler Colfax; but the gracious presence
+          of Mrs. Colfax was a reminder of her husband's fidelity to
+          our cause, and Mrs. Porter's sympathetic face was a scarcely
+          less potent support than would have been a speech from the
+          governor. Just before the close of the meeting the following
+          telegram was sent to Miss Anthony:
+
+          _Susan B. Anthony, Tenafly, New Jersey_.
+
+          The Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, in meeting
+          assembled with many friends sends you greeting on this
+          anniversary occasion, in recognition of your devotion to the
+          cause of women.
+
+                                   MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, _Secretary_.
+
+     To report the details of this social gathering would be
+     wearisome, but some reflections to which the occasion gave rise
+     may be permitted. One lady upon seeing the invitation to the
+     meeting exclaimed: "This little bit of paper is an indication of
+     a higher civilization than I supposed we had yet entered upon.
+     Until recently it has been like the betrayal of a secret for a
+     woman, particularly for an unmarried woman, to have a birthday."
+     This exclamation but expresses a historical fact and a prophetic
+     truth. So long as woman's only value depended upon physical
+     charms, the years which destroyed them were deemed enemies. The
+     fact that an unmarried woman's sixty-second birthday can be
+     celebrated, shows the dawning of the idea that the loss of youth
+     and its fresh beauty may be more than compensated by the higher
+     charms of intellectual attainments. The time will never come when
+     women, or men either, will delight in the possession of
+     crows-feet, gray hairs and wrinkles; but the time will come, aye,
+     and now is, when they will view these blemishes as but a petty
+     price to pay for the joy of new knowledge, for the deeper joy of
+     closer contact with humanity, and for the deepest joy of worthy
+     work well done.
+
+    The first legislative hearing since 1860, was that granted
+    January, 1871, to Miss Amanda Way and Mrs. Emma B. Swank. The two
+    houses received them in joint session, the lieutenant-governor and
+    speaker of the house occupying the speaker's desk. Mr. William
+    Cumback introduced Miss Way, who read the following memorial:
+
+          _Mr. President and Gentlemen_--We come before you as a
+          committee appointed by the Woman Suffrage Association to
+          memorialize your honorable body in behalf of the women of
+          Indiana. We ask you to take the necessary steps to so amend
+          the State constitution as to secure to women the right of
+          suffrage. We believe the extension of the full rights of
+          citizenship to all the people of the State, is in accordance
+          with the fundamental principles of a just government. We
+          believe that as woman has an equal interest with man in all
+          public questions, she should therefore have an equal voice
+          in their decision. We believe that as woman's life,
+          prosperity and happiness are equally dependent upon the
+          order and morality of society, she should have an equal
+          voice in the laws regulating her surroundings. We believe
+          that as woman is human, she has human needs and rights, and
+          as she is held responsible to law, she should have an equal
+          voice in electing her law-makers.
+
+          We believe that the interests of man and woman are equally
+          improved in securing to both equal education, a place in the
+          trades and professions, equal honor and dignity everywhere;
+          and as the first step to this end is equality before the
+          law, we, your petitioners, ask that you extend to the women
+          of Indiana the right of suffrage, and thus enable one-half
+          the citizens of the State to protect themselves in their
+          most sacred rights.
+
+     Miss Way spoke briefly to the points in the memorial, urging the
+     legislators to give to women the same chances for improvement,
+     the same means for defense, and the same weapons for protection
+     that they have secured to themselves. Mrs. Swank also made a
+     logical and eloquent speech. No action was taken by the
+     legislature.
+
+     On January 22, 1875, the two houses of the General Assembly
+     convened in joint session, to receive petitions from the
+     "Temperance Women of Indiana," who were on this occasion
+     represented by Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace, Mrs. Avaline and Mrs.
+     Robinson, who had been appointed by the State Temperance
+     Association. Mrs. Wallace read a memorial and stated that it was
+     signed by 10,000 women, and then argued its various points and
+     pleaded for the action of the "Honorable Body." Mrs. Avaline and
+     Mrs. Robinson followed in briefer, but not less earnest appeals.
+     The only answer elicited by these ladies was the assurance made
+     by Dr. Thompson, a member of the Senate, that he and his
+     colleagues were there, "not to represent their _consciences_, but
+     to represent their _constituents_," whose will was directly
+     opposed to the petition offered.
+
+     On January 3, 1877, a resolution to the effect that the
+     fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the
+     United States give the ballot to women, came to its third reading
+     in the lower House. On that occasion, Mrs. Wallace and Dr. Mary
+     F. Thomas represented the women of Indiana, and Mrs. Mary A.
+     Livermore was present to lend the assistance of her oratory. The
+     speeches created a profound impression, but neither native nor
+     foreign eloquence was able to secure the requisite vote. When the
+     ayes and nays were called, the resolution was lost--51 to 22.
+
+     On February 24, 1879, once again in joint session, the General
+     Assembly received a committee appointed by the State Association
+     and the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis, to support
+     woman's claim to the ballot. Mrs. Wallace, Dr. Mary F. Thomas,
+     Mary E. Haggart and Amy E. Dunn, each spoke at length on the
+     points clearly set forth in the memorial. Whatever arguments
+     could reach the intellect, whatever could touch the
+     sensibilities, were urged by these ladies on that occasion, and
+     the gentlemen did not fail to compliment their abilities,
+     although the exercise of them had no palpable effect upon
+     legislation.
+
+     Before the General Assembly of 1880-81, had convened, it was
+     known by its members-elect that the women of the State would be a
+     constant factor in their deliberations. They had been notified of
+     this intention by the circular letter from the City Society, and
+     by the published fact that the State Association had already
+     appointed representatives, whose duty it should be to secure a
+     hearing for such an amendment to the constitution of the State as
+     should enable women to vote. As soon as the legislature
+     assembled, committees on women's claims were appointed in both
+     branches; Simeon P. Yancey being the chairman of the Senate, and
+     J. M. Furnas of the House, committee. Two points had been
+     determined upon. These were to try to secure the passage of a
+     bill which should immediately authorize women to vote for
+     presidential electors, and such an amendment to the constitution
+     of the State as should enable women to exercise the right of
+     suffrage on all questions.
+
+     In connection with the first of these points the name of Helen M.
+     Gougar deserves especial mention. At the Washington convention of
+     the American Association, Mr. Blackwell suggested that the States
+     try to secure the electoral ballot for women, and as soon as Mrs.
+     Gougar returned she urged the members of the legislature to take
+     the matter up. At her suggestion, Dr. Mary F. Thomas addressed a
+     letter to W. D. Wallace, esq., a prominent lawyer of Lafayette,
+     asking him if, in his opinion, the extension of the electoral
+     ballot to women would be incompatible with the present
+     constitution of the State; in reply to this Mr. Wallace set forth
+     an exhaustive argument,[334] proving the entire constitutionality
+     of such an act. Five thousand were printed and gratuitously
+     distributed throughout the State.
+
+     The Committee on Women's Claims in both Houses met at sundry
+     times with members of the Suffrage Association to discuss the
+     merits of these bills and to become familiar with the arguments.
+     During the regular session Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Gougar spent two
+     consecutive weeks in attendance at the legislature, watching the
+     attitude of the different members and lobbying, in the good sense
+     of that word. The immediate object was to secure the passage of
+     the electoral bill, for that once gained, and women by act of the
+     legislature made voters upon the most important question, it was
+     reasonably thought that the passage of the amendment would be
+     thereby facilitated. A hearing was granted on February 16, 1881,
+     and the House took a recess to listen to the speeches of the
+     women appointed by the State Association, Mrs. Haggart and Mrs.
+     Gougar. The next day, February 17, the Senate afforded a similar
+     opportunity, and the same ladies addressed that body.
+
+     In addition to the faithful exertions of Mrs. Wallace and Mrs.
+     Gougar, and the public hearing granted by both houses, much quiet
+     but most effective work was done with individual members. To no
+     one is more due than to Paulina T. Merritt, whose reputation for
+     intelligent charity is widely known. Mrs. Merritt was a frequent
+     attendant upon the sessions of the legislature and her untiring
+     efforts in private conversations with members were invaluable. In
+     spite of all these influences, when the electoral bill was
+     brought to a vote upon its third reading, it was lost on the
+     ground that it was unconstitutional.
+
+     At the special session all efforts centered upon the bill for
+     amending section 2, of article II., of the State constitution, so
+     as to give women the right to vote in all elections. Mrs. Wallace
+     and Mrs. Gougar gave another week to the work, and on April 7 the
+     bill was brought to a vote in the House, and passed--ayes 62,
+     nays 24; in the Senate, on April 8, it also passed--ayes 25, nays
+     18; and so the first entrenchment was won.
+
+     No one believed that the bill to amend the constitution would
+     have passed had it not been preceded by the battle over the
+     electoral bill and the consequent education of the General
+     Assembly in regard to this great question of political rights.
+     Immediately a conference was held as to the proper manner of
+     expressing our gratitude to the committees on women's political
+     claims. It was at first thought the recognition should come from
+     the Equal Suffrage Society, but it was finally considered wiser
+     to have a reception given the honorable body by a voluntary
+     committee of women who should act quite independently of any
+     society.[335]
+
+     The passage of the amendment by the legislature of 1881 gave the
+     advocates of our cause a common objective point, and the efforts
+     of all during the two years immediately succeeding were directed
+     toward securing the election of such a legislature as might be
+     relied upon to repass the bill in 1883. The State society at its
+     annual meeting enlarged its central committee and instructed it
+     to arrange meetings in various parts of the State, to send out
+     speakers, and to organize local societies.[336] This committee
+     prepared a letter, for general distribution, indicating to the
+     women of the State their duty in the premises, and suggesting
+     various lines of work. Blanks for a special petition to the
+     General Assembly were sent to every township, which were
+     industriously circulated and numerously signed.
+
+     In the spring of 1882 the officers of the State society issued a
+     call for a mass-meeting, to which "all women within the
+     boundaries of the State who believed in equal suffrage, or were
+     interested in the fate of the pending amendment," were invited.
+     The meeting was held on May 19, at the Grand Opera House, and
+     the attendance exceeded the most extravagant hopes of those who
+     had called it. If any came to scoff, they remained to participate
+     with pride in this remarkable convention, which is yet frequently
+     referred to as the largest and most impressive meeting ever held
+     in the Hoosier capital. The call had invited those who could not
+     attend the meeting to manifest their sympathy by sending
+     postal-cards to the corresponding secretary. These were received
+     in such numbers for several days that Mrs. Adkinson and the
+     half-dozen clerks appointed to assist her in counting them,
+     unable to bring in a full report, announced at the close of the
+     evening session, that having reached 5,000, they desisted from
+     further enumeration.
+
+     No effort was spared to make the demonstration truly
+     representative of the suffrage interest throughout the State. All
+     the sessions were presided over by Mrs. Sewall, who called the
+     roll by congressional districts, some one of whose
+     representatives responded. The ease and dignity with which women,
+     many of whom had never spoken before any audience save their own
+     neighbors gathered in Sunday-school or prayer-meeting, reported
+     the status of their respective communities on the suffrage
+     question, was matter of astonishment as well as of
+     admiration.[337] So exceptional in all regards was the conduct of
+     the meeting that the papers united in expressing surprise at the
+     strength of the suffrage sentiment in the State as indicated by
+     the mass-convention.
+
+     This meeting of May 19, 1882, struck the key on which the friends
+     in the State spoke during the summer and fall of that year. Large
+     numbers of societies were organized and numerous meetings held;
+     the immediate object being to secure the election of a
+     legislature that should vote to submit the amendment passed by
+     the General Assembly of 1881 to the decision of what is mis-named
+     "a popular vote." The degree to which this action influenced the
+     politicians of the State cannot be accurately known, but we are
+     compelled to believe that it was one of the causes which induced
+     the Republicans in convention assembled to declare for the
+     "submission of the pending amendments." The Republican State
+     convention was held August 8, 1882, and the first plank in the
+     platform reads thus:
+
+          _Resolved, First_--That reposing trust in the people as the
+          fountain of power, we demand that the pending amendments to
+          the constitution shall be agreed to and submitted by the
+          next legislature to the voters of the State for their
+          decision thereon. These amendments were not partisan in
+          their origin, and are not so in character, and should not be
+          made so in voting upon them. Recognizing the fact that the
+          people are divided in sentiment in regard to the propriety
+          of their adoption or rejection, and cherishing the right of
+          private judgment, we favor the submission of these
+          amendments at a special election, so that there may be an
+          intelligent decision thereon, uninfluenced by partisan
+          issues.
+
+     At the mass-meeting of May 19, Mrs. P. T. Merritt of
+     Indianapolis, Mrs. M. E. M. Price of Kokomo, and Mrs. J. C.
+     Ridpath of Greencastle were appointed as delegates to the
+     different political State conventions. As a Republican, Mrs.
+     Merritt was received with great courtesy and accorded time to
+     speak. Her address was characterized by sound logic and dignity
+     of expression, and was reported in full with the rest of the
+     proceedings of the Republican convention. As a prohibition
+     amendment had also been passed by the legislature of 1881, the
+     interests of suffrage and prohibition in the campaign of 1882
+     were identical. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Indiana
+     sent Mrs. Helen M. Gougar to the Republican State convention, by
+     which she was respectfully received and which she ably addressed.
+
+     The advocates of suffrage did not content themselves during the
+     summer of 1882 by merely holding suffrage meetings proper, and
+     addressing political bodies, but they sought every opportunity to
+     reach the ears of the people for whatever purpose convened. The
+     Equal Suffrage Society received from the managers of the Acton
+     camp-meeting a place on their programme; accordingly Mrs. Haggart
+     and Mrs. Gougar, as delegates, addressed immense audiences. Both
+     of these ladies labored indefatigably, discussing the question of
+     submission of the amendments before Sunday-school conventions,
+     teachers' associations, agricultural fairs, picnics and
+     assemblies of every name. Others rendered less conspicuous, but
+     not less earnest or constant service; and when the political
+     campaign proper opened, it was evident that every candidate would
+     firmly and unreservedly answer the challenge: "Submission, or
+     non-submission?"
+
+     For the first time in the history of Indiana, women were employed
+     by party managers to address political meetings and advocate the
+     election of candidates. Mrs. Gougar addressed Republican rallies
+     at various points; she and Mrs. Haggart together made a canvass
+     of Tippecanoe county on behalf of the Republican candidate for
+     representative in the General Assembly, Captain W. De Witt
+     Wallace, who was committed not only to the submission of the
+     amendments, but also to the advocacy of both woman suffrage and
+     prohibition. The animosity of the liquor league was aroused, and
+     this powerful association threw itself against submission. The
+     result was the election of a legislature containing so large a
+     Democratic majority that there was no ground for hoping that the
+     amendments would be re-passed and sent to the voters of the State
+     for final adoption or rejection.
+
+     Though the submission of the amendments was one of the chief
+     issues in the campaign, many candidates who pledged themselves on
+     the ground that they involved questions which it was the
+     privilege of the voters to decide, reserved their own opinions
+     upon their merits. There were, however, candidates who openly
+     espoused woman suffrage _per se_.[338] Knowing that a majority of
+     the members of the General Assembly were pledged to vote down the
+     pending amendments, the friends tacitly agreed to maintain a
+     dignified silence toward that body concerning them. The Suffrage
+     Society at the capital, however, appointed a committee[339] to
+     watch the interests of woman in the legislature; and through its
+     influence, special committees on women's claims were obtained in
+     both Houses. Disappointed by the result in the legislature of
+     1883, but not discouraged, the society continued to labor with
+     undiminished zeal, and sought every legitimate opportunity to
+     prove woman a factor in State politics.
+
+     Several weeks prior to the Republican nominating convention at
+     Chicago, June 3, 1884, this society appointed committees to
+     correspond with each of the gentlemen prominently named as
+     candidates for nomination to the office of president, and also
+     appointed committees[340] to press upon the attention of the
+     different parties the political claims of women. The society
+     instructed each committee to carry on its work according to the
+     united judgment of its members and continue it until the close of
+     the legislative session of 1885. The committee appointed to
+     communicate with the Republicans addressed a letter to each of
+     the thirty delegates sent by Indiana to the nominating convention
+     at Chicago. They also addressed letters to the Republican State
+     central committee, and through the courtesy of Mr. John
+     Overmeyer, chairman, they were given an opportunity to appear
+     before the committee on resolutions. Mrs. Sewall presented a
+     resolution, and in a brief speech urged its adoption and
+     incorporation into the platform of the Republican party. Mrs.
+     Merritt and Mrs. Sewall were offered an opportunity to speak
+     before the convention, which they declined in the belief that it
+     was a greater gain to the cause to appear before the resolution
+     and platform committee than before the convention itself.
+
+     To what an appalling degree women were discriminated against by
+     the law prior to 1860, may be inferred from subsequent
+     legislative enactments. At almost every sitting of the biennial
+     legislature, since 1860, some important change will be observed.
+     In 1861 was passed the following:
+
+          AN ACT _to enlarge the Legal Capacity of Married Women whose
+          Husbands are Insane, and to enable them to Contract as if
+          they were Unmarried._
+
+          SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the
+          State of Indiana: That all married women, or those who may
+          hereafter be married, whose husbands are or may be insane,
+          are, during the continuance of such insanity, hereby enabled
+          and authorized to make and to execute all such contracts,
+          and to be contracted with in relation to their separate
+          property, as they could if they were unmarried, and they may
+          sue and be sued as if they were _sole_.
+
+     The legislature of 1863 was undisturbed by any question
+     concerning women. In 1865 the legislature discriminated against
+     women by the passage of a very long act, prescribing the manner
+     in which enumerations of _white male citizens_ shall be made;
+     thus implying that a _white male citizen_ is an honorable and
+     important person, whose existence is to be noted with due care;
+     with a care that distinguishes him equally above the _white
+     female_ and the _black male_ citizen, and in effect places these
+     two unenumerated divisions of human beings into one class.
+
+     Another act of 1865 reaeffirmed an act of 1852 which prescribed
+     the classes of persons capable of making a will, from which
+     married women were excluded.
+
+
+[Illustration: May Wright Sewall]
+
+
+     The legislature of 1867 passed an act in regard to conveyance of
+     lands by wives of persons of unsound mind, which read as follows:
+
+          SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana:
+          That in cases where the guardian of any person of unsound
+          mind, under the direction of any court of competent
+          jurisdiction has made, or may hereafter make, sale of any
+          lands of such person of unsound mind, the wife of such
+          person of unsound mind may by her separate deed release and
+          convey all her interest in and title to such land, and her
+          deed so made shall thereafter debar her from all claim to
+          such land, and shall have the same effect on her rights as
+          if her husband had been of sound mind and she had joined
+          with such husband in the execution of such conveyance.
+
+     In 1869, an act passed by the legislature of 1852, providing for
+     the settlement of a decedent's estate, was so amended as to
+     provide that the widow might select articles to the value of
+     $500, or receive the first $500 derived from the sale, or in case
+     it was worth no more than $500, might hold it. In 1871 the
+     amendment of 1869 was further amended so that in case the
+     personal property was less than $500 the deficit could be a lien
+     on the real estate, to be settled with other judgments and
+     mortgages.
+
+     In 1873 the possible ability of women to serve the State
+     officially was recognized by the passage of the following bill:
+
+          SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana:
+          That women are hereby declared to be eligible to any office,
+          the election to which is or shall be vested in the General
+          Assembly of this State; or the appointment to which is or
+          shall be vested in the governor thereof.
+
+          SEC. 2. The foregoing shall not include women who shall
+          labor under any disability which may prevent them from
+          binding themselves by an official bond.
+
+     The legislature of 1873 also passed an act regulating the liquor
+     traffic, in which it is formally provided that a wife shall have
+     the same right to sue, to control the suit, and to control the
+     sum recovered by the suit, as a _feme sole_.
+
+     In 1875 an act passed the General Assembly making it impossible
+     to sell real property in which a woman has, by virtue of her
+     marriage; an inchoate right, for less than four-ninths of its
+     appraised value: and also providing that upon the sale of any
+     piece or aggregate of pieces of real property not exceeding
+     $2,000, the wife has her absolute right; and moreover providing
+     that in case of a judicial sale, the wife's inchoate interests
+     become absolute, and she may demand a partition.
+
+     In 1877 the General Assembly passed an act enabling married women
+     whose husbands are insane to sell and to convey real-estate
+     belonging to such married women, in the same way as if _femes
+     soles_.
+
+     When the act for establishing a female prison passed the
+     legislature of 1860, it provided that the board managing its
+     affairs should consist of three men, who should be assisted by an
+     advisory board composed of one man and two women. By the
+     legislature of 1877 this section was so amended as to make the
+     managing board consist of women exclusively, and the advisory
+     board was abolished.[341]
+
+     Of all the changes effected in the statutory law of Indiana since
+     1860, the following is the most important and may be regarded, so
+     far as women are concerned, the measure of the highest
+     legislative justice thus far attained in any State. This bill was
+     prepared by Addison C. Harris, then representing Indianapolis in
+     the State Senate, and was approved March 25, 1879:
+
+          AN ACT _concerning Married Women--Approved March 25, 1879:_
+
+          SEC. 1.--Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State
+          of Indiana: A married woman may bargain, sell, assign and
+          transfer her separate personal property the same as if she
+          were _sole_.
+
+          SEC. 2.--A married woman may carry on any trade or business,
+          and perform any labor or service on her sole and separate
+          account. The earnings and profits of any married woman
+          accruing from her trade, business, services or labor, other
+          than labor for her husband or family, shall be her sole and
+          separate property.
+
+          SEC. 3.--A married woman may enter into any contract in
+          reference to her personal estate, trade, business, labor or
+          service, and the management and improvement of her separate
+          real property, the same as if she were _sole_; and her
+          separate estate, real and personal, shall be liable therefor
+          on execution or other judicial process.
+
+          SEC. 4.--No conveyance or contract made by a married woman
+          for the sale of her lands or any interest therein, other
+          than leases for a term not exceeding three years, and
+          mortgages on lands to secure the purchase money of such
+          lands, shall be valid, unless her husband shall join
+          therein. Provided, however, that if she shall have attempted
+          to convey her real estate or shall have agreed to convey the
+          same, and shall have received the whole or any part of the
+          consideration therefor, the person paying such
+          consideration, or the person for whose benefit the same was
+          paid, shall have the right to sue and recover judgment
+          therefor, and the same may be enforced against the property
+          of such married woman.
+
+          SEC. 5.--A married woman shall be bound by the covenants of
+          the title in a deed of conveyance of her real property.
+
+          SEC. 6.--A married woman may bring and maintain an action in
+          her own name against any person or body corporate for
+          damages for any injury to her person or character, the same
+          as if she were _sole_; and the money recovered shall be her
+          separate property, and her husband in such case shall not be
+          liable for costs.
+
+          SEC. 7.--Whenever the husband causes repairs or improvements
+          to be made on the real property of the wife, with her
+          knowledge and consent thereto in writing, delivered to the
+          contractor or person performing the labor or furnishing the
+          material, she shall alone be liable for material furnished
+          or labor done.
+
+          SEC. 8.--A husband shall not be liable for any debts
+          contracted by the wife in carrying on any trade, labor or
+          business on her sole and separate account, nor for
+          improvements made by her authority on her separate real
+          property.
+
+          SEC. 9.--Whenever a judgment is recovered against a married
+          woman, her separate property may be sold on execution to
+          satisfy the same, as in other cases. Provided, however, that
+          her wearing apparel and articles of personal adornment
+          purchased by her, not exceeding two hundred dollars in
+          value, and all such jewelry, ornaments, books, works of art
+          and _virtu_, and other such effects for personal or
+          household use as may have been given to her as presents,
+          gifts and keep-sakes, shall not be subject to execution. And
+          provided further, that she shall hold as exempt, except for
+          the purchase money therefor, other property to the amount of
+          three hundred dollars to be set apart and appraised in the
+          manner provided by law for exemption of property.
+
+          SEC. 10.--A married woman shall not mortgage or in any
+          manner encumber her separate property acquired by descent,
+          devise or gift, as a security for the debt or liability of
+          her husband or any other person.
+
+     The legislature of 1881 enacted the following, which is really a
+     sequence of the property-rights statute of 1879:
+
+          A married woman may sue alone when: _First_--The action
+          concerns her own property. _Second_--When the action is
+          between herself and her husband. But in no case shall she
+          be required to sue or defend by guardian or next friend,
+          unless she be under twenty-one years.
+
+          It further enacted, making it section 28, to act 38, that:
+          When a husband or father has deserted his family, or is
+          imprisoned, the wife or mother may prosecute or defend in
+          his name any action which he might have prosecuted or
+          defended, and shall have the same powers and rights therein
+          as he might have had.
+
+     The legislature of 1881 also passed the following:
+
+          AN ACT _to Authorize the Election of Women to School
+          Offices_:
+
+          SEC. 1.--Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana,
+          that any woman, married or single, of the age of twenty-one
+          years and upwards, and possessing the qualifications
+          prescribed for men, shall be eligible to any office under
+          the general or special school laws of the State.
+
+          SEC. 2.--That any woman elected or appointed to any office
+          under the provisions of this act, before she enters upon the
+          discharge of the duties of her office, shall qualify and
+          give bond as required by law; and such bond shall be binding
+          upon her and her securities.
+
+     The following, enacted by this same legislature of 1881, would
+     indicate that fidelity to his domestic obligations is not even
+     yet esteemed in man as a virtue of high order; the value attached
+     to the fidelity can be measured by the penalty incurred by
+     infidelity, which is thus stated:
+
+          Whoever without cause deserts his wife or children, and
+          leaves wife and child or children as a charge upon any
+          county of this State, shall be fined not more than $100 nor
+          less than $10.
+
+     As has been indicated in another connection, it was the
+     legislature of 1881 which distinguished itself by passing a bill
+     for amending section 2 of article II. of the State constitution
+     so as to give women the right to vote in all elections. The
+     legislature of 1883 did nothing to further ameliorate the legal
+     condition of women; and the highest legal rights enjoyed by women
+     of Indiana are indicated in the foregoing recital of legislative
+     action upon the subject from 1860 to 1884 inclusive.
+
+     For some years after public schools were established in Indiana,
+     women had no recognition. I am told by a reliable gentleman, Dr.
+     R. T. Brown, who served from 1833 to 1840 as examiner in one of
+     the most advanced counties of the commonwealth, that during that
+     period no woman ever applied to him for a license to teach, and
+     that up to 1850 very few were employed in the public schools. At
+     that time it was permitted women to teach "subscription" schools
+     during the vacations, for which purpose the use of the district
+     school-house was frequently granted. It was by demonstrating
+     their capacity in this unobtrusive use of holidays, that women
+     obtained employment in the regular schools. The tables show that
+     in 1861 there were 6,421 men and 1,905 women employed in the
+     primary schools, and 128 men and 72 women in the high schools.
+     From that time up to 1866, owing to the war, the number of men
+     decreased while that of women rapidly increased. The tables for
+     that year show 5,330 men and 4,163 women in the schools. The
+     number of men employed in 1880 was 7,802, of women, 5,776. While
+     the very best places are held by men, the majority of the
+     second-rate places are filled by women, and men fill a majority
+     of the lowest places. The average daily wages received by men
+     engaged in the public schools in 1880 was $1.86, while the
+     average daily wages of women was $1.76.
+
+     Of the twenty-six academies, colleges and universities, all are,
+     with two notable exceptions--Hanover and Wabash--open to women.
+     Of these, Butler, at Irvington, formerly known as the
+     Northwestern Christian University, was the first to admit women
+     to a "female course," which its managers arranged to meet the
+     needs of the female mind. In its laudable endeavor to adapt its
+     requirements to this intermediate class of beings, the university
+     substituted music for mathematics, and French for Greek. Few,
+     however, availed themselves of this course, and it was utterly
+     rejected by Demia Butler, a daughter of the founder of the
+     institution, who entered it in 1860, and graduated from what was
+     then known as the male course, in 1864, thus winning the right to
+     be remembered as the first woman in Indiana to demonstrate the
+     capacity of her sex to cope with the classics and higher
+     mathematics. From that time the "female course" became gradually
+     less popular, until it was discarded. One after another, private
+     and denominational schools have fallen into line, until nearly
+     all of them are open to women without humiliating conditions.
+
+     Up to 1867 the Indiana University exhibited the anomaly of a
+     great institution of learning supported by the State, and
+     regarding itself as the crown of the public-school system, free
+     to but one-half of the children of the commonwealth. Since that
+     date it has been open equally to both sexes in all three of its
+     departments--the State Normal School, located at Terre Haute, the
+     Agricultural College, located at Lafayette and commonly known as
+     Purdue University, and the State University proper, including
+     literary and scientific departments located at Bloomington. Of
+     this last branch, 30 per cent. are women. That there is no longer
+     any discrimination in these higher institutions of learning is
+     not true. Girls must always feel that they are regarded as
+     belonging to a subordinate class, wherever women are not found in
+     the faculty and board of managers. The depressing influence of
+     their absence in superior positions cannot be measured.
+
+     Very few women are found in college faculties in Indiana, and
+     none on boards of trustees. Those most conspicuous in ability are
+     Mrs. Sarah A. Oren,[342] who, having served two successive terms
+     as State librarian, was called from that position to fill a chair
+     at Purdue University, where she remained several years; Miss
+     Catharine Merrill, professor of English literature in Butler
+     University, who throughout her term of service from 1869 to 1883
+     enjoyed the deserved reputation of being one of the strongest
+     members of the faculty;[343] and Miss Rebecca I. Thompson, who is
+     professor of mathematics at Franklin College, the leading Baptist
+     school in the State. The women occupying these conspicuous
+     positions are all identified with the suffrage movement;
+     Professor Thompson, of Franklin, is the president of the Johnson
+     County Suffrage Association. Miss N. Cropsey has served the cause
+     of public education in Indianapolis in some capacity for twenty
+     years, and has for several years been superintendent of the
+     primary schools, a place which she fills with acknowledged
+     ability. Miss Cropsey is another living denial of the common
+     assertion, that only half-cultured and ill-paid women want the
+     ballot.
+
+     Of the four medical colleges in Indianapolis, two admit women and
+     two exclude them. No theological school in the State receives
+     women, nor does the only law school, which is located at
+     Indianapolis; but its former president, Hon. James B. Black, told
+     me that it was ready to receive them upon application.
+
+     Formerly, many questions now decided by the board of trustees of
+     each school district, were directly settled by the people
+     themselves at the annual school meeting. For instance, the
+     teacher for the coming term was elected from among the candidates
+     for that place; the salary to be paid, the length of term, the
+     location of the school-house, were all questions to be decided by
+     ballot. I have reliable authority for the assertion that in some
+     parts of the State, as early as 1860, widows, and wives whose
+     husbands were necessarily absent from the school meetings, voted
+     upon these questions. During the years of the war this practice
+     became very common, but fell into disuse upon the return of
+     peace.
+
+     There are many physicians in Indiana enjoying the merited esteem
+     of their respective communities and having a lucrative practice.
+     The most notable example of success in this profession is Dr.
+     Mary F. Thomas of Richmond.[344] Another living testimony to
+     woman's right in the medical profession is Dr. Rachel Swain of
+     Indianapolis, whose patrons are among the first families of the
+     city. By zealous devotion to her profession she has secured the
+     respect and social recognition of the community in which she
+     moves. As an avowed friend of suffrage, whose word in season is
+     never lacking, Dr. Swain carries a knowledge of our principles
+     into circles where it would otherwise slowly penetrate. Dr. Mary
+     Wilhite of Crawfordsville ranks with the best physicians of that
+     city. In her practice she has gained a competence for herself and
+     disseminated among her patients a knowledge of hygienic laws that
+     has improved the health and the morals of the community to which
+     she has ministered. She, too, advocates political equality for
+     woman. Dr. Sarah Stockton of Lafayette settled in Indianapolis in
+     the autumn of 1883, and was soon, on the petition of leading
+     citizens, including both men and women, appointed as physician to
+     the Woman's Department of the Hospital for the Insane. Her
+     professional labors at the hospital and in general practice
+     indicate both learning and skill. In November, Dr. Marie Haslep
+     was elected attendant physician at the Woman's Reformatory, a
+     State institution having some four hundred inmates, where her
+     services have been characterized by faithfulness and caution.
+
+     Elizabeth Eaglesfield, a graduate of the law department of
+     Michigan University, was admitted to the bar of Marion county in
+     the spring of 1885, and is the first woman to open an independent
+     law-office in this State.
+
+     Very few women have served in the ministry. The only one who ever
+     secured any prominence in this profession was Miss Prudence
+     LeClerc, who was pastor of the Universalist church in Madison in
+     1870-71, and served parishes at different points in
+     south-eastern Indiana until her death in 1878. Miss LeClerc
+     frequently spoke at suffrage conventions, and called meetings
+     wherever she preached, instructing the people in the philosophy
+     of this reform.
+
+     To obtain accurate statistics as to the professions and
+     industries is extremely difficult, as the year 1881 was the first
+     in which the State considered women at all. That year the head of
+     the bureau of statistics sent to each town and county
+     commissioner certain sets of questions relative to women's
+     occupations. The grace with which they were received, the
+     seriousness with which they were considered, the consequent
+     accuracy with which they were answered, may be inferred from the
+     fact that one trustee replied, "The women in our county are
+     mostly engaged in baby-tending," and that his response was
+     generally copied by the press as a manifestation of brilliant
+     wit. Although some commissioners felt their time too valuable to
+     spend in gathering information relative to the work of women,
+     from the reports of those who seriously undertook to canvass this
+     matter, a table has been arranged and published, which, though
+     incomplete, must be regarded, both in variety of occupations and
+     in the numbers of women registered, as a most favorable showing
+     for this Western State. The total number of women engaged outside
+     of home, in non-domestic and money-making industries, is 15,122;
+     the number of industries represented by them is 51. Add to these
+     the number of teachers, and we have over 20,000 women in the
+     trades and professions denied the ballot, that sole weapon
+     pledged by a republic to every citizen for the protection of
+     person and property.
+
+     Of the men and women prominent in this movement since 1860, whose
+     names are not mentioned in the first volume, the one meriting the
+     first place is beyond doubt Dr. R. T. Brown of Indianapolis. He
+     has the longest record as an advocate of suffrage to be found in
+     the State. As a speaker in the first Harrison campaign (1836) he
+     advocated suffrage without regard to sex. Engaged as a teacher or
+     inspector in the public schools in the early years, Dr. Brown
+     argued the adaptation of women to the teacher's profession, and
+     insisted that salaries should be independent of sex; and in many
+     individual cases where he had authority, women secured this
+     recognition before it was generally admitted even in theory to be
+     just.
+
+     When, in 1855, the Northwestern Christian (now Butler) University
+     was founded, Dr. Brown, as one of the trustees, advocated
+     coeducation; in 1858 he took the chair of natural science, and in
+     that branch taught classes of both sexes until 1871. In 1868 he
+     was active in organizing the Indiana Medical College on the basis
+     of equal rights to women, and filled the chair of chemistry until
+     1872; in 1873 he was appointed to the chair of physiology, which
+     he held until 1877, and then resigned because the board of
+     trustees determined to exclude women. This proves that Dr.
+     Brown's devotion to the doctrine of equal rights is of that rare
+     degree which will bear the crucial test of official and pecuniary
+     sacrifice. He has been an active member of the State and city
+     suffrage associations from the beginning.
+
+     The name of Mary E. Haggart first appears as a member of the
+     State Association at the convention held in Indianapolis in 1869.
+     In 1870, Mr. Hadley made a speech in the State Senate against
+     woman suffrage, to which Mrs. Haggart wrote an able reply which
+     was published and widely commented on by the press of the State.
+     Her next notable effort was in a discussion through several
+     numbers of the _Ladies' Own Magazine_, published by Mrs. Cora
+     Bland, where she completely refuted the objections urged by her
+     opponent, a literary gentleman of some note. Mrs. Haggart has
+     addressed the legislatures of her own State, of Massachusetts,
+     Rhode Island and Kentucky, as well as the Judiciary Committee of
+     the House of Representatives at the hearing granted the National
+     Association. She seldom speaks without the most careful
+     preparation, and never without manifesting abilities of the
+     highest order. Perhaps no woman in the State, as a speaker, has
+     won higher encomiums from the press or has better deserved them.
+
+     The first active step taken in suffrage by Mrs. Florence M.
+     Adkinson (then Miss Burlingame) was to call a convention in
+     Lawrenceburg. In 1871, 1872, she gave several lectures on
+     suffrage and temperance in Ohio, and held a series of meetings in
+     southeastern Indiana. Though an acceptable speaker, it is as a
+     writer that Mrs. Adkinson is best known; she is an officer in
+     both the State and the city organizations, and in every capacity
+     serves the cause with rare fidelity.
+
+     The name of Lizzie Boynton of Crawfordsville frequently occurs in
+     suffrage reports between 1865 and 1870. She was a member of the
+     State Association and a frequent speaker at its conventions.
+     Besides working in that body, she assisted in the organization of
+     the local society at Crawfordsville, wrote poems, stories,
+     essays, and won high rank in the State in literature and reform.
+     From mature womanhood her record as Mrs. Harbert belongs to
+     Illinois rather than Indiana.
+
+     The first time I met Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace she was circulating
+     a temperance petition to present to the legislature. One day
+     while busy on the third floor of the high-school building a
+     fellow-teacher sent up word that a lady wished to see me.
+     Descending, I was introduced to Mrs. Wallace, who, in a bland
+     way, requested me to sign the paper which she extended. Never
+     doubting that I might do so, I had taken my pen when my eye
+     caught the words: "While we do not clamor for any additional
+     civil or political rights." "But I do clamor," I exclaimed, and
+     threw down the paper and pen and went back to my work, vexed in
+     soul that I should have been dragged down three flights of stairs
+     to see one more proof of the degree to which honorable women love
+     to humiliate themselves before men for sweet favor's sake. Mrs.
+     Wallace went forward with her work of solicitation, thinking me,
+     no doubt, to be a very impetuous, if not impertinent, young
+     woman.
+
+     When, however, upon the presentation of her petition, whose
+     framers had taken such care to disclaim any desire "for
+     additional civil and political rights," Mrs. Wallace was startled
+     by Dr. Thompson's avowal (having known the doctor, as she naively
+     says, "as a Christian gentleman"), that he was not there "to
+     represent his conscience, but to obey his constituents," in her
+     aroused soul there was that instant born the determination to
+     become a "constituent." As soon as the hearing was at an end,
+     Mrs. Wallace confessed this determination to Dr. Thompson,
+     thanking him for unintentionally awakening her to a sense of
+     woman's proper position in the republic. This change in Mrs.
+     Wallace's attitude was not generally known until the following
+     May, when the annual State Temperance convention was held in
+     Indianapolis; then, in her address before that body, she avowed
+     her conviction that it was woman's duty to seek the ballot as a
+     means of exerting her will upon legislation. From that time Mrs.
+     Wallace has neglected no opportunity to propagate suffrage
+     doctrines, and has been most potent in influencing her temperance
+     coaedjutors to embrace these principles. Earnestness and logic are
+     Mrs. Wallace's abiding forces. Her literary work is chiefly
+     confined to correspondence, in which she is so faithful that it
+     is doubtful if any man in public life in Indiana can plead
+     ignorance of the arguments in favor of suffrage. Mrs. Wallace has
+     been an officer in the National, the American and the State
+     suffrage societies, and has served the Equal Suffrage Society of
+     Indianapolis as president most of the time since its formation.
+     Having lived in this city more than half a century, related to
+     many men who have held high official positions, she has had an
+     opportunity to exert a wide influence, and it may be safe to say
+     that, by virtue of her own consecrated life, she exerts more
+     moral power in this community than any other woman in Indiana.
+
+     Mrs. Helen M. Gougar has addressed the legislatures of New York,
+     Kansas and Wisconsin, besides that of her own State. As an
+     extempore speaker she has no peer among her co-workers; her first
+     suffrage speech was made at Delphi, May, 1877. In July, 1881,
+     Mrs. Gougar became the editor of _Our Herald_, a weekly which she
+     conducted with great ability and success in the interest of the
+     two constitutional amendments then pending. In 1884, in an
+     extensive lecturing tour, she addressed large audiences in
+     Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Albany. In the year 1883,
+     Mrs. Josephine R. Nichols of Illinois, and Mrs. L. May Wheeler of
+     Massachusetts, came to reside in Indianapolis. Both these ladies
+     have lectured frequently and with marked effect in various parts
+     of the State.
+
+     I cannot close without a mention of those public men who have
+     honored this State by their adherence to the principle of woman
+     suffrage and thereby earned a title to the fame which will belong
+     to the advocates of this cause in the hour of its triumph. Among
+     these Hon. George W. Julian is most conspicuous. Referring to his
+     services in congress, Mr. Julian once wrote:
+
+          My opinions about woman suffrage, however, date much further
+          back. The subject was first brought to my attention in a
+          brief chapter on the "Political Non-existence of Women," in
+          Miss Martineau's book on "Society in America," which I read
+          in 1847. She there pithily stated the substance of all that
+          has since been said respecting the logic of woman's right to
+          the ballot; and finding myself unable to answer, I accepted
+          it. On recently referring to this chapter I find myself more
+          impressed by its force than when I first read it. * * * My
+          interest in anti-slavery was awakened about the same time,
+          and I regarded it as the _previous_ question, and as less
+          abstract and far more important and absorbing than that of
+          suffrage for women. For the sake of the negro I accepted
+          Mr. Lincoln's philosophy of "one war at a time," though
+          always ready to own and defend my position as to woman's
+          right to the ballot.
+
+     The sincerity of Mr. Julian's belief in woman suffrage is proved
+     by his repeated efforts to further the cause in the United States
+     congress. On December 8, 1868, he submitted an amendment to the
+     constitution, guaranteeing suffrage to all United States
+     citizens, which, as the negro had not then been enfranchised, he
+     numbered article fifteen. On March 15, 1869, he submitted the
+     same amendment, with the exception that the words "race" and
+     "color" were omitted; on the same day Mr. Julian offered a bill
+     providing for the immediate enfranchisement of women in all the
+     territories of the United States, thus doubling on one day his
+     claim to the gratitude of American women. On April 4, 1870, he
+     offered another amendment, numbered article sixteen, which
+     followed the exact form and phraseology of the fifteenth. On
+     January 20, 1871, he offered an amendment to the bill, providing
+     a government for the District of Columbia, striking out the word
+     "male" in the section defining the right of suffrage. It is
+     interesting to note that even so long ago that amendment received
+     55 yeas against 117 nays.[345] The bills which Mr. Julian thus
+     submitted to congress when he was a member of that body prove his
+     constancy to a cause early espoused, his conversion to which was
+     due to that remarkable English woman whose claims to the
+     gratitude of her American sisters are thus enhanced. Mr. Julian
+     has not worked much with the suffrage societies of his own State,
+     but he has never failed in his repeated canvasses to utter the
+     seasonable word. His conviction that it is the duty of the
+     national government to take the initiative in defining the
+     political rights of its citizens has naturally led him to present
+     this question to the nation as represented in its congress,
+     rather than to agitate it in the State.
+
+     Oliver P. Morton and Joseph E. McDonald are two other names
+     conspicuous in Indiana history which occur frequently in
+     connection with "aye" in the records which have preserved the
+     action of every member of congress on the various amendments
+     brought before it involving woman's political equality.
+
+     Albert G. Porter, ex-governor of Indiana, has on more than one
+     public occasion avowed his belief in woman's equality as a
+     citizen, and has assented to the proposition that under a
+     republic the only sign of such equality is the ballot. Ardent
+     advocates have often thought him inexcusably reticent in
+     expressing his convictions upon this subject, but such have
+     learned that it is given to but few mortals to "remember those in
+     bonds as bound with them," and no other governor of Indiana has
+     ever taken occasion to remind the General Assembly of its duties
+     to women, as Governor Porter habitually did. In his address of
+     1881 he called the attention of the legislature to the improved
+     condition of women under the laws, pointed out disabilities still
+     continuing, and bespoke the respectful attention of the General
+     Assembly to the women who proposed to come before it with their
+     claims. In his biennial message, 1883, the governor recommended
+     the enactment of a statute which should require that at least
+     one of the physicians appointed to attend in the department for
+     women in the hospital for the insane should be a woman. The whole
+     tone of Governor Porter's administration was liberal toward
+     women; he invariably implied his belief in their equality, and on
+     one or two occasions has evinced his respect for their ability by
+     conferring on them responsible offices. Many of the leading men
+     in the Republican party, and a few in the Democratic, are
+     favorable, and while they do not labor for the enfranchisement of
+     their sisters with the same enthusiasm which personal bondage
+     excites, their constant influence is on the side of woman's
+     emancipation.
+
+     As to the charities conducted by Indiana women, for a condensed
+     narrative of the efficient service of Mrs. L. B. Wishard and Miss
+     Susan Fussell, I must refer readers to the account kindly
+     prepared for me by Mrs. Paulina T. Merritt.[346]
+
+     Whether or not justified by the facts, the feeling is current
+     that those whom the masses favor hold themselves aloof from those
+     whom personal experience, or a sense of justice, compels to walk
+     the stony path of reform. The _litterateurs_ often form a sort of
+     pseudo-intellectual aristocracy, and do not willingly affiliate
+     with reformers, whom they are ready to assume to be less
+     cultivated than themselves. Of this weakness our literary women
+     have not been guilty. Most of them are members of the suffrage
+     society.[347]
+
+     A system is now developing which will not only stimulate women to
+     engage in competitive industries and secure justice in rewarding
+     such labor, but will greatly facilitate the work of ascertaining
+     what part women do take in the general industries of the State.
+     Indiana, being mainly agricultural, is divided into sixteen
+     districts, each of which has organized an agricultural society.
+     Besides these there are also county societies. These
+     organizations are composed of men and women, the latter having
+     nominally the same powers and privileges as the former. Annually
+     the State Agricultural Association holds a meeting at
+     Indianapolis. This is a delegate body, consisting of
+     representatives from the district and county societies. There is
+     no constitutional check against sending women as delegates,
+     though it has not hitherto been done. One chief duty of the
+     primary convention is to elect a State board of agriculture. This
+     board consists of sixteen members, one for each agricultural
+     district. The managers of the Woman's State Fair Association have
+     called an industrial convention, whose sessions will be held at
+     the same time that the Agricultural Association holds its annual
+     meeting.[348]
+
+     If the press reflects the public, it also moulds it; and its
+     conservative attitude is doubtless to a very considerable degree
+     responsible for the tone of opinion which prevailed here up to
+     recent years. Papers throughout the State naturally take their
+     cue from the party organs published at the capital, while the few
+     papers identified with no party are wont to adapt themselves even
+     more carefully to popular opinion upon general subjects.
+
+     The citations made in the earlier part of this chapter from the
+     _Sentinel_ and the _Journal_ clearly show the spirit of their
+     management in 1869. But it must not be inferred that the
+     _Journal_ has through all these years maintained the position
+     occupied by it at that time. Had it done so, one may reasonably
+     believe that the women of Indiana would before to-day have been
+     enfranchised. On the contrary, that sheet has been very
+     vacillating, speaking for or against the cause according to the
+     principles of its managers, the paper having frequently changed
+     hands; and until recently the principles of the same managers
+     upon this question have been shifting; but for the last five or
+     six years the _Journal_ has been a consistent, though somewhat
+     mild, supporter of woman suffrage.
+
+     On the contrary, the _Sentinel_ had been constant in its
+     opposition, until, about eight years since, Mr. Shoemaker
+     becoming the manager, it announced a Sunday issue devoted to the
+     interests of women. The pledge then made has been nobly kept, and
+     although for a few months the _Sentinel_ seemed to edit its
+     week-day issues with a view to counteracting the possible good
+     effect of its Sunday utterances, the better spirit gradually
+     triumphed, until at last, so far as the woman question is
+     concerned, the paper is from Sunday to Saturday in harmony with
+     itself. For some time it gave one column in each Sunday issue to
+     the control of the State Central Suffrage Committee, and printed
+     two hundred copies of the column for special distribution among
+     the country papers.
+
+     The _Saturday Herald_, established in 1873, under the editorial
+     management of George C. Harding, deserves mention. From the
+     outset, this paper was the advocate of woman's right to be paid
+     for work done according to its market value, and to protect
+     herself and her property by the ballot. Perhaps the best service
+     rendered to women by Mr. Harding, was that of securing in 1874
+     Gertrude Garrison as assistant editor of the _Herald_. Mrs.
+     Garrison is, beyond question, one of the ablest journalists
+     Indiana can boast, and the influence of her pen in modifying the
+     popular estimate of woman's capabilities has been incalculable.
+     From 1874 she did half the work, editorial articles, locals,
+     sketches, and all the varieties of writing required upon a weekly
+     paper, but at her own request her name was not announced as
+     associate editor until 1876. In this capacity she remained upon
+     the _Herald_ until January 1, 1880, when the paper passed from
+     Mr. Harding's into other hands. During her connection with the
+     _Herald_, if there was anything particularly strong in the paper,
+     her associate received the credit. The public will not permit
+     itself to believe a woman capable of humor, though I think Mrs.
+     Garrison did as much to sustain the paper's reputation for wit as
+     even Mr. Harding. A. H. Dooley succeeded Mr. Harding as editor of
+     the _Saturday Herald_, and it remained under his management a
+     sturdy advocate of woman's enfranchisement. The _Saturday
+     Review_ was established by Mr. Harding in October, 1880, with
+     Mrs. Garrison associate editor. Upon the death of Mr. Harding,
+     May 8, 1881, Mr. Charles Dennis became chief editor, Mrs.
+     Garrison[349] remaining on the staff as his assistant.
+
+     The _Times_ was founded in June, 1881. From the first it devoted
+     a column to notes on women's work. From September of that year
+     there appeared in each Saturday issue a department devoted to the
+     interests of women, particularly to woman suffrage, under the
+     editorial management of May Wright Sewall. This department
+     reaeppeared in the weekly and was thus widely circulated among
+     country readers. The _Times_ is under the management of Colonel
+     W. R. Holloway. Although from the first fair in its discussions
+     of all reform questions, it did not avow itself to be an advocate
+     of woman suffrage until the week after the public entertainment
+     of the Equal Suffrage Society, 1881, when there appeared an
+     editorial nearly one column in length, setting forth its views
+     upon the whole subject. This editorial contained the following
+     paragraph:
+
+          As the question is likely to become a prominent theme of
+          discussion during the next few years, the _Times_ will now
+          say that it is decidedly and unequivocally in favor of woman
+          suffrage. We believe that women have the same right to vote
+          that men have, that it is impolitic and unjust to deprive
+          them of the right, and that its free and full bestowal would
+          conserve the welfare of society and the good of government.
+
+     In the daily _Evening News_, Mr. J. H. Holliday, with his
+     editorial aids, has set himself to stem the tide of progress
+     which he evidently thinks will, unless a manful endeavor on his
+     part shall prevent it, bear all things down to ruin. The
+     character of his efforts may be inferred from the following
+     extracts which appeared in January and December of 1881:
+
+          We wish our legislators would go home and ponder this thing.
+          Read the Bible and understand the scheme of creation. Read
+          the New Testament, and appreciate the creation of the
+          Christian home, and the headship of things. Reflect upon
+          what rests the future of this government we have reared, and
+          ask what would become of it if the Christian homes in which
+          it is founded were broken up; then reflect upon what would
+          become of the Christian homes if men and women were to
+          attend to the same duties in life. To get a realistic
+          notion, let every man who has a wife ask himself how he
+          would relish being told by her, "I have an engagement with
+          John Smith to-night to see about fixing up a slate to get
+          Mrs. Jones nominated for sheriff," and being left to go his
+          own way while she goes with Smith. If that wouldn't make
+          hell in the household in one act we don't know what would,
+          yet this is merely one little trivial episode of what this
+          anti-christian woman suffrage scheme means.
+
+          To what straits must the advocates of suffrage for women be
+          driven when they needs must seek to show that the ballot is
+          not degrading. What becomes of all our fine talk of the
+          ballot as an educator if they who seek to secure it for
+          women must advocate as a reason why it should not be
+          withheld that it is not degrading! But what better can one
+          expect from those who, when it is suggested that there are
+          duties attaching to the ballot as well as rights, solemnly
+          say that the few moments necessary to deposit a ballot will
+          not interfere with women's duties of sweeping and dusting
+          and baby-tending. When one hears talk of this sort, there is
+          indeed a grave doubt as to whether the ballot really is an
+          educator after all.
+
+     The first of the above citations is from what might be called an
+     article of instruction addressed to the legislature then in
+     session, and considering the question of woman suffrage. The
+     occasion which inspired the second paragraph may be readily
+     inferred. It seems "profitable for the instruction" of the future
+     to preserve a few extracts like the above, that it may be seen
+     how weak and wild, strength itself becomes, when the ally of
+     prejudice and precedent.
+
+     The _Indiana Farmer_, exceptionally well edited, having a wide
+     circulation in the agricultural sections of the State, and
+     enjoying there a powerful influence, is an outspoken advocate of
+     equal suffrage. From statistics regarding papers published
+     outside of Indianapolis, it may be safe to say that two hundred
+     of them favor, with varying degrees of constancy, giving the
+     ballot to women. On the staff of nearly all the papers whose
+     status is above given, are women, who in their respective
+     departments faithfully serve the common cause. During the last
+     few years, efforts have been directed to the capture of the local
+     press, and many of the county papers now have a department edited
+     by women. In most instances this work is done gratuitously, and
+     their success in this new line, entering upon it as they have
+     without previous training, illustrates the versatility of woman's
+     powers. Mrs. M. E. Price of Kokomo, Mrs. Sarah P. Franklin of
+     Anderson, Mrs. Laura Sandafur of Franklin, and Mrs. Ida M. Harper
+     of Terre Haute, deserve especial mention for their admirable work
+     in the papers of their respective towns. Mrs. Laura C. Arnold is
+     the chief editor of the Columbus _Democrat_, and is the only
+     woman in the State having editorial charge of a political party
+     paper, _Our Herald_, under the able editorial management of Mrs.
+     Helen M. Gougar, was a weekly published at Lafayette. It was
+     devoted to securing the re-passage and adoption of the woman
+     suffrage and prohibition amendments. It was a strong, aggressive
+     sheet, and deserved its almost unparalleled success.[350]
+
+In closing this able report for Indiana a few facts in regard to
+the author may interest the general reader as well as the student
+of history.
+
+Mrs. May Wright Sewall has been well known for many years in
+Indianapolis in the higher departments of education, and has
+recently crowned her efforts as a teacher by establishing a model
+classical school for girls, in which she is not only training their
+minds to vigorous thought, but taking the initiative steps to
+secure for them an equally vigorous physical development. Her
+pupils are required to wear a comfortable gymnastic costume, all
+their garments loosely resting on their shoulders; corsets, tight
+waists and high-heeled boots forbidden, for deep thinking requires
+deep breathing. The whole upper floor of her new building is a
+spacious gymnasium, where her pupils exercise every day under the
+instruction of a skillful German; and on every Saturday morning
+they take lessons from the best dancing master in the city. The
+result is, she has no dull scholars complaining of headaches. All
+are alike happy in their studies and amusements.
+
+Mrs. Sewall is a preeminently common-sense woman, believing that
+sound theories can be put into practice. Although her tastes are
+decidedly literary and aesthetic, she is a radical reformer. Hence
+her services in the literary club and suffrage society are alike
+invaluable. And as chairman of the executive committee of the
+National Association, she is without her peer in planning and
+executing the work.
+
+As her husband, Mr. Theodore L. Sewall, is also at the head of a
+classical school, and equally successful in training boys, it may
+be said that both institutions have the advantage of the united
+thought of man and woman. As educators, Mr. and Mrs. Sewall have
+reaped much practical wisdom from their mutual consultations and
+suggestions, the results of which have been of incalculable benefit
+to their pupils.
+
+Peering into the homes of the young women in the suffrage movement,
+one cannot but remark the deference and respect with which these
+intelligent, self-reliant wives are uniformly treated by their
+husbands, and the unbounded confidence and affection they give in
+return. For happiness in domestic life, men and women must meet as
+equals. A position of inferiority and dependence for even the best
+organized women, will either wither all their powers and reduce
+them to apathetic machines, going the round of life's duties with a
+kind of hopeless dissatisfaction, or it will rouse a bitter
+antagonism, an active resistance, an offensive self-assertion,
+poisoning the very sources of domestic happiness. The true ideal of
+family life can never be realized until woman is restored to her
+rightful throne. Tennyson, in his "Princess," gives us the
+prophetic vision when he says:
+
+            "Everywhere
+    Two heads in council, two beside the hearth,
+    Two in the tangled business of the world,
+    Two in the liberal offices of life,
+    Two plummets dropped for one, to sound the abyss
+    Of science, and the secrets of the mind."
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[325] See Vol. I., page 306.
+
+[326] The call for this convention was signed by Amanda M. Way,
+Mrs. M. C. Bland, Mrs. M. M. B. Goodwin, Mrs. Henry Blanchard, Mrs.
+Emma B. Swank, Indianapolis; Mrs. Isaac Kinley, Richmond; Dr. Mary
+F. Thomas, Camden; Dr. Mary H. Wilhite, Miss Lizzie Boynton, Miss
+Mollie Krout, Dr. E. E. Barrett, Crawfordsville; Mrs. Abula Pucket
+Nind, Fort Wayne; Mrs. L. S. Bidell, Crown Point; Rev. E. P.
+Ingersoll, J. V. R. Miller, Rev. Henry Blanchard, Rev. William
+Hannaman, Professor A. C. Shortridge, Professor R. T. Brown,
+Professor Thomas Rhodes, Dr. T. A. Bland, Indianapolis; Hon. Isaac
+Kinley, Isaac H. Julian, Richmond; Hon. L. M. Nind, Fort Wayne;
+Hon. S. T. Montgomery, Kokomo; D. R. Pershing and Rev. T. Sells,
+Warsaw.
+
+[327] The officers of the State Association in 1883 were:
+_President_, Dr. Mary F. Thomas: _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Helen V.
+Austin, Mrs. S. S. McCain, Mrs. M. V. Berg, Mrs. G. Gifford, Mrs.
+M. P. Lindsey, Mrs. C. A. P. Smith and Mrs. F. G. Scofield;
+_Secretary_, Mrs. M. E. M. Price; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs.
+F. M. Adkinson; _Treasurer_, Miss Mary D. Naylor; _State Central
+Committee_, Mrs. Mary E. Haggart, Mrs. Z. G. Wallace and May Wright
+Sewall.
+
+[328] Annual--1871, June 21, 22, Bloomington; 1872, June 5, 6,
+Dublin; 1873, June 11, 12, Terre Haute; Semi-Annual, November 19,
+Richmond. Annual--1874, May 28, 29, Fort Wayne; 1875, May 25, 26,
+Liberty; Semi-Annual, November 23, 24, Winchester. Annual--1876,
+May 30, 31, Anderson; 1877, September 4, 5, Knightstown; 1878, June
+11, 12, Richmond: 1879, May 14, 15, Kokomo; 1880, April 27, 28,
+Crawfordsville; 1881, June 15, 16, Kokomo; Semi-Annual, October 29,
+Dublin. Annual--1882, May, Columbus; 1883, June, Logansport; 1884,
+Kokomo; 1885, November 22, 23, Warsaw.
+
+[329] See Vol. II., page 851.
+
+[330] The Equal Suffrage Society has now, 1885, a membership of
+175, including many representatives of whatever in Indianapolis is
+best in character, culture and social place. The society has lately
+districted the city for local work, assuming the boundaries of the
+school districts as its own for this purpose; its present plan is
+to place each of these twenty-six districts under the especial care
+of a committee whose business shall be to hold meetings, distribute
+literature and circulate petitions. The society thus hopes to
+create a stimulating suffrage atmosphere at the capital which shall
+inspire the legislators with courage to do good work for women at
+their next session.
+
+[331] INVITATION.--The Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society requests
+the pleasure of your company at a literary and social entertainment
+to be given in the Bates House parlors, Friday evening, November 4,
+1881. _Committee_--May Wright Sewall, Mary C. Raridan, Mrs. H.G.
+Carey, Mrs. Charles Kregelo, and Miss Lydia Halley. Please present
+invitation at the door.
+
+PROGRAMME.--1. Music, piano solo, Miss Dietrich; 2. Toast,
+Yorktown, Henry D. Pierce; 3. Toast, The True Republic, Mrs. Z.G.
+Wallace; 4. Music, solo (vocal), Mrs. J.J. Cole; 5. Toast, Women in
+Indiana, Gen. John Coburn; 6. Toast, Women in the "Revised
+Version," Arthur W. Tyler; 7. Music, solo (vocal), Arthur Miller:
+8. Toast. The Literary Women of Indiana. 9. Toast, Women in the
+U.S. School System, Horace S. Tarbell; 10. Recitation, Lida Hood
+Talbott; 11. Toast, Our Forefathers, Rev. Myron W. Reed; 12. A
+Reply, Mary C. Raridan; 13. Music, solo (vocal), Mrs. J.C. New.
+Music In charge of Mrs. John C. New. W.B. Stone, accompanist.
+
+[332] The speakers were Helen M. Gouger, Florence M. Adkinson, Mary
+A. Haggart, Ex-Gov. Baker, Judge Martindale, Mrs. Wallace, Messrs.
+Walker and Dooley, editors of the _Times_ and _Herald_, Mr.
+Tarbell, superintendent of the city schools, and May Wright Sewall.
+
+[333] See Indiana Appendix, note A.
+
+[334] See Appendix to Indiana, note B.
+
+[335] The following invitation was sent to every member of the
+legislature who had voted for the amendment, and also to all the
+leading people of the city: The pleasure of your company is
+requested at the parlors of the New-Denison, Friday evening, April
+15, from 8 to 12, where a social entertainment will be given in
+honor of the passage of the suffrage amendment by our State
+legislature. [Signed:] Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace, Miss Catherine
+Merrill, Mrs. Harvey G. Carey, Mrs. Charles Kregelo, Mrs. Henry D.
+Pierce, Mrs. Thomas A. Hendricks, May Wright Sewall, Mrs. George
+Merritt, Mrs. John C. New and Mrs. John M. Judah. The programme was
+as follows: 1. Music, Solo (vocal), Zelda Seguin Wallace. 2. Toast,
+Our Legislature, Senator Spann. 3. Toast, Our Opponents, Colonel
+DeWitt Wallace. 4. Toast, The Press and Progress, Laura Ream. 5.
+Toast, The Indiana Woman under the Law, William Wallace. 6. Music,
+Solo (vocal), Mrs. John C. New. 7. Toast, The Ideal Man, Mrs. J. M.
+Judah. 8. Toast, The Ideal Woman, Mr. A. S. Caldwell. 9. Toast, The
+Home of the Future, May Wright Sewall. 10. Music, German Song,
+Professor John Fiske. 11. Toast, The Woman who "Don't want to
+Vote," Gertrude Garrison. 12. Recitation, Lida Hood Talbot. 13.
+Toast, The Attitude of the Pulpit toward Reform, Rev. Myron W.
+Reed. 14. Music, Solo (vocal), Zelda Seguin Wallace.
+
+[336] The persons thus authorized by the central committee to hold
+meetings and organize societies were Dr. Mary F. Thomas, Mary E.
+Haggart, Zerelda G. Wallace, Helen M. Gougar, May Wright Sewall and
+L. May Wheeler.
+
+[337] Besides these five-minute reports, addresses were delivered
+by Rev. Myron W. Reed, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of
+Indianapolis; Captain DeWitt Wallace of Lafayette, Dr. Ridpath of
+DePaun University, Colonel Maynard, chief editorial writer on the
+_Sentinel_; Mrs. Haggart, Mrs. Gougar, Mrs. Josephine R. Nichols,
+and other men and women of less prominence, but on that occasion of
+hardly less interest.
+
+[338] Among these the names of William Dudley Foulke of Richmond,
+W. DeWitt Wallace of Lafayette, G. H. Thomas of Huntington, and S.
+P. Yancey, merit honorable mention.
+
+[339] Mrs. Sewall, Mrs. Merritt and Mrs. Mary E. Newman Carey.
+
+[340] Republican, May Wright Sewall and Paulina T. Merritt;
+Democratic, Mary E. Haggart and Florence M. Adkinson.
+
+[341] For an account of this prison, see Appendix to Indiana
+chapter, note C.
+
+[342] See Appendix to Indiana chapter, note G.
+
+[343] Miss Merrill resigned in the autumn of 1883, and was
+immediately succeeded by Miss Harriet Noble of Vincennes, a
+graduate of Vassar, and a lady of most admirable qualities, whose
+success is assured by the record of her first year in this
+responsible position.
+
+[344] See sketch of Dr. Thomas, Vol. I., page 324.
+
+[345] For these bills and amendments, see Vol. II., pages 325, 333.
+
+[346] See Appendix, Indiana chapter, notes E and F.
+
+[347] Mrs. Sarah T. Bolton, Laura Ream, Mrs. Lew Wallace, Mary H.
+Korut, Mary Dean, Margaret Holmes (Mrs. M. V. Bates), Mrs. M. E.
+Banta, Mrs. Louise V. Boyd, Mrs. Helen V. Austin, Mrs. Hettie A.
+Morrison, Mrs. E. S. L. Thompson, Mrs. Amy E. Dunn, Mrs. A. D.
+Hawkins, Miss Rena L. Miner, Miss Edna C. Jackson and Mrs. D. M.
+Jordan are all literary women who sympathize with and aid this
+reform.
+
+[348] The woman's department has constantly grown in extent and
+value, until it has become one of the most important features of
+the State fair, and this year, 1885, the managers have allowed to
+it twice the space hitherto occupied. It is worthy of note that
+suffrage papers, tracts and books are always to be found among the
+exhibits.
+
+[349] Mrs. Garrison left Indianapolis for New York in May of 1882.
+Success followed her to the metropolis and she now has, 1885, the
+entire editorial management of the literary department of the
+American Press Association, and her work goes into more than fifty
+of the best weekly papers in the country.
+
+[350] _Our Herald_ did royal service in the campaign of 1882; it
+subsequently became a monthly and in addition to other admirable
+efforts, undertook to introduce leading western women to the larger
+world by publishing a series of biographical sketches of the most
+prominent. In the winter of 1885 Mrs. Gougar sold _Our Herald_ to
+Mrs. Harbert, who published it in Chicago as the _The New Era_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+ILLINOIS.
+
+     Chicago a Great Commercial Center--First Woman Suffrage
+     Agitation, 1855--A. J. Grover--Society at Earlville--Prudence
+     Crandall--Sanitary Movement--Woman in Journalism--Myra
+     Bradwell--Excitement in Elmwood Church, 1868--Mrs. Huldah
+     Joy--Pulpit Utterances--Convention, 1869, Library Hall,
+     Chicago--Anna Dickinson--Robert Laird Collier Debate--Manhood
+     Suffrage Denounced by Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony--Judge
+     Charles B. Waite on the Constitutional Convention--Hearing Before
+     the Legislature--Western Suffrage Convention, Mrs. Livermore,
+     President--Annual Meeting at Bloomington--Women Eligible to
+     School Offices--Evanston College--Miss Alta Hulett--Medical
+     Association--Dr. Sarah Hackett Stephenson--"Woman's Kingdom," in
+     the _Inter-Ocean_--Mrs. Harbert--Centennial Celebration at
+     Evanston--Temperance Petition, 180,000--Frances E.
+     Willard--Social Science Association--Art Union--International
+     Congress at Paris--Jane Graham Jones--Moline Association.
+
+
+Illinois, one of the Central States in our vast country, stretching
+over five and a half degrees of latitude, was admitted to the Union
+in 1818. Its chief city, Chicago, extending for miles round the
+southern shores of Lake Michigan, is the great commercial center of
+the boundless West. We may get some idea of the magnitude of her
+commerce from the fact that the receipts and shipment of flour,
+grain and cattle from that port alone in 1872 were valued at
+$370,000,000.
+
+When the battles with the Indians were finally ended, the
+population of the State rapidly increased, and in 1880 the census
+gave 1,586,523 males and 1,491,348 females. In the school
+statistics we find about the same proportionate number of women and
+girls as teachers and scholars in the public schools and in all the
+honest walks of life; while men and boys in the criminal ranks are
+out of all proportion. For example, in the state-prison at Joliet
+there were, in 1873, 1,321 criminals; fifteen only were women. And
+yet the more virtuous, educated, self-governed part of the
+population, that shared equally the hardships of the early days,
+and by industry and self-sacrifice helped to build up that great
+State, is still denied the civil and political rights declared by
+the constitution to belong to every citizen of the commonwealth.
+The trials and triumphs of the women of Illinois are vividly
+portrayed in the following records sent us by Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert, Ph. D.:
+
+     His biographer asserts that Bernini, the celebrated Florentine
+     artist, architect, painter and poet, once gave a public opera in
+     Rome, for which he painted the scenes, composed the music, wrote
+     the poem, carved the statues, invented the engines, and built the
+     theater. Because of his versatile talents the man Bernini has
+     passed into history. Of almost equal versatility were the women
+     of the equal-rights movement, since in many instances their names
+     appear and reaeppear in the records we have consulted as authors,
+     editors, journalists, lecturers, teachers, physicians, lawyers,
+     ordained ministers and home-makers; and in many localities a
+     woman, to be eligible for the lyceum, was expected to be
+     statesmanlike as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, executive as Susan B.
+     Anthony, spiritual as Lucretia Mott, eloquent as Anna Dickinson,
+     graceful as Celia Burleigh, fascinating as Paulina Wright Davis;
+     a social queen, very domestic, a skillful musician, an excellent
+     cook, very young, and the mother of at least six children; even
+     then she was not entitled to the rights, privileges and
+     immunities of an American citizen. So "the divine rights of the
+     people" became the watchword of thoughtful men and women of the
+     Prairie State, and at the dawn of the second half of the present
+     century many caught the echoes of that historic convention at
+     Seneca Falls and insisted that the fundamental principles of our
+     government should be applied to all the citizens of the United
+     States.
+
+     In view of the fearless heroism and steady adherence to principle
+     of many comparatively unknown lives, the historian is painfully
+     conscious of the meagerness of the record, as compared with the
+     amount of labor that must necessarily have been performed. In
+     almost every city, village and school district some earnest man
+     or woman has been quietly waging the great moral battle that will
+     eventually make us free; and while it would be a labor of love to
+     recognize every one who has wrought for freedom, doubtless many
+     names worthy of mention may unintentionally be omitted.
+
+     The earliest account of specific work that we have been able to
+     trace is an address delivered in Earlville by A. J. Grover, esq.,
+     in 1855, who from that time until the present has been an able
+     champion of the constitutional rights of women. As a result of
+     his efforts, and the discussion that followed, a society was
+     formed, of which Mrs. Susan Hoxie Richardson (a cousin of Susan
+     B. Anthony) was elected president, and Mrs. Octavia Grover
+     secretary. This, we believe, was the first suffrage society in
+     Illinois. Its influence was increased by the fact that, during
+     two years of Mr. Grover's editorial control, the Earlville
+     _Transcript_ was a fearless champion of equal rights. While that
+     band of pioneers was actively at work, Prudence Crandall, who was
+     mobbed and imprisoned in Connecticut for teaching a school for
+     colored girls, was actively engaged in Mendota, in the same
+     county. A few years later, lectures were delivered[351] on the
+     subject of equal rights for women in different parts of the
+     State.
+
+     Copies of two of the early appeals have been secured. One by A.
+     J. Grover, published in pamphlet form, was extensively
+     circulated; the other by Mrs. Catharine V. Waite, appeared in the
+     Earlville _Transcript_. Both of these documents are yellowed with
+     age, but the arguments presented are as logical as the more
+     recent utterances of our most radical champions. There is a
+     tradition of a convention at Galesburg some years later, but we
+     have failed to find any accurate data. During the interim between
+     these dates and that never-to-be-forgotten April day in 1861, but
+     little agitation of this great subject can be traced, and during
+     the six years subsequent to that time we witness all previously
+     defined boundaries of spheres brushed away like cobwebs, when
+     women, north and south, were obliged to fill the places made
+     vacant by our civil war. An adequate record of the work
+     accomplished during those eventful years by Illinois women,
+     notably among them being Mary A. Livermore and Jane C. Hoge, lies
+     before us in a bound volume of the paper published under the
+     auspices of the Northwestern Sanitary Fair, edited by the Hon.
+     Andrew Shuman. This little journal was called the _Voice of the
+     Fair_, a prophetic name, as really through the medium of these
+     sanitary fairs were the voices of the _fair_ all potent, and
+     through their patriotic services to our soldiery did the women of
+     the United States first discover their talent for managing and
+     administering great enterprises. In his first editorial
+     Lieutenant-Governor Shuman says:
+
+          On motion of Mrs. Elizabeth A. Loomis, it was decided to
+          open the fair on February 22, 1865, Washington's birthday,
+          and to continue it till March 4, the presidential
+          inauguration day. A committee, consisting of Mrs. H. H.
+          Hoge, Mrs. D. P. Livermore and Mrs. E. W. Blatchford for the
+          commission, and Mrs. O. E. Hosmer, Mrs. C. P. Dickinson and
+          Mr. L. B. Bryan for the Home, was appointed as executive.
+          This was the little cloud, scarcely larger than a man's
+          hand, which grew till it almost encircled the heavens,
+          spreading into every corner of our broad land, and including
+          every department of industry in its ample details.
+
+     The undertaking was herculean, and on the grand occasion of the
+     opening of the fair, although we do not find any account of women
+     sharing in the honors of the day, yet they were vouchsafed
+     honorable mention in the following terms by the governor of the
+     State: "I do not know how to praise women, but I can say nothing
+     so good as our late president once said on a similar occasion,
+     'God bless the women of America.' They have been our faithful
+     allies during this fearful war. They have toiled steadily by our
+     side, with the most enduring constancy through the frightful
+     contest." Amid the first impulses of genuine gratitude men
+     recognized what at present they seem to forget, that by
+     inheritance and patriotic service woman has an equal right with
+     man to a share in the rights and privileges of this government.
+
+     In the winter of 1860 Hannah Tracy Cutler, M. D., and Mrs.
+     Frances D. Gage made a canvass of the interior and western parts
+     of the State, procuring signatures to petitions asking for
+     equality before the law, and especially for the right of married
+     women to earn and hold and dispose of property the same as a
+     _feme-sole_. Also, that property acquired before marriage, or
+     that may afterward accrue to a married woman by gift, devise,
+     descent or deed, may be held, controlled and disposed of by
+     herself where it had not been intentionally converted to common
+     property by her consent. In response to a request for data on
+     this point, Mrs. Cutler writes:
+
+          At the close of our campaign we were summoned to Ohio to
+          assist in the canvass in that State. Returning to Illinois,
+          I learned that no action had been taken on our petitions.
+          The member to whom we had consigned them, and who had
+          promised to act in our behalf, had found no convenient
+          opportunity. I at once repaired to Springfield, and, on
+          inquiry, was told that it was now too late in the
+          session--that members were so busy that no one could be
+          induced to draft a bill for an act granting such laws as we
+          desired. I found one member ready to assist to the full
+          measure of his ability--Mr. Pickett of Rock Island. By his
+          encouragement I went to the State library and there drew up
+          a bill giving women, during coverture, certain personal and
+          property rights. Mr. Pickett presented our petitions, got a
+          special committee, took my bill before it, got a favorable
+          report, and a law was passed to that effect. Some decisions
+          occurred under this law. I think, however, that in a
+          codification a year or two after, this law was left out, I
+          know not by what authority, and some years later Mrs.
+          Livermore, Mrs. Bradwell and others presented the matter
+          afresh, and succeeded in procuring again a similar
+          enactment. The winter following I presented petitions for
+          the right of guardianship; also, I asked that for estates
+          not exceeding $5,000 the widow should not be required to
+          take out letters of administration, but should be permitted
+          to continue in possession, the same as the husband on the
+          decease of the wife, the property subject to the same
+          liabilities for the payment of debts and the maintenance of
+          children as before the decease of the husband. I made this
+          small claim for the relief of many wives whose husbands had
+          gone into the army, leaving them with all the
+          responsibility; and there seemed no sufficient reason for
+          disturbing and distributing either the family or the estate,
+          when the husband exchanged the battle-field for the "sleep
+          that knows no waking." This petition, asking for these
+          reasonable and righteous laws, was, by motion of Colonel
+          Mack, in a spirit of burlesque, referred to the Committee on
+          Internal Navigation, and a burlesque report was made in open
+          Senate, too indecent to be entered on the records. The grave
+          and reverend seigniors, on this, indulged in a hearty
+          guffaw, hugely enjoyed by his honor Lieutenant-Governor
+          Hoffman, and, to this day, no further action has been taken
+          to give the wife and mother this small modicum of justice,
+          though many of the senators at that time promised the
+          question an early consideration.
+
+     On Saturday, October 3, 1868, a genuine sensation was produced by
+     the appearance of the Chicago _Legal News_, edited by Mrs. Myra
+     Bradwell. At this day it is impossible to realize with what
+     supreme astonishment this journal was received. Neither can we
+     estimate its influence upon the subsequent legislation of the
+     State. Looking through its files we find that no opportunity was
+     lost for exposing all laws unjust to woman, or for noting each
+     indication of progress throughout the world. Under date of
+     October 31, 1868, a short article in regard to the "Citizenship
+     of Women" reads thus:
+
+          The act of congress provides that any alien, being a free
+          white person, may become a citizen of the United States.
+          While congress was very careful to limit this great
+          privilege of citizenship to the free white person, it made
+          no distinction or limitation whatever on account of sex.
+          Under this statute it has been held that a married woman
+          may be naturalized and become a citizen of the United
+          States, and that, too, without the consent of her husband. A
+          woman may be a citizen of the United States, be subject to
+          the laws, own property, and be compelled to pay taxes to
+          support a government she has no voice in administering or
+          vote in electing its officers.
+
+     In the same issue of the _News_ we meet with an earnest appeal
+     for the prompt passage of a law conferring upon woman a right to
+     her earnings. When we realize that one of the Supreme Judges soon
+     after this assured Mrs. Bradwell that she was editing a paper
+     that no lawyer could afford to do without, we shall understand
+     how important a part this journal has played in the courts. In
+     the sixth number of the _News_ we find the attention of the legal
+     fraternity called to the fact that in the reign of James I. it
+     was held in the cases of _Coats vs. Lyall_ and _Holt vs. Lyall_,
+     tried in Westminster Hall, that a single woman, if a freeholder,
+     had the right to vote for a parliament man; and in the reign of
+     Queen Elizabeth, Lady Packington, in right of property held by
+     her, did actually vote for a return of two burgesses to
+     parliament for the borough of Aylesburg; and in the time of
+     Charles I., Mrs. Copley voted, in right of her property, for the
+     return of a burgess for Gratton. The subject of their return was
+     brought before parliament, and amended by joining other persons
+     with Mrs. Copley in the right of returning burgesses for Gratton.
+     Women have actually sat and voted in the English parliament.
+
+     In 1868, Sorosis, a woman's club, was organized in Chicago, with
+     Mrs. Delia Waterman president, and soon after several periodicals
+     were established; _The Chicago Sorosis_, with Mrs. Mary L.
+     Walker, Cynthia Leonard and Agnes L. Knowlton, editors; _The
+     Inland Monthly_, Mrs. Charlotte Clark, editor and publisher; and
+     _The Agitator_, with Mary A. Livermore and Mary L. Walker
+     editors. Though all were short-lived, they serve to show woman's
+     ambition in the direction of journalism.
+
+     In 1868 there was a decided "awakening" on the question of woman
+     suffrage in central Illinois. In the town of Elmwood, Peoria
+     county, the question drew large audiences to lyceum discussions,
+     and was argued in school, church and caucus. The conservatives
+     became alarmed, and announced their determination to "nip the
+     innovation in the bud." A spirited editorial in the New York
+     _Independent_ was based upon the following facts, given by
+     request of some of the disfranchised women:
+
+          Rev. W. G. Pierce was the pastor of the Elmwood
+          Congregational Church. A large majority of the members were
+          women, and there was no discrimination against them in the
+          church manual. The pastor and two or three members decided
+          that a change of rules was needed. A church meeting was held
+          in March, 1868, at which the number in attendance was very
+          small, owing to some irregularities in issuing the call. The
+          suffrage question was brought up by the pastor, and the talk
+          soon became so insulting that the women present felt
+          compelled to leave the house. The manual was then amended so
+          as to exclude women from voting "in matters pertaining to
+          the welfare of the church," and making a two-thirds vote of
+          adult males necessary to any change thereafter. This was
+          carried by five yeas to one nay--only six votes out of a
+          membership of 210! The church was taken by surprise, and
+          there was no little excitement when the fact became known
+          next day. A vigorous protest and a call for reconsideration
+          was quickly signed by nearly a hundred members and sent to
+          the pastor. The meeting was not called for weeks, and when
+          at last it was secured, he, as moderator, ruled
+          reconsideration out, on the ground that there was an error
+          in the announcement of the business (by himself!) from the
+          pulpit. At a later meeting a vote on reconsideration was
+          reached, and enough of the male adult minority were in
+          attendance to make the vote stand 19 to 17, not two-thirds
+          of the male adult element voting for reconsideration.
+
+          The contention now became bitter, and twenty-eight of the
+          more intelligent and earnest members withdrew and asked for
+          letters to other churches. Such of the "adult males" as
+          "tarried by the altar," refused to give the outgoing members
+          the usual letters, to join in a mutual council on an equal
+          footing, or to discipline the seceders. The latter called an
+          ex-parte council, composed of such men as Dr. Bascom, of
+          Princeton; Dr. Edward Beecher, of Galesburg; Dr. Haven, of
+          Evanston; Dr. C. D. Helmer, of Chicago, and others. This
+          council gave the desired letters, but advised
+          reconciliation. Among the seceders, Mrs. Huldah Joy, an
+          educated and intensely religious woman, was one of the most
+          active and earnest, her husband, F. R. Joy, and her
+          daughters, also doing good service. Mrs. H. E.
+          Sunderland,[352] another woman of culture, and Mrs. Mary Ann
+          Cone and Mrs. S. R. Murray were faithful, brave and earnest.
+          The church, which previous to the secession, was strong and
+          flourishing, became an inharmonious organization, and has
+          never rallied from the effects of that unjust action.
+
+     At a meeting held in Chicago, in the autumn of 1868, a resolution
+     was offered to the effect that "a State association be formed,
+     having for its object the advocacy of universal suffrage." Among
+     the many interesting facts connected with the "rise and progress"
+     of the equal-rights movement is the large number of
+     representative men and women who have from the first been
+     identified with it.[353] January 25, 1860 we find among the most
+     progressive utterances from the pulpit, a sermon by the Rev.
+     Sumner Ellis of Chicago, while Rev. Charles Fowler and Dr. H. W.
+     Thomas were ever fearless and earnest in their advocacy of this
+     measure. In February, 1869, the _Legal News_ said:
+
+          A call has been issued, inviting all persons in favor of
+          woman suffrage to meet in convention in Library Hall,
+          Chicago. There are many hundred names appended, including
+          the judges of all the courts of Cook county, leading members
+          of the bar throughout the State, representatives of the
+          press, ministers of the gospel, from all denominations, and
+          representatives from every profession and business.
+          Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and the Rev.
+          Olympia Brown have been invited and are expected to attend.
+
+     Pursuant to the foregoing "call," a notable convention was
+     held.[354] The _Tribune_ devoted nine columns to an account of
+     the proceedings, respectful in tone and fair in statement. During
+     its two days' session, Library Hall was packed to its utmost
+     capacity with the beauty and fashion of the city. Able lawyers,
+     eloquent and distinguished divines and gallant generals occupied
+     seats upon the platform and took part in the deliberations. The
+     special importance of this convention at this time, was the
+     consideration of the immediate duty of securing a recognition of
+     the rights of women in the new constitution, for the framing of
+     which a convention had been called.
+
+     All the speakers had strong convictions and showed broad
+     differences, continually making sharp points against each other.
+     Several clergymen were present, some in favor of woman suffrage,
+     some opposed, some in doubt. Among these were the two
+     Collyers--one, the Rev. Robert, the English blacksmith of former
+     days, liberal, progressive, of large physical proportions; the
+     other, the Rev. Robert Laird, a much smaller man, and of
+     conservative tendencies.
+
+          The Rev. Robert Collyer dissented so entirely from what the
+          preceding speaker, Dr. Hammond, had said, that he was
+          determined to run the risk of attempting to reply. He
+          thought that a majority of men who began by being reformers,
+          ended by being old fogies, and he thought that might be the
+          case with Mr. Hammond. He felt no doubt that the whole
+          movement of women's rights was to be established in America.
+          He had seen the effects of woman's presence in associations
+          upon men, and he was sure that this same agency would have
+          the effect of bringing politics to such a condition as that
+          decent people of either sex might take part in it. As to the
+          Bible declaring that man shall rule over woman, he found a
+          similar case where it used to be quoted in support of the
+          institution of slavery, but when the grander and more
+          beautiful principles of the Bible came to be applied the
+          contrary was clearly established. So it was with the
+          question of woman's rights. To him the Bible seemed like an
+          immense pasture wherein any and every species of animal
+          might find its own peculiar food. In regard to what Mr.
+          Hammond said as to the rights of infants, he wished he had
+          conferred with his wife and got her approval before he said
+          it. The speaker was sure his own wife would not have advised
+          him to say it. He believed that when maternal and home
+          duties conflicted, the children and the home relations would
+          take the preference invariably, and the remarks of Mr.
+          Hammond seemed to imply a terrible want of confidence in
+          woman. He believed that woman would always do her duty to
+          her children and her home. Then, too, he had been surprised,
+          that Mr. Hammond, in speaking of preventing children from
+          coming into the world, had failed to speak of the
+          complicity of man, in reality the greatest criminal, in that
+          matter. As to the excitement attendant upon political
+          issues, was it worse, viewed as mere excitement, than that
+          which is so earnestly sought to be aroused at religious
+          meetings? Elizabeth, Anne, and Victoria were, with the
+          exception, perhaps, of Cromwell, the best rulers England
+          ever had, and, when the administration of Andrew Johnson was
+          remembered, he thought we might do worse than to have a
+          woman for president, after Grant's term shall have expired.
+          [Applause.] In conclusion, Mr. Collyer said that, even if
+          the fearful picture drawn by Mr. Hammond, of 70,000 immoral
+          women marching to the polls in New York, were realized, he
+          could draw another picture--that of 75,000 good and pure
+          women marching to the polls to vote the others down.
+          [Applause.]
+
+          Rev. Edward Beecher, of Galesburg, said: Exclusive class
+          legislation was not safe; it was oppressive and degrading.
+          Female influence has procured the repeal of some obnoxious
+          laws, and that proved it was a powerful element. He thought
+          the Bible, as regards man being the head, had been
+          misinterpreted. When man took the attitude in relation to
+          women which Christ sustains to the church, that of love, of
+          service, of helpfulness and sacrifice, he would be an
+          example of true headship. He read an extract from an
+          editorial in the _Tribune_, of February 11, in regard to the
+          giving way of moral integrity in the affairs of the nation,
+          and commended the question to the consideration of all. The
+          country was never in greater danger than now of having the
+          whole political system destroyed. Some great moral influence
+          ought to be brought to eradicate the corruption so prevalent
+          among public men. There were two great vices in
+          existence--drunkenness and licentiousness--and in both,
+          woman was the victim of man in the majority of cases. The
+          legislation which pressed down women was wrong, and should
+          be remedied. He admitted it was an experiment to introduce
+          the female element into legislation, but the success of the
+          male element had thus far been such that, according to his
+          judgment, things could not be much worse than they are.
+          Women were always deeply interested in all public questions.
+          If responsibilities were put upon them they would become
+          greater intellectually, morally and socially.
+
+     Several able lawyers also took part in the convention, who
+     brought their legal learning to bear on the question. Mrs.
+     Stanton and Miss Anthony, hostile to the action of the Republican
+     party as manifested in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments,
+     were present with their stern criticisms and scathing resolutions
+     on "manhood suffrage," submitting the following to the
+     convention:
+
+          _Resolved_, That a man's government is worse than a white
+          man's government, because in proportion as you increase the
+          rulers you make the condition of the ostracised more
+          hopeless and degraded.
+
+          _Resolved_, That as the Democratic cry of "a white man's
+          government" created an antagonism between the Irish and the
+          negro, culminating in the New York riots of '63, so the
+          Republican cry of "manhood suffrage" creates an antagonism
+          between the black man and all women, and will culminate in
+          fearful outrages on womanhood, especially in the Southern
+          States.
+
+          _Resolved_, That by the establishment of an aristocracy of
+          sex in the District of Columbia, by the introduction of the
+          word "male" into the federal constitution in article XIV.,
+          section 2, and by the proposition to enforce manhood
+          suffrage in all the States of the Union, the Republican
+          party has been guilty of three successive arbitrary acts,
+          three retrogressive steps in legislation, alike invidious
+          and insulting to women and suicidal to the nation.
+
+     After a long and earnest discussion, the resolutions were voted
+     down. Mrs. Stanton's speech setting forth six reasons against a
+     "male aristocracy"[355] was pronounced able and eloquent, though
+     directly in opposition to the general sentiment of the
+     convention, which was mainly Republican. Miss Anna Dickinson,
+     having a lyceum engagement in Chicago, was present at one of the
+     sessions, and had quite a spirited encounter with Robert Laird
+     Collier. As she appeared on the platform at the close of some
+     remarks by that gentleman, loud calls were made for her, when she
+     came forward and spoke as follows:
+
+          MRS. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It is impossible for
+          me to continue in my seat after so kind and cordial a call
+          from this house, and I thank you for the pleasant and
+          friendly feeling you have shown. I have but a word to say. I
+          had gone out of the room, not because of the discussion, but
+          because it was too warm and the atmosphere so stifling, when
+          I was recalled by hearing something to this effect: "That
+          there had not been a single logical argument used on this
+          platform in behalf of woman suffrage; that woman is
+          abundantly represented by some man of her family; that when
+          a woman lifts herself up in opposition against her husband,
+          she lifts herself up, if I properly and rightly understood
+          the declaration, against God; that the inspired assertion is
+          that the husband is the head of the wife." Oh! but Mr.
+          Collier forgot to say the husband is the head of the wife as
+          Christ is the head of the church. In my observation, and it
+          has not been a limited one, though I confess I am not an
+          unprejudiced observer, I have never yet discovered a man who
+          is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.
+          Furthermore, he announces that these women, being
+          represented by men, if they lift themselves up in opposition
+          to their husbands, lose that womanly and feminine element
+          which is so admirable and pure and beautiful, and nothing
+          can preserve them from the contamination of politics. Woman
+          is to lift herself against God if she lifts herself against
+          her husband, and woman is abundantly represented by this
+          same husband, or by some man in her own family. There are a
+          multitude of women who have no husbands [laughter]. There
+          are a multitude of women who never will have any husbands
+          [renewed laughter]. There are a great many women who have no
+          men in their own households to represent them, either for
+          their wrongs or their rights. Mr. Collier, I suppose,
+          however, is talking about women who have husbands.
+
+          He says the woman loses her purity, her delicacy, her
+          feminine attributes when she lifts her voice and sentiments
+          against the man whose name she bears. We will say, then,
+          look across these western prairies to Utah. If the women
+          there dare to say to the congress of the United States,
+          "Amend this constitution that we women of Utah can have one
+          husband, and that the husband can take but one wife"; if
+          these women demand decency in the marriage relation, demand
+          justice for themselves, demand purity, they are lifting
+          themselves against the laws of womanhood and the laws of
+          God. Every woman represented by her husband is to lose her
+          purity, her delicacy, her refinement, if she dares to lift
+          her hand against him and his will. You have here, within the
+          limits of your State of Illinois, 100,000 drunkards. Every
+          woman who dares to lift her hand, cry out with her voice,
+          "Give me the ballot that may offset the votes of these
+          drunkards at the polls and save my children from starvation
+          and myself from being put into the workhouse"--this woman is
+          lifting herself against the laws of God and womanhood. That
+          is not all! Last summer this question of prohibition was
+          being tested in Massachusetts by votes. I went from town to
+          town--my engagements taking me all over the State at that
+          time--and said my say upon this question of woman suffrage.
+          In whatever city or town I went, women, bowed down with
+          grief, who desired to preserve their womanhood, their
+          persons from blows and abuse, their sons from going to
+          gambling hells and rum shops, their girls from being sent to
+          houses of abomination, came to me and said: "Anna Dickinson,
+          if you are a woman, speak and use your influence for our
+          cause." Women who have drunken husbands, whether they lived
+          in Beacon street or at the North End, whether they lived in
+          luxury or poverty, said: "For the sake of womanhood, for the
+          sake of motherhood, for the sake of all things good and true
+          in the world, lift up our hands and voices, through
+          yourself, to protest against these men whose names we bear."
+          Ah! that Mr. Collier could have seen these drunkards' wives,
+          standing with tears streaming down their cheeks, and
+          begging for power, begging for the ballot to save their
+          homes, and themselves, and their children. Do you tell this
+          audience--do you tell any mother or daughter here this
+          afternoon, that she protests against the purity of
+          womanhood, and lifts her powers against the laws of God?
+          Pardon me for taking this much of your time. I will simply
+          add a thought. This is the cause of purity. This is the
+          cause which is to strengthen young girls, which is to give
+          them self-reliance and self-respect. This is the thing that
+          is to put these girls on their feet; say to them "you are an
+          independent being; you are to earn the clothes that cover
+          you," and this will allow them to walk with steady feet
+          through rough places. This thing which is to give these
+          women such power, certainly will be strengthening to them by
+          making them independent and self-reliant. The ballot is to
+          save womanhood and save purity, which he says is in
+          danger--the feminine element of dependence and weakness and
+          tenderness, of clinging helplessness, which he so much
+          adores. Let justice be done. Give us the ballot. Here is the
+          power to defend yourself when your rights are assailed; when
+          your home is entered. Here is the authority to tell the
+          spoiler to stand back; when our sons are being brought up to
+          wickedness and our daughters to lives of shame, here is the
+          power in the mother's hand which says these children shall
+          be taken from the wrong place and put in the right one. For
+          the rights of mothers I plead. Let us allow, from one end of
+          this country to the other, every man and woman, black and
+          white, to go to the polls to defend their own rights and the
+          rights of their homes.
+
+          The Rev. R. L. COLLIER said he would to God that every woman
+          in America had such a heart and such a voice for woman's
+          rights. But sympathy was one thing and logic was another. If
+          he thought the ballot in the hand of woman would cure the
+          wrongs she speaks of, he would favor female suffrage, but he
+          was firmly convinced that it would only aggravate their
+          wrongs. He could not fight Anna Dickinson.
+
+          ANNA DICKINSON: I certainly do not intend to fight Mr.
+          Collier. I believe I have the name of not being a
+          belligerent woman. Mr. Collier says sympathy is one thing
+          and logic is another. Very true! I did not speak of the
+          40,000 women in the State of Massachusetts who are wives of
+          drunkards, as a matter which shall appeal to your
+          sympathies, or move your tears. Mr. Collier says that these
+          women are to find their rights by influence at home.
+
+          Mr. COLLIER: That is what I mean.
+
+          Miss DICKINSON: That they are to do it by womanly and
+          feminine love, and I tell him that is the duty of this same
+          feminine element which is so admirable and adorable. I have
+          seen men on your street corners, as I have seen men on the
+          street corners of every city of America, with bloated faces,
+          with mangled forms, and eyes blackened by the horrible vice
+          and orgies carried on in their dens of iniquity and
+          drunkenness and sin. I have seen men with not a semblance of
+          humanity in their form or in their face, and not a sentiment
+          of manhood in their souls. I have seen these men made
+          absolute masters of wives and children; men who reel to
+          their homes night after night to beat some helpless child;
+          to beat some helpless woman. A woman was beaten here in
+          Chicago the other day until there was scarcely a trace of
+          the woman's face left, and scarcely a trace of the woman's
+          form remaining. Mr. Collier tells me, then, that these women
+          whose husbands reel home at 12, 1, 2, 3 o'clock at night, to
+          demolish the furniture, beat the children, and destroy their
+          wives' peace and lives--that these women are to find their
+          rights by influence, by argument, by tenderness. These
+          brutes who deserve the gallows if any human being can
+          deserve anything so atrocious in these days--are these
+          women, their wives, to find their safety, their security for
+          themselves and their children, by influence, through
+          argument and tenderness, or love, when nothing can influence
+          save drink? The law gives man the power to say, "I will have
+          drink; I will put this into my mouth." If the ballot were
+          given to women they would vote against drunkenness. It is
+          not sentiment, it is logic, if there be any logic in votes
+          and in a home saved.
+
+          The Rev. R. L. COLLIER, in reply to Miss Dickinson, quoted a
+          story from an English author of a drunkard who was reclaimed
+          by a daughter's love and devotion. He never wanted to hear a
+          woman say that law could accomplish what love could not.
+
+          Miss DICKINSON: I only want to ask Mr. Collier a question,
+          and it is this: Whether he does not think that man would
+          have been a great deal better off if this woman's vote could
+          have offset his vote, and the rum thereby prevented from
+          being sold at the outset?
+
+          Mr. COLLIER: I wish to say that law never yet cured crime;
+          that men are not our only drunkards. Women are drunkards as
+          well as men.
+
+          Miss DICKINSON (excitedly): It is not so, in anything like
+          the same proportion; a drunken woman is a rare sight.
+
+          Mr. COLLIER: I wish to say that intemperance can never be
+          cured by law.
+
+          Miss DICKINSON: Very well. You tell me that there are woman
+          in the land who are drunkards. Doubtless there are. Then I
+          stand here as a woman to entreat, to beseech, to pray
+          against this sin. For the sake of these drunken woman, I ask
+          the ballot to drag them back from the rum-shops and shut
+          their doors [applause]. God forbid that I should underrate
+          the power of love; that I should discard tenderness. Let us
+          have entreaty, let us have prayers, and let us have the
+          ballot, to eradicate this evil. Mr. Collier says he is full
+          of sympathy, and intimates that women should stand here and
+          elevate love above law. So long as a man can be influenced
+          by love, well and good. When a man has sunk to the point
+          where he beats his wife and children, and burns the house
+          over them, reduces his family to starvation to get this
+          accursed drink; when a man has sunk to such a level, is
+          woman to stand still and entreat? Is this all woman is to
+          do? No! She is to have the power added that will drag the
+          firebrand out of his hand, and when sense and reason return,
+          when the fire is extinguished, then, I say, let us have the
+          power of love to interfere. I think keeping a man out of sin
+          is better than trying to drag him out afterward by love.
+
+          Mr. COLLIER said he was placed in a false position of
+          prominence because, unfortunately, he was the only gentleman
+          on the platform who entertained serious convictions on the
+          negative side of the subject. The only question was, would
+          the ballot cure these wrongs? If so, he would like to hear
+          the reasons, philosophical and logical, set forth. The
+          appeals that had been made to the convention were illogical
+          and sympathetic. He believed the persecutors of women were
+          women. Fashion and the prejudice in the minds of women had
+          been the barriers to their own elevation. That the ballot in
+          the hands of women would cure these evils he denied.
+
+          Miss DICKINSON: Mr. Collier says, "The worst enemies of
+          women are women"; that the worst opponents of this measure
+          are fashion, dress and idleness. I confess there are no
+          bitterer opponents or enemies of this measure than women. On
+          that very ground I assert that the ballot will prove woman's
+          best friend. If woman has something else to think about than
+          simply to please men, something else than the splendor of
+          her diamonds, or the magnificence of her carriage, you may
+          be sure, with broader fields to survey, it would be a good
+          thing for her. If women could earn their bread and buy the
+          houses over their heads, in honorable and lucrative
+          avocations; if they stood in the eye of the law men's
+          equals, there would be better work, more hopeful hearts,
+          more Christian magnanimity, and less petty selfishness and
+          meanness than, I confess with sorrow and tears, are found
+          among women to-day.
+
+     One of the ablest speeches of the convention was made by Judge
+     Chas. B. Waite, on woman's position before the law. Immediately
+     after this enthusiastic convention[356] the Illinois State
+     Suffrage Association was formed, a committee[357] appointed to
+     visit Springfield and request the legislature to so "change the
+     laws that the earnings of a married woman may be secured to her
+     own use; that married women may have the same right to their own
+     property that married men have; and that the mother may have an
+     equal right with the father to the custody of the children." The
+     need of such a committee existed in that year of 1869, and they
+     seemed to have wrought effective service, since on March 24 the
+     married woman's earnings act was approved.
+
+          AN ACT _in Relation to the Earnings of Married Women._
+
+          SEC. 1.--Be it enacted by the people of the State of
+          Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That a
+          married woman shall be entitled to receive, use and possess
+          her own earnings, and sue for the same in her own name, free
+          from the interference of her husband or his creditors:
+          _Provided_, This act shall not be construed to give to the
+          wife any compensation for any labor performed for her minor
+          children or husband.
+
+     Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stanton, Judge Waite, Judge and Mrs.
+     Bradwell, had an enthusiastic meeting in the Opera House,
+     Springfield, most of the members of the legislature being
+     present.
+
+     September 9, 10, 1869, the Western Convention was held in Library
+     Hall, Chicago; Mrs. Livermore presided. This influential
+     gathering was largely attended by leading friends from other
+     States.[358] Mrs. Kate Doggett and Dr. Mary Safford were
+     appointed to attend the Woman's Industrial Congress at Berlin.
+     Letters were read from Wm. Lloyd Garrison and others.[359]
+
+     February 8, 9, 1870, the first annual meeting of the State
+     Association was held at Springfield in the Opera House, Hon.
+     James B. Bradwell in the chair. Many members of the legislature
+     were present during the various sessions and a hearing[360]
+     before the House was granted next day. Resolutions were discussed
+     and adopted, declaring that women were enfranchised under the
+     fourteenth amendment. As a constitutional convention was in
+     session, and there was an effort being made to have an amendment
+     for woman suffrage submitted to a vote of the people, greater
+     interest was felt in all that was said at this convention.
+
+     The strange inconsistency of the opponents of woman suffrage was
+     perhaps never more fully illustrated than by the following
+     occurrence: While the patriotic and earnest women of Illinois
+     were quietly acting upon the advice of their representatives, and
+     relying upon their "quiet, moral influence" to secure a just
+     recognition of their rights in the constitutional convention, a
+     conservative woman of Michigan, who, afraid that the women of
+     Illinois were about to lose their womanliness by asking for the
+     right to have their opinions counted, deserted her home in the
+     Peninsular State, went to Springfield, secured the hall of the
+     convention, and gave two lectures against woman suffrage. A
+     meeting was called at the close of the second lecture, and in a
+     resolution moved by a member of the convention, as Mrs. Bradwell
+     pertinently says, "the people of the State were told that _one
+     woman_ had proved herself competent and well qualified to
+     enlighten the constitutional convention upon the evils of woman
+     suffrage."[361] Such was the effect of this self-appointed
+     obtruder from another State that the members of the convention,
+     without giving a woman of their own State opportunity for reply,
+     not only struck out the clause submitting the question to the
+     people in a separate article, but actually incorporated in the
+     body of the constitution a clause which would not allow a woman
+     to hold any office, public position, place of trust or emolument
+     in the State. Through the efforts of such staunch friends as
+     Judge Bradwell, Judge Waite and others, this latter clause was
+     stricken out, and one inserted which, under a fair construction,
+     will allow a woman to hold almost any office, provided she
+     receives a sufficient number of votes.
+
+     By the accidental insertion of another clause in the constitution
+     under consideration, Section 1, of Article VII., any foreign born
+     woman, naturalized previous to January, 1870, was given the right
+     to vote. So that Illinois was the first State in the Union, since
+     the time when the women of New Jersey were disfranchised, to give
+     to foreign-born women the elective franchise. This mistake of the
+     wise Solons was guarded as a State secret.
+
+     Previous to the great fire of 1871, the most popular and
+     influential woman's club in Chicago was the organization known as
+     Sorosis. This club, by the generous aid of many prominent
+     gentlemen of the city, established pleasant headquarters, where,
+     in addition to bright carpets and artistic decorations, were
+     books, flowers, birds, and other refined accessories. Mrs.
+     Elizabeth Loomis says of the meetings held in those delightful
+     parlors: "At every successive session we could see that we were
+     gaining ground and receiving influential members. I well remember
+     how it encouraged us to number the Rev. Dr. Thomas among our
+     friends; and how gladly I made the motion to have him appointed
+     temporary chairman in the absence of the president--a position
+     which he cheerfully accepted." One of the most brilliant reunions
+     ever enjoyed by the club, was a reception given to Mrs. Stanton
+     and Miss Anthony, as they were _en route_ to California, early in
+     June, 1871. Of this reception, Miss Anthony, in a letter from Des
+     Moines, Iowa, to _The Revolution_, said: "Mrs. Stanton and I were
+     in Chicago the evening the Illinois State and Cook County
+     Association held their opening reception at their new central
+     bureau, a suite of fine rooms handsomely carpeted and furnished
+     by prominent merchants of the city, where, with music,
+     conversation, speeches, etc., the hours passed delightfully
+     away," forming, as Miss Anthony might have added, a delightful
+     oasis amid the many discomforts of a continuous appeal to the
+     people to deal justly.
+
+     In November, 1871, Mrs. Catharine V. Waite, of Hyde Park, made a
+     written application to the board of registration, asking them to
+     place her name upon the register as a voter, which they refused
+     to do on the ground that she was a woman, whereupon Mrs. Waite
+     filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Cook county, stating the
+     facts, and praying that the board be compelled by mandamus to
+     place her name upon the register. Chief-Justice Jameson granted
+     an alternative writ, returnable on the following Monday,
+     commanding the board to show cause, if any they have, why Mrs.
+     Waite's name should not be placed upon the register. Judge
+     Charles B. Waite, the husband of the plaintiff, made an
+     exhaustive and unanswerable argument before Judge Jameson, but to
+     no purpose as far as the result of that case was concerned, as
+     the opinion of the court delivered January 12, 1872, which was
+     very lengthy,[362] denied the relator with costs.
+
+     In 1872, Norman T. Gassette, esq., clerk of the Circuit Court of
+     Cook county, and recorder of deeds, remembering the limited
+     number of industrial occupations open to women, and seeing no
+     reason why they could not perform the work of that office,
+     resolved to try the experiment. A room was fitted up for the
+     special use of women, a number of whom gladly accepted the
+     proffered positions and received the same pay per folio as that
+     earned by men. The experiment proved entirely satisfactory, Major
+     Brockway having officially testified in regard to woman's
+     especial fitness for the work.
+
+     There was an attempt this year to get a law licensing houses of
+     ill-fame in Chicago, and an immense petition was rolled up and
+     presented to the legislature by ladies who desired to defeat the
+     proposed enactment. They carried their point by as neat a flank
+     movement as Sherman ever executed. A quiet move to Springfield
+     with a petition signed by thousands of the best men and women of
+     the city, and our enemies found themselves checkmated before the
+     game had fairly begun.
+
+     February 13, 14, 1872, the State Association held its annual
+     meeting at Bloomington, with large and interested audiences.[363]
+     March 28 Mrs. Jane Graham Jones secured a hearing before the
+     legislature for Miss Anthony, who made one of her most convincing
+     arguments, and had in her audience nearly every member of that
+     body who voted for what was termed the Alta Hulett bill.
+
+     To Myra Bradwell and Alta C. Hulett belongs the credit of a long
+     and persevering struggle to open the legal profession to women.
+     The latter succeeded at last in slipping the bolt which had
+     barred woman from her right to practice law. We take the
+     following statement in regard to Miss Hulett's experience from
+     the "Women of the Century":
+
+          At the age of seventeen, Miss Alta Hulett entered the law
+          office of Mr. Lathrop, of Rockford, as a student, and after
+          a few months' study passed the required examination, and
+          sent her credentials to the Supreme Court, which, instead of
+          granting or refusing her plea for admission, ignored it
+          altogether. Myra Bradwell, the successful editor of the
+          _Legal News_, had just been denied admission. Her case,
+          stated in brief, is this: Mrs. Bradwell made application
+          for a license to practice law. The court refused it on the
+          ground of her being a married woman. She immediately brought
+          a suit to test the legality of this decision. This
+          interesting case was carried to the Supreme Court of the
+          United States, which sustained the decision of the lower
+          courts.[364] Miss Hulett had reason to expect that since she
+          was unmarried, this decision would not prejudice her case.
+          Just on the threshold of her chosen profession, the rewards
+          of youthful aspirations and earnest study apparently within
+          her grasp, her dismay may be imagined when no response
+          whatever was vouchsafed her petition. A fainter heart would
+          have accepted the situation. To battle successfully with old
+          prejudices, entrenched in the strongholds of the law,
+          required not only marked ability, but also a courage which
+          could not surrender. Miss Hulett took a country school for
+          four months, and bravely went to work again. While teaching
+          and "boarding round," she prepared a lecture, "Justice vs.
+          The Supreme Court," in which she vigorously and eloquently
+          stated her case. This lecture was delivered in Rockford,
+          Freeport, and many other towns, enlisting everywhere
+          sympathy and admiration in her behalf. After taking counsel
+          with Lieutenant-Governor Early and other prominent members
+          of the legislature, she drafted a bill, the provisions of
+          which are:
+
+          _Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois
+          represented in the General Assembly_, That no person shall
+          be precluded or debarred from any occupation, profession, or
+          employment (except military), on account of sex. Provided
+          this act shall not be construed to affect the eligibility of
+          any person to an elective office.
+
+          Nothing in this act shall be construed as requiring any
+          female to work on streets or roads, or serve on juries. All
+          laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
+
+          Friends obtained for this bill a very favorable introduction
+          into the legislature, where it passed and received the
+          Governor's signature. Passing up the steps to her home one
+          rainy day, the telegram announcing that the bill had become
+          a law was placed in her hands, and in referring to the
+          incident, Miss Hulett said: "I shall never again know a
+          moment of such supreme happiness." We can only add in this
+          connection that after a most vigorous examination she stood
+          at the head of a class of twenty-eight, all the other
+          members being gentlemen. This time the Supreme Court made
+          the amende honorable, courteously and cordially welcoming
+          her into the ranks of the profession on her birthday, June
+          4, 1873, and at the age of nineteen Miss Hulett commenced
+          the practice of law.
+
+     But Miss Hulett's career, so full of promise, was soon ended. The
+     announcement of her untimely death, which occurred at San Diego,
+     Cal., March 26, 1877, sent a pang to the hearts of those who knew
+     her personally, and of thousands who regarded her with pride as a
+     representative woman. A Chicago correspondent says:
+
+          The daily press of the city have already borne ample
+          testimony to her professional talents and success and to the
+          esteem and admiration accorded her by the bar of Chicago and
+          by the general public; for her somewhat exceptional position
+          as well as her ability had made her one of the marked
+          characters of the city. Her short life, so successful and
+          brilliant to the public eye, was not without its dark and
+          thorny places. Unusual responsibilities of a domestic
+          nature, opposition of various kinds and keen disappointments
+          only nerved her to greater persistency, and her courage was
+          upheld by the generous and abundant recognition which she
+          received on every hand from leading members of the bar--a
+          recognition for which she never failed, when opportunity
+          offered, to express her sense of profound obligation--and
+          she was accustomed to say that the law was the most liberal
+          of the professions. Much as Miss Hulett had accomplished
+          hitherto, it was felt that she had only crossed the
+          threshold of a career of surpassing usefulness; all things
+          seemed possible to one so richly endowed; her mental vigor
+          seemed matched by a _physique_, the apparent type of
+          blooming health; but the seeds of disease were inherited and
+          only awaited a combination of circumstances to assert their
+          fatal power. Absorbing enthusiasm for her profession, and
+          the cares of a rapidly increasing practice, made her
+          overlook the insidious danger lurking in a cold, and not
+          until her alarmed physician ordered her to the soft climate
+          of Southern California did she comprehend her danger. This
+          peremptory order was a terrible shock, and the forced exile
+          from the field of her hopes and ambitions, more bitter than
+          death. She never rallied, but continued rapidly to fail
+          until the end came. At a meeting of the bar of Chicago, held
+          to take action in commemoration of the death of Miss Alta M.
+          Hulett, attorney-at-law, the following was one of the
+          resolutions adopted:
+
+          _Resolved_, That although the legal profession has hitherto
+          been almost, if not altogether, considered as exclusively
+          for men to practice, yet we freely recognize Miss Hulett's
+          right to adopt it as her pursuit in life, and cheerfully
+          bear testimony to the fact that in her practice she never
+          demeaned herself in any way unbecoming a woman. She was
+          always true to her clients and their interests, but she was
+          equally true to her sex and her duty; and if women who now
+          are, or hereafter shall become, members of our profession
+          shall be equally true, its honor will never be tarnished,
+          nor the respect, good-will and esteem which it is the duty
+          and pride of man to accord to woman be in the least
+          diminished by their membership.
+
+          Which, translated, means that men are not only ready to
+          welcome into one of their own professions women having the
+          requisite intellectual qualifications, but that the welcome
+          will be the warmer if the women entering shall not leave
+          behind the more feminine attributes of the sex. Portia did
+          deliver judgment, but the counselor's cap became the pretty
+          locks it could not hide, and the jurist's cloak lent
+          additional grace to the symmetry and litheness of female
+          youth.
+
+     M. Fredrica Perry began the study of law in the office of Shipman
+     & Loveridge, Coldwater, Michigan, in the winter of 1870-71. She
+     spent two years in the law-office and then two years in the
+     law-school of Michigan University. On graduating from the
+     law-school in March, 1875, she was admitted to the Michigan bar.
+     She located in Chicago in August, and in September was admitted
+     to the Illinois bar and began practice. A few weeks later she
+     was, on motion of Miss Hulett, admitted to the U.S. Circuit and
+     District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois. She was in
+     partnership with Ellen A. Martin under the name of Perry &
+     Martin. Her death occured June 3, 1883, and was the result of
+     pneumonia. Miss Perry was a successful lawyer and combined in an
+     eminent degree the qualities which distinguish able barristers
+     and jurists; her mind was broad and catholic, clear, quick,
+     logical and profound; her information on legal and general
+     matters was extensive. She was an excellent advocate, a skillful
+     examiner of witnesses, and understood as few do, save
+     practitioners who have grown old in experience, the nice
+     discriminations of common-law pleading and the rules of evidence.
+     She was engrossed in the study and practice of law, and gained
+     steadily in efficiency and power year by year. She had the genius
+     and ability for the highest attainment in all branches of civil
+     practice, and joined with these the power of close application
+     and hard work. She belonged to the Strong family which has
+     furnished a good deal of the legal talent of the United States.
+     Judge Tuley, a chancery judge of Chicago before whom she often
+     appeared, said of her at the bar meeting called to take action
+     upon her death: "I was surprised at the extent of her legal
+     knowledge and the great legal acumen she displayed." And of her
+     manner and method of conducting a certain bitterly-contested case
+     in his court: "I became satisfied that the influence of woman
+     would be highly beneficial in preserving and sustaining that
+     high standard of professional courtesy which should always exist
+     among the members of our profession."----Ellen A. Martin, of
+     Perry & Martin, Chicago, spent two years in a law-office and two
+     years in Michigan University law-school, and was graduated and
+     admitted to practice in Michigan at the same time with Miss
+     Perry. She was admitted in Illinois in January, 1876, and since
+     then to the U. S. Circuit Court.----In the summer of 1879, Mrs.
+     M. B. R. Shay, Streator, graduating from the Bloomington
+     law-school, was admitted to the bar. She has published a book
+     entitled, "Students Guide to Common-Law Pleading."----In 1880,
+     Cora A. Benneson, Quincy, was graduated from the Michigan
+     University law-school and admitted to the Michigan and Illinois
+     bar.----Ada H. Kepley, in practice with her husband at Effingham,
+     was graduated from the Chicago law-school in June, 1870, but was
+     refused admission to the bar. In November of that year, a motion
+     was made in the Court at Effingham that she should be allowed to
+     act as attorney in a case at that bar, and Judge Decius said that
+     though the Supreme Court had refused to license a woman, he yet
+     thought the motion was proper and in accord with the spirit of
+     the age and granted the motion. Mrs. Kepley was finally admitted,
+     January, 1881.----Miss Bessie Bradwell, graduated from the Union
+     College of Law of Chicago and admitted to the bar in 1882, is
+     associated with her parents, Judge and Mrs. Bradwell, on the
+     _Legal News_ and in the preparation of Bradwell's Appellate Court
+     Reports.
+
+     July 1, 1873, the bill making women eligible as school officers
+     became a law, and in the fall elections of the same year the
+     people gave unmistakable indorsement of the champions of the
+     bill, by electing women as superintendent of schools in ten
+     counties, while in sixteen others women were nominated. Many of
+     these earnest women have been in the service ever since. As the
+     practical results of woman's controlling influence as
+     superintendents of schools seems to epitomize her work in all
+     official positions, we submit a report compiled by Miss Mary
+     Allen West, made at the request of the Illinois Social Science
+     Association, regretting that we have not space for one of the
+     model reports of Miss Sarah Raymond, also for ten years
+     superintendent of the schools of Bloomington:
+
+          During the session of 1872-3, Judge Bradwell introduced into
+          the legislature the following bill, which became a law April
+          3, 1873: "Be it enacted by the people of Illinois,
+          represented in General Assembly, that any woman, married or
+          single, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, and
+          possessing the qualifications prescribed for men, shall be
+          eligible to any office under the general school laws of this
+          State." A second section provides for her giving bonds.
+
+          At the next election, November, 1873, ten ladies were
+          elected to the office of county superintendent of schools
+          for a term of four years. As this term has now expired, it
+          is a favorable time to inquire how women have succeeded in
+          this new line of labor. That the work that devolves upon
+          county superintendents may be understood, I give a part of
+          the synopsis of the duties pertaining to the office, as
+          enumerated by Dr. Newton Bateman:
+
+          _First_--She must carefully inspect and pass upon the bonds
+          of all township treasurers, and upon the securities given in
+          each case, and is personally liable as well upon her
+          official bond for any loss to the school funds sustained
+          through her neglect or careless performance of duty.
+
+          _Second_--She must keep herself fully and carefully informed
+          as to what townships have and what have not complied with
+          the provisions of the law in respect to maintenance of
+          schools; so that no funds may in ignorance be paid to
+          townships having no legal claim to them.
+
+          _Third_--She must collect, transcribe, classify, verify,
+          tabulate, and transmit annually to the State superintendent
+          the school statistics of her county, together with a
+          detailed written report of the condition of the common
+          schools therein.
+
+          _Fourth_--She must arrange, classify, file and preserve all
+          books, papers, bonds, official correspondence and other
+          documents belonging to her office.
+
+          _Fifth_--She must impart instruction and give directions to
+          inexperienced teachers in the science, art and method of
+          teaching, and must be ready, at all times, to counsel,
+          advise and assist the school officers of her county.
+
+          _Sixth_--She must take an active part in the management of
+          County Teachers' Institutes, and labor in every way to
+          improve the quality of teaching in her county.
+
+          _Seventh_--She must hear, examine, and determine all
+          questions and controversies under school law, which may be
+          referred to her, and must carefully prepare, to the best of
+          her knowledge and ability, such replies to all letters from
+          school officers and teachers as each case demands.
+
+          _Eighth_--She must examine all candidates desiring to teach
+          in her county, and grant certificates to such, and such
+          only, as she honestly thinks are of good moral character and
+          sufficient scholastic attainments. As no one can teach in a
+          public school without such certificate, this gives her the
+          veto power over all teachers. Dr. Bateman, commenting on
+          fourteen specifications, of which the foregoing constitute
+          but eight, says these are _some_ of the _many_ duties made
+          obligatory upon the county superintendent by law. Besides
+          all these, is the visitation of schools, which every true
+          superintendent considers a very important part of the work.
+
+          For convenience we will group these duties in three classes:
+          1. Those concerning finance. 2. Legal duties. 3. Duties to
+          teachers and schools.
+
+          I. To give an idea of the financial interests intrusted to
+          the hands of these women, we find by reference to the State
+          superintendent's report for last year that the total
+          receipts for school purposes in these ten counties which
+          they superintend was $1,009,441. So far as can be learned
+          from the records, not one cent of the large sums over which
+          they had supervision has been lost through their dishonesty,
+          or, what was more to be feared, their ignorance of business.
+          Unlike those of Dora Copperfield, their accounts _will_ "add
+          up." In the county (Knox) where the receipts are greatest,
+          aggregating $182,423.22, the greatest difference between
+          receipts and expenditures, as shown by the superintendent's
+          books, is ten cents. In many of these counties the financial
+          affairs were in the greatest confusion when the ladies came
+          into office. In one, perhaps more, the preceding
+          superintendent was a defaulter, in another he was engaged in
+          a law-suit with the county board, and in still others
+          strange irregularities were discovered. In every instance,
+          so far as we can ascertain, these crookednesses have been
+          straightened out, the finances put upon a surer basis,
+          hundreds, we believe thousands, of dollars of bad debts have
+          been collected, treasurers and directors have been induced
+          to keep their books with greater care and in better shape,
+          reckless expenditure of school funds has been discouraged,
+          and directors encouraged to expend the money for things
+          which will permanently benefit the schools. So much for
+          finance.
+
+          II. _Legal Duties._--Rightly to discharge the duties imposed
+          by specification 7, the county superintendent needs to be a
+          very good lawyer, for school law in its ramifications
+          reaches many other departments of law. Especially is it
+          inextricably mixed up with election laws, and all know that
+          cases arising under election laws are among the most complex
+          and difficult to handle. Probably a school election never
+          occurrs in which some such cases are not referred to the
+          county superintendent. In the settlement of these and other
+          cases arising under school law, these women have been
+          peculiarly successful, and some of them have earned the
+          blessing bestowed upon the peacemakers. We know of one
+          county where, after last spring's election, five contested
+          cases were referred to the superintendent for settlement;
+          these were all satisfactorily adjusted by her. During her
+          four years' administration, scores of controversies were
+          referred to her, and there has never been a single appeal
+          from her decisions. Another most complicated case involving
+          a defaulting treasurer, was conducted entirely by the county
+          superintendent until it became necessary to employ a lawyer
+          to argue the case in court. What she had done was then
+          submitted to one of the leading lawyers of the State, and he
+          sanctioned and approved each step. Numerous other instances
+          might be cited to show that woman has not failed in the
+          legal part of her work as superintendent of schools.
+
+          III. _Her Work with Teachers and Schools._--Here our
+          superintendents were perfectly at home. Each of the ten had
+          taught successfully for years, and so knew the wants of the
+          school-room. This knowledge was invaluable, both in the
+          examination of teachers and in the supervision of schools.
+          Fears were expressed lest in the examination of candidates,
+          womanly sympathy would lead them to grant certificates to
+          needy applicants who were not altogether qualified. But the
+          motherliness which is in every true woman's heart, warded
+          off this danger. As one remarked, "I have a great deal of
+          the milk of human kindness in my nature, but its streams
+          flow toward the roomful of children to be injured by an
+          incompetent teacher, rather than toward that teacher,
+          however needy he may be. If his claims rest on his needs
+          rather than his merits, let the poormaster attend to his
+          wants, not the superintendent. School money is not a pauper
+          fund." This motherliness comes in good play in school
+          visitation. It draws the children to the superintendent;
+          keeps them from being afraid of her, and hence leads them to
+          work naturally during her visit; thus she can obtain a true
+          idea of the status of the school, and know just how to
+          advise and direct the teacher. The same thing holds true in
+          regard to teachers; the majority of them are ladies, and
+          they will come to a lady for the solution of their doubts
+          and difficulties much more freely than to a gentleman. This
+          gives her better opportunity to "impart instruction and give
+          directions to inexperienced teachers." Woman's power to lift
+          up the teachers under her control to a higher plane, both
+          intellectually and morally, has been signally demonstrated
+          by the experience of the past four years.
+
+          In looking after the details of official work, those
+          tiresome minutiae so often left at "loose ends," producing
+          endless confusion, woman has shown great aptitude. You say,
+          "this is but the clean sweeping of a new broom." May be so,
+          in part; but in part it comes from the womanly instinct to
+          "look well to the ways of her household," whether that
+          household be the occupants of a cottage or the schools of a
+          county. In the work of the State Association of County
+          Superintendents, the ladies have well sustained their part.
+          When placed on the programme, they have come prepared with
+          carefully written papers, showing their desire to give the
+          Association the benefit of their best thoughts, and not put
+          off upon it such crudely digested ideas as may spring up at
+          the moment. At the last meeting at Springfield, four out of
+          the nine superintendents now in office were present, 44 per
+          cent.; out of the 93 gentlemen in the same office, 18 were
+          present, 19 per cent. The ratio of attendance has been about
+          the same for the four years.
+
+          How has woman's work as county superintendent impressed
+          other educators? State-Superintendent Etter, who confesses
+          that he was not in favor of the plan, said at the State
+          Teachers' Association, above referred to: "The ladies
+          compare very favorably with their gentlemen co-laborers."
+          Mr. E.L. Wells, for twelve years county superintendent of
+          Ogle county, and thoroughly conversant with the work
+          throughout the State, concurs in this opinion. President
+          Newton Bateman, than whom no man in the State is better
+          fitted to speak on this subject, in his political-economy
+          class in Knox college, took occasion to commend the
+          efficiency of women as county superintendents of our State.
+          A gentleman who travels extensively, and looks into school
+          affairs closely, says he is convinced that in every county
+          where a woman was elected four years ago, the efficiency of
+          the office had been doubled and in some cases increased four
+          or even ten fold. If this be not an exaggeration, an
+          explanation may be found in the fact that in most of these
+          counties the best ladies were put in the place of gentlemen
+          most poorly fitted for the place. The office had become a
+          political foot-ball, kicked about as party exigencies
+          demanded, and often came into possession of political hacks
+          who "must be provided for," and for whom no other place
+          could be found. They had no qualifications for the office,
+          and, of course, could not perform its duties. The people,
+          disgusted, turned to the women for relief, and took good
+          care to elect the ones best fitted to do the work. Had equal
+          care been used in the selection of their predecessors, they
+          might have done equally good work. In quoting opinions, I
+          have purposely confined myself to those given by gentlemen.
+
+          The limits of this paper have restricted this discussion to
+          the work of woman as a county superintendent; but in other
+          school offices she is doing efficient work. All over the
+          State we have examples of her efficiency as school director.
+          Miss Sarah E. Raymond, in Bloomington, and Miss Ludlow, in
+          Davenport (by the way, the Iowa State Teachers' Association
+          last year honored itself by electing her president),
+          abundantly proves woman's ability to superintend the schools
+          of large cities. M.A.W.
+
+     In _Zion's Herald_ 1873, on the origin of the Woman's College in
+     Evanston, Miss Frances E. Willard writes:
+
+          In 1866, when we were all tugging away to build Heck Hall
+          for ministers, I heard several thoughtful women say, "We
+          ought to be doing this for our own sex. Men have help from
+          every side, while no one thinks of women." In the summer of
+          1868 Mrs. Mary F. Haskins, who had been treasurer of the
+          American Methodist Ladies' Centenary Association, which
+          built Heck Hall, raising for the purpose $50,000, invited
+          the ladies of Evanston to her home to talk over the subject
+          of founding a Woman's College, which should secure to young
+          women the highest educational advantages. Mrs. Haskin
+          originated the thought--with her own hands assisted in
+          laying the corner-stone, and in her first address as
+          president she said: "I have often thought that to the
+          successful teacher the words must be full of hope and
+          promise, which a great writer uses of education: 'It is a
+          companion which no misfortune can distress, no crime
+          destroy, no enemy alienate, no despot enslave; at home a
+          friend, abroad an introduction; in solitude a solace, in
+          society an ornament. It chastens vice, it guides virtue, it
+          adds a grace to genius. Without it what is man?'--and I
+          would add with emphasis, Without an education, what is
+          woman?"
+
+     This Woman's College at Evanston is the first on record to which
+     a charter, granting full collegiate powers, was ever given by
+     legislative act, including only names of women in its board of
+     trustees. This board, elected Miss Frances E. Willard president,
+     who presided over the institution for two years, during which
+     term a class of young women was graduated, the first in history
+     to whom diplomas were voted and conferred by women. The degree of
+     A. M. was given Mrs. Jennie Fowler Willing, of Chicago, who
+     preached the baccalaureate sermon at the unique commencement
+     exercises. Mrs. Mary F. Haskin, and Mrs. Elizabeth Greenleaf were
+     respectively presidents of the board of trustees.
+
+     Later on, as a higher evolution of the central thought, an
+     arrangement was made between the Woman's College and the
+     Northwestern University, by which the former became the woman's
+     department of the latter, on condition that in its board of
+     trustees, faculty of instruction, and all its departments of
+     culture, women should be admitted on an equality with men, as to
+     opportunities, positions and salaries. Miss Willard was then
+     chosen dean of the Woman's College, and professor of aesthetics in
+     the University. Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller was placed on the
+     executive committee of the board, and Mrs. R. F. Queal, Mrs.
+     Jennie Fowler Willing, Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard, and Mrs. L.
+     L. Greenleaf were elected trustees. One year later, Miss Willard
+     entered the temperance work since which time Miss Ellen M. Soule
+     and Miss Jane Bancroft have successively served in the position
+     of dean.
+
+     The young women have led in scholarship, taken prizes in
+     composition and oratory, while upon one occasion the delighted
+     students dragged forth the only artillery in the village to voice
+     their enthusiasm over the fact that to Miss Lizzie R. Hunt had
+     been awarded at the great international contest the first prize
+     for the best English essay.
+
+     In 1873, while filling the duties of professor in Wesleyan
+     University, Mrs. Jennie Fowler Willing was licensed as a local
+     preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the first woman
+     engaged as evangelist in Illinois.
+
+     The Monticello Ladies' Seminary at Godfrey is worthy of mention.
+     Miss Harriet N. Haskell, its president, has done a noble work
+     there in making possible for many girls, by labor under her roof
+     to pay in part for a liberal education. She has been at the head
+     of this institution for thirty years. Mrs. F.A. Shiner at Mt.
+     Carroll, is another grand woman worthy of mention. She, too,
+     gives poor girls an opportunity in her household to pay in part
+     for their education. In this way many are being trained in
+     domestic accomplishments as well as the higher branches of
+     education. There is no distinction made between those who work a
+     certain number of hours each day and those who pay in full for
+     their advantages; and in many cases the best scholars have been
+     found from year to year among those who had the stimulus of
+     labor. As Miss Haskell and Mrs. Shiner have uniformly entertained
+     all the lyceum lecturers[365] at their beautiful homes, many have
+     had the pleasure of seeing and talking with these bright girls,
+     and the worthy presidents of the institutions.
+
+     We believe to Illinois belongs the distinction of being the
+     birthplace of the first woman admitted to the American Medical
+     Association--Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, born at Buffalo Grove,
+     Ogle county. Dr. Stevenson was admitted to this time-honored
+     association June, 1876. The Philadelphia _Evening Bulletin_ thus
+     refers to the innovation:
+
+          The doctors have combined millennial with centennial
+          glories. The largest assemblage of the medical profession
+          ever held in America yesterday honored itself by bursting
+          the bonds of ancient prejudice, and admitting a woman to its
+          membership by a vote that proved the battle won, and that
+          henceforth professional qualification, and not sex, is to be
+          the test of standing in the medical world. Looking over the
+          past fierce resistance by which every advance of woman into
+          the field of medical life was met, yesterday's action seems
+          like the opening of a scientific millennium. It was a most
+          appropriate time and place for the beginning of this new era
+          of medical righteousness and peace. Here, in the centennial
+          year, in the "City of Brotherly Love," where the first
+          organized effort for the medical education of women was
+          made, where the oldest medical college for women in the
+          world is located, and where the fight against woman's entry
+          into the medical profession was most hotly waged, was the
+          place to take the manly new departure, which, so far as the
+          National Association is concerned, began yesterday in the
+          election of Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson as a member in full
+          standing from the State of Illinois.
+
+     Dr. Mary H. Thompson, who was graduated at Boston in 1863, and
+     who, removing to Chicago, succeeded in establishing a woman's
+     hospital, is included in a short list of notable alumnae of the
+     Boston Medical School. Dr. Lelia G. Bedell, Dr. E. G. Cook, Dr.
+     Julia Holmes Smith, Dr. Alice B. Stockham, and many others have
+     won honorable distinction in this profession.
+
+     One of the marked crises in the history of the reform we trace
+     was the centennial Fourth of July. The daughters of the Pilgrims
+     realized as never before the cruel injustice by which they were
+     deprived of their birthright, and from the Western prairies and
+     Eastern hills their earnest protest was given to the nation. As
+     early as May 2, 1876, at a special convention of the Illinois
+     Woman Suffrage Association, two vigorous protests were read as
+     the official utterances of State and National Associations. The
+     convention was called to order by Mrs. Alma Van Winkle, who
+     stated that Mrs. Jane Graham Jones,[366] the beloved and
+     efficient president of the association, having determined upon a
+     European sojourn, had sent her resignation to the executive
+     committee, and that Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, recently
+     removed to the State, had been elected to fill her place. This
+     action being ratified, Susan B. Anthony was introduced, and
+     although she had just concluded an intensely vigorous lyceum
+     tour, extending through many months, she spoke with unusual
+     power. Just here I wish to emphasize the great loss to women in
+     the fact that as Miss Anthony's speeches were never written, but
+     came with thrilling effect from her patriotic soul, scarce any
+     record of them remains, other than the intangible memories of her
+     grateful countrywomen. At this convention the following address
+     was read and adopted:
+
+          _To the Women of the United States of America, greeting:_
+
+          While the centennial clock is striking the hour of
+          opportunity for the Pilgrims' daughters to prove themselves
+          regenerate children of a worthy ancestry, while the air
+          reverberates to the watchwords of the statesmen of the
+          Revolution, let the daughters of the nation, in clear,
+          steady and womanly voices, chorus through the States:
+          "Taxation without representation is tyranny," and "all
+          governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
+          governed."
+
+          Womanly hands, firm, capable and loving, have been steadily,
+          persistently and unceasingly knocking, knocking at the doors
+          of judicial, ecclesiastical and legislative halls, until at
+          last the rusty bars are yielding and the persistent knocking
+          is beginning to tell upon iron nerves and all kinds of
+          masculine constitutions. Just now, in the centennial year,
+          another door has opened, preparing the way for the Pilgrims'
+          daughters to present their claim before the assembled nation
+          on the "Fourth of July, 1876."
+
+          A joint resolution of congress, signed by the president of
+          the United States, and made the subject of proclamation by
+          the governor of the State, reads as follows:
+
+          _Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
+          of the United States of America_, That it be, and is hereby,
+          recommended by the Senate and the House of Representatives
+          to the people of the several States, that they assemble in
+          the several counties and towns on the approaching centennial
+          anniversary of our national independence, and that they
+          cause to have delivered on such day an historical sketch of
+          said county or town from its foundation, and that a copy of
+          said sketch may be filed, in print or manuscript, in the
+          clerk's office of said county, and an additional copy be
+          filed in the office of the librarian of congress at the city
+          of Washington, to the intent that a complete record may thus
+          be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the
+          first centennial of their existence.
+
+          The governor of this State earnestly recommends that prompt
+          measures be taken in each county and town for the selection
+          of one or more persons who shall prepare complete, thorough
+          and accurate historical sketches of each county, city, town
+          or village, from the date of the settlement to the present
+          time.
+
+          In view of the fact that since our civil war thousands of
+          charitable, scientific, philanthropic, religious and
+          political associations have been organized among women, of
+          which but few accurate records are now accessible to the
+          general public, and in view of the fact that the Supreme
+          Court and many of our legislators construe "persons" to
+          indicate only men (except when persons are to be taxed,
+          fined or executed), we respectfully suggest that in all
+          cases one member of the committee shall be a woman, to the
+          end that there may be submitted to future historians
+          accurate data of the extent and scope of the work of
+          American women; that this historian of woman shall carefully
+          and impartially record the literary, educational,
+          journalistic, industrial, charitable and political work of
+          woman as expressed in temperance, missionary and woman
+          suffrage organization.
+
+          Let a meeting of every woman suffrage organization
+          throughout the State, or, where none exists, let any friend
+          of the cause call a meeting, at which a committee shall be
+          appointed to present this suggestion to the people as they
+          may meet in the different cities, villages and towns, to
+          perfect arrangements for their local celebration.
+
+          As American citizens we salute the tri-color, emblem of the
+          rights obtained and liberties won by husbands, fathers and
+          sons, meanwhile pledging, if need be, another century of
+          toil and effort to the sacred cause of human rights, and the
+          establishment of a genuine republic.
+
+                         ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT,
+                                  _Pres. Ill. Woman Suffrage Society._
+
+     It was decided at this convention to celebrate the Fourth of July
+     in some appropriate manner. Under the auspices of Mrs. Harbert
+     this was done at Evanston. The occasion was heralded as "The
+     Woman's Fourth," and programmes[367] were scattered through the
+     village.
+
+     The auditorium of the large Methodist Church was tastefully
+     decorated with exquisite flowers; flags were gracefully festooned
+     about the pulpit, and all the appointments were pronounced
+     artistic by the most critical, and Mrs. Harbert's oration, of
+     which we give a few extracts, aimed to be in keeping with her
+     surroundings:
+
+          If possessed of artistic genius, I would seize the pencil
+          and imprison in rich and gorgeous coloring two pictures for
+          the woman's pavilion of our centennial; for the first I
+          would reproduce that prophetically symbolic scene at the
+          dawn of our history, when with a faith and generosity worthy
+          of honorable mention, Isabella of Castile placed her jewels
+          in the almost discouraged mariner's hands, and bade Columbus
+          give to the world Columbia. The second scene would be the
+          antithesis of the first, as to-day, the women of the United
+          States make haste to lay at the feet of our statesmen and
+          prophets their jewels of thought and influence, bidding
+          them, in the name of woman, give to the world a perfected
+          government, a genuine republic, a purer civilization. Now,
+          as then, there are many ready with mocking jeers; but,
+          turning not to the right nor the left, the faith of woman
+          and the courage of man move on apace to sure success. That
+          historic "first gun" not only jarred loose every rivet in
+          the manacles of 4,000,000 slaves, but when the smoke of the
+          cannonading had lifted, the entire horizon of woman was
+          broadened, illuminated, glorified. On that April day when a
+          nation of citizens were suddenly transformed into an army of
+          warriors, American women, with a patriotism as intense as
+          theirs, a consecration as true, quietly assumed their
+          vacated places and became citizens. Out from market-place
+          and forum, counting-house and farm--keeping time to the
+          chime of the music of the Union--marched father, husband and
+          son; into office, store and farm, called there by no
+          ambitious desire to wander out of their sphere, but by the
+          same dire military necessity that called our men to the
+          front stepped orphaned daughter and widowed wife. Anna
+          Dickinson captured the lyceum and platform. The almost
+          classic scene of "Corinne at the Capitol" is not more
+          remarkable than that historic scene of the Quaker girl at
+          Washington, called there to receive the plaudits of the
+          highest officials of our nation, for services rendered in
+          the then vital political campaigns of New Hampshire,
+          Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New York.
+
+          The cruel, scarlet days of war dragged wearily on. Up from
+          the Southern battle-fields, borne northward in the lull of
+          the war tempest, came a wailing appeal from "the boys," who
+          hitherto had never appealed to "mother" in vain: "We are
+          wounded, sick and starving." Instantly the mother-heart
+          responded--waiting not for "orders," snapping official
+          red-tape, as though it had been woven of cob-webs, two women
+          started southward with the needed supplies, and this great,
+          anxious, agonized North gave a sob of relief when the
+          message thrilled through the land that Jane C. Hoge and Mary
+          A. Livermore had arrived at the front with the needed
+          supplies. Idle, helpless, dependent queens were not then in
+          demand, but women fitted to be wives of heroes. Because our
+          lake-bordered, tree-fringed village was once her home, I
+          lovingly trace first on Evanston's scroll of honor the name
+          of Jane C. Hoge, while just underneath it I write that of
+          our venerable philanthropist, who was the first woman in
+          these United States to receive the badge of the Christian
+          commission, Mrs. Arza Brown.
+
+          And now, standing here upon the border-land of two
+          centuries, over-shadowed by the dear old flag, re-baptized
+          with the blood of my beloved as of yours--standing here, a
+          native-born citizen, as a woman to whom the honor, purity,
+          peace and freedom of native land is dear as life; as a wife
+          vitally interested in the interests of manhood; as a mother
+          responsible for the best development of her children; as a
+          human being, responsible to her Creator for the highest
+          possible usefulness, I claim equality before the law.
+
+     Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard gave some surprising facts in regard
+     to woman's work in connection with the North Western University,
+     and reminded us that foremost among the women of the dawning
+     century was Eliza Garret of Chicago, who secured to the Garret
+     Biblical Institute its endowment of a quarter of a million of
+     dollars, with the proviso that a certain increase of income from
+     the same after the wants of the young theologues had been met,
+     should be applied to the erection and endowment of a seminary for
+     young ladies. But alas! the theological appetite has been
+     insatiate, even unto this last, and deliverance has come to our
+     girls from another quarter. And this was the throwing down of
+     university gates and bars, and a free extension of all
+     educational privileges to women. Upon the roll of honor
+     connected with this work we gratefully place the names of many
+     brave, self-sacrificing women.[368]
+
+     The Rev. Mr. Chappell, pastor of the Baptist church, then gave a
+     most eloquent, liberal oration. In closing, he said: "But what
+     think you, sisters, of the dangers that threaten the republic? Do
+     they lie on your hearts? Are they in your prayers? Do they enter
+     into your plans? All compliments and gallantries aside, it makes
+     a vast difference in the destiny of the republic whether you
+     understand and feel its dangers. The scale has turned. No longer
+     need we dread oppression, disability, power; but on the other
+     hand, license, luxury, listlessness, forgetfulness of God and the
+     wholesome truth. This watch-night of the republic augurs well.
+     This gathering of the sisterhood has its meaning. You are the
+     power behind the throne; with you and with God lies the destiny
+     of the republic." After the benediction the audience dispersed,
+     all expressing of the entire programme the most enthusiastic
+     approval.
+
+     About the close of the year 1876, a noticeable change in the
+     direction of thought and effort was very apparent in the State of
+     Illinois. As a result of the ravages of the fire and the severe
+     mental strain to which business men were subjected, women sprang
+     to the rescue, and actively engaged in business. These additional
+     burdens assumed by the many, the few were left to bear the weight
+     of religious, philanthropic and social duties. Women had tested
+     their powers sufficiently to realize their strength, and were
+     impatient for immediate results, hence many of the active friends
+     of woman suffrage, believing that the temperance ballot could be
+     more speedily secured than entire political equality, joined the
+     home-protection movement, while through the broadening and
+     helpful influence of the Grange in the farm-homes of the
+     northwest, requests for aids to organization came from all
+     quarters. In order that the earnest thoughts of the one class and
+     the practical methods of the other, might be rendered mutually
+     beneficial, I one day entered the sanctum of the progressive
+     editor of the _Inter-Ocean_, and asked for a ten-minute audience.
+     The request was granted, and Wm. Penn Nixon, esq., courteously
+     listened to the following questions: "As a progressive
+     journalist, and one who must recognize the philanthropic activity
+     of the women of the Northwest, has it ever occurred to you that
+     there is nowhere in journalism a special recognition of their
+     interests? We have special fashion departments, special cooking
+     departments, but no niche or corner devoted to the moral,
+     industrial, educational, philanthropic and political interests of
+     women; and does not your judgment assure you that such a
+     department could be rendered popular?" As a result of this
+     conversation a special corner of the _Inter-Ocean_ was yielded to
+     woman's interests, designated by the editors, "Woman's Kingdom,"
+     and on January 6, 1877, the following announcement appeared:
+
+          Congratulations to women that we have at last found a home
+          in journalism; that amid the clashing of sabers of our
+          modern press tournament, the knights of the quill recognize
+          that women have some rights that journalists are bound to
+          respect. These columns are in the interest of no class,
+          clique, sect, or section, and we earnestly request accurate
+          data of woman's work. All missionary, literary, temperance
+          and woman suffrage organizations, will be accorded space for
+          announcing their aims. With an occasional review of new
+          books, we will confer in regard to what woman has written;
+          wandering through studios and sanctums, we will record what
+          she is painting and preaching. Pleading an intense and
+          loving interest in the splendid opportunities now opening to
+          American women, we shall hope that some truth may be evolved
+          that may enrich their lives.
+
+     Notwithstanding this was the first special department of the
+     kind, much of the best journalistic work of the State was being
+     done by women,[369] who seemed to have received a new baptism to
+     serve the higher interests of humanity. From the desire for
+     cooeperation expressed by many contributors to "Woman's Kingdom,"
+     the following little item was set afloat in May, 1877:
+
+          Many facts recently arresting attention, in connection with
+          the industrial, political, and moral interests of women,
+          seem to render a conference of their representatives in
+          regard to business aims, expedient. There is need of a
+          bureau through which the industrial interests of women can
+          be promoted and some practical answer given to the question
+          everywhere heard, "How can we earn a living?" There is a
+          demand for an educational bureau of correspondence and also
+          a lyceum bureau through whose agency good lectures upon
+          practical subjects can be secured in every city and village.
+          All interested in such a conference are requested to send
+          their names to Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Evanston,
+          Ill., or Mrs. Louise Rockwood Wardner, Cairo, Ill.
+
+     Hon. Frank Sanborn, in his annual report to the American Social
+     Science Association, mentioned the formation of a branch
+     society[370] in this State. He said:
+
+          Like the State Charities Aid Association of New York, which
+          was organized and is directed by women, the Illinois
+          Association devotes itself chiefly to practical applications
+          of social science, though in a somewhat different direction.
+          It was formed in October, 1877, with a membership of some
+          two hundred women; it publishes a monthly newspaper, _The
+          Illinois Social Science Journal_, full of interesting
+          communications, and it has organized in its first seven
+          months' existence eight smaller associations in other
+          States.
+
+     The enthusiasm in this society branching out in so many practical
+     directions, absorbed for a time the energies of the Illinois
+     women. Our membership reached 400. This may account for the
+     apparent lethargy of the Suffrage Association during the years of
+     1877-78. Caroline F. Corbin dealt an effective blow in her
+     novel, entitled "Rebecca; or, A Woman's Secret." Jane Grey
+     Swisshelm, with trenchant pen, wrote earnest strictures against
+     the shams of society. Elizabeth Holt Babbitt wrote earnestly for
+     all reform movements. Myra Bradwell persistently held up to the
+     view of the legislators of the State the injustice of the laws
+     for woman. Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn and Mrs. Hannah J. Coffee were
+     doing quiet but most effective work in Henry county. Miss Eliza
+     Bowman was consecrating her young womanhood to the care of the
+     Foundlings' Home. Mrs. Wardner, Mrs. Candee, Mrs. George, and
+     other women in the southern part of the State, were founding the
+     library at Cairo, while in every village and hamlet clubs for
+     study or philanthropic work were being organized. Mrs. Kate N.
+     Doggett, as president of the Association for the advancement of
+     Women, was lending her influence to the formation of art clubs.
+     And all this in addition to the vast army of faithful teachers,
+     represented by Sarah B. Raymond, Professor Louisa Allen Gregory
+     and Mary C. Larned. Mrs. Louise Rockwood Wardner, president of
+     the Illinois Industrial School for Girls, and the noble band of
+     women associated with her, were earnestly at work in the endeavor
+     to secure to the vagrant girls of the State an industrial
+     education. Miss Frances E. Willard and the dauntless army of
+     temperance workers were petitioning for the right to vote on all
+     questions pertaining to the liquor traffic.
+
+     Meanwhile many of the members of the Illinois Social Science
+     Association were beginning to realize that every measure proposed
+     for progressive action was thwarted because of woman's inability
+     to crystallize her opinions into law. This has been the uniform
+     experience in every department of reform, and sooner or later all
+     thinking women see plainly that the direct influence secured by
+     political power gives weight and dignity to their words and
+     wishes. Mrs. Jane Graham Jones, ex-president of the State
+     Association, continued her effective work in Europe, and, as a
+     delegate from the National Association, prepared the following
+     address of welcome to the International Congress, convened in
+     Paris, July 5, 1878:
+
+          Friends, compatriots, and confreres of the International
+          Congress assembled to discuss the rights of women: Allow me
+          to extend to you the congratulations of the National Woman
+          Suffrage Association of America, which I have the honor to
+          represent. I congratulate you upon this important, this
+          sublime moment, this auspicious place for the meeting of a
+          woman's congress. Paris, gorgeous under the grand monarch
+          who surrounded his royal person with a splendid galaxy of
+          beauty, genius, and chivalry; attractive and influential
+          under the great emperor whose meteoric genius held
+          spell-bound the wondering gaze of a world; to-day, with
+          neither king nor court, nor man of destiny, is grander, more
+          gorgeous, more beautiful and more influential than ever
+          before. To-day this is the shrine toward which the pilgrims
+          from every land turn their impatient steps.
+
+          Each balmy breeze comes to us heavily laden with the
+          dialects of all nations. Not only are the different parts
+          represented in their economic and industrial products, but
+          each thought, idea, motive and need is brought before the
+          world in the various congresses assembled during this great
+          union festival of liberty, peace and labor. Literature,
+          science, religion, education, philosophy, and labor, each
+          has had its eloquent advocates. At this time, when the great
+          ones of the earth are met together in earnest thought and
+          honest discussion, when each mind and conscience is attuned
+          to the highest motive, how appropriate that woman, whose
+          labor, wealth and brain have cemented the stones in every
+          monument that man has reared to himself; that woman, the
+          oppressed, woman, the hater of wars, the faithful, quiet
+          drudge of the centuries, watching while others slept,
+          working while others plundered and murdered; woman, who has
+          died in prison and on the scaffold for liberty, should here
+          and now have her audience and her advocates.
+
+          As a child of America I love and venerate France. We cannot
+          forget LaFayette, although a hundred years have passed since
+          generous France sent him to our aid in our great struggle
+          for freedom. But as a woman I glory in her. [Great and
+          deafening applause.] All true women love and honor France.
+          [At this point the reader was interrupted with wild cries of
+          "Bravo! bravo!" "Live America!" "True, true."] France, in
+          whose prolific soil great and progressive ideas generate and
+          take root, in spite of king, emperor, priest or tyrant;
+          France, the protectress of science, art, and philosophy;
+          France, the home of the scholar and thinker; France, the
+          asylum which generously received the women who came hither
+          seeking those intellectual advantages and privileges cruelly
+          denied them at home; France, that compelled republican
+          America and civilized England to open their educational
+          institutions to women; France, the birth-place of a host of
+          women whose splendid genius, devoted lives, and heroic
+          deaths have encouraged and inspired women of other lands in
+          their struggles to strike off the ignominious shackles which
+          the ages have riveted upon them! [Loud applause.] How
+          apropos it is, then, that the women from all nations meet on
+          the free soil of France to give to the world their
+          declaration of rights. To-day we clasp hands and pledge
+          hearts to the sacred cause of woman's emancipation. To-day
+          we meet to thank France for the grand women whose lofty
+          utterances come echoing and reechoing to us through the
+          corridors of time, and to thank her for her great men who
+          have been the beacon lights to guide the world to higher
+          civilization and greater hatred of oppression. In the name
+          of my great countrywomen, inaugurators and leaders of the
+          woman's rights movement in America, the eloquent and ardent
+          advocates of liberty for men and women alike, both black and
+          white; in the name of the officers of the National Woman
+          Suffrage Association; in the name of those grand women,
+          Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony,
+          I salute the women of France and of the world assembled in
+          this congress, and bid them god-speed. When we call to mind
+          what has been accomplished by noble women everywhere, we are
+          encouraged to renewed effort.
+
+          In America we have accomplished wonders, and yet we demand
+          more; and shall continue to demand until we are equal in the
+          state, in the church, and in the home. Twenty years ago
+          woman entered our courts of law only as a criminal to be
+          tried; now she enters as an advocate to plead the cause of
+          justice, and invoke the spirit of mercy. Twenty years ago
+          woman entered the sick room only as the poorly-paid nurse;
+          now she is the trusted medical adviser, friend and
+          counsellor. To-day she is in many respects the peer of man,
+          to-morrow she will be in all respects his acknowledged
+          equal. [Great and continued applause.]
+
+          Who can measure the influence this congress may have on
+          woman's advancement toward that perfect equality which
+          justice and humanity demand. Women of France and of the
+          world, be of good cheer, and continue to agitate for the
+          right, for in the elevation of woman lies the progress of
+          the world. [Deafening applause, and cries of hear, hear.]
+
+     A letter to the Chicago _Times_ commenting upon the above address
+     says:
+
+          Mrs. Jones being indisposed, was replaced momentarily by her
+          daughter, a beautiful young lady of about sixteen summers,
+          who read the opening address of her mother; her rich voice
+          pronouncing with such distinctness and beauty, the earnest
+          words, translated into French, won all hearts, and gave to
+          the opening of the congress such a prestige as it would
+          otherwise never have had. After its close, Miss Jones
+          regained her seat amidst the hearty congratulations of the
+          throng assembled in that great hall, and I was proud of our
+          little American. Her beauty and courage, coupled with her
+          extreme youth, were the principal topics discussed during
+          the day by outsiders. I was thankful that our nation was so
+          well represented at the very first meeting, and the Parisian
+          journals were all loud in their praise of Mrs. Jones'
+          welcoming address, as well as the charming apparition of her
+          young and accomplished daughter.
+
+     As indicating the numerous lines along which woman's aroused
+     energies have found expression, we would call attention to the
+     Art Union of central Illinois. It is composed of nine societies,
+     "The Historical," and "The Palladium," of Bloomington; the art
+     class at Decatur; "Art Society," of Lincoln; "Art Association,"
+     of Jacksonville; "Art Society," of Peoria; "Art Society," of
+     Springfield, and "Art Club," of Champagne. Mrs. Lavilla Wyatt
+     Latham, wife of Col. Robert G. Latham, of Lincoln, was the
+     originator of the Art Union. Their spacious home, built with
+     large piazzas in true southern style, is a museum of curiosities.
+     Its library, cabinet, pictures, and statuary, make it a most
+     attractive harbor of rest to the wandering band of lecturers,
+     especially as the cultivated host and hostess are in warm
+     sympathy with all reform movements. Mr. Latham was a warm friend
+     of Abraham Lincoln, and entertained him many times under his
+     roof.
+
+     The _Woman's Journal_ of March 24, 1877, said:
+
+          Seventy women of Illinois, appointed by the Woman's State
+          Temperance Union, went to the legislature, bearing a
+          petition signed by 7,000 persons, asking that no licenses to
+          sell liquor be granted, which are not asked for by a
+          majority of the citizens of the place.
+
+          Mr. SHERMAN moved a suspension of the rules to admit of the
+          presentation of the petition.
+
+          Mr. MERRITT objected, but, by a decided vote, the rules were
+          suspended, and the petition was received and read.
+
+          Mr. SHERMAN moved that Mrs. Prof. S. M. D. Fry of Wesleyan
+          University of Bloomington, be invited to address the House
+          upon the subject of the petition.
+
+          Mr. HERRINGTON objected to the obtrusion of such trifling
+          matter upon the House, which had business to do. It was well
+          enough to let the petition be received, but he wanted nobody
+          to be allowed to interfere with the business of the House.
+          Referring to some forty or fifty ladies of the Union who had
+          been admitted to the floor of the House, he wanted to know
+          by what authority persons not entitled to the privilege of
+          the floor had been admitted. He insisted on his prerogative
+          as a member, and asked that the floor and lobbies be cleared
+          of all persons not entitled to the privilege of the House.
+
+          According to the Chicago _Tribune_, this speech of
+          Herrington created a slight sensation, among the ladies
+          especially, but Mr. Herrington's demand was ignored, and a
+          recess of thirty minutes was taken to allow Mrs. Fry to
+          address the House in support of the petition, which she did
+          in a speech put in very telling phrases. At its conclusion,
+          some of the members opposed to temperance legislation,
+          signalized their ill-breeding, to say the least, by derisive
+          yells for Mr. Herrington and others to answer Mrs. Fry.
+          Presently the hall was resonant with yells and cheers,
+          converting it into a a very babel, and the hubbub was kept
+          up until, at the expiration of the half-hour recess, Speaker
+          Shaw called "order" and the House immediately adjourned.
+
+          If any body of men bearing a petition of 7,000 voting men,
+          had gone to the same legislature, and by courtesy been
+          admitted to speak for their petition, no member would have
+          dared to insult them. It is because they had no recognized
+          political rights that these women were insulted. Claim your
+          right, ladies, to be equal members of the legislature, then
+          you can enact temperance laws, and have an unquestioned
+          right "to the privilege of the floor."
+
+     In 1879, under the lead of their president, Frances E. Willard,
+     the women of Illinois rolled up a mammoth petition of 180,000,
+     asking the right to vote on the question of license. This
+     prayer, like that of the 7,000, met the fate of all attempts of
+     disfranchised classes to influence legislation. Following this
+     repulse, in some ten or fifteen of the smaller cities of the
+     State, boards of common council were prevailed upon to pass
+     ordinances giving the women the right to vote on the question.
+     Without an exception, the result was overwhelming majorities for
+     "No License." In the cities where officers were elected at the
+     same time, almost without exception, the majority of them were in
+     favor of license, while in those in which the old board of
+     officers held over, no licenses were granted, until the new board
+     elected only by the votes of the men of the city, was installed.
+     Dr. Alice B. Stockham, in her report at the Washington convention
+     of 1885, said:
+
+          After the city ordinance of Keithsburg allowed women to
+          vote, the hardest work was to convert the women themselves.
+          Committees were appointed who visited from house to house to
+          persuade women to go to the polls for the suppression of the
+          rule of liquor. On the morning of election they met in a
+          church for conference and prayer. At 10 o'clock forty brave
+          women marched to the polls and cast their first ballot for
+          home protection. Carriages were running to and fro all day
+          to bring the invalid and the aged. For once they were
+          induced to leave the making of ruffles and crazy quilts, to
+          give their silent voice for the suppression of vice. Three
+          weeks later not a woman could be found in the town opposed
+          to suffrage, and for one year not a glass of liquor could be
+          bought in Keithsburg.
+
+     Under the act of 1872, the women of Illinois thought their right
+     to pursue every avocation, except the military, secure. But in
+     1880, a judicial decision proved the contrary. We quote from the
+     _National Citizen_:
+
+          In June, 1879, the Circuit Court of Union County, Judge John
+          Dougherty presiding, appointed Helen A. Schuchardt, resident
+          of the county, to the office of Master in Chancery. Mrs.
+          Schuchardt gave bond with security approved by the court,
+          taking and subscribing the required oath of office. Since
+          that day, she has been the acting Master of Chancery of that
+          county, taking proofs, making judicial rules, and performing
+          the other various duties incident to such office. At the
+          last term of the court the State attorney, at the instance
+          of Mr. Frank Hall, relator, filed an information in the
+          nature of a _quo warranto_ charging that Mrs. Schuchardt had
+          usurped and was unlawfully holding and exercising the
+          office. Mrs. Schuchardt filed pleas setting forth the order
+          of the court appointing her, her bonds with the order of
+          approval, and the oath of office filed by her. To these
+          pleas a general demurrer was interposed and argued.
+
+          The questions presented by the demurrer were: _First_--Is
+          the defendant eligible to this office, she being neither a
+          practicing nor a learned lawyer? _Second_--Is the defendant
+          eligible to this office, she being a female? The court
+          dismissed the first question on the ground that the statute
+          does not require admission to the bar as a qualification. Of
+          the eleven Masters in Chancery in that Judicial Circuit, it
+          was shown that only five had been admitted to the bar. As to
+          the second objection, _i. e._, that Mrs. Schuchardt was a
+          female (!) it was decided that the common law never
+          contemplated the admittance of a woman to the office of
+          Master in Chancery, and that doubtless it was the first
+          instance in which a woman had been admitted to the office.
+          It was also decided that the act of March 22, 1872, did not
+          make women eligible to this office; Master in Chancery--for
+          woman--did not mean "occupation, profession, or employment,"
+          and that "persons do not select an office, but are selected
+          for the office."
+
+          Judge Harker, in delivering this opinion, said: "It is due
+          to Mrs. Schuchardt to say in conclusion, that while I am
+          constrained to sustain this demurrer and hold that under the
+          law she cannot retain this office, there is not one of the
+          Masters in Chancery in the four counties where I preside,
+          who has been more faithful or attentive in the discharge of
+          his duties, and none who has exhibited higher qualifications
+          to discharge well those duties. And it is my sincere hope
+          that at its next session the legislature will make this
+          office accessible to females."
+
+     One of the most influential local associations has been that of
+     Chicago, or Cook county.[371] From 1870 to 1876 Mrs. Jane Graham
+     Jones was its president, as well as the leading spirit in the
+     State Society.[372] She was the one to plan and execute the
+     attacks upon the board of education, the common council, and the
+     legislature, holding many meetings in Chicago, and at
+     Springfield, the seat of government. Another flourishing
+     association is that of Moline. We give the following from its
+     secretary:
+
+          In May, 1877, Mrs. Eunice G. Sayles, and Mrs. Julia Mills
+          Dunn, secured Mrs. Stanton to give a lecture on woman
+          suffrage in Moline, and at a reception given to her by Mrs.
+          Sayles, a society with 22 members was organized, which has
+          held meetings regularly since that time, with the reading of
+          papers on topics previously arranged by the president. It is
+          a matter of pride that not a failure has ever occurred, each
+          member always cheerfully performing the duty assigned her.
+          An evening reception is held annually to celebrate the
+          organization of the society, to which two hundred or more
+          guests are invited, each member being entitled to bring
+          several outside of her own family. The meetings have been
+          valuable, not only in promoting friendly relations between
+          the members, but also in the mental stimulus they have
+          afforded. Much of the success of this society is due to the
+          literary culture and earnestness of Mrs. Anne M. J. Dow, who
+          was our president for three years. We have sustained a great
+          loss in the death of Mrs. Sarah D. Nourse, who for
+          thirty-five years was an earnest friend of all reforms.
+
+          Soon after its organization, our society became auxiliary to
+          the National Association. We have circulated petitions and
+          forwarded them to Springfield and Washington, where they
+          have met the fate common to all prayers of the
+          disfranchised; we have circulated tracts, placed on file in
+          the public reading room all the suffrage journals, and
+          secured the best lecturers on the question. We are
+          organizing an afternoon reading society, to have read aloud
+          "The History of Woman Suffrage," and shall soon place it on
+          the shelves of the public library of the village. While we
+          cannot point to any wonderful revolution in public sentiment
+          because of our work, we are nevertheless full of courage,
+          and under the leadership of our State president, Elizabeth
+          Boynton Harbert, we shall go forward in faith and good
+          works, hoping for the end of woman's political slavery.[373]
+
+     In concluding this meager record of the methods of earnest men
+     and women of Illinois in their brave work for liberty, we are
+     painfully conscious of a vast aggregate of personal toil and
+     self sacrifice which can never be reported. We write of petitions
+     presented to State and National legislative assemblies, but it is
+     impossible to record the personal sacrifice and moral heroism of
+     the women who went from house to house in the cities and
+     villages, or traveled long distances across the broad prairies to
+     secure the signatures. Only those who have carried a petition
+     from door to door can know the fatigue and humiliation of spirit
+     it involves. Though these earnest women ask only the influence of
+     the names of persons to help on our reform, they are often
+     treated with less courtesy than the dreaded book-agent and
+     peddler.
+
+                                                    WATSEKA, Ill.
+
+          I send you petitions, the one circulated by me has 270
+          names--the other by Clara L. Peters, 139.[374] We are
+          interested heart and soul in the movement, and our efforts
+          here have made many friends for the cause. Have been an
+          ardent worker since I was a child, and well remember that
+          grand hero of moral reforms, Samuel J. May of Syracuse, N.
+          Y., at a Woman's Temperance Convention held in Rochester in
+          1852, when I was eight years old.
+
+                                        VIOLA HAWKS ARCHIBALD.[375]
+
+     The following letter from Mary L. Davis, gives some idea of the
+     toils of circulating petitions:
+
+                         DAVIS, Stephenson Co., Ill., May 28, 1877.
+
+          EDITOR _Ballot-Box_:--The question of suffrage for woman has
+          been thoroughly discussed in our society, and last week I
+          started out with my petition. I could work but a short time
+          each day, but I systematically canvassed our beautiful
+          little village, taking it by streets, and although I have
+          been over but a small portion, I have ninety signatures. I
+          met with but little opposition, and with kind wishes in
+          abundance; with some amusing, some provoking, some pathetic,
+          and some disgusting phases of human nature--with very
+          agreeable disappointments, and very disagreeable ones. Very
+          often some person would say to me, there is no use in
+          calling at such a house; the man will not, and the woman
+          dare not, sign. I went to such a place last week, was met
+          with all the courtesy one could ask. The man looked over the
+          petition thoughtfully, affixed his own name, and asked his
+          wife if she did not wish to do so, and called in a beautiful
+          sister who was out playing ball with the children, telling
+          her as it was for the especial benefit of women, she ought
+          to sign it too. I write these things to encourage our young
+          girls, who will take up the work. Take every house, ask
+          every person; "No," will not hurt or kill you. Be prepared
+          to meet every argument that can possibly be advanced. The
+          one which I meet oftenest, is that woman cannot fight, and
+          therefore she shall not vote; and strange to relate, it is
+          almost always advanced by a person who was never a soldier,
+          through physical disability, cowardice, or over or under
+          age.
+
+          The shortest "No," without the slightest shadow of courtesy,
+          was shot from the lips of a man who is doing business on
+          capital furnished by his wife, and who lives in a house
+          purchased with his wife's money. Graceful return for her
+          devotion, wasn't it? I suppose he prefers to keep her in her
+          present state of serfdom, as, if she should ever find out
+          that she was of any importance in the world, except as his
+          housekeeper, cook, washerwoman, and waiter-in-general, she
+          might possibly inquire into the stewardship of her lord and
+          master. And it seemed to me if that ever came to pass, a man
+          who could say "no" so cavalierly, without even a "thank you,
+          ma'am," or, "you're quite welcome," both could and would
+          manage to make surroundings rather disagreeable to the party
+          of the second part. So far no person who has thought much,
+          read much, or suffered much, has refused to sign, and in the
+          few hours which I have devoted to the work, three
+          grandmothers nearly ninety years of age, wished to have
+          their names recorded on the right side of the question, and
+          in two of those instances the grandmother, daughter, and
+          grandfather affixed their signatures, one after
+          another.[376]
+
+     We have been permitted to copy the following private letter from
+     A.J. Grover to Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who is now at her
+     home in Tenafly, N. J., busily at work with Miss Anthony and Mrs.
+     Gage on the second volume of the "History of Woman Suffrage." The
+     first volume should be on the center-table of every family in the
+     land as a complete text-book on the woman suffrage question,
+     which is to be one of the great issues, social and political, in
+     the coming years. These three women have grown old and won their
+     crowns of white hair in the cause of not only their sex, but of
+     mankind:
+
+
+                                        CHICAGO, November 29, 1881.
+
+          MY DEAR FRIEND: You represent a movement of more importance
+          to mankind than any that ever before claimed attention in
+          the whole history of the race, viz.: the freedom of one-half
+          of it. You have enforced this claim by half a century of
+          heroic discussion--of persistent, unanswerable logic and
+          appeal against the theory and practice of all nations,
+          against all governments, codes and creeds. You proclaimed
+          fifty years ago the novel doctrine that woman by nature is,
+          and by law and usage should be, the absolute equal of man. A
+          claim so self-evident should only have to be stated to be
+          recognized by all civilized nations; and yet to this hour
+          the highest civilization, equally with the lowest, is built
+          on the slavery of woman. In the darkest corners of the earth
+          and on the sunlit heights of civilization, the mothers of
+          the race are by law, religion and custom doomed to
+          degradation. And if the seal of their bondage is never to be
+          broken, they themselves as well as the lords and masters
+          they serve, are equally unconscious of the servitude. No
+          religion, no civil government, has ever taught or recognized
+          any other condition for woman than that of subjection.
+          Against the accumulated precedents of all the ages, you and
+          your noble coaedjutors have rebelled in the face of derision
+          for fifty long, weary years. Was ever such sublime womanly
+          heroism and self-sacrifice before known? Was ever such worth
+          of culture, such wealth of womanhood, laid on the altar of
+          country and humanity? And all this comparatively
+          unrecognized and unrewarded. Where is the boasted chivalry
+          of the English-speaking nations? It is a virtue we boast of,
+          but do not possess. It never, in fact, had any real
+          existence based on genuine respect for woman. It is a bitter
+          sarcasm in the mouth of an American male citizen. A few men
+          like Theodore Parker, Joshua R. Giddings, William Lloyd
+          Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith, Samuel J. May and
+          Parker Pillsbury have measurably redeemed this nation,
+          recognizing your claim for woman as self-evidently just and
+          righteous, and cooeperating with you in maintaining it. There
+          are only a score or two of such men in a generation with
+          sufficient chivalry or perception of justice to publicly
+          claim for women the rights they themselves possess.
+
+          Science has demonstrated that men to be manly must be well
+          born, must have noble mothers. How can a mother give birth
+          to a noble soul while herself a slave? How can she impart a
+          free spirit when her own is servile? A stream cannot rise
+          higher than its fountain.
+
+          We have thought to bring about a high order of civilization
+          by freeing our sons, while chaining our daughters, by
+          sending sons to college and daughters to menial service for
+          a mere pittance as wages, or selling them in marriage to the
+          highest bidder--by robbing them on the very threshold of
+          life of all noble ambition. By the degradation of our women
+          we take from the inherited qualities of the race as much as
+          is added by culture. We take from the metal before casting
+          as much as we restore by polish afterwards, and thus we
+          curse and stultify both sexes.
+
+          The law and religion of man can be no better than man
+          himself. If religion, law, justice and social order are to
+          improve, man must first be improved. Religion and law are
+          effects, not causes. They are fruits, not the tree--the
+          products of the human mind. If these are to be improved,
+          mankind must first be improved. This will be impossible
+          until freedom and culture shall become the inalienable
+          rights of woman. It would be a thousand times better, if
+          either must be a slave to the other, that man should be a
+          slave to woman. The History of Woman Suffrage, on which you
+          are engaged, if the second volume shall prove equal to the
+          first, will be the richest legacy this age will bequeath to
+          the future. It is a revelation from God, in which, if men
+          believe, they shall be saved. Religion itself, without this
+          great salvation, will continue to remain little else than "a
+          wretched record of inspired crime" against woman. Woman must
+          be free! Protection as an underling from man, savage or
+          civilized, she in reality never had and never will have.
+          Protection she does not want. What she needs is equal
+          rights, when she can protect herself--rights of person,
+          rights of labor, rights of property, rights of culture,
+          rights of leisure, rights to participate in the making and
+          administering of the laws. Give her equality in exchange for
+          protection; give her her earnings in exchange for support;
+          give her justice in exchange for charity. Let man trust
+          woman as woman trusts man, with entire liberty of action,
+          and she will show the world that liberty is her highest
+          good.
+
+          In conclusion, let me confess that I read your first volume
+          with a feeling of inexpressible shame and mortification for
+          my sex.
+
+                                   Yours faithfully,
+                                                       A.J. GROVER.
+
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth Boynton Harbert]
+
+
+Mrs. Boynton Harbert, to whom we are indebted for this chapter, has
+from girlhood been an enthusiastic advocate of the rights of women.
+Growing up in Crawfordsville, Indiana, under the very shadow of a
+collegiate institution into which girls were not permitted to
+enter, she early learned the humiliation of sex. After vain
+attempts to slip the bolts riveted with precedent and prejudice
+that barred the daughters of the State outside, she tried with pen
+and voice to rouse those whose stronger hands could open wide the
+doors to the justice of her appeals. Her youthful peaens to liberty
+in prose and verse early found their way into our Eastern journals,
+and later in arguments before conventions and legislative
+assemblies in Illinois, Iowa and other Western States. As editor
+for seven years of the "Woman's Kingdom" in the Chicago
+_Inter-Ocean_--one of the most popular journals in the nation--she
+has exerted a widespread influence over the lives of women,
+bringing new hope and ambition into many prairie homes. As
+editor-in-chief of the _New Era_, in which she is free to utter her
+deepest convictions; as wife and mother, with life's multiplied
+experiences, a wider outlook now opens before her, with added
+wisdom for the responsibilities involved in public life. In all her
+endeavors she has been nobly sustained by her husband, Mr. William
+Harbert, a successful lawyer, many years in practice in Chicago,
+whose clear judgment and generous sympathies have made his services
+invaluable in the reform movements of the day.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[351] Judge and Mrs. Catharine V. Waite, Mrs. Hannah M. Tracy
+Cutler, Amelia Bloomer, Dr. Ellen B. Ferguson, Mrs. E. O. G.
+Willard, the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison of Earlville; Professor and
+Mrs. D. L. Brooks, Mrs. M. E. De Geer, Mrs. Frances D. Gage.
+
+[352] Mrs. Sunderland was one of the many New England girls who in
+the early days went West to teach. Speaking of the large number of
+women elected to the office of county superintendent (one of them
+her own daughter), she told me that thirty years ago when she
+arrived at the settlement where she had been engaged as teacher,
+the trustees being unable to make the "examination" deputed one of
+their number to take her to an adjoining county, where another New
+England girl was teaching. The excursion was made in a lumber wagon
+with an ox-team. All the ordinary questions asked and promptly
+answered, the trustee rather hesitatingly said, "Now, while you're
+about it, wouldn't you just as lief write out the certificate?"
+This was readily done, and the man affixing his cross thereto,
+triumphantly carried the applicant back to his district, announcing
+her duly qualified to teach; and that trio of unlettered
+men installed the cultivated New England girl in their log
+school-house, probably without the thought entering the heads of
+trustees or teacher, that woman, when better educated, should hold
+the superior position.--[S. B. A.
+
+[353] Dr. Mary Safford, Mrs. A. M. Freeman, Hon. and Mrs. Sharon
+Tyndale, Hon. E. Haines, Fernando Jones, Jane Graham Jones,
+Professor Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Prince, Mr. and Mrs. R. M.
+Fell, Mrs. Belle S. Candee, General J. M. Thompson, Mrs. Professor
+Noyes of Evanston, Charles B. Waite, Catharine V. Waite, Susan
+Bronson, E. S. Williams, Kate N. Doggett, C. B. Farwell, L. Z.
+Leiter, J. L. Pickard, Henry M. Smith, Frank Gilbert, Ann Telford,
+Mrs. L. C. Levanway, Myra Bradwell, Mary E. Haven, Mrs. A. L.
+Taylor, Elizabeth Eggleston, P. D. Livermore, James B. Bradwell,
+Joseph Haven, J. H. Bayliss, D. Blakely, R. E. Hoyt, C. D. Helmer,
+Alfred L. Sewell, George D. Willigton, H. Allen, R. N. Foster, W.
+W. Smith, M. B. Smith, Amos G. Throop, Robert Collyer, L. I.
+Colburn, G. Percy English, Arthur Edwards, A. Reed and Sons, S. M.
+Booth, Sumner Ellis, George B. Marsh, Sarah Marsh, Ruth Graham,
+John Nutt, J. W. Butler, Mrs. J. Butler, Mrs. S. A. Richards, Mrs.
+S. W. Roe, F. W. Hall, Mrs. Fanny Blake, Mary S. Waite, J. F.
+Temple, A. W. Kellogg, W. H. Thomson, J. W. Loomis, James E.
+Curtis, Elizabeth Johnston, E. F. Hurlbut, E. E. Pratt, Mrs. E. M.
+Warren, William Doggett, Edward Beecher, James P. Weston, E. R.
+Allen, J. E. Forrester, Mrs. J. F. Temple, Mrs. F. W. Adams, L.
+Walker, Mary A. Whitaker, Elvira W. Ruggles, W. W. Corbett, H. B.
+Norton, W. H. Davis, I. S. Dennis, G. T. Flanders, Mrs. H. B.
+Manford, Edward Eggleston, Sarah G. Cleveland, G. G. Lyon, E.
+Manford, William D. Babbitt, Elizabeth Holt Babbitt, I. S. Page, W.
+O. Carpenter, Mrs. W. O. Carpenter, Mrs. H. W. Cobb, T. D. Fitch,
+Harriet Fitch, Mary A. Livermore, T. W. Eddy, A. G. Brackett,
+Andrew Shuman, John A. Jameson, John V. Farwell, B. W. Raymond, E.
+G. Taylor, Mems Root and lady, Rev. John McLean, Mrs. Owen Lovejoy,
+Mrs. Noyes Kendall.
+
+[354] The officers were: _President_, Mrs. M. Livermore;
+_Vice-Presidents_, the Rev. Dr. Goodspeed, Mrs. Helen M. Beveridge,
+Judge Bradwell, the Rev. Edward Beecher, the Rev. D. Eggleston,
+Miss Eliza Bowman, the Rev. Dr. Fowler, Mrs. Elizabeth Loomis, Mrs.
+M. Hawley, Mrs. M. Wheeler, Mrs. Myra Bradwell; _Secretaries_, Mrs.
+Jeanne Fowler Willing, of Rockford, Mrs. Elizabeth Babbitt, and
+George Graham, Esq.; _Committee on Finance_, Judge Bradwell,
+General Beveridge and the Hon. S. M. Booth. The speakers were Anna
+Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Robert
+Collyer, Rev. Mr. Hammond, Rev. Robert Laird Collier, Kate N.
+Doggett, and many of the officers of the convention.
+
+[355] For this speech see Vol. II., page 348.
+
+[356] The officers of the convention were: _President_, Mary A.
+Livermore; _Vice-Presidents_, the Rev. Robert Collyer, Professor
+Haven; _Recording Secretary_, Jeanne Willing, of Rockford;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Myra Bradwell; _Executive Committee_,
+Professor Haven, chairman; the Rev. Dr. Edward Beecher, Elizabeth
+J. Loomis, Hannah B. Manford, the Rev. E. Eggleston, the Rev. C. H.
+Fowler the Rev. E. J. Goodspeed, Rebecca Mott, Charlotte L.
+Levanway.
+
+[357] The committee to visit Springfield were Hon. James B.
+Bradwell, Mrs. Myra Bradwell, Mrs. Kate N. Doggett, the Rev. E.
+Goodspeed, the Hon. C. B. Waite, and Mrs. Rebecca Mott.
+
+[358] _Indiana_--Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Dr. Mary Wilhite, Emma
+Mallory, and Amanda Way; _Missouri_--Rebecca N. Hazzard;
+_Wisconsin_--Lelia Peckham; _Iowa_--Mary Newbury Adams, Matilda
+Fletcher; _Minnesota_--Mrs. Bishop; _Kansas_--Mrs. Henry;
+_Ohio_--Margaret V. Longley; _Michigan_--Professor Stone;
+_Massachusetts_--Henry B. Blackwell, and Lucy Stone; _New
+York_--Susan B. Anthony, most of whom took part in the discussions.
+
+[359] Letters were also received from Paulina Wright Davis,
+Frederick Douglass, Hon. Sharon Tyndale, Rev. D. H. N. Powers, Mrs.
+Arabella Mansfield, Rev. Willis Lord.
+
+[360] The speakers were Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stone, Hon. Sharon
+Tyndale, Hon. E. Haines, and Judge Bradwell.
+
+[361] One thousand three hundred and eighty women of Peoria also
+prayed that the constitution might not be so amended as to
+enfranchise women; another evidence of the demoralizing influence
+of any form of slavery upon the human mind. Had not these women
+been lacking in a proper self-respect they would not have protested
+against the right to govern themselves.--[E. C. S.
+
+[362] Our limited space prevents the publication of Judge Waite's
+argument and Judge Jameson's decision.
+
+[363] Jane Graham Jones and Elizabeth Loomis represented the Cook
+County Association. Delegates from several other districts were
+present. The speakers were A. J. Grover, Mrs. Jane Graham Jones,
+Miss Anthony, Mrs. Adelle Hazlett of Michigan, Dr. Ellen B.
+Furguson of Indiana, Mr. and Mrs. Fell, Mr. and Mrs. Prince.
+
+[364] For Mrs. Bradwell's case see Vol. II., page 601.
+
+[365] Those who have traveled and lectured through the West and
+spent many rainy Sundays in dreary hotels, know how to appreciate a
+few days rest in the delightful homes scattered over the country as
+well as in the towns and cities. How many of these memory recalls
+in the State of Illinois! What a hospitable reception we had in the
+cozy farm-house of Mrs. Owen Lovejoy at Princeton, and in the
+stately residence of Mrs. Noyes Kendall at La Moile, in the home of
+Judge Lawrence at Galesburg, Mrs. Judge Joslyn at Woodstock, Mrs.
+R.M. Patrick, Marengo; Mrs. A.W. Brayton, Mt. Morris; Mrs. Eldridge
+Norwood, Olney; Rev. Dr. Moffatt, Monticello; Col. E.B. Loop,
+Belvidere; Mrs. Judge Greer, Decatur; Mr. and Mrs. Prince,
+Bloomington; Col. and Mrs. Latham, Lincoln, and others too numerous
+to mention in all the Western States.--[S.B.A.
+
+[366] At her beautiful home, 910 Prairie avenue, her social
+influence was even more than her public work. An unfriendly report
+in any journal was uniformly followed by an invitation to dinner to
+the editor or some one of his staff, to meet the lady criticised,
+or discuss the point of attack. Miss Emily Faithful, Mrs. Stanton,
+Miss Anthony and Miss Couzins have all in turn shared these dinners
+and discussions. If the Methodist Episcopal conference sent an
+opponent to preach in their church, and a little social attention
+did not convert him, two persons left the church. Neither Mrs.
+Jones nor her husband would listen to the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, for
+Fernando Jones was always as staunch an advocate of the suffrage
+for women as his wife, and had no faith in a religion that did not
+teach human equality.--[S. B. A.
+
+[367] "_Ducit Amor Patriae_"; "1876."--Centennial Commemoration,
+Evanston, Ill. Music, prayer, music; recitation, Miss M. E. Brown;
+music, "Battle Hymn"; salutatory, "Woman and Philanthropy," Mrs.
+Elizabeth Boynton Harbert; "Historical Record of the Educational
+Work of Our Women," Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard; music, "Whittier's
+Hymn; recitation, Miss M. E. Brown; Missionary Roll of Honor, Miss
+Jessie Brown; oration, Rev. F. L. Chapell; benediction.
+
+[368] Mary F. Haskin, Melinda Hamline, Caroline Bishop, Elizabeth
+M. Greenleaf, Harriet S. Kidder, Mary T. Willard, Mary I. K. Huse,
+Cornelia Lunt, Harriet N. Noyes, Maria Cook, Margaret P. Evans,
+Sarah I. Hurd, Annie H. Thornton, Abby L. Brown, and Virginia S.
+Kent.
+
+[369] Prominent among these journalists were Margaret Buchanan
+Sullivan and Mrs. Annie Kerr of the Chicago _Times_, Mrs. Hubbard
+of the _Tribune_, Miss Farrand of the _Advance_, Virginia
+Fitzgerald and Alice Hobbins of the _Inter-Ocean_, Mrs. Myra
+Bradwell, editor of the _Legal News_, Mrs. Catharine V. Waite and
+Mrs. DeGeer of the _Crusader_, Mrs. Louisa White of the Moline
+_Dispatch_, Mrs. C. B. Bostwick of the Mattoon _Gazette_, Mrs. J.
+Oberly of the Cairo _Bulletin_, Miss Mary West of the Galesburg
+_Republican_, Mrs. Celia Wooley, Miss Eliza Bowman, Mrs. Clara Lyon
+Peters of the Watseka _Times_, Jane Grey Swisshelm, Elizabeth Holt
+Babbitt, and many others.
+
+[370] The officers of the Illinois Social Science Association were:
+_President_, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Evanston; _Recording
+Secretary_, Miss Sarah A. Richards, Chicago; _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Mrs. W. E. Clifford, Evanston; _Treasurer_, Mrs. H. H.
+Candee, Cairo; _Directors_, Mrs. Helen M. Beveredge, Evanston; Mrs.
+Frank Denman, Quincy; Mrs. C. A. Beck, Centralia; Mrs. R.
+McLoughrey, Joliet; Mrs. W. O. Carpenter, Chicago; Miss M.
+Fredricka Perry, Chicago; _Vice-Presidents_, First Congressional
+District, Mrs. Eliza R. Sunderland, Chicago; Second, Mrs. W. D.
+Babbitt, Chicago; Third, Mrs. Chas. E. Brown. Evanston; Fourth,
+Mrs. Carrie A. Potter, Rockford; Fifth, Mrs. F. A. W. Shimer, Mt.
+Carroll; Sixth, Mrs. Sarah C. McIntosh, Joliet; Thirteenth, Mrs. B.
+M. Prince, Bloomington; Fourteenth, Mrs. C. B. Bostwick, Mattoon;
+Sixteenth, Mrs. J. W. Seymour, Centralia; Nineteenth, Mrs. J. H.
+Oberly, Cairo.
+
+[371] _President_, Mrs. Fernando Jones; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs.
+Robert Collyer, Mrs. Richard Somers, Rev. C. D. Helmer;
+_Corresponding-Secretary_, Mrs. C. B. Waite; _Recording-Secretary_,
+Mrs. S. H. Pierce; _Treasurer_, Mrs. J. W. Loomis; _Executive
+Committee_, Mrs. Rebecca Mott, Mrs. H. W. Fuller, Mrs. Dr. C. D. R.
+Levanway, Fernando Jones, Miss Thayer, Rev. J. M. Reid, Mrs. Jno.
+Jones, Mrs. Wm. Coker, Dr. S. C. Blake.
+
+[372] The officers of the Illinois State Association are now,
+1885; _President_, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Evanston;
+_Vice-President-at-large_, Mrs. M. E. Holmes, Galva; _Secretary_,
+Rev. Florence Kollock, Englewood; _Treasurer_, Dr. L. C. Bedell,
+354 N. La Salle street, Chicago; _Executive Committee_, Hon. M. B.
+Castle, Sandwich: Mrs. E. J. Loomis, 2,939 Wabash avenue, Chicago;
+Mrs. Clara L. Peters, Watseka; Mrs. L. R. Wardner, Anna; Mrs. Julia
+Mills Dunn, Moline; Mrs. Helen E. Starrett, Lake Side Building,
+Chicago; Capt. W. S. Harbert, Evanston; Rev. C. C. Harrah, Galva.
+
+[373] From time to time we have had for president, Mrs. Eunice G.
+Sayles, Mrs. Anna M. J. Dow, Mrs. Flora N. Candee, Mrs. Julia Mills
+Dunn, Mrs. Nettie H. Wheelock; for secretaries, Mrs. C. W. Heald,
+Mrs. Lucy Anderson, Mrs. Kate Anderson; among those who have been
+active members of the society from its formation are, Harriet B. G.
+Lester, Ida Peyton, L. F. M'Clennan, Catharine H. Calkins, Dr. Jane
+H. Miller, Margaret Osborne, Harriet M. Gillette, Laoti Gates, Mary
+F. Barnes, Mary Wright, M. M. Hubbard, Emma Jones, Mary A. Stewart,
+Kate S. Holt, Mary A. Stephens, Abbie A. Gould, Mrs. M'Cord, Lydia
+Wheelock, Mrs. E. P. Reynolds, J. A. Tallman, Ann Eliza Reator, Dr.
+S. E. Bailey, Dr. E. A. Taylor, Lucy Ainsworth, Jerome B. Wheelock,
+M. A. Young, Mary Knowles, M. E. Abbot, Lois Forward, Mrs. Young.
+
+[374] Mrs. Clara Lyon Peters of Watseka, furnished the largest
+petition ever sent from Illinois; W. B. Wright of Greenview, Mrs.
+S. Eliza Lyon of Toulon, Mrs. Hannah J. Coffee of Orion, Mrs. Eva
+Edwards of Plymouth, Mrs. C. E. Larned of Champaign, Mrs. Barbara
+M. Prince of Bloomington, Mrs. F. B. Rowe of Freedom, Mrs. Jane
+Barnett, Mrs. E. H. Blacfan, and Mrs. E. T. Lippincott of Orion,
+Mrs. Julia Dunn of Moline, Mrs. Clara P. Bourland of Peoria,
+Sybilla Leek Browne of Odell, Mrs. Jacob Martin, Cairo, Mary E.
+Higbee, Kirkland Grove, Mary Thompson, LaSalle, Emily Z. Hall of
+Savoy, Elizabeth J. Loomis of Chicago, have all done worthy work in
+circulating petitions, both to congress and the State legislature.
+
+[375] Mrs. Archibald is the daughter of Betsey Hawks, of Genesee
+county, N. Y. I well remember the brave-hearted mother in the early
+days of the movement, when in 1852 I made my first stammering
+speech in the town-hall at Batavia. She arranged the meeting, and
+entertained the speakers, and was indeed "the cause" in that
+conservative village.--[S. B. A.
+
+[376] When at Durand, near Davis, in 1877, Mrs. Davis and her
+husband drove over, and at the close of my lecture, she gave me her
+maiden name and said, "Do you not remember me? I sat by your side
+and fairly pushed you up in that teachers' convention at Rochester,
+in 1853, when you made that first speech you told about; and I have
+been most earnestly hoping and working for the enfranchisement of
+women ever since."--[S.B.A.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+MISSOURI.
+
+     Missouri the First State to Open Colleges of Law and Medicine to
+     Woman--Liberal Legislation--Eight Causes for Divorce--Harriet
+     Hosmer--Wayman Crow--Works of Art--Women in the War--Adeline
+     Couzins--Virginia L. Minor--Petitions--Woman Suffrage
+     Association, May 8, 1867--First Woman Suffrage Convention, Oct.
+     6, 1869--Able Resolutions by Francis Minor--Action Asked for in
+     the Methodist Church--Constitutional Convention--Mrs. Hazard's
+     Report--National Suffrage Association, 1879--Virginia L. Minor
+     Before the Committee on Constitutional Amendments--Mrs. Minor
+     Tries to Vote--Her Case in the Supreme Court--Miss Phoebe Couzins
+     Graduated from the Law School, 1871--Reception by Members of the
+     Bar--Speeches--Dr. Walker--Judge Krum--Hon. Albert
+     Todd--Ex-Governor E. O. Stanard--Ex-Senator Henderson--Judge
+     Reber--George M. Stewart--Mrs. Minor--Miss Couzins--Mrs. Annie R.
+     Irvine--"Oregon Woman's Union."
+
+
+It has often been a subject for speculation why it was that a slave
+State like Missouri should have been the first to open her medical
+and law schools to women, and why the suffrage movement from the
+beginning should there have enlisted so large a number of men[377]
+and women of wealth and position, who promptly took an active
+interest in the inauguration of the work. A little research into
+history shows that there must have been some liberal statesmen,
+some men endowed with wisdom and a sense of justice, who influenced
+the early legislation in Missouri.
+
+By the constitution, imprisonment for debt is forbidden, except for
+fines and penalties imposed for violation of law. A homestead not
+exceeding $3,000 in value in cities of 40,000 inhabitants or more,
+and not exceeding $1,500 in smaller cities and in the country, is
+exempt from levy on execution. The real estate of a married woman
+is not liable for the debts of her husband. There are eight causes
+for divorce, so many doors of escape for unfortunate wives from the
+bondage of a joyless union.
+
+The memory of the unjust treatment of Miss Hosmer will always be a
+reproach to Massachusetts. That she enjoyed the privileges of
+education in Missouri denied her in Massachusetts was due in no
+small measure to the generosity and public spirit of Wayman Crow.
+Speaking of the gifted sculptor, a correspondent says:
+
+     Harriet Hosmer was born in 1830. She studied sculpture in the
+     studio of Mr. Stephenson, in Boston, and also with her father. In
+     1830, after being denied admission to anatomical lectures in
+     Harvard and many other colleges at the East, she went to St.
+     Louis, where, through the spirited determination of Wayman Crow,
+     a most liberal benefactor of Washington University, she was
+     admitted to the Missouri Medical College through the kindness and
+     courtesy of Dr. Joseph N. McDowell, its founder and head. Here
+     for a whole winter she pursued her studies under the instruction
+     of Dr. McDowell and Dr. Louis T. Pim, the able demonstrator of
+     anatomy of the college, who gave her the benefit of their
+     constant and unremitting aid; also Dr. B. Gratz Moses and Dr. J.
+     B. Johnson were particularly kind in inviting her to be present
+     when important cases were before them. The names of these men are
+     gratefully mentioned, now that the doors of hundreds of colleges
+     have opened to women. While in St. Louis Miss Hosmer had a
+     constant companion and friend in Miss Jane Peck, a lady well
+     known in society circles, and together they daily attended at the
+     college; indeed, Miss Peck informed the writer, that on no
+     occasion did Miss Hosmer go to the college without her. So
+     quietly was this done, it was not until the month of February
+     that the students became aware of their attending, and when
+     informed of it the entire class, numbering about one hundred and
+     thirty, gave them a most cordial and hearty endorsement, and from
+     that time on until the day of graduation they were treated by the
+     young gentlemen with marked attention. The students were not
+     aware of their attending in the earlier part of the course,
+     because it had been the custom for the ladies to attend in the
+     amphitheater after the class had left to go to the various
+     hospitals. On one occasion while on their way to the college, a
+     number of the students being behind them, they heard the
+     gentlemen say to some men they met, "These ladies are under our
+     charge, and if you offer them an insult we will shoot you down."
+     They did not hear the language of the men, only the reply of the
+     students. At the close of the session the students gave a ball
+     and not only were Miss Hosmer and Miss Peck invited, but a
+     carriage was specially sent to take them to it.
+
+In March, 1869, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony again visited St.
+Louis. In a letter to _The Revolution_ the former said:
+
+     We went to the Mercantile Library to see Miss Hosmer's works of
+     art, and there read the following letter to Wayman Crow, who had
+     been a generous friend to her through all those early days of
+     trial and disappointment. One of the best of her productions is
+     an admirable bust of her noble benefactor:
+
+                                   BOSTON, October 18, 1857.
+
+          DEAR MR. CROW: Will you allow me to convey through you to
+          the Mercantile Library Association "The Beatrice Cenci."
+          This statue is in execution of a commission I received three
+          years ago from a friend who requested me not only to make a
+          piece of statuary for that institution, but to present it in
+          my own name. I have finished the work, but cannot offer it
+          as my own gift--but of one who, with a most liberal hand,
+          has largely ministered to the growth of the arts and
+          sciences in your beautiful city. For your sake, and for
+          mine, I would have made a better statue if I could. The will
+          was not wanting, but the power--but such as it is, I rejoice
+          sincerely that it is destined for St. Louis, a city I love,
+          not only because it was there I first began my studies, but
+          because of the many generous and indulgent friends who dwell
+          therein--of whom I number you most generous and indulgent of
+          all, whose increasing kindness I can only repay by striving
+          to become more and more worthy of all your friendship and
+          confidence, and so I am ever affectionately and gratefully
+          yours,
+
+          _Wayman Crow, Esq._                        H.G. HOSMER.
+
+The very active part that the women of Missouri had taken in the
+civil war, in the hospitals and sanitary department, had aroused
+their enthusiasm in the preservation of the Union and their sense
+of responsibility in national affairs. The great mass-meetings of
+the Loyal Women's Leagues, too, did an immense educational work in
+broadening their sympathies and the horizon of their sphere of
+action. So wholly absorbed had they been in the intense excitement
+of that period, that when peace came their hands and hearts,
+unoccupied, naturally turned to new fields of achievement. While in
+some States it was the temperance question, in St. Louis it was
+specifically woman suffrage.
+
+We are indebted for the main facts of this chapter to Mr. Francis
+Minor, Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, Miss Couzins and Miss Arathusa
+Forbes, who have kindly sent us what information they had or could
+hastily glean from the journals of the time or the imperfect
+records of the association.
+
+     The labors of Mrs. Minor and Mrs. Couzins were exceptionally
+     protracted and severe. The latter offered her services as nurse
+     at the very opening of the war. The letters received from men in
+     authority show how highly their services were appreciated. Dr.
+     Pope who writes the following, was the leading surgeon in St.
+     Louis:
+
+                                   ST. LOUIS, April 26, 1861.
+
+          Mrs. J. E. D. COUZINS--_Dear Madam_: Your note in which, in
+          case of collision here, you generously offer your services
+          in the capacity of nurse, is just received. Should so dire a
+          calamity befall us (which God forbid), I shall, in case of
+          need, most assuredly remember your noble offer. With high
+          regard and sincere thanks, I am,
+
+                         Yours very truly,              CHAS. A. POPE.
+
+
+          HEADQUARTERS 2D BRIG., MO. VOL., ST. LOUIS, MO.,
+                                                          Aug. 23, 1861.
+
+          Mrs. J. E. D. COUZINS, _present--Madam_: I received your
+          kind letter, dated Aug. 17. Accept my heartfelt thanks for
+          your generous offer. I regard the nursing of our wounded
+          soldiers by the tender hands of patriotic ladies as a most
+          effectual means of easing their condition and encouraging
+          them to new efforts in defense of our glorious cause. You
+          will please confer with Mrs. von Wackerbarth, corner Seventh
+          and Elm streets, in regard to the steps to be taken in this
+          matter.
+
+                    Your obedient servant, F. SIGEL, _Brig.-Gen. Com._
+
+
+          HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, February 18th, 1862.
+
+          The commanding officers at Cairo, Paducah, or vicinity, are
+          hereby requested to grant any facilities consistent with the
+          public interests that may be desired by the bearers of this
+          note. They are Mrs. Couzins and Crawshaw, of the Ladies'
+          Union Aid Society, who wish to administer relief to our sick
+          and wounded. By order of
+
+          J. T. PRICE, _A. D. C._                   Maj.-Gen'l HALLECK.
+
+
+          ROOMS WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, ST. LOUIS, Oct, 6th, 1862.
+
+          MY DEAR MRS. COUZINS: The surgeon-general has notified me
+          that he may want me to send nurses and surgeons to Columbus
+          and Corinth. I look to you, my dear madam, as one ever ready
+          to volunteer when you can be of real service. In case it
+          should become necessary, may I rely on your valuable
+          services? Such other names as you may suggest I would be
+          pleased to have.
+
+                              Very respectfully,
+                                                 JAS. E. YEATMAN.
+
+
+                              OFFICE OF WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, }
+                              SAINT LOUIS, MO., Oct. 8th, 1862.      }
+
+          Mrs. Couzins has been detailed to service in the hospital
+          steamer T.L. McGill, as volunteer nurse.
+
+          N.B.--If the place of service is changed, a new certificate
+          will be issued.
+
+                    JAMES E. YEATMAN, President of Sanitary Commission.
+
+
+                                                 CORINTH, Oct. 13, 1862.
+
+          Pass Mrs. Couzins from Corinth to Columbus.
+
+                            W. S. ROSECRANZ, _Maj.-Gen'l U. S. A._
+
+
+                              HEADQUARTERS DEP'T OF THE TENNESSEE, }
+                              BEFORE VICKSBURG, Feb'y 21st, 1863.  }
+
+          The quartermaster in charge of transportation at Memphis,
+          Tenn., will furnish transportation on any chartered steamer
+          plying between Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, to Mrs.
+          Couzins and five other ladies, members of the Western
+          Sanitary Commission, and who have been with this fleet
+          distributing sanitary goods for the benefit of sick
+          soldiers.
+
+                                          U.S. GRANT, _Maj.-Gen. Com_.
+
+          Capt. J. B. LEWIS,
+               _A. Q. M. and Master of Transportation_, Memphis, Tenn.
+
+     While Mrs. Couzins thus gave herself to mitigating the sufferings
+     of the "boys in blue," in camp and hospital, Mrs. Minor was no
+     less active and energetic in the equally important department of
+     preserving supplies for the sanitary commission. Although Mrs.
+     Minor resided too far from the city to attend the evening
+     meetings, and her name does not appear in the accounts of such
+     gatherings, she was one of the first members of the Ladies' Union
+     Aid Society of St. Louis, and took part in the meeting of loyal
+     women called and presided over by Gen. Curtis. Having an orchard
+     and dairy on her place, she furnished the hospital with milk and
+     fruit, and for more than two years, sent a supply every day to
+     the soldiers in camp at Benton barracks. When the news came that
+     the army around Vicksburg was suffering with scurvy, she took her
+     carriage and drove through the country soliciting fruit, and in
+     one week she canned with her own hands, a wagon-load of cherries,
+     the sanitary commission finding the cans and sugar, and from time
+     to time she continued the work until the end of the war. When the
+     great fair was held under the auspices of the Western Sanitary
+     Commission, she was a member of the floral department, and
+     worked with her accustomed energy. The sanitary commission,
+     feeling that she had done so much, wrote her a letter of thanks,
+     and enclosed her a check for a liberal amount; but she returned
+     the check, saying that hers was a work of love, and not for
+     money. Although the official letter of the commission thanking
+     Mrs. Minor for her most valuable services, is lost, the following
+     to Mr. Minor may fairly be considered as including her also:
+
+
+          ROOMS WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, St. Louis, Oct. 7, 1863.
+
+          FRANCIS MINOR, Esq.--_My Dear Sir_: I am directed by our
+          board to return you their thanks in behalf of the soldiers
+          in the hospitals, for your long-continued remembrance of
+          them, and for the daily supply of fresh fruits, vegetables
+          and milk, which you have furnished for the sick, now more
+          than two years. Your garner and sympathy have been like the
+          widow's cruse, and may they ever continue to be so. What you
+          have done has been in the most quiet and unobtrusive way.
+          The sick soldier has had no more constant, uniform and
+          untiring friend, and it is with pleasure that I convey the
+          thanks of the board, both to yourself and wife, who have
+          been as indefatigable at home in preparing canned fruits and
+          other delicacies for the sick soldiers in the field, as you
+          have been in providing for those in the hospitals. With
+          grateful feelings and many thanks and best wishes, I remain,
+
+                    Very respectfully yours,
+
+                                        JAMES E. YEATMAN,
+                              _President Western Sanitary Commission_.
+
+     The submission of a constitutional amendment in Kansas, and the
+     preparations for a thorough canvass of that State, had its
+     influence in heightening the enthusiasm and increasing the
+     agitation in Missouri, as most of the speakers going to Kansas
+     held meetings at various points. Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony
+     stopped at St. Louis both going and returning, held large
+     meetings in Library Hall, and had a pleasant reception in the
+     parlors of the Southern Hotel, where many warm friendships that
+     have lasted ever since, were formed.
+
+     The subject of woman's enfranchisement had doubtless often
+     occurred to the thoughtful men and women of Missouri, long before
+     the movement in its behalf assumed anything like a practical
+     shape. The manifest absurdity and injustice of declaring, as the
+     constitution of the State did, "that all political power is
+     vested in, and derived from the people; that all government of
+     right originates from the people, is founded upon their will
+     only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole," and at
+     the same time, denying to one-half of the people any voice
+     whatever in framing their government or making their laws, could
+     not fail to strike the attention of any one who gave the subject
+     the slightest consideration. But no attempt was made towards an
+     organization in behalf of woman suffrage until the winter of
+     1866-7; and the movement then had its origin from the following
+     circumstance: During the debate in the Senate of the United
+     States, on the district suffrage bill, December 12, 1866, Senator
+     Brown, of Missouri, in the course of his remarks said:
+
+          I have to say then, sir, here on the floor of the American
+          Senate, I stand for universal suffrage, and as a matter of
+          fundamental principle do not recognize the right of society
+          to limit it on any ground of race, color, or sex. I will go
+          further, and say that I recognize the right of franchise as
+          being intrinsically a natural right; and I do not believe
+          that society is authorized to impose any limitation upon it
+          that does not spring out of the necessities of the social
+          state itself.
+
+     When Mrs. Francis Minor, of St. Louis, who had given the subject
+     much thought, read the report of Senator Brown's speech, she
+     considered that it was due to him from the women of the State
+     that he should receive a letter of thanks for his bold and
+     out-spoken utterances in their behalf. She accordingly wrote him
+     such a letter, obtaining to it all the signatures she could, and
+     it was presented to Senator Brown on his return home. But
+     although first an advocate of the measure, he soon recanted, and
+     gave his influence against it.
+
+     It was next determined to petition the legislature of the State
+     then in session, January, 1867, to propose an amendment to the
+     constitution, striking out the word "male," in the article on
+     suffrage. Such a petition was presented, and attracted much
+     attention, as it was the first instance of the kind in the
+     history of the State. This move was followed by a formal
+     organization of the friends of the cause, and on May 8, 1867, the
+     "Missouri Woman Suffrage Association" was organized, and officers
+     elected.[378]
+
+     We find the following letter from Mr. Minor in _The Revolution_
+     of January 22, 1868:
+
+          _Editors of The Revolution_: In order to show the steady
+          progress that the grand idea of equal rights is slowly but
+          surely making among the people of these United States, I
+          think it would be well, in the beginning, at least, to make
+          a record in _The Revolution_ of the fact of each successive
+          State organization; and for that purpose I send you the list
+          of officers for the association in Missouri not yet a year
+          old; as also their petition to the legislature for a change
+          in the organic law, and a brief address to the voters of the
+          State, in support of the movement:
+
+          _To the Voters of Missouri:_
+
+          The women of this State, having organized for the purpose of
+          agitating their claims to the ballot, it becomes every
+          intelligent and reflecting mind to consider the question
+          fairly and dispassionately. If it has merits, it will
+          eventually succeed; if not, it will fail. I am of the number
+          of those who believe that claim to be just and right, for
+          the following, among other reasons:
+
+          Taxation and Representation should go hand in hand. This is
+          the very corner-stone of our government. Its founders
+          declared, and the declaration cannot be too often repeated,
+          "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
+          created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
+          certain inalienable rights; that among these are life,
+          liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure those
+          rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their
+          just powers from the consent of the governed." The man who
+          believes in that declaration, cannot justly deny to women
+          the right of suffrage. They are citizens, they are
+          tax-payers; they bear the burdens of government--why should
+          they be denied the rights of citizens? We boast about
+          liberty and equality before the law, when the truth is, our
+          government is controlled by one-half only of the population.
+          The others have no more voice in the making of their laws,
+          or the selection of their rulers, than the criminals who are
+          in our penitentiaries; nay, in one respect, their condition
+          is not as good as that of the felon, for he may be pardoned
+          and restored to a right which woman can never obtain. And
+          this, not because she has committed any crime, or violated
+          any law, but simply because she is, what God made her--a
+          woman! Possessed of the same intelligence--formed in the
+          same mold--having the same attributes, parts and
+          passions--held by her Maker to the same measure of
+          responsibility here and hereafter, her actual position in
+          society to-day is that of an inferior. No matter what her
+          qualifications may be, every avenue of success is virtually
+          closed against her. Even when she succeeds in obtaining
+          employment, she gets only half the pay that a man does for
+          the same work. But, it is said, woman's sphere is at home.
+          Would giving her the right to vote interfere with her home
+          duties any more than it does with a man's business? Again it
+          is said, that for her to vote would be unfeminine. Is it at
+          all more indelicate for a woman to go to the polls, than it
+          is for her to go to the court-house and pay her taxes? The
+          truth is, woman occupies just the position that man has
+          placed her in, and it ill becomes him to urge such
+          objections. Give her a chance--give her the opportunity of
+          proving whether these objections are well founded or not.
+          Her influence for good is great, notwithstanding all the
+          disadvantages under which she at present labors; and my firm
+          belief is, that that influence would be greatly enhanced and
+          extended by the exercise of this new right. It would be felt
+          at the ballot-box and in the halls of legislation. Better
+          men, as a general rule, would be elected to office, and
+          society in all its ramifications, would feel and rejoice at
+          the change.
+
+                                                       A VOTER.
+
+
+          _To the General Assembly of the State of Missouri: _
+
+          GENTLEMEN: The undersigned women of Missouri, believing that
+          all citizens who are taxed for the support of the government
+          and subject to its laws, should have a voice in the making
+          of those laws, and the selection of their rulers; that, as
+          the possession of the ballot ennobles and elevates the
+          character of man, so, in like manner, it would ennoble and
+          elevate that of woman by giving her a direct and personal
+          interest in the affairs of government; and further,
+          believing that the spirit of the age, as well as every
+          consideration of justice and equity, requires that the
+          ballot should be extended to our sex, do unite in praying
+          that an amendment to the constitution may be proposed,
+          striking out the word "male" and extending to women the
+          right of suffrage.
+
+          And, as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
+
+          On behalf of the Missouri Woman Suffrage Association.
+
+          [Signed:] _President_, Mrs. Francis Minor; _Vice-President_,
+          Mrs. Beverly Allen; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Wm. T.
+          Hazard; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Geo. D. Hall;
+          _Treasurer_, Mrs. N. Stevens, St. Louis, Missouri.
+
+          Copies of the petition, and information furnished upon
+          addressing either of above named officers. Formation of
+          auxiliary associations in every county requested. Petitions
+          when completely signed, to be returned to the head office.
+
+          These papers will serve to show that the idea has taken root
+          in other States beyond the Mississippi besides Kansas; and
+          may also be somewhat of a guide to others, who may desire to
+          accomplish the same purpose elsewhere. A work of such
+          magnitude requires, of course, time for development; but the
+          leaven is working. The fountains of the great deep of public
+          thought have been broken up. The errors and prejudices of
+          six thousand years are yielding to the sunlight of truth. In
+          spite of pulpits and politicians, the great idea is making
+          its way to the hearts of the people; and woman may rejoice
+          in believing that the dawn of her deliverance, so long hoped
+          for and prayed for, is at last approaching.
+
+                                                       F. M.
+
+          _St. Louis_, January, 1868.
+
+The following from _The Revolution_ shows that the women of St.
+Louis were awake on the question of taxation:
+
+     The women here have endeavored to find out to what extent
+     taxation without representation, because of sex, obtains in this
+     city, and as the result of their inquiries they are enabled to
+     place on their records the following very suggestive document.
+
+                         ASSESSOR'S OFFICE, ST. LOUIS, January 30, 1869.
+
+          _To Mrs. Couzins and Emma Finkelnburg, Committee of the
+          Ladies' Suffrage Association:_
+
+          In reply to your request to report to your association the
+          amount of property listed in the city of St. Louis in the
+          name of ladies, permit me to state that the property in
+          question is represented by over 2,000 tax-paying ladies, and
+          assessed at the value of $14,490,199.
+
+                                   Yours very respectfully,
+
+                                        ROBT. J. ROMBAUER, _Assessor_.
+
+     This exhibit has opened the eyes of a good many people. "Two
+     thousand on 'em," exclaimed a male friend of mine, "and over
+     fourteen millions of property! Whew! What business have these
+     women with so much money?" Well, they have it, and now they ask
+     us, "Shall 2,000 men, not worth a dollar, just because they wear
+     pantaloons go to the polls and vote taxes on us, while we are
+     excluded from the ballot-box for no other reason than sex?" What
+     _shall_ we say to them? They ask us if the American Revolution
+     did not turn on this hinge, _No taxation without representation_.
+     Who can answer?
+
+     The advocates of suffrage in St. Louis made their attacks at once
+     in both Church[379] and State, and left no means of agitation
+     untried. There has never been an association in any State that
+     comprised so many able men and women who gave their best thoughts
+     to every phase of this question, and who did so grand a work,
+     until the unfortunate division in 1871, which seemed to chill the
+     enthusiasm of many friends of the movement.
+
+     In the winter of 1869 the association sent a large delegation of
+     ladies to the legislature with a petition containing about 2,000
+     signatures. A correspondent in _The Revolution_, February 6,
+     1869, said:
+
+          It will not be feminine to say, yet I fear I must say, the
+          women of Missouri have stormed their capitol, and if it is
+          not yet taken, the outworks are in our hands, and I believe
+          with a few more well-directed blows the victory will be
+          ours. On February 3 a large delegation of ladies,
+          representing the Suffrage Association of Missouri, visited
+          Jefferson City for the purpose of laying before the
+          legislature a large and influentially signed petition,
+          asking the ballot for women; and we were gratified to see
+          the great respect and deference shown to the women of
+          Missouri by the wisest and best of her legislators in their
+          respectful and cordial reception of the delegates. Both
+          Houses adjourned, and gave the use of the house for the
+          afternoon, when eloquent addresses were made by Mrs. J.G.
+          Phelps of Springfield, Dr. Ada Greunan of St. Louis, and the
+          future orator of Missouri, Miss Phoebe Couzins, whose able
+          and effective address the press has given in full. Of the
+          brave men who stood up for us, it is more difficult to
+          speak. To give a list would be impossible; for every name
+          would require a eulogy too lengthy for the pages of _The
+          Revolution_. We will, therefore, record them on the tablets
+          of our memory with a hand so firm that they shall stand out
+          brightly till time shall be no more. Of the small majority
+          who oppose us we will say nothing, but throw over them the
+          pall of merciful oblivion.
+
+     The first woman suffrage convention ever held in the city of St.
+     Louis, or the State of Missouri, assembled in Mercantile Library,
+     October 6, 7, 1869. Many distinguished people were on the
+     platform.[380] At this convention Mr. Francis Minor introduced a
+     very able series of resolutions, on which Mrs. Minor made a
+     remarkably logical address.[381] The following letter from Mr.
+     Minor shows the careful research he gave to the consideration of
+     this question:
+
+                                   ST. LOUIS, December 30, 1869.
+
+          DEAR REVOLUTION: So thoroughly am I satisfied that the
+          surest and most direct course to pursue to obtain a
+          recognition of woman's claim to the ballot, lies through the
+          courts of the country, that I am induced to ask you to
+          republish the resolutions that I drafted, and which were
+          unanimously adopted by the St. Louis convention. And I will
+          here add, that to accomplish this end, and to carry these
+          resolutions into practical effect, it is intended by Mrs.
+          Minor, the president of the State Association, to make a
+          test case in her instance at our next election; take it
+          through the courts of Missouri, and thence to the Supreme
+          Court of the United States at Washington. I think it will be
+          admitted that these resolutions place the cause of woman
+          upon higher ground than ever before asserted, in the fact
+          that for the first time suffrage is claimed as a privilege
+          based upon citizenship, and secured by the Constitution of
+          the United States. It will be seen that the position taken
+          is, that the States have the right to regulate, but not to
+          prohibit, the elective franchise to citizens of the United
+          States. Thus the States may determine the qualifications of
+          electors. They may require the elector to be of a certain
+          age, to have had a fixed residence, to be of a sane mind,
+          and unconvicted of crime, etc., because these are
+          qualifications or conditions that all citizens, sooner or
+          later, may attain; but to go beyond this, and say to
+          one-half the citizens of the State, notwithstanding you
+          possess all these qualifications you shall never vote, is of
+          the very essence of despotism. It is a bill of attainder of
+          the most odious character.
+
+          A further investigation of the subject will show that the
+          language of the constitutions of all the States, with the
+          exception of those of Massachusetts and Virginia, on the
+          subject of suffrage is peculiar. They almost all read
+          substantially alike: "White male citizens, etc., shall be
+          entitled to vote," and this is supposed to exclude all other
+          citizens. There is no direct exclusion, except in the two
+          States above named. Now the error lies in supposing that an
+          enabling clause is necessary at all. The right of the people
+          of a State to participate in a government of their own
+          creation requires no enabling clause; neither can it be
+          taken from them by implication. To hold otherwise would be
+          to interpolate in the constitution a prohibition that does
+          not exist. In framing a constitution the people are
+          assembled in their sovereign capacity; and being possessed
+          of all rights and all powers, what is not surrendered is
+          retained. Nothing short of a direct prohibition can work a
+          disseizin of rights that are fundamental. In the language of
+          John Jay to the people of New York, urging the adoption of
+          the Constitution of the United States, "silence and blank
+          paper neither give nor take away anything," and Alexander
+          Hamilton says (_Federalist_, No. 83), "Every man of
+          discernment must at once perceive the wide difference
+          between silence and abolition."
+
+          The mode and manner in which the people shall take part in
+          the government of their creation may be prescribed by the
+          constitution, but the right itself is antecedent to all
+          constitutions. It is inalienable, and can neither be bought,
+          nor sold, nor given away. But even if it should be held that
+          this view is untenable, and that women are disfranchised by
+          the several State constitutions directly, or by implication,
+          then I say that such prohibitions are clearly in conflict
+          with the Constitution of the United States, and yield
+          thereto. The language of that instrument is clear and
+          emphatic: "All persons born or naturalized in the United
+          States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
+          citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they
+          reside." "No State shall make, or enforce any law that shall
+          abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
+          United States." It would be impossible to add to the force
+          or effect of such language, and equally impossible to
+          attempt to explain it away.
+
+                                   Very respectfully,    FRANCIS MINOR.
+
+     The St. Louis _Democrat_ spoke of the convention as follows:
+
+          Readers of our report have doubtless been interested to
+          observe the fair spirit and dignified manner of the woman
+          suffrage convention, and the ability displayed in some of
+          the addresses. It is but due to the managers to say that
+          they extended most courteous invitations to gentlemen not
+          identified with the movement to address the convention, and
+          state freely their objections to the extension of the
+          franchise. Of those invited some were prevented by duties
+          elsewhere from attending. Others, it may be, felt that it
+          would scarcely be a gracious thing, in spite of the
+          liberality of the invitation, to occupy the time of a
+          convention in favor of the extension of the franchise with
+          arguments against it. But the objections which, after all,
+          probably have most weight with candid men are those which it
+          is not easy to discuss in public, namely: "Will not
+          extension of suffrage to women have an injurious effect upon
+          the family and sexual relations?" "Will not the ballot be
+          used rather by that class who would not use it wisely than
+          by those who are most competent?" We do not argue these
+          questions, but are sure that some frank discussion of them,
+          however delicate the subject may be, is necessary to
+          convince the great majority of those who are still doubting
+          or opposed. Meanwhile the reports are of interest, and
+          reflect no little credit upon the women of this city who
+          have taken so prominent a part in the movement.
+
+     The officers of the Missouri Society were annually reelected for
+     several years, and the work proceeded harmoniously until the
+     division in the National Association. The members of the Missouri
+     Society took sides in this division as preference dictated. Mr.
+     and Mrs. Minor, Miss Forbes, Miss Couzins and others were already
+     members of the National Association, and sympathized with its
+     views and modes of pushing the question.
+
+     In order that there might be no division in the Missouri
+     Association, a resolution was introduced by Mr. Minor and
+     unanimously adopted, declaring that each member of the society
+     should be free to join the National body of his or her choice,
+     and that the Missouri Association, as a society, should not
+     become auxiliary to either the "National" or the "American." The
+     good faith of the association was thus pledged to respect the
+     feelings and wishes of each member, and as long as this course
+     was observed all went well. But, at the annual meeting in 1871,
+     just after Mrs. Minor had for the fifth time been unanimously
+     reelected president, in violation of the previous action of the
+     association a resolution was introduced and passed, declaring
+     that the association should henceforth become auxiliary to the
+     American. This gross disregard of the wishes and feelings of
+     those who were members of the National Association left them no
+     alternative, with any feeling of self-respect, but to withdraw;
+     and accordingly Mrs. Minor at once tendered her resignation as
+     president and her withdrawal as a member of the association. She
+     was followed in this course by Mr. Minor, Miss Couzins, Miss
+     Forbes and others.[382] However, the work went steadily on.
+     Meetings were held regularly from week to week, with occasional
+     grand conventions, tracts and petitions were circulated, and
+     constant agitation in some way kept up.
+
+In answer to an earnest solicitation for facts and incidents of the
+suffrage movement in Missouri, Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, one of the
+earliest and most active friends in that State, sends us the
+following:
+
+     I think the cruel war had much to do in educating the women of
+     Missouri into a sense of their responsibilities and duties as
+     citizens; at least all who first took part in the suffrage
+     movement had been active on the Union side during the war, and
+     that having ended in the preservation of the government, they
+     naturally began to inquire as to their own rights and privileges
+     in the restored Union. My own feelings were first fully awakened
+     by the hanging of Mrs. Surrat; for, although a Unionist and an
+     abolitionist, I could but regard her execution by the government,
+     considering her helpless position, as judicial murder. I wrote on
+     the subject to the editor of the New York _Independent_. The
+     letter was handed to Miss Anthony, and resulted in an invitation
+     to the next meeting of the Equal Rights Society. This almost
+     frightened me, for I had hitherto looked askance at the woman's
+     rights movement.
+
+     Meeting an old friend and neighbor not long after, the talk
+     turned upon negro suffrage. I expressed myself in favor of that
+     measure, and timidly added, "And go farther--I think women also
+     should vote." She grasped my hand cordially, saying, "And so do
+     I!" This was Mrs. Virginia L. Minor. We had each cherished this
+     opinion, supposing that no other woman in the community held it;
+     and this we afterwards found to have been the experience of many
+     others. This was in 1866; and in the following autumn Mrs. Minor
+     prepared and circulated for signatures a card of thanks to Hon.
+     B. Gratz Brown for the recognition of woman's political rights he
+     had given in the United States Senate in a speech upon extending
+     the suffrage to the women of the District of Columbia.[383] This
+     card received enough names to justify another step--that of a
+     petition to the Missouri General Assembly. This was headed by
+     Mrs. Minor, and circulated with untiring energy by her, receiving
+     several hundred signatures, and was sent to the legislature
+     during the winter, where it received some degree of favor.
+
+     But as yet no effort had been made toward an organization. The
+     first step in that direction was in May, 1867, by Mrs. Lucretia
+     P. Hall and her sister, Miss Penelope Allen, daughters of Mrs.
+     Beverly Allen, and nieces of General Pope, in the parlors of Mrs.
+     Anna L. Clapp, the president of the Union Aid Society during the
+     war. Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Clapp and myself called a public meeting on
+     May 8, when the Woman Suffrage Society of Missouri was organized,
+     with Mrs. Minor president.
+
+     In the winter of 1868 the association sent a large delegation of
+     ladies to Jefferson with a petition containing about 2,000 names,
+     to present to the legislature. The Republicans were then in the
+     ascendency, and the ladies having many professed friends among
+     the members, were received with every demonstration of respect.
+     Addresses were made by Miss Phoebe Couzins and Dr. Ada Greunan.
+     The petition was respectfully considered and a fair vote given
+     for the submission of an amendment.
+
+     Subsequent sessions of the legislature have been besieged, as was
+     also the constitutional convention in 1875; but beyond the
+     passage of several laws improving the general status of women, we
+     have not made much impression upon the law-making power of our
+     State; not so much since the State passed into the hands of the
+     Democrats, as while the Republicans were in the majority.
+
+     But the public meetings and social influence of our association
+     have done much for the cause of woman suffrage. Strangers are
+     surprised to find so little prejudice existing against a movement
+     so decidedly unpopular in many places. The convention held in St.
+     Louis in October, 1869, was one of the very best I have ever
+     known, and its influence was long felt for good. In the spring of
+     1871 our association became auxiliary to the American, and in
+     consequence several of our active members seceded, viz.: Mr. and
+     Mrs. Minor, Miss Couzins, Dr. Greunan and others. In the autumn
+     of 1872 the American Association held its annual meeting in St.
+     Louis.
+
+     The law school of Washington University has always been open to
+     women. Miss Couzins was the first to avail herself of its
+     advantages in 1869, though Miss Barkaloo of Brooklyn, denied
+     admission to Columbia Law School, soon joined her, and was
+     admitted to the bar in 1870. While Miss Barkaloo was not the
+     first woman admitted to the bar in the United States, she
+     doubtless was the first to try a case in court. She died after a
+     few months of most promising practice.[384] Miss Couzins was
+     admitted to the bar in May, 1871.
+
+     The St. Louis School of Design, which has done much for woman,
+     was originated by members of our association; principally by Mrs.
+     Mary F. Henderson, who has given untiring effort in that
+     direction. Our members were also instrumental in opening to women
+     the St. Louis Homeopathic Medical College, and active in opposing
+     what was known as the St. Louis "Social Evil Law." They aided Dr.
+     Eliot in his valiant struggle against that iniquity. Mrs. E.
+     Patrick and myself called the first public meeting to protest
+     against the law. It was repealed March 27, 1874.
+
+     You are probably familiar with Mrs. Minor's suit to obtain
+     suffrage under the fourteenth amendment. We all admired her
+     courageous efforts for that object. Previous to that attempt our
+     society had earnestly advocated a sixteenth amendment for the
+     protection of woman's right to vote, but held the matter in
+     abeyance pending the suit. After its failure, we again renewed
+     our efforts for a sixteenth amendment, circulating and sending to
+     Washington our petitions. Our association holds monthly meetings
+     and proposes to continue the agitation.[385] I ought to say,
+     perhaps, that our society lends all the help possible to other
+     States. It gave $520 to Michigan in 1874, and $200 to Colorado in
+     1877.
+
+                                                       R. N. H.
+
+     To bring the question of woman's right as a citizen of the United
+     States to vote for United States officers before the judiciary,
+     Mrs. Minor attempted to register in order to vote at the national
+     election in November, 1872, and being refused on account of her
+     sex, brought the matter before the courts in the shape of a suit
+     against the registering officer.[386] The point was decided
+     adversely to her in all the courts, being finally reported in
+     Vol. 21 of Wallace's U. S. Supreme Court Reports. The importance
+     of this decision cannot be over-estimated. It affects every
+     citizen of the United States, male as well as female, if, as
+     there pronounced, the United States has no voters of its own
+     creation. The Dred-Scott decision is insignificant in comparison.
+     Mrs. Minor made the following points in her petition:
+
+          1. As a _citizen_ of the United States, the plaintiff is
+          entitled to any and all the "privileges and immunities" that
+          belong to such position however defined; and as are held,
+          exercised and enjoyed by other citizens of the United
+          States.
+
+          2. The elective franchise is a "privilege" of citizenship,
+          in the highest sense of the word. It is the privilege
+          preservative of all rights and privileges; and especially of
+          the right of the citizen to participate in his or her
+          government.
+
+          3. The denial or abridgment of this privilege, if it exist
+          at all, must be sought only in the fundamental charter of
+          government--the Constitution of the United States. If not
+          found there, no inferior power or jurisdiction can legally
+          claim the right to exercise it.
+
+          4. But the Constitution of the United States, so far from
+          recognizing or permitting any denial or abridgment of the
+          privileges of citizens, expressly declares that "no State
+          shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
+          privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."
+
+          5. It follows that the provisions of the Missouri
+          constitution and registry law before recited are in conflict
+          with, and must yield to the paramount authority of, the
+          Constitution of the United States.
+
+     At a mass meeting held in St. Louis January 25, 1875, a
+     committee[387] was appointed to prepare an address to the people
+     of the State, setting forth the necessity of such action by the
+     constitutional convention, soon to assemble, as would insure to
+     all citizens the right of choice in their lawmakers and in the
+     officers whose duty it should be to execute the laws. The address
+     was prepared and widely circulated over the State. In June, the
+     convention being in session at Jefferson, Mrs. Minor, Miss
+     Couzins, and Mrs. Dickinson went to the capitol and were granted
+     a gracious hearing, but no action was conceded.
+
+     In May, 1879, the National Woman Suffrage Association held its
+     annual meeting at St. Louis, holding its session through the day,
+     morning, afternoon and evening, and so much interest was aroused
+     that on May 13 a local society was organized under the head of
+     the National Woman Suffrage Association for St. Louis,[388] with
+     Mrs. Minor president, which has continued to do most efficient
+     service to the present. During the summer of 1879, Mrs. Minor
+     refused to pay the tax assessed against her:
+
+                                   ST. LOUIS, MO., August 26, 1879.
+
+          Hon. DAVID POWERS, _President Board of Assessors_: I
+          honestly believe and conscientiously make oath that I have
+          not one dollars' worth of property subject to taxation. The
+          principle upon which this government rests is representation
+          before taxation. My property is denied representation, and
+          therefore can not be taxable. The law which you quote as
+          applicable to me in your notice to make my tax return is in
+          direct conflict with section 30 of the bill of rights of the
+          constitution of the State which declares, "No person shall
+          be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due
+          process of law," And that surely cannot be due process of
+          law wherein one of the parties only is law-maker, judge,
+          jury and executioner, and the other stands silenced, denied
+          the power either of assent or dissent, a condition of
+          "involuntary slavery" so clearly prohibited in section 31 of
+          the same article, as well as in the Constitution of the
+          United States, that no legislation or judicial prejudice can
+          ignore it. I trust you will believe it is from no disrespect
+          to you that I continue to refuse to become a party to this
+          injustice by making a return of property to your honorable
+          body, as clearly the duties of a citizen can only be exacted
+          where rights and privileges are equally accorded.
+
+                                   Respectfully,     VIRGINIA L. MINOR.
+
+     Again, in February, 1881, Mrs. Minor made an able argument before
+     the legislative committee on constitutional amendments in support
+     of the petition for the enfranchisement of the women of the
+     State. Her pivotal point was, "By whatever tenure you, as
+     one-half of the people, hold it, we, the other half, claim it by
+     the same." And again in December of the same year at a meeting of
+     the Knights and Ladies of the Father Matthew Debating Club, at
+     which the subject was, "Is the woman's rights movement to be
+     encouraged?" Patrick Long, Daniel O'Connel Tracy, Richard D.
+     Kerwen, spoke in the affirmative; several gentlemen and two
+     ladies in opposition, when Mrs. Minor, who was in the audience,
+     was called out amid great applause, to which she responded in an
+     able speech, showing that the best temperance weapon in the hands
+     of woman is the ballot.
+
+Of the initial steps taken for the elevation of women in the little
+village of Oregon, Mrs. Annie R. Irvine writes:
+
+     The Woman's Union, an independent literary club, designed to
+     improve the mental, moral, and physical condition of women, held
+     its first meeting in Oregon, Holt county, on the evening of
+     January 6, 1872, at the residence of Dr. Asher Goslin. Temporary
+     officers were elected, and a committee appointed to prepare
+     by-laws for the government of the club. Six ladies[389] were
+     present. The succeeding meetings grew in interest, and took
+     strong hold upon the minds of all classes, from the fact that
+     hitherto no outlet had been found for the energies of our women
+     outside the circle of home and church. During the first two years
+     of its existence, the Woman's Union had to bear in a small way,
+     many of the sneers and taunts attending more pretentious
+     organizations, but luckily, when the novelty wore off, we were
+     allowed to pursue the quiet tenor of our way, with an occasional
+     slur at the "strong-minded" tendency of the organization. During
+     nearly fourteen years we have held regular meetings in a hall
+     rented for the purpose, and paid for by earnings of the society.
+     An excellent organ is owned by the club; they have a library of
+     several hundred volumes, book-cases, carpet, curtains, pictures,
+     tables, chairs, stove, etc., and the members take great pride in
+     their cosy headquarters. At this writing, interesting meetings
+     are held on each Wednesday evening at the homes of the different
+     members of the society.[390] In the course of so long a time,
+     this organization has had many changes. Members have removed to
+     all parts of the United States, and many similar clubs elsewhere
+     trace their origin to our society.
+
+     Several years ago an open letter from here to "Woman's Kingdom,"
+     in the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_ called attention to our plan of work
+     for small towns; as a result fifteen similar Unions were
+     organized, some of them still flourishing. In northwest Missouri
+     the same kind of clubs were formed in Maryville, Nodaway county,
+     and Savannah, Andrew county, but neither of them became
+     permanent. In the course of twelve years many of the best
+     speakers on the American platform have addressed Oregon
+     audiences, brought here by the determined efforts of a few women.
+     To-day, public opinion in this part of Missouri is in advance of
+     other sections on all questions relating to the great interests
+     of humanity. In March, 1879, a call signed by prominent
+     citizens[391] brought together a large assembly of men and women
+     in the court-house. An address in favor of woman suffrage was
+     delivered by Rev. John Wayman of the M. E. Church of St. Joseph.
+     Mr. James L. Allen acted as chairman of the meeting, and a
+     society was then organized, to bear the name of the Holt County
+     Woman Suffrage Society. At the National Woman Suffrage Convention
+     held at St. Louis later in the same year, Jas. L. Allen acted as
+     delegate from this association and reported our progress. The
+     best organized woman's society in the State is probably the
+     Women's Christian Temperance Union. In its different departments,
+     although hampered by too much theological red tape, it is
+     reaching thousands of ignorant, prejudiced, good sectarian women
+     who would expect the "heavens to fall" if they accidentally got
+     into a meeting where "woman's rights" was mentioned even in a
+     whisper. Mrs. Clara Hoffman, of Kansas City, is State president,
+     and a woman of great force. She, as well as other leading lights
+     in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, is strongly advocating
+     woman suffrage as a _sine qua non_ in the temperance work. The
+     women of this part of the State have been given quite a prominent
+     place among organizations mentioned in a late "History of
+     Missouri, by Counties." The Woman's Union has taken the place of
+     honor.[392] From the very outset we have had the most bitter and
+     persistent opposition from the churches, more particularly the
+     Presbyterian, although some of our most capable members were of
+     that faith. Exceptions should be made in favor of the Christian,
+     or Campbellite, and as a general thing, the M. E. churches. The
+     greatest shock we have had to resist, however, came a few months
+     since in the shape of a division among our own members, and has
+     really discouraged the more independent among us more than
+     anything else. The W. C. T. U. sent their Mascatine organizer
+     here, to wake up the women in the interests of the State society.
+     Although ignorant and prejudiced, he created a fanatical
+     stampede, and in the goodness of their hearts and the weakness of
+     their heads, our church women in the Woman's Union proposed to
+     give to the three temperance clubs, numbering perhaps 150, the
+     free use of our rooms and property, and suspend our own club,
+     claiming that our mission was ended, and that a field of greater
+     usefulness was opened in the W. C. T. U. line of work. The
+     liberal element refused to abandon the old organization, although
+     many joined in the W. C. T. U. work and attended both clubs.
+
+     However, in a small community, where the consciences of many good
+     women are not free, we have met with serious drawbacks. We have
+     had to submit to a sort of boycotting process, for some time, the
+     orthodox, goody-goody people evidently trying to freeze us out;
+     although I must claim that nearly every member of the Woman's
+     Union is strongly interested in the temperance cause, and as the
+     different departments in the W. C. T. U. fail to cover the ground
+     we occupy, quite a respectable number seem determined to hold on
+     in their own way, trying little by little to better the condition
+     of all, and particularly to increase and strengthen the feeble
+     germ of independent thought in women, so often smothered and
+     destroyed by too much theology. What we need for women is not
+     more spirituality but more hard common-sense, applied to reform
+     as well as religion. One thing connected with our organization is
+     a matter of pride to all women, namely, that no pecuniary
+     obligation has ever been repudiated by the Woman's Union. Besides
+     paying our debts we have given hundreds of dollars to works of
+     charity and education, and keep a standing fund of $100, to be
+     used in case of emergency, when, as often happens, we fail to
+     make expenses on lectures, entertainments, etc. It would not be
+     claiming too much if the Woman's Union of Oregon was to go upon
+     the historic page as the only free, independent woman's club ever
+     successfully carried on for any length of time, in the great
+     State of Missouri.[393]
+
+Missouri has always felt a becoming pride in the gifted daughter,
+Miss Phoebe Couzins, who was the first woman to enter the law
+school, go through the entire course, and graduate with honor to
+herself and her native State. Hence, a reception to her, to mark
+such an event, was preeminently fitting. This compliment was paid
+to her by Dr. and Mrs. G. A. Walker, and a large gathering of the
+elite of St. Louis honored her with their presence.[394] The
+drawing-rooms were festooned with garlands of evergreens and
+brilliant forest leaves and hanging-baskets of roses; the bountiful
+tables were elaborately decorated with fruits and flowers and
+statuettes, while pictures of distinguished women looked down from
+the wall on every side. After the feast came letters, toasts and
+speeches, a brilliant address of welcome was given by Dr. Walker,
+and an equally brilliant reply by Miss Couzins. Witty and
+complimentary speeches were made by Judge Krum, Hon. Albert Todd,
+Mrs. Francis Minor, ex-Governor Stanard, Judge Reber, Professor
+Riley, I. E. Meeker, Mrs. Henrietta Noa. Congratulatory letters
+were received from several ladies and gentlemen of national
+reputation, and the following regrets:
+
+     Rev. W. G. Eliot, chancellor of the University, with "compliments
+     and thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Walker. I regret that engagements this
+     evening prevent me from enjoying the pleasure of meeting Miss
+     Couzins and welcoming her to her new and well-deserved honors, as
+     I had expected to do until an hour ago."
+
+     James E. Yeatman sent regrets accompanied with "his warmest
+     congratulations to Miss Couzins, with best wishes for her success
+     in the noble profession of the law."
+
+     George Partridge regrets, "hoping every encouragement will be
+     given to those who aspire to high honors by their intellectual
+     and moral attainments."
+
+     General J. H. Hammond, Kansas City, Mo.: "I would feel honored in
+     being allowed the privilege of congratulating this lady who so
+     practically honors her sex."
+
+In addition to the many congratulations showered upon Miss Couzins,
+she was the recipient of testimonials of a more enduring and
+equally flattering character. Among many valuable presents were
+twelve volumes of Edmund Burke from Miss A. L. Forbes, who wished
+to testify her appreciation of the event by deeds rather than
+words. Mrs. E. O. Stanard presented a handsomely-bound set of
+"Erskine's Speeches," in five volumes.
+
+There were other gifts of great intrinsic worth. These tokens of
+regard were sent from admiring friends scattered all over the
+country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
+
+Although Miss Couzins has never practiced in her chosen profession,
+yet the knowledge and discipline acquired in the study of our
+American system of jurisprudence and constitutional law have been
+of essential service to her in the prolonged arguments on the
+enfranchisement of woman, in which she has so ably and eloquently
+advocated the case of the great plaintiff of the nineteenth
+century, in that famous law-suit begun by Margaret Fuller in 1840,
+"Woman versus Man." Our junior advocate has taken the case into the
+highest courts and made her appeals to a jury of the sovereign
+people and "the judgment of a candid world." On all principles of
+precedent and importance our case now stands first on the calendar.
+When will the verdict be rendered and what will it be?
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[377] Among them were Isaac H. Sturgeon, Francis Minor, James E.
+Yeatman, Judge John M. Krum, Judge Arnold Krekel, Hon. Thomas Noel,
+Ernest Decker, Dr. G. A. Walker, John E. Orrick, J. B. Roberts,
+Rev. G. W. Eliot, Bishop Bowman, Albert Todd, Rev. John Snyder,
+John Datro, J. B. Case, H. E. Merille, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, Mrs.
+Rebecca N. Hazard, Mrs. Adeline Couzins, Miss Phoebe Couzins, Mrs.
+Beverly Allen, Miss Mary Beedy, Miss Arathusa Forbes, Mrs. Isaac
+Sturgeon, Mrs. Hall, and many others.
+
+[378] _President_, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor; _Vice-President_, Mrs.
+Beverly Allen; _Secretaries_, Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, and Mrs.
+George D. Hall; _Treasurer_, Mrs. George W. Banker. There were
+present, besides the officers, Mrs. Anna L. Clapp, Miss Penelope
+Allen, Mrs. Frank Fletcher, Miss Arathusia L. Forbes, Mrs. Nannie
+C. Sturgeon, Mrs. Harriet B. Roberts, Mrs. N. Stevens, Mrs. Joseph
+Hodgman, Miss A. Greenman, etc. Among the men who aided the
+movement were Francis Minor, Isaac W. Sturgeon, James E. Yeatman,
+Judge John M. Krum, Judge Arnold Krekel, Hon. Thomas Noel, who gave
+the society its first twenty-five dollars, Ernest Decker, Dr. G.A.
+Walker, John C. O'Neill, J.B. Roberts, Wayman Crow, Rev. Dr. Wm. G.
+Eliot, Bishop Bowman, Albert Todd, Rev. John Snyder, John Datro,
+J.B. Case, H.C. Leville.
+
+[379] The following we find in the St. Louis papers. It is
+significant of the sentiment of the Methodist women of the West:
+"We, the undersigned, join in a call for a mass-meeting of the M.E.
+Church in St. Louis, to meet at Union Church on the 15th inst., at
+3 o'clock P.M., to consider a plan for memorializing the General
+Conference to permit the ordination of women as ministers. All
+women of the M.E. Church are requested to attend. Mrs. Henry
+Kennedy, Mrs. T.C. Fletcher, Mrs. E.O. Stanard, Mrs. A.C. George,
+Mrs. Lucy Prescott, Mrs. U.B. Wilson, Mrs. L. Jones, Mrs. E.L.
+Case, Mrs. W.F. Brink, Mrs. S.C. Cummins, Mrs. R.N. Hazard, Mrs.
+Dutro, Mrs. M.H. Himebaugh." The result of this meeting of the
+ladies of the Methodist churches to discuss a plan for admitting
+women into the pulpit as preachers was the appointment of a
+committee to draft a memorial to the General Conference to meet at
+Brooklyn, N.Y., asking that body to sanction and provide for the
+ordination of women as ministers of the Methodist Church.
+
+[380] On the platform were Julia Ward Howe, Massachusetts; Lillie
+Peckham, Wisconsin; Miriam M. Cole, Ohio; Mary A. Livermore, Hon.
+Sharon Tyndale, Judge Waite and Rev. Mr. Harrison, Illinois; Susan
+B. Anthony, New York. The officers of the Woman Suffrage
+Association of Missouri: _President_, Mrs. Francis Minor:
+_Vice-President_, Mrs. Beverly Allen: _Secretary_, Mrs. William T.
+Hazard: _Treasurer_, Mrs. George B. Hall; Miss Mary Beady, Miss
+Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. E. Tittman, Mrs. Alfred Clapp, Miss A. L.
+Forbes, Isaac H. Sturgeon, Mrs. J. C. Orrick, Mrs. R. J. Lackland,
+Francis Minor, and many others.
+
+[381] For speech and resolutions, see Vol. II., page 408.
+
+[382] Dissension and division were the effect in every State,
+except where the associations wisely remained independent and all
+continued to work together, and the forces otherwise expended in
+rivalry were directed against the common enemy.
+
+[383] For this speech of B. Gratz Brown see Vol. II., page 136.
+
+[384] For full account of Miss Barkaloo see New York chapter, page
+404.
+
+[385] Besides those already named, there are many other women
+worthy of mention--Mrs. Hannah Stagg, Mrs. George H. Rha, Mrs. S.
+F. Gruff, Miss N. M. Lavelle, Mrs. Helen E. Starrett, Mrs. A. E.
+Dickinson, Mrs. E. R. Case, Miss S. Sharman, Mrs. Mary S. Phelps,
+Miss Mary E. Beedy, Mrs. Fanny O'Haly, Mrs. J. C. Orrick, Miss
+Henrietta Moore, Mrs. Stephen Ridgeley, Mrs. M. E. Bedford, Mrs. M.
+Jackson; and among our German friends are Mrs. Rosa Tittman, Mrs.
+Dr. Fiala, Mrs. Lena Hildebrand, Mrs. G. G. Fenkelnberg, Mrs.
+Rombauer, Miss Lidergerber.
+
+[386] For a full report of Mrs. Minor's trial, see History of Woman
+Suffrage, Vol. II., page 715.
+
+[387] The committee were: J. B. Merwin, Virginia L. Minor, John
+Snyder, Lydia F. Dickinson, Maria E. F. Jackson.
+
+[388] The officers were: _President_, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor;
+_Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Eliza J. Patrick, Mrs. Caroline J. Todd,
+Miss Phoebe W. Couzins; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. E. P. Johnson,
+Mrs. W. W. Polk; _Secretary_, Miss Eliza B. Buckley; _Treasurer_,
+Miss Maggie Baumgartner.
+
+[389] They were, Mrs. S. L. Goslin, Mis. A. E. Goslin, Mrs. M. M.
+Soper, Annie E. Batcheller, Mary Curry, Annie R. Irvine.
+
+[390] _President_, Emma G. Dobyns; _Vice-President_, Kate Evans
+Thatcher; _Secretary_, Matilda C. Shutts; _Treasurer_, Lucy S.
+Rancher; _Corresponding Secretary_, Annie R. Irvine.
+
+[391] Believing that the best interests of society, as well as
+government, would be best served by admitting all citizens to the
+full rights of citizenship, we, the undersigned, hereby give notice
+that a meeting will be held at the court-house, Oregon, on
+Saturday, March 1, 1879, at 2 p. m., for the purpose of organizing
+a Woman Suffrage Association. Those interested are urged to attend.
+Clarke Irvine, C. W. Lukens, James L. Allen, S. B. Lukens, Samuel
+Stuckey, Sudia Johnson, D. J. Lukens, Elvira Broedbeck, Mary Curry,
+Jas. B. Curry, Annie R. Irvine.
+
+[392] In 1875 I made my first visit to Oregon, and remember my
+surprise at meeting so large a circle of bright, intelligent women.
+After taking an old stage at Travesty city, and lumbering along two
+miles or more over bad roads on a dull day in March into a very
+unpropitious looking town, my heart sank at the prospect of the
+small audience I should inevitably have in such a spot. Wondering
+as to the character of the people I should find, we jolted round
+the town to the home of the editor and his charming wife, Mrs. Lucy
+S. Rancher. Their cordial welcome and generous hospitalities soon
+made the old stage, the rough roads, and the dull town but dim
+memories of the past. One after another the members of the Union
+club came to greet me, and I saw in that organization of strong,
+noble women, wisdom enough to redeem the whole State of Missouri
+from its apathy on the question of woman's rights. One of the
+promising features of the efforts of the immortal six women who
+took the initiative, was the full sympathy shown by their husbands
+in their attempts to improve themselves and the community. Miss
+Couzins and Miss Anthony soon followed me, and were alike surprised
+and delighted with the Literary Club of Oregon. I was there again
+in '77, and was entertained by Mrs. R. A. Norman, now living in St.
+Joseph, and in '79, I stayed in a large, old-fashioned brick house
+near the public square with Mrs. Montgomery, then "fat, fair and
+forty," and all three visits, with the teas and dinners at the
+homes of different members of the club, I thoroughly enjoyed.--[E.
+C. S.
+
+[393] Among progressive women in this part of Missouri, Mrs. Adela
+M. Kelly, of Savannah, wife of Circuit Judge Henry S. Kelly, is
+prominent; in Mound City, Mrs. Emma K. Hershberger, Mrs. Mary L.
+Mamcher, Mrs. Mary C. Tracy, Mrs. Fanny Smith, and others, are
+leading women, and were once residents here, and members of the
+Woman's Union. Among those actively interested here now, I shall
+only mention a few, Mrs. Nancy Hershberger, Mary Curry, Elvira
+Broedbeck, Lucy A. Christian, Ella O. Fallon, Mary Stirrell, and
+many others.
+
+[394] Among those present were the following ladies and gentlemen:
+Dr. and Mrs. Walker, Phoebe Couzins, esq., Hon. and Mrs. John B.
+Henderson, Gov. and Mrs. E. O. Stanard, Mr. and Mrs. Chester H.
+Krum, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Minor, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Patrick, Major
+and Mrs. J. E. D. Couzins, Major and Mrs. J. R. Meeker, Major and
+Mrs. W. S. Pope, Mr. and Mrs. Lippmann, Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Noa,
+Miss Noa, Miss A. L. Forbes, Judge Krum, Judge Reber, Judge Todd,
+Geo. M. Stuart (dean), Prof. Riley, State Entomologist; Prof.
+Hager, State Geologist; J. R. Stuart, artist, and others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+IOWA.
+
+     Beautiful Scenery--Liberal in Politics and Reforms--Legislation
+     for Women--No Right yet to Joint Earnings--Early
+     Agitation--Frances Dana Gage, 1854--Mrs. Bloomer Before the
+     Territorial Legislature, 1856--Mrs. Martha H. Brinkerhoff--Mrs.
+     Annie Savery, 1868--County Associations Formed in 1869--State
+     Society Organized at Mt. Pleasant, 1870, Henry O'Connor,
+     President--Mrs. Cutler Answers Judge Palmer--First Annual
+     Meeting, Des Moines--Letter from Bishop Simpson--The State
+     Register Complimentary--Mass-Meeting at the Capitol--Mrs. Savery
+     and Mrs. Harbert--Legislative Action--Methodist and Universalist
+     Churches Indorse Woman Suffrage--Republican Plank, 1874--Governor
+     Carpenter's Message, 1876--Annual Meeting, 1882, Many Clergymen
+     Present--Five Hundred Editors Interviewed--Miss Hindman and Mrs.
+     Campbell--Mrs. Callanan Interviews Governor Sherman,
+     1884--Lawyers--Governor Kirkwood Appoints Women to Office--County
+     Superintendents--Elizabeth S. Cook--Journalism--Literature--
+     Medicine--Ministry--Inventions--President of a National Bank--
+     The Heroic Kate Shelly--Temperance--Improvement in the Laws.
+
+
+The euphonious Indian name, Iowa, signifying "the beautiful land,"
+is peculiarly appropriate to those gently undulating prairies,
+decorated in the season of flowers with a brilliant garniture of
+honey-suckles, jassamines, wild roses and violets, watered with a
+chain of picturesque lakes and rivers, chasing each other into the
+bosom of the boundless Mississippi. The motto on the great seal of
+the State, "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will
+maintain," is the key-note to the successive struggles made there
+to build up a community of moral, virtuous, intelligent people,
+securing justice, liberty and equality to all. Iowa has been the
+State to give large Republican majorities; to prohibit the
+manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors by a constitutional
+amendment; and to present propositions before her legislature for
+eight successive sessions to give the right of suffrage to woman.
+In the article on Iowa, in the American Cyclopaedia, the writer
+says: "No distinction is made in law between the husband and the
+wife in regard to property. One-third in value of all the real
+estate of either, upon the death of the other, goes to the survivor
+in fee simple. Neither is liable for the separate debts of the
+other. The wife may make contracts and incur liabilities which may
+be enforced by or against her in the same manner as if she was
+unmarried; and so a married woman may sue and be sued without the
+husband being joined in the action." Many women living in Iowa
+often quote these laws with pride, showing the liberality of their
+rulers as far as they go. But in new countries the number of women
+that inherit property is very small compared to the number that
+work all their days to help pay for their humble homes. It is in
+the right to these joint earnings where the wife is most cruelly
+defrauded, because the mother of a large family, who washes, irons,
+cooks, bakes, patches and darns, takes care of the children, labors
+from early dawn to midnight in her own home, is not supposed to
+earn anything, hence owns nothing, and all the labors of a long
+life, the results of her thrift and economy, belong absolutely to
+the husband, so that when he dies they call it liberality for the
+husband to make his partner an heir, and give her one-third of
+their joint earnings.
+
+For this chapter we are indebted to Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, who moved
+into this State from New York in the spring of 1855 with her
+husband, who commenced the practice of law in Council Bluffs, where
+they have resided ever since. Mrs. Bloomer had been the editor for
+several years of a weekly paper called the _Lily_, which advocated
+both temperance and woman's rights, and for the six years of its
+publication was of inestimable value alike to both reforms. She was
+one of the earliest champions of the woman's rights movement, and
+as writer, editor and lecturer, did much to forward the cause in
+its infancy.[395]
+
+     The first agitation of the question of woman suffrage in Iowa was
+     in the summer of 1854, when Frances Dana Gage of Ohio gave a
+     series of lectures in the southeastern section of the State on
+     temperance and woman's rights. Letters written to _Lily_ at the
+     time show that large audiences congregated to see and hear a
+     woman publicly proclaiming the wrongs of her sex, and demanding
+     equal rights before the law. During the year 1855 the writer gave
+     several lectures at Council Bluffs, and in January, 1856, by
+     invitation, addressed the second territorial legislature of
+     Nebraska, in Representative Hall, Omaha; and in the year
+     following lectured in Council Bluffs, Omaha, Nebraska City,
+     Glenwood and other towns.
+
+     In 1868 Mrs. Martha H. Brinkerhoff made a very successful
+     lecture-tour through the northern counties of Iowa. She roused
+     great interest and organized many societies, canvassing meanwhile
+     for subscribers to _The Revolution_. In the same year Mrs. Annie
+     C. Savery gave a lecture for the benefit of a blind editor at Des
+     Moines. In February, 1870, by invitation, she responded to a
+     toast at a Masonic festival in that city; and during that and the
+     year following she lectured in several places on woman suffrage,
+     and wrote many able articles for the press.
+
+     On April 17, 1869, the "Northern Woman Suffrage Association" was
+     organized at Dubuque.[396] This was the first society in Iowa,
+     though about the same time others were being organized in
+     different localities. J. L. McCreery, in his editorial position,
+     advocated the enfranchisement of woman, and wrote an able paper
+     in favor of the object of the organization. Mrs. Mary N. Adams
+     opened a correspondence with friends of the movement in other
+     parts of the State; Henry O'Connor, Mary A. Livermore and others
+     lectured before the society, thus educating the people into a
+     better understanding of woman's rights and needs. Mrs. Adams not
+     only addressed the home society, but gave lectures before lyceums
+     and educational institutions.
+
+     Des Moines has always maintained the most successful organization
+     having a band of earnest women enlisted in the work, and being
+     the capital of the State, where every opportunity was afforded to
+     facilitate their efforts. The liberality of the press, too, aided
+     vastly in moulding public sentiment in favor of the cause. About
+     the earliest work done in that city was in June, 1870, when
+     Hannah Tracy Cutler and Amelia Bloomer (immediately on returning
+     from the formation of the State Society at Mt. Pleasant) held two
+     meetings there--one in the open air on the grounds where the new
+     capitol now stands, on the question of temperance, Sunday
+     afternoon, presided over by Governor Merrill; the other in the
+     Baptist Church, on woman suffrage, the following evening, Mrs.
+     Annie C. Savery presiding.
+
+     The Polk County Woman Suffrage Society was formed October 25, and
+     has never failed to hold its meetings regularly each month since
+     that time. Every congress and every legislature have been
+     appealed to by petitions signed by thousands of the best
+     citizens, and it is on record that the senators and
+     representatives of Polk county, with one exception,[397] have
+     always voted in favor of submitting the question of woman's
+     enfranchisement to the electors of the State. When men are talked
+     of for legislative honors they are interviewed by a committee
+     from the society, and pledges secured that they will vote "aye"
+     on any woman suffrage bill that may come before them.
+
+     This society has from time to time engaged the services of
+     prominent lecturers,[398] and nearly all of the ministers and
+     lawyers of the city have given addresses in favor of the cause.
+     Only one minister has openly and bitterly opposed the measure,
+     and his sermon on the "Subordination of Woman," published in the
+     _Register_, called out spirited replies from Mrs. Savery and Mrs.
+     Bloomer in the same journal, which completely demolished the
+     flimsy fancies of the gentleman.
+
+     About 1874 Mrs. Maria Orwig edited a column in the _Record_, and
+     Mary A. Work a column in the _Republican_. Since 1880, Mesdames
+     Hunter, Orwig, Woods and Work have filled two columns in _The
+     Prohibitionist_, of which Laura A. Berry is one of the editors.
+     Mrs. M. J. Coggeshall has for several years served the society as
+     reporter for the _Register_, proving herself a very ready and
+     interesting writer. All of these ladies are efficient and
+     untiring in whatever pertains to woman's interest.[399] The
+     _Register_ says:
+
+          The field of labor in Des Moines is pretty well occupied by
+          the ladies. You will find them at the desks in the county
+          and United States court-houses, in the pension office, in
+          the insurance office, in the State offices, behind the
+          counters in stores, in attorneys' offices--and there is one
+          woman who assists her husband at the blacksmith's trade, and
+          she can strike as hard a blow with a sledge as the brawniest
+          workman in the shop.
+
+     In the autumn of 1870 a society was organized at Burlington, with
+     fifty members. One of the earliest advocates of the cause in this
+     place was Mary A. P. Darwin, president of the association, who
+     lectured through the southern tier of counties during the summer
+     of 1870. She was an earnest and forcible speaker.
+
+     At Oskaloosa the opening work was done in 1854 by Frances D.
+     Gage, who gave four lectures there, and roused the people to
+     thought and discussion. Mattie Griffith Davenport has long filled
+     a prominent place in the woman suffrage movement in that city.
+     She commenced lecturing in 1868, and during that and the two
+     succeeding years traveled over much of the State, speaking upon
+     temperance and woman's rights. During 1879 she edited a column of
+     the Davenport _News_ in the interest of suffrage. In the summer
+     of 1870 Mrs. Cutler and Mrs. Bloomer held two meetings in
+     Oskaloosa, in one of which a gentleman engaged in the
+     discussions, and as is usual in such encounters, the women having
+     right and justice on their side, came out the victors; at least
+     so said the listeners. Following this a Woman's Suffrage Society
+     was organized.[400] Many prominent speakers lectured here in
+     turn, and helped to keep up the interest.
+
+     Council Bluffs also organized a society[401] in 1870, holding
+     frequent meetings and sociables. There is here a large element in
+     favor of the ballot for woman; and though we are unfortunate in
+     not having an advocate in the press, still Council Bluffs will
+     give a good report of itself when the question of woman's
+     enfranchisement shall come before the electors for action. The
+     trustees of the public library of this city are women; the
+     librarian is a woman: the post-office is in the hands of a woman;
+     the teachers in the public schools, with one or two exceptions,
+     are women; the principal of the high school is a woman; and a
+     large number of the clerks in the dry goods stores are women.
+     Miss Ingelletta Smith received the nomination of the Republican
+     party for school superintendent in the fall of 1881, but was
+     defeated by her Democratic competitor.
+
+     Marshalltown had a suffrage organization as early as July,
+     1870.[402] Nettie Sanford lectured in several of the central
+     counties of the State during that and the previous year.
+     Josephine Guthrie, professor of Belles-Lettres at Le Grand
+     College, in a series of able articles in the Marshalltown _Times_
+     in 1869, claimed for women equality of rights before the law. In
+     1873, Aubie Gifford, a woman of high culture and an experienced
+     teacher, was elected to the office of county superintendent of
+     the public schools of Marshall county, by a handsome majority;
+     she was reelected, serving, in all, four years.
+
+     At Algona a society[403] was formed in 1871. At the annual
+     meeting of the State Society at Des Moines, in 1873, Lizzie B.
+     Read delivered an address entitled, "Coming Up Out of the
+     Wilderness," and in July, 1875, at a mass-meeting at Clear Lake,
+     one on "The Bible in Favor of Woman Suffrage." Mrs. Read,
+     formerly as Miss Bunnel, published a paper called the
+     _Mayflower_, at Peru, Indiana, and in 1865 a county paper in this
+     State called the _Upper Des Moines_.
+
+     Since 1875 Jackson county has had an efficient Equal Rights
+     Society.[404] On July 4, 1876, Nancy R. Allen, at the general
+     celebration at Maquoketa, the county-seat, read the "Protest and
+     Declaration of Rights," issued by the National Association from
+     its Centennial Parlors in Philadelphia. It was well received by
+     the majority of the people assembled; but, as usual, there were
+     some objectors. The Presbyterian minister published a series of
+     articles in the _Sentinel_, to each of which Mrs. Allen replied
+     ably defending the principles of the Woman Suffrage party. The
+     Maquoketa Equal Rights Society celebrated the thirtieth
+     anniversary of the woman's rights movement July 19, 1878, by
+     holding a public meeting in Dr. Allen's grounds, in the shade of
+     the grand old trees. It was a large gathering, and many prominent
+     gentlemen of the city, by their presence and words of cheer, gave
+     dignity to the occasion. Jackson county has long honored women
+     with positions of trust. The deputy recorder is a woman; Mrs.
+     Allen was notary public; Mrs. Patton was nominated for auditor by
+     the Greenback party in 1880, but was defeated with the rest of
+     the ticket. Women are book-keepers, merchants, clerks, teachers;
+     and, in fact, almost every avenue is open to them.
+
+     Of Fort Dodge, Mrs. Haviland writes: "The subject has never been
+     much agitated here. I have stood almost alone these long years,
+     watching the work done by my sisters in other parts of the State,
+     and hoping the time would soon come when some move could be made
+     in this place. Last spring the annual meeting of our State
+     Society was held here, but it was with difficulty that I found
+     places where the few who came could be entertained, people were
+     so afraid of woman's rights. After the refusal of the other
+     churches, the Baptists opened theirs; the crowd of curious ones
+     looked on and seemed surprised when they failed to discover the
+     'horns.'" Mrs. A.M. Swain also writes: "Miss Anthony came here
+     first in June, 1871, and has been here twice since. Mrs.
+     Swisshelm was here in 1874. Both were my guests when no other
+     doors were open to the advocates of woman suffrage. The late
+     convention of the State Society held here was a decided success;
+     the best class of ladies attended; the dignity and ability shown
+     in the management, and the many interesting and logical papers
+     read disarmed all criticism and awakened genuine interest. I have
+     handed in my ballot for several years, but it has never been
+     received or counted."
+
+     Societies were organized in 1869 and 1870, in Independence and
+     Monticello. Humboldt, Nevada, West Union, Corning, Osceola,
+     Muscatine, Sigourney, Garden Grove, Decorah, Hamburg, and scores
+     of other towns have their local societies. At West Liberty Mrs.
+     Mary V. Cowgill and her good husband are liberal contributors to
+     the work, both State and National.
+
+     At a convention held at Mt. Pleasant, June 17, 18, 1870,
+     different sections of the State being well represented, the Iowa
+     Woman Suffrage Society[405] was formed. Belle Mansfield,
+     president, Frank Hatton,[406] editor of the Mt. Pleasant
+     _Journal_, secretary. W.R. Cole opened the convention with
+     prayer. After many able addresses from various speakers,[407] in
+     response to an invitation from the president, Judge Palmer in a
+     somewhat excited manner stated his objections to woman's voting.
+     He wanted some guarantee that good would result from giving her
+     the ballot. He thought "she did not understand driving, and would
+     upset the sleigh. Men had always rowed the boat, and therefore
+     always should. Men had more force and muscle than women, and
+     therefore should have all the power in their hands." He spoke of
+     himself as the guardian of his wife, and said she did not want to
+     vote. After talking an hour in this style, he took his seat,
+     greatly to the relief of his hearers. Mrs. Cutler, in her calm,
+     dignified, deliberate manner, answered his arguments. She proved
+     conclusively that muscular force was not the power most needed in
+     our government. If it were, all the little, weak men and women,
+     no matter how intellectual must stand aside, and let only the
+     strong, muscular do the voting and governing. In clearness of
+     perception, and readiness of debate, she distanced her opponent
+     altogether in the opinion of the convention.
+
+     The first annual meeting of the State Society was held at Des
+     Moines, October 19, 1871. Mrs. Bloomer presided[408] in the
+     absence of the president, Gen. O'Connor. Speakers had been
+     engaged for this convention, a good representation secured, and
+     every arrangement made for a successful meeting. And such it was,
+     barring a difference of opinion among the friends of the movement
+     as to what questions should properly come before a society whose
+     only object, as declared in its constitution, was to secure
+     suffrage for women. The following letters were received:
+
+                                   IOWA CITY, October 11, 1871.
+
+          Mrs. ANNIE SAVERY--_Dear Madam_: Your kind and very
+          flattering invitation to address the Woman's State Suffrage
+          Convention, in Des Moines, reached me just prior to my
+          departure for this city, and I avail myself of my first
+          leisure to respond. It would not only give me great
+          pleasure, but I should esteem it among my higher duties to
+          accept your invitation, and give my emphatic endorsement to
+          the great reform movement represented by the woman suffrage
+          convention, were it at all practicable. But I have just
+          reached my new charge, and can not dispose of immediate
+          pressing claims upon my time and effort here. Please accept
+          my apology for declining, and believe me, ever yours for
+          woman's enfranchisement.
+
+                                             C. R. POMEROY.
+
+
+                                       INDIANOLA, Sept. 30, 1871.
+
+          Mrs. ANNIE SAVERY--_Madam_: I am in receipt of your letter,
+          asking me to take part in your annual convention. I thank
+          you for the honor, as I expect from such a convention
+          results the most salutary, not only to the condition of
+          woman, but also to the progress of our young and vigorous
+          commonwealth. I have read carefully the circular enclosed in
+          your letter, and consider the logic irrefutable, and its
+          suggestions well worthy the attention of all who desire the
+          complete enfranchisement of woman. I fear that I shall not
+          be able to attend, but if I am, I shall be with you, should
+          I do no more than say "Amen" to the words of my eloquent
+          countryman, O'Connor, whom I learn you have honored with the
+          presidency of your association. Wishing for your cause the
+          fullest success, I subscribe myself--one for the
+          enfranchisement of woman.
+
+                                             ALEXANDER BURNS.
+
+     A letter was also received from Bishop Matthew Simpson, of the
+     Methodist church, who was always ready to declare his adherence
+     to this great reform:
+
+                                   OWATOMA, Oct. 2, 1871.
+
+          Hon. J. HARLAN--_Dear Senator_: Yours, inclosing Mrs.
+          Savery's kind invitation, was received before I left
+          Mankota. I would be pleased to comply with her invitation,
+          joined as it is with your earnest solicitation. But I am
+          under bonds--if not to keep the peace, at least to keep
+          silence--so far as either sermons or public addresses are
+          concerned, until the full restoration of my health. I am
+          glad to say my health is improving. I have presided at five
+          conferences this fall--two still await me. But I have not
+          ventured any extra labor, nor dare I for some time to come.
+          Please convey to Mrs. Savery my thanks for her kind
+          invitation, and say to her that I sympathize fully with the
+          suffrage association in its desire to attain for women the
+          ballot.
+
+     A series of resolutions was discussed, other letters read, and a
+     large number of new converts joined the association. The _State
+     Register_ spoke in a very complimentary manner of the
+     deliberations of this convention:
+
+          It is but just, perhaps, that we should say, in general
+          terms, of the State woman suffrage convention, in session in
+          Des Moines the past week, that its proceedings were
+          characterized with good sense, dignity, and the best of
+          order. The world has had an impression for five or six
+          thousand years that women cannot talk without wrangling,
+          counsel without confusion. Again, many are so unjust as to
+          imagine that a convention composed of ladies, assembled to
+          discuss serious subjects, can be nothing more than a
+          quilting party or tattlers' club enlarged and let loose.
+
+          We have never seen a convention conducted with more decorum,
+          or a greater degree of intelligent accord exhibited in the
+          routine of proceedings, than was noticeable in this first
+          annual gathering of the friends of suffrage in Iowa. A
+          majority of the members were women. They opened the
+          convention and conducted the discussions with a spirit and
+          in a manner after which men might well pattern. In some
+          respects, the ladies who took the lead, showed themselves
+          better posted in general information, in all matters of
+          deliberation, than men.
+
+          We would not endorse all that was done at the convention,
+          but we would be fair enough to give to it the meed of having
+          been, in all respects, well conducted. The convention
+          strengthened those in whose name it met, not only among
+          themselves, but with the public. All who attended it were
+          impressed with the conviction that its members were earnest
+          and honest, and could see that they were intelligent and
+          well armed. Whatever it may have done directly, and that we
+          know was much, it accomplished more good for its cause by
+          impressing the public mind that its adherents in Iowa are
+          banded together in union, and bound to make every honorable
+          effort for success.
+
+     In January, 1872, I received a letter from a very prominent
+     member of the legislature, from which the following is an
+     extract:
+
+          After consultation I believe the House would resolve itself
+          into committee of the whole (when senators would be likely
+          also to come in), and hear you on the question of woman
+          suffrage. Should you desire to press it to vote this
+          session, I should advise that course. As to the time of your
+          hearing, it should be in the day, and appointed soon after
+          the recess. We meet again on February 13. I think it could
+          be arranged for Friday, the 16th, if agreeable to you. With
+          kind regards,
+
+                                             JOHN A. KASSON.
+
+     Notwithstanding this kind proposal of Mr. Kasson, I did not act
+     upon his suggestion. But Mrs. Harbert and Mrs. Savery, feeling
+     that something must be done, had the courage and the conscience,
+     on their individual responsibility, to call a mass-meeting at the
+     capitol on the evening previous to the day appointed for the vote
+     on the amendment in the House. Mrs. Harbert presided and opened
+     the meeting with an earnest appeal; Mrs. Savery, Mr. C.P. Holmes,
+     Senator Converse, and Governor Carpenter, made eloquent speeches.
+     The governor, in opening his address said he voted to strike
+     "black" from the constitution sixteen years ago, and would then,
+     as now, had the opportunity been presented, have voted to strike
+     out "male."
+
+     On the following day when the amendment came up in the House for
+     the final vote, it was carried by 58 to 39. In the Senate there
+     was a spirited discussion, Hon. Charles Beardsley making an
+     earnest speech in favor of the resolution. The vote on engrossing
+     the bill for the third reading stood 26 ayes to 20 nays. Hope
+     ran high with the friends; but alas! on a final vote, taken but a
+     few minutes later, the bill was lost by 24 nays to 22 ayes.[409]
+     The general sentiment was well stated by the Iowa _State
+     Register_:
+
+          The Senate disposed of the woman suffrage question yesterday
+          by voting it down. We think it made a mistake. Certainly
+          there was, at the lowest count, thirty out of every hundred
+          voters in the State who desired to have this legislature
+          ratify the action of the last Assembly, and submit the
+          question at the polls this fall. The Republican party has
+          its own record to meet here. The first time the negro
+          suffrage question was submitted to the people of Iowa, it
+          was submitted by a Republican legislature, and the
+          submission was made when not over one voter in a hundred
+          desired it done. This latter thing was a plain proposition,
+          a most justly preferred petition. The people who were
+          anxious to have the question submitted, are, it is
+          confidently claimed, in majority. We think their wishes
+          might well and fitly have been granted. Even those who were
+          opposed to them must see that the advocates of the reform
+          will now have a chance to claim that the opponents of it are
+          afraid to go with them to the people. This is not merely a
+          defeat for the present year, but practically for four years.
+          Our State constitution can be amended only after two
+          legislatures have acted upon the amendment, and the people
+          have voted upon it. The legislature of two years ago passed
+          the resolution voted down yesterday. Now, we presume, it
+          will have to take another start. Four years of waiting and
+          working before the friends of the reform can be given a
+          chance to get a verdict from the people, is a long and
+          painful ordeal. It will not be endured with patience. It
+          would be asking too much of human nature to expect that.
+
+     At the annual convention of 1874, at Des Moines, Bishop Gilbert
+     Haven of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a clear and liberal
+     thinker, made a very impressive speech on the power woman could
+     wield with the ballot in her own hand in making our towns and
+     cities safe for our sons and daughters to live in. This year, the
+     Des Moines annual conference of the M. E. Church passed
+     resolutions advocating woman suffrage as a great moral reform;
+     while the State convention of the Universalist Association in its
+     resolution said: "This convention recognizes that women are
+     entitled to all the social, religious, and political rights which
+     men enjoy."
+
+     At the Diocesan Convention held at Davenport May 1881, the
+     Episcopal Church took a step forward by striking the word male
+     out of a canon, thus enabling women to vote for vestrymen, a
+     right hitherto withheld. It is but a straw in the right
+     direction, but "straws show which way the wind blows," and we may
+     hope for more good things to follow.
+
+     The Republican party, in convention assembled, at Des Moines,
+     July 1, 1874, inserted the following, as the tenth plank of its
+     platform:
+
+          _Resolved_, That since the people may be entrusted with all
+          questions of governmental reform, we favor the final
+          submission to them of the question of amending the
+          constitution so as to extend the right of suffrage to women,
+          pursuant to the action of the fifteenth General Assembly.
+
+     The reading of the resolution called forth cheers of approval,
+     and was adopted without a dissenting vote, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton
+     Harbert is entitled to great credit for this "woman's plank," she
+     having gone before the committee on resolutions and made an
+     earnest appeal for woman's recognition by the Republican party.
+     The _State Record_ said:
+
+          When the Republicans, in national convention, recognized
+          woman, and gave her a plank in the platform of the party, it
+          reflected back a spirit of justice and progress which is
+          looked for in vain in the party opposing, of whatever name.
+          But when the Republicans of Iowa gave to a woman the
+          privilege of bringing in a plank of her own production, and
+          that plank was added to the State platform without a
+          dissenting voice, it placed Iowa, men and women alike, in
+          the vanguard of the world's onward march to a more rational
+          life, more even justice, and purer government.
+
+          In the Republican State platform of Iowa is the first real
+          and purely woman's plank that ever entered into any
+          political platform--because it originated in the brain of
+          woman. It was by a woman carried to the committee, and in
+          response to an able, dignified, and true womanly appeal, it
+          was accepted, and by the convention incorporated into the
+          platform of the party. It may seem to be a small plank, but
+          it has strength and durability. It is the live oak of a
+          living principle, that will remain sound while other planks
+          of greater bulk around it will have served their purpose and
+          wasted away.
+
+          It argues thus: if woman is competent to present a political
+          issue, clothed in her own language, with a dignity and
+          modesty that silence opposition, is she not competent to
+          exercise with prudence and intelligence the elective
+          franchise? and would she not, if entrusted with it, exercise
+          it for the elevation of a common humanity? The _Record_
+          tenders hearty congratulations not only to Mrs. Harbert, who
+          we know will bear the honors modestly, but also to those who
+          by their presence in the convention gave encouragement to
+          greater respect for woman's wishes, and by whose work is
+          demonstrated woman's fitness to be in truth a helpmeet for
+          man. We had a mother, and have sisters, wife, and daughter,
+          and that is why we would have woman enjoy every privilege
+          and opportunity to be useful to herself and her country that
+          we claim for ourself.
+
+     At the annual meeting of 1875, held at Oskaloosa, the following
+     letter from the governor of the State was received:
+
+                         EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Des Moines, Iowa.
+
+          Mrs. R. G. ORWIG, _Cor. Sec. I. W. S. S.--Dear Madam_: I
+          have your letter inviting me to be present at your annual
+          meeting. Thanking you and the association for the
+          consideration implied, I have to express my regrets that
+          business of an official character will prevent me from
+          coming. I hope your proceedings may be characterized by such
+          wisdom, moderation, and sincerity as to advance the cause to
+          which your efforts are given. I have never been able to
+          discover any argument to sustain my own right to vote that
+          does not equally apply to woman. Whether my right is founded
+          upon the interest I have, in common with my fellows, in the
+          preservation of the free institutions of my country; or upon
+          the protection of my personal interests as a citizen; or
+          upon my right to a voice in the creation of laws to which I
+          am held amenable; or upon my right to influence by a vote
+          the direction given to revenues which I am taxed to help
+          supply; or upon any other right, personal, political or
+          moral, I have never been able to see why the reasons which
+          make the vote valuable to me do not apply with equal force
+          to woman. You doubtless think your efforts are comparatively
+          fruitless; but I need not tell you that while your agitation
+          has failed, so far, to bring you the ballot, it has
+          ameliorated the condition of woman in very many particulars.
+          Her property rights are better protected; her sphere of
+          activity has been enlarged, and her influence for good is
+          more widely recognized. So I wish you well. Yours truly,
+
+                                             C. C. CARPENTER.
+
+     This year women were members of a lay delegation in the Methodist
+     conference, and also lay delegates to the Presbyterian synod. And
+     in two or three instances women have been invited to address
+     these bodies, and have received a vote of thanks. Many of the
+     orthodox clergy are openly advocating our cause, and in some
+     instances women have been invited by them to occupy their desks
+     on Sunday to preach the Gospel to the people. This is a wonderful
+     advance in sentiment since 1852, when in New York the clergy
+     would not permit women to speak, even on temperance in a public
+     hall.
+
+     In 1876 the society secured the services of Matilda Hindman, of
+     Pittsburg, Pa., who traveled over the greater part of the State,
+     lecturing and organizing societies, and was everywhere spoken of
+     as an eloquent and logical speaker. She was followed by Margaret
+     W. Campbell, and those who know her feel that the State gained in
+     her a valuable friend in everything pertaining to the interests
+     of woman. What is said of Miss Hindman as a speaker may also be
+     said of Mrs. Campbell.
+
+     The first governor of Iowa to officially recognize woman's right
+     to the ballot was the Hon. C. C. Carpenter, who in his message to
+     the General Assembly of 1876, said:
+
+          The proposed amendment to the constitution, adopted by your
+          predecessors, and which requires your sanction before being
+          submitted to the voters of the State, will come before you.
+          I venture to suggest, that the uniform expression in Wyoming
+          Territory, where woman suffrage is a fact, is favorable to
+          its continuance, and that wherever in Europe and America
+          women have voted for school or minor officers the influence
+          of their suffrage has been beneficent; and in view of the
+          peculiar appropriateness of submitting this question in this
+          year, 1876, when all America is celebrating achievements
+          which were inspired by the doctrine that taxation and
+          representation are of right inseparable, it is recommended
+          that you give the people of Iowa an opportunity to express
+          their judgment upon the proposed amendment at the
+          ballot-box.
+
+     At the request of the State Association, Miss Matilda Hindman was
+     granted a hearing before the legislature, and most respectful
+     attention was accorded to her able address. Miss Anthony was also
+     invited, and, at the suggestion of Mrs. Savery, she engaged the
+     opera-house. The seats reserved for the members were all filled,
+     and every part of the house occupied. The day following, the vote
+     in the House was taken, and carried by 54 to 40. After a careful
+     canvass of the Senate, it was found that there were ten votes to
+     spare; but alas! when the day for final action came the amendment
+     was lost by one vote.[410]
+
+     In 1880 Senator Gaylord of Floyd county made a speech, giving
+     twenty-one reasons why he voted against the submission of the
+     proposition for the enfranchisement of women, which was published
+     in full in the Des Moines _Register_, and thus sent broadcast
+     over the State. Mrs. Bloomer replied to Mr. Floyd through the
+     same paper, meeting and refuting every objection, thus in a
+     measure antidoting the poisonous influence of the senator's
+     pronunciamento.
+
+     In the spring of this year Dr. Harriette Bottsford and Mrs. Jane
+     C. McKinney were appointed by a caucus of Republican women, to
+     the Powesheik county convention, to choose delegates to the State
+     convention. They presented their credentials to the committee,
+     and the chairman reported them as delegates. On motion, they were
+     accepted--but some men soon bethought them that this was
+     establishing a bad precedent, and began maneuvering to get rid of
+     them. This was finally done by declaring the delegation full
+     without them--two men having been quietly appointed to fill
+     vacancies after the ladies had presented their credentials. Mrs.
+     McKinney made a spicy speech, saying they did not expect to be
+     received as delegates, but wished to remind the men that women
+     were citizens, tax-payers and Republicans, but unrepresented.
+
+     At the Greenback State convention of 1881, Mrs. Mary E. Nash was
+     nominated as the candidate of that party for State superintendent
+     of schools. Mrs. Nash declined the honor intended, and said that
+     her political flag, if it were to float at all, would be found in
+     another camp. She would not desert her colors for office. In 1884
+     Mrs. H. J. Bellangee and Mrs. A. M. Swain were regularly
+     accredited delegates to the National Greenback convention, held
+     at Indianapolis, Ind., to nominate a candidate for the
+     presidency, where they were received with the greatest courtesy.
+
+     The annual meeting of 1882, at Des Moines, was remarkable for the
+     number of clergymen, representing nearly all the different
+     denominations, who took part in its proceedings, each of the nine
+     seeming to vie with the others in expressing his belief that the
+     ballot for woman, as for man, was a right, not a privilege.
+     Bishop Hurst of the M. E. Church, made an able speech. The
+     executive committee sent a memorial to the Republican convention,
+     held in June for the nomination of State officers, asking a plank
+     in their platform favoring the submission of the woman suffrage
+     amendment. The request was not granted. Leading politicians who
+     professed to believe in equality of rights for women feared that
+     to do so would make too heavy a weight for the party to carry, it
+     having already incorporated a prohibition plank in its platform.
+     The committee also interviewed 500 editors, asking them to open
+     the columns of their papers to the advocacy of woman suffrage.
+     One hundred and twenty replied favorably, while many were
+     courteous and others brusque in their refusals.
+
+     A committee on legislation (Mrs. Narcissa T. Bemis, chairman) did
+     good work during this session of the legislature, and also
+     published a tract composed of contributions from twelve leading
+     ministers of the State, called "The Clergymen's Tract." This was
+     sent broadcast. Nine hundred of the clergy were favored with a
+     copy. The Ministerial Association, held in Des Moines, passed the
+     following:
+
+          _Resolved_, That we are heartily in favor of woman suffrage
+          as advocated by your association, and regard the same as a
+          proper subject for pulpit-teaching, and, as opportunity
+          offers of furthering said cause in our pulpit ministry, we
+          will avail ourselves of the same.
+
+     During this year the State Society contributed liberally to the
+     Nebraska campaign. Mrs. Nancy R. Allen and Mrs. Mary B. Lee each
+     left a small legacy to the association.
+
+     Of the annual meeting of 1883,[411] held at Ottumwa, the local
+     papers gave full and fair reports; while 200 papers of the State
+     published a condensed statement prepared by the secretary. Miss
+     Hindman and Mrs. Campbell were again invited to the State. No
+     grander work than theirs was ever done in Iowa. There is scarcely
+     a county which they have not canvassed; holding meetings, forming
+     associations, circulating petitions, distributing tracts,
+     preaching on Sundays in the churches, traveling, often for months
+     at a time, without a pledge of pecuniary aid, depending for their
+     expenses wholly on funds contributed at their meetings.
+
+     The State convention of 1884 met at the Christian Church at Des
+     Moines; Mrs. Nacissa T. Bemis presided. Mrs. Helen M. Gougar of
+     Indiana was one of the speakers. A committee, of which Mrs.
+     Martha C. Callanan was chairman, interviewed the governor, asking
+     a recognition of woman's right of suffrage, and were told it
+     should receive consideration. Accordingly, in his message to the
+     legislature, Governor Sherman said:
+
+          Your attention is respectfully directed to the question of
+          impartial suffrage, in respect to which the nineteenth
+          General Assembly proposed an amendment to the constitution.
+          Should this meet your approval, as preliminary to taking the
+          judgment of the voters, I recommend that it be submitted at
+          a special election, in order that it may be freed from the
+          influence of partisan politics, and thus receive an
+          unprejudiced vote of our citizens. Not caring to here
+          express an opinion upon the question itself, it is
+          sufficient to say that now, as heretofore, I am in favor of
+          the submission of any question which is of importance and
+          general interest.
+
+     Governor Sherman also gave it as his opinion that a good woman
+     should be placed on the board of trustees of every public
+     institution. This was the second time that an Iowa governor had
+     referred to this great political question in his message to the
+     General Assembly, Governor Carpenter having heartily indorsed the
+     measure in 1876. It is said, however, that Governor Newbold had
+     written a clause on the subject in his message in 1878, but that
+     it was suppressed by the careful counsel of some guardian angel
+     of his party.
+
+     Previous to the assembling of this legislature, petitions had
+     been widely circulated,[412] praying for the submission of the
+     amendment. Over 6,000 signatures were obtained. Each petition was
+     placed in the hands of a senator or member from the county in
+     which the names were gathered, for presentation in the respective
+     Houses.
+
+     For fifteen consecutive years the State Society has met annually,
+     made reports, passed resolutions, elected officers, listened to
+     speeches and transacted what other business has come before it.
+     Though its anniversaries have usually been held at Des Moines,
+     its influence through the press has pervaded the whole State.
+     Since 1875, the annual meetings have been held in different
+     cities[413] outside the capital, thus giving the people of all
+     sections of the State an opportunity to participate in the
+     deliberations. Petitions to the legislature and to congress have
+     been circulated by the society, delegates sent to the conventions
+     of the National and American Suffrage Associations,[414] and
+     letters addressed to the delegates of the State and National
+     nominating conventions of the political parties, asking for a
+     recognition of woman's right to the ballot in their platforms.
+
+     A brief recital of the proceedings of the Iowa legislature will
+     show that a large majority of the Representatives have been in
+     favor of submitting the question of woman suffrage to a direct
+     vote of the men of the State. The proposition was first presented
+     in the House by Hon. John P. Irish, in 1870. The resolution
+     passed both Houses with very little debate, was approved by the
+     governor, and submitted to the next General Assembly. In the
+     session of 1872 it was discussed in both Houses at considerable
+     length, and again passed in the Lower House by the strong vote of
+     58 ayes to 39 nays; while in the Senate it was lost by only two
+     majority. The House has never failed at any session since that
+     time, until 1884, to give a majority in its favor; but the Senate
+     has not made for itself so good a record. In 1872 the vote in the
+     Senate stood: ayes, 22; nays, 24. In 1876 it was lost by one
+     vote; and in 1880 lost on engrossment. In 1884 the tables were
+     turned; when the amendment came up in the twentieth General
+     Assembly for ratification, the Senate passed the bill, while the
+     House, for the first time, defeated it by a small majority.
+
+     By the constitution of Iowa an amendment must be approved by two
+     consecutive legislatures, convened in regular session. When so
+     approved it is then submitted to the popular vote of the
+     electors. As in this State the legislature meets but once in two
+     years, the reader can see how easily a bill passed at one session
+     may, two years later, be defeated by the election of new members
+     who are opposed to it. And thus through all these years those who
+     claim the ballot for woman in this State have been elated or
+     depressed by the action of each succeeding legislature.
+
+     The thirteenth General Assembly not only earned a good name for
+     enlightened statesmanship by passing the constitutional amendment
+     in favor of woman suffrage, but it also, by chapter 21, approved
+     March 8, 1870, passed an act admitting women to the practice of
+     law. It was under this that Judith Ellen Foster--so widely known
+     as an eloquent lecturer and able lawyer--Annie C. Savery, Mrs.
+     Emma Haddock, Louisa H. Albert, Jessie M. Johnson, and several
+     others have passed the necessary examination and been admitted to
+     practice as attorneys and counselors in all the courts of the
+     State. Mrs. Arabella Mansfield was admitted to the bar in 1869,
+     just a year previous to the enactment of the law.
+
+     Miss Linda M. Ramsey, now Mrs. Hartzell, was employed as a clerk
+     by Adjutant-General Baker in 1864, and held the office for some
+     time after the war closed. The _Record_ says she was the first
+     woman regularly employed and paid by the State for clerical
+     services. Miss Augusta Matthews served as military secretary for
+     Governor Stone during the war under pay of the State.
+
+     It was the thirteenth General Assembly, 1870, that first elected
+     a woman, Miss Mary E. Spencer, to the office of engrossing clerk;
+     and upon her it devolved to convey the message from the House to
+     the Senate, announcing the passage of the woman suffrage
+     amendment. In 1872 each House elected one woman among its
+     officers; and each succeeding General Assembly since that time
+     has elected from three to six women. The office of postmaster has
+     been filled by women for the last ten years, and is now held by
+     the venerable widow of General N. A. Baker, for many years the
+     popular adjutant-general of the State. The office of State
+     librarian was filled by Mrs. Ada North for seven years, and is
+     now held by Mrs. S. B. Maxwell. Mrs. North is (1885) librarian of
+     the State University at Iowa City.
+
+     The State insane hospitals are inspected by a visiting
+     commission, one of whom is a woman. Several of the city hospitals
+     are managed by women of the Catholic orders. The reform schools
+     have a woman on their board of trustees, of whom Governor Sherman
+     was graciously pleased to say that "she discovered more of the
+     true inwardness of the institution in three days than her
+     honorable colleague had done in three years."
+
+     In 1876 Governor Kirkwood appointed Mrs. Nancy R. Allen notary
+     public. He also appointed Mrs. Merrill as teacher and chaplain at
+     the State penitentiary, Miss McCowen as physician of the State
+     insane asylum, and Dr. Sara A. Pangborn, one of the staff of
+     physicians of the insane hospital at Independence.
+
+     In 1874 Governor Carpenter appointed Mrs. Deborah Cattell a
+     commissioner to investigate the alleged cruelty in the State
+     Reform School at Eldora; and for this service she was paid the
+     same as men who served on the same commission. Governor Gear
+     appointed Dr. Abbie M. Cleaves delegate from Iowa to the National
+     Conference of Charities and Correction, and to the National
+     Association for the Protection of the Insane and the Prevention
+     of Insanity, which was held in Cleveland, Ohio, July, 1880. Mrs.
+     Mary Wright and Dr. Abbie Cleaves were commissioned to the
+     conference of the same associations at Louisville, Ky., in 1883.
+     The legislature of 1880 appointed Jane C. McKinney one of the
+     trustees of the Hospital for the Insane, at Independence.
+
+     The eighteenth General Assembly, 1880, passed an act to extend to
+     women the right to hold the office of county recorder. A bill
+     giving them the right to hold the office of county auditor passed
+     the House, but was lost in the Senate. Under the above law Miss
+     Addie Hayden was elected recorder of Warren county by a majority
+     of 397 votes. She ran on an independent ticket. Mrs. C. J. Hill
+     was chosen recorder of Osceola county at the same election.
+
+     The instruction of the youth of Iowa has fallen largely into the
+     hands of women. During the year 1879 the number of women employed
+     as teachers was 13,579, while the number of men was 7,573. In the
+     larger towns and cities women are almost exclusively engaged as
+     teachers. Miss Phebe Ludlow, after having for several years
+     acceptably discharged the duties of city superintendent of
+     schools at Davenport, was elected professor of English language
+     and literature in the State University at Iowa City. The chair is
+     still occupied by a woman, as is that of instructor of
+     mathematics and several other branches in that institution,
+     which, to the honor of Iowa be it said, always opened its doors
+     to both sexes alike.
+
+     The question of the eligibility of women to the office of county
+     superintendent of public schools having arisen by the election of
+     Miss Julia C. Addington in the autumn of 1869, the matter was
+     referred to the attorney-general by the State superintendent of
+     public instruction, and the following was his reply:
+
+          _Hon. A. S. Kissell, Superintendent of Public Instruction:_
+
+          DEAR SIR: Rights and privileges of persons (citizens) are
+          frequently extended but never abridged by implication. The
+          soundness and wisdom of this rule of construction is, I
+          believe, universally conceded. Two clauses of the
+          constitution, only, contain express provisions excluding
+          women from the rights and privileges in said provisions.
+          Section 1, of Article I., as to the right of suffrage, and
+          Section 4, of Article III., which provides that members of
+          the legislature must be free white male citizens. "Free" and
+          "white" have lost their meaning (if the words in that use
+          ever had any suitable or good meaning), but the word "male"
+          still retains its full force and effect. If this express
+          restriction exists in the constitution as to any other
+          office, it has escaped my notice. It is true that the words
+          "person" and "citizen" frequently occur in other parts of
+          the constitution in connection with eligibility and
+          qualification for office, and I fully admit that by
+          usage--"time-honored usage," if you will--these phrases have
+          in common acceptation been taken to mean man in the
+          masculine gender only, and to exclude woman. But a recent
+          decision in the Court Exchequer, England, holding that the
+          generic term "man" includes woman also, indicates our
+          progress from a crude barbarism to a better civilization.
+
+          The office of county superintendent was created by chapter
+          52 of the acts of the seventh General Assembly, laws of
+          1868, pages 52-72. Neither in that act, nor in any
+          subsequent legislation on the subject, have I been able to
+          find any express provisions making male citizenship a test
+          of eligibility for the place, or excluding women; and when I
+          look over the duties to be performed by that officer--as I
+          have with some care, and, I trust, not without interest--I
+          deem it exceedingly fortunate for the cause of education in
+          Iowa that there is no provision in the law preventing women
+          from holding the office of county superintendent of common
+          schools. I know that the pronoun "he" is frequently used in
+          different sections of the act, and referring to the officer;
+          but, as stated above, this privilege of the citizen cannot
+          be taken away or denied by intendment or implication; and
+          women are citizens as well and as much as men.
+
+          I need scarcely add that, in my opinion, Miss Addington is
+          eligible to the office to which she has been elected; that
+          she will be entitled to her pay when she qualifies and
+          discharges the duties of the office, and that her decisions
+          on appeal, as well as all her official acts, will be legal
+          and binding. It is perhaps proper to state that an opinion
+          on this question, substantially in agreement with the
+          present one, was sent from this office to a gentleman
+          writing from Osage, in Mitchell county, several weeks ago,
+          which for some reason unknown to me, seems not to have been
+          made public in the county. I have the honor to be, etc.,
+
+                                   HENRY O'CONNOR, _Attorney-General_.
+
+     Miss Addington, in her short letter of inquiry to the
+     superintendent, has the following modest conclusion: "The
+     position is not one I should have chosen for myself, but since my
+     friends have shown so much confidence in me, and many of them are
+     desirous that I should accept the office, I feel inclined to
+     gratify them, if it be found there is nothing incompatible in my
+     doing so."
+
+     The question of the eligibility of women to hold school offices
+     was again raised at the October election of 1875. Miss Elizabeth
+     S. Cooke was elected to the office of superintendent of common
+     schools in Warren county. The question of her right to hold the
+     office was carried by her opponent, Mr. Huff, to the District
+     Court of that county, by appeal; and that court decided that the
+     defendant, Miss Cooke, "being a woman, was ineligible to the
+     office." It was then carried to the Supreme Court of the State,
+     which held that "there is no constitutional inhibition upon the
+     rights of women to hold the office of county superintendent." In
+     the meantime, however, and immediately following the decision of
+     the Warren county judge, the General Assembly, March 2, 1876,
+     promptly came to the rescue and passed the following act, almost
+     unanimously:
+
+          SECTION 1. No person shall be deemed ineligible, by reason
+          of sex, to any school office in the State of Iowa.
+
+          SEC. 2. No person who may have been, or shall be, elected or
+          appointed to the office of county superintendent of common
+          schools, or director, in the State of Iowa, shall be
+          deprived of office by reason of sex.
+
+     Under the provisions of this law, and the above-cited decision of
+     the Supreme Court, Miss Cooke was allowed to serve out her term
+     of office without hindrance. Since that time women have been
+     elected, and discharged the duties of county superintendent with
+     great credit to themselves and advantage to the public. Women
+     have also been elected to other school offices in different parts
+     of the State. Mrs. Mary A. Work was unanimously elected
+     sub-director in district No. 6, Delaware township, Polk county,
+     in the spring of 1880; and soon after was made president of the
+     board--the first woman, so far as known, to fill the position of
+     president of a school board.
+
+     In 1877, in Frederica, Bremer county, Mrs. Mary Fisher attended
+     the school meeting, and was elected as one of the three
+     directors. The two others were men, one of whom immediately
+     resigned, saying he would not hold office with a woman. His
+     resignation was at once accepted. He further remarked that
+     "woman's place was _to hum_; she was out of her _spear_ to school
+     _meetin's_, _holdin'_ office," etc. Mrs. Fisher had been a
+     teacher for six years. Mrs. Shirley, another successful teacher,
+     accompanied Mrs. Fisher to the next school meeting, and both
+     ladies voted on all questions that came up for action, and
+     nothing was said against their doing so.
+
+     This year (1885) the school board of Des Moines elected Mrs. Lou.
+     M. Wilson to the office of city superintendent of public schools,
+     with a salary of $1,800 a year. She has in charge eighty
+     teachers, among whom are two men in the position of principals.
+     At the woman's congress, held at Des Moines in October, 1885, Dr.
+     Jennie McCowen, in her report for this State, said:
+
+          An increasing number of women have been elected on
+          school-boards, and are serving as officers and county
+          superintendents of schools. Last year six women served as
+          presidents, thirty-five as secretaries, and fifty as
+          treasurers of school-boards. Of the superintendents and
+          principals of graded schools about one in five is a woman;
+          of county superintendents, one in nine; of teachers in
+          normal institutes, one in three; of principals of secondary
+          institutions of learning, one in three; of tutors and
+          instructors in colleges, one in two; and in the twenty-three
+          higher institutions of learning, thirteen young women are
+          officiating as professors, and in three of these colleges
+          the secretary of the faculty is a woman. The State board of
+          examiners has one woman--Miss Ella A. Hamilton of Des
+          Moines--and the State superintendent of public instruction
+          has for a number of years availed himself of the valued
+          services of a woman for private secretary. The _Northwestern
+          Educational Journal_ is edited by a woman. At the last
+          meeting of the State Teachers' Association a committee was
+          appointed to prepare a regular course of reading for
+          teachers. This course is mainly professional and literary,
+          with a leaning toward the latter. A large number of these
+          reading circles have already been organized, and much
+          interest, and even enthusiasm, is being manifested by
+          teachers in all parts of the State. The school of Domestic
+          Economy, in connection with the Agricultural College, is in
+          charge of a woman as dean, and, although but a year old, has
+          made an auspicious beginning. A number of young ladies,
+          graduates of the State University and other literary
+          schools, have gone to the School of Domestic Economy to
+          finish their education.
+
+     Iowa has many women engaged as journalists. Prominent among these
+     is Miss Maggie VanPelt, city editor of the Dubuque _Times_. She
+     conducts her department very ably, and acceptably to her readers.
+     Whether an advocate for suffrage or not, she is certainly a
+     practical woman's rights woman. Independent and fearless, she
+     goes about day and night where she pleases, and wherever her
+     business calls her. A revolver, which she is known to carry,
+     makes it safe for her to walk the street at all hours. Mrs. Will
+     Hollingsworth, of the Sigourney _Review_, does a large part of
+     the writing for that paper, and assists in the management of the
+     establishment. _Woman's Hour_, edited by Mary J. Coggeshall, was
+     published by women at Des Moines two seasons, during the
+     exposition. Ten thousand copies were printed for free
+     distribution, and a handsomely decorated department granted the
+     society in the exposition for their work. Mrs. E. H. Hunter and
+     Mrs. Woods represented the society. Mrs. Pauline Swaim is noted
+     for her journalistic ability. Besides working on her husband's
+     paper, the Oskaloosa _Herald_, she has done much for the _State
+     Register_, reporting for it the proceedings of the Senate. In
+     October, 1875, Nettie Sanford started a paper at Marshalltown,
+     called _The Woman's Bureau_, which she published for two years.
+     During 1878 she published the _San Gabriel Valley News_, in
+     California. Mrs. L. M. Latham for many years conducted a suffrage
+     column in the Cedar Rapids _Times_; since 1884 she has been
+     associated with Mrs. J. L. Wilson on the _Transcript_, an eight
+     column paper devoted to general news, temperance and woman
+     suffrage. The paper is owned by Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Nettie P. Fox
+     edits the _Spiritual Offering_ at Ottumwa; Mrs. Hattie Campbell,
+     a suffrage department in _The Advance_, at Des Moines; Mary
+     Osborne edits the _Osceola Sentinel_, and is superintendent of
+     the public schools of Clark county; Mrs. Lafayette Young is
+     engaged on the _Atlantic Telegraph_. Very many papers in the
+     State have women in charge of one or more columns.
+
+     In the humbler walks of literature Iowa can boast quite a number
+     of women who have made successful attempts at authorship.[415] In
+     sculpture Mrs. Harriet A. Ketcham, of Mt. Pleasant, deserves
+     mention. She has the exclusive contract to model the prominent
+     men of Iowa for the new capitol. Mrs. Estelle E. Vore, Mrs. Cora
+     R. Fracker, and Miss Emma G. Holt, are known as musical
+     composers.
+
+     Among the lecturers of Iowa, Mrs. Matilda Fletcher is worthy of
+     mention. Though she has never made woman suffrage a specialty,
+     she is sound on that question, and frequently introduces it
+     incidentally in her lectures. In 1869 she was living in obscurity
+     in Council Bluffs, her husband being employed as a teacher in one
+     of the suburban schools. Young, girlish-looking, no one seeing
+     her would have dreamed of her possessing the capabilities she has
+     since displayed. She started out under many discouragements, but
+     has shown a perseverance, a self-reliance, and an indomitable
+     will that few women manifest in the same direction. Mrs. Fletcher
+     has been employed by the Republican party during some of the most
+     important and exciting campaigns, speaking throughout the State,
+     in halls, tents, and in the open air. Every such effort on the
+     part of woman is an advantage to the cause we advocate, bringing
+     it nearer to final success. But it is to Mrs. Stanton, Miss
+     Anthony, Anna Dickinson, Mrs. Livermore, and other lyceum
+     lecturers[416] that our State is especially indebted for a
+     knowledge of the true principles upon which woman founds her
+     claim to equal civil and political rights with man. In all
+     sections of our land their voices have been heard by interested
+     and delighted audiences.
+
+     There are about one hundred and fifty women in the medical
+     profession in the different cities of the State. Mrs. Yeomans, of
+     Clinton, is a successful practitioner. Mrs. King, allopathist,
+     and Mrs. Hortz, homeopathist, are regular graduates in good
+     practice at Des Moines. Dr. Harding, electrician, and Dr. Hilton,
+     allopathist, also graduates, have all the practice they can
+     attend to in Council Bluffs. In 1883, Dr. Jennie McCowen was
+     elected president of the Scott County Medical Society. This was
+     the first time a woman was ever elected to that office in this
+     State, if not in the United States.
+
+     It is quite sure that Iowa may justly claim the first woman in
+     the profession of dentistry--Mrs. Lucy B. Hobbs, as early as
+     1863.[417] At Cresco there is the firm of Dr. L. F. & Mrs. M. E.
+     Abbott, dental surgeons. At Mt. Pleasant, Mrs. M. E. Hildreth is
+     a licensed dentist in successful practice.
+
+     Rev. Augusta Chapin was, I think, the first woman to enter the
+     sacred office in this State. Miss Safford, Algona; Mrs. Gillette,
+     Knoxville; Mrs. M. A. Folsom, Marshalltown; Florence E. Kollock,
+     Waverly; Mrs. M. J. Janes, Spencer; Mrs. Hartsough, Ft. Dodge,
+     are regularly ordained preachers of the Universalist and
+     Unitarian faiths. There are several licensed preachers of the M.
+     E. Church, but none have received regular ordination.
+
+     Iowa furnished the following women who went to the front as
+     nurses during the war: Mrs. Harlan, wife of Senator Harlan; Mrs.
+     Almira Fales, Mrs. Anne Wittenmeyer, Miss Phebe Allen, Mrs.
+     Jerusha R. Small, Miss Melcena Elliott, Mrs. Arabella Tannehill.
+     These all did good service in hospital and on the field, and some
+     of them laid down their lives as a sacrifice. We copy the
+     following as one of the many facts of the war:
+
+          Some years ago Adjutant-General Baker of Des Moines received
+          a letter of inquiry asking about a certain soldier in the
+          Twenty-fourth Iowa infantry. The tone of the letter was so
+          peculiar as to attract considerable attention and create
+          much comment in the office. In reply the general stated that
+          the records of the regiment and the record of the soldier
+          (whom, for the sake of convenience, we will call Smith,
+          although that is far from the real name) were in his office.
+          A few days afterwards a gentleman from Northern Iowa
+          appeared, inquired for General Baker, and was closeted with
+          him long enough to divulge the following singular tale:
+
+          When the war broke out Miss Mary Smith, daughter of the
+          general's visitor, was residing in Ohio, working for a
+          farmer. Her father's family had moved to Iowa the fall
+          preceding the attack on Sumter, leaving Mary behind to
+          follow in the spring. Various causes conspired to delay her
+          departure for her Iowa home until autumn, and it was
+          September before she landed at Muscatine, from which place
+          she expected to travel by land to her father's house. She
+          was a large-sized, hearty-looking girl, eighteen years of
+          age. Arriving at Muscatine, some strange freak induced her
+          to assume man's apparel and enlist in the Twenty-fourth
+          infantry, then in rendezvous at that city. She did this
+          without exciting any suspicion, burned all her feminine
+          garments and papers, neglected to inform her friends of her
+          arrival, and became a soldier. Some comment was elicited by
+          her beardless face and girlish appearance, but as she did
+          her duty promptly and was particularly handy in cooking and
+          taking care of the sick, the young warrior speedily became a
+          general favorite alike with officers and men.
+
+          She passed through all the campaigns in which the regiment
+          was engaged without a scratch, except a close call from a
+          minie ball at Sabine's Cross Roads, which took the skin off
+          the back of her left hand, voted with the other members of
+          the regiment for president in 1864, and was finally mustered
+          out with her comrades at the close of the war. When she was
+          discharged she procured female apparel--although in doing so
+          she was obliged to make a confidant of one of her own
+          sex--and procured work in Illinois, not far from Rock
+          Island. Six months elapsed before the tan of five summers
+          wore off, and when she had again become "white," and had
+          re-learned the almost forgotten customs of womanhood, she
+          presented herself at her father's house, where she was
+          received with open arms.
+
+          To all the questions which were asked by the various members
+          of the family she replied that she had been honestly
+          employed, and had never forsaken the right way. She had been
+          economical in the army, and invested several hundred dollars
+          in land in Northern Iowa, which rapidly appreciated in
+          value, and to-day she is well off. With the remainder of her
+          money she attended school. Last January a worthy man, who
+          had been in the same regiment, but in a different company,
+          made her an offer of marriage. Like a true woman she was
+          unwilling to bestow her hand when any part of her former
+          life was unknown, and before accepting the offer she made to
+          him a full revelation of her soldier-days. At first he could
+          not believe it, but when she proceeded to narrate events and
+          incidents which could be known only to active participants
+          in them, told of marches, camps, skirmishes, battles, and
+          the thousand and one things which never appear in print, but
+          which ever remain living pictures with "old soldiers," he
+          was obliged to accept the strange tale as true. The story,
+          however, did not lessen his regard for her, and about the
+          first of February they were married.
+
+          The lady's father, after hearing the tale of her life, was
+          still incredulous, and only satisfied himself of its truth
+          by a visit to the adjutant-general's office and an
+          inspection of the records. By comparing dates furnished him
+          by his daughter with the original rolls there on file he
+          became fully convinced that it was all true.
+
+     A few of the inventions patented by women of Iowa are the
+     following:
+
+          Fly-screen door-attachment, by Phoebe R. Lamborne, West
+          Liberty; photograph-album, Viola J. Angie, Spencer;
+          step-ladder, Mrs. Mary J. Gartrell, Des Moines;
+          baking-powder can with measure combined, Mrs. Lillie
+          Raymond, Osceola; egg-stand, Mrs. M. E. Tisdale, Cedar
+          Rapids; egg-beater, and self-feeding griddle-greaser, Mrs.
+          Eugenia Kilborn, Cedar Rapids; tooth-pick holder, Mrs.
+          Ayers, Clinton; thermometer to regulate oven heat, Mrs. F.
+          Grace, Perry; the excelsior ironing-table, Mrs. S. L. Avery,
+          Marion; neck-yoke and pole-attachment, by which horses can
+          be instantly detached from the vehicle, Maria Dunham,
+          Dunlap; invalid bed, Mrs. Anna P. Forbes, Dubuque.
+
+     In the various business avocations I find the following:
+
+          Mrs. T. Nodles is the largest fancy grocer in the State,
+          doing a yearly business of $80,000. Mrs. C. F. Barron, Cedar
+          Rapids, designs and manufactures perforated embroidery
+          patterns. Statistics show there are nine hundred and
+          fifty-five Iowa women who own and direct farms; eighteen
+          manage farms; six own and direct stock-farms; twenty manage
+          dairy-farms; five own green-houses; nine manage
+          market-gardens; thirty-seven manage high institutions of
+          learning; one hundred and twenty-five are physicians; five
+          attorneys-at-law; ten ministers; three dentists; one hundred
+          and ten professional nurses, and one civil engineer.
+
+     In the summer of 1884, the Fort Dodge _Messenger_ had this
+     paragraph about a Des Moines family:
+
+          Miss Kate Tupper, of Des Moines, has been in town, visiting
+          at Mr. Bassett's for a few days. Kate comes of a family
+          which is remarkable for intelligent womanly effort and
+          success. Her mother is Mrs. Ellen S. Tupper, the Bee-queen
+          of Iowa, whose work on bee-culture is a recognized
+          authority everywhere; her eldest sister is a very eloquent
+          preacher at Colorado Springs; Miss Kate is studying
+          medicine, having taken herself through a full course at the
+          Agricultural College by her own work; and Miss Madge, who is
+          only sixteen, is a famous poultry raiser, and an officer of
+          the State Poultry Association, who has made money enough in
+          this business to defray her entire expenses through a full
+          collegiate course. Mrs. Tupper's family is a sufficient
+          answer to the question of woman's work, if there were no
+          other. Let any mother in Iowa show three boys who can beat
+          this.
+
+     In this year Mrs. Louisa B. Stevens was elected president of the
+     First National Bank at Marion, Linn county. The important
+     position women are taking in the business world is illustrated by
+     the presence of two delegates at the meeting of the American
+     Street Railway Association held in St. Louis in the autumn of
+     1885--Mrs. L. V. Gredenburg, proprietor and treasurer of the New
+     Albany Street Railway of New Albany, Ind., and Mrs. M. A. Turner,
+     secretary and treasurer of the Des Moines Railway, Des Moines,
+     Ia. One of the gentlemen expressed the belief that fully
+     $25,000,000 of street-railway stock in this country is owned by
+     women.
+
+     As to the distribution of the cardinal virtues between men and
+     women it is generally claimed that the former possess courage,
+     the latter fortitude. Although the pages of history are gilded
+     with innumerable instances of the remarkable courage of women of
+     all ages and conditions, and oftimes dimmed with the records of
+     cowardice in men of all classes, yet what has been said for
+     generations will probably be repeated, even in the face of so
+     remarkable a fact as the following:
+
+          On March 1, 1882, the Iowa House of Representatives, on
+          motion of Hon. A. J. Holmes, suspended the rules and passed
+          a bill introduced by that gentleman providing for the
+          presentation of a gold medal and the thanks of the General
+          Assembly of the State of Iowa to Miss Kate Shelly, to which
+          was added a money appropriation of two hundred dollars,
+          which passed both Houses and became a law.
+
+          In support of the bill, Mr. Holmes spoke as follows:
+
+          Mr. Speaker: No apology is required for the introduction of
+          this bill, and I shall make no explanation in regard to it,
+          save a brief _resume_ of the facts upon which the bill is
+          based. Miss Kate Shelly, with her widowed mother and little
+          sisters and brother, lives in a humble home on the
+          hill-side, in a rugged country skirting the Des Moines
+          River. Her father had died years ago in the service of the
+          great railway company whose line for some distance is
+          overlooked by her home, while her mother, by economy, severe
+          toil, and the assistance of Kate, was able to support her
+          little family.
+
+          On the night of July 6, 1881, about 8 o'clock, there
+          commenced one of the most memorable storms that ever visited
+          Central Iowa; nothing like it had ever been witnessed by the
+          oldest inhabitants. The Des Moines river rose over six feet
+          in one hour--little rills that were dry almost the year
+          round, suddenly developed into miniature rivers--massive
+          railway bridges and lines of track were swept away as if
+          they had been cobwebs. It was while looking out of her
+          window toward the high railroad bridge over Honey Creek,
+          that Kate Shelley saw the advancing head-light of a
+          locomotive descend into an abyss and become extinguished,
+          carrying with it the light of two lives. It was then she
+          realized in all its force that a terrible catastrophe had
+          occurred, and another more terrible, if not averted, would
+          soon follow to the east-bound express train, heavily laden
+          with passengers from the Pacific. She announced to her
+          mother, sisters and brother, that she must go to the scene
+          of the accident, and render assistance if possible, and also
+          warn the oncoming passenger train.
+
+          It was in vain they tried to dissuade her. Although she was
+          obliged to almost improvise a lantern in many of its parts,
+          it was but a few minutes before she was ready to set out.
+          Realizing then that her mission was one of peril, and that
+          she might not again look upon those dear faces, she kissed
+          each of them affectionately, and amid their sobs, hurried
+          out into the gloom, into the descending floods, toward the
+          rushing torrents--drenched to the skin, on she passed toward
+          the railroad to the well remembered foot-log, only to find
+          the waters rushing along high above and beyond the place
+          where it had been. Then she thought of the great bluff
+          rising to the west of her home and extending southward
+          toward the railroad track, and she determined to ascend it
+          and reach the bridge over this barrier to the waters. Need I
+          recount how she struggled on and up through the thick oak
+          undergrowth, that, being storm-laden drooped and made more
+          difficult her passage; how with clothing torn, and hands and
+          face bleeding she arrived at the end of the bridge, and
+          standing out upon the last tie she peered down into the
+          abyss of waters with her dim light, and called to know if
+          any one was there alive. In answer to her repeated calls
+          came the answer of the engineer, who had caught hold of and
+          made a lodgment in a tree-top, and around whom the waters
+          were still rapidly rising, sending floating logs, trees, and
+          driftwood against his frail support, and threatening
+          momentarily to dislodge and engulf him.
+
+          It took but a moment to be assured that he was the survivor
+          of four men who went down with the engine, and after a
+          moment's hurried consultation, she started for Moingona, a
+          mile distant, to secure assistance and to warn the
+          eastward-bound passenger train then nearly due. As she
+          passed along the high grade it seemed as if she must be
+          blown over the embankment, and still the heavens seemed to
+          give not rain but a deluge. As she approached the railway
+          bridge over the Des Moines river the light in her lantern,
+          her only guide and protection, went out. It was then that
+          the heroic soul of this child of only sixteen years became
+          most fully apparent; facing the storm which almost took away
+          her breath, and enveloped in darkness that rendered every
+          object in nature invisible, she felt her way to the railroad
+          bridge. Here she must pass for a distance of four or five
+          hundred feet over the rushing river beneath on the naked
+          ties. As the wind swept the bridge she felt how unsafe it
+          would be to attempt walking over it, and getting down upon
+          her hands and knees, clutching the timbers with an almost
+          despairing energy, she painfully and at length successfully
+          made the passage. She reached the station, and having told
+          of the catastrophe at the bridge, and requested the stoppage
+          of the passenger train then about due, she fainted and fell
+          upon the platform. This very briefly, wanting in much that
+          is meritorious in it, is the story of Kate Shelly and the
+          6th of July. Her parents were countrymen of Sarsfield, of
+          Emmett, and O'Connell--of the land that has given heroes to
+          every other and dishonored none. It was an act well worthy
+          to rank her with that other heroine, who, launching her
+          frail craft from the long stone pier, braved the terrible
+          seas on that Northumberland coast to save the lives of
+          others at the risk of her own.
+
+          Mr. Holmes then produced a copy of the _State Register_, and
+          requested the clerk to read the article therein contained,
+          giving the details of the heroic girl's action, written at
+          the time of its occurrence, and after the clerk had read the
+          article, concluded by saying: "I hope, Mr. Speaker, that
+          this bill may pass, believing that it is right, and further
+          believing that the State of Iowa will do itself as much
+          honor as the young lady named in the bill, in thus
+          recognizing the greatest debt in our power to pay--that to
+          humanity." Mr. Pickler moved to amend by instructing the
+          gentleman from Boone (Mr. Holmes) to make the presentation.
+          Carried, and the bill was amended accordingly, as above. On
+          motion of Mr. Holmes, the rules were suspended, and the bill
+          passed by a vote of 90 to 1. The governor of the State, Hon.
+          A. J. Holmes, and Hon. J. D. Gillett were authorized to
+          procure a medal of design and inscription to be approved by
+          them, and present the same to the donee with the thanks of
+          the General Assembly of the State of Iowa.
+
+          The medal, which is of elegant design and workmanship, was
+          executed by Messrs Tiffany & Co., of New York, and was
+          presented to Miss Shelly during the holidays of 1883. It is
+          round in form, about three inches in diameter and weighs
+          four ounces five and a half pennyweights. On both sides it
+          is sunken below the circular edges and the figures and
+          decorations are then displayed in bold relief. On the face
+          is a figure emblematic of Kate Shelly's daring exploit. It
+          represents a young girl with a lantern in her left hand and
+          her right thrown far out in warning, her hair streaming in
+          the wind and her wet drapery clinging to her form, making
+          her way over the ties of a high railroad bridge, in storm
+          and tempest, with the lightning playing about her. In a
+          semi-circle over the figure are the words: "Heroism, Youth,
+          Humanity." On the reverse is the following inscription:
+
+          "Presented by the State of Iowa to Kate Shelly, with the
+          thanks of the General Assembly, in recognition of the
+          courage and devotion of a child of fifteen years, whom
+          neither the terror of the elements nor the fear of death
+          could appal in her efforts to save human life during the
+          terrible storm and flood in the Des Moines valley on the
+          night of July 6, 1881."
+
+          Surrounding the inscription is a wreath of leaves and
+          beneath it the great seal of Iowa.
+
+          The presentation was made at Ogden in the presence of 3,000
+          people. It was given in the name of the State of Iowa by Mr.
+          Welker Given, secretary to Governor Sherman, July 4, 1884,
+          who represented the governor in his necessary absence. Hon.
+          J. A. T. Hull, Secretary of State, introduced Miss Shelly
+          and recounted her heroic deed of that fearful night, after
+          which Mr. Given made the presentation speech. The response
+          on behalf of Miss Shelly was made by Professor J. D. Curran,
+          an old friend and teacher.
+
+     All very well, but how much better to have placed Kate Shelly
+     (bearing the name of one of England's great poets) in the
+     University at Des Moines, and given her a thorough education,
+     from the primary through the whole collegiate course, and the
+     school for law, medicine, or theology. A girl capable of such
+     heroism and self-sacrifice must possess capacities and powers
+     worthy the highest opportunities for development. Kate Shelly,
+     with the scientific training of a civil engineer, might shed far
+     more honor on her native State than sitting in ignorance and
+     poverty on the banks of the Des Moines river with a gold medal
+     round her neck.
+
+     The Patrons of Husbandry, having at one time as many as 1,998
+     Granges in the State, admit women to equal membership and equal
+     rights. They have the same privileges in debate as men, and an
+     equal vote in all matters concerning the Grange. The Grangers do
+     not seem to fear that the children will suffer, or home interests
+     be neglected, on account of this liberty given to women. Miss
+     Garretson is State agent and lecturer for this order, and has
+     accomplished much good by her labors among the people of the
+     rural districts. She claims equal rights for woman even to the
+     ballot. The Independent Order of Good Templars passed resolutions
+     unqualifiedly committing the grand lodge of the State in favor of
+     granting suffrage to woman, and pledging themselves to labor for
+     the furtherance of that object. Temperance women who have
+     heretofore opposed the enfranchisement of their sex, and objected
+     to mixing the two questions, are coming to see that a powerless,
+     disfranchised class can do little toward removing the great evil
+     that is filling the land with pauperism and crime, and sending
+     sixty thousand victims annually to a drunkard's grave. They have
+     prayed and plead with the liquor-seller; they have petitioned
+     electors and law-makers, but all in vain; and now they begin to
+     see that work must accompany prayer, and that if they would save
+     their sons from destruction they must strike a blow in their
+     defense that will be felt by the enemy. Hence the Christian
+     Temperance Union, which at the outset declared itself opposed to
+     woman suffrage, has now resolved in favor of that measure as a
+     necessity for the furtherance of their cause.
+
+     On March 31, 1880, Judith Ellen Foster, of Clinton, made an able
+     and eloquent argument before the Senate Committee on Education
+     and Labor, at Washington, on Senator Logan's proposition to
+     constitute the revenue on alcoholic liquors a national
+     educational fund. At a meeting of the State Union held in 1883,
+     resolutions were passed, declaring woman's efforts in temperance
+     of no avail, until with ballots in their own hands, they could
+     coin their ideas and sympathies into law, and that henceforward
+     they would labor to secure that power, that would speedily make
+     their prayers and tears of some avail. This action gave a new
+     impetus to the suffrage movement. At the State convention, Mrs.
+     Jane Amy M'Kinney was appointed Superintendent of Franchise.
+     Circulars were issued advising the Unions to make suffrage a part
+     of their local work, and the advice was promptly followed in many
+     sections of the State. At the election on the prohibitory
+     amendment, June 29, 1882, women rallied at the polls, and
+     furnished tickets to all whom they could persuade to take them,
+     and this helped to roll up a large vote in favor of the
+     amendment.
+
+     The laws of Iowa have been comparatively liberal to woman, and
+     with each successive codification have been somewhat improved. By
+     the code of 1857, the old right of dower, or life interest in
+     one-third of the real estate of a deceased husband, was made an
+     absolute interest; and this is the law at the present time. Of
+     the personal property, the wife takes one-third if there are
+     children, and one-half if there are no children to inherit. The
+     same rule applies to the husband of a deceased wife. The codes of
+     1857 and 1860 each provided that the husband could not remove the
+     wife, nor their children, from their homestead without the
+     consent of the wife; and the code of 1875, now in force, changed
+     this only so as to provide that neither shall the wife remove the
+     husband without his consent. Deeds of real estate must be signed
+     by both husband and wife, but no private examination of either
+     has ever been required in Iowa. A husband and wife may deed
+     property directly to each other.
+
+     By the code of 1851 the personal property of the wife did not
+     vest at once in the husband, but if left within his control it
+     became liable for his debts, unless she filed a notice with the
+     recorder of deeds, setting forth her claim to the property, with
+     an exact description. And the same rule applied to specific
+     articles of personal property. Married women abandoned by their
+     husbands could be authorized, on proper application to the
+     District Court, to transact business in their own name. The same
+     provisions were substantially reenacted in the code of 1860.
+     Under both codes the husband was entitled to the wages and
+     earnings of his wife, and could sue for them in the courts.
+
+     But the code of 1873 made a great advance in recognizing the
+     rights of married women; and it is said the revisers sought, as
+     far as possible, to place the husband and wife on an entire
+     equality as to property rights. By its provisions, a married
+     woman may own, in her own right, real and personal property
+     acquired by descent, gift or purchase; and she may manage, sell,
+     convey, and devise the same by will to the same extent, and in
+     the same manner, that the husband can property belonging to him.
+     And this provision is followed by others which fully confer on
+     the married woman the control of her own property. Among other
+     things it is enacted, that a wife may receive the wages of her
+     personal labor, and maintain an action therefor in her own name,
+     and hold the same in her own right; and she may prosecute and
+     defend all actions at law, or in equity, for the preservation and
+     protection of her rights and property. Contracts may be made by a
+     wife, and liabilities incurred, and the same may be enforced by,
+     or against her, to the same extent as though she were unmarried.
+     The property of both husband and wife is equally liable for the
+     expenses of the family and the education of their children, and
+     neither is liable for the debts of the other contracted before
+     marriage. By the code of 1873, now in force, it is declared that
+     the parents are the natural guardians of their children, and are
+     equally entitled to their care and custody; and either parent
+     dying before the other, the survivor becomes the guardian.
+
+     But notwithstanding the seemingly equal provisions of our code,
+     there is still a great disparity in the laws relating to the
+     joint property of husband and wife--or property accumulated
+     during marriage by their joint earnings and savings. Such
+     property, whether real or personal, is generally held in the name
+     of the husband--no matter how much his wife may have helped to
+     accumulate it. If the wife dies, the husband still holds it all,
+     and neither law nor lawyers can molest him, or question his right
+     to it. But if the husband dies, the case is very different.
+     Instead of being left in quiet possession of what is rightfully
+     her own, to use and guard with all a mother's care and
+     watchfulness for the benefit of her children, the law comes in
+     and claims the right to appoint administrators and guardians--to
+     require bonds and a strict accountability from her, and to set
+     off to her a certain share of what should be as wholly hers as it
+     is the husband's when the wife dies.
+
+     This is the old common law, that has come down to us from
+     barbarous times, and the light of the nineteenth century has not
+     yet been sufficient to so illumine the minds of Iowa legislators
+     as to enable them to render exact justice to woman.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[395] In 1849 her husband was, appointed post-master, she became
+his deputy, was duly sworn in, and during the administration of
+Taylor and Fillmore served in that capacity. When she assumed her
+duties the improvement in the appearance and conduct of the office
+was generally acknowledged. A neat little room adjoining became a
+kind of ladies' exchange where those coming from different parts of
+the town could meet to talk over the contents of the last _Lily_
+and the progress of the woman suffrage movement in general. Those
+who enjoyed the brief interregnum of a woman in the post-office,
+can readily testify to the loss to the ladies of the village and
+the void felt by all when Mrs. Bloomer and the _Lily_ left for the
+West and men again reigned supreme.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer removed to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1853, and the
+publication of the _Lily_ was continued; she was also the associate
+editor of the _Western Home Visitor_. Mrs. Bloomer lectured in the
+principal cities of Ohio and throughout the north-west, and was one
+of a committee of five appointed to memorialize the legislature of
+Ohio for a prohibitory law, and assisted in the formation of
+several lodges of Good Templars.
+
+[396] The officers were: _President_, Mrs. D. S. Wilson;
+_Vice-President_, Mrs. W. P. Sage; _Secretary_, Mrs. J. S.
+McCreery; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Mary N. Adams.
+
+[397] Frank Allen.
+
+[398] Lucy Stone, Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Cutler, Mrs.
+Livermore, Anna Dickinson, Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. Swisshelm, Miss
+Hindman and Mrs. Campbell, from abroad; Mesdames Savery, Callanan,
+Gray, Pittman, Boynton, Harbert, Brown, and Messrs. Fuller,
+Pomeroy, Rutkay, Cole, and Maxwell, of the city, have each in turn
+come to the aid and encouragement of the society's work.
+
+[399] For information regarding Des Moines I am indebted to Mary A.
+Work, one of the most able advocates of woman suffrage in the
+State.
+
+[400] _President_, Porte Welch; _Secretary_, Mattie Griffith
+Davenport.
+
+[401] _President_, Amelia Bloomer; _Vice-Presidents_, C. Munger
+and Mary McPherson; _Recording Secretary_, Ada McPherson;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Will Shoemaker; _Treasurer_, E. S.
+Barnett.
+
+[402] Its officers were: _President_, Nettie Sanford; _Secretary_,
+Mrs. Fred. Baum; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Dr. Whealen.
+
+[403] _President_, M. W. Stough; _Secretary_, Lizzie B. Read. Mrs.
+Read was president of the State society in 1873, and Mrs. C. A.
+Ingham in 1881.
+
+[404] _President_, Hon. John E. Goodenow; _Vice-Presidents_, Nancy
+R. Allen, Mrs. M. J. Stephens, Mrs. A. B. Wilbur; _Secretary_, Mrs.
+E. D. Stewart; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Julia Dunham;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. T. P. Connell; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. S.
+Stephens, Mrs. Julia Doe, Mrs. Polly Hamley, Dr. J. H. Allen, W. S.
+Belden.
+
+[405] _President_, Henry O'Connor; _Vice-Presidents_, Amelia
+Bloomer, Nettie Sanford, Mrs. Frank Palmer, Joseph Dugdale, John P.
+Irish; _Secretary_, Belle Mansfield; _Corresponding Secretary_,
+Annie C. Savery; _Executive Committee_, Mary A. P. Darwin, Mattie
+Griffith Davenport, Mrs. J.L. McCreery, Rev. Augusta Chapin, Hon.
+Charles Beardsley.
+
+[406] Assistant postmaster-general under President Arthur.
+
+[407] Mary A.P. Darwin, professor of the college, and Hon. Charles
+Beardsley, editor of the _Hawkeye_, Burlington; Hon. Henry
+O'Connor, Muscatine; Mary N. Adams, Dubuque; Annie C. Savery, Des
+Moines; Amelia Bloomer, Council Bluffs; A.P. Lowrie, Marshalltown;
+Mrs. Beavers, Valisca. Hannah Tracy Cutler of Illinois, was the
+leading speaker; Edwin A. Studwell of New York representing _The
+Revolution_, Col. George Corkhill, Joseph Dugdale, Rev. Mr. Cooper,
+Mt. Pleasant, were also in attendance.
+
+[408] The speakers were Mr. Rutkay, Mrs. Sanford, Mrs. Bloomer,
+Mrs. Spaulding, Mrs. Savery. Encouraging letters were read from
+Joseph A. Dugdale, and Hon. Henry O'Connor, president of the
+association. The officers for 1871 were: _President_, Mrs.
+Amelia Bloomer; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Belle Mansfield;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Annie Savery; _Treasurer_, Mrs. M.
+Callanan.
+
+[409] _Yeas_, Senators Beardsley, Bemis, Burke, Campbell, Chambers,
+Converse, Dague, Dashiell, Dysart, Howland, Hurley, Kephart,
+Maxwell, McCold, McKean, McNutt, Read, Shane, Smith, Vale, West,
+Young--22. _Nays_, Senators Allen, Boomer, Claussen, Crary,
+Fairall, Fitch, Gault, Havens, Ireland, Ketcham, Kinne, Larrabee,
+Leavitt, Lowry, McCollough, Merrill, Miles, Murray, Russell, Stone,
+Stewart, Taylor, Willett, Wonn--24. Senator Murray had voted in the
+affirmative in the first instance, but changed his vote in order to
+be able to move a reconsideration of the vote, by which the
+resolution was lost.
+
+[410] The names of the representatives voting on the Woman Suffrage
+amendment are as follows (Republicans in Roman, Democrats in
+Italics): YEAS--Allen, _Baker_, _Bolter_, Brooks, Brush, Calvin,
+Campbell, Case, Chapman, Clark of Johnson, Cleveland, Colvin,
+Craver, Deweese, Giltner, Given, Glendenning, Glover, Hall, Hoag,
+Homer, Horton, _Hotchkiss_, _Hunt_, Irwin of Warren, Jaqua, Jordan,
+Johnson of Benton, Kauffman, Lane, Lathrop, _Lynch_, McCartney,
+McHugh, McNeill, Madden of Polk, _Madison_, Maris, Mills, Moffit,
+Morse of Wright, Norris, Palmer, Proudfoot, Rae, Reed of Howard,
+Robinson, Said, Scott, Smith, Tice, Underwood, Ure, Wilson--54.
+NAYS--Auld, Benton, _Birchard_, _Brown_, Bush, _Christy_, _Clark_
+of Marion, _Crawford_ of Dubuque, Danforth, _Dixon_, _Elliot_,
+Evans, Fuller, _Gibbons_, Gilliland, _Gray_, _Harned_, Hemenway,
+_Hobbs_, _Horstman_, _Johnston_ of Dubuque, Johnson of Winneshiek,
+McCune, _Madden_ of Taylor, Manning, _Mentzel_, Morse of Adams,
+_Mueller_, Reed of Jackson, Rees, Shaw, Simmons, Stone, Stuart,
+_Stuckey_, _Thayer_, _White_, Williams, _Young_, Mr. Speaker (John
+W. Gear)--40. Absent--Shepardson, Graves, Irwin of Lee, Seevers,
+McElderry, _Crawford_ of Scott.
+
+The vote in the Senate was: YEAS--Arnold, Bailey, Campbell,
+Conaway, Dashiell, Dwelle, Gallup, Gilmore, Graham, Harmon, Hersey,
+Jessup, McCoid, Miller of Appanoose, Miller of Blackhawk, Mitchell,
+Newton, Nichols, Perkins, Thornburg, Wood, Woolson--22.
+NAYS--Bestow, Carr, Clark, Cooley, Dows, Hartshorn, Hebard,
+_Kinne_, Larrabee, Lovell, _McCormack_, _Maginnis_, _Merrell_ of
+Clinton, Merrill of Wapello, _Pease_, Rothert, Rumple, Teale,
+Willett, Williams, _Wilson_, _Wonn_, Wright--23. ABSENT--Hitchcock
+(who was sick and died in a few days), yea; _Murphy_, nay; Shane
+(resigned on account of being appointed district judge), yea;
+_Stoneham_, nay; Young, nay.
+
+[411] Narcissa T. Bemis of Independence was reelected president,
+and Mary A. Work chairman of the executive committee, with
+headquarters at Des Moines; Mrs. Margaret W. Campbell was made
+State lecturer and organizer, and Mariana T. Folsom financial
+secretary of the association.
+
+[412] Mrs. M. A. Darwin, Mrs. Martha Callanan, Mrs. Judith Ellen
+Foster, superintendents of the franchise department of the W. C. T.
+U. of the State, rolled up petitions in their respective districts;
+and Mrs. Campbell and Miss Hindman aided largely in gathering the
+signatures.
+
+[413] In August, 1875, at Oskaloosa; October, 1880, Fort Dodge;
+1881, Marshalltown; 1883, Ottumwa; 1885, Cedar Rapids; all of the
+intervening anniversaries have been held at Des Moines. The
+presidents of the State society since its organization have been
+Attorney-General Henry O'Connor, Amelia Bloomer, Lizzie B. Read,
+Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Mrs. Dr. Porter, James Callanan, Martha
+C. Callanan, Mrs. Caroline A. Ingham, Narcissa T. Bemis, Margaret
+W. Campbell. When the society was organized, in 1870, it declared
+itself independent and remained thus until 1879, when, by a small
+vote, it was made auxiliary to the American Association. The
+officers for 1885 are: _President_, Mrs. M. W. Campbell, Des
+Moines; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Eliza H. Hunter, Des Moines; _Recording
+Secretary_, Mrs. Jennie Wilson, Cedar Rapids; _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Mrs. Martha C. Callanan, Des Moines; _Executive
+Committee_, Mary J. Coggeshall, _Chairman_; R. Amanda Stewart,
+Harriet G. Bellanger, Des Moines; Orilla M. James, Knoxville;
+Florence English, Grinnell; Ellen Armstrong, Ottumwa; Narcissa T.
+Bemis, Independence; Angeline Allison, Cedar Rapids; Elizabeth P.
+Gue, Des Moines.
+
+[414] At the State Fair held September, 1885, at Des Moines, the
+women had a very handsomely decorated booth where they received
+many hundred calls, distributed an immense amount of suffrage
+literature, obtained a thousand signatures to a petition to the
+legislature and wrote notes of the fair for various newspapers, in
+all of which woman suffrage was freely discussed.
+
+[415] In literature there is "Europe through a Woman's Eye," by
+Mrs. Cutler of Burlington; "The Waverly Dictionary," by Miss May
+Rogers, Dubuque; "Common-School Compendium," by Mrs. Lamphere, Des
+Moines; "Hospital Life," by Mrs. Sarah Young, Des Moines; "Wee
+Folks of No Man's Land," by Mrs. Wetmore, Dubuque; "Two of Us," by
+Calista Patchin, Des Moines; "For Girls," by Mrs. E. R. Shepherd,
+Marshalltown; "Autumn Leaves," by Mrs. Scott, Greencastle;
+"Phonetic Pronunciation," by Mrs. Henderson, Salem; "Her Lovers,"
+by Miss Claggett, Keokuk; "Practical Ethics," by Matilda Fletcher.
+There are several writers of cook-books, of medical and sanitary
+papers, of poems, of legal papers and of musical compositions. Miss
+Adeline M. Payne of Nevada has compiled catalogues of stock.
+
+[416] Miss Anthony has given her lecture, entitled "Woman Wants
+Bread, not the Ballot," in over one hundred of the cities and
+villages of the State; and Mrs. Stanton and the others have
+doubtless lectured in fully as many places.
+
+[417] See New York chapter, page 401.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+WISCONSIN.
+
+     Progressive Legislation--The Rights of Married Women--The
+     Constitution Shows Four Classes Having the Right to Vote--Woman
+     Suffrage Agitation--C. L. Sholes' Minority Report, 1856--Judge
+     David Noggle and J. T. Mills' Minority Report, 1859--State
+     Association Formed, 1869--Milwaukee Convention--Dr. Laura
+     Ross--Hearing Before the Legislature--Convention in Janesville,
+     1870--State University--Elizabeth R. Wentworth--Suffrage
+     Amendment, 1880, '81, '82--Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine,
+     1877--Madame Anneke--Judge Ryan--Three Days' Convention at
+     Racine, 1883--Eveleen L. Mason--Dr. Sarah Munro--Rev. Dr.
+     Corwin--Lavinia Goodell, Lawyer--Angie King--Kate Kane.
+
+
+For this digest of facts in regard to the progress of woman in
+Wisconsin we are indebted to Dr. Laura Ross Wolcott,[418] who was
+probably the first woman to practice medicine in a Western State.
+She was in Philadelphia during all the contest about the admission
+of women to hospitals and mixed classes, maintained her dignity and
+self-respect in the midst of most aggravating persecutions, and was
+graduated with high honors in 1856 from the Woman's Medical College
+of Pennsylvania, of which Ann Preston,[419] M. D., was professor
+for nineteen years, six years dean of the faculty, and four years
+member of the board of incorporators. After graduation Laura Ross
+spent two years in study abroad, and, returning, commenced practice
+in Milwaukee, where she has been ever since.
+
+     By an act of Congress approved May 29, 1848, Wisconsin was
+     admitted to the Union. Its diversity of soil and timber, the
+     healthfulness of its climate and the purity of its waters,
+     attracted people from the New England and Middle States, who
+     brought with them fixed notions as to moral conduct and political
+     action, and no little repugnance to many of the features of the
+     old common law. Hence in Wisconsin's territorial conventions and
+     legislative assemblies many of the progressive ideas of the East
+     were incorporated into her statutes. Failing to lift married
+     women into any solid position of independence, the laws yet gave
+     them certain protective rights concerning the redemption of lands
+     sold for taxes, and the right to dispose of any estate less than
+     a fee without the husband's consent. In case of divorce the wife
+     was entitled to her personal estate, dower and alimony, and with
+     the consent of her husband she could devise her real estate. She
+     was entitled to dower in any lands of which the husband was
+     seized during marriage. Gen. A. W. Randall was active in making
+     the first digest and compilation of the laws of Wisconsin.
+
+     The legislature of 1850 was composed of notably intelligent men.
+     Nelson Dewey was governor, Moses M. Strong, a leading lawyer,
+     speaker of the Assembly, and the late Col. Samuel W. Beal,
+     lieutenant-governor. Early in the session a bill was introduced,
+     entitled "An act to provide for the protection of married women
+     in the enjoyment of their own property," which provoked a stormy
+     debate. Some saw the dissolution of marriage ties in the
+     destruction of the old common-law doctrine that "husband and wife
+     are one, and that one the husband"; while arguments were made in
+     its favor by Hon. David Noggle, George Crasey, and others.
+     Conservative judges held that the right to own property did not
+     entitle married women to convey it; therefore in 1858 the law was
+     amended, giving further security to the wife to transact business
+     in her own name, if her husband was profligate and failed to
+     support her; but not until 1872 did the law protect a married
+     woman in her right to transact business, make contracts, possess
+     her separate earnings, and sue and be sued in her own name. The
+     legislature of 1878 reenacted all the former laws; and married
+     women may now hold, convey and devise real estate; make contracts
+     and transact business in their own names; and join with their
+     husbands in a deed, without being personally liable in the
+     covenants. In the matter of homesteads, the husband cannot convey
+     or encumber without the signature of the wife, and thus a liberal
+     provision is always secure for her and the children.
+
+     By the law of 1878, if the husband dies leaving no children and
+     no will, his entire estate descends to his widow.[420] If the
+     owner of a homestead dies intestate and without children, the
+     homestead descends, free of judgments and claims--except
+     mortgages and mechanics' liens--to his widow; if he leaves
+     children, the widow retains a life interest in the homestead,
+     continuing until her marriage or death.
+
+     Thus from the organization of the State, Wisconsin has steadily
+     advanced in relieving married women from the disabilities of the
+     old common law. The same liberal spirit which has animated her
+     legislators has admitted women to equality of opportunities in
+     the State University at Madison; elected them as county
+     superintendents of public schools; appointed them on the State
+     board of charities, and as State commissioners to a foreign
+     exposition;[421] and welcomed them to the professions of
+     medicine, law and the ministry.
+
+     By the constitution of Wisconsin the right of suffrage was
+     awarded to four classes of citizens, twenty-one years and over,
+     who have resided in the State for one year next preceding an
+     election.
+
+     _First_--Citizens of the United States.
+
+     _Second_--Persons of foreign birth who have declared their
+     intention to become citizens of the United States.
+
+     _Third_--Persons of Indian blood who have already been declared
+     by act of congress citizens of the United States.
+
+     _Fourth_--Civilized persons of Indian descent who are not members
+     of any tribe.
+
+     While thus careful to provide for all males, savage and
+     civilized, down to one thousand Indians outside their tribe, the
+     constitution in no way recognizes the women of the State,
+     one-half its civilized citizens. However, the question of woman
+     suffrage was early agitated in this State, and its advocates were
+     able men. In 1856 there was an able minority report published,
+     from C. L. Sholes, of the Committee on Expiration and Reenactment
+     of Laws, to whom were referred sundry petitions praying that
+     steps might be taken to confer upon women the right of suffrage.
+     In 1857, there was another favorable minority report by Judge
+     David Noggle, and J. T. Mills. It has been twice considered by
+     the legislatures of 1868-69, and 1880-81, failing each time by a
+     small majority. A constitutional amendment is supposed by some to
+     be necessary to effect this needed reform, but the legislature is
+     competent to pass a bill declaring women possessed of the right
+     to vote, without any constitutional amendment. The legislature of
+     New York all through the century has extended the right of
+     suffrage to certain classes and deprived others of its exercise,
+     without changing the constitution. The power of the legislature
+     which represents the people is anterior to the constitution, as
+     the people through their representatives make the constitution.
+
+     The women, both German and American, awoke to action and
+     organized a local suffrage society at Janesville in 1868. _The
+     Revolution_ said:
+
+          From the report of a recent convention held in Janesville,
+          we find the leading men and women of that city have formed
+          an Impartial Suffrage organization, and are resolved to make
+          all their citizens equal before the law. Able addresses were
+          made by the Rev. S. Farrington, Rev. Sumner Ellis, and a
+          stirring appeal issued to the people of the State, signed by
+          Hon. J. T. Dow, G. B. Hickox, Mrs. J. H. Stillman, Joseph
+          Baker and Mrs. F. Harris Reed. Mrs. Paulina J. Roberts of
+          Racine, a practical farmer in a very large sense, delivered
+          an address which was justly complimented.
+
+     The first popular convention held in Wisconsin, with national
+     speakers, convened in Milwaukee February 15, 16, 1869.[422] The
+     bill then pending in the legislature to submit the question of
+     woman suffrage to the electors of the State added interest to
+     this occasion. Parker Pillsbury, in _The Revolution_, said:
+
+          The Wisconsin convention seems to have been quite equal in
+          all respects to its predecessors at Chicago and other
+          places. Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony were accompanied to
+          Milwaukee by Mrs. Livermore, a new Western star of "bright
+          particular effulgence," and the proceedings throughout were
+          characterized by argument, eloquence and interest beyond
+          anything of the kind ever witnessed there before. The
+          Milwaukee papers teem with accounts of it, most of them of
+          very friendly tone and spirit, even if opposed to the
+          objects under consideration. The _Evening Wisconsin_ said,
+          if any one supposed for an instant that the call for a
+          Woman's Suffrage convention would draw out only that class
+          known as strong-minded, such a one was never more deceived
+          in his or her life. At the opening of the convention[423]
+          yesterday, the City Hall was crowded with as highly
+          intelligent an audience of ladies and gentlemen as ever
+          gathered there before.
+
+     Mrs. Stanton spoke at the evening session to an immense audience
+     on the following resolutions:
+
+          _Resolved_, That a man's government is worse than a white
+          man's government, because in proportion as you increase the
+          rulers you make the condition of the ostracised more
+          hopeless and degraded.
+
+          _Resolved_, That, as the cry of a "white man's government"
+          created an antagonism between the Irish and the negro,
+          culminating in the New York riots of '63, so the Republican
+          cry of "Manhood Suffrage" creates an antagonism between the
+          black man and all women, and will culminate in fearful
+          outrages on womanhood, especially in the Southern States.
+
+          _Resolved_, That by the establishment of an aristocracy of
+          sex in the District of Columbia, by the introduction of the
+          word "male" into the Federal Constitution in Article 14,
+          Section 2, and by the proposition now pending to enforce
+          manhood suffrage in all the States of the Union, the
+          Republican party has been guilty of three excessively
+          arbitrary acts, three retrogressive steps in legislation,
+          alike invidious and insulting to woman, and suicidal to the
+          nation.
+
+     Miss Anthony followed showing that every advance step in manhood
+     suffrage added to woman's degradation. Quite a number of ladies
+     and gentlemen[424] of Wisconsin spoke well of the various
+     sessions of the convention. Altogether it was a most enthusiastic
+     meeting, and the press and the pulpit did their part to keep up
+     the discussion for many weeks after.
+
+     These resolutions, readily passed in the Milwaukee convention,
+     had been rejected at all others held in the West during this
+     campaign, although Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony had earnestly
+     advocated them everywhere. They early foresaw exactly what has
+     come to pass, and did their uttermost to rouse women to the
+     danger of having their enfranchisement indefinitely postponed.
+     They warned them that the debate once closed on negro suffrage,
+     and the amendments passed, the question would not be opened again
+     for a generation. But their warnings were unheeded. The fair
+     promises of Republicans and Abolitionists that, the negro
+     question settled, they would devote themselves to woman's
+     enfranchisement, deceived and silenced the majority. How well
+     they have kept their promises is fully shown in the fact that
+     although twenty years have passed, the political status of woman
+     remains unchanged. The Abolitionists have drifted into other
+     reforms, and the Republicans devote themselves to more
+     conservative measures. The Milwaukee convention was adjourned to
+     Madison, where Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony
+     addressed the legislature, Gov. Fairchild presiding.
+
+     In 1870, March 16, 17, a large and enthusiastic convention was
+     held at Janesville, in Lappin's Hall. Rev. Dr. Maxon, Lilia
+     Peckham and Mrs. Stanton were among the speakers. After this, the
+     latter being on a lyceum trip, spoke in many of the chief cities
+     of the State and drew general attention to the question.
+
+     The following clear statement of the petty ways in which girls
+     can be defrauded of their rights to a thorough education by
+     narrow, bigoted men entrusted with a little brief authority, is
+     from the pen of Lilia Peckham, a young girl of great promise, who
+     devoted her rare talents to the suffrage movement. Her early
+     death was an irreparable loss to the women of Wisconsin:[425]
+
+          ED. NEWS:--We find proofs at every step that one class
+          cannot legislate for another, the rich for the poor, nor men
+          for women.
+
+          The State University, supported by the taxes of the people
+          and for the benefit of the people, should offer equal
+          advantages to men and women. By amendment of the
+          Constitution in 1867, it was declared that the University
+          shall be open to female as well as male students, under such
+          regulations and restrictions as the board of regents may
+          deem proper. At first the students recited together, but Mr.
+          Chadbourne made it a condition of accepting the presidency
+          that they should be separated. I do not speak of the
+          separation of the sexes to find fault. I conceive that if
+          equal advantages be given women by the State, whether in
+          connection with or apart from men, they have no ground for
+          complaint. My object is to compare the advantages given to
+          the sexes and see the practical effect of legislation by men
+          alone in this department. From all the facts that are now
+          pressed upon us, confused, contradictory and obscure, we
+          begin to obtain a glimpse of the general law that informs
+          them. The University has a college of arts (including the
+          department of agriculture, of engraving and military
+          tactics), a college of letters, preparatory department, law
+          department, post-graduate course, last and certainly least,
+          a female college. The faculty and board of instructors
+          number twenty-one. The college of arts has nine professors,
+          one of natural philosophy, one each of mental philosophy,
+          modern languages, rhetoric, chemistry, mathematics,
+          agriculture, and comparative anatomy, and a tutor. In the
+          department of engineering is an officer of the United States
+          Army. In the college of letters is the same faculty, with
+          the addition of William F. Allen, professor of ancient
+          languages and history, one coming from a family of scholarly
+          teachers and thoroughly fitted for his post. In the law
+          department are such names as L. S. Dixon and Byron Paine.
+
+          Read now the names composing the faculty of the female
+          college, Paul A. Chadbourne, M. D., president; T. N.
+          Haskell, professor of rhetoric and English literature; Miss
+          Elizabeth Earle, preceptress; Miss Brown, teacher of music;
+          Miss Eliza Brewster, teacher of drawing and painting.
+          Compare these faculties and note what provision is made here
+          for the sciences and languages. Look at the course of
+          instruction in the college of arts. During the first year
+          the men study higher algebra, conic sections, plane
+          trigonometry, German (Otto's) botany, Gibbon's Rome. In the
+          college of letters the course is similar, but more attention
+          is given to classical studies; to Livy, Xenophon and Horace.
+          During the same years in the female college, they are
+          studying higher arithmetic, elementary algebra, United
+          States history, grammar, geography and map drawing. Truly a
+          high standard! The studies in the first term of the
+          preparatory department (to which none can be admitted under
+          twelve years of age) are identical with those in the female
+          college at the same time, except the Latin. Indeed, I cannot
+          see why it would not be an advantage to the students of the
+          female college to go into the preparatory department during
+          their first college year, since they can get their own
+          course with geometry added, and if they stay three years a
+          proportional amount of Latin and Greek. I could compare the
+          whole course in the same way, but my time and the reader's
+          patience would fail. There is no hint either of any thorough
+          prescribed course in any of the languages. In the first and
+          fourth year no foreign language is put down. In each term of
+          the second year French and Latin are written as elective,
+          the same for Latin or German in the third. This is a
+          wretched course at the best. I have no faith in a course set
+          down so loosely as "Latin" instead of being defined as to
+          what course of Latin, and what authors are read. In that
+          case we know exactly how much is required and expected, and
+          what the standard of scholarship. In the college of letters
+          we know that they go from Livy to Cicero on Old Age, then to
+          Horace and Tacitus. Similar definiteness would be
+          encouraging in the female catalogue. Its absence gives us
+          every reason to believe that the course does not amount to
+          enough to add any reputation to the college by being known.
+          Under the head of special information we are told that in
+          addition to this prescribed course of "thorough education
+          young ladies will be instructed in any optional study taught
+          in the college of letters or arts, for which they are
+          prepared." By optional I understand any of the studies
+          marked elective, since they are the only optional studies.
+          In the college of letters there is but one, and that is the
+          calculus. In the college of arts the optional studies are
+          generally, not always, those that they could not be prepared
+          for in the course prescribed by their own college. Under the
+          head of degrees we find a long account of the A. B., A. M.,
+          P. B., S. B., S. M., L. B., Ph. D., to which the fortunate
+          gentlemen are entitled after so much study. Lastly, the
+          students of the female college may receive "such appropriate
+          degrees as the regents may determine." I wonder how often
+          that solemn body deliberates as to whether a girl shall be
+          A. B., P. B., or A. M., or whether they ever give them any
+          degree at all. It makes little difference. With such a
+          college course a degree means nothing, and only serves to
+          cheapen what may be well earned by the young men of the
+          college.
+
+     In 1870, the stockholders of the Milwaukee Female College elected
+     three women on their board of trustees: Mrs. Wm. P. Lynde, Mrs.
+     Wm. Delos Love and Mrs. John Nazro. This is the first time in the
+     history of the institution that women have been represented in
+     the board of trustees.
+
+     Elizabeth R. Wentworth was an earnest and excellent writer and
+     kept up a healthy agitation through the columns of her husband's
+     paper at Racine.
+
+                                        RACINE, August 4, 1875.
+
+          MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: Would it not be well for us women to
+          accept the hint afforded by these Englishmen, and bind
+          ourselves together by a constitution and by-laws. By so
+          doing we might sooner be enabled to secure the rights which
+          men seem so persistently determined to withhold from us.
+          Very respectfully yours,
+
+                                   E. R. WENTWORTH.
+
+     The growing strength of woman suffrage in England has caused
+     considerable commotion in that country, among officials and
+     others. Its growth has led the men to form a club in opposition
+     to it, composed of such men as Mr. Bouverie, a noted member of
+     Parliament; Sir Henry James, late attorney-general; Mr. Childers,
+     late first lord of the admiralty.
+
+     The formation of this club calls out a few words from Mrs.
+     Stanton, who sarcastically says:
+
+          Is not this the first organized resistance in the history of
+          the race, against the encroachment of women; the first manly
+          confession by those high in authority--by lords,
+          attorney-generals, sirs, and gentlemen--of fear at the
+          progressive steps of the daughters of men? These
+          conservative gentlemen had no doubt found Lady Amberly,
+          Lydia Becker, and Mrs. Fawcett too much for them in debate;
+          they had probably winced under the satire of Frances Power
+          Cobbe, and trembled before the annually swelling lists of
+          suffrage petitions. Single-handed they saw they were
+          helpless against this incoming tide of feminine
+          persuasiveness, and so it seems they called a meeting of
+          faint-hearted men, and bound themselves together by a
+          constitution and by-laws to protect the franchise from the
+          encroachment of women.
+
+     In the legislature of 1880, the proposition to submit an
+     amendment for woman suffrage to a vote of the people, passed both
+     Houses. In 1881 it passed one branch and was lost in the other.
+     Senator Simpson introduced another bill in 1882[426] which was
+     lost. These successive defeats discouraged the women and they
+     instructed their friends in the legislature to make no further
+     attempts for a constitutional amendment, because they had not the
+     slightest hope of its passage.
+
+     The growing interest in the temperance question at this time
+     produced some divisions in the suffrage ranks. Some thought it
+     had been one of the greatest obstacles to the success of the
+     suffrage cause, rousing the opposition of a very large and
+     influential class. Millions of dollars are invested in this State
+     in breweries and distilleries, and members are elected to the
+     legislature to watch these interests. Knowing the terrible
+     sufferings of women and children through intemperance, they
+     naturally infer that the ballot in the hands of women would be
+     inimical to their interests, hence the opposition of this wealthy
+     and powerful class to the suffrage movement. Others thought the
+     agitation was an advantage, especially in bringing the women in
+     the temperance movement to a sense of their helplessness to
+     effect any reform without a voice in the laws. They thought, too,
+     that the power behind the liquor interests was readily outweighed
+     by the moral influence of the best men and women in the State,
+     especially as the church began to feel some responsibility in the
+     question. The Milwaukee _Wisconsin_ of June 4, 1883, gives this
+     interesting item:
+
+          The Rev. Father Mahoney, of St. John's Cathedral, preached a
+          temperance sermon to a large concourse of people yesterday
+          morning, in which he heartily indorsed the action of Mayor
+          Stowell in his war against the ordinary saloon, and declared
+          that he should be reelected. He also said that the men who
+          opposed him were covering themselves with infamy, and that
+          he could not conscientiously administer the sacraments to
+          any saloon-keeper who refused to obey the commands of the
+          Church or the laws of the State concerning the good order
+          and welfare of the city. The sermon caused quite a stir, and
+          was much discussed in secular as well as religious circles.
+
+     The State Association[427] has maintained an unswerving course,
+     between fanatacism and ultra-conservatism. Since 1869 it has
+     stood as on the watch-tower, quick to see opportunities, and ever
+     ready to cooeperate with the legislative bodies in the State, and
+     well may we be proud of our achievements when we remember that by
+     the census of 1870 Wisconsin is the first foreign and the second
+     Roman Catholic State in the Union, and that at our centennial
+     exposition in 1876 our public schools stood number one.
+
+     Rev. Olympia Brown Willis moved into the State of Wisconsin in
+     1877, and became pastor of the church of the Good Shepherd, in
+     Racine, and exerted a wide influence, not only as a liberal
+     theologian, but as an earnest advocate of suffrage for woman. As
+     a result of her efforts a most successful Woman's Council was
+     held in Racine, March 26, 1883, alternating in the church of the
+     Good Shepherd and Blake's Opera House. One of the chief
+     speakers[428] was Dr. Corwin, pastor of the First Presbyterian
+     Church, who was also on the managing committee. The cordiality of
+     many of the western clergy, in strong contrast with those in the
+     east, makes their favorable action worthy of comment, though the
+     liberality of the few is of little avail until in their
+     ecclesiastical assemblies, as organizations, they declare the
+     equality of woman not only before the law, but in all the offices
+     of the church. Mrs. Katharine R. Doud was chosen president of the
+     convention; Mrs. Olin gave the address of welcome, to which Mrs.
+     Sewall responded. Mrs. Doud, in the _Advocate_, thus sums up the
+     three days' meetings:
+
+          During the past week a woman's council has been held in
+          Racine, the success of which has been most noticeable. The
+          different sessions have been attended by large audiences of
+          intelligent men and women, who have very thoughtfully and
+          carefully weighed and discussed the various questions under
+          consideration.
+
+          From the beginning to the end there has never been a hitch
+          or jar; the myriad wheels of the machinery required to make
+          smooth the workings of such large assemblies have moved so
+          quietly, and have been so well oiled and in such perfect
+          order as to be absolutely unnoticed; really, one might have
+          been tempted to feel that the machine had no master, no
+          controlling hand.
+
+          But now that the council is over; now that we can pause and
+          begin to estimate the good that has been done; now that the
+          seed is sown, from which, please God, a grand harvest shall
+          be reaped--now we can look back and see how one brain has
+          planned it all. One clear-eyed, far-seeing will gathered
+          together these women of genius, who have been with us; one
+          practical, mathematical brain made all estimates of expense,
+          and accepted all risks of failure; one hospitable heart
+          received a house full of guests, and induced others to be
+          hospitable likewise; and one earnest, prayerful soul--and
+          this the best of all--besought and entreated God's blessing
+          upon the work. Need we tell you where to find this
+          master-hand which has planned so wisely? the strong will,
+          the clear brain, the warm heart, the pure soul? We all know
+          her; she is indeed a noble woman, and her name--let us
+          whisper lest she hear--is Olympia Brown Willis.
+
+     The following sketch of the leading events of her life, shows how
+     active and useful she has been in all her public and private
+     relations:
+
+          Olympia Brown was born in Kalamazoo county, Michigan,
+          January 5, 1835. At the age of fifteen she began to teach
+          school during the winter months, attending school herself in
+          the summer. At eighteen she entered Holyoke seminary, but
+          finding the advantages there inadequate for a thorough
+          education, her parents removed, for her benefit, to Yellow
+          Springs, Ohio, where she entered Antioch college, Horace
+          Mann, one of the best educators of his day, being president.
+          There her ambition was thoroughly satisfied, and she was
+          graduated with honor in 1860. She then entered Canton
+          Theological school, was graduated in 1863, and, duly
+          ordained as a Universalist minister, commenced preaching in
+          Marshfield and Montpelier, Vermont, often walking fifteen
+          miles to fill her appointments. In 1864 she was regularly
+          installed over her first parish at Weymouth, Massachusetts.
+          Her energy and fidelity soon raised that feeble society into
+          one of numbers and influence.
+
+          In 1869, she accepted a call to Bridgeport, Connecticut,
+          where she remained seven years. In 1878, with her husband,
+          John Henry Willis, and two children she removed to Racine,
+          Wisconsin, where she became pastor of the church of the Good
+          Shepherd, without the promise of a dollar. The church had
+          been given up as hopeless by several men in succession,
+          because of the influence of the Orthodox theological
+          seminary. But she soon gathered large audiences and earnest
+          members about her; established a Sunday school, had courses
+          of lectures in her church during the winter, which she made
+          quite profitable financially for the church, beside
+          educating the people. Outside her profession she has also
+          done a grand work, in temperance and woman suffrage.[429]
+          She is rarely out of her own pulpit; has generally been
+          superintendent of her own Sunday school, and head of the
+          young ladies' club, doing at all times more varied duties
+          than any man would deem possible, and with all this she is a
+          pattern wife, mother and housekeeper, and her noble husband,
+          while carrying on a successful business of his own, stands
+          ever ready to second her endeavors with generous aid and
+          wise counsel, another instance of the happy homes among the
+          "strong minded."
+
+     Among the estimable women who have been identified with the cause
+     of woman suffrage in this country, Mathilde Franziska Anneke, a
+     German lady, is worthy of mention:
+
+          She was born in Westphalia, April 3, 1817. Her childhood was
+          passed in happy conditions in a home of luxury, where she
+          received a liberal education, yet her married life was
+          encompassed with trials and disappointments. From her own
+          experiences she learned the injustice of the laws for
+          married women and early devoted her pen to the redress of
+          their wrongs. Her articles appeared in leading journals of
+          Germany and awoke many minds to the consideration of the
+          social and civil condition of woman.
+
+          She was identified with the liberal movement of '48, her
+          home being the resort for many of the leaders of the
+          revolution. She published a liberal paper which freely
+          discussed all the abuses of the government, a whole edition
+          of which was destroyed. At length denounced by the
+          government, she secretly made here escape from Cologne, and
+          joined her husband at the head of his command in active
+          preparation for a struggle against the Prussians.
+
+          She immediately declared her determination to share the
+          toils of the expedition. Accordingly Col. Anneke appointed
+          her _Tolpfofsort_, the duties of which she continued to
+          discharge to the end of the campaign. In one of her works
+          published in 1853, she has given a graphic description of
+          the disastrous termination of the revolution, of their
+          flight into France, of their expulsion from France and
+          Switzerland, and of their final determination to come to the
+          United States.
+
+          They reached New York in the fall of 1849. Madame Anneke
+          lectured in most of the Eastern cities on the social and
+          civil condition of women, claiming for them the right of
+          suffrage and more liberal education. She also published a
+          woman's journal in New York, and was soon recognized as one
+          of the earnest representative women in America. For many
+          years she made her home in Milwaukee, where she taught a
+          successful school for young ladies. Madame Anneke, a widow
+          with one son and two daughters, lived quietly the closing
+          years of her life, and in death found the peace and rest she
+          had never known in her busy life on earth.
+
+     Prof. G. S. Albee, president of the State Normal School at
+     Oshkosh, is a firm friend and outspoken advocate of equal right
+     of the sexes to all the privileges of education, not excepting
+     the education of the ballot-box. John Bascom, president of the
+     Wisconsin University, has been an advocate of suffrage for women
+     many years. While connected with Williams College he worked to
+     secure the admission of women thereto. As one of a committee of
+     five to whom the matter was referred, he, together with David
+     Dudley Field, presented a minority report favoring their
+     admission. Since he has been at the head of our State University
+     he has been in perfect sympathy with its liberal coeducational
+     policy, and has insured to the young women equal advantages in
+     every respect with the young men. To his wise management may be
+     attributed the success of higher coeducation in Wisconsin. He
+     gave an able and scholarly address before our convention at
+     Madison in '82, and is always found ready to speak for woman
+     suffrage, both in public and private. His influence has done much
+     for the advancement of the cause in our State. A cordial letter
+     was received from Mrs. Bascom at the last Washington convention,
+     which was listened to with interest and prized by the officers of
+     the National Association:
+
+                                      MADISON, Wis., January 16, 1885.
+
+          MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I am sorry I cannot be present and
+          meet the many wise and great women who will respond to your
+          call for the Seventeenth Annual Convention.
+
+          What a glorious record these words reveal of unwavering
+          faith in the right, and heroic persistency in its pursuit on
+          one side, and what blindness of prejudice and selfishness of
+          power on the other. The struggle has indeed been a long one,
+          and yet no other moral movement involving so many and so
+          great social changes ever made more rapid progress. You and
+          your fellow-laborers are truly to be congratulated on the
+          full and abundant harvest your faithful seed-sowing has
+          brought to humanity. The irrational sentiment, based upon
+          the methods and customs of barbarous times, is rapidly
+          yielding to reason. The world is learning--women are
+          learning--that character, even womanly character, does not
+          suffer from too much breadth of thought, or from too active
+          a sympathy in human interests and human affairs, but is ever
+          enriched by a larger circle of ideas, larger experience, and
+          more extended activities.
+
+          The advance of women in position and influence has been
+          especially great during the past year, and in directions
+          especially cheering and hopeful to the heart of every woman.
+          In national political conventions, as your call so justly
+          says, she has "actively participated in the discussion of
+          candidates, platforms and principles." The last mile-stone
+          before the goal has been reached and passed!
+
+          Your convention will offer the final opportunity to the
+          Republican party. Will it be wise enough to seize it for
+          self preservation, if not from principle? Will there be
+          found in this party enough of spiritual life to lay hold of
+          the help now proffered it, and once more renew its strength
+          thereby? Or will it, as so repeatedly in the past, turn a
+          deaf ear to reason, and still continue to deny the rights of
+          half the human family? If so, if it continue deaf, dumb and
+          blind, then the Republican party has no longer any function,
+          and the power of government will pass forever from its
+          hands. The sixteenth amendment to the national constitution
+          is coming, but it will be the crown of blessing and of fame
+          of another party that will inaugurate this era in social
+          life! I take the liberty to send loving greetings to you and
+          the convention in the name of our Wisconsin Equal Suffrage
+          society. I hope our bright, eloquent Rev. Olympia Brown will
+          be with you. Of Wisconsin's eleven representatives in
+          congress, I am happy to make honorable mention, as
+          broad-minded advocates of our cause, of three, Cameron,
+          Price and Stephenson. In earnest sympathy with the object
+          and method of the convention, and with high regard for
+          yourself, I remain yours truly,
+
+                                                       EMMA C. BASCOM.
+
+     In this, as in many other States there was a prolonged struggle
+     over the equal rights of women in the courts. The first woman to
+     practice law in Wisconsin was Lavinia Goodell. She was admitted
+     in the First Judicial Circuit Court, June 17, 1874, Judge H. S.
+     Conger, presiding. She commenced practicing in Janesville. The
+     following year she had a case which was appealed to the Supreme
+     Court. When the appeal was made, Miss Goodell applied to the
+     Supreme Court for the right to go with her case. She argued her
+     own case and based her claim upon a statute which provides, "That
+     words of the masculine gender may be applied to females; unless
+     such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest
+     intention of the legislature." After she had shown clearly that
+     she had an equal right in the courts in an able and unanswerable
+     argument, Judge Ryan considered her application for two months
+     and rendered an adverse decision. As a result of the agitation
+     induced by this case, the legislature of 1877 passed a law that
+     "no person shall be refused admission to the bar of this State on
+     account of sex," thus showing the power of the legislative branch
+     of the government to over-ride all judicial decisions. Miss
+     Goodell immediately commenced practice in the Supreme Court. She
+     reviewed the judicial decision with keen satire,[430] and ably
+     illustrated the comparative capacity of an educated man and woman
+     to reason logically on American jurisprudence and constitutional
+     law.
+
+     In the early part of 1879 Kate Kane and Angie J. King were
+     admitted to the bar. Miss Kane studied in a law office and in the
+     law school of Michigan University. She practiced in Milwaukee
+     until 1883, when she located in Chicago. Miss King practices in
+     Janesville and was at first associated with Miss Goodell, under
+     the name of Goodell & King. Cora Hurtz, Oshkosh, was admitted and
+     began practice in 1882.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[418] Mrs. Wolcott is a remarkable woman, of rare intelligence,
+keen moral perceptions and most imposing presence. Much of her
+success in life is due no doubt to her gracious manners. Her
+graceful figure, classic face, rich voice and choice language make
+her attractive in the best social circles, as well as in the
+laboratory and lecture-room. She is a perfect housekeeper and a
+most hospitable hostess. Having enjoyed many visits at her
+beautiful home I can speak alike of her public and domestic
+virtues.--[E. C. S.
+
+[419] See Vol. I., page 389.
+
+[420] During a visit with my school-friend, Mrs. Elizabeth Ford
+Proudfit, at Madison, in 1879, I heard a great deal said of the
+injustice of this law as illustrated in two notable cases of widows
+in the enjoyment of their husbands' entire estates, while the dead
+men's relatives, many of them, were living in poverty. This was
+most shocking! though widowers, from time immemorial, have
+possessed the life-earnings and inheritance of their wives, while
+the dead women's mothers and sisters were starving and freezing
+within sight of the luxurious homes that rightfully belonged to
+them! It makes a mighty odds whose ox is gored--the widower's or
+the widow's!--[S. B. A.
+
+[421] In 1867 the governor, General Lucius Fairchild, appointed
+Laura J. Ross, M. D., as commissioner to the World's Exposition in
+Paris. In 1871 Mrs. Mary E. Lynde was appointed on the State Board
+of Charities and Corrections by Governor Fairchild.
+
+[422] The committee on resolutions were: Dr. Laura J. Ross, N. S.
+Murphey, Mrs. Livermore, Madame Annecke, Geo. W Peckham and Rev.
+Mr. Gannett. The officers of the convention were: _President_, Rev.
+Miss Augusta J. Chapin; _Vice-Presidents_, O. P. Wolcott, M. D.,
+Laura J. Ross, M. D., and Madame Matilde F. Annecke; _Secretary_,
+Miss Lilia Peckham.
+
+[423] For a further description of this convention see Mrs.
+Stanton's letters from _The Revolution_, Vol. I., page 873.
+
+[424] Miss Lilia Peckham, G. W. Peckham, esq., Mrs. Mary A.
+Livermore, Madam Matilde Annecke, Rev. Augusta J. Chapin, Rev. Mr.
+Eddy, Rev. Mr. English, Rev. Mr. Fallows.
+
+[425] Miss Lilia Peckham died in Milwaukee, the city of her
+residence. She had been ill but a few weeks, her physicians
+considering her recovery certain up to within an hour of her death;
+but a sudden and unlooked-for change took place. One of the truest,
+purest and best spirits we have ever met has thus passed from earth
+to heaven. All who met her soon came to appreciate her gifted
+nature, her rare talent and spiritual insight. But only those who
+knew her well can bear witness to her wonderful unselfishness, her
+remorseless honesty of speech and deed, the loftiness of her ideal
+and the beauty of her womanly soul. The Milwaukee _Sentinel_ closes
+a brief obituary notice of our friend and co-worker as follows:
+
+"This talented young woman is well known throughout the country as
+an earnest advocate of the woman's rights movement. Only a few
+weeks since she made a successful tour through the West, speaking
+in various city pulpits. Fearlessly she spoke all that she had come
+to feel was truth, though it shook the very foundations of old
+creeds and ideas. Many efforts from her scholarly pen attest to her
+devotion to every onward movement of the hour. She was to have
+entered the Cambridge Divinity School early in the present autumn,
+having chosen the ministry for her life-work. That a life so full
+of promise of usefulness should be so suddenly stopped is
+irreconcilable with our finite judgment. It is hard to say, 'it is
+well,' though God's fact may be that this young life, with its
+beauty of character, its sisterly affection, its still larger
+sisterly sympathy with a suffering humanity, its longings and
+aspirations, its zealous strivings after the true and good, is full
+and complete _now_; still we shall mourn her loss, her brief though
+beautiful career."
+
+[426] The members of the Wisconsin Senate who voted against the
+woman suffrage amendment were: Ackley, Adams, Burrows, Chase,
+Coleman, Delaney, Flinkelberg, Flint, Kusel, Palmetier, Pingel,
+Rankin, Ryland, Smith and Van Schaick--15. No better work can be
+done by Wisconsin suffragists than to try to defeat every one of
+them at the next election. The following voted for the measure:
+Bennett, Crosby, Ellis, Hamilton, Hill, Hudd, Kingston, Meffert,
+Phillipps, Scott, Simpson, Wiley, Randall--13. Senators Wing and
+McKeeby were paired, and Senators Erwin and Richardson were absent.
+
+[427] The officers of the Wisconsin State society for 1885 were:
+_President_, Harriet T. Griswold, Columbus; _Vice-Presidents_,
+Laura Ross Wolcott, Milwaukee; Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine;
+Emma C. Bascom, Madison; F. A. Delagise, Antigo; Laura James,
+Richland Center; _Recording Secretary_, Helen R. Olin, Madison;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, M. W. Bentley, Schofield; _Treasurer_,
+Dr. Sarah R. Munro, Milwaukee; _Chairman Executive Committee_,
+Amelia B. Gray, Schofield. Among others active in the movement are
+Eliza T. Wilson, Menominee; Alura Collins, Muckwonago; Mrs. S. C.
+Burnham, Bear Valley; Sarah H. Richards, Milwaukee; Mrs. W. Trippe,
+Whitewater.
+
+[428] Eveleen Mason, May Wright Sewall, Mary A. Livermore, Dr.
+Sarah Munro, Mrs. Haggart, Mrs. K. R. Doud, Miss Comstock, the
+Grand Worthy Vice-Templar from Milwaukee, Mrs. Le Page, and Mrs.
+Amy Talbot Dunn, as Zekel's wife, made a deep impression.
+
+[429] See vol. II. page 259.
+
+[430] For her argument see _Woman's Journal_, April, 1876.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+MINNESOTA.
+
+     Girls in State University--Sarah Burger Stearns--Harriet E.
+     Bishop the First Teacher in St. Paul--Mary J. Colburn Won the
+     Prize--Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm, St. Cloud--Fourth of July
+     Oration, 1866--First Legislative Hearing, 1867--Governor Austin's
+     Veto--First Society at Rochester--Kasson--Almira W. Anthony--Mary
+     P. Wheeler--Harriet M. White--The W. C. T. U.--Harriet A.
+     Hobart--Literary and Art Clubs--School Suffrage, 1876--Charlotte
+     O. Van Cleve and Mrs. C. S. Winchell Elected to School
+     Board--Mrs. Governor Pillsbury--Temperance Vote, 1877--Property
+     Rights of Married Women--Women as Officers, Teachers, Editors,
+     Ministers, Doctors, Lawyers.
+
+
+Minnesota was formally admitted to the Union May 11, 1858. Owing to
+its high situation and dry atmosphere the State is a great resort
+for invalids, and nowhere in the world is the sun so bright, the
+sky so blue, or the moon and stars so clearly defined. Its early
+settlers were from New England; hence, the church and the
+school-house--monuments of civilization--were the first objects in
+the landscape to adorn those boundless prairies, as the red man was
+pushed still westward, and the white man seized his hunting-ground.
+
+This State is also remarkable for its admirable system of free
+schools, in which it is said there is a larger proportion of pupils
+to the population than in any other of the Western States. All
+institutions of learning have from the beginning been open alike to
+boys and girls.
+
+Mrs. Sarah Burger Stearns, to whom we are indebted for this
+chapter, was one of the first young women to apply for admission to
+the Michigan University.[431] Being denied, she finished her
+studies at the State Normal School, and in 1863 married Mr. O. P.
+Stearns, a graduate of the institution that barred its doors to
+her. Mr. Stearns, at the call of his country, went to the front,
+while his no less patriotic bride remained at home, teaching in
+the Young Ladies' Seminary at Monroe and lecturing for the benefit
+of the Soldiers' Aid Societies.
+
+The war over, they removed to Minnesota in 1866, where by lectures,
+newspaper articles, petitions and appeals to the legislature, Mrs.
+Stearns has done very much to stir the women of the State to
+thought and action upon the question of woman's enfranchisement.
+She has been the leading spirit of the State Suffrage Association,
+as well as of the local societies of Rochester and Duluth, the two
+cities in which she has resided, and also vice-president of the
+National Association since 1876. As a member of the school-board,
+she has wrought beneficent changes in the schools of Duluth. She is
+now at the head of a movement for the establishment of a home for
+women needing a place of rest and training for self-help and
+self-protection. Mrs. Stearns has the full sympathy of her husband
+and family, as she had that of her mother, Mrs. Susan C. Burger,
+whose last years were passed in the home of her daughter at Duluth.
+Mrs. Stearns writes:
+
+     The advocates of suffrage in Minnesota were so few in the early
+     days,[432] and their homes so remote from each other, that there
+     was little chance for cooeperation, hence the history of the
+     movement in this State consists more of personal efforts than of
+     conventions, legislative hearings and judicial decisions. The
+     first name worthy of note is that of Harriet E. Bishop. She was
+     invited by Rev. Thomas Williamson, M. D., a missionary among the
+     Dakotas, to come to his mission home and share in his labors in
+     1847, where she was introduced to the leading citizens of St.
+     Paul. She was the first teacher of a public school in that
+     settlement. She lectured on temperance, wrote for the daily
+     papers, and preached as a regular pastor in a Baptist pulpit. She
+     published several books, was one of the organizers of the State
+     Suffrage Association in 1881, and in 1883 rested from her labors
+     on earth.
+
+     The first lecture in the State on the "Rights and Wrongs of
+     Woman," was by Mrs. Mary J. Colburn, in the village of Champlin,
+     in 1858, the same year that Minnesota was admitted to the Union.
+     In 1864, the State officers promised two prizes for the first and
+     second best essays on "Minnesota as a Home for Emigrants,"
+     reserving to the examining committee the right to reject all
+     manuscripts offered if found unworthy. The first prize was
+     accorded to Mrs. Colburn. Most of the other competitors were men,
+     some of them members of the learned professions. Mrs. Colburn
+     says, in writing to a friend, "I am doing but little now on the
+     suffrage question, for I will not stoop longer to ask of any
+     congress or legislature for that which I know to be mine by the
+     divine law of nature."
+
+     In 1857, Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm settled at St. Cloud, where she
+     lived until 1863, editing the St. Cloud _Democrat_, the organ of
+     the Republican party, and making a heroic fight for freedom and
+     equality. In 1860 she spoke in the Hall of Representatives, on
+     Anti-slavery; in 1862 she was invited to speak before the Senate
+     on woman's rights, and was listened to with great respect.[433]
+
+     In 1866, at a Fourth of July celebration, Mrs. Stearns accepted
+     an invitation to respond to the sentiment, "Our young and growing
+     State; may she ever be an honor to her citizens." This offered
+     her an opportunity for an off-hand woman suffrage speech, which
+     elicited hearty cheers, and gave, as an old gentleman present
+     said, "something fresh to think of and act upon." About this time
+     the friends of equality began petitioning the legislature for an
+     amendment to the constitution, striking out the word "male."
+     Through the efforts of Mr. A. G. Spaulding--the editor of the
+     _Anoka Star_--and others, these petitions were referred to a
+     special committee which granted a hearing to Mrs. Colburn and
+     Mrs. Stearns in 1867. Mrs. Colburn read a carefully prepared
+     argument, and Mrs. Stearns sent a letter, both of which were
+     ordered to be printed. In 1868 a bill was introduced proposing to
+     submit the desired amendment, but when brought to a vote it was
+     defeated by a majority of one.
+
+     In March, 1869, _The Revolution_ copied from the Martin County
+     _Atlas_ the following:
+
+          Show us the man who from the bottom of his heart, laying
+          aside his prejudices and speaking the unbiased truth, will
+          not say that women should have the same rights that he
+          himself enjoys, and we will show you a narrow-minded
+          sycophant, a cruel, selfish tyrant, or one that has not the
+          moral courage to battle for a principle he knows to be just.
+          Equal rights before the law is justice to all, and the more
+          education we give our children and ourselves, as a people,
+          the sooner shall we have equal rights. May the glorious
+          cause speed on.
+
+     In 1869, a suffrage society was organized in the city of
+     Rochester, with fifty members, and another at Champlin; the homes
+     of Mrs. Stearns and Mrs. Colburn. Petitions were again circulated
+     and presented to the legislature early in the session of 1870. It
+     had not then been demonstrated by Kansas, Michigan, Colorado,
+     Nebraska and Oregon, that the votes of the ignorant classes on
+     this question would greatly outnumber those of the intelligent.
+     The legislature granted the prayer of the petitioners and passed
+     a bill for the submission of an amendment, providing that the
+     women of the State, possessing the requisite qualifications,
+     should also be allowed to vote upon the proposition, and that
+     their votes should be counted as legal. The governor, Hon. Horace
+     Austin, vetoed the bill, saying it was not passed in good faith,
+     and that the submission of the question at that time would be
+     premature. In a private letter to Mrs. Stearns, the governor
+     said: "Had the bill provided for the voting of the women, simply
+     to get an expression of their wishes upon the question, without
+     requiring their votes to be counted as legal in the adoption or
+     rejection of it, the act would not have been vetoed,
+     notwithstanding my second objection that it was premature."
+
+     In 1871, petitions to congress were circulated in Minnesota,
+     asking a declaratory act to protect the women of the nation in
+     the exercise of "the citizen's right to vote" under the new
+     guarantees of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. During
+     that year the National Woman Suffrage Association appointed Mrs.
+     Addie Ballou its vice-president for Minnesota.
+
+     In 1872 a suffrage club was formed at Kasson. Its three
+     originators[434] entered into a solemn compact with each other
+     that while they lived in that city there should always be an
+     active suffrage society until the ballot for women should be
+     obtained. Their secretary, Mrs. H. M. White, writes:
+
+          Although our club was at first called a ladies' literary
+          society, the suspicion that its members wished to vote was
+          soon whispered about. Our working members were for some
+          years few in number, and our meetings far between. But our
+          zeal never abating, we tried in later years many plans for
+          making a weekly meeting interesting. The most successful
+          was, that every one should bring something that had come to
+          her notice during the week, which she should read aloud,
+          thus furnishing topics of conversation in which all could
+          join. This never failed to make an interesting and
+          profitable meeting. And still later we invited speakers from
+          other States. In our various courses of lectures, Kasson
+          audiences have enjoyed the brave utterances of Anna
+          Dickinson, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony, and others.
+          The pulpit of Kasson we have found about evenly balanced for
+          and against us; but those claiming to be friendly generally
+          maintained a "masterly inactivity." Our editors have always
+          shown us much kindness by gratuitously advertising our
+          meetings and publishing our articles. Our members were all
+          at the first meeting after school suffrage was granted to
+          women, and one lady was elected director for a term of three
+          years. The next year another lady was elected. While they
+          were members of the board, a new and beautiful school house
+          was erected, though some men said, "nothing in the line of
+          building could be safely done until after the women's term
+          of office had expired." Our co-workers have always treated
+          us with great courtesy. In this respect our labors were as
+          pleasant as in any church work.
+
+     At a temperance convention in 1874, a woman suffrage resolution
+     was ably defended by Mrs. Julia Ballard Nelson and Mrs. Harriet
+     A. Hobart; Mrs. Asa Hutchinson, of beloved memory, also spoke at
+     this meeting.
+
+     As the women in several of the States voted on educational
+     matters, the legislature of 1875 wished to confer the same
+     privilege upon the women of Minnesota. But instead of doing so by
+     direct legislation, as the other States had done, they passed a
+     resolution submitting a proposition for an amendment to the
+     constitution to the electors of the State, as follows:
+
+          An amendment to the State constitution giving the
+          legislature power to provide by law that any woman of the
+          age of twenty-one years and upwards, may vote at any
+          election held for the purpose of choosing any officers of
+          schools; or upon any measure relating to schools; and also
+          that any such woman shall be eligible to hold any office
+          pertaining solely to the management of schools.
+
+     No effort was made to agitate the question, lest more should be
+     effected in rousing the opposition than in educating the masses
+     in the few months intervening between the passage of the bill and
+     the election in November. Mrs. Stearns, however, as the day for
+     the decision of the question approached, wishing to make sure of
+     the votes of the intelligent men of the State, wrote to the
+     editor of the _Pioneer Press_, the leading paper of Minnesota,
+     begging him to urge his readers to do all in their power to
+     secure the adoption of the amendment. The request was complied
+     with, and the editor in a private letter, thanking Mrs. Stearns,
+     said he "had quite forgotten such an amendment had been
+     proposed."
+
+     At this last moment the question was, what could be done to
+     secure the largest favorable vote. Finding that it would be
+     legal, the friends throughout the State appealed to the
+     committees of both political parties to have "For the amendment
+     of Article VII. relating to electors--Yes," printed upon all
+     their tickets. This was very generally done, and thereby the most
+     ignorant men were led to vote as they should, with the
+     intelligent, in favor of giving women a voice in the education of
+     the children of the State, while all who were really opposed
+     could scratch the "yes," and substitute a "no." When election day
+     came, November 5, 1875, the amendment was carried by a vote of
+     24,340 for, to 19,468 against. The following legislature passed
+     the necessary law, and at the spring election of 1876, the women
+     of Minnesota voted for school officers, and in several cases
+     women were elected as directors.
+
+     I have given these details because the great wonder has been how
+     the combined forces of ignorance and vice failed to vote down
+     this amendment, as they always have done every other proposition
+     for the extension of suffrage to women in this and every other
+     State where the question has been submitted to a popular vote. I
+     believe our success was largely, if not wholly, attributable to
+     our studied failure to agitate the question, and the affirmative
+     wording of all the tickets of both parties, by which our
+     bitterest opponents forgot the question was to be voted upon, and
+     the ignorant classes who could not, or did not read their
+     ballots, voted unthinkingly for the measure.
+
+     In the cities the school officers are elected at the regular
+     municipal elections usually held in the spring, while in the
+     rural districts and smaller villages they are chosen at school
+     meetings in the autumn. In East Minneapolis, Hon. Richard Chute,
+     chairman of the Republican nominating convention, having, without
+     their knowledge, secured the nomination of Mrs. Charlotte O.
+     VanCleve[435] and Mrs. Charlotte S. Winchell[436] as school
+     directors, called a meeting of the women of the city to aid in
+     their election. It was a large and enthusiastic gathering. Mrs.
+     Mary C. Peckham presided, Mrs. Stearns of Duluth, and Mrs.
+     Pillsbury, wife of the governor, made stirring speeches, after
+     which the candidates were called upon, and responded most
+     acceptably. When election day came, the names of Mrs. VanCleve
+     and Mrs. Winchell received a handsome majority of the votes of
+     their districts. A correspondent in the _Ballot-Box_ said:
+
+          The women of Minnesota are rejoicing in the measure of
+          justice vouchsafed them,--the right to vote and hold office
+          in school matters. Two hundred and seventy women voted in
+          Minneapolis, the governor's wife among others. Although it
+          rained all day they went to the polls in great numbers.
+
+     Including both East and West Minneapolis, fully 1,000 women
+     voted; and while the numbers in other cities and villages were
+     not so great, they were composed of the more intelligent. In St.
+     Charles, where Dr. Adaline Williams was elected to the
+     school-board, some of the gentlemen requested her to resign, on
+     the ground that she had not been properly elected. Her reply was,
+     "If I have not been elected, I have no need to resign; and if I
+     have been elected, I do not choose to resign." But to satisfy
+     those who doubted, she proposed that another election should be
+     held, which resulted in an overwhelming majority for the Doctor.
+
+     As the law says women are "eligible to any office pertaining
+     solely to the management of schools," one might be elected as
+     State superintendent of public instruction. There have been many
+     women elected to the office of county superintendent, and in
+     several counties they have been twice reelected,[437] and
+     wherever women have held school offices, they have been reported
+     as doing efficient service. Although the law provided that women
+     might "vote at any election for the purpose of choosing any
+     officers of schools," the attorney-general gave an opinion that
+     it did not entitle them to vote for county superintendent; hence
+     "an act to entitle women to vote for county superintendent of
+     schools," was passed by the legislature of 1885.
+
+     The ladies' city school committee. Miss A. M. Henderson,
+     chairman, secured the appointment of a committee of seven women
+     in Minneapolis, to meet with a like number of men from each of
+     the political parties, to select such members of the school-board
+     as all could agree upon. Having thus aided in the nominations,
+     women were interested in their election. In 1881 Mrs. Merrill and
+     Miss Henderson stood at the polls all day and electioneered for
+     their candidates. It was said that their efforts not only decided
+     the choice of school officers, but elected a temperance alderman.
+     In many cities of the State the temperance women exert a great
+     influence at the polls in persuading men to vote for the best
+     town-officers. At the special election held in Duluth for
+     choosing school officers, one of the judges of election, and the
+     clerks at each of the polling places have for the last two years
+     been women who were teachers in our public schools.
+
+     The early homestead law of Minnesota illustrates how easily men
+     forget to bestow the same rights upon women that they carefully
+     secure to themselves. In 1869, the "protectors of women" enacted
+     a law which exempted a homestead from being sold for the payment
+     of debts so long as the man who held it might live, while it
+     allowed his widow and children to be turned out penniless and
+     homeless. It was not until 1875 that this law was so amended that
+     the exemption extended to the widow and fatherless children.
+
+     In 1877, a law was passed which gave the widow an absolute
+     title--or the same title her husband had--to one-third of all the
+     real estate, exclusive of the homestead, and of that, it gave her
+     the use, during her lifetime. So that now the widow has the
+     absolute ownership, instead of the life use of one-third of
+     whatever she and her husband may have together earned and saved.
+     That is, should there be any real estate left, over and above the
+     homestead, after paying all the husband's debts, she now has, not
+     merely the difference, as heretofore, between the amount of the
+     tax and the income on one-third, but she may avoid the tax and
+     other costs of keeping it, by selling her third, if she prefers,
+     and putting the money at interest. The law still puts whatever
+     may be left of the other two-thirds, after payment of debts, into
+     the hands of the probate judge and others, and the interest
+     thereof, or even the principal, may go to reward them for their
+     services, or, if falling into honest hands, it may be left for
+     the support and education of the children.
+
+     The legislature of 1877 submitted a constitutional amendment
+     giving women a vote on the temperance question. This seemed
+     likely to be carried by default of agitation, as was that of
+     school suffrage, until within a few weeks of the election, when
+     the liquor interest combined all its forces of men and money and
+     defeated it by a large majority. The next year the temperance
+     people made a strong effort to get the proposition re-submitted,
+     but to no purpose.
+
+     In 1879, acting upon the plan proposed to all the States by the
+     National Association, we petitioned for the adoption of a joint
+     resolution asking congress to submit to the several State
+     legislatures an amendment to the National constitution,
+     prohibiting the disfranchisement of woman. Mrs. Stearns and
+     others followed up the petitions with letters to the most
+     influential members, in which they argued that the legislatures
+     of the States, not the rank and file of the electors, ought to
+     decide this question; and further, that the same congress that
+     had granted woman the privilege of pleading a case before the
+     Supreme Court of the United States would doubtless pass a
+     resolution submitting to the legislatures the decision of the
+     question of her right to have her opinion on all questions
+     counted at the ballot-box. The result was a majority of six in
+     the Senate in favor of the resolution, while in the House there
+     was a majority of five against it.
+
+     Since 1879, our legislature has met biennially. In 1881 the
+     temperance women of the State again petitioned for the right to
+     vote on the question of licensing the sale of liquor. Failing to
+     get that, or a prohibitory law, they became more than ever
+     convinced of the necessity of full suffrage. The annual meetings
+     of the State Union[438] have ever since been spoken of by the
+     press as "suffrage conventions," because they always pass
+     resolutions making the demand.
+
+     Mr. L. Bixby, editor of the _State Temperance Review_, gives
+     several columns to the temperance and suffrage societies. Mrs.
+     Helen E. Gallinger, the editor of these departments, is a lady of
+     great ability and earnestness. Mr. Charles H. Dubois, editor of
+     _The Spectator_, gives ample space in his columns to notes of
+     women. Miss Mary C. Le Duc is connected with _The Spectator_.
+     Other journals have aided our cause, though not in so pronounced
+     a way. Mrs. C. F. Bancroft, editor of the _Mantorville Express_,
+     and Mrs. Bella French, of a county paper at Spring Valley, Mrs.
+     Annie Mitchell, the wife of one editor and the mother of another,
+     for many years their business associate, have all given valuable
+     services to our cause, while pecuniarily benefiting themselves.
+     The necessity of finding a voice when something needed to be
+     said, and of using a pen when something needed to be written, has
+     developed considerable talent for public speaking and writing
+     among the women of this State.[439]
+
+     All our State institutions are favorable to coeducation, and give
+     equal privileges to all. The Minnesota University has been open
+     to women since its foundation, and from 1875 to 1885 fifty-six
+     young women were graduated with high honor to themselves and
+     their sex.[440] Miss Maria L. Sanford has been professor of
+     rhetoric and elocution for many years. The faculties of the State
+     Normal Schools are largely composed of women. Hamline University
+     and Carlton College are conducted on principles of true equality.
+     At Carlton Miss Margaret Evans is preceptress and teacher of
+     modern languages. Of the Rochester High School, Miss Josephine
+     Hegeman is principal; of Wasioga, Miss C. T. Atwood; of Eyota
+     Union School, Miss Adell M'Kinley.[441]
+
+     For many years Mrs. M. R. Smith was employed as State Librarian.
+     Mrs. H. J. M'Caine for the past ten years has been librarian at
+     St. Paul, with Miss Grace A. Spaulding as assistant. Among the
+     engrossing and enrolling clerks of our legislature, Miss Alice
+     Weber is the only lady's name we find, though the men holding
+     those offices usually employ a half dozen women to assist them in
+     copying, allowing each two-thirds of the price paid by the State,
+     or ten cents per folio.
+
+
+[Illustration: Sarah Burger Stearns]
+
+
+     In this State the suffrage cause has had the sympathy of not a
+     few noble women in the successful practice of the healing art;
+     thus lending their influence for the political emancipation of
+     their sex, while blessing the community with their medical skill.
+     To Doctors Hood and Whetstone is due the credit of establishing
+     the Northwestern Hospital for Women and Children, and training
+     school for nurses, of which they are now the attending
+     physicians; and Dr. Hood also attends the Bethany Home, founded
+     by the sisterhood of Bethany, for the benefit of friendless girls
+     and women. In the town of Detroit may be seen a drug store neatly
+     fitted up, with "Ogden's Pharmacy" over the door, and upon it, in
+     gilt letters, "Emma K. Ogden, M. D." While the doctor practices
+     her profession, she employs a young woman as prescription clerk.
+     The Minnesota State Medical Society has admitted nine women to
+     membership.[442]
+
+     Conspicuous among evangelists in this State are Mrs. Mary C.
+     Nind, Minneapolis, Mrs. Mary A. Shepardson, Wasioga, Mrs. Ruth
+     Cogswell Rowell, Winona, and Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, Rochester.
+
+     Thus far this chapter has been given mainly to individuals in the
+     State, and to the home influences that have aided in creating
+     sentiment in favor of full suffrage for woman. United with these
+     have been other influences coming like the rays of the morning
+     sun directly from the East where so many noble women are at work
+     for the freedom of their sex. Among them are some of the most
+     popular lecturers in the country.[443]
+
+     In September, 1881, representative women from various localities
+     met at Hastings and organized a State Woman Suffrage
+     Association[444] auxiliary to the National. During the first year
+     one hundred and twenty-four members were enrolled. During the
+     second the membership more than doubled. In October, 1882, the
+     association held its first annual meeting. The audiences were
+     large, and the speakers[445] most heartily applauded. Mrs. Nelson
+     presided. In her letter of greeting to this meeting, from which
+     ill-health obliged her to be absent, the president urged the
+     association to firmly adhere to the principles of the National
+     Association. Let us not ask for an amendment to the State
+     constitution, and thus put it in the power of ignorance and
+     prejudice to deny the boon we seek; while we are auxiliary to the
+     National let us work according to its plans. Mrs. Stearns was
+     unanimously reelected president, and her views heartily endorsed.
+
+     In the spring of '83, at the request of the State society, and
+     with the generous consent of Mr. Bixby, the editor of the _State
+     Temperance Review_, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger commenced editing a
+     woman suffrage column in that paper. This has been a very
+     convenient medium of communication between the State society and
+     the local auxiliaries which have since been organized by Mrs. L.
+     May Wheeler, who was employed as lecturer and organizer,[446] in
+     the summer and fall of 1883. Auxiliary societies had previously
+     been organized by Mrs. Stearns, in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The
+     Kasson society, formed in 1872, also became auxiliary to the
+     State.
+
+     During the Northwestern Industrial Exhibition, held in
+     Minneapolis August, 1883, a woman suffrage headquarters was
+     fitted up on the fair-grounds, in a fine large tent, made
+     attractive by flags, banners and mottoes. The State and local
+     societies were represented, officers and members being there to
+     receive all who were in sympathy, to talk suffrage to opposers,
+     to pass out good leaflets, and to exhibit copies of the Woman
+     Suffrage History. At the annual convention this year we were
+     honored by the presence of Julia Ward Howe and Mrs. Marianna
+     Folsom of Iowa, and many of the clergymen[447] of Minneapolis.
+     Rev. E. S. Williams gave the address of welcome, and paid a
+     beautiful tribute to the self-sacrificing leaders in this holy
+     crusade. Mrs. Howe not only encouraged us with her able words of
+     cheer, but she presided at the piano while her Battle Hymn of the
+     Republic was sung, and seemed to give it new inspiration. In the
+     course of her remarks the president said:
+
+          Should congress finally adopt that long-pending amendment in
+          the winter of 1883-4 enfranchising women, we should still
+          have work to do in 1885 to secure the ratification of this
+          amendment by our State legislature. But should congress
+          still refuse, let us be thankful that the way is opening for
+          women to secure their freedom by the power of the
+          legislature independent of all constitutional amendments, as
+          there is nothing in ordinary State constitutions to prevent
+          legislators from extending suffrage to women by legislative
+          enactment. The constitution of the State of Minnesota simply
+          enfranchises men, and does not even mention women; we have
+          clearly nothing to do but to convince our legislators that
+          they are free to give educated women full suffrage.
+
+     With this view the society adopted the following resolution:
+
+          _Resolved_, That we accept with joy the argument that comes
+          to us from the east and from the west declaring suffrage
+          amendments to State constitutions unnecessary, because the
+          word "male," occurring as it does in most State
+          constitutions, in no wise restrains legislatures from
+          extending full suffrage to women, should they feel inclined
+          to do so. Be it also
+
+          _Resolved_, That it therefore becomes our duty to talk with
+          all men and women who are friendly to our cause, and ask
+          them to examine the argument, and if it commends itself to
+          their judgment, to give us the benefit of their convictions.
+
+     Though passing the above resolutions at that time, the State
+     Association of course waits to see what may be done, in view of
+     this new idea, by older and stronger States whose constitutions
+     are similar to ours. Although failing health induced Mrs.
+     Stearns, in the fall of 1883, to resign her suffrage work into
+     other hands, and ask to be excused from any office whatever, she
+     has, with improving health lately accepted the presidency of an
+     Equal Rights League in Duluth. Dr. Ripley was not present
+     herself at the convention[448] which chose her for president for
+     the ensuing year, being then at the East, but immediately after
+     returning, she entered upon her new duties with enthusiasm. As
+     there was to be no legislature in 1884, there could be no
+     petitioning, except to continue the work commenced as long ago as
+     1871, of petitioning congress for a sixteenth amendment. The work
+     was carried on with vigor, and many hundreds of names obtained in
+     a short time. Early in 1884 Mrs. L. May Wheeler continued to
+     lecture in the interests of the suffrage cause. While so engaged
+     she issued her "Collection of Temperance and Suffrage Melodies."
+
+     In 1884 a woman suffrage headquarters was again fitted up in
+     Newspaper Row, on the grounds of the Northwestern Industrial
+     Exhibition. The large tent was shared by the State W. C. T. U.,
+     and appropriately decked within and without to represent both of
+     the State organizations and their auxiliaries. A large amount of
+     suffrage and temperance literature was distributed among the many
+     who were attracted by the novelty of the sight and sentiments
+     displayed on banners and flags.
+
+     As Minneapolis had already become headquarters for the suffrage
+     work of the State, it was thought best to again hold the annual
+     meeting in that city. This was in October, continuing two days,
+     and was both interesting and encouraging. Dr. Martha G. Ripley
+     presided. Many interesting letters were read, and cheering
+     telegrams received.[449] Miss Marion Lowell recited "The Legend,"
+     by Mary Agnes Ticknor, and "Was he Henpecked?" by Phebe Cary,
+     Mrs. A. M. Tyng of Austin, made a good speech, also recited a
+     poem entitled "Jane Conquest." Mr. Lars Oure of Norway, spoke
+     well upon the "Claims of Woman." Dr. L. W. Denton of Minneapolis,
+     gave a very good address. Dr. Martha G. Ripley spoke on suffrage
+     as a natural right, and in support of this view read extracts
+     from a pamphlet entitled, "Woman Suffrage a Right, and not a
+     Privilege," by Wm. I. Bowditch; Eliza Burt Gamble of St. Paul,
+     read a very able paper on "Woman and the Church"; Mrs. Stearns
+     spoke upon the new era to be inaugurated when women have the
+     ballot. Miss Emma Harriman read a bright and entertaining paper.
+     The fine address of the occasion was given by Rev. W. W.
+     Satterlee, showing the nation's need of woman's vote. Judge and
+     Mrs. Hemiup, of Minneapolis, just returned from a visit to
+     Wyoming Territory, were present. The judge made several speeches,
+     and was enthusiastic in his praise of the workings of woman
+     suffrage there. He and his wife are now active members of the
+     State and city (Minneapolis) suffrage societies. The judge is
+     also a member of the State executive committee.
+
+     Wishing to give honor to whom honor is due, we would mention the
+     brave young women who have formed the Christian Temperance
+     Unions, the leading spirits[450] in this grand movement in
+     Minneapolis, St. Paul, Winona and St. Cloud. Their names will be
+     usually found as delegates to the annual meetings of all the
+     State Unions. The small army of noble girls who have helped to
+     make the Good Templars' lodges attractive and worthy resorts for
+     their brothers and friends, have done an inestimable work in
+     elevating the moral tone of the community all over the State.
+     They have also done their full share in petitioning congress for
+     a sixteenth amendment, in which they have received most untiring
+     help from the young men of the lodges. In 1884 Miss Frances
+     Willard again visited the State, advocating the ballot as well as
+     the Bible as an aid to temperance work. Her eloquent voice here
+     as elsewhere woke many to serious thought on the danger of this
+     national vice to the safety and stability of our republican
+     institutions. It was through Miss Willard's influence, no doubt,
+     that the friends of temperance established a department of
+     franchise for the State, and made Mrs. E. L. Crockett its
+     superintendent.
+
+     The women of Minnesota seem thus far to have no special calling
+     to the legal profession. Mrs. Martha Angle Dorsett is the only
+     woman as yet admitted to the bar. She was graduated from the law
+     school at Des Moines, and admitted to practice before the Supreme
+     Court of Iowa in June, 1876. She was refused admission at first
+     in Minnesota, whereupon she appealed to the legislature, which in
+     1877 enacted a law securing the right to women by a vote of 63 to
+     30 in the House, and 26 to 6 in the Senate.
+
+     In some of the larger cities and towns the literary, musical and
+     dramatic taste of our women[451] is evidenced by societies and
+     clubs for mutual improvement. Many are attending classes for the
+     study of natural history, classic literature, social science,
+     etc. There is an art club in Minneapolis, composed wholly of
+     artists, both ladies and gentlemen, which meets every week, the
+     members making sketches from life. Miss Julie C. Gauthier had on
+     exhibition at the New Orleans Exposition, a full-length portrait,
+     true to life, of a colored man, "Pony," a veteran wood-sawer of
+     St. Paul, which received very complimentary notices from art
+     critics of that city, as well as from the press generally.
+
+     In the Business Colleges of Mr. Curtis at St. Paul and
+     Minneapolis, many women are teachers, and many more are educated
+     as shorthand reporters, telegraphers, and book-keepers. These
+     have no difficulty in finding places after completing their
+     college course. Nearly fifty young women are employed in the
+     principal towns of the State as telegraphers alone. Miss Mary M.
+     Cary has been employed for seven years as operator and station
+     agent at Wayzata, for the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba R. R.
+     Her services are highly valued, as well they may be, for during
+     her absence from the station two men are required to do her work.
+     By her talents and industry she has acquired a thorough education
+     for herself, besides educating her two younger sisters. Mrs. Anna
+     B. Underwood of Lake City, has for many years been secretary of a
+     firm conducting a large nursery of fruit trees, plants and
+     flowers. Her husband being one of the partners, she has taken a
+     large share of the general management. The orchard yields a
+     profit of over $1,000 a year.
+
+     From the list of names to be found in the Appendix, we see that
+     Minnesota is remarkable for its galaxy of superior women actively
+     engaged as speakers and writers[452] in many reforms, as well as
+     in the trades and professions, and in varied employments. One of
+     the great advantages of pioneer life is the necessity to man of
+     woman's help in all the emergencies of these new conditions in
+     which their forces and capacities are called into requisition.
+     She thus acquires a degree of self-reliance, courage and
+     independence, that would never be called out in older
+     civilizations, and commands a degree of respect from the men at
+     her side that can only be learned in their mutual dependence.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[431] The names of the young women who applied for admission to the
+classical course of the Michigan State University, in 1858, were
+Sarah Burger, Clara Norton, Ellen F. Thompson, Ada A. Alvord, Rose
+Anderson, Helen White, Amanda Kieff, Lizzie Baker, Nellie Baker,
+Anna Lathrop, Carrie Felch, Mary Becker, Adeline Ladd and Harriet
+Patton.
+
+[432] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., note A.
+
+[433] For further account of Mrs. Swisshelm's patriotic work in
+Minnesota see her "Reminiscences of Half a Century": Janson,
+McClurg & Co., Chicago, Ill.
+
+[434] The three women were, Mrs. Almira W. Anthony (whose husband
+was a cousin of Susan B. Anthony), Mrs. Mary Powell Wheeler and
+Mrs. Hattie M. White.
+
+[435] In a volume of Minnesota biography, Mrs. VanCleve is reported
+as a woman of great force of character, strong in her convictions
+of what is right, and fearless in following the dictates of her
+conscience. She was one of the original founders of the Sisterhood
+of Bethany, a society for the reformation of unfortunate women, and
+has held the position of president since its formation. Through the
+medium of lectures and social influence, she has enlisted the
+sympathy of a large number of the community. She has served
+faithfully as a member of the East Minneapolis board of education,
+and has always improved every opportunity to advocate the right of
+suffrage for women. She is a member of the State Suffrage Society,
+and has been for many years honorary vice-president for this State,
+of the National Suffrage Association. The following interesting
+fact is told of her, on the authority of Major-General R. W.
+Johnson. It was given in an address delivered by that gentleman
+before the old settlers' association of Hennepin county, at a
+reunion in the city of Minneapolis: Many years ago a soldier at
+Fort Snelling received an injury to his feet, and mortification
+ensued. Amputation became necessary and the case could not be
+postponed until a surgeon could be sent for, because there was none
+nearer than the post-surgeon at Prairie du Chien. No gentleman in
+the garrison was willing to undertake so difficult an operation.
+Equal to any emergency, Mrs. VanCleve, on hearing of the case,
+resolved to make the attempt. She performed the operation
+skillfully, and saved the soldier's life.
+
+[436] Mrs. Charlotte S. Winchell was a graduate of Albion College,
+Michigan, and came to this State in 1873, with her husband, Prof.
+Newton H. Winchell, widely known as Minnesota's State geologist.
+Mrs. Winchell has always been an advocate of suffrage for woman,
+and cheerfully accepted the position on the school board, serving
+as clerk. She took an active part in the nominations and elections
+of school officers. She was chairman of the committee for
+introducing temperance text books into the schools, secretary of
+the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, a member of the State and
+City Suffrage Societies, and of the Association for the Advancement
+of Women.
+
+[437] For names of women elected as school directors and county
+superintendents, see Appendix to Minnesota, Chapter XLVII., Note B.
+
+[438] The officers of the Minnesota State W. C. T. U. are:
+_President_, Mrs. H. A. Hobart; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Mary A.
+Shepardson, Mrs. E. J. Holley, Mrs. R. C. C. Gale, Mrs. H. C. May,
+Mrs. L. M. Wylie; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. D. S. Haywood;
+_Corresponding Secretaries_, Mrs. E. S. Wright, Miss M. E.
+Mclntyre; _Treasurer_, Miss A. M. Henderson. Editor W. C. T. U.
+department of _Temperance Review_, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger.
+
+[439] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note C.
+
+[440] During the same decade 138 young men were graduated from the
+different departments of the University.
+
+[441] For names of graduates and professors, see Appendix, Chapter
+XLVII., Note D.
+
+[442] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note F.
+
+[443] Miss Anna Dickinson, Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Howe, Miss Alice
+Fletcher, Miss Frances Willard, Mrs. Wittenmeyer, Mrs. Sarah B.
+Chase, M. D. In the years 1875-6, Mrs. Stanton favored our State
+with a series of lectures that awakened much interest. In 1878-9,
+Miss Anthony came, and spoke in the principal cities. From Iowa
+came Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Matilda Fletcher, and Marianna Folsom,
+and from Missouri, Miss Phoebe Couzins.
+
+[444] _President_, Sarah Burger Stearns; _Vice-President_, Julia
+Bullard Nelson; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. C. Smith; _Treasurer_,
+Mrs. H. J. Moffit; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. Minnie Reed, Mrs. L.
+H. Clark, Mrs. R. Coons; _Corresponding Sec'y_, Mrs. Laura Howe
+Carpenter. The following were the charter members: Mrs. Harriet E.
+Bishop, Mrs. Martha Luly, St. Paul; Mrs. A. T. Anderson, Mrs. H. J.
+Moffit, Mrs. C. Smith, Minneapolis; Mrs. Harriet A. Hobart, Julia
+Bullard Nelson, Mrs. R. Coons, Red Wing; Sarah Burger Stearns,
+Duluth; Mrs. L. C. Clarke, Worthington; Mrs. L. G. Finen, Albert
+Lea; Mrs. K. E. Webster, Mrs. Minnie Reed, Mrs. M. A. VanHoesen,
+Hastings.
+
+[445] Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Hobart, Mr. Satterlee, Mrs. Charlotte O.
+Van Cleve, Mrs. Laura Howe Carpenter, Mrs. Viola Fuller Miner.
+
+[446] The societies organized were at Wayzata, Farmington, Red
+Wing, Mantorille, Excelsior, Rochford, Lake City, Shakopee, and
+Jordan: committees for suffrage work were also formed in the
+following places: Anoka, Armstrong, Blakely, Brooklyn Center,
+Champlin, Frontenac, Long Prairie, Long Lake, and Wabashaw.
+
+[447] Rev. W. W. Satterlee, Rev. H. M. Simmons, Rev. F. J. Wagner,
+whose church we occupied, and others. The speakers at this
+convention were Mr. and Mrs. Dubois, Mrs. Wheeler, Mrs. Elliott,
+Mrs. Hobart, Mrs. Carpenter, Miss Harriman. Letters were received
+from Mrs. Devereux Blake, Dr. Clemence Lozier, Rev. J. B. Tuttle,
+H. B. Blackwell, Lucy Stone and Col. T. W. Higginson.
+
+[448] The officers elected at this convention were: _President_,
+Martha G. Ripley, M. D., Minneapolis; _Vice-President_, Mrs. Lizzie
+Manson, Shakopee; _Recording Secretary_, Mary T. Emery, M. D., St.
+Paul; _Corresponding Secretary_, Emma Harriman, Minneapolis;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger, Minneapolis; _Executive
+Committee_, Mrs. S. K. Crawford, Anoka; Mrs. M. A. Warner, Hamline;
+Mrs. F. G. Gould, Excelsior; Rev. E. S. Williams, Prof. W. A.
+Carpenter, Mrs. A. T. Anderson and Mrs. Laura Howe Carpenter,
+Minneapolis.
+
+[449] From John G. Whittier, Mrs. Julia B. Nelson (teaching school
+in Tennessee) and Henry B. Blackwell.
+
+[450] Miss Carrie Holbrook, Miss Eva McIntyre, Miss Harriman.
+
+[451] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note F.
+
+[452] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note G.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DAKOTA.
+
+     Influences of Climate and Scenery--Legislative Action, 1872--Mrs.
+     Marietta Bones--In February, 1879, School Suffrage Granted
+     Women--Constitutional Convention, 1883--Matilda Joslyn Gage
+     Addressed a Letter to the Convention and an Appeal to the Women
+     of the State--Mrs. Bones Addressed the Convention in Person--The
+     Effort to Get the Word "Male" Out of the Constitution
+     Failed--Legislature of 1885--Major Pickler Presents the
+     Bill--Carried Through Both Houses--Governor Pierce's Veto--Major
+     Pickler's Letter.
+
+
+Philosophers have had much to say of the effect of climate and
+scenery upon the human family--the inspiring influence of the grand
+and the boundless in broadening the thought of the people and
+stimulating them to generous action. Hence, one might naturally
+look for liberal ideas among a people surrounded with such vast
+possessions as are in the territory of Dakota. But alas! there
+seems to be no correspondence in this republic between areas and
+constitutions. Although Dakota comprises 96,595,840 acres, yet
+one-half her citizens are defrauded of their rights precisely as
+they are in the little States of Delaware and Rhode Island. The
+inhabitants denied the right of suffrage by their territorial
+constitution are, the Indians not taxed (a hint that those who pay
+taxes vote), idiots, convicts and women. But from records sent us
+by Mrs. Marietta Bones, to whom we are indebted for this chapter,
+there seem to have been some spasmodic climatic influences at work,
+though not sufficiently strong as yet to get that odious word
+"male" out of the constitution. Our Dakota historian says:
+
+     The territorial legislature, in the year 1872, came within one
+     vote of enfranchising women. That vote was cast by Hon. W. W.
+     Moody, who, let it be said to his credit, most earnestly espoused
+     the cause in our constitutional convention in 1883, and said in
+     the course of his remarks: "Are not my wife and daughter as
+     competent to vote as I am to hold office?" which question caused
+     prolonged laughter among the most ignorant of the delegates, and
+     cries of, "You're right, Judge!" Although it is deeply to be
+     regretted that through one vote twelve years ago our women were
+     deprived of freedom, yet we must forgive Judge Moody on the
+     ground that "it is never too late to mend."
+
+     In February, 1879, the legislature revised the school law, and
+     provided that women should vote at school meetings. That law was
+     repealed in March, 1883, by the school township law, which
+     requires regular polls and a private ballot, so, of course,
+     excluding women from the small privilege given them in 1879. That
+     act, however, excepted fifteen counties[453]--the oldest and most
+     populous--which had districts fully established, and therein
+     women still vote at school meetings.
+
+     In townships which are large and have many schools under one
+     board and no districts, the people select which school they
+     desire their children to attend. The persons who may so select
+     are parents: first, the father; next, the mother, if there be no
+     father living; guardians (women or men), and "persons having in
+     charge children of school age." These persons hold a meeting
+     annually of their "school," and such women vote there, and one of
+     them may be chosen moderator for the school, to hold one year.
+     This office is a sort of responsible agency for the school, and
+     between it and the township board.
+
+     Since the legislation upon the subject of school suffrage there
+     has not been much work done for the promotion of the cause. The
+     wide distances between towns and the sparsely settled country
+     make our people comparative strangers to each other. We lack
+     organization; the country is too new; in fact, the most and only
+     work for woman suffrage has been done by Matilda Joslyn Gage and
+     myself, and, owing to disadvantages mentioned, that has been but
+     little. Mrs. Gage reached Dakota just at the close of the Huron
+     convention, held in June, 1883, to discuss the question of
+     territorial division. The resolutions of the convention declared
+     that just governments derived their powers from the consent of
+     the governed; that Dakota possessed a population of 200,000,
+     women included; that the people of a territory have the right, in
+     their sovereign capacity, to adopt a constitution and form a
+     State government. Accordingly, a convention was called for the
+     purpose of enabling those residing in that part of Dakota south
+     of the forty-sixth parallel to organize a State. Mrs. Gage at
+     once addressed a letter to the women of the territory and to the
+     constitutional convention assembled at Sioux Falls:
+
+          _To the Women of Dakota:_
+
+          A convention of men will assemble at Sioux Falls, September
+          4, for the purpose of framing a constitution and pressing
+          upon congress the formation of a State of the southern half
+          of the territory. This is the moment for women to act; it is
+          the decisive moment. There can never again come to the women
+          of Dakota an hour like the present. A constitution is the
+          fundamental law of the State; upon it all statute laws are
+          based, and upon the fact whether woman is inside or outside
+          the pale of the constitution, her rights in the State
+          depend.
+
+          The code of Dakota, under the head of "Personal Relations,"
+          says: "The husband is the head of the family. He may choose
+          any reasonable place, or mode of living, and the wife must
+          conform thereto." Under this class legislation, which was
+          framed by man entirely in his own interests, the husband
+          may, and in many cases does, file a preemption claim, build
+          a shanty, and place his wife upon the ground as "a
+          reasonable place and mode of living," while he remains in
+          town in pursuit of business or pleasure.
+
+          Let us examine this condition of affairs a little closer. If
+          the wife is not pleased with this "place and mode of
+          living," but should leave it, she is, under this law of
+          class legislation, liable to be advertised as having left
+          the husband's bed and board, wherefore he will pay no debts
+          of her contracting. And how is it if she remains on this
+          until her continued residence upon it has enabled her
+          husband to prove up? Does she then share in its benefits? Is
+          she then half owner of the land? By no means. Chapter 3,
+          section 83, article V. of the Code, says: "No estate is
+          allowed the husband or tenant by courtesy upon the death of
+          his wife, nor is any estate in dower allowed to the wife
+          upon the death of the husband."
+
+          This article carries a specious fairness on its face, but it
+          is a bundle of wrongs to woman. By the United States law,
+          only "the head of the family" is allowed to enter
+          lands--either a preemption, homestead or tree claim. In
+          unison with the United States, the law of Dakota (see
+          chapter 3, section 76) recognizes the husband as the head of
+          the family, and then declares that no estate in dower is
+          allowed to the wife upon the death of her husband. Neither
+          has she any claim upon any portion of this land the husband,
+          as head of the family, may take, except the homestead, in
+          which she is recognized as joint owner. The preemption claim
+          upon which, in a comfortless claim-shanty, she may have
+          lived for six months, or longer, if upon unsurveyed land, as
+          "the reasonable place and mode of living" her husband has
+          selected for her, does not belong to her at all. She has no
+          part nor share in it. Upon proving, her husband may at once
+          sell, or deed it away as a gift, and she has no redress. It
+          was not hers. The law so declares; but she is her husband's,
+          to the extent that she can be thus used to secure 160 acres
+          of land for him, over which she has no right, title, claim
+          or interest. I have not space to pursue this subject
+          farther, but will assure the women of Dakota that reading
+          the code, and the session laws of the territory will be more
+          interesting to them than any novel. If they wish to still
+          farther know their wrongs, let them look in the code under
+          the heads of "Parent and Child," "Crimes Defined," "Probate
+          Court," etc., etc.
+
+          Every woman in Dakota should be immediately at work.
+          Inasmuch as the constitution is the fundamental law of the
+          State, it should be the effort of the women of Dakota to
+          prevent the introduction of the restrictive word "male." The
+          delegates to the Sioux Falls convention have now largely
+          been elected. Address letters of protest to them against
+          making the constitution an organ of class legislation. In as
+          far as possible have personal interviews with these
+          delegates, and by speech make known your wishes on this
+          point. These are your only methods of representation. You
+          have in no way signified your desire for a constitution. You
+          have not been permitted to help make these laws which rob
+          you of property, and many other things more valuable. Many
+          women are settling in Dakota. Unmarried women and widows in
+          large numbers are taking up claims here, and their property
+          is taxed to help support the government and the men who make
+          these iniquitous laws.
+
+          I have not mentioned a thousandth part of the wrongs done
+          woman by her being deprived of the right of self-government.
+          Every injustice under which she suffers, as wife, mother,
+          woman, child, in property and person, is due to the fact
+          that she is not recognized as man's political equal--and her
+          only power is that of protest. Lose not a moment, then,
+          women of Dakota, in objecting to the introduction of the
+          word "male" into the proposed new constitution. Besides
+          seeing and writing to delegates, make effort to be present
+          at Sioux Falls during the time of the convention, to labor
+          with delegates from distant points, and to go before
+          committees, and the convention itself, with your protests.
+          Above all, remember that _now_ is the decisive hour.
+
+                    MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Vice-President-at-Large_,
+                       _National Woman Suffrage Association_.
+
+     Mrs. Gage also addressed the following to the constitutional
+     convention:
+
+          _Gentlemen of the Convention_: The work upon which you are
+          now engaged is an important one in the interests of liberty,
+          that of framing a constitution for a proposed new State. As
+          a constitution is the fundamental law, its provisions should
+          be general in their character, equally recognizing the
+          rights of all its citizens by its protective powers. Our
+          National principle, that governments derive their just
+          powers from the consent of the governed, is becoming more
+          and more widely recognized.
+
+          At an early day suffrage was restricted by qualifications of
+          property and education in many of the States, and the
+          removal of such restrictions has been left entirely to the
+          States, except in the one instance of color. Within the last
+          two decades, by amendments to the national constitution, all
+          States are forbidden to exclude citizens from the ballot
+          upon that account.
+
+          As "sex" is now the only remaining disqualification, on
+          behalf of the National Woman Suffrage Association I ask you
+          to omit the word "male" from your proposed constitution, and
+          leave the women of Dakota free to exercise the right of
+          suffrage. We simply ask you to make your State a true
+          republic, in which all your citizens may stand equal before
+          the law. While foreign men of every nation are welcomed to
+          your magnificent prairies as equals, it is humiliating to
+          the women of the territory, who are helping you to develop
+          its resources, who have endured with you all the hardships
+          of pioneer life, to be treated as inferiors, outside the
+          pale of political consideration. It should be the pride of
+          Dakota to take the initiative step in the legislation of the
+          period, now steadily growing more liberal, and by one
+          generous and graceful act accord to the women of this
+          territory all the rights, privileges and immunities that men
+          claim for themselves.
+
+                                          MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
+                                _Vice-President-at-Large, N. W. S. A._
+
+          _Aberdeen, Dakota, Sept. 3, 1883._
+
+     It is to be regretted that the argument presented by Mrs. Gage
+     could not convince that honorable body of the injustice of laws
+     towards woman. To me was given the privilege of addressing the
+     convention. I said:
+
+          _Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention_: The honor
+          conferred on me, of being allowed to address you on this
+          important occasion is fully appreciated. I am here in behalf
+          of the women of our territory, who are opposed to being left
+          in the State organization with no more authority in the
+          government than paupers, lunatics and idiots. We are willing
+          to do one-half of the manual labor in this country, and will
+          promptly pay our portion of the taxes. As sober and peaceful
+          citizens, we compare favorably with the other sex. I have
+          the honor to present to you a petition signed by hundreds of
+          Day county voters, praying your honorable body not to allow
+          the word "male" to be incorporated within our State
+          constitution. There is no doubt that this petition speaks
+          the honest sentiment of the people throughout the territory.
+          In but a single instance was I refused a name, and in a
+          second case a man hesitated, saying, "Well, now, if it's as
+          many rights you're wantin' es I hev got fur meself, you'll
+          be after signin' my name fur me--fur I niver do any writin'
+          at all fur meself." And yet that man whose name I had to
+          write has more rights in this, his adopted country, than I
+          and all other women have in this our native land. The right
+          of franchise, which has heretofore been regarded as a
+          privilege, should more properly be considered a right--a
+          right to be exercised by every citizen for the public good.
+          If there is not another woman in Dakota who wants to vote, I
+          do! There is no doubt that many women are indifferent upon
+          this subject, but when once given the ballot you will see
+          that their progress will equal, if not exceed, that of the
+          emancipated slaves in the South. Look at Wyoming Territory,
+          where woman suffrage has a fair test; no one will deny it
+          has proved a marked success. Elections there now are quiet
+          and more orderly than they are elsewhere. Before the
+          enfranchisement of the women of Wyoming, election days were
+          a terror generally, being both boisterous and riotous. It is
+          really true that Dakota men are the most energetic and
+          enterprising anywhere to be found, and in number they
+          largely exceed our women. Gentlemen, make this the most
+          advantageous State for women, and they will soon be wending
+          their way hither. Women have been granted select committees
+          in both Houses of congress, and better still, each of those
+          committees has given us a majority report in favor of a
+          sixteenth amendment to the constitution of the United
+          States, prohibiting the disfranchisement of citizens on
+          account of sex. Gentlemen, delegates of this State
+          constitutional convention, I now appeal to your highest
+          sense of honor and justice to give us the right to
+          vote--give it to us, not because we possess any particular
+          merit, but give it to us because it is our right! Then
+          Dakota will in fact be "a home of the free"--honored by all
+          nations, and the Banner State of the Union [applause].
+
+     But, after all our work and pleading, they turned a deaf
+     ear--infinitely worse, they were dishonest; at least this was
+     true of the committee on elections. I was present at every
+     meeting of that committee. At their last, I was with them three
+     hours (the entire session) to answer objections. One member made
+     the motion, "that the word 'male' be not incorporated within our
+     State constitution." The vote on the motion was a tie, when the
+     chairman cast his vote in the affirmative. After weeks of hard
+     work I had reached the goal! and with eyes brim full of tears,
+     thanked that committee. They then adjourned, to report in open
+     convention the next morning to my utter surprise, that "Women may
+     vote at school elections and for school officers." No words of
+     mine can express the disappointment and humiliation this defeat
+     of justice caused me.
+
+     Among the hundreds of questions asked me by that committee were
+     these: "Do you want a prohibitory plank in our State
+     constitution?" Answer: "No; prohibition should be settled by the
+     people; it cannot be with one-half our citizens disfranchised,
+     and that half its most earnest advocates." "Do you think
+     prohibition prohibits?" "No; man's prohibitory laws are good
+     enough, but he does not enforce them; women have not the
+     authority to do so; but if you will give us the power, we will
+     soon have prohibition that _will_ prohibit." A voice: "I believe
+     it!" "Do you think the majority of women want to vote?" "I do
+     not; but is that any reason why you should deprive the one who
+     does? You do not force men to vote; women, as a rule, have not
+     given this subject the attention they should; many of them are as
+     ignorant of the advantages the ballot would secure as were the
+     negroes when John Brown raised the insurrection at Harper's
+     Ferry."
+
+     There is a trite saying: "The darkest hour is just before the
+     dawn." The day cannot be far distant when Dakota's women will be
+     free; for the most intelligent men, and those occupying the most
+     prominent positions in our territory, are avowed friends of
+     suffrage. Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court for Dakota, Hon. A.
+     J. Edgerton, said in his Fourth of July oration here: "How
+     necessary it is for us to elect only good and honest men to
+     office! To do this, woman likewise must act her part in the labor
+     of arresting the advance of crime and corruption, although
+     through timidity the politician is slow to invest her with the
+     higher duties and obligations of American citizenship."
+
+     This same just judge has appointed a woman (Mrs. Washburn of
+     Chamberlain) stenographer of his judicial district--the best
+     salaried office in his gift.[454] With the assistance of this
+     grand man (occupying the highest position in our territory), and
+     many others equally efficient, it is not to be supposed that our
+     most intelligent women will be obliged to wait for the education
+     of the most ignorant men to consent to their enfranchisement.
+
+     In the last legislature (1885) Major John A. Pickler introduced a
+     bill enfranchising the women of the territory, which, after full
+     discussion, passed the House by 29 to 18,[455] and the Council by
+     14 to 10. The hopes of the friends were soon disappointed by the
+     governor's veto:
+
+                    EXECUTIVE OFFICE, BISMARK, D. T., March 13, 1885.
+
+          _To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:_
+
+          I herewith return House file No. 71, with my objections to
+          its becoming a law. A measure of this kind demands careful
+          and candid consideration, both because of its importance and
+          because of the acknowledged sincerity and high character of
+          those who favor it. There are certain reasons, however, why
+          I cannot approve such a measure at this time, and other
+          reasons why I cannot approve this particular bill. It is
+          desirable, in my judgment, that we act, so far as possible,
+          as if we were governed, restrained and guided by a
+          constitution adopted by ourselves. If we had a constitution
+          modeled after those of the States, an extraordinary
+          proposition like this would be submitted to the people. If
+          congress thinks woman suffrage wise, it has the power to
+          establish it. It is unfair to shift the responsibility on
+          the territory and then hold it responsible for alleged
+          imprudent legislation. I am assured the enactment of this
+          law will delay our claims to statehood, and in so critical a
+          period it is better that no pretext whatever be given for
+          such postponement. It is doubted by many if a majority of
+          the women of Dakota want the franchise. The point is made,
+          and a very good one, that the fact that one woman does not
+          want a right is not a justifiable reason for refusing it to
+          another who does, yet it must not be forgotten that the
+          enfranchisement of women confers not only a privilege but a
+          grave burden and responsibility. We condemn the man who
+          neglects to vote as recreant to his duty. If women are
+          enfranchised, the right conferred becomes an obligation as
+          imperious to them as to men; on those opposed as on those
+          who favor the act. I think the women of Dakota should have a
+          voice in determining whether they should assume this burden
+          or not. So much for the general proposition. There are two
+          other features of this bill which I can scarcely think
+          satisfactory to the advocates of woman suffrage themselves.
+          I am satisfied that they should appear in a measure claiming
+          to advance the rights of women. If the vote of a woman is
+          needed anywhere, it is in our cities. In many existing city
+          charters a distinct clause appears, providing that males
+          alone shall possess the qualifications of electors. In this
+          bill the word "male" is only stricken out of one chapter of
+          the code, leaving the disability still standing against
+          hundreds of women equally entitled to recognition. The women
+          of Sioux Falls, the women of Mitchell, the women of
+          Brookings, the women of Chamberlain, of Watertown and a
+          great many of the more important cities in southern Dakota,
+          would be disqualified from voting under these special
+          enactments, even though this bill became a law at this very
+          session. Charters have been created with that provision
+          retained, and they would make this bill abortive and largely
+          inoperative. A still more objectionable feature, and one
+          deliberately inserted, is the clause debarring women from
+          the right to hold office. If the word "male" had been
+          stricken out of the code, and no other action taken, they
+          would have been eligible, and I believe there is a wide
+          feeling that many offices, particularly those connected with
+          penal and benevolent institutions, could be most
+          appropriately filled with women, but this clause practically
+          forbids their appointment. If women are good enough to vote
+          they are good enough to be voted for. If they are qualified
+          to choose officials, they are qualified to be chosen. I
+          don't say that I would approve this measure were it
+          otherwise worded, but I certainly would not indorse a bill
+          which thus keeps the word of promise to the ear and breaks
+          it to the hope, which deliberately and avowedly debars and
+          disqualifies women while assuming to exalt and honor them.
+          These objections are apart from the abstract right of women
+          to the ballot, but they show how necessary it is to approach
+          such a subject with deliberation. If women are to be
+          enfranchised, let it be done, not as a thirty days' wonder,
+          but as a merited reform resulting from mature reflection,
+          approved by the public conscience and sanctioned by the
+          enlightened judgment of the people.
+
+                           [Signed:]    GILBERT A. PIERCE, _Governor_.
+
+     An effort was promptly made to carry the measure over the
+     governor's veto, which failed by a vote of 18 to 26.
+
+     During the last session of the legislature a large public meeting
+     was held in Bismarck, at which many of the members spoke strongly
+     in favor of the woman suffrage amendment, the chief-justice and a
+     majority of his associates advocating the measure. Mrs. Gage, in
+     a letter from Dakota, said:
+
+          An acquaintance of mine, the owner of a green-house, sent
+          each of the members voting "aye" a buttonhole bouquet, a
+          badge of honor which marked our friends for a few hours at
+          least. It is a pertinent fact that, while the opposition
+          insist that women do not want to vote, in a single county of
+          this sparsely settled territory 222 women did vote in the
+          midst of a severe storm. In a series of articles signed
+          "Justice," published in the Bismarck _Tribune_, we find the
+          following:
+
+          The women of Dakota do desire the power to vote. One year
+          ago a majority of the commissioners of Kingsbury county
+          signed a request that at an election to be held March 4,
+          1884, the women should, with the men, express their wishes
+          by vote upon a specified question of local policy. The women
+          immediately responded, prepared their separate ballot-boxes,
+          placed them in charge of the election officers by the side
+          of the men's boxes upon the same table at De Smet and other
+          towns, and voted all day side by side with the men, casting
+          throughout the county 222 votes. A more orderly election was
+          never known. No self-respect was lost and no woman was
+          lowered in public esteem. Clergymen, lawyers, merchants,
+          farmers, all voted with their wives, the ballots going into
+          different boxes. One thousand men voted in the county. The
+          day was stormy and snow deep on the ground. If 222 women in
+          one county would without previous experience spring forward
+          to vote on a week's notice, is it to be supposed they do not
+          appreciate the right?
+
+                                                       JUSTICE.
+
+     Mr. Pickler, who had taken an active part in the discussion on
+     the amendment, received many letters of thanks from the friends
+     of woman suffrage throughout the nation, and made his
+     acknowledgments in the following cordial letter to Mrs. Matilda
+     Joslyn Gage:
+
+                                   FAULKTON, D. T., April 20, 1885.
+
+          _Matilda Joslyn Gage, Syracuse, N. Y._:
+
+          DEAR MADAM: Your kind letter addressed to me on the Woman
+          Suffrage bill, at Bismarck, would have been earlier
+          acknowledged had it not been that I suffered quite a severe
+          illness upon my return from the legislature. I beg to assure
+          you that words of encouragement from such able and
+          distinguished personages as yourself have been highly
+          appreciated in my effort to secure suffrage for women in
+          Dakota. I am half inclined to think that your indication as
+          to a coming political party, with woman suffrage as one
+          plank in its platform, may not be without foundation.
+
+          I introduced the bill in the Dakota legislature, having
+          previously supported a like measure in the Iowa legislature,
+          really without consultation with any one, or without
+          knowledge as to the sentiment of the members upon the
+          question. I have had my convictions since my college days
+          that simple justice demands that woman should have the
+          ballot, and in this opinion I am warmly seconded by my wife,
+          who desires to vote, as I think all sensible women should. I
+          was pleased with the favor the bill received, and after a
+          week or two believed it possible to have it pass the House,
+          with constant exertion and watchfulness. Those who at first
+          laughed at the idea, learning I was very much in earnest,
+          stopped to consider and to discuss, and finally came to vote
+          for it.
+
+          It passed the House, and after considerable difficulty in
+          getting it out of the hands of an adverse committee in the
+          Council, who insisted on having it referred to them, it
+          passed with an amendment "to submit to a vote of the
+          people." I managed to have the House refuse to concur in
+          this amendment, which resulted in a conference committee,
+          five out of six of whom reported in favor of the Council
+          receding from their amendment, which they did, and yet,
+          after all, and when we thought it safe, it was vetoed. Few,
+          if any, supposed that Governor Pierce, a governor only
+          appointed over us less than six months, would place himself
+          a barrier in the way of the will of the people, and opposed
+          to the advancement of human rights. I deeply regret that he
+          did not rise to the grandest opportunity of his life, but he
+          failed to do so.
+
+          Your words were particularly encouraging, being personally
+          interested in Dakota as you are, and I dare say you will
+          bear witness that we have an intelligent people, and a great
+          many good women, land-owners and property-holders, who
+          should have a voice in the taxation of their property, real
+          and personal. We shall not give it up; we shall continue in
+          the work, not doubting that success will finally crown our
+          efforts. Our constitution is not yet formed, and if ever the
+          political parties cease to exercise their tyranny over us,
+          by allowing us to be admitted as a State, we shall endeavor
+          at least to secure it so the legislature may grant or
+          prescribe the qualifications of voters without requiring a
+          change in the constitution.
+
+          Will you visit Dakota again? In another contest we would be
+          much aided by your presence and assistance, confidently
+          believing that "Heaven will one day free us from this
+          slavery." If your children[456] reside in this section of
+          the territory, I should be pleased to form their
+          acquaintance. Again thanking you for your kind words, I am,
+
+                                   Yours truly, J. A. PICKLER.
+
+As Dakota has thus deliberately trampled upon the rights of
+one-half her people, it is to be hoped that congress will not admit
+her into the Union until that odious word "male" is stricken from
+her constitution.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[453] These counties are Union, Lincoln, Clay, Minnehaha, Moody,
+Deuel, Codington, Cass, Walsh, Grand Forks, Pembina, Barnes,
+Lawrence and Hutchinson.
+
+[454] Since 1882 Mrs. Bones has held the office of deputy-clerk of
+the District Court of Day county; Mrs. Washburn was appointed to
+her office in 1884; Miss Elizabeth M. Cochrane, appointed by Judge
+Seward Smith, is clerk of the District Court of Falk county; Mrs.
+Virginia A. Wilkins is deputy-clerk of the District Court of Hand
+county; Mrs. Dutton, deputy county-clerk, and Mrs. Hanson
+deputy-sheriff of Day county; and Mrs. Pease is deputy-receiver of
+the Watertown Land-office.
+
+[455] _Yeas_--Barnes, Blackmore, Coe, Bayard, Clark, Dermody,
+Gregg, Hutson, Johnson, Miller, McCall, Parshall, Pierce, Roach,
+Southwick, Smith, Stebbins, J. P. Ward, Huntington, Hutchinson,
+Langan, Martin, Morgan, Pickler, Riddell, Steele, Stevens, Sprague,
+Stewart--29. _Nays_--Davison, Hobart, Larson, McCumber, Oliver,
+Pugh, Ruger, Strong, Eldridge, Helvig, Myron, McHugh, Runkle,
+Swanton, Van Osdell, Williams, Mark Ward, Mr. Speaker--18.
+
+[456] Mrs. Gage has a son and daughter residing in Dakota, both
+well educated, superior young people, whose influence will, no
+doubt, be felt in every progressive movement in that State. Mrs.
+Gage's children sympathize with their mother in her broad, liberal
+views on all questions.--[E. C. S.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+NEBRASKA.
+
+     Clara Bewick Colby--Nebraska Came into the Possession of the
+     United States, 1803--The Home of the Dakotas--Organized as a
+     Territory, 1854--Territorial Legislature--Mrs. Amelia Bloomer
+     Addresses the House--Gen. Wm. Larimer, 1856--A Bill to Confer
+     Suffrage on Woman--Passed the House--Lost in the
+     Senate--Constitution Harmonized with the Fourteenth
+     Amendment--Admitted as a State March 1, 1867--Mrs. Stanton, Miss
+     Anthony Lecture in the State, 1867--Mrs. Tracy Cutler, 1870--Mrs.
+     Esther L. Warner's Letter--Constitutional Convention, 1871--Woman
+     Suffrage Amendment Submitted--Lost by 12,676 against, 3,502
+     for--Prolonged Discussion--Constitutional Convention,
+     1875--Grasshoppers Devastate the Country--_Inter-Ocean_, Mrs.
+     Harbert--Omaha _Republican_, 1876--Woman's Column Edited by Mrs.
+     Harriet S. Brooks--"Woman's Kingdom"--State Society formed,
+     January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks President--Mrs. Dinsmoore, Mrs.
+     Colby, Mrs. Brooks, before the Legislature--Amendment again
+     Submitted--Active Canvass of the State, 1882--First Convention of
+     the State Association--Charles F. Manderson--Unreliable
+     Petitions--An Unfair Count of Votes for Woman Suffrage--Amendment
+     Defeated--Conventions in Omaha--Notable Women in the
+     State--Conventions--_Woman's Tribune_ Established in 1883.
+
+
+Clara Bewick Colby, the historian for Nebraska, is of English
+parentage, and came to Wisconsin when eight years of age. In her
+country home, as one of a large family, she had but scant
+opportunities for attending the district school, but her father
+encouraged and assisted his children to study in the winter
+evenings, and in this way she fitted herself to teach in country
+schools. After a few terms she entered, the State University at
+Madison, and while there made a constant effort to secure equal
+privileges and opportunities for the students of her sex. She was
+graduated with honors in 1869, and at once became a teacher of
+history and Latin in the institution. She was married to Leonard W.
+Colby, a graduate of the same university, and moved to Beatrice,
+Nebraska, in 1872. Amidst the hardships of pioneer life in a new
+country, the young wife for a season found her family cares
+all-absorbing, but her taste for study, her love of literature and
+her natural desire to improve the conditions about her, soon led
+her to work up an interest in the establishment of a library and
+course of lectures. She afterwards edited a department in the
+Beatrice _Express_ called "Woman's Work," and in 1883 she started
+_The Woman's Tribune_, a paper whose columns show that Mrs. Colby
+has the true editorial instinct. For several years she has been
+deeply interested in the movement for woman's enfranchisement,
+devoting her journal to the advocacy of this great reform. In
+addition to her cares as housekeeper[457] and editor, Mrs. Colby
+has also lectured extensively in many States, east and west, not
+only to popular audiences, but before legislative and congressional
+committees.
+
+In her description of Nebraska and the steps of progress in woman's
+civil and political rights, Mrs. Colby says:
+
+     Nebraska makes its first appearance in history as part of
+     Louisiana and belonging to Spain. Seized by France in 1683, ceded
+     to Spain in 1762; again the property of France in 1800, and sold
+     to the United States in 1803; the shifting ownership yet left no
+     trace on that interior and inaccessible portion of Louisiana now
+     known as Nebraska. It was the home of the Dakotas, who had come
+     down from the north pushing the earlier Indian races before them.
+     Every autumn when _Heyokah_, the Spirit of the North, puffed from
+     his huge pipe the purpling smoke "enwrapping all the land in
+     mellow haze," the Dakotas gathered at the Great Red Pipestone
+     Quarry for their annual feast and council. These yearly
+     excursions brought them in contact with the fur traders, who in
+     turn roamed the wild and beautiful country of the Niobrara,
+     returning thence to Quebec laden with pelts. With the exception
+     of a few military posts, the first established in 1820 where the
+     town of Fort Calhoun now stands, Nebraska was uninhabited by
+     white people until the gold hunters of 1849 passed through what
+     seemed to them an arid desert, as they sought their Eldorado in
+     the mountains beyond. Disappointed and homesick, many of the
+     emigrants retraced their steps, and found their former trail
+     through Nebraska marked by sunflowers, the luxuriance of which
+     evidenced the fertility of the soil, and encouraged the travelers
+     to settle within its borders.
+
+     Nebraska became an organized territory by the Kansas-Nebraska
+     bill in 1854, including at first Dakota, Idaho and Colorado, from
+     which it was separated in 1863. The early settlers were
+     courageous, keeping heart amid attacks of savages, and
+     devastations of the fire-demon and the locust. Published history
+     is silent concerning the part that women took in this frontier
+     life, but the tales told by the fireside are full of the
+     endurance and heroism of wives whose very isolation kept them
+     hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, and thought to thought with
+     their husbands. It is not strange then that the men of those
+     early days inclined readily to the idea of sharing the rights of
+     self-government with women who had with them left home and
+     kindred and the comforts of the older States. But it is
+     remarkable, and proof that the thought belongs to the age, that,
+     thirty years ago, when the discussion of woman's status was still
+     new in Massachusetts and New York, and only seven years after the
+     first woman-suffrage convention ever held, here--half way across
+     a continent, in a country almost unheard of, and with but scant
+     communication with the older parts of the Republic--this
+     instinctive justice should have crystalized into legislative
+     action.
+
+     In December, 1855, an invitation was extended by the territorial
+     legislature to Mrs. Amelia Bloomer of Council Bluffs, to deliver
+     an address on woman's rights, in the Hall of the House of
+     Representatives. This invitation was signed by twenty-five
+     members of the legislature and was accepted by Mrs. Bloomer for
+     January 8. The following pleasing account of this address and its
+     reception was written by an Omaha correspondent of the Council
+     Bluffs _Chronotype_ of that date:
+
+          Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, who had been formally invited by
+          members of the legislature and others, arrived at the door
+          of the state-house at 7 o'clock, P. M., and by the gallantry
+          of Gen. Larimer, a passage was made for her to the platform.
+          The house had been crowded for some time with eager
+          expectants to see the lady and listen to the arguments which
+          were to be adduced as the fruitage of female thought and
+          research. When all had been packed into the house who could
+          possibly find a place for the sole of the foot, Mrs. Bloomer
+          arose, amid cheers. We watched her closely, and saw that she
+          was perfectly self-possessed--not a nerve seemed to be moved
+          by excitement, and the voice did not tremble. She arose in
+          the dignity of a true woman, as if the importance of her
+          mission so absorbed her thoughts that timidity or
+          bashfulness were too mean to entangle the mental powers. She
+          delivered her lecture in a pleasing, able, and I may say,
+          eloquent manner that enchained the attention of her audience
+          for an hour and a half. A _man_ could not have beaten it.
+
+          In mingling with the people next day, we found that her
+          argument had met with much favor. As far as property rights
+          are concerned, all seemed to agree with the lady that the
+          laws of our country are wrong, and that woman should receive
+          the same protection as man. All we have time to say now is,
+          that Mrs. Bloomer's arguments on woman's rights are
+          unanswerable. We may doubt it is policy for women to vote,
+          but who can draw the line and say that naturally she has not
+          a right to do so? Mrs. Bloomer, though a little body, is
+          among the great women of the United States; and her keen,
+          intellectual eye seems to flash fire from a fountain that
+          will consume the stubble of old theories until woman is
+          placed in her true position in the enjoyment of equal rights
+          and privileges. Her only danger is in asking too much.
+
+                                                            ONEIDA.
+
+     Eight days after Mrs. Bloomer's address, Hon. Jerome Hoover,
+     member for the counties of Nemaha and Richardson, introduced in
+     the House a bill to confer suffrage equally upon women. The bill
+     was put upon its third reading, January 25, and was earnestly
+     championed by General William Larimer of Douglas county, formerly
+     of Pittsburgh, Pa. It passed by a vote of 14 to 11.[458] The
+     result of the passage of the bill by the House was graphically
+     described by the _Chronotype_ of January 30:
+
+          On Friday afternoon and evening quite an excitement took
+          place, which resulted in offering an insult to one of the
+          ablest members of the legislature, but which, while it
+          reflected no dishonor upon the person against whom it was
+          aimed, should cover the perpetrators with lasting shame. We
+          will state briefly the facts as we have heard them.
+
+          The bill giving woman the right to vote came up at 11
+          o'clock, by a special order of the House. A number of ladies
+          entered the hall to listen to the proceedings. General
+          Larimer spoke eloquently and ably in favor of the bill,
+          making, perhaps, the best speech that could be made on that
+          side of the question. On the vote being taken, it
+          stood--ayes 14, nays 11. The bill was then sent to the
+          Council, where it was referred to the Committee on
+          Elections. Its passage by the House of Representatives
+          created a great deal of talk, and several members threatened
+          to resign. At the evening session J. S. Morton, W. E. Moore,
+          A. F. Salisbury and L. L. Bowen came into the House and
+          proposed to present General Larimer with a petticoat, which
+          did not tend much to allay the excitement. The General, of
+          course, was justly indignant at such treatment, as were also
+          the other members. The proposal was characteristic of the
+          prime mover in it, and we are astonished that the other
+          gentlemen named should have been willing to associate
+          themselves with him in offering this indignity to the oldest
+          and most respected member of the body--a man who was elected
+          to the station he has so ably filled by the unanimous vote
+          of the people of Douglas county. General Larimer had a
+          perfect right to advocate or oppose the bill according to
+          his own sense of duty, and any man, or set of men, who would
+          attempt to cast insult or ridicule upon him for so doing, is
+          worthy only of the contempt of decent people. In saying this
+          we, of course, express no opinion on the merits of the bill
+          itself.
+
+     The bill was taken up in the Council, read twice, and referred to
+     the Committee on Elections, whose chairman, Mr. Cowles, reported
+     it back without amendment, and recommended its passage. This
+     being the last day of the session, the bill could not come up
+     again. The _Chronotype_, after the adjournment, commented as
+     follows:
+
+          The bill granting women the right to vote, which had passed
+          the House, was read the first and second time in the Council
+          and referred to the Committee on Elections, where it now
+          remains for want of time to bring it up again. A gentleman
+          who was opposed to the passage of a bill to locate the seat
+          of justice of Washington county, obtained the floor, and
+          delivered a speech of many hours on some unimportant bill
+          then under consideration, in order to "kill time" and
+          prevent the Washington county bill from coming up. The hour
+          for adjournment _sine die_ arrived before he concluded, and
+          the Woman Suffrage bill, and many others of great
+          importance, remained upon the clerk's table without being
+          acted upon. It is admitted by every one that want of time
+          only defeated the passage of the bill through the Council.
+          The citizens of Nebraska are ready to make a trial of its
+          provisions, which speaks volumes for the intelligence of the
+          free and independent squatters of this beautiful territory.
+
+     Mrs. Bloomer says that assurance was given by members of the
+     Council that the bill would have passed that body triumphantly
+     had more time been allowed, or had it been introduced earlier in
+     the session. The general sentiment was in favor of it, and the
+     gentlemen who talked the last hours away to kill other bills were
+     alone responsible for its defeat. Mrs. Bloomer followed up her
+     work by lectures in Omaha and Nebraska City two years later.
+
+     The exigencies attending the settlement of the territory and the
+     absorbing interests of the civil war occupied the next decade.
+     The character of the settlers may be inferred from the fact that,
+     with only about 5,000 voters, Nebraska gave over 3,000 soldiers
+     for the defense of the Union and of their home borders, where the
+     Indians had seized the occasion to break out into active
+     hostilities. The war over, Nebraska sought to be admitted as a
+     State, and a constitution was prepared on the old basis of white
+     male suffrage. Congress admitted Nebraska, but provided that the
+     act should not take effect until the constitution should be
+     changed to harmonize with the fourteenth amendment. After some
+     discussion the condition was accepted, and Nebraska was thus the
+     first State to recognize in its constitution the sovereignty of
+     all male persons. Some of the debates of this time indicate that
+     the appreciation of human rights was growing, nor were allusions
+     wanting making a direct application of the principle to women.
+     The debates and resolutions connected with the ratification of
+     the fourteenth amendment are historically and logically connected
+     with the growth of the idea of woman's political equality. The
+     man who, from regard for justice and civil liberties, advocates
+     the right of franchise for additional classes of men, easily
+     extends the thought until it embraces woman. On the other hand
+     the man who sees men enfranchised whom he deems unworthy to use
+     the ballot, thinks it a disgrace to withhold it from intelligent
+     women. Gov. Alvin Saunders,[459] in his message urging the
+     ratification of the fourteenth amendment said:
+
+          The day, in my opinion, is not far distant when property
+          qualifications, educational qualifications, and color
+          qualifications, as precedent to the privilege of voting,
+          will be known no more by the American people, but that
+          intelligence and manhood will be the only qualifications
+          necessary to entitle an American citizen to the privilege of
+          an elector.
+
+     Later, Acting-governor A. S. Paddock[459] in his message said:
+
+          I should hail with joy a radical change in the rule of
+          suffrage which would give the franchise to intelligence and
+          patriotism wherever found, regardless of the color of the
+          possessor.
+
+     The majority report of the committee to whom was referred that
+     portion of the governor's message which related to rights of
+     suffrage, was as follows:
+
+          We hold that the dogma of partial suffrage is a dangerous
+          doctrine, and contrary to the laws of nature and the letter
+          and spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
+
+               [Signed:]     ISAAC WILES, WILLIAM DAILEY, GEORGE CROW.
+
+          A minority report was brought in by S. M. Curran and Aug. F.
+          Harvey. On its rejection Mr. Harvey introduced this
+          resolution:
+
+          _Resolved_, That we, the members of the House of
+          Representatives, of the legislature of Nebraska, are in
+          favor of impartial and universal suffrage, and believe fully
+          in the equality of all races, colors and sexes at the
+          ballot-box.
+
+     This was not intended to advance the rights of women, but simply
+     to slay the advocates of the enlargement of the franchise with
+     their own weapons. A. B. Fuller moved to amend by striking out
+     the word "universal," and all after the word "suffrage," which
+     was carried by a vote of 22 to 9. The Committee on Federal
+     Relations reported:
+
+          The constitution recognizes all persons born within the
+          United States, or naturalized in pursuance of the law, to be
+          citizens, and entitled to the rights of citizenship; and a
+          recent act of congress amends the organization acts of the
+          several territories so as to confer the rights of suffrage
+          upon all citizens except such as are disqualified by reason
+          of crime. Consequently, when congress decrees that we shall
+          not, as a State, deprive citizens of rights already
+          guaranteed to them, it does not transcend its powers, or
+          impose upon us conditions from which we are now exempt.
+
+     With these discussions of fundamental principles which, although
+     couched in the most comprehensive terms, strangely enough
+     conserved the rights of only half the citizens, the fourteenth
+     amendment was ratified, and Nebraska became a State on March 1,
+     1867.
+
+     The early legislation of Nebraska was favorable to woman, and
+     much ahead of that passed in the same period by most of the older
+     States, The records show that a few legislators treated any
+     matter that referred to the rights of woman as a jest, but the
+     majority were liberal or respectful, and the honored names of
+     Dailey, Reavis, Majors, Porter, Kelley, and others, constantly
+     recur in the records of the earlier sessions as pushing favorable
+     legislation for women. At almost every session, too, the actual
+     question of the ballot for woman was broached. The legislature of
+     1869 bestowed school suffrage on women;[460] and a joint
+     resolution and a memorial to congress relative to female suffrage
+     were introduced. The journals show that:
+
+          Hon. Isham Reavis of Falls City, introduced in the Senate
+          January 30, a memorial and joint resolution to congress, on
+          the subject of female suffrage. After the second reading, on
+          motion of Mr. Majors, it was referred to a select committee
+          of bachelors, consisting of Senators Gere, Majors, Porter,
+          and Goodwill, who reported it back without recommendation.
+          It was afterwards considered in committee of the whole, then
+          taken up by the Senate. Reavis moved it be taken up for
+          third reading on the following day. The yeas and nays being
+          demanded the motion was lost by a vote of 6 to 7. On motion
+          of Mr. Stevenson the matter was referred to the Judiciary
+          Committee, with the usual result of neglect and oblivion.
+
+     In the autumn of 1867 Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony lectured in
+     Omaha and sowed seed which bore fruit in the large number of
+     petitions sent later from that city. In December 1870, Mrs. Tracy
+     Cutler gave several addresses in Lincoln. Miss Anthony lectured
+     January 28, 1871, on "The False Theory," and before leaving the
+     city looked in on the legislature, which promptly extended to her
+     the privilege of the floor. A number of ladies met Miss Anthony
+     for consultation, and took the initiatory steps for forming a
+     State association. A meeting was appointed for the following
+     Friday, when it was decided to memorialize the legislature. The
+     memorial was headed by Mrs. Lydia Butler, wife of the governor of
+     the State, who spent some days in securing signatures. A lively
+     pen-picture of those times is furnished by private correspondence
+     of Mrs. Esther L. Warner of Roca:
+
+          The first work done for woman suffrage in Lincoln was in
+          December, 1870. Mrs. Tracy Cutler stopped when on her way to
+          California, and gave several addresses in Lincoln. Her
+          womanliness and logic won and convinced her hearers, and had
+          a marked effect upon public sentiment. There are men and
+          women to-day in Nebraska who date their conversion to the
+          cause of equal rights from those lectures. Some steps were
+          taken towards organization, but the matter was dropped in
+          its incipient stages. During the same winter Miss Susan B.
+          Anthony lectured in Lincoln, and presented a petition to be
+          signed by women, asking to be allowed to vote under the
+          fourteenth amendment. She also called a meeting of ladies in
+          a hotel parlor and aided in organizing a State suffrage
+          society. Her rare executive ability accomplished what other
+          hands would have failed to do, for the difficulties in the
+          way of such a movement at that early day were great. Lydia
+          Butler, wife of Governor Butler, was elected president, and
+          other representative women filled the various offices, but
+          after a short time it was deemed wise to disband, as
+          circumstances made it impossible to keep up an efficient
+          organization. Time and money were not plentiful with western
+          women, but we did what we could, and sent a petition to the
+          legislature that winter asking a resolution recommending to
+          the coming State convention to omit the word "male" from the
+          constitution. The petition was signed by about 1,000 women,
+          and received respectful attention from the legislature, and
+          speeches were made in its favor by several members. Among
+          others the speaker of the House, F. M. McDougal, favored the
+          resolution. Governor Butler sent a special message with the
+          petition, recommending the passage of the resolution, for
+          which Nebraska women will always honor him.
+
+          Next it was thought best to call a convention in the
+          interest of woman suffrage, to be held while the
+          constitutional convention should be in session the coming
+          summer. Two women were commissioned to prepare the call and
+          present it for the signatures of members of the legislature
+          who favored the measure. It was thought this course would
+          give dignity and importance to the call which would secure
+          attention throughout the State. The session of the
+          legislature was very exciting. Intrigue accomplished the
+          impeachment of a high State official, and others were being
+          dragged down. As it neared its close the political cauldron
+          boiled and bubbled with redoubled violence. It was more than
+          any woman dared do to approach it. Were not the political
+          fortunes and the sacred honor (?) of men in jeopardy?
+          Woman's rights sunk into insignificance. We subsided. Our
+          hour had not yet come.
+
+     Mrs. Butler says of the part she took at this time: "I
+     entertained the speakers because requested to, and found them so
+     pleasant and persuasive that I soon became a convert to their
+     views. The active and intelligent leaders at that time were
+     Mesdames Cropsey, Galey, Warner, Monell, Coda, and many others
+     whose names I cannot recall." As the result of the effort thus
+     made the legislature of 1871 memorialized the constitutional
+     convention relative to submitting the question to the electors.
+     The proceedings given in the journals are as follows:
+
+          February 4, 1871, Mr. J. C. Myers announced that ladies were
+          in the gallery, and desired to present a petition. A
+          committee was appointed to wait on them. D. J. Quimby
+          introduced a resolution asking an opinion of the
+          attorney-general as to whether in accepting the fourteenth
+          and fifteenth amendments we grant the right of suffrage to
+          women. It was carried, and the memorial, the opinion, and
+          the governor's message were referred to the judiciary
+          committee, which reported through Mr. Galey as follows:
+
+          _Whereas_, The constitution of the State of Nebraska
+          prohibits the women of said State from exercising the right
+          of the elective franchise; and
+
+          _Whereas_, Taxation without representation is repugnant to a
+          republican form of government, and applies to women as well
+          as all other citizens of this State; and
+
+          _Whereas_, All laws which make any distinction between the
+          political rights and privileges of males and females are
+          unbecoming to the people of this State in the year 1871 of
+          the world's progress, and tend only to deprive the latter of
+          the means necessary for their own protection in the various
+          pursuits and callings of life. Therefore be it
+
+          _Resolved_, By the House of Representatives of the State of
+          Nebraska, that the constitutional convention to be begun and
+          holden on the--day of May, 1871, for the purpose of
+          revising and amending the constitution of said State, is
+          hereby most respectfully and earnestly requested to draft
+          such amendment to the constitution of this State as will
+          allow the women thereof to exercise the right of the
+          elective franchise and afford to them such other and further
+          relief as to that honorable body may be deemed wise,
+          expedient and proper; and be it further
+
+          _Resolved_, That said convention is hereby most respectfully
+          and earnestly requested to make such provision (when said
+          amendment shall be submitted to a vote of the people of said
+          State) as will enable the women of Nebraska to vote at said
+          election for the adoption or rejection of the same.
+
+          _Resolved_, Further, that the Secretary of State is hereby
+          instructed to present a copy of this resolution to said
+          convention as soon as the same shall be convened.
+
+          Mr. Porter moved the adoption of the report, which was
+          carried by a vote of 19 to 16.[461] In the Senate, March 22,
+          E. C. Cunningham offered the following amendment to the bill
+          providing for calling a constitutional convention:
+
+          That the electors of the State be and are hereby authorized
+          and recommended to vote for and against female suffrage at
+          the election for members of the constitutional convention.
+          Provided, That at such election all women above the age of
+          21 years, possessing the qualifications required of male
+          electors are hereby authorized and requested to vote upon
+          said proposition, and for the purpose of receiving their
+          votes a separate polling place shall be provided.
+
+          The amendment was lost by a vote of 6 to 6.[462]
+
+     In accordance with the memorial of the legislature, the
+     constitutional convention that met in the following summer by a
+     vote of 30 to 13[463] submitted a clause relative to the right of
+     suffrage. The constitution itself was rejected by the voters; and
+     on this clause the ballot stood, for, 3,502; against, 12,676. Had
+     it been carried at the polls, it would only have conferred upon
+     the legislature the right to submit amendments, and it was
+     therefore no special object to the adherents of impartial
+     suffrage to make efforts for its adoption, while the fact that it
+     was the outgrowth of the discussion of that principle brought
+     upon it all the opposition that a clause actually conferring the
+     ballot would have insured. The right of woman to the elective
+     franchise was championed by the ablest men in the convention.
+     Night after night the question was argued _pro_ and _con_.
+     Petitions from Lincoln and Omaha were numerously presented. The
+     galleries were filled with women eagerly watching the result. The
+     proposition finally adopted did not touch the point at issue, but
+     was accepted as all that could be obtained on that occasion. As
+     the constitution was not adopted, the succeeding legislature felt
+     no interest in the proceedings of the convention, and the
+     journals were not printed; and the records of this battle for
+     justice and civil liberty were hidden in the dusty archives of
+     the state-house until brought out to tell their story for these
+     pages. As this is the only discussion of the question by Nebraska
+     statesmen which has been officially preserved, and as the
+     debaters were among the most prominent men of the State, and
+     many of them retain that position to-day, a few extracts will be
+     of interest:
+
+          The discussion began with the motion of Mr. I. S. Hascall to
+          strike out "men" and insert "persons" in the clause "All men
+          are by nature free and independent." The motion was lost.
+          General E. Estabrook moved to add "Every human being of full
+          age, and resident for a proper length of time on the soil of
+          the Nation and State, who is required to obey the law, is
+          entitled to a voice in its enactment; and every such person
+          whose property is taxed for the support of the government is
+          entitled to a direct representation in such government." Mr.
+          Hascall moved that "man" be inserted in place of "human
+          being." Mr. E. S. Towle desired to put "male" in the place
+          of "man." General Estabrook, on being asked if his amendment
+          was intended to cover "woman's rights," replied:
+
+          I take pleasure in making the amendment because it is a step
+          in the right direction. Justice to woman is the keystone in
+          the arch of the temple of liberty we are now building. That
+          no citizen should be taxed without representation is an
+          underlying principle of a republic and no free government
+          can exist without it.
+
+          General Estabrook seems to have stood alone in considering
+          that the principle of impartial suffrage properly belonged
+          to the Bill of Rights. The amendments were lost. When the
+          article on extension of suffrage was under discussion,
+          General Estabrook opened the subject in a comprehensive
+          speech, lasting all one evening and part of the next. He
+          proved that women were citizens, citing the petitions to
+          congress relative to woman's right to vote under the
+          fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, and the reports of the
+          committee thereupon--one in favor and one opposed, but both
+          agreeing that women are citizens. Then he showed what rights
+          they were entitled to as citizens, quoting the Federal
+          Constitution, Bouvier's Institutes and Law Dictionary, James
+          Madison, Paine's Dissertation on the Principles of
+          Government, Otis' Rights of the Colonies, Thomas Jefferson,
+          Benjamin Franklin, and others. Commenting upon these, he set
+          forth that women vote in corporations, administer estates,
+          manage hospitals and rule empires without harm to themselves
+          and with benefit to everybody else. He made a special
+          argument to the Democrats, reviewing the position of some of
+          their leading men, and closed with saying, "This is the most
+          important measure yet considered, because it contains a
+          fundamental principle."
+
+          General Strickland then introduced a resolution that an
+          article for woman suffrage should be submitted to the
+          people, that the women should vote separately, and that if a
+          majority of both men and women should be in favor, it should
+          become a law. The member did not move this because he
+          favored the principle, but because he felt sure the women
+          would not vote for it. He could not understand what a woman
+          could possibly want more than she had, having the privileges
+          while man has the drudgery. He closed with the prophecy that
+          in two years not a woman would vote in Wyoming.
+
+          General Charles F. Manderson followed. Taking the ground
+          that the members were not in convention to look after the
+          rights of the males only, he said: "Did we recognize the
+          right of all the people to be represented, we should have
+          to-day on this floor some persons sent here to represent the
+          women of our State. Men do not represent women because they
+          are not and cannot be held responsible by them. We have no
+          more right to represent the women here than a man in Iowa
+          has to go to congress and presume to represent Nebraska
+          there." To illustrate the principle General Manderson
+          instanced that in the New York Constitutional Conventions of
+          1801 and 1821, persons voted for delegates who had not the
+          property qualifications to vote at ordinary elections. Even
+          the black man was represented by delegates for whom he had
+          voted. In presenting a petition from Lincoln with seventy
+          names of women who desired to vote, General Manderson said
+          he had made inquiries, and these were the names of the
+          respectable, influential ladies of Lincoln, sixty-three of
+          whom were married. He then reviewed the history and workings
+          of woman suffrage in Wyoming, furnishing the highest
+          testimony in its favor, and closed as follows:
+
+          Mr. Chairman, I envy not the heart or the head of the man,
+          let him occupy what place he may, let him sit in a
+          legislative body or wield the editorial pen, who is so base
+          as to denounce the advocates of this measure as demagogues,
+          and to say that if the right is extended to woman, the low,
+          the miserable, will outnumber at the polls the thousands of
+          virtuous wives throughout this land who advocate this
+          measure; the lie is thrown in his teeth by that noble woman,
+          Mrs. Livermore, who did more service in time of war as a
+          soldier battling for the right than did even my gallant
+          friend, and did far more than myself. She inaugurated and
+          carried in her mighty hand and guided by her mighty brain
+          that Western Ladies' Aid Society, and helped by some means
+          the Western Sanitary Association that did more than 10,000
+          armed men to suppress the late rebellion. The lie is hurled
+          in the teeth of the vile slanderer by this petition from the
+          honest, virtuous ladies of the city of Lincoln. If we have
+          planted one seed, that will bring forth good fruit, God be
+          thanked for that result.
+
+          Mr. Kenaston spoke in favor of the measure, and Judge Moore
+          opposed it in a very witty speech, of which the principal
+          points were that the members were to decide according to
+          expediency, not right; that women had always consented to
+          the government--never trampled the flag in the dust, but
+          always rallied to its support. Judge O. P. Mason followed in
+          opposition, also J. C. Myers, the latter claiming that for
+          twenty years the advocates of woman suffrage have made
+          little, if any, impression on the public mind. E. F. Gray
+          had begun speaking in favor when Victor Vifquain moved the
+          previous question. A lively debate followed this, but it did
+          not prevail. Mr. Mason said: "If we hold the right on this
+          question let us challenge discussion and meet the
+          opposition. It is not a wasted time that sows the seed of
+          truth in the brain." Mr. Manderson urged the number of
+          petitions that had been sent in as a reason for full
+          discussion. R. F. Stevenson said he was opposed to it in
+          every form. A. L. Sprague was against submitting this
+          question at any time, that neither by the laws of God nor of
+          man were women entitled to vote. Seth Robinson would like to
+          hear the social aspects of the question discussed. He said:
+          "I would like, gentlemen, to show whether it would not have
+          a tendency to regenerate our social system and make women as
+          a class more efficient than they are." The motion for the
+          previous question being lost a motion was made to strike out
+          this section. While this was pending General Estabrook
+          insisted that it should be re-committed, saying: "It is the
+          only political question that has essential principle in it.
+          There are not brains enough in this convention to show the
+          justice of taxation without representation. Judge George B.
+          Lake warmly seconded Mr. Estabrook's motion. O. P. Mason
+          wanted the proposition to be submitted to both sexes
+          separately. J. E. Philpott advocated woman suffrage in a
+          comprehensive argument. In closing, he said:
+
+          I demand that suffrage shall be extended to females for the
+          reason that they have not adequate representation in the
+          electoral department. As evidence of this I cite the
+          undeniable facts that in this State woman has not fair wages
+          for her work--has not a fair field to work in. The law, with
+          all its freedom, does not place her on the same footing as
+          to property that it does males. She has no voice as an
+          elector in the making of the laws which regulate her marital
+          union, no voice in the laws which sever those ties. The
+          motto of the State is "Equality Before the Law." This can no
+          more be among us with women disfranchised than in our nation
+          all men could be free and equal while there were more than
+          3,000,000 slaves.
+
+          A. J. Weaver spoke in opposition and was followed by Hon. I.
+          S. Hascall, who based his advocacy of the principle on the
+          rights that woman has as an individual:
+
+          Because we have started upon the wrong track, because women
+          in the dark ages were in bondage, is no reason, when we have
+          advanced to a higher civilization, that we should continue
+          this barbarous practice. There is a higher point to reach
+          and I want to see the people reach that point. I think that
+          the American people are old enough in experience to bring
+          order out of disorder, and that when the question arises
+          they will meet it in such a way as will be satisfactory to
+          all.
+
+          Mr. Stevenson spoke in opposition basing his argument on
+          man's superiority to woman and closed with this remarkable
+          prediction which has probably never been surpassed as a
+          specimen of "spread eagle":
+
+          Finally, Mr. President, I really think that if the ballot
+          were placed in the hands of woman the old American eagle
+          that stands with one foot upon the Alleghanies and the other
+          upon the Rockies, whetting his beak upon the ice-capped
+          mountains of Alaska, and covering half the Southern gulf
+          with his tail, will cease to scream and sink into the pits
+          of blackness of darkness amidst the shrieks of lost spirits
+          that will forever echo and reecho through cavernous depths
+          unknown.
+
+          S. P. Majors advocated the measure, and in the course of the
+          discussion, B. I. Hinman offered a burlesque resolution,
+          proposing to change the duties and functions of the sexes by
+          law, and John D. Neligh said:
+
+          The gentleman from Otoe (Mr. Mason) will get the commission
+          of the Christian mothers, not _against_ the right of female
+          suffrage, but _for_ universal suffrage. That will be a happy
+          day--a day when we shall shine out as a nation more brightly
+          than any other nation under the sun.[464]
+
+     The constitution of 1871 not having been adopted, it became
+     necessary to present another to the people. Accordingly in the
+     summer of 1875 delegates of the male citizens met in the capital
+     city. No outside pressure was brought to bear upon them to
+     influence their consideration of this subject. The grasshoppers
+     had ravaged the State the previous year, cutting off entirely the
+     principal crop of the country. Again in the spring of 1875, in
+     some of the river counties, the young had hatched in myriads, and
+     devoured the growing crops ere winging their way to their
+     mountain home. Gloom overspread the people at the prospect of
+     renewed disaster, and the dismal forebodings were realized even
+     as the delegates sat in council, for at this time occurred the
+     final appearance of the locust. As the people gazed into the sky
+     and watched the silver cloud floating in the sunshine resolve
+     itself into a miniature army clad in burnished steel, women
+     forgot to be concerned for their rights, and the delegates
+     thought only of completing their work with the utmost economy and
+     speed.
+
+     The new constitution, however, was formed on a more liberal
+     basis. Hon. R. B. Harrington, of Beatrice, in the Committee on
+     Bill of Rights, substituted the word "people" for "men," and it
+     passed without comment. An article on amendments was embodied in
+     the constitution, the same in substance as the one defeated in
+     1871, under which, as was actually done in 1881, the legislature
+     could present amendments relating to suffrage.
+
+     The question of adopting the article relating to qualifications
+     of electors being before the convention. Judge Clinton Briggs of
+     Omaha sat during the reading of the first clause, "every male,"
+     etc., meditating, as he related to a friend, on how many lives
+     had been sacrificed and how many millions of money had been spent
+     in getting rid of the word "white," which had made such an unjust
+     restriction, and how easy it would be, by one dash of the pen,
+     to blot out the word "male," and thus abolish this other unjust
+     restriction. On the inspiration of the moment, he moved to strike
+     out the word "male," R. B. Harrington relates that the motion of
+     Judge Briggs, who had not before expressed his sentiments, and
+     who had not consulted with the known advocates of the measure, so
+     astonished the convention that it was some time before they could
+     realize that he was in earnest. The friends rallied to Judge
+     Briggs' support. Gen. Chas. F. Manderson--a member of this, as of
+     the preceding convention--seconded the motion, and sustained it
+     with a forcible speech. Mr. Harrington made a speech in its
+     favor, and after a short and vigorous discussion it came to a
+     vote, which showed fifteen for the motion and fifty-two
+     against.[465]
+
+     About this time Nebraska was again visited by lecturers on woman
+     suffrage, who found an intelligent class of people, who, with
+     growing material prosperity, were kindly disposed toward
+     progressive ideas. Mrs. Margaret Campbell lectured in Nebraska in
+     1875, at about fifteen places between Kearney and the Missouri.
+     In 1877-8 and 9, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony lectured at many
+     points. These, with some local lectures aroused an intelligent
+     interest in equal rights for women. It was attempted to give this
+     expression in the legislature of 1879. Resolutions were
+     introduced, favorable reports made and the subject treated with
+     kindly consideration, but for lack of time, or some one deeply
+     interested, nothing was accomplished.
+
+          The legislation of 1879 on the subject of equal suffrage
+          originated with Senator McMeans and C. B. Slocumb of
+          Fairbury. The former offered a petition from Thos. Harbine
+          and 160 others, asking a constitutional amendment
+          prohibiting the disfranchising of citizens on account of
+          sex. Referred to a committee of whom a majority recommended
+          that its consideration be indefinitely postponed. A minority
+          report was brought in by Orlando Tefft and Chas. H. Brown
+          recommending that the prayers of petitioners be granted. In
+          the House, at the same session, C. B. Slocumb presented the
+          petition of Calvin F. Steele and others, with a resolution
+          asking that the committee on constitutional amendments be
+          instructed to provide for the submission of an amendment
+          conferring the franchise upon woman. The resolution was
+          adopted, referred, and reported back with draft of an
+          amendment. The committee were Messrs. True, Windham, Batty,
+          Simonton, Mitchell, Sparks and Gaylord. On motion of Mr.
+          True the joint resolution was ordered to first reading; no
+          further mention appears of it.
+
+     The first suffrage society of the State was formed at Fairbury by
+     Mrs. H. Tyler Wilcox, and although this organization lived but a
+     short time, it secured petitions and drew the attention of
+     legislators elect--Senator McMeans and C. B. Slocumb--to the
+     general interest felt in Jefferson county. The second society was
+     formed in Thayer county. The sisters, Mrs. Davis and Mrs.
+     Cornell, of Alexandria, called a meeting, which resulted in
+     organizing the Alexandria Free Suffrage Association, Sept. 27,
+     1878. Prof. W. D. Vermilion and E. M. Correll of Hebron, lectured
+     before this society, but, most of the members living in the
+     country, the meetings were given up when the cold weather set
+     in.
+
+     The first working society was that of Hebron, which was organized
+     by Mrs. Stanton, April 15, 1879. The citizens were prepared for
+     the undertaking. E. M. Correll, editor of the Hebron _Journal_,
+     in editorials, in lectures by himself and others, had urged on
+     women the dignity and importance of interesting themselves in
+     their own behalf. The society had been encouraged by lectures
+     from Miss Couzins and Mrs. H. T. Wilcox, the latter taking the
+     ground then comparatively new, that woman's ballot is necessary
+     for successful temperance effort. Meetings were kept up regularly
+     and with increasing membership, and the Thayer County Woman
+     Suffrage Association won a deserved triumph in being primarily
+     connected with the origin and successful passage of the joint
+     resolution of 1881. The legislators elected in 1880 were Senator
+     C. B. Coon, and Representative E. M. Correll. Both these
+     gentlemen were active members of the Thayer County Association,
+     and after their election a committee waited on them, pledging
+     them to special effort during the coming session.
+
+     Meanwhile a general favorable sentiment was growing. In noting
+     this it would not be right to omit mention of Mrs. Harbert's
+     "Woman's Kingdom," in the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_, which circulated
+     largely among country readers. The Omaha _Republican_ passed, in
+     1876, under the editorial management of D. C. Brooks, who, with
+     his wife, had been prominent in the suffrage work of Michigan and
+     Illinois. The favorable attitude of this paper, and the articles
+     which Mrs. Brooks from time to time contributed to it, exerted a
+     wide influence. In the winter of 1881, Mrs. Brooks established a
+     woman's department in the _Republican_ which crystallized the
+     growing interest around the leadership of its editor. Letters
+     were addressed to her from various sections of the State, urging
+     immediate action. The following from Mrs. Lucinda Russell will
+     show the interest felt:
+
+                                   TECUMSEH, Neb., December 4, 1880.
+
+          MRS. HARRIET S. BROOKS--_Dear Madam_: I have been shown a
+          form of petition for the suffrage which you enclosed to Rev.
+          Mary J. DeLong, of this place. Will you please inform me if
+          this is to be the form of petition to be presented during
+          the present session of the legislature? We wish the exact
+          words in order that we may have it published in our local
+          paper.
+
+          We think it best to call a meeting, even now at this
+          somewhat late day, and send women to Lincoln who will attend
+          personally to this matter. We have left these things
+          neglected too long. Will you call on all women of the State
+          who can do so to assemble at Lincoln during the session of
+          the legislature, appointing the day, etc.? I think we would
+          be surprised at the result. This town contains scarcely a
+          woman who is opposed to woman suffrage. We know we are a
+          power here; and we do not know but the same hearty support
+          which Tecumseh would afford may exist in many towns
+          throughout the State. All we need for good earnest work and
+          mighty results is organization.
+
+                                                       L. R.
+
+     In accordance with these requests a meeting for conference was
+     called at Lincoln, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks presiding. A
+     second meeting was held at the M. E. Church, January 22, and a
+     Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association was formed. A mass convention
+     was held January 26, and a State Association was formed next
+     day:[466]
+
+          The meeting of January 26 was held in the opera-house and
+          was presided over by Mrs. Franc E. Finch. The speakers were
+          John B. Finch, Rev. Mary J. DeLong, Judge O. P. Mason and
+          Mrs. Esther L. Warner. Reading and music filled the
+          programme. Mrs. DeLong's address was in behalf of the
+          prohibitory and suffrage amendments. Judge Mason's address
+          was afterwards printed for distribution. It showed how
+          forcible and eloquent the Judge could be when on the right
+          side. It will be remembered that Judge Mason opposed woman
+          suffrage in the constitutional convention of 1871. His
+          closing sentences were:
+
+          The more intelligent and exalted the character of the
+          electors in a government whose foundation rests upon the
+          franchise, the more safe and secure are the liberties of the
+          people and the property of that government. The higher the
+          social and moral standard of the electors, the better will
+          be the type of manhood that is chosen to make laws and
+          administer the government. As you elevate the standard of
+          intelligence, and increase the ability and intensify the
+          power to recognize the right and a sense of obligation to
+          follow it, you make sure the foundations of civil and
+          religious liberty. You do more, you elevate the character of
+          the laws, and better the administration in every department
+          of government. It has been wisely said that government is
+          best which is best administered.
+
+          Do as we will, however, forget the rights of others, treat
+          them with contempt, summon to our aid the united efforts of
+          great political parties, invoke statutory and constitutional
+          law to aid us in the mad career, yet, let no one forget that
+          God's balances, watched by his angels, are hung across the
+          sky to weigh the conduct of individuals and nations, and
+          that in the end divine wisdom will pronounce the inexorable
+          judgment of compensatory justice.
+
+     Previous to all of these meetings Hon. E. M. Correll had
+     introduced on January 13, H. R. 59, a bill for an amendment to
+     the constitution striking the word "male" from qualifications of
+     electors. This had given impetus to the friends of the measure
+     and inspiration to the meetings. A vote of thanks was tendered
+     Mr. Correll by both the State and Thayer County Associations. The
+     bill not being technically correct, Mr. Correll introduced on
+     February 3, a joint resolution of the same purport, H. R. 162.
+     The committees of Senate and House on constitutional amendments
+     gave a hearing that evening to the advocates of the measure:
+
+          Of the fourteen members of the committees, ten were present;
+          the full number from the House and three from the Senate.
+          Mr. Correll pressed the claims of the resolution in the
+          first speech, and then introduced the different speakers
+          representing the State association. Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks
+          reviewed the progress of sentiment elsewhere and said that
+          her acquaintance and correspondence in this State led her to
+          think the time ripe for action of this kind. Mrs. Orpha
+          Clement Dinsmoor argued the abstract right of it, saying:
+
+          It has now come to the question of absolute right--whether
+          one class of people shall say to another: "You can come only
+          thus far in the direction of liberty." We realize that woman
+          must be educated to this new privilege, just as man has been
+          educated to it, and just as this nation is now educating
+          millions of the newly enfranchised to it. Feeling that in
+          intellectual and moral capacity woman is the peer of man, I
+          think that her actual steps forward in needful preparation
+          have given her the right to say who shall rule over her.
+
+          Mrs. Jennie F. Holmes based her remarks on the added
+          influence it would give women in securing wise legislation
+          in matters of welfare to the home. Clara B. Colby answered
+          questions of the committee. It was a most encouraging fact
+          that every member of the committee, after the speakers had
+          finished presenting the case, spoke in favor of the
+          amendment, except one, a Bohemian, who was suffering from
+          hoarseness and induced his colleague to express favorable
+          sentiments for him. These gentlemen all remained friendly to
+          the bill until its passage.
+
+     Headquarters were established in Lincoln. Mrs. Brooks remained
+     during the session, and Mesdames Holmes, Russell, Dinsmoor and
+     Colby all, or most of the time, until the act was passed,
+     interviewing the members and securing the promise of their votes
+     for the measure:
+
+          The joint resolution went through all the preliminary stages
+          in the House without opposition on account of the discretion
+          of its advocates, the watchfulness of its zealous friends
+          among the members, and the carefulness of Mr. Correll with
+          regard to all pending measures. The bill was made a special
+          order for February 18, 10:45 A. M., and Mrs. Brooks, Mrs.
+          Dinsmoor and Mrs. Colby addressed the House by invitation.
+          At the close of their remarks Mr. Roberts offered the
+          following:
+
+          _Resolved_, That, as the sense of this House, we extend our
+          thanks to the ladies who have so ably addressed us in behalf
+          of female suffrage, and we wish them God-speed in their good
+          work.
+
+          On motion of Mr. Howe the resolution was unanimously
+          adopted. Mr. Correll moved that H. R. 162 be ordered
+          engrossed for third reading. The motion prevailed. The final
+          vote in the House, February 21, stood 51 for the amendment;
+          22 against.[467]
+
+     The passage of the bill had its dramatic features. Intense
+     interest was felt by the crowds which daily gathered in the
+     capitol to watch its progress, while the officers of the State
+     association were extended the courtesies of the floor, and came
+     and went, watching every opportunity and giving counsel and
+     assistance at every step. On this eventful Monday afternoon but
+     one of these was present, and she watched with anxiety the rapid
+     passage of the bills preceding, which made it evident that H. R.
+     162 would soon be reached. Six more than the needed number of
+     votes had been promised, but three of these were absent from the
+     city. There were barely enough members present to do business, as
+     important bills claimed attention in committee-rooms and lobbies.
+     The last bill ahead of this was reached, and the friends hurried
+     out in every direction to inform the members, who responded
+     quickly to the call. One man pledged to the amendment went out
+     and did not return, the only one to betray the measure.
+
+     The roll was called amid breathless interest and every one kept
+     the tally. Church Howe, in voting, said: "I thank God that my
+     life has been spared to this moment, when I can vote to extend
+     the right of suffrage to the women of my adopted State." And C.
+     B. Slocumb responded to his name, "Believing that my wife is
+     entitled to all the rights that I enjoy, I vote aye." The last
+     name had been called, and all knew that only fifty votes had been
+     cast for the amendment, lacking one of the required three-fifths
+     of all members elect. The chief clerk of the House, B. D.
+     Slaughter, usually so glib, slowly repeated the names of those
+     who had voted and more slowly footed up the result. Two
+     favorable members were outside; if only one could be reached! The
+     speaker, who had just voted against the amendment, but was kindly
+     disposed towards those interested in it, held the announcement
+     back for a moment which gave Church Howe time to move the
+     recommitment of the resolution. His motion was seconded all over
+     the House, but just at this juncture one of the absent friends,
+     P. O. Heacock, a German member from Richardson county, came in,
+     and, being told what was going on, called out, "I desire to vote
+     on this bill." He walked quickly to his place and, in answer to
+     his name, voted "aye." The speaker asked Mr. Howe if he wished to
+     withdraw his motion, which he did, and the vote was announced.
+     The galleries cheered, and the House was in a hubbub, unrebuked
+     by the speaker, who looked as happy as if he had voted for the
+     bill. The members gathered around the woman who sat in their
+     midst, shook hands and extended congratulations, many even who
+     had voted against the amendment expressing their personal
+     sympathy with its advocates.
+
+     The joint resolution was immediately sent to the Senate, where,
+     after its second reading, it was referred to the Committee on
+     Constitutional Amendments, who returned it with two reports:
+
+          That of the majority, recommended its passage, while the
+          minority opposed it on the ground that it would be
+          inadvisable to introduce opposing measures into the House
+          and thus create new divisions in politics and a new cause of
+          excitement; but principally upon the claim that in the
+          territory where female suffrage had obtained "for a period
+          of two years" the experiment had been disastrous, the
+          "interests of the territory damaged in emigration," and the
+          administration of justice hindered in the courts. This
+          report was signed by Senators J. C. Myers and S. B. Taylor,
+          who had persistently refused to listen to argument or
+          information on the subject. As soon as the report was made,
+          the senators were informed of their glaring mistake as to
+          the length of time the women of Wyoming had voted, and
+          information was laid before them proving that the results in
+          that territory had been in every way beneficial,[468] but
+          they refused to withdraw or change their report.
+
+          The parliamentary tactics and watchfulness of Senators
+          Doane, Coon, Smith, White, Dinsmore, Harrington and Tefft
+          carried the bill through the bluster of the minority to its
+          final vote; by twenty-two for to eight against.[469] When
+          Senator Howe's name was called he offered the following
+          explanation:
+
+          The question of submitting this proposition to a vote of the
+          people is not to be regarded as a pleasantry, as some
+          members seem to think. However mischievously the experiment
+          of giving the suffrage to women may operate, the power once
+          given cannot be recalled. I have endeavored to look at the
+          question conscientiously. I desire to keep abreast of all
+          legitimate reforms of the day. I would like to see the moral
+          influence of women at the polls, but I would not like to see
+          the immoral influence of politics in the home circle. The
+          Almighty has imposed upon woman the highest office to which
+          human nature is subject, that of bearing children. Her life
+          is almost necessarily a home life; it should be largely
+          occupied in rearing and training her children to be good men
+          and pure electors. Therein her influence is all-powerful.
+          Again, I incline to the belief that to strike out the word
+          'male' in the constitution would not change its meaning so
+          as to confer the suffrage upon women. I am not acquainted
+          with half a dozen ladies who would accept the suffrage if it
+          were offered to them. They are not prepared for so radical a
+          change. For these reasons, briefly stated, and others, I
+          vote _No_.
+
+          Mr. Turner explained his vote as follows:
+
+          Our wives, mothers and sisters having an equal interest with
+          us in the welfare of our commonwealth, and being equal to
+          ourselves in intelligence, there appears no good reason why
+          the right to vote should be withheld from them. The genius
+          of our institutions is opposed to taxation without
+          representation; opposed to government without the consent of
+          the governed, and therefore I vote _Aye_.
+
+          The act was then signed by the president of the Senate and
+          speaker of the House, and sent to Gov. Nance. The latter,
+          who, although not personally an advocate of the measure, had
+          given all courtesy and assistance to its supporters, signed
+          it promptly. To take a bill like this, which even a minority
+          are anxious to defeat, through the intricate course of
+          legislation requires work, watchfulness and the utmost tact
+          and discretion on the part of its friends in both Houses.
+
+     The suffrage association immediately arranged to begin a canvass
+     of the State. The vice-president was appointed State organizer
+     and entered upon the duties of the office by forming a society at
+     Beatrice, March 5. The next step was to secure ample and
+     unimpeachable testimonials from Wyoming, which were printed in
+     _Woman's Work_, and then spread broadcast in leaflet form.
+     Lectures were given, and societies and working committees formed
+     as rapidly as possible. The _Western Woman's Journal_, a neat
+     monthly magazine, was established in May, by Hon. E. M. Correll,
+     and a host of women suddenly found themselves gifted with the
+     power to speak and write, which they consecrated to the cause of
+     their civil liberties.
+
+     The Thayer County Association, as the elder sister of the
+     numerous family now springing up, maintained its prominence as a
+     centre of activity and intelligence. Barbara J. Thompson,
+     secretary from its organization, wrote at this time of the
+     enthusiasm felt, and of the willingness of the women to work, but
+     added, "nearly all our women are young mothers with from one to
+     five children, and these cannot do anything more than attend the
+     meetings occasionally when they can leave the children." This
+     might have been said of any society in the State, and this fact
+     must be considered in judging from their achievements of the zeal
+     of the Nebraska women. Few, comparatively, could take a public
+     part, and all others were constantly reckoned by opponents as
+     unwilling or indifferent. Thayer County Association celebrated
+     the Fourth of July in a novel manner, making every feature an
+     object lesson. _Woman's Work_ gave an account of it at the time,
+     which is quoted to give a pleasant glance backward at the
+     enthusiasm and interest that marked the work of this society:
+
+          We found to our surprise that the women of Thayer county had
+          in charge the whole celebration. The Fourth dawned cool and
+          clear, and with news of the improvement of Garfield,
+          everybody felt happy. The procession, marshaled by ladies on
+          their handsome horses, and assisted by Senator C. B. Coon,
+          was formed in due time, and presented a very imposing
+          appearance. The band wagon was followed by nearly a hundred
+          others, and among the novelties of the occasion was the
+          boys' brigade, consisting of a score of little fellows,
+          some with drums and some with cornets, who played in quite
+          tolerable time. The States were represented to indicate
+          their progress with regard to equal rights. Young men
+          represented those wherein no advance had been made; young
+          women those where school suffrage had been granted to women;
+          and Wyoming Territory was represented by two, a man and a
+          woman. The little girls were all dressed in the appropriate
+          colors, the wagons were gaily decorated, and the procession
+          well managed. After singing and prayer, the president, Mrs.
+          Ferguson, gave a short address. Mrs. Vermilion, who is a
+          direct descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration
+          of Independence, read the Woman's Declaration of
+          Independence and Bill of Rights, a document couched in such
+          forcible terms as Hancock, Adams & Co., would use if they
+          were women in this year of our Lord 1881. Then followed the
+          oration of the day, delivered by Mrs. Colby, and for the
+          audience it had at least two points of interest: First, that
+          the woman suffrage society had acted in defiance of
+          precedent, and had engaged a woman as their orator; and
+          secondly, that it was given from the standpoint of a citizen
+          and not of a woman. There being nothing in the address on
+          the matter of woman suffrage, the society desired the
+          speaker to address them in the evening on that subject.
+          Accordingly a meeting was held, and despite the fatigue of
+          the day, there was a good attendance and considerable
+          interest. A good dinner was provided on the grounds, and
+          afterwards they had singing and speaking. Mr. Hendershot
+          addressed the children. It will be an item of interest to
+          the readers of the _Express_ that the W. S. A. of Thayer
+          county have had some songs printed appropriate for their
+          use. Among them is "Hold the Polls," a song by the editor of
+          the _Express_, and this was sung with considerable
+          enthusiasm. It may be said that the whole affair was a
+          success, and reflected great credit on the executive ability
+          of the ladies in charge. One item of interest must not be
+          forgotten--among the various banners indicative of the
+          virtues which are worthy of cultivation, was one whose motto
+          read, "In Mother we Trust." A lady being asked the peculiar
+          significance of this, said, "It has always been God and
+          father, now we want the children to learn to trust their
+          mothers, and to think they are of some account."
+
+     A successful State convention was held at Omaha July 6, 7, Mrs.
+     Brooks presiding and making the opening address. The address of
+     Mrs. Ada M. Bittenbender on "The Legal Disabilities of Married
+     Women" created quite a discussion among a number of noted lawyers
+     present. Of this the _Republican_ said:
+
+          This lady is the well-known recent editor of the Osceola
+          _Record_, which she has now relinquished for the study and
+          practice of law, in partnership with her husband. Her
+          address, although learned, elaborate, comprehensive, and
+          dealing with principles and technicalities, was delivered
+          extemporaneously, with great animation and effect, and in a
+          manner at once womanly, captivating and strong.
+
+     Miss Ida Edson read a paper on "Might and Right." Mrs. Bloomer,
+     whose presence was an interesting feature of the convention, gave
+     reminiscences of her own work for woman's ballot in Nebraska. The
+     convention was enlivened by the dramatic readings of Mrs. H. P.
+     Mathewson, and the inspiring ballads of the poet-singer, James G.
+     Clark, who had come from Colorado to attend the meeting. A
+     glimpse at the convention through the friendly eyes of the editor
+     of the _Republican_ will indicate the interest and ability shown
+     by the women of the State:
+
+          The first general convention of the Woman's State Suffrage
+          Association commenced its session last evening at Masonic
+          hall, the president, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, in the chair,
+          assisted by the first vice-president, Mrs. Clara B. Colby of
+          Beatrice; the secretary, Mrs. A. M. Bittenbender of Osceola;
+          and the treasurer, Mrs. Russell of Tecumseh. A majority of
+          the members of the executive committee and of the
+          vice-presidents were also present, with several friends of
+          the cause from abroad, including Hon. E. M. Correll, editor
+          of the _Western Woman's Journal_, who was the "leader of the
+          House" on the bill for submitting the suffrage amendment to
+          the people. The evening was sultry and threatening, and
+          Masonic hall was not so full as it would otherwise have
+          been, considering both "promise and performance." The local
+          attendance was representative, including quite a number of
+          our leading citizens, with their wives, and the editors of
+          our contemporaries the _Herald_ and the _Bee_. The meeting
+          was a very interesting one, more especially the
+          "conversational" portion, in which free discussion was
+          solicited. This was opened by Hon. E. Rosewater, who spoke
+          in response to a very general call. His address of half an
+          hour in length was marked by apparent sincerity, and was a
+          calm and argumentative presentation of objections,
+          theoretical and practical, which occurred to him against the
+          extension of the franchise to women. It was replied to by
+          Mrs. Colby, in a running comment, which abounded in womanly
+          wisdom and wit, and incessantly brought down the house. Our
+          restricted space will compel us to forego a report of the
+          discussion at present. On the conclusion of Mrs. Colby's
+          very bright and convincing remarks, Dr. McNamara addressed
+          the convention in a brief speech of great earnestness, depth
+          and power.
+
+          The last session was most interesting. The hall was nearly
+          filled, and among the audience were representatives of many
+          of our leading families. There was rather too much crowded
+          into this session, but the convention "cleaned up" its work
+          thoroughly, and the audience displayed a patient interest to
+          the very end. Besides the address of Professor Clark, there
+          was a masterly constitutional argument by Mrs. Clara B.
+          Colby, which demonstrated that woman can argue logically,
+          and can support her postulates with the requisite legal
+          learning, embracing a knowledge of the common and statute
+          law authorities from Blackstone down. The address abounded
+          in historical and literary allusions which show its author
+          to be a person of broad culture as well as an adept in "book
+          learning." Following came another address from Mrs. Bloomer,
+          in which she disposed--as he expressed, to Dr. McNamara's
+          entire satisfaction--of the stock biblical argument down
+          from Moses to Paul against "woman's rights" to act in the
+          same spheres, and speak from the same platform with men.
+          This address was given at the special request of several
+          leading ladies of this city, and though the hour was late,
+          it was received with unbroken interest, and was complimented
+          with a special vote of thanks, moved by Mrs. Colby. Most
+          interesting reports of district and local work were made by
+          Mrs. Holmes, of Tecumseh, Mrs. Chapin of Riverton, and Mrs.
+          Slaughter of Osceola. Dr. McNamara closed the convention
+          with a few stirring words of exhortation to the ladies to go
+          right to work from now on to November, 1882. He excused
+          himself from a set speech with the promise that, if "let
+          off" now, he would, at some future time, present a full
+          expression of his views on the reform to which he has so
+          earnestly pledged himself. The closing word in which the
+          _Republican_ would sum up the varied proceedings of the
+          first State suffrage convention is the magic word success.
+
+     A second very successful convention was held at Kearney, October
+     19, 20. A score or more societies were represented by delegates
+     and their reports were very encouraging.
+
+          The principal features of the programme were: Address of
+          president, Harriet S. Brooks; welcome, Mrs. H. S. Sydenham;
+          response, Mrs. A. P. Nicholas; addresses by Mrs. Esther L.
+          Warner, Gen. S. H. Connor (whose name appeared among the
+          votes of the opponents in 1875); Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor, on
+          "Inherent Rights"; L. B. Fifield, regent of the State
+          University, on "Woman's Influence for Women"; and Rev.
+          Crissman, resident Presbyterian minister, on "Expediency."
+          Among the letters received was the following, addressed to
+          Mrs. Dinsmoor, by Gen. Manderson, whose name has been
+          mentioned as voting for woman's ballot in the constitutional
+          conventions of 1871 and 1875:
+
+                                             OMAHA, October, 17.
+
+          Your esteemed favor inviting me to speak before the
+          convention at Kearney, October 18, 19, upon the subject of
+          the extension of suffrage to women, was duly received. I
+          have delayed replying to it until to day in the hope that my
+          professional engagements would permit me to meet with you at
+          Kearney. The continuing session of our District Court
+          prevents my absence at this time. I would like very much to
+          be with you at the meeting of your association. My desire,
+          however, would be to hear rather than to speak. Ten years
+          have passed since, with other members of the constitutional
+          convention of 1871, I met in argument those who opposed
+          striking the word "male" from the constitution of Nebraska.
+          In those days "the truth was mighty and prevailed," almost
+          to the extent of full success, for, as the result of our
+          effort, we saw the little band of thirteen increase to
+          thirty. I feel that there must be much of new thought and
+          rich argument growing from the agitation of the last ten
+          years, and to listen to those who, like yourself and many
+          other members of your association, have been in the
+          forefront of the battle for the right, would be most
+          interesting. But I must, for the present, forego the
+          pleasure of hearing you. I write merely to keep myself "on
+          the record" in the good fight. Now, as ever, I favor the
+          enfranchisement of women, the disfranchisement of ignorance.
+          I would both extend and contract the right to vote in our
+          republic; extend it so that intelligence without regard to
+          color or sex should rule, and contract it so that ignorance
+          should be ruled. If this be not the cure for the political
+          ills that threaten the permanency of American institutions,
+          then there is no cure. May Nebraska be the first of the
+          States to apply the remedy.
+
+                         Very respectfully yours, CHARLES F. MANDERSON.
+
+
+[Illustration: Clara Bewick Colby]
+
+
+     The association sent out its scouts, and as a result a convention
+     was held in quite the northern part of the State, at Norfolk,
+     November 30 and December 1. This was much appreciated by the
+     citizens, whose locality was at that time not much frequented by
+     speakers on any topic.[470] The first annual meeting, held at
+     Lincoln in February, 1882, found a large number of delegates,
+     each with reports of kindred local work, ready to receive the
+     record of this year of preparation. Everything indicated a
+     favorable termination to the effort, as it became evident that
+     all sections of the State were being aroused to active interest.
+
+          The address of the president, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, was
+          entitled, "Work, Wages and the Ballot." It was a review of a
+          lecture given earlier in the season by Chancellor Fairchild
+          of the University, in which he had taken the ground that the
+          work of women should not receive the same wages as that of
+          men. Rev. Dr. McNamara and others spoke briefly and
+          earnestly. Miss Lydia Bell, at the closing evening session,
+          gave an address which, to use the words of the reporter,
+          "for felicity of composition, strength of argument, and
+          beauty of delivery, fully merited the special resolution of
+          thanks unanimously given by the society."[471]
+
+     The work of organizing and lecturing was continued with as much
+     zeal and efficiency as the busy days and limited resources of the
+     women would permit. Many of the counties held conventions, took
+     count of their friends, and prepared for a vigorous campaign. As
+     the summer advanced, at picnics, old settlers' gatherings,
+     soldiers' reuenions, fairs, and political conventions,--wherever
+     a company of people had assembled, there interested women claimed
+     an opportunity to present the subject to audiences it would
+     otherwise have been impossible to reach. With but few exceptions,
+     officials extended the courtesies asked.
+
+     During the summer of 1882, the work was greatly aided by the
+     lectures of Margaret Campbell and Matilda Hindman; and during the
+     month of September by Helen M. Gougar. The American Suffrage
+     Association, at its annual meeting in 1881, elected Hon. E. M.
+     Correll president, as a recognition of his services to the cause
+     in Nebraska, and in 1882, it held its annual meeting in Omaha,
+     September 12 and 13. Lucy Stone, H. B. Blackwell, and Hannah
+     Tracy Cutler remained for some weeks, lecturing in the State, and
+     were warmly received by the local committees. Ex-Governor John W.
+     Hoyt, and Judge Kingman, of Wyoming, gave a few addresses. The
+     National Association also held its annual meeting at Omaha, Sept.
+     26, 27, 28. A reception was given at the Paxton Hotel on the
+     close of the last session. Following this, a two days' convention
+     was held at Lincoln, from which point the speakers diverged to
+     take part in the campaign.[472]
+
+     While those friendly to the amendment were laboring thus
+     earnestly, the politicians held themselves aloof and attended
+     strictly to "mending their own fences." After the act had passed
+     the legislature, it was found that almost every prominent man in
+     the State was friendly to the amendment. The bench and bar were
+     especially favorable, while three-fourths of the press and a
+     large majority of the clergy warmly espoused the cause. Leading
+     politicians told the women to go ahead and organize, and they
+     would assist in the latter part of the canvass. Thayer and Clay
+     county Republicans endorsed woman suffrage in their platform,
+     while Franklin county delegates were instructed to vote for no
+     one who was not in favor of the amendment.
+
+     Previous to the session of the Republican State Convention, great
+     hopes were entertained that this body would put an endorsement of
+     the amendment in its platform, as a majority of the delegates
+     were personally pledged to vote for such a measure. But the
+     committee on resolutions was managed by a man who feared that
+     such endorsement would hurt the party, and the suffrage
+     resolution which was handed in, was not reported with the rest.
+     On the plea of time being precious, the convention was maneuvered
+     to pass a resolution that the report of the committee should not
+     be discussed. The report was brought in at the last moment of the
+     convention, and adopted as previously arranged, and the
+     convention was adjourned, everybody wondering why a resolution
+     relative to the amendment had not been presented. The Republican
+     leaders feared that their party was endangered by the passage of
+     the bill by the legislature, for it was very largely carried by
+     Republican votes, and while individually friendly, they almost to
+     a man avoided the subject.
+
+     As the canvass progressed, it was comical to note how shy the
+     politicians fought of the women to whom they had promised
+     assistance. Judge O. P. Mason, who had agreed to give ten
+     lectures for the amendment, and whose advocacy would have had
+     immense weight, engaged to speak for the Republican party, and at
+     every place but one, the managers stipulated that he should be
+     silent on the amendment. Of the vast array of Republican
+     speakers, had even those who had expressed themselves in favor of
+     the amendment advocated it intelligently and earnestly, the
+     result would have been different.
+
+     Due credit must be given to ex-United States Senator Tipton,
+     Judge W. H. Morris, and a few others who lectured outside of
+     their own counties, as well as at home, while David Butler,
+     candidate for senator from Pawnee county, E. M. Correll of
+     Hebron, C. C. Chapin of Riverton, Judge A. P. Yocum of Hastings,
+     and doubtless a few others, regardless of their political
+     prospects, advocated the cause of woman along with their own. The
+     women of Nebraska will always cherish the memory of the
+     enthusiastic young student from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who spent
+     some months of the campaign in Nebraska, giving lavishly of his
+     means and talents to aid the cause. Wilder M. Wooster was a
+     bright, logical speaker, and his death, which occurred in 1885,
+     cost the world a promising and conscientious journalist.
+
+     Towards the close of the campaign it became evident that the
+     saloon element was determined to defeat the amendment. The organ
+     of the Brewers' Association sent out its orders to every saloon,
+     bills posted in conspicuous places by friends of the amendment
+     mysteriously disappeared, or were covered by others of an
+     opposite character, and the greatest pains was taken to excite
+     the antagonism of foreigners by representing to them that woman
+     suffrage meant prohibition. On the other hand, the temperance
+     advocates were by no means a unit for its support.
+
+     The morning dawned bright and clear on November 5, 1882. The most
+     casual observer would have seen that some unusual interest was
+     commanding attention. Everything wore a holiday appearance.
+     Polling places were gaily decorated; banners floated to the
+     breeze, bearing suggestive mottoes: "Are Women Citizens?"
+     "Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny!" "Governments Derive
+     their Just Powers from the Consent of the Governed." "Equality
+     before the Law," etc., etc. Under pavilions, or in adjoining
+     rooms, or in the very shadow of the ballot-box, women presided at
+     well-filled tables, serving refreshments to the voters, and
+     handing to those who would take them, tickets bearing the words:
+     "For Constitutional Amendment Relating to Right of Suffrage,"
+     while the national colors floated alike over governing and
+     governed; alike over women working and pleading for their rights
+     as citizens, and men who were selling woman's birth-right for a
+     glass of beer or a vote. It looked like a holiday picnic--the
+     well-dressed people, the flowers, the badges, and the flags; but
+     the tragic events of that day would fill a volume.
+
+     The conservative joined hands with the vicious, the egotist with
+     the ignorant, the demagogue with the venial, and when the sun
+     set, Nebraska's opportunity to do the act of simple justice was
+     gone--lost by a vote of 50,693 to 25,756--so the record gives
+     it. But it must not be forgotten that many tickets were
+     fraudulently printed, and that tickets which contained no mention
+     of the amendment were counted against it, as also were tickets
+     having any technical defect or omission; for instance, tickets
+     having the abbreviated form, "For the Amendment," were counted
+     against it. It will always remain an open question whether the
+     amendment did not, after all, receive an actual majority of all
+     votes cast upon that question. In this new State, burdened with
+     the duties incident to the development of a new country, the
+     women had done what women might do to secure their rights, but
+     their hour had not yet struck.
+
+     On the following evening, the speakers of the National
+     Association, who still remained in the State held a meeting[473]
+     at the opera-house in Omaha, at which the addresses were in the
+     main congratulatory for the large vote, making proportionally the
+     largest ever cast for woman's ballot.
+
+     While history must perforce be silent concerning the efforts and
+     sacrifices of the many, a word will be expected in regard to some
+     of the principal actors. Looking back on these two eventful
+     years, not a woman who took part in that struggle would wish to
+     have been inactive in that heroic hour. It is an inspiration and
+     an ennobling of all the faculties that they have once been lifted
+     above all personal aims and transient interests; and for all who
+     caught the true meaning of the moment, life can never again touch
+     the low level of indifference. The officers of the State
+     Association who were most active in the canvass are here
+     mentioned with a word as to their subsequent efforts:
+
+          Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, whose services have so often been
+          referred to, after working in three States for the
+          privileges of citizenship, is devoting herself to the
+          congenial study of sociology, and her able pen still does
+          service.
+
+          Ada M. Bittenbender was admitted to the bar May 17, 1882,
+          and from that time until the election gave undivided
+          attention to the duties of her office as president of the
+          State Association. The campaign song-book, the supplement
+          folded in the county papers, the columns of notes and news
+          prepared for many journals in the State, the headquarters in
+          Lincoln from which, with the assistance of E. M. Correll and
+          Mrs. Russell, she sent forth documents, posters, blanks and
+          other campaign accessories, sufficiently attest her energy
+          and ability. She is now a practicing lawyer of Lincoln, and
+          was successful during the session of the legislature of 1885
+          in securing the passage of a law making mothers joint and
+          equal guardians of their children.
+
+          Mrs. Belle G. Bigelow of Geneva was an active and reliable
+          officer during the canvass of 1882, and is now prominent in
+          the temperance work of Nebraska.
+
+          Mrs. Lucinda Russell of Tecumseh, for two years the
+          treasurer of the State Association, edited a department in
+          the local paper in the interest of the amendment, was one of
+          the campaign committee, and spared no effort to push the
+          work in her own county. Her sister, Mrs. Jennie F. Holmes,
+          was one of the most efficient members of the executive
+          committee. She drove all over her own county, holding
+          meetings in the school-houses. The efforts of these two
+          women would have carried Johnson county for the amendment
+          had not the election officials taken advantage of a
+          technical defect in the tickets used in some of the
+          precincts. Mrs. Holmes sustained the suffrage work in
+          Nebraska through the two following years as chairman of the
+          executive committee, was elected in 1884 to the office of
+          president of the State Woman's Christian Temperance Union,
+          and reelected in 1885 to the same position.
+
+          Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor of Omaha, as chairman of the
+          executive committee during the first year (Mrs. De Long
+          having resigned), contributed largely to the most successful
+          conventions of the campaign. One of the most notable
+          lectures given in the State was hers in reply to Chancellor
+          Fairfield of the Nebraska University, on "Work and Wages."
+          As it was known that the chancellor held the ground that
+          woman should not be paid equally with man, even for the same
+          work and the same skill, the Lincoln Woman Suffrage
+          Association invited him to give his lecture on that subject,
+          and Mrs. Dinsmoor to answer him on the following evening.
+          Mrs. Dinsmoor is well known for her interest in education
+          and scientific charity, and has, by appointment of the
+          governor of the State, represented Nebraska at the National
+          Conference of Charities and Corrections at its last two
+          annual meetings. She is now the president of the Nebraska
+          Woman's Board of Associated Charities.
+
+          Mrs. Barbara J. Thompson, of English birth, was one of the
+          leading spirits of the Thayer County Society, and was active
+          in holding meetings and organizing committees. Her principal
+          service was by her ready pen, which furnished articles for a
+          large number of papers. It is pleasant to reflect that one
+          woman who worked so earnestly for the rights of citizenship
+          in Nebraska has obtained them in her new home at Tacoma,
+          Washington Territory.
+
+          Mrs. Gertrude McDowell of Fairbury lent her wit and wisdom
+          to many conventions, was ready with her pen, and secured a
+          thorough canvass in Jefferson county. She was the third
+          president of the State Association.
+
+          Mrs. Mollie K. Maule of Fairmont laid by her law studies to
+          serve on the executive board of the State Association. In
+          company with Mrs. Susie Fifield and others, she held
+          meetings in all the precincts of Fillmore county, securing a
+          good vote. Mrs. Maule was elected president of the State
+          Association in 1885.
+
+          Mrs. Jennie G. Ford of Kearney, for some time member of the
+          executive committee, was one of the leading advocates in
+          Buffalo county. Always aiding and inspiring others to
+          effort, she was an incessant worker in the causes dear to
+          her heart. She was president of the Nebraska Woman's
+          Christian Temperance Union from 1882 to 1884. She died June
+          18, 1885, leaving in the hearts of all who had known her,
+          tender memories of her beautiful life.
+
+          Miss Lydia Bell, a talented elocutionist of Lincoln, devoted
+          some months to lecturing. Her great intellectual and
+          rhetorical gifts made her a very effective speaker.
+
+          Dr. Hetty K. Painter was a graduate of the Pennsylvania
+          Medical College in 1860. She was a physician in the army
+          during the civil war, and her proudest possession is the
+          badge which proves her membership in the Fifth Army Corps.
+          Her practice and her infirmary at Lincoln did not prevent
+          her helping largely the cause in which she felt so great an
+          interest.
+
+          Mrs. Esther L. Warner of Roca was the only person actively
+          engaged in the last canvass who had been connected with the
+          effort of 1871. As vice-president of her judicial district,
+          she spoke at many places, organizing wherever practicable.
+          Her motherly face, and persuasive but humorous argument,
+          made her a favorite at conventions. Coming to Nebraska in
+          its early days, a widow with a large family, she purchased a
+          large farm and devoted herself to its management, to the
+          care and education of her children, and to the direction of
+          the village school, being a member of the board of trustees
+          for many years. She had not used tongue or pen for public
+          service since her girlhood until this occasion enlisted her
+          interest and proved her gifts.
+
+          Clara C. Chapin, _La Petite_, as she was called at
+          conventions, or as a friend styles her, "the dear little
+          English bud that blossomed on American soil," was one of the
+          most zealous of our women, organizing, lecturing and
+          arranging campaigns. She is at present very active in the
+          temperance work, and is one of the editors of a State
+          temperance paper, the _Republican Valley Echo_. An extract
+          from a letter received from her in answer to inquiry will
+          show the spirit that actuates this representative advocate
+          of woman's political enfranchisement:
+
+          I never thought much about "woman's rights" until within the
+          last five years--that is, _political_ rights. I always had a
+          strong sense of my responsibilities as a woman and a mother
+          (have three children), and realize that we need something
+          more than moral suasion to make our influence practical and
+          effective. My husband, though not what is called a
+          "politician," has been sufficiently in politics for me to
+          know just what power the ballot has, and to see the
+          necessity of woman's work in that direction. I am happy to
+          say that Mr. Chapin is heart and soul with me in this, and
+          it is a wonder to us how any wife or mother, how any
+          Christian woman can say, "I have all the rights I want."
+
+     Hoping to hold the vantage ground already gained, a State
+     convention was held at Kearney, December 6, 7, the place being
+     selected because Buffalo county had carried the amendment by a
+     good majority.
+
+          The association held three formal sessions, which were well
+          attended and very interesting. Speeches of encouragement and
+          congratulation were made, plans for work discussed, and
+          campaign reminiscences recounted. One of the most
+          interesting that was given was that of Mrs. Beedy of Gardner
+          precinct, who said that the women actively interested in the
+          suffrage work talked socially on the subject with every man
+          in the precinct. There were seventy-two votes, and only four
+          against the amendment. Of these four persons, two could
+          neither read nor write, a third could not write his own
+          name, and the fourth could not write his name in English.
+          All the delegates present reported that the social work had
+          been a prime cause of such success as they had found. Mrs.
+          Bigelow said that Geneva precinct stood ninety-eight for the
+          amendment and ninety-eight against. At Fairmont sixty ladies
+          went to the polls. They wore white ribbon badges on which
+          was printed, "Are we citizens?" The general impression among
+          those attending the convention was that the Association
+          should petition congress for a sixteenth amendment, petition
+          the Nebraska legislature for municipal suffrage, and make
+          use of school suffrage to its fullest extent. The executive
+          committee held four sessions, appointed a number of working
+          committees, and attended to settling up the campaign
+          business of the Association. The convention was considered a
+          decided success in every way.
+
+     The annual meeting was held in January, 1883. Mrs. Gertrude
+     McDowell was elected president. The usual business was
+     transacted, and a special committee appointed to secure favorable
+     legislation. In view of the fact that so much of the opposition
+     had been based on the allegation that "women do not want to
+     vote," a resolution was prepared for the immediate re-submission
+     of a constitutional amendment with a provision making it legal
+     for women to vote on its final ratification. The joint resolution
+     was introduced by Senator Charles H. Brown of Omaha, and ably
+     advocated by him and others, especially by Senator David Butler.
+     It was lost by nearly a two-thirds vote. The Committee on
+     Amendments gave a hearing to Lydia Bell, Clara C. Chapin and
+     Clara B. Colby. The joint resolution was taken up in the Senate
+     for discussion February 15. _Woman's Work_ gives the record of
+     the proceedings:
+
+          Senator McShane of Douglas moved indefinite postponement.
+          Senator Brown of Douglas, who introduced the resolution,
+          spoke against the motion and made a forcible historical
+          argument for the bill. Senator McShane then spoke at length
+          against the bill, basing his opposition to the
+          enfranchisement of woman on the ground that it would be
+          detrimental to the interests of the foreigner. Senator
+          Schoenheit of Richardson opposed the bill on the plea that it
+          would mar the loveliness of woman in her domestic relations.
+          Senator Reynolds of Butler favored the bill. He had voted
+          against the amendment last fall, but he did it because he
+          feared the women did not want the ballot, and he was willing
+          to let them decide for themselves. Senator Dech of Saunders
+          favored the bill in remarks showing a broad and
+          comprehensive philosophy. Senator Butler of Pawnee made a
+          magnificent arraignment of the Republican and Democratic
+          parties, and an appeal to the anti-monopolists to oppose the
+          monopoly of sex. His speech was the longest and most
+          earnest of the session. Several persons expressing a desire
+          to continue the discussion, McShane withdrew his motion to
+          postpone. The Senate adjourned, and on Friday morning it was
+          moved and carried that this bill be made the special order
+          for that evening. Accordingly, the chamber and gallery were
+          filled. On motion, Mrs. Colby was unanimously requested to
+          address the Senate in behalf of the bill. Senator Butler
+          escorted her to the clerk's desk, and she delivered an
+          extemporaneous address, of which a fair synopsis was given
+          by the _Journal_ reporter. Foreseeing the defeat of the
+          bill, she said, in closing, "You may kill this bill,
+          gentlemen, but you cannot kill the principle of individual
+          liberty that is at issue. It is immortal, and rises
+          Phoenix-like from every death to a new life of surpassing
+          beauty and vigor. The votes you cast against the bill will,
+          like the dragons' teeth in the myth of old, spring up into
+          armed warriors that shall obstruct your path, demanding of
+          you the recognition of woman's right to 'equality before the
+          law.'" The grave and reverend senators joined in the
+          applause of the gallery, and carried Senator Reynolds'
+          motion "that the thanks of this Senate be returned to Mrs.
+          Colby for the able, eloquent and instructive address to
+          which we have listened"; but with no apparent reluctance, on
+          Senator McShane's motion being renewed, they postponed the
+          bill by a vote of 18 to 6.[474] Of the absent ones, Senator
+          Dech was known to be sick, some of the others were in their
+          seats a moment previous, and it is fairly to be presumed
+          that they did not dare to vote upon the question. Of those
+          voting aye, Senators Brown of Clay, and Walker of Lancaster
+          had favored the bill in the committee, and the friends were
+          counting on their vote, as also some others who had
+          expressed themselves favorable. It is due to Senators Brown
+          of Douglas and Butler to say that they championed the bill
+          heartily, and furthered its interests in every possible way.
+
+     Conventions were held at Grand Island in May, at Hastings in
+     August of 1883, and at Fremont August, 1884. The annual meeting
+     of 1884 was held at York, and that of 1885 in Lincoln. At all of
+     these enthusiasm and interest were manifested, which indicate
+     that the idea has not lost its foothold. The _Woman's Tribune_,
+     established in 1883, circulates largely in the State, and
+     maintains an intelligent if not an active interest. When a new
+     occasion comes the women will be able to meet it. Their present
+     attitude of hopeful waiting has the courage and faith expressed
+     in the words of Lowell:
+
+          "Endurance is the crowning quality,
+          And patience all the passion of great hearts;
+          These are their stay, and when the hard world
+          With brute strength, like scornful conqueror,
+          Clangs his huge mace down in the other scale,
+          The inspired soul but flings his patience in,
+          And slowly that out-weighs the ponderous globe;
+          One faith against a whole world's unbelief,
+          One soul against the flesh of all mankind."
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[457] Having visited Beatrice twice to speak in different courses
+of lectures arranged by Mrs. Colby, I can testify to her executive
+ability alike in her domestic and public work. She can get up a
+meeting, arrange the platform, with desk and lights, and introduce
+a speaker with as much skill and grace as she can spread a table
+with dainty china and appetizing food, and enliven a dinner with
+witty and earnest conversation.--[E. C. S.
+
+[458] _Yeas_--Messrs. Boulwere, Buck, Campbell, Chambers, Clancy,
+Davis, Decker, Hail, Haygood, Hoover, Kirk, Larimer, Rose,
+Sullivan--14.
+
+_Nays_--Messrs. Beck, Bowen, Gibson, Harsh, Laird, Miller, Moore,
+Morton, McDonald, Riden, Salisbury--11.
+
+[459] It is a pleasure to record that both these gentlemen have
+reached the logical result of their former views, and now advocate
+giving the franchise to intelligence and patriotism regardless of
+the sex of the possessor. Governor Saunders, in the capacity of
+United States Senator, cast a favorable ballot on measures in any
+manner referring to woman's civil rights, and in 1882 spoke on the
+platform of the National Association, at its Washington convention.
+
+[460] The legislature of 1875 repealed this law except so far as it
+referred to unmarried adult women and widows. In the legislature of
+1881, Senator C. H. Gere introduced a bill revising the laws
+relating to schools. One of the provisions of the bill conferred
+the school ballot on women on the same terms as on men--viz: Any
+person having children of school age, or having paid taxes on
+personal property, or being assessed on real estate, within such a
+period, is entitled to vote at all elections pertaining to schools.
+This, however, does not include the power to vote for State or
+county superintendents. The women of the State now vote so largely
+that it is no longer a matter of comment or record.
+
+[461] The following named representatives voted "yea": Messrs.
+Ahmanson, Cannon, Doone, Galey, Goodin, Hall, Jenkins, Kipp,
+Majors, Myers, Nims, Patterson, Porter, Quimby, Rhodes, Ryan,
+Wickham, Riordan, Roberts--19. Voting "nay": Messrs. Briggs, Beall,
+E. Clark, J. Clark, Dillon, Duby, Grenell, Hudson, Munn, Overton,
+Reed, Rosewater, Rouse, Schock, Shook, Sommerlad--16.
+
+[462] Voting in the affirmative: Messrs. Gerrard, Hascall, Kennedy,
+Tucker, Tennant, and Mr. President--6. Voting in the negative:
+Messrs. Brown, Hawke, Hillon, Metz, Sheldon, and Thomas--6.
+
+[463] Voting "yea": Messrs. Ballard, Boyd, Campbell, Cassell,
+Estabrook, Gibbs, Gray, Hascall, Kenaston, Kilburn, Kirkpatrick,
+Lake, Lyon, Majors, Mason, Manderson, Maxwell, Neligh, Newsome,
+Philpott, Price, Robinson, Stewart, Spiece, Shaff, Thomas, Tisdel,
+Towle, Wakeley, President Strickland--30. Voting "nay": Messrs.
+Abbott, Eaton, Granger, Griggs, Moore, Myers, Parchin, Reynolds,
+Sprague, Stevenson, Hummel, Vifquain, Weaver--13.
+
+[464] The gentlemen who advocated the measure most warmly, were
+among the ablest judges and jurists of the State. Of the
+opposition, Judge O. P. Mason experienced a change of heart, and
+ten years later appeared as a foremost advocate. General E.
+Estabrook of Omaha lent all his influence to the amendment in the
+late canvass, and Col. Philpott of Lincoln was also a warm
+advocate, often accompanying his zealous wife and other members of
+the effective and untiring Lincoln association to the school-house
+meetings held in all parts of Lancaster county. D. T. Moore was
+called out at a meeting in York in 1881, and came forward without
+hesitation, saying that he was in favor of woman suffrage. He
+related this incident: that on his return home from the convention
+of 1871, he found that his wife had been looking after his stock
+farm and attending to his business so that everything was in good
+order. He praised her highly, when she replied, "Yes, and while I
+was caring for your interests, you were voting against my rights."
+The reply set him to thinking, and he thought himself over on the
+other side. A. J. Weaver opposed the clause in a very bitter
+speech. The friends of the amendment in 1881 were given to
+understand that Mr. Weaver was friendly, but to prevent the
+foreigners having that opinion, Mr. Weaver translated the record of
+his opposition into German, and distributed the papers among the
+German voters. Having been elected to congress, he was one of only
+three Republican members who voted against the standing committee
+on woman's claims. These facts cost him a great many votes at the
+time of his reelection in 1884, and are not yet forgotten.
+
+[465] The debates of this convention were not reported for the
+economical reasons mentioned. The names of the honored fifteen are,
+Clinton Briggs, W. L. Dunlap, R. C. Eldridge, J. G. Ewan, C. H.
+Frady, C. H. Gere, R. B. Harrington, D. P. Henry, C. F. Manderson,
+J. McPherson, M. B. Reese, S. M. Kirkpatrick, L. B. Thorne, A. M.
+Walling, J. F. Zediker. Many of these were active friends of the
+amendment of 1881.
+
+[466] The officers elected were: _President_, Harriet S. Brooks,
+Omaha; _Vice-President-at-Large_, Clara Bewick Colby, Beatrice;
+_Vice-Presidents_--First Judicial District, Mrs. B. J. Thomson,
+Hebron; Second, Mrs. E. L. Warner, Roca; Third, Mrs. A. P.
+Nicholas, Omaha; Fourth, Mrs. J. S. Burns, Scribner; Fifth, Mrs. C.
+C. Chapin, Riverton; Sixth, Mrs. D. B. Slaughter, Fullerton;
+_Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Ada M. Bittenbender, Osceola;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Gertrude McDowell, Fairbury;
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. L. Russell, Tecumseh; _Executive Committee_, Rev.
+M. J. DeLong, Tecumseh; Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor, Omaha; Mrs. J. C.
+Roberts, David City; Mrs. C. B. Parker, Mrs. J. B. Finch, Lincoln;
+Mrs. E. M. Correll, Hebron; Mrs. J. H. Bowen, Hastings.
+
+[467] Members voting in the affirmative were: Messrs. Abbott,
+Babcock; Bailey, Baldwin, Bartlett, Broatch, Brown, Cantlin,
+Carman, Cook, Cole, Correll, Dailey, Dew, Dowty, Filley, Fried,
+Graham, Gray, Hall, Heacock, Herman, Hostetter, Howe, Jackson of
+Pawnee, Jensen, Johnson, Jones, Kaley, Kempton, Kyner, Linn,
+McClun, McDougall, McKinnon, Mickey, Moore of York, Montgomery,
+Palmer, Paxton, Ransom, Reed, Roberts, Root, Schick, Scott, Sill,
+Slocumb, Watts, Wilsey and Windham--51. Voting in the negative:
+Messrs. Bick, Bolln, Case, Franse, Frederick, Gates, Hollman,
+Jackson of Douglas, King, Lamb, Laughlin, McShane, Moore of Otoe,
+Mullen, Overton, Peterson, Putney, Sears, Wells, Whedon, Ziegler
+and Mr. Speaker--22.
+
+[468] At this time the valuable information from Wyoming with which
+Nebraska was afterwards flooded; letters from Gov. Hoyt, editorials
+from leading papers of the territory, and testimony from every
+reputable source, had not been gathered; but two members of the
+House, J. H. Helm and Church Howe, had been residents of Wyoming,
+and these cheerfully gave their assurance that only good had
+resulted from the enfranchisement of the women of Wyoming.
+
+[469] Those voting in the affirmative were: Messrs. Baker, Burns
+(of Dodge), Burns (of York), Coon, Daily, Dinsmore, Doane, Evans,
+Gere, Graham, Harrington, Morse, Perkins, Pierce, Powers, Smith,
+Tefft, Turner, Van Wyck, Wells, Wherry and White--22. Those voting
+in the negative were: Messrs. Ballentine, Cady, Ervin, Howe, Myers,
+Taylor, Turk and Zehrung--8. Two of these names cannot stand in the
+roll of honor without an explanation; for twenty votes indicate the
+full strength of the bill. The irrelevance of opponents was
+illustrated by Senators Morse and Pierce. The former in voting
+said, he had opposed the measure every step of the way, and now to
+be consistent he voted aye. Senator Pierce said he had been
+watching the other side of the capitol and nothing there seemed
+popular but whiskey and women, therefore, he voted aye!
+
+[470] The speakers of this convention were Clara Bewick Colby,
+acting president; Mr. Sattler, who gave the welcome; Ada M.
+Bittenbender, Esther L. Warner, Judge I. N. Taylor, Mrs. M. E.
+Vandermark, Rev. Haywood and Professor Wood of Nebraska City
+College. The latter spoke in English in the afternoon, and in
+German, his native tongue, in the evening. The announcement that he
+would do so drew a large number of his countrymen. One of these was
+allowed the floor by request, when he soundly berated (in German)
+the women as opposed to foreigners, while at the same time he tried
+to weaken Professor Wood's argument by saying it was to be
+attributed to an American wife. It was reported that the marked
+contrast between the speakers was commented on by resident Germans
+greatly to the disadvantage of their fellow-townsman.
+
+[471] The officers elected were: _President_, Ada M. Bittenbender;
+_Vice-President_, Clara Bewick Colby; _Secretary_, Belle G.
+Bigelow; _Corresponding Secretary_, Gertrude M. McDowell;
+_Treasurer_, Lucinda Russell; _Executive Committee_, Harriet S.
+Brooks, E. M. Correll, Susie Noble Fifield, George B. Skinner, Rev.
+John McNamara, Jennie F. Holmes; _Vice-Presidents of Judicial
+Districts_--First, Barbara J. Thompson; second, Dr. Ruth M. Wood;
+third, Orpha Clement Dinsmoor; fourth, Ada Van Pelt; fifth, Mrs. H.
+S. Sydenham.
+
+[472] Most of the speakers spent several weeks in the State. Mrs.
+Helen M. Gougar, Mrs. May Wright Sewall, Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Blake,
+Mrs. Harbert, Mrs. Shattuck, Mrs. Neyman, Miss Anthony, Miss
+Couzins and Miss Hindman were the principal National speakers, and
+their ability and zeal aroused the whole State. Mrs. Colby was
+indefatigable in her exertions from the moment the amendment was
+submitted to the end of the canvass. Mrs. Colby and Miss Rachel
+Foster organized the whole campaign throughout the State, and kept
+all the speakers in motion.--[S. B. A.
+
+[473] For further details of the closing scenes, see Vol. III. page
+241.
+
+[474] _Yeas_--Brown (Clay), Brown (Colfax), Butler, Canfield,
+Conklin, Dolan, Dunphy, Harrison, Heist, McShane, Norris,
+Patterson, Rogers, Sang, Schoenheit, Sowers, Thatch and Walker--18.
+Senator Butler voted with these for the purpose of being able to
+move a reconsideration. _Nays_--Bomgardner, Brown (Douglas),
+Conner, Dye, Filley and Reynolds--6. _Absent_--Barker, Brown
+(Lancaster), Case, Dech, Fisher, Harris, Kinkaid and Rich.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+KANSAS.
+
+     Effect of the Popular Vote on Woman Suffrage--Anna C.
+     Wait--Hannah Wilson--Miss Kate Stephens, Professor of Greek in
+     State University--Lincoln Centre Society, 1879--The Press--The
+     Lincoln _Beacon_--Election, 1880--Sarah A. Brown, Democratic
+     Candidate--Fourth of July Celebration--Women Voting on the School
+     Question--State Society, 1884--Helen M. Gougar--Clara Bewick
+     Colby--Bertha H. Ellsworth--Radical Reform Association--Mrs. A.
+     G. Lord--Prudence Crandall--Clarina Howard Nichols--Laws--Women
+     in the Professions--Schools--Political Parties--Petitions to the
+     Legislature--Col. F. G. Adams' Letter.
+
+
+We closed the chapter on Kansas in Vol. II. with the submission and
+defeat of the woman suffrage amendment, leaving the advocates of
+the measure so depressed with the result that several years elapsed
+before any further attempts were made to reorganize their forces
+for the agitation of the question. This has been the experience of
+the friends in every State where the proposition has been
+submitted to a vote of the electors--alike in Michigan, Colorado,
+Nebraska and Oregon--offering so many arguments in favor of the
+enfranchisement of woman by a simple act of the legislature, where
+the real power of the people is primarily represented. We have so
+many instances on record of the exercise of this power by the
+legislatures of the several States in the regulation of the
+suffrage, that there can be no doubt that the sole responsibility
+in securing this right to the women of a State rests with the
+legislature, or with congress in passing a sixteenth amendment that
+should override all State action in protecting the rights of United
+States citizens.
+
+We are indebted to Anna C. Wait for most of the interesting facts
+of this chapter. She writes:
+
+     I watched with intense interest from my home in Ohio, the
+     progress of the woman suffrage idea in Kansas in the campaign of
+     1867, and although temporary defeat was the result, yet the moral
+     grandeur displayed by the people in seeking to make their
+     constitution an embodiment of the principle of American liberty,
+     decided me to become a citizen of that young and beautiful State.
+     Gov. Harvey's message was at that time attracting much attention
+     and varied comments by the press. For the benefit of those who
+     have not studied the whole history of the cause, we give the
+     following extracts from his message, published February 9, 1871:
+
+          The tendency of this age is towards a civil policy wherein
+          political rights will not be affected by social or
+          ethnological distinctions; and from the moral nature of
+          mankind and the experience of States, we may infer that
+          restrictions merely arbitrary and conventional, like those
+          based upon color and sex, cannot last much longer than they
+          are desired, and cannot be removed much sooner than they
+          should be. This consideration should give patience to the
+          reformer, and resignation to the conservative.
+
+          Let us have a true republic--a "government of the people, by
+          the people, for the people," and we shall hear no more the
+          oligarchical cry of croaking conservatism calling for a
+          "white man's government"--appealing by this, and like
+          slogans of class and caste to the lowest and meanest
+          principles of human nature, dangerous alike to real
+          republicanism and true democracy. Expediency, that great
+          pretext for the infringement of human rights, no longer
+          justifies us in the retention of a monopoly of political
+          power in our own favored class of "white male citizens."
+
+     In the summer of 1871, Mr. Wait and myself removed to Salina,
+     where Mrs. Hannah Wilson resided. She was the only person in this
+     section of Kansas I ever heard of doing any suffrage work between
+     the years of 1867 and 1877. She was a woman of great force of
+     character, and a strong advocate of suffrage. She was born in
+     Hamilton county, Ohio, and came to Salina in 1870. After Miss
+     Anthony lectured in that city in 1877, Mrs. Wilson circulated
+     petitions to the legislature and to congress. She was also active
+     and aggressive in the temperance cause. When she learned of the
+     Lincoln _Beacon_, and its advocacy of woman suffrage, she wrote
+     an article for the paper, and accompanied it with a kind letter
+     and the price of a year's subscription. Mrs. Wilson was a Quaker,
+     and in her dress and address strictly adhered to the peculiarites
+     of that sect.
+
+     Miss Kate Stephens, professor of Greek in the Kansas State
+     University, writes that she has made diligent search during the
+     past summer among the libraries of Topeka and Lawrence for record
+     of suffrage work since the campaign of 1867, and finds absolutely
+     nothing, so that I am reduced to the necessity of writing,
+     principally, of our little efforts here in central Kansas. In the
+     intensely interesting letters of Mesdames Helen Ekin Starrett,
+     Susan E. Wattles, Dr. R. S. Tenney and Hon. J. P. Root, in Vol.
+     II., all written since 1880, I find no mention of any woman
+     suffrage organizations. Mrs. Wattles, of Mound City, says: "My
+     work has been very limited. I have only been able to circulate
+     tracts and papers"; and she enumerates all the woman suffrage
+     papers ever published in America, which she had taken and given
+     away. A quiet, unobtrusive method of work, but one of the most
+     effective; and doubtless to the sentiment created and fostered by
+     this sowing of suffrage literature by Mrs. Wattles, is largely
+     due the wonderful revival which has swept like one of our own
+     prairie fires over south-eastern Kansas during the past year; a
+     sentiment so strong as to need but "a live coal from off the
+     altar" to kindle into a blaze of enthusiasm. This it received in
+     the earnest eloquence of Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, who has twice
+     visited that portion of the State. All these writers express
+     their faith in a growing interest in the suffrage cause, and,
+     some of them, the belief that if the question were again
+     submitted to a vote of the people, it would carry.
+
+     In our State suffrage convention, June, 1884, among the demands
+     which we resolved to make of our incoming legislature, was the
+     submission of an amendment striking out the word "male" from the
+     State constitution. For myself, I entertained no hope that it
+     would succeed further than as a means of agitation and education.
+     On reflection, I hope it will not be done. The women of Kansas
+     have once been subjected to the humiliation of having their
+     political disabilities perpetuated by the vote of the "rank and
+     file" of our populace. While I believe the growth of popular
+     opinion in favor of equality of rights for women has nowhere been
+     more rapid than in Kansas, yet I do not lose sight of the fact
+     that thousands of foreigners are each year added to the voting
+     population, whose ballots in the aggregate defeat the will of our
+     enlightened, American-born citizens. Besides, it is a too
+     convenient way for a legislature to shirk its own responsibility.
+     If the demand is made, I hope it may be done in connection with
+     that for municipal and presidential suffrage.
+
+     The history of the woman suffrage organizations in Kansas since
+     1867, may be briefly told. The first owes its existence to one
+     copy of the _National Citizen and Ballot-Box_ subscribed for by
+     my husband, W. S. Wait, who by the merest chance heard Miss
+     Anthony deliver her famous lecture, "Woman wants Bread, not the
+     Ballot," in Salina, in November, 1877. The paper was religiously
+     read by Mrs. Emily J. Biggs and myself; although we did not need
+     conversion, both being radical in our ideas on this question, we
+     had long felt the need of something being done which would fix
+     public attention and provoke discussion. This was all we felt
+     ourselves competent to do, and the knowledge that nobody else in
+     our section of the country would do it, coupled with the
+     inspiration of the _National Citizen_, culminated, in November
+     1879, in sending to the _Saline Valley Register_, George W.
+     Anderson, editor and proprietor, a notice for a meeting of women
+     for the purpose of organizing a suffrage society. In response to
+     the call, Mrs. Emily J. Biggs, Mrs. Sarah E. Lutes, and Mrs.
+     Wait, met November 11, 1879, at the house of A. T. Biggs, and
+     organized the Lincoln Auxiliary of the National Association. We
+     elected a full corps of officers from among ladies whom we
+     believed to be favorable, interviewed them for their approval,
+     and sent a full report of the meeting to be published as a matter
+     of news in the _Register_, which had given our call without
+     comment. The editor had a few weeks previously bought the paper,
+     and we were totally ignorant in regard to his position upon the
+     question. We were not long left in doubt, for the fact that we
+     had actually organized in a way which showed that we understood
+     ourselves, and meant business, had the effect to elicit from his
+     pen a scurrilous article, in which he called us "the three
+     noble-hearted women," classed us with "free-lovers," called us
+     "monstrosities, neither men nor women," and more of the same
+     sort. Of course, the effect of this upon the community was to
+     array all true friends of the cause on our side, to bring the
+     opposition, made bold by the championship of such a gallant
+     leader, to the front, and cause the faint-hearted to take to the
+     fence. And here we had the discussion opened up in a manner
+     which, had we foreseen, I fear our courage would have been
+     inadequate to the demand. But not for one moment did we entertain
+     a thought of retreating. Knowing that if we maintained silence,
+     the enemy would consider us vanquished, I wrote an article for
+     his paper, quoting largely from Walker's American Law, which he
+     published; and Mrs. Biggs also furnished him an article in which
+     she showed him up in a manner so ludicrous and sarcastic that he
+     got rid of printing it by setting it up full of mistakes which he
+     manufactured himself, and sending her the proof with the
+     information that if he published it at all, it would be in that
+     form. It appeared the following week, however, in the first
+     number of _The Argus_, a Democratic paper, Ira C. Lutes, editor
+     and proprietor, in which we at once secured a column for the use
+     of our society. About a dozen ladies attended our second meeting,
+     at which the following resolutions were unanimously adopted, all
+     the ladies present being allowed to vote:
+
+          WHEREAS, The local newspaper is adjudged, by common consent,
+          to be the exponent of the intelligence, refinement, and
+          culture of a community, and, in a large degree, the educator
+          of the rising generation; and
+
+          WHEREAS, In one issue of the Lincoln _Register_ there
+          appears no fewer than forty-seven misspelled words, with
+          numerous errors in grammatical construction and punctuation;
+          also a scurrilous article headed "Woman vs. Man," in which
+          the editor not only grossly misrepresents us, but assails
+          the characters of all advocates of suffrage everywhere in a
+          manner which shocks the moral sense of every true lady and
+          gentleman in this community; therefore
+
+          _Resolved_, That this association present the editor of the
+          _Register_ with a copy of some standard English
+          spelling-book, and English Language Lessons, for his
+          especial use.
+
+          _Resolved_, That as he has been so kind as to offer his
+          advice to us, unsolicited, we reciprocate the favor by
+          admonishing him to confine himself to facts in future, and
+          to remember that the people of Lincoln are capable of
+          appreciating truth and common decency.
+
+          _Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished
+          the editor of the Lincoln _Register_, with the books above
+          named.
+
+     This was promptly done, and so enraged him that the following
+     week he published a tirade of abuse consisting of brazen
+     falsehoods, whereupon a gentleman called a halt, by faithfully
+     promising to chastise him if he did not desist, which had the
+     desired effect so far as his paper was concerned.
+
+     W. S. Wait bought the _Argus_ at the end of four months, changed
+     its politics to Republican, and its name to the Lincoln _Beacon_,
+     in which I established a woman suffrage department, under the
+     head of "Woman as a Citizen," with one of Lucretia Mott's
+     favorite mottoes, "Truth for Authority, and not Authority for
+     Truth"; and weekly, for six years, it has gone to a constantly
+     increasing circle of readers, and contributed its share to
+     whatever strength and influence the cause has gained in this
+     portion of the State. In the summer of 1880, G. W. Anderson
+     announced himself a candidate for the legislature. He had just
+     before made himself especially obnoxious by shockingly indecent
+     remarks about the ladies who had participated in the exercises of
+     the Fourth of July celebration. At a meeting of the suffrage
+     society, held August 6, the following resolution, suggested by
+     Mrs. S. E. Lutes, were unanimously adopted:
+
+          WHEREAS, We, as responsible members of society, and
+          guardians of the purity of our families and community, are
+          actuated by a sense of duty and our accountability to God
+          for the faithful performance of it; and
+
+          WHEREAS, George W. Anderson, editor and proprietor of the
+          Lincoln _Register_, during his few months' residence in our
+          county has, by constant calumny and scurrility, both verbal
+          and through the columns of his paper, sought to injure the
+          reputation of the honorable women who compose the Lincoln
+          suffrage and temperance associations, and of all women
+          everywhere who sympathize with the aims and purposes which
+          these societies represent; and
+
+          WHEREAS, His utterances through the columns of the Lincoln
+          _Register_ are often unfit to be read by any child, or aloud
+          in any family, because of their indecency, we are
+          unanimously of the opinion that his course is calculated to
+          defeat the aims and purposes of Christianity, temperance and
+          morality; therefore
+
+          _Resolved_, That whenever George W. Anderson aspires to any
+          position of honor, trust or emolument in the gift of the
+          voters of Lincoln county, we will use all honorable means in
+          our power to defeat him; and we further urge upon every
+          woman who has the welfare of our county at heart, the duty
+          and necessity of cooeperating with us to accomplish this end.
+
+     The above preamble and resolution appeared in the woman's column
+     of the Lincoln _Beacon_ the following week, and 250 copies were
+     printed in the form of hand-bills and distributed to the
+     twenty-three post-offices in Lincoln county. It did not prevent
+     his election, and we did not expect it would, but we believed it
+     our duty to enter our protest against the perpetration of this
+     outrage upon the moral sense of those who knew him best. We
+     ignored him in the legislature, sending our petitions asking that
+     body to recommend to congress the adoption of the sixteenth
+     amendment, to Hon. S. C. Millington of Crawford, who had come to
+     our notice that winter by offering a woman suffrage resolution in
+     the House. In 1882 Anderson sought a second indorsement as a
+     candidate for the legislature, but that portion of the community
+     which he really represented had become disgusted with him; he
+     struggled against fate with constantly waning patronage for
+     another year, when he succumbed to the inevitable and sought a
+     new field, a wiser if a sadder man. His mantle has fallen upon E.
+     S. Bower, whose capacity and style were graphically portrayed in
+     caustic rhyme by Mrs. Ellsworth, making him the target for the
+     wit of the women long after.
+
+     I have given more space and prominence to these two editors than
+     they merit, but the influence of a local newspaper is not to be
+     despised, however despicable the editor and his paper may be; and
+     it takes no small degree of courage to face such an influence as
+     that exerted in this county by the one in question, which, I am
+     happy to say, has gradually dwindled, until to-day it is too
+     trifling, both in extent and character, to deserve recognition.
+
+     Six years ago I do not believe there was a paper in the State of
+     Kansas which contained a woman suffrage department, and we rarely
+     saw any reference whatever to the subject; now, within a radius
+     of fifty miles of Lincoln Centre, fully two-thirds of all
+     newspapers published have a column devoted to suffrage or
+     temperance, or both, edited by women. The reason this is not true
+     of the press of the entire State is because our indefatigable
+     corresponding secretary, Mrs. Bertha H. Ellsworth, has not yet
+     had sufficient time to personally present the matter; but there
+     has been such a growth on the subject that by the press generally
+     it seems to be accepted as one of the living issues of the day. A
+     very efficient agency in bringing about this desirable result was
+     the printed column, entitled "Concerning Women," sent out gratis
+     every week during the year 1882, by Mrs. Lucy Stone, from the
+     office of _The Woman's Journal_, to all newspapers that would
+     publish it. Many Kansas editors availed themselves of this
+     generous offer, greatly to the advantage of their patrons and
+     themselves.
+
+     But to return to the Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association. The
+     first year our membership increased to twenty-seven; the second,
+     to forty, including six gentlemen. We did not invite gentlemen to
+     join the first year; owing to the character and attitude of the
+     opposition, we preferred to demonstrate our ability to conduct
+     the affairs of the society without masculine assistance. During
+     our six years' existence we have enrolled eighty members,
+     eighteen of whom are gentlemen. Of this number, forty-five women
+     and fourteen men still reside in Lincoln county. We have held, on
+     an average, one parlor meeting a month and ten public meetings.
+
+     In 1880, Mesdames Emily J. Biggs, Mary Crawford, Bertha H.
+     Ellsworth and myself were assigned places on the programme for
+     the Fourth of July celebration, after solicitation by a committee
+     from our society. To me was assigned the reading of the
+     Declaration of Independence, and I embraced the opportunity of
+     interspersing a few remarks not found in that honored document,
+     to the delight of our friends and the disgust of our foes. The
+     other ladies all made original, excellent and well-timed
+     addresses. In 1881 we got up the Fourth of July celebration[475]
+     ourselves, and gave the men half the programme without their
+     asking for it. In 1883 we had a "Foremothers' Day" celebration,
+     and confined the programme to our own society. In September,
+     1882, the society sent the writer as delegate to the annual
+     meeting of the National Woman Suffrage Association, held at
+     Omaha, Nebraska; and in March, 1884, we sent Bertha H. Ellsworth
+     to the Washington convention in the same capacity. Our society
+     has taken an active part in the annual school district elections
+     in Lincoln Centre. In the last five elections we have been twice
+     defeated and three times successful. Our defeats we claimed as
+     victories, inasmuch as we forced our opponents to bring out all
+     their friends to outvote us. Fifty per cent. of all the votes
+     cast at the last three elections were by women. Only twelve women
+     in the town failed to vote in 1884. This increase is general all
+     over the State; and, although we have only once tried in Lincoln
+     Centre to elect a woman, and then failed, yet very many of the
+     country districts have one, some two women on the school-board,
+     and at one time all three members in one district were women.
+     That they are honest, capable and efficient is the verdict in
+     every case.
+
+     In the spring of 1881, Mrs. Emily J. Biggs organized the Stanton
+     Suffrage Society, eight miles from Lincoln Centre, with a
+     membership of over twenty, more than half of whom were gentlemen.
+     Mesdames Mary Baldwin, N. Good, T. Faulkner, M. Biggs, Mrs. Swank
+     and others were the leading spirits. All their meetings are
+     public, and are held in the school-house. Through this society
+     that portion of the county has become well leavened with suffrage
+     sentiment. Failing health alone has prevented Mrs. Biggs from
+     carrying this school district organization to all parts of the
+     county and beyond its limits, as she has been urgently invited to
+     do. "Instant in season and out of season" with a word for the
+     cause, she has, individually, reached more people with the
+     subject than any other half-dozen women in the society. Her pen,
+     too, has done good service. Over the _nom de plume_ of "Nancy,"
+     in the _Beacon_, she has dealt telling blows to our ancient
+     adversary, the _Register_. In October, 1882, the writer went by
+     invitation to Ellsworth and organized a society[476] auxiliary to
+     the National, composed of excellent material, but too timid to do
+     more than hold its own until the summer of 1884, when Mrs.
+     Gougar, and later, Mrs. Colby, lectured there, soon after which
+     Mrs. Ellsworth canvassed the town with literature and a petition
+     for municipal suffrage, which was signed by eighty of the
+     eighty-five women to whom it was presented, showing that there
+     was either a great deal of original suffrage sentiment there, or
+     that the society had exerted a large amount of "silent
+     influence." In October, 1883, Mrs. Helen M. Gougar came to fill
+     some lecture engagements in the southeastern part of the State.
+     During this visit she organized several clubs.[477]
+
+     In June, 1884, Mrs. Gougar again visited Kansas, lecturing for a
+     month in different parts of the State. She drew large audiences
+     and made many converts. A suffrage society was organized at
+     Emporia, Miss M. J. Watson, president. The active friends availed
+     themselves of her assistance to call a State Suffrage Convention,
+     which met in the Senate chamber in Topeka, June 25, 26, and
+     organized a State Association.[478] Mrs. Gougar, by the unanimous
+     vote of the convention, presided, and dispatched business with
+     her characteristic ability. In view of all the circumstances,
+     this convention and its results were highly satisfactory. The
+     attendance was not large, but the fact that the call was issued
+     from Topeka to the press of the State but eight days before the
+     convention met, and probably did not reach half the papers in
+     time for one insertion, accounts for the absence of a crowd. Some
+     even in Topeka learned that the convention was in progress barely
+     in time to reach its last session. Reporters for the Topeka
+     _Capital_, the Topeka _Commonwealth_ and Kansas City _Journal_
+     attended all the day sessions of the convention, and gave full
+     and fair reports of the proceedings. After the adjournment of the
+     State convention, the women of Topeka formed a city society. The
+     corresponding secretary, Mrs. Ellsworth, with Mrs. Clara B.
+     Colby, made an extensive circuit, lecturing and organizing
+     societies. They were everywhere cordially welcomed.[479]
+
+     Kansas has a flourishing Women's Christian Temperance Union which
+     at its last annual meeting adopted a strong woman suffrage
+     resolution; Miss O. P. Bray of Topeka is its superintendent of
+     franchise. Mrs. Emma Molloy of Washington, both upon the rostrum
+     and through her paper, the official organ of the State Union,
+     ably and fearlessly advocates woman suffrage as well as
+     prohibition, and makes as many converts to the former as to the
+     latter.
+
+     Mrs. A. G. Lord did a work worthy of mention in the formation of
+     the Radical Reform Christian Association, for young men and boys,
+     taking their pledge to neither swear, use tobacco nor drink
+     intoxicating liquors. A friend says of Mrs. Lord:
+
+          Like all true reformers she has met even more than the usual
+          share of opposition and persecution, and mostly because she
+          is a woman and a licensed preacher of the Methodist church
+          in Kansas. She was a preacher for three years, but refuses
+          to be any longer because, she says, under the discipline as
+          it now is, the church has no right to license a woman to
+          preach. Trying to do her work inside the church in which she
+          was born and reared, she has had to combat not only the
+          powers of darkness outside the church, but also the most
+          contemptible opposition, amounting in several instances to
+          bitter persecutions, from the ministers of her own
+          denomination with whom she has been associated in her work
+          as a preacher; and through it all she has toiled on,
+          manifesting only the most patient, forgiving spirit, and the
+          broadest, most Christ-like charity.
+
+     The R. R. C. A. has been in existence two and a half years, and
+     has already many hundreds of members in this and adjoining
+     counties, through the indefatigable zeal of its founder. Mitchell
+     county has the honor of numbering among its many enterprising
+     women the only woman who is a mail contractor in the United
+     States, Mrs. Myra Peterson, a native of New Hampshire. The
+     _Woman's Tribune_ of November, 1884, contains the following brief
+     sketch of a grand historic character:
+
+          Marianna T. Folsom is lecturing in Kansas on woman suffrage.
+          She gives an interesting account of a visit to Mrs. Prudence
+          Crandall Philleo. Miss Crandall over fifty years ago
+          allowed a girl with colored blood in her veins to attend her
+          young ladies' school in Connecticut. On account of the
+          social disturbance because of this, she dismissed the white
+          girls and made her school one for colored pupils. Protests
+          were followed by indictments, and these by mobbings, until
+          she was obliged to give up her school. For her fortitude,
+          the Anti-Slavery Society had her portrait painted. It became
+          the property of Rev. Samuel J. May, who donated it to
+          Cornell University when opened to women. Miss Crandall
+          married, but has now been a widow many years. She is in her
+          eighty-third year, and is vigorous in mind and body, having
+          been able to deliver the last Fourth of July oration at Elk
+          Falls, Kan., where she now lives and advocates woman
+          suffrage and temperance.
+
+     In the introduction to Chapter VII., Vol. I., of this history,
+     appears this sentence: "To Clarina Howard Nichols[480] the women
+     of Kansas are indebted for many civil rights which they have as
+     yet been too apathetic to exercise." Uncomplimentary as this
+     statement is, I must admit its truthfulness as applied to a large
+     majority of our women of culture and leisure, those who should
+     have availed themselves of the privileges already theirs and
+     labored for what the devotion of Mrs. Nichols made attainable.
+     They have neither done this, nor tried to enlighten their less
+     favored sisters throughout the State, the great mass of whom are
+     obliged to exert every energy of body and mind to furnish food,
+     clothes and shelter for themselves and children. Probably fully
+     four-fifths of the women of Kansas never have heard of Clarina
+     Howard Nichols; while a much larger number do know that our laws
+     favor women more than those of other States, and largely avail
+     themselves of the school ballot. The readiness with which the
+     rank and file of our women assent to the truth when it is
+     presented to them, indicates that their inaction results not so
+     much from apathy and indifference as from a lack of means and
+     opportunity. Among all the members of all the woman suffrage
+     societies in Central Kansas, I know of but just one woman of
+     leisure--one who is not obliged to make a personal sacrifice of
+     some kind each time she attends a meeting or pays a dollar into
+     the treasury. Section 6, Article XV., of the constitution of
+     Kansas reads:
+
+          The legislature shall provide for the protection of the
+          rights of women, in acquiring and possessing property, real,
+          personal, and mixed, separate and apart from her husband;
+          and shall also provide for their equal rights in the
+          possession of their children. In accordance with the true
+          spirit of this section, our statute provides that the law of
+          descents and distributions as regards the property of either
+          husband or wife is the same; and the interests of one in the
+          property of the other are the same with each; and that the
+          common-law principles of estates of dower, and by courtesy
+          are abolished.[481]
+
+
+[Illustration: "The world needs women who do their own thinking.
+Cordially yours, Helen M. Gougar"]
+
+
+     The rights of husband and wife in the control of their respective
+     properties, both real and personal, are identical, as provided
+     for in sections 1, 2, 3, and 4. Chapter 62, page 539, compiled
+     laws of Kansas, 1878:
+
+          SECTION 1. The property, real and personal, which any woman
+          in this State may own at the time of her marriage, and the
+          rents, issues, profits, and proceeds thereof, and any real,
+          personal, or mixed property which shall come to her by
+          descent, devise, or bequest, or the gift of any person
+          except her husband, shall remain her sole and separate
+          property, notwithstanding her marriage, and not be subject
+          to the disposal of her husband, or liable for his debts.
+
+          SEC. 2. A married woman, while the marriage relation
+          subsists, may bargain, sell and convey her real and personal
+          property, and enter into any contract with reference to the
+          same, in the same manner, to the same extent, and with like
+          effect as a married man may in relation to his real and
+          personal property.
+
+          SEC. 3. A woman may, while married, sue and be sued, in the
+          same manner as if unmarried.
+
+          SEC. 4. Any married woman may carry on any trade or
+          business, and perform any labor or services, on her sole and
+          separate account, and the earnings of any married woman from
+          her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole
+          and separate property, and may be used and invested by her
+          in her own name.
+
+     It is a fact worthy of note that the above legislation, also the
+     passage of the law of descents and distributions, immediately
+     followed the woman suffrage campaign of 1867.
+
+     In 1880, the Democrats of Kansas, in their State convention at
+     Topeka, nominated Miss Sarah A. Brown of Douglas county, for
+     superintendent of public instruction, the first instance on
+     record of a woman receiving a nomination from one of the leading
+     political parties for a State office. The following is Miss
+     Brown's letter of acceptance:
+
+          OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, Douglas    }
+                                                         Co., Kansas,}
+                                   LAWRENCE, Kansas, Sept. 30, 1880. }
+
+          _To Hon. John Martin, Topeka, Kansas, Chairman of the State
+          Democratic Central Committee:_
+
+          SIR:--I am in receipt of your communication of August 30,
+          advising me of the action of the Democratic convention of
+          August 26, in nominating me as their candidate for State
+          superintendent of public instruction.
+
+          In making this nomination the Democratic party of Kansas
+          has, with a liberal and enlightened spirit, and with a
+          generous purpose, yielded to the tendency of the times,
+          which demand equal rights and equal opportunities for all
+          the people, and it has thus shown itself to be a party of
+          progress. It has placed itself squarely and unequivocally
+          before the people upon this great and vital question of
+          giving to woman the right to work in any field for which she
+          may be fitted, thus placing our young and glorious State in
+          the foremost rank on this, as on the other questions of
+          reform.
+
+          Furthermore, in nominating one who has no vote, and for this
+          reason cannot be considered in politics, and in doing this
+          of its own free will, without any solicitation on my part,
+          the Democratic party of this State has shown that it is in
+          full accord with the Jeffersonian doctrine that the office
+          should seek the man and not the man the office; and also
+          that it fully appreciates the fact which is conceded by all
+          persons who have thought much on educational matters, that
+          the best interests of our schools demand that the office of
+          superintendent, both of the State and county, should be as
+          far as possible disconnected from politics, and it has done
+          what it could to rescue the office from the vortex of mere
+          partisan strife. For this reason I accept the nomination,
+          thanking the party for the honor it has conferred upon me.
+
+                                Respectfully,          SARAH A. BROWN.
+
+     Miss Brown was defeated. The vote of the State showed the average
+     Democrat unable to overcome his time-rusted prejudices
+     sufficiently to vote for a woman to fill the highest educational
+     office in the gift of the people, so that Miss Brown's minority
+     was smaller even than that of the regular Democratic ticket.
+
+     January 21, 1881, Hon. S. C. Millington of Crawford county
+     introduced in the House a joint resolution providing for the
+     submission to the legal voters of the State of Kansas of a
+     proposition to amend the constitution so as to admit of female
+     suffrage. The vote on the adoption of the resolution stood 51
+     ayes and 31 noes in the House, and a tie in the Senate. Later in
+     the same session, Hon. A. C. Pierce of Davis county introduced in
+     the House a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the
+     constitution which should confer the right of suffrage on any one
+     over 21 years of age who had resided in the State six months. Mr.
+     Hackney of Cowley county, introduced a like resolution in the
+     Senate.
+
+     In December, 1881, Governor St. John appointed Mrs. Cora M. Downs
+     one of the regents of the State University at Lawrence. In 1873,
+     Mrs. Rice was elected to the office of county clerk of Harper
+     county, and Miss Alice Junken to the office of recorder of deeds,
+     in Davis county. In 1885 Miss Junken was reelected by a majority
+     of 500 over her competitor, Mrs. Fleming, while Trego county gave
+     a unanimous vote for Miss Ada Clift as register of deeds.
+
+     In proportion to her population Kansas has as many women in the
+     professions as any of the older States. We have lawyers,
+     physicians, preachers and editors, and the number is constantly
+     increasing. In Topeka there are eight practicing physicians,
+     holding diplomas from medical colleges, and two or three who are
+     not graduates. In the Woman's Medical College of Chicago, Kansas
+     now has four representatives--Mrs. Sallie A. Goff of Lincoln,
+     Miss Thomas of Olathe, Miss Cunningham of Garnett, and Miss
+     Gilman of Pittsburg.
+
+     All female persons over the age of twenty-one years are entitled
+     to vote at any school-district meeting on the same terms as men.
+
+     The right of a woman to hold any office, State (except member of
+     the legislature), county, township or school-district, in the
+     State of Kansas, is the same as that of a man. In 1882, six
+     counties, viz., Chase, Cherokee, Greenwood, Labette, Pawnee, and
+     Woodson, elected women as superintendents of public instruction.
+
+          Section 23, Article II., Constitution of Kansas, reads: "The
+          legislature, in providing for the formation and regulation
+          of schools, shall make no distinction between males and
+          females."
+
+     Under the legislation based upon this clause of our constitution,
+     males and females have equal privileges in all schools controlled
+     by the State. The latest report of the State superintendent of
+     public instruction shows that over one-half of the pupils of the
+     Normal school, about two-fifths in the University, and nearly
+     one-third in the Agricultural College, are females.
+
+     In the private institutions of learning, including both
+     denominational and unsectarian, over one-half of the students are
+     females who study in the same classes as the males, except in
+     Washburn college which has a separate course for ladies.
+
+     Most of these institutions have one woman, or more, in their
+     faculties. One-half of the faculty of the State University is
+     composed of women. In the last report of the State superintendent
+     is the following:
+
+          The ratio of female teachers is greater than ever before,
+          some 69 per cent. of the entire number employed. It is,
+          indeed, a matter of congratulation that the work of the
+          schools, especially the primary teaching, is falling more
+          and more to the care of women.
+
+     The Republican State convention of 1882, by an overwhelming
+     majority endorsed woman suffrage, which action the Lincoln W. S.
+     A. promptly recognized as follows:
+
+          WHEREAS, The Republican party of the State of Kansas, by and
+          through its chosen representatives in the Republican State
+          convention at Topeka, August 9, 1882, did, by an
+          overwhelming majority, pledge itself to the support of the
+          principle of woman suffrage by the following:
+
+          _Resolved_, That we request the next legislature to submit
+          such an amendment to the constitution of the State as will
+          secure to woman the right of suffrage. And,
+
+          WHEREAS, By this action the Republican party of Kansas has
+          placed itself in line with the advanced thought of the times
+          in a manner worthy a great political party of the last
+          quarter of the nineteenth century, thereby proving itself
+          worthy the respect and confidence of the women of the State;
+          therefore,
+
+          _Resolved_, That the Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association, in
+          behalf of the women of Kansas, does hereby express thanks to
+          the Republican party for this recognition of the political
+          rights of the women of the State, and especially to the Hon.
+          J. C. Root of Wyandotte, Hon. Hackney of Winfield, Col.
+          Graves of Montgomery, and Gen. Kelly, for their able and
+          fearless support of the measure, and to each and every
+          member of the convention who voted for it.
+
+     In 1883, Senator Hackney introduced a bill of which we find the
+     following in the _Topeka Capital_ of that date:
+
+          Senate bill No. 46, being Senator Hackney's, an act to
+          provide for the submission of the question of female
+          suffrage to the women of Kansas, was taken up, the reading
+          thereof being greeted with applause. It provides that at the
+          general election in 1883 the women of the State shall
+          decide, by ballot, whether they want suffrage or not.
+          Senator Hackney made an address to the Senate upon the bill,
+          saying he believed in giving women the same rights as men
+          had. The last Republican platform declared in favor of woman
+          suffrage, and those Republicans who opposed the platform
+          said they believed the women of the State should have their
+          say about it; the Democratic platform said the same as the
+          dissenters from the Republican. Several humorous amendments
+          were made to the bill. Senator Kelley favored the bill
+          because there were a great many women in the State who
+          wanted to vote. He hoped the Senate would not be so
+          ungallant as to vote the bill down. Senator Sluss moved the
+          recommendation be made that the bill be rejected. Carried.
+
+     The Republican State convention of 1884 ignored the woman
+     suffrage question. The Anti-monopoly (Greenback) party State
+     convention, of August 1884, placed in its platform the following:
+
+          That we believe the advancing civilization of the past
+          quarter of the nineteenth century demands that woman should
+          have equal pay for equal work, and equal laws with man to
+          secure her equal rights, and that she is justly entitled to
+          the ballot.
+
+     Miss Fanny Randolph of Emporia, was nominated by acclamation for
+     State superintendent of public instruction, by this convention.
+     The Prohibition State convention, in session in Lawrence,
+     September 2, 1884, placed the following plank in its platform:
+
+          We believe that women have the same right to vote as men,
+          and in the language of the Republican State platform of two
+          years ago, we request the next legislature to submit such an
+          amendment to the constitution of the State as will secure to
+          woman the right of suffrage.
+
+     This year we sent from Lincoln a petition with 175 names asking
+     for a resolution recommending to congress the adoption of the
+     sixteenth amendment. The results of the election of 1884, showed
+     quite a gain for women in county offices. There are now eleven
+     superintendents of public instruction, several registers of
+     deeds, and county clerks. The number of lawyers,[482] physicians,
+     notaries public, principals of schools, members of school-boards
+     in cities and school districts, is rapidly increasing, as is also
+     the number of women who vote in school-district elections. Miss
+     Jessie Patterson, who ran as an independent candidate for
+     register of deeds in Davis county, beat the regular Republican
+     nominee 286 votes, and the Democratic candidate 299 votes.
+
+     The work of organizing suffrage societies has also progressed,
+     though not as rapidly as it should, for want of speakers and
+     means to carry it on. Through the efforts of Mrs. Laura M. Johns
+     of Salina, vice-president of the State society, several new and
+     flourishing clubs have been formed this summer in Saline county,
+     so that it is probably now the banner county in Kansas. The
+     Lincoln society is preparing to hold a fair in September, for the
+     benefit of the State association, which will hold its next annual
+     convention in October. Suffrage columns in newspapers are
+     multiplying and much stress is placed upon this branch of work.
+     On July 18, a convention was held to organize the Prohibition
+     party in Lincoln county. A cordial invitation was extended to
+     women to attend. Eight were present, and many more would have
+     been had they known of it. I was chosen secretary of the
+     convention, and Mesdames Ellsworth and Goff were appointed upon
+     the platform committee, and several of the central committee are
+     women. The position of the new party upon the question may be
+     inferred from the following clauses in its platform:
+
+          _Resolved_, By the Prohibition party of Lincoln county,
+          Kansas, in convention assembled, that the three vital issues
+          before the people to-day are prohibition, anti-monopoly, and
+          woman suffrage.
+
+          _Resolved_, That we believe in the political equality of the
+          sexes, and we call on the legislature to submit such an
+          amendment to the people for adoption or rejection, to the
+          constitution of the State as will secure to women equal
+          political rights.
+
+     Later the convention nominated me for register of deeds, and Dr.
+     Sallie A. Goff for coroner. I immediately engaged Miss Jennie
+     Newby of Tonganoxie, member of the executive committee and State
+     organizer of the Prohibition party of Kansas, to make a canvass
+     of the county with me in the interest of the party and the county
+     ticket. We held ten meetings and at all points visited made
+     converts to both prohibition and woman suffrage, though nothing
+     was said about the latter. There were two men on the ticket; one
+     of them received more votes than Dr. Goff and I did, and the
+     other fewer. Emma Faris ran independently for register of deeds
+     in Ellsworth county and received a handsome vote. It is no longer
+     a matter of much comment for a woman to run for an office in
+     Kansas.
+
+     Mrs. Gougar came again to Kansas in June to attend the third
+     annual meeting of the Radical Reform Christian Association, and
+     spent a month lecturing on woman suffrage and temperance.
+
+     January 15, 16, 1885, the annual meeting of the State society was
+     held at Topeka. Large and enthusiastic audiences greeted Mrs.
+     Gougar on this, her third visit to Kansas. She remained at the
+     capital for several days, and largely through her efforts with
+     members of the legislature special committees were voted for in
+     both Houses to consider the interests of women. The measure was
+     carried in the House by a vote of 75 to 45.[483] In the Senate it
+     was a tie, 19 to 19. The new committee[484] through its chairman,
+     George Morgan of Clay, reported in favor of a bill for municipal
+     suffrage. It was so low on the calendar that there was no hope of
+     its being reached, but a motion was made to take it out of its
+     regular course, which was lost by 65 to 52.
+
+     The second annual meeting of the State society was held at
+     Salina, October 28, 29, 1885. Mrs. Laura M. Johns gave the
+     address of welcome, to which Mrs. Anna C. Wait, the president,
+     responded. "Mother Bickerdyke,"[485] who followed Sherman's army
+     in its march to the sea, was present and cheered all with her
+     stirring words of the work of women in the war.[486] Her
+     introduction was followed with applause and the earnest attention
+     to her remarks showed in what high esteem she is held. She said
+     that half the work of the war was done by women, but she made no
+     complaint, indeed no mention, of the fact that these women had
+     never been pensioned.
+
+     As it may add force to some facts already stated to have them
+     repeated by one in authority, we give the following letter from
+     the secretary of the Kansas Historical Society:
+
+                         KANSAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY Topeka, Nov. 26, 1885
+
+          MISS SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Rochester, N. Y.:
+
+          _My Dear Friend_:--In answer to your request for information
+          upon certain points bearing upon the subject of woman
+          suffrage in Kansas, I give the following:
+
+          The women avail themselves quite generally of their
+          privilege of voting at the annual and special school
+          district meetings, at which district officers are elected,
+          and all questions of taxes and expenditures are voted on and
+          settled. Women are, in many instances, elected members of
+          the board of school directors, and thus are charged with the
+          duty of employing teachers, with the supervision of the
+          schools, and with the general management of the affairs of
+          the district. Women vote on the question of the issue of
+          school district bonds, and thus they take part in deciding
+          whether new school houses shall be built and the property of
+          the districts be pledged for the future payment of the cost
+          of the same.
+
+          In the chartered cities women do not generally vote for
+          school officers although, under the constitution, it is
+          believed they have the right to do so, and in one or more
+          instances I am informed they have done so, without the right
+          being contested. In cities, school officers are elected at
+          general elections for other city officers, for which women
+          are not permitted to vote, and as they cannot vote for all
+          they generally do not choose to vote for any. Women do not
+          vote for either city, county, or State superintendents, and
+          it is not considered that under our constitution they have
+          the right to do so.
+
+          In 1884, there were 4,915 women teaching in the State, and
+          1,936 men. The average monthly wages of women was $32.85,
+          and of men, $40.70. There are at present twelve women
+          holding the office of county superintendent of public
+          schools in the State. In 72 counties the office is filled by
+          men. Thus, of the 84 organized counties of the State,
+          one-seventh of the school superintendents are women, who
+          generally prove to be competent and efficient, and the
+          number elected is increasing.
+
+          In one county, Harper, a woman holds the office of county
+          clerk. A young woman was recently elected to the office of
+          register of deeds, in Davis county. It is conceded that
+          these two offices can very appropriately be filled by women;
+          and now that the movement has begun, no doubt the number of
+          those elected will increase at recurring elections. Already,
+          in numerous instances, women are employed as deputies and
+          assistants in these and other public offices.
+
+          The participation of women in school elections and their
+          election to membership of school district boards, are
+          resulting in a steady growth of sentiment in favor of woman
+          suffrage, generally. It is seen that in the decision of
+          questions involving the proper maintenance of schools, and
+          the supplying of school apparatus, women usually vote for
+          liberal and judicious expenditures, and make faithful school
+          officers. Their failures are not those of omission, as is so
+          frequently the case with men holding these offices. If they
+          err in judgment, it is from a lack of that business
+          information and experience which women as non-voters have
+          had little opportunity to acquire, but which, under our
+          Kansas system is now rapidly being supplied.
+
+          Among the influences tending to increase the suffrage
+          sentiment in Kansas, may be mentioned those growing out of
+          the active part women are taking in the discussion of
+          political, economical, moral and social questions, through
+          their participation in the proceedings of the Woman's
+          Christian Temperance Union, the State Temperance Union, the
+          Woman's Social Science Association, the Kansas Academy of
+          Science, the Grange, the State and local Teachers'
+          Associations, and many other organizations in which women
+          have come to perform so prominent a part. In these
+          organizations, and in the part they take in discussions,
+          they show their capacity to grapple with the political,
+          social, and scientific problems of the day, in such a manner
+          as to demonstrate their ability to perform the highest
+          duties of citizenship. Still the chief influence which is
+          bringing about a growth of opinion in favor of woman
+          suffrage in Kansas, comes from what has now become the
+          actual, and I may say, the popular and salutary practice of
+          woman suffrage at school district meetings. It is seen that
+          the reasons which make it right and expedient for women to
+          vote on questions pertaining to the education of their
+          children, bear with little, if any, less force upon the
+          propriety of their voting upon all questions affecting the
+          public welfare.
+
+          I think I may truly say to you that the tendencies in Kansas
+          are to the steady growth of sentiment in favor of woman
+          suffrage. This is so apparent that few of those even who do
+          not believe in its propriety or expediency now doubt that it
+          will eventually be adopted, and the political consequences
+          fully brought to the test of experience.
+
+                                   Yours sincerely,     F. G. ADAMS.
+
+     The greatest obstacle to our speedy success in this State, as
+     elsewhere, is the ignorance and indifference of the women
+     themselves. But the earnestness and enthusiasm of the few, in
+     their efforts from year to year, cannot be wholly lost--the fires
+     kindled by that memorable campaign of 1867 are not dead, only
+     slumbering, to burst forth with renewed brilliancy in the dawn of
+     the day that brings liberty, justice, and equality for woman.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[475] In the centennial year, when protests were in order, the
+following was sent to the National Association at Philadelphia,
+describing the manner in which a lady eighty-four years old
+celebrated her birthday:
+
+                              "NEUTRAL STATION, Kansas, July 17, 1876.
+
+     "DEAR SISTERS: Two days ago, on Saturday, the 15th, as has been
+     usual for three or four years, a company of our friends and
+     neighbors met at our house to celebrate my eighty-fourth
+     birthday. We had a pleasant time. Some pieces, composed for the
+     occasion, were read, and a clergyman made some appropriate
+     remarks. I improved the opportunity to obtain the names of the
+     ladies present, and succeeded with all, old and young, except one
+     who was afraid it would get her into a trap; but with _the rest
+     it needed but little electioneering beside reading your
+     advertisement to secure their names_. We, as a neighborhood, are
+     ignorant on the subject. I solicited assistance pecuniarily, and
+     send you what I can, with a word of encouragement still to work
+     and wait, and my earnest prayer for your final success.
+
+                                             ELSIE STEWART."
+
+The other signatures were: Henrietta L. Miller, Mrs. Julia A.
+Ingraham, Mrs. Hollet, Mrs. Lottie Griffin, Selinda Miller, Celina
+Lake, Mollie Yeates, Betsey J. Corse, Mary G. Hapeman, Mrs. Maggie
+Clark, Miss Elsie Miller, Louie Ingraham, Malura Hickox, C. A.
+Eddy, Anna Lowe, Charlotte H. Butler.
+
+[476] _President_, Mrs. Mary Maberly; _Secretary_, Miss Lillie M.
+Hull; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Emma H. Johns; and an able executive
+committee, of which Mrs. E. M. Alden, Mrs. Emma Faris, Mrs. Mattie
+McDowell and Bertha H. Ellsworth, who was then teaching there, were
+members.
+
+[477] Arkansas City Suffrage Club, with Mrs. M. B. Houghton,
+_President_; Mrs. E. T. Ayers, _Vice-President_; Miss Gertrude
+Fowler, _Secretary_, and Mrs. F. Daniels, _Treasurer_; also one at
+Winfield, county-seat of Cowley county, with Mrs. J. Cairns,
+_President_; Mrs. M. R. Hall, _Secretary_, and Mrs. E. D. Garlick,
+_Treasurer_; and vice-presidents from each of the churches, as
+follows: Mesdames P. P. Powell, G. Miller, M. Burkey and J. C.
+Fuller.
+
+[478] _President_, Mrs. Hetta P. Mansfield, Winfield;
+_Vice-President-at-Large_, Mrs. Anna C. Wait, Lincoln;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Bertha H. Ellsworth, Lincoln;
+_Recording Secretary_, Miss Georgiana Daniels, Eureka; _Treasurer_,
+Mrs. D. A. Millington, Winfield; _Chaplain_, Rev. S. S. Cairns,
+Winfield; _Vice-Presidents_ and _Executive Committee_, Mrs. Judge
+Griswold, Leavenworth; Miss Sarah Hurtsel, Columbus; Mrs. Anna
+Taylor, Wichita; Miss Myra Willets, Independence; Mrs. W. P.
+Roland, Cherryvale; Judge Lorenzo Westover, Clyde; Mr. V. P.
+Wilson, Abilene; Hon. Albert Griffin, Manhattan; Mrs. A. O.
+Carpenter, Emporia; Mrs. Noble Prentis, Atchison; Mrs. S. S. Moore,
+Burden; Mrs. Emma Faris, Carnerio; Mrs. Houghton and Mrs. Farrer,
+Arkansas City; Mrs. Finley, Topeka.
+
+[479] The towns visited were: Beloit, Lincoln Center, Wilson,
+Ellsworth, Salina, Solomon City, Minneapolis, Cawker City and
+Clyde. The officers of the Topeka society were: _President_, Mrs.
+Priscilla Finley; _Secretary_, Mrs. E. G. Hammon; _Treasurer_, Mrs.
+Sarah Smith. The officers of Beloit were: _President_, Mrs. H.
+Still; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. J. M. Patten, Mrs. M. Vaughan;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. F. J. Knight; _Recording
+Secretary_, Mary Charlesworth; _Treasurer_, Mrs. M. Bailey. At
+Salina, Mrs. Johns and Mrs. Christina Day are the officers.
+
+[480] The women of Kansas should never forget that to the influence
+of Mrs. Nichols in the Constitutional convention at Wyandotte, they
+owe the modicum of justice secured by that document. With her
+knitting in hand, she sat there alone through all the sessions, the
+only woman present, watching every step of the proceedings, and
+laboring with members to so frame the constitution as to make all
+citizens equal before the law. Though she did not accomplish what
+she desired, yet by her conversations with the young men of the
+State, she may be said to have made the idea of woman suffrage seem
+practicable to those who formed the constitution and statute laws
+of that State.--[E. C. S.
+
+[481] See compiled laws of Kansas, 79, page 378, chapter XXXIII.
+
+[482] Miss Flora M. Wagstaff of Paoli was among the first to
+practice law in Kansas. In 1881, Ida M. Tillotson of Mill Brook,
+and in 1884, Maria E. DeGeer were admitted.
+
+[483] The names of representatives voting for the committee stand
+as follows: _Yeas_--Barnes, Beattie, Bollinger, Bond, Bonebrake,
+Brewster, Buck, Butterfield, Caldwell, Campbell, Carter, Clogston,
+J. B. Cook of Chetopa, H. C. Cook of Oswego, Collins, Cox, Currier,
+Davenport, Dickson, Edwards, Faulkner, Gillespie, Glasgow, Gray,
+Grier, Hargrave, Hatfield, Hogue, Hollenshead, Holman, Hopkins,
+Hostetler, Johnson of Ness City, Johnson of Marshall, Johnson of
+Topeka, Johnson (Speaker of the House), Kelley of Cawker City,
+King, Kreger, Lawrence, Lewis, Loofburrow, Lower, McBride, McNall,
+McNeal, Matlock, Maurer, Miller, Moore, Morgan of Clay, Morgan of
+Osborne, Mosher, Osborn, Patton, Pratt, Reeves, Rhodes, Roach,
+Roberts, Slavens, Spiers, Simpson, Smith of McPherson, Smith of
+Neosho, Stewart, Stine, Sweezy, Talbot, Vance, Veach, Wallace,
+Wentworth, Wiggins, Willhelm--75. The names of senators were:
+_Yeas_--Bowden, Congdon, Donnell, Edmunds, Granger, Hicks,
+Humphrey, Jennings, M. B. Kelley, Kellogg, Kimball, Kohler,
+Pickler, Ritter, Rush, Shean, Sheldon, White, Young--19.
+
+[484] The Committee on the Political Rights of Women, granted by
+the House, were: George Morgan of Clay, George Seitz of Ellsworth,
+David Kelso of Labette, F. W. Rash of Butler, W. C. Edwards of
+Pawnee, F. J. Kelley of Mitchell, W. H. Deckard of Doniphan.
+
+[485] The speakers were: Rev. Amanda May (formerly of Indiana),
+Mrs. Martha L. Berry, Mrs. Ada Sill, Mrs. Colby, Dr. Addie Kester,
+Mrs. M. D. Vale, Rev. C. H. Rogers, Mrs. De Geer, Miss Jennie
+Newby. Officers: _President_, Mrs. Anna C. Wait of Lincoln;
+_Vice-President_, Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Salina; _Treasurer_, Mrs.
+Martia L. Berry of Cawker City; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. B.
+H. Ellsworth of Lincoln; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Alice G. Bond
+of Salina.
+
+[486] When Miss Anthony and I went through Kansas in 1867 we held
+an afternoon and evening meeting in Salina. Our accommodations at
+the hotel were wretched beyond description. Mother Bickerdyke was
+just preparing to open her hotel but was still in great confusion.
+Hearing of our dismal quarters she came and took us to her home,
+where her exquisitely cooked food and clean beds redeemed in a
+measure our dolorous impressions of Salina. Our meetings were held
+in an unfinished church without a floor, the audience sitting on
+the beams, our opponents (two young lawyers) and ourselves on a few
+planks laid across, where a small stand was placed and one tallow
+candle to lighten the discussion that continued until a late hour.
+Being delayed the next day at the depot a long time waiting for the
+train we held another prolonged discussion with these same sprigs
+of the legal profession. We had intended to go on to Ellsworth, but
+hearing of trouble there with the Indians we turned our faces
+eastward. Mother Bickerdyke and her thrilling stories of the war
+are the pleasant memories that still linger with us of Salina.--[E.
+C. S.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+COLORADO.
+
+     Great American Desert--Organized as a Territory, February 28,
+     1860--Gov. McCook's Message Recommending Woman Suffrage,
+     1870--Adverse Legislation--Hon. Amos Steck--Admitted to the
+     Union, 1876--Constitutional Convention--Efforts to Strike Out the
+     Word "Male"--Convention to Discuss Woman Suffrage--School
+     Suffrage Accorded--State Association Formed, Alida C. Avery,
+     President--Proposition for Full Suffrage Submitted to the Popular
+     Vote--A Vigorous Campaign--Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Patterson of
+     Denver--Opposition by the Clergy--Their Arguments Ably
+     Answered--D. M. Richards--The Amendment Lost--_The Rocky Mountain
+     News_.
+
+
+That our English readers may appreciate the Herculean labors that
+the advocates of suffrage undertake in this country in canvassing a
+State, they must consider the vast territory to be traveled over,
+in stages and open wagons where railroads are scarce. Colorado, for
+example, covers an area of 104,500 square miles. It is divided by
+the Rocky Mountains running north and south, with two hundred lofty
+peaks rising thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, and
+some still higher. To reach the voters in the little mining towns a
+hundred miles apart, over mountains such as these, involves
+hardships that only those who have made the journeys can
+understand. But there is some compensation in the variety, beauty
+and grandeur of the scenery, with its richly wooded valleys, vast
+parks and snow-capped mountains. It is the region for those awake
+to the sublime in nature to reverently worship some of her grandest
+works that no poet can describe nor artist paint. Here, too, the
+eternal struggle for liberty goes on, for the human soul can never
+be attuned to harmony with its surroundings, especially the grand
+and glorious, until the birthright of justice and equality is
+secured to all.
+
+For a history of the early efforts made in the Centennial State to
+secure equal rights for women, we are indebted to Mrs. Mary G.
+Campbell and Mrs. Katharine G. Patterson, two sisters who have been
+actively interested in the suffrage movement in Colorado, as
+follows:
+
+     In 1848, while those immortal women whose names will be found on
+     many another page of the volume in which this chapter is
+     included, were asking in the convention at Seneca Falls, N. Y.,
+     that their equal membership in the human family might be admitted
+     by their husbands, fathers and sons, Colorado, unnamed and
+     unthought of, was still asleep with her head above the clouds.
+     Only two mountain-tops in all the-world were nearer heaven than
+     hers, and they, in far Thibet, had seen the very beginnings of
+     the race which, after six thousand years, had not yet penetrated
+     Colorado. Islanded in a cruel brown ocean of sand, she hid her
+     treasures of gold and silver in her virgin bosom and dreamed,
+     unstirred by any echoes of civilization. When she woke at last it
+     was to the sound of an anvil chorus--to the ring of the mallet
+     and drill, and the hoarse voices of men greedy only for gold.
+
+     In 1858, when the Ninth National Convention of women to demand
+     their legal rights was in session in New York, there were only
+     three white women in the now rich and beautiful city of Denver.
+     Still another ten years of wild border life, of fierce
+     vicissitudes, of unwritten tragedies enacted in forest and mine,
+     and Colorado was organized into a territory with a population of
+     5,000 women and 25,000 men.
+
+     The first effort for suffrage was made in 1870, during the fifth
+     session of the legislative assembly, soon after General Edward
+     McCook was sent out by President Grant to fill the gubernatorial
+     chair. In his message to the legislature, he promptly recommended
+     to the attention of its members the question of suffrage for
+     woman:
+
+          Before dismissing the subject of franchise, I desire to call
+          your attention to one question connected with it, which you
+          may deem of sufficient importance to demand some
+          consideration at your hands before the close of the session.
+          Our higher civilization has recognized woman's equality with
+          man in all respects save one--suffrage. It has been said
+          that no great reform was ever made without passing through
+          three stages--ridicule, argument, and adoption. It rests
+          with you to say whether Colorado will accept this reform in
+          its first stage, as our sister territory of Wyoming has
+          done, or in the last; whether she will be a leader or a
+          follower; for the logic of a progressive civilization leads
+          to the inevitable result of a universal suffrage.
+
+     This was the first gun of the campaign, and summoned to the field
+     various contending forces, armed with ridicule, argument, or an
+     optimistic diplomacy, urging an immediate surrender of the ground
+     claimed. Bills favoring the enfranchisement of women were
+     discussed both in the Territorial Council Chamber and in the
+     lower House of the legislature. The subject was taken up by the
+     press and the people, and not escaping its meed of ridicule, was
+     seriously dealt with by both friend and enemy. Perhaps the
+     western champions of woman's recognition as an intelligent part
+     of the body politic were brought to understand the full meaning
+     of her disabilities by their own experiences as territorial
+     minors. Certain it is that the high spirit of the citizens of
+     Colorado chafed intolerably under the temporary limitations of
+     accustomed rights of sovereign manhood. The federal government,
+     in the capacity of regent, sent to these territorial wards their
+     officers and governors and fixed the rate of their taxation
+     without full representation. These wards were indeed empowered,
+     as were the people of their sister territories, to elect a
+     delegate to the national congress, whose opinions upon
+     territorial matters were allowed expression in that body, but who
+     could no more enforce there his convictions upon important
+     measures, by a vote, than could the most intelligent woman of
+     this territory upon the question of his election to represent her
+     interests.
+
+     In the Colorado papers of those days of territorial tutelage,
+     there appeared repeatedly most impatient protests against these
+     humiliating conditions of citizenship. With the attainment of
+     statehood in 1876 there came to the men of Colorado a restoration
+     of their full rights as citizens of the Republic. According to
+     the proscriptive usage, the humiliating conditions of citizenship
+     without the ballot, remained to the women of the Centennial
+     State; and those of their reenfranchised brothers who had felt
+     most keenly their own unaccustomed restrictions, were without
+     doubt the foremost advocates of the movement to secure the full
+     recognition of women's rights.
+
+     The majority of the territorial legislative assembly of 1870 was
+     unexpectedly Democratic, and almost as unexpected was the favor
+     promptly shown by the Democratic members to the passage of the
+     bill proposing woman suffrage. The measure was indeed
+     characterized by the opposing Republicans, as "the great
+     Democratic reform," and for weeks seemed destined to triumph
+     through Democratic votes, in spite of the frivolous and serious
+     opposition of the Republican minority, and the few Democratic
+     members who deserted what then seemed the party policy upon this
+     question. The pleas urged in advocacy of the new movement, as
+     well as the protests urged against it, were substantially the
+     same as were used in the East at that stage of the question.
+     Accompanying them were the extravagancies of hope and fear
+     incident to the early consideration of every suggested change in
+     a long-accepted social order. An impossible Utopia was promised
+     on the one hand no less confidently than was predicted upon the
+     other a dire iconoclasm of the sacred shrine of long-adored
+     ideals, as a consequence of simply granting to intelligent women
+     a privilege justly their due. Both the derision and the adverse
+     reasoning of the alarmists were well met by fearless friends, in
+     Council and House. Bills looking to the removal of woman's
+     disabilities were referred in each to a select committee for
+     consideration, on January 19. The majority report to the House
+     through the chairman of its special committee, M. DeFrance, was
+     an able advocacy of the measure under consideration, while the
+     adverse recommendation of the Council committee was accompanied
+     by an excellent report by Hon. Amos Steck, setting forth clearly
+     the reasons of the minority for their favorable views. After
+     hearing the reports, both Houses went into committee of the whole
+     for a free discussion upon the question.
+
+     "The criterion of civilization, physical force," "Strength as the
+     measure of right,"--as recent writers have defined the divine
+     right of might--seemed the basis of reasoning with those who
+     claimed that woman should not be given the ballot because she
+     might not carry the sword. Dark pictures were drawn of possible
+     women as electors plunging their country into wars, from whose
+     consequences they would themselves suffer nothing. By the more
+     hopeful it was urged that the mighty heart, the moral force of
+     humanity, as represented in womanhood, and united with clear
+     womanly intelligence, would prove a greater power in all State
+     interests than sword or bayonet.
+
+     The strongest speaker in the legislature upon the subject of
+     suffrage--President Hinsdale of the Council--was, unfortunately,
+     a bitter enemy of the proposed reform. Yet some of his most
+     forcible utterances made in committee of the whole, were
+     excellent arguments in favor of, rather than against the measure.
+     Excellent arguments in favor of the bill in question were made by
+     leading members of the House--Messrs. Lea, Shepard and DeFrance.
+     By invitation of the legislature, that body was addressed by a
+     prominent member of the Denver bar, Mr. Willard Teller, the
+     brother of one of our U. S. senators. The hall was filled by an
+     interested audience to hear Mr. Teller's address, which was a
+     strong presentation of the principles upon which rest the claims
+     of American citizens to universal suffrage.
+
+     Outside the assembly halls, Governor McCook and his beautiful,
+     accomplished, and gracefully aggressive wife, strongly favored
+     the affirmative of the question at issue, while Willard Teller,
+     D. M. Richards and other distinguished men and women of the
+     territory were active friends during the contest. In the press,
+     the measure had a most influential support in the _Daily Colorado
+     Tribune_, a well-conducted Denver journal, edited by Mr. R. W.
+     Woodbury. Space in its columns was given to well-written articles
+     by contributors interested in the success of the cause, and many
+     able editorials appeared, embodying strong arguments in favor of
+     the reform, or answering the opposing bitterness and frivolity of
+     its contemporary the _Rocky Mountain News_. The interest in the
+     proposed innovation was indeed quite general throughout the
+     territory, but wherever the subject was discussed, in the
+     legislative halls, in private conversation, editorial column, or
+     correspondence of the press, the grounds argumentatively
+     traversed were the same highways and byways of reason and
+     absurdity which have been so often since gone over.
+
+     There was perhaps one lion in the way of establishing universal
+     suffrage in the West, which the eastern advocates did not fear.
+     It was said that our intelligent women could not be allowed to
+     vote, whatever the principles upon which the right might be
+     claimed, because in that case, the poor, degraded Chinese women
+     who might reach our shores, would also be admitted to the voting
+     list, and what then would become of our proud, Caucasian
+     civilization? Whether it was the thought of the poor Mongolian
+     slave at the polls, or some other equally terrifying vision of a
+     yearly visit of American women to the centre of some voting
+     precinct, the majority of the Colorado legislative assembly of
+     1870, in spite of all the free discussion of the campaign of that
+     year, decided adversely. In the latter days of the session, the
+     bill having taken the form of a proposition to submit the
+     question at issue to the already qualified voters of the
+     territory, was lost in the council chamber by a majority of one,
+     and in the House by a two-thirds majority, leaving to the
+     defeated friends of the reform as their only reward, a
+     consciousness of strength gained in the contest.
+
+     A few years more made Denver a city beautiful for habitation,
+     made Colorado a garden, filled that goodly land with capable men,
+     and intelligent, spirited women. Statehood had been talked of,
+     but lost, and then men began to say: "The one hundredth birthday
+     of our American independence is so near, let us make this a
+     centennial State; let the entrance into the Union be announced by
+     the same bells that shall ring in our national anniversary." And
+     so it was decreed. Mindful of 1776--mindful too, of the second
+     declaration made by the women at the first equal rights
+     convention in 1848, the friends of equality in Colorado
+     determined to gird themselves for a supreme effort in
+     anticipation of the constitution that was to be framed for the
+     new State to be.
+
+     A notice was published asking all persons favorable to suffrage
+     for women, to convene in Denver, January 10, to take measures to
+     secure the recognition of woman's equality under the pending
+     constitution. In pursuance to this call, a large and eager
+     audience filled Unity Church long before the hour appointed for
+     the meeting. A number of the orthodox clergy were present. The
+     Rev. Mrs. Wilkes of Colorado Springs, opened the exercises with
+     prayer. Mrs. Margaret W. Campbell of Massachusetts was then
+     introduced, and said: "This convention was called to present
+     woman's claims to the ballot, from her own stand-point, and to
+     take such measures to secure the recognition of her equality in
+     the constitution of Colorado, as the friends gathered from
+     different parts of the territory may think proper. We do not ask
+     that women shall take the places of men, or usurp authority over
+     them; we only ask that the principles upon which our government
+     is founded shall be applied to women.
+
+     Rev. Mrs. Wilkes made an especial point of the fact that in
+     Colorado Springs women owned one-third of the taxable property,
+     and yet were obliged (at the recent spring election) to see the
+     bonds for furnishing a supply of pure water, voted down because
+     women had no voice in the matter. This had been a serious
+     mistake, as the physicians of the place had pronounced the
+     present supply impure and unwholesome. She referred to the fears
+     of many that the constitution, freighted with woman suffrage,
+     might sink, when it would else be buoyant, and begged her hearers
+     not to fear such a burden would endanger it. The convention
+     continued through two days with enthusiastic speeches from Mr. D.
+     M. Richards and Rev. Mr. Wright, who preferred to be introduced
+     as the nephew of Dr. Harriot K. Hunt of Boston. Letters were read
+     from Lucy Stone and Judge Kingman, and an extract from the
+     message of Governor Thayer of Wyoming, in which he declared the
+     results of woman suffrage in that territory to have been
+     beneficial and its influence favorable to the best interests of
+     the community. A territorial society was formed with an efficient
+     board of officers;[487] resolutions, duly discussed, were
+     adopted, and the meeting closed with a carefully-prepared
+     address by Dr. Avery, the newly-elected president of the
+     territorial association.
+
+     The committee[488] appointed to wait upon the constitutional
+     convention were received courteously by that body, and listened
+     to with respectful attention. One would have thought the
+     gentlemen to whom the arguments and appeals of such women were
+     addressed would have found it in their hearts to make some reply,
+     even while disclaiming the official character of their act; but
+     they preserved a decorous and non-committal, if not incurious
+     silence, and the ladies withdrew. The press said, the morning
+     after their visit: "The gentlemen were all interested and amused
+     by the errand of the ladies." The morning following, the
+     constitutional convention was memorialized by the Suffrage
+     Association of Missouri, and was also presented with a petition
+     signed by a thousand citizens of Colorado, asking that in the new
+     constitution no distinction be made on account of sex. This was
+     only the beginning. Petitions came in afterwards, numerously
+     signed, and were intended to have the force of a sort of
+     ante-election vote.
+
+     Denver presented an interesting social aspect at this time. It
+     was as if the precursive tremor of a moral earthquake had been
+     felt, and people, only half awake, did not know whether to seek
+     safety in the house, or outside of it. Women especially were
+     perplexed and inquiring, and it was observed that those in favor
+     of asking a recognition of their rights in the new State, were
+     the intelligent and leading ladies of the city. The wives of
+     ministers, of congressmen, of judges, the prominent members of
+     Shakespeare clubs, reading circles, the directors of charitable
+     institutions,--these were the ones who first ranged themselves on
+     the side of equal rights, clearly proving that the man was right
+     who pointed out the danger of allowing women to learn the
+     alphabet.
+
+     When February 15 came, it was a momentous day for Colorado. The
+     report of the Committee on Suffrage and Elections was to come up
+     for final action. As a matter of fact there were two reports;
+     that of the minority was signed by two members of the committee,
+     Judge Bromwell, whose breadth and scholarship were apparent in
+     his able report, and a Mexican named Agapita Vigil, a legislator
+     from Southern Colorado where Spanish is the dominant tongue. Mr.
+     Vigil spoke no English, and was one of those representatives for
+     whose sake an interpreter was maintained during the session of
+     the convention.
+
+     Ladies were present in large numbers. Some of the gentlemen
+     celebrated the occasion by an unusual spruceness of attire, and
+     others by being sober enough to attend to business. The report
+     with three-fifths of the signatures, after setting forth that the
+     subject had had careful consideration, went on to state the
+     qualifications of voters, namely, that all should be male
+     citizens, with one exception, and that was, that women might vote
+     for school district officers.
+
+     Mr. A. K. Yount of Boulder, spoke in favor of the motion to
+     strike out the word "male" in section 1: "That every male person
+     over the age of 21 years, possessing the necessary
+     qualifications, shall be entitled to vote," etc. He called
+     attention to the large number of petitions which had been sent
+     in, asking for this, and to the fact that not a single
+     remonstrance had been received. He believed the essential
+     principles of human freedom were involved in this demand, and he
+     insisted that justice required that women should help to make the
+     laws by which they are governed. The amendment was lost by a vote
+     of 24 to 8.
+
+     Mr. Storm offered an amendment that women be permitted to vote
+     for, and hold the office of, county superintendent of schools.
+     This also was lost. The only other section of the report which
+     had any present interest to women, was the one reading:
+
+          SECTION 2. The General Assembly may at any time extend by
+          law the right of suffrage to persons not herein enumerated,
+          but no such law shall take effect or be in force until the
+          same shall have been submitted to a vote of the people, at a
+          general election, and approved by a majority of all the
+          votes cast for and against such law.
+
+     After much discussion it was voted that the first General
+     Assembly should provide a law whereby the subject should be
+     submitted to a vote of the electors.
+
+     After this the curtain fell, the lights were put out, and all the
+     atmosphere and _mise en scene_ of the drama vanished. It was well
+     known, however, that another season would come, the actors would
+     reaeppear, and an "opus" would be given; whether it should turn
+     out a tragedy, or a Miriam's song of deliverance, no one was able
+     to predict. Meantime, the women of Colorado--to change the
+     figure--bivouacked on the battle-field, and sent for
+     reinforcements against the fall campaign. They held themselves
+     well together, and used their best endeavors to educate public
+     sentiment.
+
+     A column in the Denver _Rocky Mountain News_, a pioneer paper
+     then edited by W. N. Byers, was offered the woman suffrage
+     association, through which to urge our claims. The column was put
+     into the hands of Mrs. Campbell, the wife of E. L. Campbell, of
+     the law firm of Patterson & Campbell of Denver, for editorship.
+     This lady, from whose editorials quotations will be given, was
+     too timid (she herself begs us to say cowardly) to use her name
+     in print, and so translated it into its German equivalent of
+     _Schlachtfeld_, thus nullifying whatever of weight her own name
+     would have carried in the way of personal and social endorsement
+     of an unpopular cause. Her sister, Mrs. T. M. Patterson, an early
+     and earnest member of the Colorado Suffrage Association, "bore
+     testimony" as courageously and constantly as her environment
+     permitted.
+
+     Mrs. Gov. McCook, as previously stated, had been the first woman
+     in Colorado to set the example of a spirited claim to simple
+     political justice for her sex, but she, alas! at the date now
+     reached in our sketch, was dead--in her beautiful youth, in the
+     first flower of her sweet, bright womanhood. Her loss to the
+     cause can best be measured by those who know what an immense
+     uplifting power is present when an intelligent man in an
+     influential position joins his personal and political force to
+     his wife's personal and social force in the endeavor to
+     accomplish an object dear to both.
+
+     It is a pity not to register here, however inadequately, some
+     outline of many figures that rise to form a part of the picture
+     of Colorado in 1876-7. When liberty shall have been achieved, and
+     all citizens shall be comfortably enjoying its direct and
+     indirect blessings, this book should be found to have preserved
+     in the amber of its pages the names of those who bravely wrought
+     for freedom in that earlier time. Would that one might indeed
+     summon them all by a roll-call! But they will not answer--they
+     say only: "Let our work stand for us, be its out-come small or
+     great."
+
+     To Dr. Alida C. Avery, however, whatever the outcome, a weighty
+     obligation is due from all past, present and future laborers in
+     this cause in Colorado. She it was who set at work and kept at
+     work the interplay of ideas and efforts which accomplished what
+     was done. Through her personal acquaintance with the immortals at
+     the East, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Henry B. Blackwell, she
+     drew them to Colorado during the campaign about to be described,
+     and with them came others. Mrs. M. W. Campbell and her husband
+     reaeppeared to do faithful service, and then came also Miss Lelia
+     Patridge of Philadelphia, a young, graceful, and effective
+     speaker,--so the local papers constantly describe her, and then
+     came, in the person of Miss Matilda Hindman of Pittsburg Pa., one
+     of the ablest women of the whole campaign. Gentle, persuasive,
+     womanly, she was at the same time armed at all points with fact,
+     argument, and illustration, and her zeal was only equaled by her
+     power of sustained labor.
+
+     Many of these same qualities belong to Mrs. M. F. Shields, of
+     Colorado Springs, one of the committee on constitutional work in
+     the campaign of 1876, and an ardent, unceasing, unselfish laborer
+     in the church, in suffrage and temperance, for more than ten
+     years. She did not lecture, but "talked"; talked to five hundred
+     men at a time as if they were her own sons, and only needed to be
+     shown they were conniving at injustice, in order to turn about
+     and do the right thing. This same element of "motherliness" it
+     was, which gained her the respectful attention of an audience of
+     the roughest and most ignorant Cornish miners up in Caribou, who
+     would listen to no other woman speaking upon the subject. When
+     the members of the famous constitutional committee were
+     considering the suffrage petition, prior to making their report,
+     Judge Stone of Pueblo, tried to persuade the Spanish-speaking
+     member that to grant the franchise to women would be to be false
+     to his party, as those women were all Democrats. But Senor Vigil
+     replied that he had been talking through his interpreter to the
+     "nice old lady, who smiled so much" (meaning Mrs. Shields), and
+     he knew what they asked was all right, and he should vote for it.
+
+     Of the men who were willing to obey Paul's entreaty to "help
+     those women," must be named in the front rank David M. Richards
+     of Denver, a pioneer of '59, and as brave and generous and true a
+     heart as ever beat in time to the pulse of progress, Rev. B. F.
+     Crary, a true apostolic helper, Mr. Henry C. Dillon, a young
+     western Raleigh for knightly chivalry, Hon. J. B. Belford, member
+     of congress then and now, Judge H. P. H. Bromwell, who needs no
+     commendation from the historian, as his eloquent minority report
+     speaks adequately for him; these, and very many more, both men
+     and women, have, as the French say, "deserved well of the State
+     and of their generation."
+
+     And it was once more to the aid of these men and women that the
+     East sent reinforcements as soon as the winter of 1877 was well
+     ushered in. An annual convention was announced for January 15, in
+     Denver. When the bitter cold evening came it seemed doubtful if
+     any great number of persons would be present, but the large
+     Lawrence street Methodist Church was, on the contrary, packed to
+     its utmost capacity. Rev. Mr. Eads, pastor of the church, opened
+     the meeting with prayer, and Dr. Avery, as president of the
+     association, gave a brief _resume_ of the work during its one
+     year of existence. Colonel Henry Logan of Boulder (formerly of
+     Illinois), made a manly and telling speech in favor of a measure
+     which he called one of axiomatic justice. Mrs. Wright of New
+     York, after a piquant address, announced the meeting of the
+     convention for the next day. On the following morning a business
+     session was held, and officers elected for the year.[489] In the
+     afternoon speeches were made by Dr. Crary, Mrs. Shields, and Mr.
+     David Boyd of Greeley, and in the evening by Mr. Henry C. Dillon
+     and Rev. J. R. Eads, the closing and crowning speech of the
+     convention being given by Miss Laura Hanna of Denver, a _petite_,
+     pretty young girl, whose remarks made a _bonne bouche_ with which
+     to close the feast. Interest in the subject rose to fever heat
+     before October. Pulpit, press and fireside were occupied with its
+     discussion. The most effective, and at the same time,
+     exasperating opposition, came from the pulpit, but there was also
+     vigorous help from the same quarter. The Catholic Bishop preached
+     a series of sermons and lectures, in which he fulminated all the
+     thunders of apostolic and papal revelation against women who
+     wanted to vote:
+
+          Though strong-minded women who are not satisfied with the
+          disposition of Providence and who wish to go beyond the
+          condition of their sex, profess no doubt to be Christians,
+          do they consult the Bible?--do they follow the Bible? I fear
+          not. Had God intended to create a companion for man, capable
+          of following the same pursuits, able to undertake the same
+          labors, he would have created another man; but he created a
+          woman, and she fell. * * * The class of women wanting
+          suffrage are battalions of old maids disappointed in
+          love--women separated from their husbands or divorced by men
+          from their sacred obligations--women who, though married,
+          wish to hold the reins of the family government, for there
+          never was a woman happy in her home who wished for female
+          suffrage. * * * Who will take charge of those young children
+          (if they consent to have any) while mothers as surgeons are
+          operating indiscriminately upon the victims of a terrible
+          railway disaster? * * * No kind husband will refuse to
+          nurse the baby on Sunday (when every kind of business is
+          stopped) in order to let his wife attend church; but even
+          then, as it is not his natural duty, he will soon be tired
+          of it and perhaps get impatient waiting for the mother,
+          chiefly when the baby is crying.
+
+     These, with the omnipresent quotations from St. Paul to the
+     effect that women shall keep silence in the church, etc., formed
+     the argument of the Bishop in two or three lengthy sermons.
+     Indignant men, disgusted with the caliber of the opposition and
+     yet obliged to notice it on account of the position of the
+     divine, made ample rejoinders. Rev. Dr. Crary of Golden, in an
+     exhaustive review of the Bishop's discourse, deprecated the
+     making permanent and of universal application the commands which
+     with Paul were evidently temporary and local, and said half the
+     churches in Christendom would be closed if these were literally
+     obeyed:
+
+          "Women should not usurp authority, therefore men should
+          usurp all authority." This is the sort of logic we have
+          always heard from men who are trotting along in the wake of
+          progress and howling because the centuries do not stop
+          rolling onward. In barbarous regions Paul is paraded against
+          educating girls at all. In half-civilized nations Paul is
+          doing service against educating girls except in the
+          rudiments. Among people who are just beginning to see the
+          hill-tops of a higher, nobler world, Paul is still on duty
+          crowding off women from high-schools and colleges. Proud
+          universities to-day have Paul standing guard over medical
+          meanness and pushing down aspiring female souls from the
+          founts of knowledge. Within our memory Paul has been the
+          standing demonstration in favor of slavery, intemperance and
+          the oppression of women.
+
+     Another sermon in which the Bishop lays solemn stress on the one
+     sacred, inevitable duty of women to become wives and mothers, was
+     answered by Mr. David Boyd of Greeley, who, among other things,
+     asks the Bishop:
+
+          How, in view of the injunction to increase and multiply, he
+          can justify the large celibate class created by positive
+          command of the Catholic church, not only by the ordination
+          of priests, but by the constant urging of the church that
+          women should become the barren brides of Christ by taking on
+          them the vows of nuns.
+
+     The Bishop published his lectures in pamphlet form, that their
+     influence might be far-reaching, and curiously enough, the very
+     same lectures were printed and scattered by the friends of
+     suffrage as the best sort of document for the campaign now fairly
+     inaugurated. D. M. Richards, the able chairman of the executive
+     committee, and Dr. Avery, president of the association, showed
+     themselves capable of both conceiving and executing a plan of
+     operations which had the merit of at least deserving victory.
+
+     There was no lack of pens to defend women's claim to equal
+     chances in the struggle for existence. In Denver, the _Rocky
+     Mountain News_ and the _Times_ planted themselves fairly and
+     squarely in an affirmative attitude, and gave generous aid to the
+     effort. The _Tribune's_ columns were in a state of chronic
+     congestion from a plethora of protests, both feminine and
+     masculine. One young lawyer said: "If suffrage is to come, let it
+     come by man's call, and not by woman's clamor"; and, "When all
+     the women of the land can show the ability to rear a family, and
+     at the same time become eminent in some profession or art, then
+     men will gladly welcome them." Whereupon the women naturally
+     rushed into print to protest against the qualifications required
+     of them, compared with those required of men.
+
+     It is safe to say, that from the middle of January, 1877, until
+     the following October, the most prominent theme of public
+     discussion was this question of suffrage for women. Miners
+     discussed it around their camp-fires, and "freighters" on their
+     long slow journeys over the mountain trails argued _pro_ and
+     _con_, whether they should "let" women have the ballot. Women
+     themselves argued and studied and worked earnestly. One lawyer's
+     wife, who declared that no refined woman would contend for such a
+     right, and that no woman with self-respect would be found
+     electioneering, herself urged every man of her acquaintance to
+     vote against the measure, and even triumphantly reported that she
+     had spoken to seventy-five men who were strangers to her, and
+     secured their promise to vote against the pending amendment.
+     This, however, must not be mistaken for electioneering.
+
+     On Wednesday, August 15, an equal rights mass-meeting was held in
+     Denver, for the purpose of organizing a county central committee,
+     and for an informal discussion of plans for the campaign. Judge
+     H. P. H. Bromwell and H. C. Dillon spoke, with earnest repetition
+     of former pledges of devotion to the cause, and Gov. Evans said:
+
+          Equal suffrage is necessary to equal rights. It is fortunate
+          that we have in Colorado an opportunity of bringing to bear
+          the restraining, purifying and ennobling influence of women
+          upon politics. It is a reform that will require all the
+          benign influences of the country to sustain and carry out,
+          and, as I hope for the perpetuation of our free
+          institutions, I dare not neglect the most promising and
+          potent means of purifying politics, and I regard the
+          influence of women as this means.
+
+     Major Bright of Wyoming, was introduced as the man who framed and
+     brought in the first bill for the enfranchisement of women. Judge
+     W. B. Mills said: "It is an anomalous condition of affairs which
+     made it necessary for a woman to ask a man whether she should
+     vote," and referring to all the reforms and changes of the last
+     half century, predicted that the extension of the franchise to
+     woman would be the next in order.
+
+     The meeting was a full and fervid one, and great confidence of
+     success was felt and expressed. A committee of seventeen was
+     appointed[490] and this committee did its full duty in
+     districting the territory and sending out speakers. Mr. Henry B.
+     Blackwell, Lucy Stone and Miss Anthony arrived almost immediately
+     after this, and henceforth the advocates of suffrage swarmed
+     through the rocky highways and byways of Colorado as eagerly, if
+     not as multitudinously, as its gold seekers. Mrs. Campbell wrote
+     to the _Woman's Journal_:
+
+          We have now been at work two weeks. Some of our meetings are
+          very encouraging, some not so much so. But the meetings are
+          only one feature of the work. We stop along the way and
+          search out all the leading men in each voting precinct, and
+          secure the names of those who will work on election day. We
+          do more talking out of meeting than in. We rode thirty-five
+          miles yesterday, and arrived here after six o'clock in the
+          evening. While Mr. Campbell was taking care of the horse, I
+          filled out bills before taking off my hat and duster; in
+          fifteen minutes they were being distributed, and at eight
+          o'clock I was speaking to a good-sized audience.
+
+     On October 1, a monster meeting was held in the Lawrence street
+     Methodist Church, and was addressed by Lucy Stone, Miss Matilda
+     Hindman, Mrs. Campbell, and Dr. Avery. The most intense interest
+     was manifested, and the excellent speeches heartily applauded.
+
+     The next day (Sunday) the Rev. Dr. Bliss of the Presbyterian
+     Church, preached a sermon in his own pulpit, on "Woman Suffrage
+     and the Model Wife and Mother," in which he alluded to "certain
+     brawling, ranting women, bristling for their rights," and said
+     God had intended woman to be a wife and mother, and the eternal
+     fitness of things forbade her to be anything else. If women could
+     vote, those who were wives now would live in endless bickerings
+     with their husbands over politics, and those who were not wives
+     would not marry."
+
+     These utterences brought out many replies. One was in the column
+     edited by "Mrs. Schlachtfeld," and may perhaps be quoted as a
+     specimen of her editorial work, such being, as we have intimated,
+     her one service to suffrage, and that incognito:
+
+          One of the daily, dismal forecasts of the male Cassandras of
+          our time is, that in the event of women becoming emancipated
+          from the legal thralldom that disables them, they will
+          acquire a sudden distaste for matrimony, the direful
+          consequences of which will be a gradual extermination of
+          homes, and the extinction of the human species. This is an
+          artless and extremely suggestive lament. In the first
+          place--accepting that prophecy as true--why will women not
+          marry? Because, they will then be independent of men;
+          because in a fair field for competition where ability and
+          not sex shall determine employment and remuneration, women
+          will have an equal chance with men for distinction and
+          reward, for triumphs commercial and professional as well as
+          social, and hence, needing men less, either to make them
+          homes, or to gratify indirectly their ambitions, their
+          affections will become atrophied, the springs of domestic
+          life will disappear in the arid sands of an unfeminine
+          publicity, and marriage, with all the wearying cares and
+          burdens and anxieties that it inevitably brings to every
+          earnest woman, will be regarded more and more as a state to
+          be shunned. The few who enter it will be compassionated much
+          as a minister is who undertakes a dangerous foreign mission.
+          Men will stand mateless, and the ruins of the hymeneal
+          altars everywhere crumble mournfully away, and be known to
+          tradition only by their vanishing inscriptions: "To the
+          unknown god." But it is ill jesting over that which tugs at
+          every woman's heartstrings and which impinges upon the very
+          life-centres of society. If women, on being made really free
+          to choose, will not marry, then we must arraign men on the
+          charge of having made the married state so irksome and
+          distasteful to women that they prefer celibacy when they
+          dare enjoy it. Observe, however, the inconsistency of
+          another line of reasoning running parallel with this in the
+          floating literature of the day: "Motherhood," these writers
+          say, "is the natural vocation of women; is, indeed, an
+          instinct so mighty, even if unconscious, that it draws women
+          toward matrimony with a yearning as irresistible as that
+          which pulls the great sea upon the land in blind response to
+          the moon." If this be true, society is safe, and women will
+          still be wives, no matter how much they may exult in
+          political freedom, no matter how alluringly individual
+          careers may open before them, nor how accessible the
+          tempting prizes of human ambition may become.
+
+     Well, the day came,--the _dies irae_ for one side or the other,
+     and it proved to be for the "one." The measure was defeated. Ten
+     thousand votes were for it, twenty thousand against it. Women
+     remained at the polls all day, distributing ballots, and
+     answering objections. They had flowers on all the little tables
+     where the tickets were heaped, on which were printed the three
+     words, "Woman Suffrage Approved," words for many pregnant with
+     hope for a new impetus to civilization, for others with a
+     misfortune only to be compared to that which happened in Greece
+     when Ino boiled the seed corn of a whole kingdom, and thus not
+     only lost the crop of that year, but, by the subtle interplay of
+     the laws by which evolution proceeds, set back humanity for a
+     period not to be reckoned in years. Mrs. H. S. Mendenhall of
+     Georgetown wrote to Dr. Avery on the evening of election day:
+
+          Before this reaches you the telegraph will have given you
+          the result of the day's work all over the State, but I
+          thought I would jot down a line while the experiences of the
+          last ten hours were fresh in my mind. Last evening our
+          committee appointed ladies to represent the interests of
+          woman suffrage at the polls. To my surprise, many evaded the
+          work who were, nevertheless, strongly in favor of the
+          measure. Mrs. Dr. Collins and I were the only ones at the
+          lowest and most important precinct until one o'clock, when
+          we were joined by the wife of the Presbyterian minister. Our
+          course was somewhat as follows: On the approach of a voter,
+          we would ask him, "have you voted?" If he had, we usually
+          troubled him no further; if he had not, we asked, "Can you
+          vote for woman suffrage?" If he approved, we supplied him
+          with his ticket; if he disapproved, we asked him for his
+          objections, and we have listened to some comical ones
+          to-day. One man asked me, though not rudely, "Who is cooking
+          your husband's dinner?" I promptly invited him to dine with
+          us. Another spoke of neglected household duties, and when I
+          mentioned a loaf of bread I had just baked, and should be
+          glad to have him see, he said, "I expect you can bake
+          bread," but he voted against us. The Methodist men were for
+          us; the Presbyterians and Episcopalians very fairly so, and
+          the Roman Catholics were not all against us, some of the
+          prominent members of that church working and voting for
+          woman suffrage. The liquor interest went entirely against
+          us, as far as I know.
+
+          The observations of the day have led me to several general
+          conclusions, to which, of course, exceptions exist: (1)
+          Married men will vote for suffrage if their wives appreciate
+          its importance. (2) Men without family ties, and especially
+          if they have associated with a bad class of women, will vote
+          against it. (3) Boys who have just reached their majority
+          will vote against it more uniformly than any other class of
+          men. We were treated with the utmost respect by all except
+          the last class. Destitute of experience, and big with their
+          own importance, these young sovereigns will speak to a woman
+          twice their years with a flippancy which the most ignorant
+          foreigner of mature age would not use, and I have to-day
+          been tempted to believe that no one is fitted to exercise
+          the American franchise under twenty-five years of age.
+
+          The main objection which I heard repeatedly urged was, women
+          do not want to vote. This seems to be the great
+          stumbling-block to our brethren. Men were continually saying
+          that their wives told them not to vote for woman suffrage.
+          If we are defeated this time I know we can succeed in the
+          next campaign, or just as soon as we can educate enough
+          prominent women up to the point of coming out plainly on the
+          subject. Then all men, or all but the vicious men who always
+          vote against every good thing, will give in right away.
+
+     Lucy Stone, in a letter to the _Woman's Journal_ describes
+     similar scenes enacted that day in Denver; speaks of the order
+     and quiet prevailing at the polls, of the flowers on all the
+     tables, and, in spite of the strangeness of the occasion, of the
+     presence of women as evidently a new and beneficent element
+     there. Rev. Dr. Ellis of the Baptist Church, who, on the Sunday
+     before had preached from the text, "Help those Women," was using
+     his influence to convert those doubtful or opposed. Rev. Mr.
+     Bliss, who had declared in his pulpit that "the only two women
+     the Bible mentioned as having meddled in politics were Jezebel
+     and Herodias," was there also, to warn men not to vote for equal
+     rights for women. At other polls I saw colored men, once slaves,
+     electioneering and voting against the rights of women. When
+     remonstrated with, one said: "We want the women at home cooking
+     our dinners." A shrewd colored woman asked whether they had
+     provided any dinner to cook, and added that most of the colored
+     women there had to earn their dinner as well as cook it.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Hear the conclusion of the whole matter. In the words of the last
+     editorial of the woman's column in the _Rocky Mountain News_:
+
+          Woman's hour has not yet struck! The chimes that were
+          waiting to ring out the tidings of her liberty--the candles
+          furtively stored against an illumination which should typify
+          a new influx of light, the achievement of a victory whose
+          meaning and promise at least seemed to those who both prayed
+          and worked for it, neither trivial nor selfish--all these
+          are relegated to the guardianship of Patience and Hope.
+          Colorado has refused to enfranchise its women. * * * * * *
+          The Germans, the Catholics, and the negroes were said to be
+          against us. Naturally, those who themselves most keenly
+          feel, or most recently have felt, the galling yoke of
+          arbitrary rule, are most disposed to derive a certain
+          enjoyment from the daily contemplation of a noble class
+          still in bondage. * * * * * * But _all_ opposition, in
+          whatever guise, comes back at last to be written under one
+          rubric--the immaturity of woman. We make this dispassionate
+          statement of a fact. We feel neither scorn nor anger, and we
+          trust that we shall excite none. It is a fault which time
+          will cure, but meantime it is the grand factor in our
+          account. Every other argument has been met--every other
+          stronghold of opposition taken. Woman's claim to the ballot
+          has been shown to rest in justice on the very foundation
+          stone of democratic government--has been, from the Christian
+          standpoint, as completely exonerated from the charge of
+          impiety as ever anti-slavery and anti-polygamy were, and the
+          fact which was the slogan of the anti-suffragists still
+          remains: the mass of the women do not want it. We do not
+          quarrel with the fact, but state it to give the real reason
+          for our failures--the real objective point for our future
+          work.
+
+          The complacency with which we are able to state without fear
+          of contradiction that the body of intelligent and thoughtful
+          women _do_ want suffrage must not obscure our perception of
+          the equal truth of what we have just stated above. To accept
+          this verity and turn our energies toward the emancipation of
+          our own sex--toward their emancipation from frivolous aims,
+          petty prejudices, and that attitude toward the other sex
+          which is really the sycophancy born of vanity and weakness;
+          to make them recognize the State as a multiplication of
+          their own families, and patriotism as the broadening of
+          their love of home; to make them see that that mother will
+          be most respected whose son does not, when a downy beard is
+          grown, suddenly tower above her in the supercilious
+          enjoyment of an artificial superiority--a superiority which
+          consists simply, as Figaro says, in his having taken the
+          trouble to be born; to make them see, finally, that in the
+          highest exercise of all the powers with which God has
+          endowed her, woman can no more refuse the duties of
+          citizenship, than she can refuse the duties of wifehood and
+          motherhood, once having accepted those sacred relations.
+          This is our first duty, and this the scope of our work, if
+          we would attain suffrage in 1879, or even in 1900.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[487] _President_, Alida C. Avery, M. D., Denver.
+_Vice-Presidents_, Rev. Mr. Harford, Denver; Mr. J. E. Washburn,
+Big Thompson; Mrs. H. M. Lee, Longmont; Mrs. M. M. Sheetz, Canon
+City; Mrs. L. S. Ruhn, Del Norte; Mr. N. C. Meeker, Greeley; Hon.
+Willard Teller, Central; Mr. D. M. Richards, Denver; Mr. J. B.
+Harrington, Littleton; Mr. A. E. Lee, Boulder; Rev. Wm. Shephard,
+Canon City. _Recording Secretary_, Miss Eunice D. Sewall, Denver.
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. A. L. Washburn, Big Thompson.
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. I. T. Hanna, Denver. _Executive Committee_, Mrs.
+M. F. Shields, Colorado Springs; Mr. A. L. Ellis, Boulder; Mrs. M.
+E. Hale, Denver; Mr. W. A. Wilkes, Colorado Springs; Mr. J. R.
+Hanna, Denver; Mrs. S. C. Wilber, Greeley; Rev. Dr. Crary, Pueblo.
+
+[488] Of the membership of this committee a grateful word is to be
+said: Mrs. Campbell is a woman of agreeable and stately presence,
+and adds to thorough information on all points connected with
+the claims made in this campaign, an unusual facility and
+persuasiveness of language. Mrs. Shields is one of the most lovable
+women to be seen in the suffrage panorama; a tower of strength in
+her own family, where she is at once the comrade and commander of
+her children--the help-meet and friend of her husband. She inspires
+immediate confidence whenever she confronts an audience. Mrs.
+Washburn is also an attractive and large-hearted woman--a
+"Granger," and thus experienced in united, organized action of men
+and women for furthering the interests of both. Mrs. Hanna, a tall,
+graceful blonde, more reserved in speech but entirely intelligent
+in faith and in labor, represented to many men of the convention
+the very qualities they liked in their own wives.
+
+[489] _President_, Dr. Alida C. Avery of Denver; _Vice-Presidents_,
+D. Howe, Mrs. M. B. Hart, J. E. Washburn, Mrs. Emma Moody, Willard
+Teller, J. B. Harrington, A. E. Lee, and N. C. Meeker; _Recording
+Secretary_, Birks Carnforth of Denver; _Corresponding Secretary_,
+Mrs. T. M. Patterson of Denver; _Treasurer_, Mrs. H. C. Lawson of
+Denver; _Executive Committee_, D. M. Richards, Mrs. M. F. Shields,
+Mrs. M. E. Hale, H. McAllister, Mrs. Birks Carnforth, J. A.
+Dresser, A. J. Wilber, B. F. Crary, Miss Annie Figg, H. Logan, J.
+R. Eads, F. M. Ellis, C. Roby, Judge Jones, General Cameron, B. H.
+Eaton, Agapita Vigil, W. B. Felton, S. C. Charles and J. B.
+Campbell.
+
+[490] Consisting of Dr. R. G. Buckingham, chairman, Hon. John
+Evans, Judge G. W. Miller, Benjamin D. Spencer, A. J. Williams,
+Captain Richard Sopris, E. B. Sluth, John Armor, Hon. E. L.
+Campbell, John Walker, J. U. Marlow, Col. W. H. Bright, John G.
+Lilly, John S. McCool, J. W. Nesmyth, Henry O. Wagoner, and Dr.
+Martimore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+WYOMING.
+
+     The Dawn of the New Day, December, 1869--The Goal Reached in
+     England and America--Territory Organized, May, 1869--Legislative
+     Action--Bill for Woman Suffrage--William H. Bright--Gov. Campbell
+     Signs the Bill--Appoints Esther Morris, Justice of the Peace,
+     March, 1870--Women on the Jury, Chief-Justice Howe, Presiding--J.
+     W. Kingman, Associate-Justice, Addresses the Jury--Women Promptly
+     take their Places--Sunday Laws Enforced--Comments of the
+     Press--Judge Howe's Letter--Laramie _Sentinel_--J. H.
+     Heyford--Women Voting, 1870--Grandma Swain the First to Cast her
+     Ballot--Effort to Repeal the Law, 1871--Gov. Campbell's Veto--Mr.
+     Corlett--Rapid Growth of Public Opinion in Favor of Woman
+     Suffrage.
+
+
+After recording such a long succession of disappointments and
+humiliations for women in all the States in their worthy endeavors
+for higher education, for profitable employment in the trades and
+professions and for equal social, civil and political rights, it is
+with renewed self-respect and a stronger hope of better days to
+come that we turn to the magnificent territory of Wyoming, where
+the foundations of the first true republic were laid deep and
+strong in equal rights to all, and where for the first time in the
+history of the race woman has been recognized as a sovereign in her
+own right--an independent, responsible being--endowed with the
+capacity for self-government. This great event in the history of
+human progress transpired in 1869.
+
+Neither the point nor the period for this experiment could have
+been more fitly chosen. Midway across this vast western continent,
+on the highest plane of land, rising from three to eight thousand
+feet above the level of the sea, where gigantic mountain-peaks
+shooting still higher seem to touch the clouds, while at their feet
+flow the great rivers that traverse the State in all directions,
+emptying themselves after weary wanderings into the Pacific ocean
+at last; such was the grand point where woman was first crowned
+with the rights of citizenship. And the period was equally marked.
+To reach the goal of self-government the women of England and
+America seemed to be vieing with each other in the race, now one
+holding the advance position, now the other. And in many respects
+their struggles and failures were similar. When seeking the
+advantages of collegiate education, the women of England were
+compelled to go to France, Austria and Switzerland for the
+opportunities they could not enjoy in their own country. The women
+of our Eastern States followed their example, or went to Western
+institutions for such privileges, granted by Oberlin and Antioch in
+Ohio, Ann Arbor in Michigan, Washington University in Missouri, and
+refused in all the colleges of the East. For long years, alike they
+endured ridicule and bitter persecution to secure a foothold in
+their universities at home.
+
+Our battles in Parliament and in the Congress of the United States
+were simultaneous. While nine senators,[491] staunch and true,
+voted in favor of woman suffrage in 1866, and women were rolling up
+their petitions for a constitutional amendment in '68 and '69, with
+Samuel C. Pomeroy in the Senate and George W. Julian in the House,
+the women of England, keeping step and time, found their champions
+in the House of Commons in John Stuart Mill and Jacob Bright in
+1867-69, and no sooner were their mammoth petitions presented in
+parliament than ours were rolled into the halls of congress. At
+last we reached the goal, the women of England in 1869 and those of
+Wyoming in 1870. But what the former gained in time the latter far
+surpassed in privilege. While to the English woman only a limited
+suffrage was accorded, in the vast territory of Wyoming, larger
+than all Great Britain, all the rights of citizenship were fully
+and freely conferred by one act of the legislature--the right to
+vote at all elections on all questions and to hold any office in
+the gift of the people.
+
+The successive steps by which this was accomplished are given us by
+Hon. J. W. Kingman, associate-justice in the territory for several
+years:
+
+     It is now sixteen years since the act was passed giving women the
+     right to vote at all elections in this territory, including all
+     the rights of an elector, with the right to hold office. The
+     language of the statute is broad, and beyond the reach of
+     evasion. It is as follows:
+
+          That every woman of the age of twenty-one years, residing in
+          the territory, may, at every election to be holden under the
+          laws thereof, cast her vote; and her rights to the elective
+          franchise, and to hold office, shall be the same, under the
+          election laws of the territory, as those of the electors.
+
+     There was no half-way work about it, no quibbling, no grudgingly
+     parting with political power, no fear of consequences, but a
+     manly acknowledgment of equal rights and equal privileges, among
+     all the citizens of the new territory. Nor was this the only act
+     of that first legislature on the subject of equal rights. They
+     passed the following:
+
+          AN ACT _to protect married women in their separate property,
+          and the enjoyment of their labor._
+
+          SECTION 1. That all the property, both real and personal,
+          belonging to any married woman as her sole and separate
+          property, or which any woman hereafter married, owns at the
+          time of her marriage, or which any married woman during
+          coverture acquires in good faith from any person other than
+          her husband, by descent or otherwise, together with all the
+          rents, issues, increase and profits thereof, shall,
+          notwithstanding her marriage, be and remain during
+          coverture, her sole and separate property, under her sole
+          control, and be held, owned, possessed and enjoyed by her,
+          the same as though she were sole and unmarried, and shall
+          not be subject to the disposal, control or interference of
+          her husband, and shall be exempt from execution or
+          attachment for the debts of her husband.
+
+          SEC. 2. Any married woman may bargain, sell, and convey, her
+          personal property, and enter into any contract in reference
+          to the same, as if she were _sole_.
+
+          SEC. 3. Any woman may, while married, sue and be sued in all
+          matters having relation to her property, person or
+          reputation, in the same manner as if she were _sole_.
+
+          SEC. 4. Any married woman may, while married, make a will
+          the same as though she were _sole_.
+
+          SEC. 5. Any married woman may carry on any trade or
+          business, and perform any labor or service on her sole and
+          separate account, and the earnings of any married woman from
+          her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole
+          and separate property, and may be used and invested by her
+          in her own name; and she may sue and be sued, as if _sole_,
+          in regard to her trade, business, labor, services, and
+          earnings. * * *
+
+          SEC. 9. The separate deed of the husband shall convey no
+          interest in the wife's lands.
+
+     Under the statute for distributions, the wife is treated exactly
+     as the husband is; each having the same right in the estate of
+     the other. The provisions are so unusual and peculiar, that I
+     venture to copy some of them:
+
+          * * * * If such intestate leave a husband or wife, _and_
+          children, him or her surviving, one-half of such estate
+          shall descend to such surviving husband or wife, and the
+          residue thereof * * * * to the children; if such intestate
+          leave a husband or wife and _no_ child, * * * * then the
+          property shall descend as follows, to wit: three-fourths
+          thereof to such remaining husband or wife, and one-fourth
+          thereof to the father and mother of the intestate, or the
+          survivor of them; provided that if the estate of such
+          intestate, real and personal, does not exceed in volume the
+          sum of ten thousand dollars, then the whole thereof shall
+          descend to and rest in the surviving husband or wife as his
+          or her absolute estate. Dower and the tenancy by the curtesy
+          are abolished.
+
+     The school law also provides:
+
+          SEC. 9. In the employment of teachers no discrimination
+          shall be made, in the question of pay, on account of sex,
+          when the persons are equally qualified.
+
+     Such are some of the radical enactments of the first legislature
+     of Wyoming territory in reference to woman's rights; and to a
+     person who has grown up under the common law and the usages of
+     English-speaking people, they undoubtedly appear extravagant if
+     not revolutionary, and well calculated to disturb or overthrow
+     the very foundations of social order. Experience has not,
+     however, justified any such apprehensions. The people of Wyoming
+     have prospered under these laws, and are growing to like them
+     better and better, and adapt themselves more and more to their
+     provisions. The object of this sketch is to trace the progress
+     and development of this new legislation, and gather up some of
+     its consequences as they have been observed in our social and
+     political relations.
+
+     The territory of Wyoming was first organized in May, 1869. The
+     Union Pacific railroad was completed on the 9th of the month, and
+     the transcontinental route opened to the public. There were but
+     few people in the territory at that time, except such as had been
+     brought hither in connection with the building of that road, and
+     while some of them were good people, well-educated, and came to
+     stay, many were reckless, wicked and wandering. The first
+     election was held in September, 1869, for the election of a
+     delegate in congress, and members of the Council and House of
+     Representatives for the first territorial legislature. There was
+     a good deal of party feeling developed, and election day
+     witnessed a sharp and vigorous struggle. The candidates and their
+     friends spent money freely, and every liquor shop was thrown open
+     to all who would drink. I was about to say that any one could
+     imagine the consequences; but in fact I do not believe that any
+     one could picture to himself the mad follies, and frightful
+     scenes of that drunken election. Peaceful people did not dare to
+     walk the streets, in some of the towns, during the latter part of
+     the day and evening. At South Pass City, some drunken fellows
+     with large knives and loaded revolvers swaggered around the
+     polls, and swore that no negro should vote. One man remarked
+     quietly that he thought the negroes had as good a right to vote
+     as any of them had. He was immediately knocked down, jumped on,
+     kicked and pounded without mercy, and would have been killed, had
+     not his friends rushed into the brutal crowd and dragged him out,
+     bloody and insensible. It was a long time before the poor fellow
+     recovered from his injuries. There were quite a number of colored
+     men who wanted to vote, but did not dare approach the polls until
+     the United States Marshal placed himself at their head and with
+     revolver in hand escorted them through the crowd, saying he would
+     shoot the first man that interfered with them. There was much
+     quarreling and tumult, but the negroes voted. This was only a
+     sample of the day's doings, and characteristic of the election
+     all over the territory. The result was that every Republican was
+     defeated, and every Democratic candidate elected; and the whisky
+     shops had shown themselves to be the ruling power in Wyoming.
+     From such an inspiration one could hardly expect a revelation of
+     much value! Yet there were some fair men among those elected.
+
+     The legislature met October 12, 1869. Wm. H. Bright was elected
+     president of the Council. As he was the author of the woman
+     suffrage bill, and did more than all others to secure its
+     passage, some account of him may be of interest. He was a man of
+     much energy and of good natural endowments, but entirely without
+     school education. He said frankly, "I have never been to school a
+     day in my life, and where I learned to read and write I do not
+     know." His character was not above reproach, but he had an
+     excellent, well-informed wife, and he was a kind, indulgent
+     husband. In fact, he venerated his wife, and submitted to her
+     judgment and influence more willingly than one could have
+     supposed; and she was in favor of woman suffrage.[492] There were
+     a few other men in that legislature, whose wives exercised a
+     similar influence; but Mr. Bright found it up-hill work to get a
+     majority for his bill, and it dragged along until near the close
+     of the session. The character of the arguments he used, and the
+     means he employed to win success are perhaps worthy of notice, as
+     showing the men he had to deal with. I ought to say distinctly,
+     that Mr. Bright was himself fully and firmly convinced of the
+     justice and policy of his bill, and gave his whole energy and
+     influence to secure its passage; he secured some members by
+     arguing to support their pet schemes in return, and some he won
+     over by even less creditable means. He got some votes by
+     admitting that the governor would veto the bill (and it was
+     generally understood that he would), insisting at the same time,
+     that it would give the Democrats an advantage in future elections
+     by showing that they were in favor of liberal measures while the
+     Republican governor and the Republican party were opposed to
+     them. The favorite argument, however, and by far the most
+     effective, was this: it would prove a great advertisement, would
+     make a great deal of talk, and attract attention to the
+     legislature, and the territory, more effectually than anything
+     else. The bill was finally passed and sent to the governor. I
+     must add, however, that many letters were written from different
+     parts of the territory, and particularly by the women, to members
+     of the legislature, urging its passage and approving its object.
+
+     On receipt of the bill, the governor was in great doubt what
+     course to take. He was inclined to veto it, and had so expressed
+     himself; but he did not like to take the responsibility of
+     offending the women in the territory, or of placing the
+     Republican party in open hostility to a measure which he saw
+     might become of political force and importance. I remember well
+     an interview that Chief-Justice Howe and myself had with him at
+     that time, in which we discussed the policy of the bill, and both
+     of us urged him to sign it with all the arguments we could
+     command. After a protracted consultation we left him still
+     doubtful what he would do.[493] But in the end he signed it, and
+     drew upon himself the bitter curses of those Democrats who had
+     voted for the bill with the expectation that he would veto it.
+     From this time onward, the measure became rather a Republican
+     than a Democratic principle, and found more of its friends in the
+     former party, and more of its enemies in the latter.
+
+     Soon after the passage of the bill, a vacancy occurred in the
+     office of justice of the peace, at South Pass City, the county
+     seat of Sweetwater county, and the home of Mr. Bright and of Mrs.
+     Esther Morris. At the request of the county attorney--who favored
+     woman suffrage--the commissioners, two of whom also approved of
+     it, appointed Mrs. Morris to fill the vacancy. The legislature
+     had vested the appointment of officers, in case of a vacancy, in
+     the county commissioners, but the organic act of congress,
+     creating the territory, provided that the governor "shall
+     commission all officers who shall be appointed under the laws of
+     said territory." Governor Campbell being absent from the
+     territory at the time, the secretary, acting as governor, sent
+     Mrs. Morris her commission. It is due to Secretary Lee to say
+     that he was an earnest advocate of woman's enfranchisement, and
+     labored for the passage of the bill, and gladly embraced the
+     opportunity to confirm a woman in office. The important fact is,
+     however, that Mrs. Morris' neighbors first suggested the
+     appointment that secured her the office, and manfully sustained
+     her during her whole term. She tried between thirty and forty
+     cases, and decided them so acceptably that not one of them was
+     appealed to a higher court; and I know of no one who has held the
+     office of justice of the peace in this territory, who has left a
+     more acceptable record, in all respects, than has Mrs. Esther
+     Morris. Some other appointments of women to office were made, but
+     I do not find that any of them entered upon its duties.
+
+     The first term of the District Court, under the statutes passed
+     by the first legislature, was to be held at Laramie City, on the
+     first Monday of March, 1870. When the jurors were drawn, a large
+     number of women were selected, for both grand and petit jurors.
+     As this was not done by the friends of woman suffrage, there was
+     evidently an intention of making the whole subject odious and
+     ridiculous, and giving it a death-blow at the outset. A great
+     deal of feeling was excited among the people, and some effort
+     made to prejudice the women against acting as jurors, and even
+     threats, ridicule and abuse, in some cases, were indulged in.
+     Their husbands were more pestered and badgered than the women,
+     and some of them were so much inflamed that they declared they
+     would never live with their wives again if they served on the
+     jury. The fact that women were drawn as jurors was telegraphed
+     all over the country, and the newspapers came loaded with hostile
+     and uncomplimentary criticisms. At this stage of the case Col.
+     Downey, the prosecuting attorney for the county, wrote to Judge
+     Howe for advice and direction as to the eligibility of the women
+     as jurors, and what course should be taken in the premises. At
+     first Judge Howe was much inclined to order the women discharged,
+     and new juries drawn; and it certainly required no small amount
+     of moral courage to face the storm of ridicule and abuse that was
+     blowing from all quarters. We had a long consultation, and came
+     to the conclusion that since the law had clearly given all the
+     rights of electors to the women of the territory, they must be
+     protected in the exercise of these rights if they chose to assume
+     them; that under no circumstances could the judges permit popular
+     clamor to deprive the women of their legal rights in the very
+     presence of the courts themselves. The result was that Judge Howe
+     wrote the county attorney the following letter:
+
+                                        CHEYENNE, March 3, 1870.
+
+          S. W. DOWNEY--_My Dear Sir_: I have your favor of yesterday,
+          and have carefully considered the question of the
+          eligibility of women who are "citizens," to serve on juries.
+          Mr. Justice Kingman has also considered the question, and we
+          concur in the opinion that such women are eligible. My
+          reason for this opinion will be given at length, if occasion
+          requires. I will thank you to make it known to those ladies
+          who have been summoned on the juries, that they will be
+          received, protected, and treated with all the respect and
+          courtesy due, and ever paid, by true American gentlemen to
+          true American ladies, and that the Court, in all the power
+          of government, will secure to them all that deference,
+          security from insult, or anything which ought to offend the
+          most refined woman, which is accorded in any walks of life
+          in which the good and true women of our country have
+          heretofore been accustomed to move. Thus, whatever may have
+          been, or may now be thought of the policy of admitting women
+          to the right of suffrage and to hold office, they will have
+          a fair opportunity, at least in my Court, to demonstrate
+          their ability in this new field, and prove the policy or
+          impolicy of occupying it. Of their right to try it I have no
+          doubt. I hope they will succeed, and the Court will
+          certainly aid them in all lawful and proper ways. Very
+          respectfully,
+
+                                   J. H. HOWE, _Chief-Justice_.
+
+     When the time came to hold the court, Judge Howe, whose duty it
+     was to preside, requested me to go with him to Laramie City, and
+     sit with him during the term. I gladly availed myself of the
+     opportunity. As soon as we arrived there, Judge Howe was waited
+     on by a number of gentlemen who endeavored to induce him to order
+     the discharge of the female jurors without calling them into
+     court. Some spoke of the impolicy of the proceeding, and said the
+     women all objected to it and wished to be excused; while some
+     were cross, and demanded the discharge of their wives, saying
+     that it was an intentional insult and they would not submit to
+     it. But Judge Howe told them all firmly, that the women must come
+     into court, and if, after the whole question was fairly explained
+     to them, they chose to decline, they should be excused. At the
+     opening of the court next morning, the house was crowded, and the
+     female jurors were all there. After the usual preliminaries, an
+     attorney arose and moved that all the women summoned as jurors be
+     excused, saying he made the motion at the request of the women
+     themselves; and that he was assured they did not wish to serve.
+     Judge Howe then requested me to express my opinion and make some
+     remarks to the women on the duties devolving on them. I said:
+
+          It was a real pleasure to me to see ladies in the
+          court-room, with the right to take a responsible part in the
+          proceedings, as grand and petit jurors; that no one knew so
+          well as they did, the evils our community suffered from
+          lawless and wicked people; and no one better understood the
+          difficulties the court labored under in its efforts to
+          administer justice and punish crime; that the time had come
+          when the good women of the territory could give us
+          substantial aid, and we looked to them especially, as the
+          power which should make the court efficient in the discharge
+          of its duties; that the new law had conferred on them
+          important rights, and corresponding duties necessarily
+          devolved upon them; that I hoped and believed they would not
+          shrink when so many influences were calling on them for
+          noble and worthy action; that if they failed us now, the
+          cause of equal rights would suffer at their hands, not only
+          in our territory, but in every land where its advocates were
+          struggling for its recognition; that if they would remain,
+          their presence would secure a degree of decorum in the
+          court-room and add a dignity to the proceedings, which the
+          judges had been unable to command; that we required the
+          assistance of good women all over the territory, and I
+          begged them to help us.
+
+     Judge Howe then spoke as follows:
+
+          It is an innovation and a great novelty to see, as we do
+          to-day, ladies summoned to serve as jurors. The extension of
+          political rights and franchise to women is a subject that is
+          agitating the whole country. I have never taken an active
+          part in these discussions, but I have long seen that woman
+          is a victim to the vices, crimes and immoralities of man,
+          with no power to protect and defend herself from these
+          evils. I have long felt that such powers of protection
+          should be conferred upon woman, and it has fallen to our lot
+          here to act as the pioneers in the movement and to test the
+          question. The eyes of the whole world are to-day fixed upon
+          this jury of Albany county. There is not the slightest
+          impropriety in any lady occupying this position, and I wish
+          to assure you that the fullest protection of the court shall
+          be accorded to you. It would be a most shameful scandal that
+          in our temple of justice and in our courts of law, anything
+          should be permitted which the most sensitive lady might not
+          hear with propriety and witness. And here let me add that it
+          will be a sorry day for any man who shall so far forget the
+          courtesy due and paid by every American gentleman to every
+          American lady as to ever by word or act endeavor to deter
+          you from the exercise of those rights with which the law has
+          invested you. I conclude with the remark that this is a
+          question for you to decide for yourselves. No man has any
+          right to interfere. It seems to me to be eminently proper
+          for women to sit upon grand juries, which will give them the
+          best possible opportunities to aid in suppressing the dens
+          of infamy which curse the country. I shall be glad of your
+          assistance in the accomplishment of this object. I do not
+          make these remarks from distrust of any of the gentlemen. On
+          the contrary, I am exceedingly pleased and gratified with
+          the indication of intelligence, love of law and good order,
+          and the gentlemanly deportment which I see manifested here.
+
+     The ladies were then told that those who could not conveniently
+     serve, and those who insisted on being excused, might rise and
+     they should be discharged. Only one rose and she was excused. But
+     a victory had been won of no small moment. Seeing the earnestness
+     of the judges and the dignified character they had given to the
+     affair, the women were encouraged and pleased, and the enemies of
+     equal rights, who had planned, as they thought, a stunning blow
+     to further progress, were silenced and defeated. The current set
+     rapidly in the other direction and applause, as usual, followed
+     success. The business of the court proceeded with marked
+     improvement. The court-room, always crowded, was quiet and
+     decorous in the extreme. The bar in particular was always on its
+     good behavior, and wrangling, abuse and buncome speeches were
+     not heard. When men moved about they walked quietly, on tip-toe,
+     so as to make no noise, and forbore to whisper or make any
+     demonstrations in or around the court-room. The women when called
+     took their chairs in the jury-box with the men, as they do their
+     seats in church,[494] and no annoyance or reluctance was visible
+     from the bench. They gave close and intelligent attention to the
+     details of every case, and the men who sat with them evidently
+     acted with more conscientious care than usual. The verdicts were
+     generally satisfactory, except to convicted criminals. They did
+     not convict every one they tried, but "no guilty man escaped," if
+     there was sufficient evidence to hold him. The lawyers soon found
+     out that the usual tricks and subterfuges in criminal cases would
+     not procure acquittal, and they began to challenge off all the
+     women called. The court checkmated this move by directing the
+     sheriff to summon other women in their places, instead of men,
+     and then came motions for continuances. The result was a great
+     success and was so acknowledged by all disinterested persons. On
+     the grand jury were six women and nine men, and they became such
+     a terror to evil-doers that a stampede began among them and very
+     many left the town forever. Certainly there was never more
+     fearless or efficient work performed by a grand jury.
+
+     The legislature copied most of the statutes which it enacted from
+     the laws of Nebraska, and among others the following clauses in
+     the crimes act, to wit.:
+
+          If any person shall keep open any tippling or gaming-house
+          on the Sabbath day or night, * * * he shall be fined not
+          exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county
+          jail not exceeding six months.
+
+          Any person who shall hereafter knowingly disturb the peace
+          and good order of society by labor on the first day of the
+          week, commonly called Sunday (works of necessity and charity
+          excepted), shall be fined, on conviction thereof, in any sum
+          not exceeding fifty dollars.
+
+     No attention whatever had been paid to these statutes, and Sunday
+     was generally the great drinking day of the whole week; the
+     saloons sold more whiskey and made more money that day than any
+     other. The women on that grand jury determined to put a stop to
+     it and enforce these laws. They therefore indicted every liquor
+     saloon in town. This made a great outcry, not only among the
+     liquor-sellers but among their customers also. They were all
+     arrested, brought into court and gave bail; but Judge Howe told
+     them as this was a new law recently passed, and as it was quite
+     probable that most of them were ignorant of its provisions, he
+     would continue the cases with this express understanding, that if
+     they would strictly obey the law in future these cases should be
+     dismissed; but if any of them violated it, these cases would be
+     tried and the full penalty inflicted. They all agreed to this,
+     and the "Sunday Law," as it was called, was carefully observed
+     afterwards in Laramie City; and so great has been the change in
+     that town in the habits of the people and the quiet appearance of
+     the streets on Sunday, as compared with other towns in the
+     territory, that it has been nick-named the "Puritan town" of
+     Wyoming, and, I may add, rejoices in its singularity.
+
+     And how was this most successful experiment in equal rights
+     received and treated by the press and the people out of the
+     territory? The New York illustrated papers made themselves funny
+     with caricatures of female juries, and cheap scribblers invented
+     all sorts of scandals and misrepresentations about them. The
+     newspapers were overflowing with abuse and adverse criticism, and
+     only here and there was a manly voice heard in apology or
+     defense. I copy these extracts as a sample of the rest.
+
+     "LADY JURORS."--Under this head the New Orleans _Times_, the
+     ablest and largest paper in the South, said:
+
+          Confusion is becoming worse confounded by the hurried march
+          of events. Mad theorizings take the form of every-day
+          realities, and in the confusion of rights and the confusion
+          of dress, all distinctions of sex are threatened with swift
+          obliteration. When Anna Dickinson holds forth as the teacher
+          of strange doctrines in which the masculinity of woman is
+          preposterously asserted as a true warrant for equality with
+          man in all his political and industrial relations; when
+          Susan B. Anthony flashes defiance from lips and eyes which
+          refuse the blandishment and soft dalliance that in the past
+          have been so potent with "the sex"; when, in fine, the women
+          of Wyoming are called from their domestic firesides to serve
+          as jurors in a court of justice, a question of the day, and
+          one, too, of the strangest kind, is forced on our attention.
+          From a careful review of all the surroundings, we think the
+          Wyoming experiment will lead to beneficial results. By
+          proving that lady jurors are altogether impracticable--that
+          they cannot sit as the peers of men without setting at
+          defiance all the laws of delicacy and propriety--the
+          conclusion may be reached that it will be far better to let
+          nature alone in regulating the relations of the sexes.
+
+     The Philadelphia _Press_ had the following:
+
+          WOMEN AS JURORS.--Now one of the adjuncts of female
+          citizenship is about to be tested in Wyoming. Eleven women
+          have been drawn as jurors to serve at the March term of the
+          Albany County Court. It is stated that immense excitement
+          has been created thereby, but the nature of the aforesaid
+          excitement does not transpire. Will women revolutionize
+          justice? What is female justice, or what is it likely to be?
+          Would twelve women return the same verdict as twelve men,
+          supposing that each twelve had heard the same case? Is it
+          possible for a jury of women, carrying with them all their
+          sensitiveness, sympathies, predilections, jealousies,
+          prejudices, hatreds, to reach an impartial verdict? Would
+          not every criminal be a monster, provided not a female? Can
+          the sex, ordinarily so quick to pronounce pre-judgments,
+          divest itself of them sufficiently to enter the jury-box
+          with unbiased minds? Perhaps it were best to trust the
+          answer to events. Women may learn to be jurymen, but in so
+          doing they have a great deal to learn.
+
+     So persistent were the attacks and so malignant were the
+     perversions of truth that Judge Howe, at the request of the
+     editor, wrote the following letter for publication anonymously in
+     the Chicago _Legal News_, every statement in which I can confirm
+     from my own observation. The Judge, after writing the letter,
+     consented to its publication over his own signature:
+
+                                   CHEYENNE, Wyoming, April 4, 1870.
+
+          _Mrs. Myra Bradwell, Chicago, Ill.:_
+
+          DEAR MADAM: I am in receipt of your favor of March 26, in
+          which you request me to "give you a truthful statement, over
+          my own signature, for publication in your paper, of the
+          history of, and my observations in regard to, women as grand
+          and petit jurors in Wyoming." I will comply with your
+          request, with this qualification, that it be not published
+          over my own signature, as I do not covet newspaper
+          publicity, and have already, without any agency or fault of
+          my own, been subjected to an amount of it which I never
+          anticipated nor conceived of, and which has been far from
+          agreeable to me.
+
+          I had no agency in the enactment of the law in Wyoming
+          conferring legal equality upon women. I found it upon the
+          statute-book of that territory, and in accordance with its
+          provisions several women were legally drawn by the proper
+          officers on the grand and petit juries of Albany county, and
+          were duly summoned by the sheriff without any agency of
+          mine. On being apprised of these facts, I conceived it to be
+          my plain duty to fairly enforce this law, as I would any
+          other; and more than this, I resolved at once that, as it
+          had fallen to my lot to have the experiment tried under my
+          administration, it should have a fair trial, and I therefore
+          assured these women that they could serve or not, as they
+          chose; that if they chose to serve, the Court would secure
+          to them the most respectful consideration and deference, and
+          protect them from insult in word or gesture, and from
+          everything which might offend a modest and virtuous woman in
+          any of the walks of life in which the good and true women of
+          our country have been accustomed to move.
+
+          While I had never been an advocate for the law, I felt that
+          thousands of good men and women had been, and that they had
+          a right to see it fairly administered; and I was resolved
+          that it should not be sneered down if I had to employ the
+          whole power of the court to prevent it. I felt that even
+          those who were opposed to the policy of admitting women to
+          the right of suffrage and to hold office would condemn me if
+          I did not do this. It was also sufficient for me that my own
+          judgment approved this course.
+
+          With such assurances these women chose to serve and were
+          duly impanelled as jurors. They were educated, cultivated
+          eastern ladies, who are an honor to their sex. They have,
+          with true womanly devotion, left their homes of comfort in
+          the States to share the fortunes of their husbands and
+          brothers in the far West and to aid them in founding a new
+          State beyond the Missouri.
+
+          And now as to the results. With all my prejudices against
+          the policy, I am under conscientious obligations to say that
+          these women acquitted themselves with such dignity, decorum,
+          propriety of conduct and intelligence as to win the
+          admiration of every fair-minded citizen of Wyoming. They
+          were careful, pains-taking, intelligent and conscientious.
+          They were firm and resolute for the right as established by
+          the law and the testimony. Their verdicts were right, and,
+          after three or four criminal trials, the lawyers engaged in
+          defending persons accused of crime began to avail themselves
+          of the right of peremptory challenge to get rid of the
+          female jurors, who were too much in favor of enforcing the
+          laws and punishing crime to suit the interests of their
+          clients. After the grand jury had been in session two days,
+          the dance-house keepers, gamblers and _demi-monde_ fled out
+          of the city in dismay, to escape the indictment of women
+          grand jurors! In short I have never, in twenty-five years of
+          constant experience in the courts of the country, seen more
+          faithful, intelligent and resolutely honest grand and petit
+          juries than these.
+
+          A contemptibly lying and silly dispatch went over the wires
+          to the effect that during the trial of A. W. Howie for
+          homicide (in which the jury consisted of six women and six
+          men) the men and women were kept locked up together all
+          night for four nights. Only two nights intervened during the
+          trial, and on these nights, by my order, the jury was taken
+          to the parlor of the large, commodious and well-furnished
+          hotel of the Union Pacific Railroad, in charge of the
+          sheriff and a woman bailiff, where they were supplied with
+          meals and every comfort, and at 10 o'clock the women were
+          conducted by the bailiff to a large and suitable apartment
+          where beds were prepared for them, and the men to another
+          adjoining, where beds were prepared for them, and where they
+          remained in charge of sworn officers until morning, when
+          they were again all conducted to the parlor and from thence
+          in a body to breakfast, and thence to the jury-room, which
+          was a clean and comfortable one, carpeted and heated, and
+          furnished with all proper conveniences.
+
+          The cause was submitted to the jury for their decision about
+          11 o'clock in the forenoon, and they agreed upon their
+          verdict, which was received by the court between 11 and 12
+          o'clock at night of the same day, when they were discharged.
+
+          Everybody commended the conduct of this jury and was
+          satisfied with the verdict, except the individual who was
+          convicted of murder in the second degree. The presence of
+          these ladies in court secured the most perfect decorum and
+          propriety of conduct, and the gentlemen of the bar and
+          others vied with each other in their courteous and
+          respectful demeanor toward the ladies and the court. Nothing
+          occurred to offend the most refined lady (if she was a
+          sensible lady) and the universal judgment of every
+          intelligent and fair-minded man present was and is, that the
+          experiment was a success.
+
+          I dislike the notoriety this matter has given me, but I do
+          not shrink from it. I never sought it nor expected it, and
+          have only performed what I regarded as a plain duty, neither
+          seeking nor desiring any praise, and quite indifferent to
+          any censure or criticism which my conduct may have invoked.
+
+          Thanking you for your friendly and complimentary
+          expressions, I am very respectfully yours,
+
+                                             J. H. HOWE.
+
+     As showing how the matter was received at home, in Laramie City,
+     I copy the following from the _Laramie Sentinel_ of April 7,
+     1870:
+
+          If we should neglect to give some idea of the results of our
+          jury experiment, the world would say we were afraid or
+          ashamed of it. For our own part we are inclined to admit
+          that it succeeded beyond all our expectations. We naturally
+          wished it to succeed; still we scarcely wished it to
+          demonstrate a theory that women were better qualified for
+          these duties than men. Hence, when Chief-Justice Howe said,
+          "In eighteen years' experience I have never had as fair,
+          candid, impartial and able a jury in court, as in this term
+          in Albany county," and when Associate-Justice Kingman said,
+          "For twenty-five years it has been an anxious study with me,
+          both on the bench and at the bar, how we are to prevent jury
+          trials from degenerating into a perfect burlesque, and it
+          has remained for Albany county to point out the remedy and
+          demonstrate the cure for this threatened evil," we confess
+          to having been _more_ than satisfied with the result. It may
+          be safely stated as the unanimous verdict of bench, bar and
+          public opinion, that the jurors of Albany county did well
+          and faithfully discharge their duties, with honor and credit
+          to themselves and to the satisfaction of the public.
+
+     Among the few exceptions to the general abuse of the press, the
+     following from the Cincinnati _Gazette_ of April 14, 1870, is
+     well worth preserving:
+
+          Now, in the name of the inalienable right of every person to
+          the pursuit of happiness, we have to ask: Are not these
+          women competent to decide for themselves whether their
+          households, their children or their husbands are of more
+          importance than their public duties? And having the best
+          means for deciding this question, have they not the right to
+          decide? Who has the right to pick out the females of a jury
+          and challenge them with the question whether they are not
+          neglecting their households or their husbands? Who
+          challenges a male juror and demands whether he left his
+          family well provided, and his wife well cherished? or if,
+          through his detention in court, the cupboard will be bare,
+          the wife neglected, or the children with holes in their
+          trousers? This is simply the crack of the familiar whip of
+          man's absolute domination over women. It means nothing short
+          of their complete subjection. Not to use rights is to
+          abandon them. There are inconveniences and cares in all
+          possessions; but who argues that therefore they should be
+          abandoned? It would much promote the convenience of man if
+          he would let his political rights and duties be performed by
+          a few willing persons; but he would soon find that he had no
+          rights left.
+
+          And what is this family impediment which is thus set up as a
+          female disability? The family obligation is just as strong
+          in man as in woman. It is much stronger, for the manners
+          which compel woman to be the passive waiter on the male
+          providence leave to him the real responsibility. Yet many
+          men forego marriage and homes and children, and nobody
+          imagines that it disqualifies them for public duties. Nobody
+          challenges them as jurors, and demands if they have
+          discharged the family obligation. Rather it is held wise in
+          them to give themselves wholly to their pursuits, without
+          the distraction of conjugal joys, until they have achieved
+          success. Why should the family requirement, which man throws
+          off so easily, be made a yoke for woman? There is something
+          more fundamental than nursing babies or coddling the
+          appetites of husbands. The sentiment, "Give me liberty, or
+          give me death," is the American instinct. Breathes there a
+          woman with soul so dead that she would bring forth slaves?
+          Babes had better not be born if they are not to have their
+          rights. It is the duty of women to first provide the state
+          of freedom for their progeny. Then they may consent to
+          become wives and mothers. Liberty and the exercise of all
+          political rights are so bound together, that to neglect one
+          is to abandon all. Trial by a jury of one's peers is the
+          essential principle of the administration of justice. To be
+          a peer on a jury involves the whole principle of equal
+          rights. To abandon this to man, is to accept subjection to
+          man.
+
+          For women to neglect jury duty is to give men the exclusive
+          privilege to _judge women_, and to abandon the right to be
+          tried by a jury of their peers. How can men justly judge a
+          woman? They cannot have that knowledge of her peculiar
+          physical and mental organization which is requisite to the
+          judgment of motives and temptations. They cannot comprehend
+          the variable moods and emotions, nor the power of her
+          impulses. It is monstrous injustice to judge women by the
+          same rules as men. And men lack that intuitive charity and
+          tender sympathy which women always feel for an exposed,
+          erring sister. Furthermore, many of the crimes of men are
+          against women. How can men appreciate their injury? That
+          which is her ruin, they call, as Anna Dickinson says, sowing
+          their wild oats. How can justice be expected from those who
+          instinctively combine to preserve their privilege to abuse
+          women? For the administration of justice to women who are
+          accused, and to men who have wronged women, judges and
+          jurors of their own sex are indispensable.
+
+     As long as Judge Howe remained on the bench he had women on his
+     juries.[495] His first term at Cheyenne, after the law was
+     passed, several women were among the jurors, and they did fully
+     as well, and exerted quite as good an influence there, as the
+     women had recently at Laramie City.
+
+     The first election under the woman suffrage law was held in
+     September 1870, for the election of a delegate in congress, and
+     county officers. There was an exciting canvass, and both parties
+     applied to the whisky shops, as before, supposing they would
+     wield the political power of the territory, and that not enough
+     women would vote to influence the result. The morning of election
+     came, but did not bring the usual scenes around the polls. A few
+     women came out early to vote, and the crowd kept entirely out of
+     sight. There was plenty of drinking and noise at the saloons, but
+     the men would not remain, after voting, around the polls. It
+     seemed more like Sunday than election day. Even the negro men and
+     women voted without objection or disturbance. Quite a number of
+     women voted during the day, at least in all the larger towns, but
+     apprehension of a repetition of the scenes of the former
+     election, and doubt as to the proper course for them to pursue,
+     kept very many from voting. The result was a great disappointment
+     all around. The election had passed off with unexpected quiet,
+     and order had everywhere prevailed. The whisky shops had been
+     beaten, and their favorite candidate for congress, although he
+     had spent several thousand dollars to secure an election, was
+     left out in the cold. I cannot deny myself the pleasure of
+     quoting at length the following letter of the Rev. D. J. Pierce,
+     at that time a resident of Laramie City, and a very wealthy man,
+     to show the powerful influence that was exerted on the mind of a
+     New England clergyman by that first exhibition of women at the
+     polls, and as evidence of the singular and beneficial change in
+     the character of the election, and the conduct of the men:
+
+          _Editor Laramie Sentinel:_ I am pleased to notice your
+          action in printing testimonials of different classes to the
+          influence of woman suffrage in Wyoming. With the apathy of
+          conservatism and prejudice of party spirit arrayed against
+          the idea in America, it is the duty of the residents in
+          Wyoming to note the simple facts of their noted experiment,
+          and lay them before the world for its consideration. I came
+          from the vicinity of Boston, arriving in Laramie two weeks
+          before the first regular election of 1870. I had never
+          sympathized with the extreme theories of the woman's rights
+          platform, to the advocates of which I had often listened in
+          Boston. But I had never been able to learn just why a woman
+          is naturally excluded from the privilege of franchise, and I
+          sometimes argued in favor in lyceum debates. Still the
+          question of her degradation stared me in the face, and I
+          came to Wyoming unsettled in the matter, determined to be an
+          impartial judge. I was early at the polls, but too late to
+          witness the polling of the first female vote--by "Grandma"
+          Swain, a much-esteemed Quaker lady of 75 summers, who
+          determined by her words and influence to rally her sex to
+          defend the cause of morality and justice.
+
+          I saw the rough mountaineers maintaining the most respectful
+          decorum whenever the women approached the polls, and heard
+          the timely warning of one of the leading canvassers as he
+          silenced an incipient quarrel with uplifted finger, saying,
+          "Hist! Be quiet! A woman is coming!"
+
+          And I was compelled to allow that in this new country,
+          supposed at that time to be infested by hordes of
+          cut-throats, gamblers and abandoned characters, I had
+          witnessed a more quiet election than it had been my fortune
+          to see in the quiet towns of Vermont. I saw ladies attended
+          by their husbands, brothers, or sweethearts, ride to the
+          places of voting, and alight in the midst of a silent crowd,
+          and pass through an open space to the polls, depositing
+          their votes with no more exposure to insult or injury than
+          they would expect on visiting a grocery store or
+          meat-market. Indeed, they were much safer here, every man of
+          their party was pledged to shield them, while every member
+          of the other party feared the influence of any signs of
+          disrespect.
+
+          And the next day I sent my impressions to an eastern paper,
+          declaring myself convinced that woman's presence at the
+          polls would elevate the tone of public sentiment there as it
+          does in churches, the social hall, or any other place, while
+          her own robes are unspotted by the transient association
+          with evil characters which she is daily obliged to meet in
+          the street or dry-goods store. My observation at subsequent
+          annual elections has only confirmed my opinion in this
+          respect.
+
+          Without reference to party issues, I noticed that a majority
+          of women voted for men of the most temperate habits, thus
+          insuring success to the party of law and order.
+
+          After three years' absence from my old home, I could not
+          fail to notice in the elections of 1877 and 1878 that both
+          parties had been led to nominate men of better standing in
+          moral character, in order to secure the female vote.
+
+          I confess that I believe in the idea of aristocracy--_i. e._
+          "the rule of the best ones"--not by blood or position, but
+          the aristocracy of character, to which our laws point when
+          they declare that prison characters shall not vote.
+
+          The ballot of any community cannot rise above its character.
+          A town full of abandoned women would be cursed by the
+          application of woman suffrage.
+
+          We need to intrust our State interests to the class most
+          noted for true character. As a class, women are more moral
+          and upright in their character than men. Hence America would
+          profit by their voting.
+
+                         D. J. PIERCE, _Pastor Baptist Church_.
+
+     The next general election occurred in September, 1871, for
+     members of the second territorial legislature. The usual tactics
+     were employed and considerable sums of money were given to the
+     drinking saloons to secure their influence and furnish free
+     drinks and cigars for the voters. But no one thought of trying to
+     buy up the women, nor was it ever supposed that a woman's vote
+     could be secured with whiskey and cigars! Election day passed off
+     with entire quiet and good order around the polling-places; the
+     noise and bustle were confined to the bar-rooms. The streets
+     presented no change from an ordinary business day, except that a
+     large number of wagons and carriages were driven about with the
+     watch-words and banners of different parties, or different
+     candidates, conspicuously posted on them. A much larger number of
+     women voted at this election than at the former one, but quite a
+     number failed or refused to take part in it. The result was again
+     a surprise, and to many a disappointment. Some candidates were
+     unexpectedly elected, and some who had spent large amounts of
+     money and worked hard around the drinking saloons, and were ready
+     to bet largely on being elected, were defeated. The Republicans
+     had shown an unexpected strength and had returned several members
+     to each House, although it was quite certain that some of the
+     Democrats were indebted to the women for their success. It was
+     admitted, however, that their votes had generally gone against
+     the favorites of the whiskey shops and that the power of the
+     saloons had been largely neutralized and in some cases entirely
+     overthrown. Some remarkable instances of woman's independence and
+     moral character occurred at this election which I cannot help
+     recording, but must not mention names.
+
+     As above stated in reference to the grand jury in Laramie City,
+     the "Sunday law" had there been put into vigorous operation. The
+     evening before the election, and after both the political parties
+     had nominated their candidates for the legislature, the
+     saloon-keepers got together very secretly and nominated a ticket
+     of their own number, pledged to repeal the "Sunday law." This
+     move was not discovered until they began to vote that ticket at
+     the polls next day. Then it was found that the saloons were
+     pushing it with all their influence and giving free drinks to all
+     who would vote it. This aroused the women and they came out in
+     force; many who had declined to vote before not only voted, but
+     went round and induced others to do the same. At noon the
+     rum-sellers' ticket was far ahead and it looked as though it
+     would be elected by a large majority; at the close of the polls
+     at night it was overwhelmingly defeated. In one case the wife of
+     a saloon-keeper who was a candidate on that ticket, told her
+     husband that she would defeat him if she could. He was beaten,
+     and he was man enough to say he was glad of it--glad he had a
+     wife so much better than he was, and who had so much more
+     influence in town than he had.
+
+     Another candidate on that ticket was a saloon-keeper who had
+     grown rich in the traffic, but whose private character was much
+     above the morals of his business. He had recently married a very
+     nice young lady in the East, and she was much excited when she
+     learned how matters were progressing. She told her husband she
+     was ashamed of him and would vote against him, and would enlist
+     all the members of her church against him if she could; and she
+     went to work in earnest and was a most efficient cause of the
+     defeat of the ticket. Her husband also was proud of her, and said
+     it served him right and he was glad of it. I have never heard
+     that the domestic harmony of either of these families was in
+     anyway disturbed by these events, but I know that they have
+     prospered and are still successful and happy.
+
+     Still the legislature was strongly Democratic. There were four
+     Republicans and five Democrats in the Council, and four
+     Republicans and nine Democrats in the House. When they met in
+     November, 1871, many Democrats were found to be bitterly opposed
+     to woman suffrage and determined to repeal the act; they said it
+     was evident they were losing ground and the Republicans gaining
+     by reason of the women voting, and that it must be stopped. The
+     Republicans were all inclined to sustain the law. Several
+     caucuses were held by the Democrats to determine on their course
+     of action and overcome the opposition in their own ranks. These
+     caucuses were held in one of the largest drinking saloons in
+     Cheyenne and all the power of whiskey was brought to bear on the
+     members to secure a repeal of the woman suffrage act. It required
+     considerable time and a large amount of whiskey, but at last the
+     opposition was stifled and the Democratic party was brought up
+     solid for repeal. A bill was introduced in the House for the
+     purpose, but was warmly resisted by the Republicans and a long
+     discussion followed. It was finally carried by a strict party
+     vote and sent to the Council, where it met with the same
+     opposition and the same result followed. It then went to the
+     governor for his approval. There was no doubt in his mind as to
+     the course he ought to take. He had seen the effects produced by
+     the act of enfranchisement, and unhesitatingly approved all of
+     them. He promptly returned the bill with his veto; and the
+     accompanying message is such an able paper and so fully sets
+     forth the reasons in favor of the original act, and the good
+     results of its operation, that at least a few extracts well
+     deserve a prominent place in this record:
+
+          I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which
+          it originated, a bill for "An Act to repeal Chapter XXXI. of
+          the Laws of the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory
+          of Wyoming."
+
+          I regret that a sense of duty compels me to dissent from
+          your honorable body with regard to any contemplated measure
+          of public policy. It would certainly be more in accordance
+          with the desire I have to secure and preserve the most
+          harmonious relations among all the branches of our
+          territorial government, to approve the bill. A regard,
+          however, for the rights of those whose interests are to be
+          affected by it, and for what I believe to be the best
+          interests of the territory, will not allow me to do so. The
+          consideration, besides, that the passage of this bill would
+          be, on the part of those instrumental in bringing it about,
+          a declaration that the principles upon which the
+          enfranchisement of women is urged are false and untenable,
+          and that our experience demonstrates this, influences me not
+          a little in my present action.
+
+          While I fully appreciate the great danger of too much
+          attention to abstract speculation or metaphysical reasoning
+          in political affairs, I cannot but perceive that there are
+          times and circumstances when it is not only proper but
+          absolutely necessary to appeal to principles somewhat
+          general and abstract, when they alone can point out the way
+          and they alone can guide our conduct. So it was when, two
+          years ago, the act which this bill is designed to repeal was
+          presented for my approval. There was at that time no
+          experience to which I might refer and test by its results
+          the conclusions to which the application of certain
+          universally admitted principles led me. In the absence of
+          all such experience I was driven to the application of
+          principles which through the whole course of our national
+          history have been powerfully and beneficially operative in
+          making our institutions more and more popular, in framing
+          laws more and more just and in securing amendments to our
+          federal constitution. If the ballot be an expression of the
+          wish, or a declaration of the will, of the tax-payer as to
+          the manner in which taxes should be levied and collected and
+          revenues disbursed, why should those who hold in their own
+          right a large proportion of the wealth of the country be
+          excluded from a voice in making the laws which regulate this
+          whole subject? If, again, the ballot be for the physically
+          weak a guarantee of protection against the aggression and
+          violence of the strong, upon what ground can the delicate
+          bodily organism of woman be forbidden this shelter for her
+          protection? If, once more, each ballot be the declaration of
+          the individual will of the person casting it, as to the
+          relative merit of opposed measures or men, surely the
+          ability to judge and determine--the power of choice--does
+          not depend upon sex, nor does womanhood deprive of
+          personality. If these principles are too general to be free
+          from criticism, and if this reasoning be too abstract to be
+          always practically applicable, neither the principles nor
+          the reasoning can fail of approbation when contrasted with
+          the gloomy misgivings for the future and the dark
+          forebodings of evils, imaginary, vague and undefined, by
+          dwelling upon which the opponents of this reform endeavor to
+          stay its progress. Aggressive reasoning and positive
+          principles like these must be met with something more than
+          mere doubtful conjectures, must be resisted by something
+          more than popular prejudices, and overthrown--if overthrown
+          at all--by something stronger than the force of inert
+          conservatism; yet what is there but conjecture, prejudice
+          and conservatism opposing this reform? * * * * * * * *
+
+          The law granting to women the right to vote and to hold
+          office in this territory was a natural and logical sequence
+          to the other laws upon our statute-book. Our laws give to
+          the widow the guardianship of her minor children. Will you
+          take from her all voice in relation to the public schools
+          established for the education of those children? Our laws
+          permit women to acquire and possess property. Will you
+          forbid them having any voice in relation to the taxation of
+          that property? This bill says too little or too much. Too
+          little, if you legislate upon the assumption that woman is
+          an inferior who should be kept in a subordinate position,
+          for in that case the other laws affecting her should be
+          repealed or amended; and too much, if she is, as no one will
+          deny, the equal of man in heart and mind, for in that case
+          we cannot afford to dispense with her counsel and assistance
+          in the government of the territory.
+
+          I need only instance section 9 of the school act, which
+          declares that, "In the employment of teachers no
+          discrimination shall be made in the question of pay on
+          account of sex when the persons are equally qualified." What
+          is more natural than that the men who thought that women
+          were competent to instruct the future voters and legislators
+          of our land, should take the one step in advance of the
+          public sentiment of yesterday and give to her equal wages
+          for equal work? And when this step had been taken, what more
+          natural than that they should again move forward--this time
+          perhaps a little in advance of the public sentiment of
+          to-day--and give to those whom they consider competent to
+          instruct voters, the right to vote.
+
+          To the statement, so often made, that the law which this
+          bill is intended to repeal was passed thoughtlessly and
+          without proper consideration, I oppose the fact to which I
+          have adverted, that the law perfectly conforms to all the
+          other laws in relation to women upon our statute-book.
+          Studied in connection with the other laws it would seem to
+          have grown naturally from them. It harmonizes entirely with
+          them, and forms a fitting apex to the grand pyramid which is
+          being built up as broadly and as surely throughout all the
+          States of the Union as it has been built up and capped in
+          Wyoming.
+
+          The world does not stand still. The dawn of Christianity was
+          the dawn of light for woman. For eighteen centuries she has
+          been gradually but slowly rising from the condition of
+          drudge and servant for man, to become his helpmeet,
+          counselor and companion. As she has been advanced in the
+          social scale, our laws have kept pace with that advancement
+          and conferred upon her rights and privileges with
+          accompanying duties and responsibilities. She has not abused
+          those privileges, and has been found equal to the duties and
+          responsibilities. And the day is not far distant when the
+          refining and elevating influence of women will be as clearly
+          manifested in the political as it now is in the social
+          world.
+
+          Urged by all these considerations of right, and justice, and
+          expediency, and the strong conviction of duty, I approved
+          that act of which this bill contemplates the repeal, and it
+          became a law. To warrant my reconsidering that action, there
+          ought to be in the experience of the last two years
+          something to show that the reasons upon which it was founded
+          were unsound, or that the law itself was wrong or at least
+          unwise and inexpedient. My view of the teachings of this
+          experience is the very reverse of this. Women have voted,
+          and have the officers chosen been less faithful and zealous
+          and the legislature less able and upright? They have sat as
+          jurors, and have the laws been less faithfully and justly
+          administered, and criminals less promptly and adequately
+          punished? Indeed the lessons of this two years' experience
+          fully confirm all that has been claimed by the most ardent
+          advocate of this innovation.
+
+          In this territory women have manifested for its highest
+          interests a devotion strong, ardent, and intelligent. They
+          have brought to public affairs a clearness of understanding
+          and a soundness of judgment, which, considering their
+          exclusion hitherto from practical participation in political
+          agitations and movements, are worthy of the greatest
+          admiration and above all praise. The conscience of women is
+          in all things more discriminating and sensitive than that of
+          men; their sense of justice, not compromising or
+          time-serving, but pure and exacting; their love of order,
+          not spasmodic or sentimental merely, but springing from the
+          heart; all these,--the better conscience, the exalted sense
+          of justice, and the abiding love of order, have been made by
+          the enfranchisement of women to contribute to the good
+          government and well-being of our territory. To the plain
+          teachings of these two years' experience I cannot close my
+          eyes. I cannot forget the benefits that have already
+          resulted to our territory from woman suffrage, nor can I
+          permit myself even to seem to do so by approving this bill.
+
+          There is another, and in my judgment, a serious objection to
+          this bill, which I submit for the consideration and action
+          of your honorable body. It involves a reference to that most
+          difficult of questions, the limitations of legislative
+          power. High and transcendent as that power undoubtedly and
+          wisely is, there are limits which not even it can pass. Two
+          years ago the legislature of this territory conferred upon
+          certain of its citizens valuable rights and franchises. Can
+          a future legislature, by the passage of a law not liable to
+          the objection, that it violates the obligation of contracts,
+          take away those rights? It is not claimed, so far as I have
+          been informed, that the persons upon whom these franchises
+          were conferred have forfeited or failed to take advantage of
+          them. But even if such were the case it would be rather a
+          matter for judicial determination than for legislative
+          action. What that determination would be is clearly
+          indicated in the opinion of Associate-justice Story in the
+          celebrated case of Trustees of Dartmouth College _vs._
+          Woodward: "The right to be a freeman of a corporation is a
+          valuable temporal right. * * It is founded on the same basis
+          as the right of voting in public elections; it is as sacred
+          a right; and whatever might have been the prevalence of
+          former doubts, since the time of Lord Holt, such a right has
+          always been deemed a valuable franchise or privilege."
+
+          But even if we concede that these rights once acquired may
+          be taken away, the passage of this bill would be, in my
+          judgment, a most dangerous precedent. Once admit the right
+          of a representative body to disfranchise its own
+          constituents, and who can establish the limits to which that
+          right may not be carried? If this legislature takes from
+          women their franchises or privileges, what is to prevent a
+          future legislature from depriving certain men, or classes of
+          men, that, from any consideration they desire to
+          disfranchise, of the same rights? We should be careful how
+          we inaugurate precedents which may "return to plague the
+          inventors," and be used as a pretext for taking away our
+          liberties.
+
+          It will be remembered that in my message to the legislature
+          at the commencement of the present session I said: "There is
+          upon our statue book an act granting to the women of Wyoming
+          territory the right of suffrage and to hold office which has
+          now been in force two years. Under its liberal provisions
+          women have voted in the territory, served on juries, and
+          held office. It is simple justice to say that the women,
+          entering for the first time in the history of the country
+          upon these new and untried duties, have conducted themselves
+          with as much tact, sound judgment, and good sense as the
+          men. While it would be claiming more than the facts justify,
+          to say that this experiment, in a limited field, has
+          demonstrated beyond a doubt the perfect fitness of woman, at
+          all times and under all circumstances, for taking a part in
+          the government, it furnishes at least reasonable presumptive
+          evidence in her favor, and she has a right to claim that, so
+          long as none but good results are made manifest, the law
+          should remain unrepealed."
+
+          These were no hastily formed conclusions, but the result of
+          deliberation and conviction, and my judgment to-day approves
+          the language I then used. For the first time in the history
+          of our country we have a government to which the noble words
+          of our _Magna Charta_ of freedom may be applied,--not as a
+          mere figure of speech, but as expressing a simple grand
+          truth,--for it is a government which "derives all its just
+          powers from the consent of the governed." We should pause
+          long and weigh carefully the probable results of our action
+          before consenting to change this government. A regard for
+          the genius of our institutions, for the fundamental
+          principles of American autonomy, and for the immutable
+          principles of right and justice, will not permit me to
+          sanction this change.
+
+          These reasons for declining to give my consent to the bill,
+          I submit with all deference for the consideration and
+          judgment of your honorable body.
+
+                                             J. A. CAMPBELL.
+
+     The Republicans in the House made an ineffectual effort to
+     sustain the veto, but the party whip and the power of the saloons
+     were too strong for them, and the bill was passed over the veto
+     by a vote of 9 to 4. It met a different and better fate, however,
+     in the Council, where it was sustained by a vote of 4 to 5, a
+     strict party vote in each case. Mr. Corlett, a rising young
+     lawyer, at that time in the Council and since then a delegate in
+     congress, made an able defense of the suffrage act and resisted
+     its repeal, sustaining the veto with much skill and final
+     success. And there was much need, for the Democrats had made
+     overtures to one of the Republican members of the Council (they
+     lacked one vote) and had obtained a promise from him to vote
+     against the veto; but Mr. Corlett, finding out the fraud in
+     season, reclaimed the fallen Republican and saved the law. It is
+     due to Mr. Corlett to say that he has always been an able and
+     consistent supporter of woman's rights and universal suffrage. He
+     is now the leading lawyer of the territory.
+
+     Since that time the suffrage act has grown rapidly in popular
+     favor, and has never been made a party question. The leading men
+     of both parties, seeing its beneficial action, have given it an
+     unqualified approval; and most, if not all, of its former
+     enemies have become its friends and advocates. Most of the new
+     settlers in the territory, though coming here with impressions or
+     prejudices against it, soon learn to respect its operation, and
+     admire its beneficial results. There is nowhere in the territory
+     a voice raised against it, and it would be impossible to get up a
+     party for its repeal.
+
+     The women uniformly vote at all our elections, and are exerting
+     every year a more potent influence over the character of the
+     candidates selected by each party for office, by quietly
+     defeating those most objectionable in point of morals. It is true
+     they are not now summoned to serve on juries, nor are they
+     elected to office; and there are some obvious reasons for this.
+     In the first place, they never push themselves forward for such
+     positions, as the men invariably do; and in the second place, the
+     judges who have been sent to the territory, since the first ones,
+     have not insisted on respecting the women's rights as jurors, and
+     in some cases have objected to their being summoned as such. But
+     these matters will find a remedy by and by. It used to be an
+     important question in the nominating caucuses, "Will this
+     candidate put up money enough to buy the saloons, and catch the
+     loafers and drinkers that they control?" Now the question is,
+     "Will the women vote for this man, if we nominate him?" There
+     have been some very remarkable instances where men, knowing
+     themselves to be justly obnoxious to the women, have forced a
+     nomination in caucus, relying on their money and the drinking
+     shops and party strength to secure an election, who have been
+     taught most valuable lessons by signal defeat at the polls. It
+     would be invidious to call names or describe individual cases,
+     and could answer no necessary purpose. But I would ask particular
+     attention to the following articles, taken from recent
+     newspapers, as full and satisfactory evidence of the truth of
+     these statements, and of the wisdom of granting universal
+     suffrage and equal rights to the citizens of Wyoming territory.
+
+     The Laramie City _Daily Sentinel_ of December 16, 1878, J. H.
+     Hayford, editor, has the following leading editorial:
+
+          For about eight years now, the women of Wyoming territory
+          have enjoyed the same political rights and privileges as the
+          men, and all the novelties of this new departure, all the
+          shock it carried to the sensibilities of the old
+          conservatives, have long since passed away. For a long
+          time--even for years past--we have frequently received
+          letters asking for information as to its practical results
+          here, and still more frequently have received copies of
+          eastern papers with marked articles which purported to be
+          written by persons who resided here, or had visited the
+          territory and witnessed the awful results or the total
+          failure of the experiment. We have usually paid no attention
+          to these false and anonymous scribblers, who took this
+          method to display their shallow wit at the sacrifice of
+          truth and decency. But recently we have received more than
+          the usual number of such missives, and more letters, and
+          from a more respectable source than before, and we take this
+          occasion and method to answer them all at once, and once for
+          always, and do it through the columns of the _Sentinel_, one
+          of the oldest and most widely circulated papers in the
+          territory, because it will be readily conceded that we would
+          not publish here at home, false statements and
+          misrepresentations upon a matter with which all our readers
+          are familiar, and which, if false, could be easily refuted.
+
+          We assert here, then, that woman suffrage in Wyoming has
+          been in every particular a complete success.
+
+          That the women of Wyoming value as highly the political
+          franchise, and as generally exercise it, as do the men of
+          the territory.
+
+          That being more helpless, more dependent and more in need of
+          the protection of good laws and good government than are
+          men, they naturally use the power put into their hands to
+          secure these results.
+
+          That they are controlled more by principle and less by party
+          ties than men, and generally cast their votes for the best
+          candidates and the best measures.
+
+          That while women in this territory frequently vote contrary
+          to their husbands, we have never heard of a case where the
+          family ties or domestic relations were disturbed thereby,
+          and we believe that among the pioneers of the West there is
+          more honor and manhood than to abuse a wife because she does
+          not think with her husband about politics or religion.
+
+          We have never seen any of the evil results growing out of
+          woman suffrage which we have heard predicted for it by its
+          opponents. On the contrary, its results have been only good,
+          and that continually. Our elections have come to be
+          conducted as quietly, orderly and civilly as our religious
+          meetings, or any of our social gatherings, and the best men
+          are generally selected to make and enforce our laws. We have
+          long ago generally come to the conclusion that woman's
+          influence is as wholesome and as much needed in the
+          government of the State as in the government of the family.
+          We do not know of a respectable woman in the territory who
+          objects to or neglects to use her political power, and we do
+          not know of a decent man in the territory who wishes it
+          abolished, or who is not even glad to have woman's help in
+          our government.
+
+          Our laws were never respected or enforced, and crime was
+          never punished, or life or property protected until we had
+          woman's help in the jury box and at the polls, and we
+          unhesitatingly say here at home that we do not believe a man
+          can be found who wishes to see her deprived of voice and
+          power, unless it is the one "who fears not God nor regards
+          man," who wants to pursue a life of vice or crime, and
+          consequently fears woman's influence and power in the
+          government. We assert further that the anonymous scribblers
+          who write slanders on our women and our territory to the
+          eastern press, are either fools, who know nothing about what
+          they write, or else belong to that class of whom the poet
+          says:
+
+               "No rogue e'er felt the halter draw
+                With good opinion of the law."
+
+          We took some pains to track up and find out the author of
+          one of the articles against woman suffrage to which our
+          attention was called, and found him working on the streets
+          of Cheyenne, with a ball and chain to his leg. We think he
+          was probably an average specimen of these writers. And,
+          finally, we challenge residents in Wyoming who disagree with
+          the foregoing sentiments, and who endorse the vile slanders
+          to which we refer, to come out over their own signature and
+          in their own local papers and take issue with us, and our
+          columns shall be freely opened to them.
+
+     There are some obvious inferences to be drawn and some rather
+     remarkable lessons to be learned, from the foregoing narrative.
+     In the first place, the responsibilities of self government, with
+     the necessity of making their own laws, was delegated to a
+     people, strangers to each other, with very little experience or
+     knowledge in such matters, and composed of various nationalities,
+     with a very large percentage of the criminal classes. It is a
+     matter of surprise that they should have so soon settled
+     themselves into an orderly community, where all the rights of
+     person and property are well protected, and as carefully guarded
+     and fully respected as in any of our old eastern commonwealths.
+     It is a still greater surprise that a legislature selected by
+     such a constituency, under such circumstances as characterized
+     our first election, and composed of such men as were in fact
+     elected, should have been able to enact a body of laws
+     containing so much that was good and practicable, and so little
+     that was injudicious, unwise or vicious.
+
+     In the next place, it is evident that there was no public
+     sentiment demanding the passage of the woman suffrage law, and
+     but few advocates of it at that time in the territory; that its
+     adoption, under such circumstances, was not calculated to give it
+     a fair chance to exert a favorable influence in the community, or
+     even maintain itself among the permanent customs and laws of the
+     territory. The prospect was, that it would either remain a dead
+     letter, or be swept away under the ridicule and abuse of the
+     press, and the open attacks of its enemies. But it has withstood
+     all these adverse forces, and from small beginnings has grown to
+     be a permanent power in our politics, a vital institution,
+     satisfactory to all our people. The far-reaching benefits it will
+     yet accomplish can be easily foreseen. To make either individuals
+     or classes respected and induce them to respect themselves, you
+     must give them power and influence, a fair field and full
+     enjoyment of the results of their labors. We have made a very
+     creditable beginning in this direction, so far as woman is
+     concerned, and we have no doubts about the outcome of it. Wyoming
+     treats all her citizens alike, and offers full protection, equal
+     rewards, and equal power, to both men and women.
+
+     Again it is very evident that while our women take no active part
+     in the primary nomination of candidates for office, they exercise
+     a most potent influence by the independent manner in which they
+     vote, and the signal defeat they inflict on many unworthy
+     candidates. Their successful opposition to the power of the
+     bar-rooms is a notable and praiseworthy instance of the wise use
+     of newly-acquired rights. The saloon-keepers used to sell
+     themselves to that party, or that man, who would pay the most,
+     and while robbing the candidates, degraded the elections and
+     debauched the electors. So long as it was understood that in
+     order to secure an election it was necessary to secure the
+     rum-shops, good men were left out of the field, and unscrupulous
+     ones were sought after as candidates. The women have already
+     greatly modified this state of affairs and are likely to change
+     it entirely in the end.
+
+     Another wonderful consequence which has attended the presence of
+     women at the polls, is the uniform quiet and good order on
+     election day. All the police that could be mustered, could not
+     insure half the decorum that their simple presence has everywhere
+     secured. No man, not even a drunken one, is willing to act like a
+     rowdy when he knows the women will see him. Nor is he at all
+     anxious to expose himself in their presence when he knows he has
+     drank too much. Such men quit the polls, and slink out of the
+     streets, to hide themselves from the eyes of the women in the
+     obscurity of the drinking shops.
+
+     Another fact of great importance is the uniform testimony as to
+     woman's success as a juror. It is true that there has been but a
+     limited opportunity, thus far, to establish this as a fact beyond
+     all doubt. But a good beginning has been made, a favorable
+     impression produced, and no bad results have accompanied or
+     followed the experiment. If our jury system of trying cases is to
+     be preserved, as a tolerable method of settling disputes and
+     administering justice in our courts, every one will admit that a
+     great improvement in the character of the jurors must be speedily
+     found. At present, a jury trial is generally regarded as a farce,
+     or something worse. The proof of this is seen in the fact that in
+     most of our courts the judges are required to try all cases
+     without a jury, where the parties to the action consent, and that
+     in a great portion of the cases the parties do consent.
+
+     Another notable observation is the rapid growth of opinion in
+     favor of woman suffrage among our people, after its first
+     adoption; but more particularly the change effected in the minds
+     of the new settlers, who come to the territory with old
+     prejudices and fixed notions against it. Neither early education,
+     nor personal bias, nor party rancor, has been able to withstand
+     the overwhelming evidence of its good effects, and of its
+     elevating and purifying influence in our political and social
+     organization.
+
+     I must add, in conclusion, that the seventh legislature of our
+     territory has just closed its session of sixty days. It was
+     composed of more members than the earlier legislatures were,
+     there being thirteen in the Council and twenty-six in the House.
+     Many important questions came up for consideration, and a wide
+     field of discussion was traveled over, but not one word was at
+     any time spoken by any member against woman suffrage.
+
+Hon. M. C. Brown, district-attorney for the territory, confirms the
+testimony given by the judges and Governor Campbell, in a letter to
+the National Suffrage Convention held in Washington in 1884, which
+will be found in the pamphlet report of that year.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[491] Messrs. Wade, Anthony, Gratz Brown, Buckalew, Cowan, Foster,
+Nesmith, Patterson, Riddle. See Vol. II., Chapter XVII.
+
+[492] Ex-Governor Hoyt in his public speeches frequently gives this
+bird's-eye view of Bright's domestic and political discussions:
+"Betty, it's a shame that I should be a member of the legislature
+and make laws for such a woman as you. You are a great deal better
+than I am; you know a great deal more, and you would make a better
+member of the Assembly than I, and you know it. I have been
+thinking about it and have made up my mind that I will go to work
+and do everything in my power to give you the ballot. Then you may
+work out the rest in your own way." So he went over and talked with
+other members of the legislature. They smiled. But he got one of
+the lawyers to help him draw up a short bill, which he introduced.
+It was considered and discussed. People smiled generally. There was
+not much expectation that anything of that sort would be done; but
+this was a shrewd fellow, who managed the party card in such a way
+as to get, as he believed, enough votes to carry the measure before
+it was brought to the test. I will show you a little behind the
+curtain, so far as I can draw it. Thus he said to the Democrats:
+"We have a Republican governor and a Democratic Assembly. Now,
+then, if we can carry this bill through the Assembly and the
+governor vetoes it, we shall have made a point, you know; we shall
+have shown our liberality and lost nothing. But keep still; don't
+say anything about it." They promised. He then went to the
+Republicans and told them that the Democrats were going to support
+his measure, and that if _they_ did not want to lose capital they
+had better vote for it too. He didn't think there would be enough
+of them to carry it, but the vote would be on record and thus
+defeat the game of the other party. And they likewise agreed to
+vote for it. So when the bill came to a vote it went right through!
+The members looked at, each other in astonishment, for they hadn't
+intended to do it, _quite_. Then they laughed and said it was a
+good joke, but they had "got the governor in a fix." So the bill
+went, in the course of time, to John A. Campbell, who was then
+governor--the first governor of the territory of Wyoming--and he
+promptly signed it! His heart was right. He saw that it was
+long-deferred justice, and so signed it as gladly as Abraham
+Lincoln wrote _his_ name to the Proclamation of Emancipation of the
+slaves. Of course the women were astounded! If a whole troop of
+angels had come down with flaming swords for their vindication,
+they would not have been much more astonished than they were when
+that bill became a law and the women of Wyoming were thus clothed
+with the habiliments of citizenship.
+
+[493] No sooner had these gentlemen left than Mrs. Post and Mrs.
+Arnold had a long interview with the governor, urging him to sign
+the bill on the highest moral grounds; not only to protect the
+personal rights of the women of the territory but to compel the men
+to observe the decencies of life and to elevate the social and
+political status of the people.--[E. C. S.
+
+[494] In the summer of 1871 Mrs. Stanton and myself, _en route_ for
+California, visited Wyoming and met the women who were most active
+in the exercise of their rights of citizenship. At Cheyenne we were
+the guests of Mrs. M. B. Arnold and Mrs. Amalia B. Post. Mrs.
+Arnold had a large cattle-ranch and Mrs. Post an equally large
+sheep-ranch a few miles out of the city, which they superintended,
+and from which each received an independent income. They had not
+only served as jurors, but acted as foremen. At Laramie we were the
+guests of Mr. J. H. Hayford, editor of the _Laramie Sentinel_, and
+met Grandma Swain, who was the first woman to cast her ballot in
+that city. We also met Judges Howe and Kingman and Governor
+Campbell, and heard from them of the wonderful changes wrought in
+the court-room and at the polls by the presence of enfranchised
+women. We spoke in the very court-room in which women had sat as
+jurors and felt an added inspiration from that fact.--[S. B. A.
+
+[495] The following is the list of the first grand jury at Laramie
+City, composed of nine men and six women, as impanneled and sworn:
+C. H. Bussard, foreman; Mrs. Jane E. Hilton, T. W. DeKay, Jeremiah
+Boies, Mrs. H. C. Swain. Joseph DeMars, M. N. Merrill, Mrs. M. A.
+Pierce, Mrs. C. Blake, Richard Turpin, G. W. Cardwell, Mrs. S. L.
+Larimer, N. C. Worth, Mrs. Jane Mackle, W. H. Mitchell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+CALIFORNIA.
+
+     Liberal Provisions in the Constitution--Elizabeth T.
+     Schenck--Eliza W. Farnham--Mrs. Mills' Seminary, now a State
+     Institution--Jeannie Carr, State Superintendent of Schools--First
+     Awakening--_The Revolution_--Anna Dickinson--Mrs. Gordon
+     Addresses the Legislature, 1868--Mrs. Pitts Stevens Edits _The
+     Pioneer_--First Suffrage Society on the Pacific Coast,
+     1869--State Convention, January 26, 1870, Mrs. Wallis,
+     President--State Association Formed, Mrs. Haskell of Petaluma,
+     President--Mrs. Gordon Nominated for Senator--In 1871, Mrs.
+     Stanton and Miss Anthony Visit California--Hon. A. A. Sargent
+     Speaks in Favor of Suffrage for Woman--Ellen Clarke Sargent
+     Active in the Movement--Legislation Making Women Eligible to Hold
+     School Offices, 1873--July 10, 1873, State Society Incorporated,
+     Sarah Wallis, President--Mrs. Clara Foltz--A Bill Giving Women
+     the Right to Practice Law--The Bill Passed and Signed by the
+     Governor--Contest Over Admitting Women into the Law Department of
+     the University--Supreme Court Decision Favorable--Hon. A. A.
+     Sargent on the Constitution and Laws--Journalists and
+     Printers--Silk Culture--Legislative Appropriation--Mrs. Knox
+     Goodrich Celebrates July 4, 1876--Imposing Demonstration--Ladies
+     in the Procession.
+
+
+The central figure in the seal of California is the presiding
+goddess of that State, her spear in one hand, the other resting on
+her shield, the cabalistic word "Eureka" over her head and a bear
+crouching quietly at her feet. She seems to be calmly contemplating
+the magnificent harbor within the Golden Gate. The shadows on the
+distant mountains, the richly-laden vessels and the floating clouds
+indicate the peaceful sunset hour, and the goddess, in harmony with
+the scene is seated at her ease, as if after many weary wanderings
+in search of an earthly Paradise she had found at last the land of
+perennial summers, fruits and flowers--a land of wonders, with its
+mammoth trees, majestic mountain-ranges and that miracle of
+grandeur and beauty, the Yosemite Valley. Verily it seems as if
+bounteous Nature in finishing the Pacific Slope did her best to
+inspire the citizens of that young civilization with love and
+reverence for the beautiful and grand.
+
+California, admitted to the Union in 1850, owing to the erratic
+character of her early population, has passed through more
+vicissitudes than any other State, but she secured at last social
+order, justice in her courts and a somewhat liberal constitution,
+as far as the personal and property rights of the "white male
+citizen" were concerned. By its provisions--
+
+     All legal distinctions between individuals on religious grounds
+     are prohibited; the utmost freedom of assembling, of speech and
+     of the press is allowed, subject only to restraint for abuse;
+     there is no imprisonment for debt, except where fraud can be
+     proved; slavery and involuntary servitude, except for crime, are
+     prohibited; wives are secured in their separate rights of
+     property; the exemption of a part of the homestead and other
+     property of heads of families from forced sale is recognized.
+
+So far so good; but while the constitution limits the franchise to
+every "white male citizen" over twenty-one, who has been a resident
+of the State six months, and thus makes outlaws and pariahs of all
+the noble women who endured the hardships of the journey by land or
+by sea to that country in the early days, who helped to make it all
+that it is, that instrument cannot be said to secure justice,
+equality and liberty to all its citizens. The position in the
+constitution and laws of that vast territory, of the real woman who
+shares the every-day trials and hardships of her sires and sons
+inspires no corresponding admiration and respect, with the ideal
+one who gilds and glorifies the great seal of the State.
+
+For the main facts of this chapter we are indebted to Elizabeth T.
+Schenck.[496] She says:
+
+     Out of the stirring scenes and tragical events characterizing the
+     early days of California one can well understand that there came
+     of necessity many brave and adventurous argonauts and many women
+     of superior mental force, from among whom in after years the
+     woman suffrage cause might receive most devoted adherents. For
+     nearly a score of years after the great incursion of gold-seekers
+     into this newly-acquired State no word was uttered by tongue or
+     pen demanding political equality for women--none at least which
+     reached the public ear. There were no preceding causes, as in the
+     older States, to stimulate the discussion of the question, and
+     even that mental amazon, Eliza W. Farnham who was one of the
+     distinguished pioneers of California, gathered her inspiration
+     from afar, and thought and wrote for the whole world of women
+     without once sounding the tocsin for woman's political
+     emancipation. Many of the women who braved the perils of the
+     treacherous deep, or still more terrible dangers of the weary
+     march over broad deserts, inhospitable mountains, and through the
+     fastnesses of hostile and merciless Indians, to reach California
+     in the early times, entertained broad views upon the intellectual
+     capacity and political rights of women, but their efforts were
+     confined to fields of literature. While this advanced guard of
+     progressive women was moulding into form a social system out of
+     the turbulent and disorganized masses thrown together by the
+     rapidly-increasing population from all parts of the globe, the
+     elements were aggregating which in after years produced powerful,
+     outspoken thought and earnest action in behalf of disfranchised
+     women.
+
+     Here as elsewhere women took the lead in school matters and were
+     the most capable and efficient educators from the days of "'49."
+     One of our permanent State institutions, Mills' Seminary, was
+     founded by a woman whose name it bears, and who, assisted by her
+     husband, Rev. Mr. Mills, conducted the school for nearly a
+     quarter of a century, until by an act of the legislature, she
+     conveyed it to the State. Several principals of the public
+     schools in San Francisco have held their positions for over
+     twenty consecutive years. Mrs. Jeanne Carr, deputy state
+     superintendent of public instruction from 1871 to 1875, was
+     succeeded by Mrs. Kate M. Campbell, who served most efficiently
+     for the full term. During Mrs. Carr's public service she visited
+     nearly every county in the State, attending teachers' institutes,
+     and lecturing upon educational topics with great ability. For
+     many years women have been eligible to school offices in
+     California and there is not a county in the State where women
+     have not filled positions as trustees or been elected to the
+     office of county superintendent.[497] Mrs. Coleman has been
+     reelected to that office in Shasta county, and Mrs. E. W.
+     Sullivan in Mono county has served for several terms.
+
+     The first attempt to awaken the public mind to the question of
+     suffrage for woman was a lecture given by Laura De Force Gordon
+     in Platt's Hall, San Francisco, February 19, 1868. Although the
+     attendance was small, a few earnest women were there[498] who
+     formed the nucleus of what followed. Soon after Mrs. Gordon
+     addressed the legislature in the senate-chamber at Sacramento,
+     and made an eloquent appeal for the political rights of women.
+     Among the audience were many members of the legislature who
+     became very deeply impressed with the justice of her demand,
+     including the subsequent governor of the State, George C.
+     Perkins, then senator from Butte county. Soon afterwards Mrs.
+     Gordon removed to Nevada, and no more lectures on woman suffrage
+     were given until the visit of Anna Dickinson in the summer of
+     1869.
+
+     The way was being prepared however, for further agitation by the
+     appearance of _The Revolution_ in 1868 in New York, which was
+     hailed by the women of California (as elsewhere) as the harbinger
+     of a brighter and better era. Its well filled pages were eagerly
+     read and passed from hand to hand, and the effect of its
+     startling assertions was soon apparent. Mrs. Pitts Stevens had
+     about that time secured a proprietary interest in the _San
+     Francisco Mercury_, and was gradually educating her readers up to
+     a degree of liberality to endorse suffrage. Early in 1869 she
+     became sole proprietor, changing the name to _Pioneer_, and threw
+     the woman suffrage banner to the breeze in an editorial of marked
+     ability.
+
+     The organization of the National Woman Suffrage Association in
+     New York, May, 1869, gave fresh impetus to the movement, and the
+     appointment of Mrs. Elizabeth T. Schenck as vice-president for
+     California by that association, met with the approval of all
+     those interested in the movement. Soon after this Mrs. Schenck
+     with her gifted ally, Mrs. Stevens, decided to organize a
+     suffrage society, and at an impromptu meeting of some of the
+     friends at the residence of Mrs. Nellie Hutchinson, July 27,
+     1869, the first association for this purpose on the Pacific coast
+     was formed. There were just a sufficient number of members[499]
+     to fill the offices. This society grew rapidly and within a month
+     the parlors were found inadequate to the constantly increasing
+     numbers. Through the courtesy of the Mercantile Library
+     Association their commodious apartments were secured.
+
+     The advent of Anna Dickinson afforded the ladies an opportunity
+     to attest their admiration for her as a representative woman,
+     which they did, giving her a public breakfast, September 14.
+     Their honored guest appreciated the compliment; and in an earnest
+     and eloquent speech referred to it, saying that although she had
+     received many demonstrations of the kind, this was the first ever
+     given her exclusively by her own sex.[500]
+
+     Soon after Miss Dickinson's departure, Mrs. Schenck, much to the
+     regret of the society, resigned the chair, and Mrs. J. W. Stow
+     was appointed to fill the vacancy. The ladies having for some
+     time considered the organizing of a State Society of great
+     importance, it was decided to hold a grand mass convention for
+     that purpose. There was need of funds to carry forward the work,
+     and a course of three lectures was suggested as a means to raise
+     money. This carried, on motion of Mrs. Stow, and her offer to
+     deliver the first lecture of the course was accepted. All the
+     members of the society devoted their energies to secure the
+     success of the undertaking. Many of them engaged in selling
+     tickets for the two weeks intervening, and on November 2, Mrs.
+     Stow gave her lecture to a large and interested audience, taking
+     for her theme, "Woman's Work." The Rev. Mr. Hamilton followed,
+     November 9, with "The Parlor and the Harem," and the Rev. C. G.
+     Ames concluded the course, November 18, with "What Does it Mean?"
+     The lectures were well received, and though not particularly
+     directed to the right of suffrage for women, succeeded in
+     attracting attention to the society under whose auspices they
+     were given, and helped it financially. About this time Mrs.
+     Gordon returned from the East and took an active part in
+     canvassing the State, lecturing and forming county societies
+     preparatory to securing as large a representation as possible at
+     the coming convention. The following report of the proceedings is
+     taken from the San Francisco dailies:
+
+
+[Illustration: Laura deForce Gordon]
+
+
+          The convention to form a State Woman Suffrage Society, held
+          its first meeting in Dashaway Hall, Wednesday afternoon,
+          January 26, 1870. The hall was well filled. Mrs. E. T.
+          Schenck, vice-president of the National Association, was
+          chosen president, _pro. tem._, and Miss Kate Atkinson,
+          Secretary. A committee on credentials was appointed by the
+          chair, consisting of one member from each organization.[501]
+          During the absence of the committee quite an animated
+          discussion arose as to the admission of delegates. Mrs.
+          Gordon said the greatest possible liberality should be
+          exercised in admitting persons to the right to speak and
+          vote; that all who signed the roll, paid the fee, and
+          expressed themselves in sympathy with the movement, should
+          be admitted. After some discussion, Mrs. Gordon's views
+          prevailed, and the names of those who chose to qualify
+          themselves were enrolled. About 120 delegates were thus
+          chosen from nine suffrage societies in different parts of
+          the State. Many counties were represented in which no
+          organizations had yet been formed. Some rather humorous
+          discussion was had as to whether the president should be
+          called Mrs. Chairman or Mrs. Chairwoman. The venerable Mr.
+          Spear arose and suggested the title be Mrs. President, which
+          was adopted. Mrs. Gordon said she had noticed that when
+          questions were put to the meeting not more than a dozen
+          timid voices could be heard saying "aye," or "no." The
+          ladies must not sit like mummies, but open their mouths and
+          vote audibly. This disinclination to do business in a
+          business-like way, is discreditable. (Cheers). Mrs. Gordon's
+          hint was taken, and unequivocal demonstration of voices was
+          made thereafter upon the taking of each vote. Long before
+          the time arrived for the evening session, the hall in every
+          part, platform, floor and gallery, was crowded, and large
+          numbers were unable to gain entrance.
+
+          The Committee on Permanent Organization presented the
+          following names for officers of the convention: President,
+          Mrs. Wallis of Mayfield; Vice-Presidents, J. A. Collins, C.
+          G. Ames, Mrs. Mary W. Coggins; Secretaries, Mrs. McKee, Mrs.
+          Rider, Mrs. Perry; Treasurer, Mrs. Collins. On motion, Mrs.
+          Haskell and Mrs. Ames escorted the president to the rostrum,
+          and introduced her to the convention. Mrs. Wallis is a lady
+          of imposing presence, and very earnest in the movement. Upon
+          being introduced she said:
+
+          LADIES AND GENTLEMEN--I thank you for this expression of
+          your high esteem and confidence in electing me to preside
+          over your deliberations. I regard this as a severe ordeal,
+          but, having already been tested in this respect, I do not
+          fear the trials to come. I shall persevere until the
+          emancipation of women is effected, and in order to fulfill
+          my duties successfully upon this occasion, I ask the hearty
+          cooeperation of all. [Applause].
+
+          Mrs. Stow gave the opening address, after which
+          delegates[502] from various localities made interesting
+          reports. An able series of resolutions was presented and
+          discussed at length by various members of the convention,
+          and letters of sympathy were read from friends throughout
+          the country.[503]
+
+     From the first session, some anxiety was felt regarding the
+     action of the State Society in affiliating with one of the two
+     rival associations in the East. The Rev. C. G. Ames of San
+     Francisco, whose wife had been in attendance upon the Cleveland
+     convention of the American Association, was appointed
+     vice-president for California, while Mrs. E. T. Schenck had been
+     appointed vice-president by the National Association. In addition
+     to the names of officers of county societies appended to the call
+     for this convention, both Mrs. Schenck and Mrs. Ames signed in
+     their official capacity, as vice-president of their respective
+     Associations. Under these circumstances it was not strange that a
+     spirit of rivalry should manifest itself, but it was unfortunate
+     that it was carried so far as to breed disturbance in this infant
+     organization. The leading women looked upon Mrs. E. Cady Stanton
+     and Miss Susan B. Anthony as among the first who organized the
+     suffrage movement in the United States, and therefore felt that
+     it was due to them that our California Society which owed its
+     existence mainly to the efforts of Mrs. Schenck whom they had
+     appointed vice-president for California, should show its loyalty,
+     devotion and gratitude to them, by becoming auxiliary to the
+     National Association. On the other hand, Rev. C. G. Ames, being
+     an enthusiastic admirer of some of the leading spirits in the
+     American Association, desired it to be auxiliary to that. This
+     conflict having been foreshadowed, a letter was written to Miss
+     Anthony in relation to it. Her reply was received by Mrs. Schenck
+     on the first day of the convention, breathing a noble spirit of
+     unselfishness, advising us not to allow any personal feelings
+     towards Mrs. Stanton or herself to influence us in the matter,
+     but rather to keep our association entirely independent, free to
+     cooeperate with all societies having for their object the
+     enfranchisement of woman. Accordingly, the following resolution
+     was almost unanimously adopted:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the California Woman Suffrage Society
+          remain independent of all other associations for one year.
+
+     The result was satisfactory to Mrs. Schenck and her sympathizers,
+     but Mr. Ames seemed loth to relinquish his preference for the
+     American, and the course taken had the effect of lessening his
+     zeal and that of his followers, until they gradually dropped from
+     the ranks. But the convention, despite the unfortunate schism,
+     was a grand success. The sessions were crowded, and so great was
+     the interest awakened in the public mind that a final adjournment
+     was not had until Saturday night, after four days of earnest,
+     profitable work. The press of the city gave full and fair reports
+     of the proceedings, though very far from endorsing woman's claim
+     to suffrage, and men and women of all classes and professions
+     took an active part in the deliberations. But of the multitude
+     who met in that first woman suffrage convention on the Pacific
+     coast but few were prominent in after years.
+
+     The newly organized society immediately arranged to send a
+     delegation to Sacramento, to present to the legislature then in
+     session a petition for woman suffrage. The delegation consisted
+     of Laura DeForce Gordon, Caroline H. Spear and Laura Cuppy Smith,
+     who were accorded a hearing before a special committee of the
+     Senate, of which the venerable Judge Tweed, an able advocate of
+     woman suffrage, was chairman. The proceeding was without a
+     parallel in the history of the State. The novelty of women
+     addressing the legislature attracted universal attention, and the
+     newspapers were filled with reports of that important meeting.
+
+     During the year 1870 a general agitation was kept up. A number of
+     speakers[504] held meetings in various parts of the State. The
+     newspapers were constrained to notice this all-absorbing topic,
+     though most of them were opposed to the innovation, and
+     maintained a bitter war against its advocates. Prominent among
+     them was the sensational San Francisco _Chronicle_ followed by
+     the _Bulletin_, the _Call_, and in its usual negative style, the
+     _Alta_, while the _Examiner_ mildly ridiculed the subject, and a
+     score of lesser journalistic lights throughout the State
+     exhibited open hostility to woman suffrage, or simply mentioned
+     the fact of its agitation as a matter of news. But the brave
+     pioneers in this unpopular movement received kindly sympathy and
+     encouragement from some journals of influence, first among which
+     was the San Francisco _Post_, then under the management of that
+     popular journalist, Harry George, afterwards distinguished as the
+     author of "Progress and Poverty." The San Jose _Mercury_ was our
+     friend from the first, and its fearless and able editor, J. J.
+     Owen, accepted the office of president of the State woman
+     suffrage society to which he was elected in 1878. The Sacramento
+     _Bee_ also did valiant service in defending and advocating
+     woman's political equality, its veteran editor, James McClatchy,
+     being a man of liberal views and great breadth of thought, whose
+     powerful pen was wielded in advocacy of justice to all until his
+     death, which occurred in October, 1883. There were several county
+     journals that spoke kind words in our behalf, and occasionally
+     one under the editorial management of a woman would fearlessly
+     advocate political equality.
+
+     During the year of 1870, Mrs. Gordon traveled extensively over
+     the State, delivering more than one hundred lectures, beside
+     making an extended tour, in company with Mrs. Pitts Stevens,
+     through Nevada, where on the Fourth of July, at a convention held
+     at Battle Mountain, the first suffrage organization for that
+     State was effected. In February, 1871, Mrs. Gordon again lectured
+     in Nevada, remaining several weeks in Carson while the
+     legislature was in session. She was invited by that body to
+     address them upon the proposed amendment to the State
+     constitution to allow women to vote, which amendment was lost by
+     a majority of only two votes, obtained by a political trick, the
+     question being voted upon without a call of the House, when
+     several members friendly to the measure were absent. The author
+     of the proposed amendment was the Hon. C. J. Hillier, a prominent
+     lawyer of Virginia City, who, in bringing the bill before the
+     legislature in 1869, delivered one of the ablest arguments ever
+     given in favor of woman suffrage.
+
+     In 1871 Mrs. Gordon again made an extended tour through
+     California, Oregon, and Washington Territory, traveling mostly by
+     stage, enduring hardships, braving dangers and everywhere
+     overcoming prejudice and antagonism to strong-minded women, by
+     the persuasiveness of her arguments. In September, while
+     lecturing in Seaettle, a telegram informed her of her nomination
+     by the Independent party of San Joaquin county for the office of
+     State senator, requesting her immediate return to California.
+     This necessitated a journey of nearly a thousand miles, one-half
+     by stage-coach. Six days of continuous travel brought her to
+     Stockton, where she entered at once upon the senatorial campaign.
+     Mrs. Gordon spoke every night until election, and succeeded in
+     awakening a lively interest in her own candidacy and in the
+     subject of woman suffrage. Her eligibility to the office was
+     vehemently denied, particularly by Republicans, who were badly
+     frightened at the appearance of this unlooked-for rival. The
+     pulpit, press, and stump speakers alternated in ridiculing the
+     idea of a woman being allowed to take a seat in the Senate, even
+     if elected. The Democratic party, being in the minority, offered
+     but little opposition, and watched with great amusement this
+     unequal contest between the great dominant party on the one side,
+     and the little Spartan band on the other. The contest was as
+     exciting as it was brief, and despite the great odds of money,
+     official power, political superiority, and the perfect machinery
+     of party organization in favor of her opponents, Mrs. Gordon
+     received about 200 votes, besides as many more which were
+     rejected owing to some technical irregularity. Among those who
+     took part in that novel campaign and deserving special mention,
+     was the venerable pioneer familiarly called Uncle Jarvis, who had
+     voted a straight Whig or Republican ticket for fifty years, and
+     who for the first time in his life scratched his ticket and voted
+     for Mrs. Gordon.
+
+     In July, 1871, California was favored by a visit from Mrs.
+     Stanton and Miss Anthony, who awakened new interest wherever
+     their logical and eloquent appeals were heard. Their advent was
+     hailed with joy, and they received marked attention from all
+     classes, the clergy not excepted. Every lecture given by them
+     drew out large assemblies of the most influential of the
+     citizens. Indeed, they received a continual ovation during their
+     stay in San Francisco. After Mrs. Stanton returned to New York,
+     Miss Anthony remained and traveled in California, Nevada, Oregon
+     and Washington Territory several months, speaking at conventions
+     held in San Francisco and Sacramento, besides lecturing in all
+     the principal towns, winning for herself great praise, and a
+     deeper respect for the cause she so ably represented. A
+     complimentary banquet was tendered her in San Francisco on the
+     eve of her departure eastward, at which eighty guests,
+     distinguished in art, literature and social life, sat down to a
+     sumptuous collation spread in the Grand Hotel.
+
+     In the early part of that year, 1871, Hon. A. A. Sargent and wife
+     returned to California from Washington, his term as
+     representative having expired, and both took an active part in
+     the work of woman's political enfranchisement. Mr. Sargent, with
+     commendable bravery, which under the circumstances was indeed a
+     test of courage, delivered an address in favor of woman suffrage
+     at a convention held in San Francisco, just on the eve of an
+     important political campaign, in which he was a candidate for
+     reelection to congress, and also to the United States Senate. Of
+     course, those opposed to woman suffrage tried to make capital out
+     of it against him, but without avail, for that able and
+     distinguished statesman was elected to both offices, his term as
+     representative expiring before he would be called upon to take
+     his seat in the United States Senate. His noble wife, Ellen Clark
+     Sargent, took an active interest in all the woman suffrage
+     meetings, and in November, 1871, was appointed, as was also Mrs.
+     Gordon, to represent California in the National convention to be
+     held in Washington in January, 1872.
+
+     During the session of the California legislature in 1871-2 a
+     delegation from the State Society visited Sacramento and was
+     accorded a hearing in the Assembly-chamber before the Judiciary
+     Committee of that body. Addresses were made by Mrs. Pitts
+     Stevens, Mrs. A. A. Haskell, Mrs. E. A. H. DeWolf and Hon. John
+     A. Collins.
+
+     During the session of 1873-4 a bill was passed by the legislature
+     making women eligible to school offices, and also one which
+     provided that all women employed in the public schools should
+     receive the same compensation as men holding the same grade
+     certificates.
+
+     Mrs. Laura Morton has filled and ably discharged the office of
+     assistant State librarian for the past ten years. Mrs. Mandeville
+     was deputy-controller during the Democratic administration of
+     Governor Irwin, and proved herself fully capable of discharging
+     the duties of that responsible office; while for several years
+     women have been elected to various positions in the legislature
+     and employed as clerks.
+
+     July 10, 1873, the Woman Suffrage Society was incorporated under
+     the laws of the State, with Mrs. Sarah Wallis, president. Mrs.
+     Clara S. Foltz, a brilliant young woman who had begun the study
+     of law in San Jose, knew the statutes permitted no woman to be
+     admitted to the bar, and early in the session of 1877 drafted a
+     bill amending the code in favor of women, and sent it to Senator
+     Murphy of Santa Clara to be presented. Five years before this,
+     however, Mrs. Nettie Tator had applied for admission to the bar
+     at Santa Cruz. A committee of prominent attorneys appointed by
+     the court examined her qualifications as a lawyer. She passed
+     creditably and was unanimously recommended by the committee, when
+     it was discovered that the law would not admit women to that
+     learned profession.
+
+     Following the presentation of Mrs. Foltz' bill, Mrs. Knox
+     Goodrich, Laura Watkins, Mrs. Wallis and Laura De Force Gordon
+     were appointed by the State Society a committee to visit
+     Sacramento during the session and use their influence to secure
+     the passage of the "Woman's Lawyer Bill," as it was termed, and
+     to petition for suffrage. Mrs. Gordon, who was also reading law,
+     was in Sacramento as editorial correspondent for her paper, the
+     _Daily Democrat_ of Oakland, and had ample opportunity to render
+     valuable service to the cause she had so much at heart. The bill
+     passed the Senate by a vote of 22 to 9, being ably advocated by
+     Senators N. Green Curtis, Judge Niles Searles of Nevada county,
+     Creed Haymond of Sacramento, and Joseph Craig of Yolo. In the
+     Assembly, after weeks of tedious delay and almost endless debate,
+     the bill was indefinitely postponed by a majority of one. By the
+     persistent efforts of Assemblymen Grove L. Johnson of Sacramento,
+     R. W. Murphy, Charles Gildea and Dr. May of San Francisco, the
+     bill was brought up on reconsideration and passed by two
+     majority. The session was within three days of its close, and so
+     bitter was the opposition to the bill that an effort was made to
+     prevent its engrossment in time to be presented for the
+     governor's signature. The women and their allies, who were on the
+     watch for tricks, defeated the scheme of their enemies and had
+     the bill duly presented to Governor Irwin, but not till the last
+     day of the session. Then the suspense became painful to those
+     most interested lest it might not receive his approval. Mrs.
+     Gordon, as editor of a Democratic journal, asserted her claims to
+     some recognition from that party and strongly urged that a
+     Democratic governor should sign the bill. Aided by a personal
+     appeal from Senator Niles Searles to his excellency, her efforts
+     were crowned with success; the governor's message sent to the
+     Senate, when the hands of the clock pointed to fifteen minutes of
+     twelve, midnight (at which hour the president's gavel would
+     descend with the words adjourning the Senate _sine die_),
+     announced that Senate bill number 66, which permitted the
+     admission of women to all the courts of the State, had received
+     his approval. There was great rejoicing over this victory among
+     the friends everywhere, though the battle was not yet ended.
+
+     The same legislature had passed a bill accepting the munificent
+     donation to the State of $100,000 from Judge Hastings to found
+     the Hastings College of Law, on condition that it be the law
+     department of the State University, and the college was duly
+     opened for the admission of students. At the beginning of the
+     December term Mrs. Foltz, who had been admitted to the District
+     Court in San Jose (being the first woman ever admitted to any
+     court in the State), came to San Francisco, and with Mrs. Gordon
+     applied for admission to the law college. The dean, Judge
+     Hastings, himself opposed to women being received as students,
+     told them it was a matter that must be laid before the board of
+     directors, but that they could attend the lectures _ad interim_.
+     Three days later they were informed that their application had
+     been denied. Satisfied that the law was in their favor, they
+     immediately appealed to the courts. To save time Mrs. Gordon
+     applied to the Supreme Court and Mrs. Foltz to the District
+     Court, simultaneously, for a writ of mandamus to compel the
+     directors to act in obedience to the law which, the petitioners
+     claimed, did not discriminate against women in founding the State
+     University or its departments. The Supreme Court, wishing perhaps
+     to shirk the responsibility of acting in the first instance, sent
+     their petitioner, Mrs. Gordon, to the lower court, which had in
+     the meantime ordered the writ to issue for Mrs. Foltz; so it was
+     decided to make hers the test-case, and by the courtesy of Judge
+     Morrison, now chief-justice of the Supreme Court, Mrs. Gordon was
+     joined with Mrs. Foltz in the prosecution of the cause. The board
+     of directors of the college consisted of the chief-justice of the
+     Supreme Bench and seven other lawyers, among the most
+     distinguished and able in the State. The case attracted great
+     attention and deep interest was taken in the proceedings. Judges
+     Lake and Cope, who were ex-justices of the Supreme Court,
+     assisted by T. B. Bishop, another learned practitioner at the
+     bar, were arrayed as counsel for the defense against these
+     comparatively young students in the law, who appeared unaided in
+     their own behalf. After one of the most interesting legal
+     contests in the history of the State these women came off
+     victors, and the good-natured public, through the press, offered
+     them congratulations. But the defendants would not yield without
+     a stubborn resistance and carried their cause on appeal to the
+     Supreme Court; hence many months elapsed before the final
+     struggle came, but victory again rewarded the petitioners, the
+     Supreme Court deciding that women _should_ be admitted to the law
+     department of the State University. Although excluded from the
+     benefit of the lectures in the college, Mesdames Gordon and Foltz
+     had improved their time in study, and in December, 1879, both
+     were admitted to the Supreme Court of the State, after a thorough
+     examination.
+
+     Prior to this legal contest, in the summer of 1878, when
+     delegates to the constitutional convention were to be elected,
+     Mrs. Gordon, urged by her friends in San Joaquin county, became
+     an independent candidate only a week or two before the election.
+     With Mrs. Foltz she made a very brief though brilliant canvass,
+     attracting larger and more enthusiastic audiences than any other
+     speaker. Mrs. Gordon received several hundred votes for the
+     office, and felt compensated for the time and money spent by the
+     great interest awakened in the subject of woman suffrage.
+
+     As soon as the constitutional convention assembled in September,
+     Mrs. Gordon, although still pursuing her legal studies, was able
+     as a newspaper correspondent to closely watch the deliberations
+     of that body and urge the insertion of a woman suffrage clause in
+     the new organic law. The State Society delegated Mrs. Knox
+     Goodrich, Mrs. Sarah Wallis and Mrs. Watkins to join Mrs. Gordon
+     in pressing the claims of woman, but the opposition was too
+     strong and the suffrage clause remained declaring male citizens
+     entitled to vote, though a section in the bill of rights,
+     together with other provisions in the new constitution, renders
+     it quite probable that the legislature has the right to
+     enfranchise women without having to amend the organic law. At all
+     events the new instrument is far more favorable to women than the
+     old, as will now be shown. The agitation of the question of the
+     admission of women to the Law College, which began during the
+     session of the convention, led that body to incorporate the
+     following provision in the constitution:
+
+          ARTICLE II., SEC. 18. No person shall be debarred admission
+          to any of the collegiate departments of the State University
+          on account of sex.
+
+     Remembering the hard struggle by which the right to practice law
+     had been secured to women, and the danger of leaving it to the
+     caprice of future legislatures, Mrs. Gordon drafted a clause
+     which protects women in all lawful vocations, and by persistent
+     effort succeeded in getting it inserted in the new constitution,
+     as follows:
+
+          ARTICLE XX., SEC. 18. No person shall, on account of sex, be
+          disqualified from entering upon or pursuing any lawful
+          business, vocation or profession.
+
+     The adoption of this clause, so valuable to women, was mainly
+     accomplished by the skillful diplomacy of Hon. Charles S.
+     Ringgold, delegate from San Francisco, who introduced it in the
+     convention and worked faithfully for its adoption. Thus
+     California stands to-day one of the first States in the Union, as
+     regards the educational, industrial and property rights of women,
+     and the probability of equal political rights being secured to
+     them at an early day, is conceded by the most conservative.
+
+     About the time Mrs. Foltz and Mrs. Gordon were admitted to the
+     bar, they, as chief officers of the State W. S. S.
+     (incorporated), called a convention in San Francisco. It convened
+     in February, 1880, and was well attended. Mrs. Sargent took an
+     active part in the meetings, occupied the chair as president _pro
+     tem._, and subsequently spoke of the work done by the National
+     Association in Washington. Several prominent officials, unable to
+     be present, sent letters heartily endorsing our claims; among
+     these were Governor Perkins, State Senator Chace, and A. M.
+     Crane, judge of the Superior Court. Addresses were delivered by
+     Judge Swift, Marian Todd and Mrs. Thorndyke of Los Angeles, Judge
+     Palmer of Nevada city, and others. The newspapers of the city,
+     though still hostile to the object of the convention, gave very
+     fair reports. In September following, the annual meeting of the
+     society was held, and made particularly interesting by the fact
+     that the proposed new city charter, which contained a clause
+     proscriptive of women, was denounced, and a plan of action agreed
+     upon whereby its defeat should be secured, if possible, at the
+     coming election. The women worked assiduously against the
+     adoption of the city charter, and rejoiced to see it rejected by
+     a large majority.
+
+     The following facts in regard to the constitution and statute
+     laws of California were sent us by the Hon. A. A. Sargent:
+
+          In 1879, California adopted a new constitution, by means of
+          a constitutional convention. It was an unfortunate time for
+          such organic legislation, for the reason that the State was
+          rife at the time with the agitation of "sand-lotters," as
+          they were called, a violent faction which assailed property
+          rights and demanded extreme concessions to labor. The
+          balance of power in the constitutional convention was held
+          by persons elected by this element, and resulted in a
+          constitution extraordinary in some of its features, but
+          which was adopted by the people after a fierce contest.
+
+          Women fared badly at the hands of these constitution-makers,
+          so far as suffrage is concerned. Section 1, article 2,
+          confirms the right of voting to "every native male citizen,"
+          and "every male naturalized citizen," although a heroic
+          effort was made by the friends of woman suffrage to keep out
+          the word "male." But section 18, article XX., provides that
+          "no person shall, on account of sex, be disqualified from
+          entering upon or pursuing any lawful business, vocation or
+          profession."
+
+          Some years before, the State had adopted a "civil code,"
+          which was abreast of the world in liberality to women. This
+          code discarded the idea of any servility in the relation of
+          the wife to the husband. This code is still the law, and
+          provides, in effect, that husband and wife contract toward
+          each other obligations of mutual respect, fidelity and
+          support. The husband is the head of the family, and may
+          choose any reasonable place and mode of life, and the wife
+          must conform thereto. Neither has any interest in the
+          property of the other, and neither can be excluded from the
+          other's dwelling. Either may enter into any engagement or
+          transaction with the other, or with any other person,
+          respecting property, which either might if unmarried. They
+          may hold property as tenants in common or otherwise, with
+          each other, and with others. All property of the wife owned
+          by her before marriage, and acquired afterwards by gift,
+          devise, bequest or descent, with the rents, issues and
+          profit thereof, is her separate property, and she may convey
+          the same without his consent. All property acquired after
+          marriage is community property. The earnings of the wife are
+          not liable for the debts of the husband. Her earnings, and
+          those of minor children in her custody, are her separate
+          property. A married woman may dispose of her separate
+          property by will, without the consent of her husband, as if
+          she were single. One-half of the community property goes
+          absolutely to the wife, on the death of the husband, and
+          cannot be diverted by his testamentary disposition. A
+          married woman can carry on business in her own name, on
+          complying with certain formalities, and her stock, capital
+          and earnings are not liable to her husband's creditors, or
+          his intermeddling. The husband and father, as such, has no
+          rights superior to those of the wife and mother, in regard
+          to the care, custody, education and control of the children
+          of their marriage, while such husband and wife live separate
+          and apart from each other.
+
+          The foregoing exhibits the spirit of the California law. It
+          is believed by friends of woman suffrage that had the
+          convention been held under normal conditions, the word
+          "male" might have been eliminated from that instrument.
+
+     Several creditable attempts were early made in journalism. In
+     1855 Mrs. S. M. Clark published the weekly _Contra Costa_ in
+     Oakland. In 1858, _The Hesperian_, a semi-monthly magazine, was
+     issued in San Francisco, Mrs. Hermione Day and Mrs. A. M. Shultz,
+     editors. It was quite an able periodical,[505] and finally passed
+     into the hands of Elizabeth T. Schenck.
+
+     As journalists and printers, women have met with encouraging
+     success. The most prominent among them is Laura DeForce Gordon,
+     who began the publication of the _Daily Leader_ at Stockton in
+     1873, continued afterward at Oakland as the _Daily Democrat_,
+     until 1878. In Geo. P. Rowell's _Newspaper Reporter_ for 1874,
+     the _Stockton Leader_ is announced as "the only daily newspaper
+     in the world edited and published by a woman." Mrs. Boyer, known
+     as "Dora Darmoor," published different magazines and journals in
+     San Francisco during a period of several years, the most
+     successful being the _Golden Dawn_. Mrs. Theresa Corlett has been
+     connected with various leading journals of San Francisco, and is
+     well known as a brilliant and interesting writer. Miss Madge
+     Morris has not only made a place for herself in light literature,
+     but has been acting-clerk in the legislature for several
+     sessions. Mrs. Sarah M. Clark published a volume entitled
+     "Teachings of the Ages"; Mrs. Josephine Wolcott, a volume of
+     poems, called "The World of Song."
+
+     Mrs. Amanda Slocum Reed, one of our most efficient advocates of
+     suffrage, has proved her executive ability, and capacity for
+     business, by the management of a large printing and publishing
+     establishment for several years. The liberal magazine called
+     _Common Sense_, was published by her and her husband--most of its
+     original contents the product of her pen; and when the
+     radicalism of her husband caused the suspension of that journal
+     in 1878, Mrs. Slocum began the publication of _Roll Call_, a
+     temperance magazine which was mainly edited by her gifted little
+     daughter Clara, only fifteen years old, who also set all the
+     type. Among the earliest printers of California was Lyle Lester.
+     She established a printing office in San Francisco in 1860, in
+     which she employed a large number of girls and women as
+     compositors. Miss Delia Murphy--now Mrs. Dearing--ranks with the
+     best printers in San Francisco, and several women in various
+     portions of the State have taken like standing. "Mrs. Richmond &
+     Son," is the novel sign which decorates the front of a large
+     printing establishment on Montgomery street, San Francisco, known
+     for many years as the "Woman's Cooeperative Printing Company," but
+     which, in fact, was always an individual enterprise. Mrs. Augusta
+     DeForce Cluff has entered upon her seventh year in practical
+     journalism as publisher of a sprightly weekly, the _Valley
+     Review_, at Lodi, in which enterprise she has met with remarkable
+     success, being a superior business manager as well as a facile
+     and talented writer. Some of her little poems have great merit.
+     Mrs. Cluff and Mrs. Gordon have both filled official positions in
+     the Pacific Coast Press Association. Miss Mary Bogardus, the
+     gifted young daughter of that pioneer journalist, H. B. Bogardus,
+     editor of _Figaro_, is her father's main assistant in all the
+     business of his office. Mrs. Wittingham has been elected
+     postmaster of the State Senate several terms, and is at present
+     employed in the U. S. branch mint in San Francisco.
+
+     One of the most meritorious and successful enterprises occupying
+     the attention of the women of California, is the silk culture,
+     which promises to develop into one of the dominant industries of
+     the nation. Mrs. G. H. Hittel first brought the subject into
+     public notice by able articles on the cultivation of the mulberry
+     tree, published in various journals. In 1880 she formed the
+     Ladies' Silk Culture Society of California. This association like
+     its predecessor, the first Woman Suffrage Society, was organized
+     and held its meetings in private parlors for a time, but it soon
+     required more room. Men have been taken into membership since the
+     object for which the society was formed seemed to be feasible,
+     and, as a natural result, whatever of financial and honorary
+     reward may be accorded the self-sacrificing women who performed
+     the arduous and thankless labor of founding the institution, will
+     be shared with the men who now come into the work.
+
+     During the session of the legislature of 1883, a committee was
+     appointed to ask an appropriation from the State for the purpose
+     of establishing a Filature or free silk-reeling school. After
+     considerable delay the committee called to their aid Mrs. Gordon,
+     and asked her to visit the State capital and see what could be
+     done. The session was rapidly drawing to a close, and even the
+     warmest friends of the measure feared that it was too late to
+     accomplish anything. But happily the bill was got through both
+     branches of the legislature and sent to the governor the last
+     hour of the session. By its provisions a State Board of Silk
+     Culture was created consisting of nine members, five of whom were
+     to be women, and the sum of $7,500 was appropriated. Thus women
+     have begun and are now fostering a great industrial enterprise
+     which in the near future will give to millions of hitherto
+     unemployed or ill-paid women and children an occupation
+     peculiarly suited to them, and which will add millions of dollars
+     annually to the revenue of the country. Mrs. Florence Kimball of
+     San Diego county was appointed a member of the State Board of
+     Silk Commissioners by Governor Stoneman in 1883.
+
+     Since the expiration of their term as superintendents of the
+     public schools of the State, Dr. and Mrs. James Carr have made
+     their home in that loveliest spot of southern
+     California--Passadena, where, overlooking rich orange groves and
+     luxurious vineyards, they enjoy the blessings of prosperity, and
+     where Mrs. Carr, with her ambitious, active nature, finds
+     congenial employment in demonstrating what woman can accomplish
+     in silk-culture, raisin-making, and the crystalizing of fruit.
+
+     Miss Austen, formerly a teacher in the public schools of San
+     Francisco, has a vineyard at Fresno, where she employs women and
+     girls to prepare all her considerable crop of raisins for market,
+     conceded to be of the best quality produced in the State. Mrs.
+     Ellen McConnell Wilson of Sacramento county, from the small
+     beginning, twenty years ago, of 320 acres of land, and less than
+     1,000 sheep, has now over 5,000 acres of rich farming land and
+     6,000 sheep. Mrs. H. P. Gregory of Sacramento, left a widow with
+     a large family of little children, succeeded her husband in the
+     shipping and commission business in which he was engaged on a
+     small scale. From such a beginning, Mrs. Gregory has built up one
+     of the largest trades in that city, and has by judicious
+     investments in real estate acquired property of a value exceeding
+     $100,000, besides having reared and educated her numerous family.
+
+     Mrs. Elizabeth Hill was one of the early settlers in Calaveras
+     county, where her husband located land on the Mokelumne river
+     near Camanche in 1855. Six years after she was left a widow with
+     four little children. The support of the family devolved upon the
+     mother, and she engaged in cultivating the land, adding thereto
+     several hundred acres. In 1877 Mrs. Hill began the cultivation of
+     the Persian-insect-powder plant, known to commerce as Buhach. So
+     successful has this venture proved that she has now over 200
+     acres planted to that shrub, and manufactures each year about
+     fifteen tons of the Buhach powder, for which she finds a ready
+     sale. The number of women who have supported their families
+     (often including the husband), and acquired a competency in
+     boarding and lodging-house keeping, dressmaking, millinery,
+     type-setting, painting, fancy work, stock-dealing, and even in
+     manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, is legion.
+
+     In regard to the position of women in medicine, Miss Elizabeth
+     Sargent, M. D., writes:
+
+          Women are admitted on equal terms with men to the medical
+          and dental departments of the State University, and to the
+          Cooper Medical College of San Francisco. Women are also
+          eligible to membership in the State and various county
+          medical associations, as well as in the dental association.
+          There are in the State 73 women who have been recognized by
+          the authorities as qualified to practice. They may be
+          classified as follows: Practitioners of regular medicine,
+          30, 16 of whom are established in San Francisco; eclectics,
+          22, 9 in San Francisco; homoeopathists, 21, 2 in San
+          Francisco. Among these physicians two make a specialty of
+          the eye and ear, one in San Francisco and one in San Jose.
+          Two women have been graduated from the State Dental College,
+          located in San Francisco. In April, 1875, the Pacific
+          Dispensary Hospital for women and children was founded by
+          women. In 1881 a training-school for nurses was added. The
+          hospital department, although admitting women, is intended
+          especially for children, and is the only children's hospital
+          on the coast. The dispensary is for out-patients, both women
+          and children. The board of ten directors, the resident and
+          attending physicians of the hospital, and five out of the
+          seven connected with the dispensary are women. From a small
+          beginning the institution has increased to importance, and
+          bids fair to continue in its present prosperity and capacity
+          for good work. I have written thus lengthily that you may
+          see how energetic our women have been in originating and
+          carrying on such an institution.
+
+     The most prominent literary woman of the coast is undoubtedly
+     Miss M. W. Shinn. She is a graduate of our State University and
+     was the medal scholar of her class. At present she is the editor
+     of the _Overland Monthly_, and the excellent prospects of the
+     magazine are largely the result of her own courage and the hard
+     work she has done.
+
+     The higher education in the State is being put upon a secure
+     basis. Hon. Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford,
+     have recently given a great part of their vast fortune for the
+     establishment of a university which bids fair to be the foremost
+     educational institution on the continent. In a letter specifying
+     his views in regard to the management of the university, Governor
+     Stanford says:
+
+          We deem it of the first importance that the education of
+          both sexes shall be equally full and complete, varied only
+          as nature dictates. The rights of one sex, political and
+          other, are the same as those of the other sex, and this
+          equality of rights ought to be fully recognized.
+
+     There are many men and women throughout the State who have
+     faithfully advocated political equality for all citizens.[506]
+
+     Mendocino county has the honor of claiming as a citizen, one of
+     the earliest and ablest women in this reform, Clarina Howard
+     Nichols, who may be said to have sown the seeds of liberty in
+     three States in which she has resided, Vermont, Kansas and
+     California. Since 1870, her home has been with a son in Pomo,
+     where she finished her heroic life January 11, 1885. Though
+     always in rather straitened circumstances, Mrs. Nichols was
+     uniformly calm and cheerful, living in an atmosphere above the
+     petty annoyances of every-day life with the great souls of our
+     day and generation, keeping time in the march of progress. She
+     was too much absorbed in the vital questions of the hour even to
+     take note of her personal discomforts. Many of her able articles
+     published in magazines and the journals of the day, and letters
+     from year to year to our conventions, were written in such
+     conditions of weakness and suffering, as only a hero could have
+     overcome. She was a good writer, an effective speaker, and a
+     preeminently brave woman, gifted with that rarest of all virtues,
+     common sense.
+
+     The advocacy of woman's rights began in Santa Cruz county, with
+     the advent of that grand champion of her sex, the immortal Eliza
+     Farnham, who braved public scorn and contumely because of her
+     advanced views, for many years before the suffrage movement
+     assumed organized form. Mrs. Farnham's work rendered it possible
+     for those advocating woman suffrage years later, to do so with
+     comparative immunity from public ridicule. A society was
+     organized there in 1869, and Rev. D. G. Ingraham, E. B. Heacock,
+     H. M. Blackburn, Mrs. Georgiana Bruce Kirby, Mrs. Van
+     Valkenburgh, W. W. Broughton and wife, and Mrs. Jewell were
+     active members.
+
+     Prominent in Santa Clara county is Mrs. Sarah Wallis of Mayfield.
+     From the first agitation of the subject in 1868, when she entered
+     heartily into the work of getting subscribers to _The
+     Revolution_, she has been untiring in her efforts to advance the
+     interests of women. A lady of fine presence, great energy and
+     perseverance, Mrs. Wallis has been able to accomplish great good
+     for her sex. With a large separate estate, when the statutes
+     prevented her as a married woman from managing it, she determined
+     that the laws should be changed, and never ceased her efforts
+     until she succeeded in getting an amendment to the civil code
+     which enables married women to make contracts. The most
+     successful suffrage meetings ever held in Santa Clara county have
+     been at Mayfield. There Mrs. Wallis and her husband, Judge Joseph
+     S. Wallace, make their spacious and luxurious home the rendezvous
+     of lecturers and writers in the great work of woman's
+     emancipation.
+
+     Mrs. Sarah Knox Goodrich of San Jose, was among the first to see
+     the significance of the movement for woman's rights in 1868. Her
+     husband, William J. Knox, who shortly before his death had been
+     State senator, secured the passage of a bill, drafted by himself,
+     giving to married women the right to dispose of their own
+     separate property by will. Having been from her youth the
+     cherished companion of a man who believed in the equality of the
+     sexes, and being herself a thoughtful, clear-headed person, she
+     naturally took her place with those whose aim was the social and
+     political emancipation of woman, and has stood from the first a
+     tower of strength in this cause, giving largely of her wealth for
+     the propagation of its doctrines. Mrs. Knox Goodrich has for many
+     years paid her taxes, sometimes exorbitant, under protest, and at
+     important elections has also offered her vote, to have it
+     refused. The county suffrage society has had an untiring leader
+     in Mrs. Goodrich, and on all occasions she has nerved the weak
+     and encouraged the timid by her example of unflinching devotion.
+     The following extracts from a letter written by the lady will
+     show how effective her work has been:
+
+          In 1872, our society was invited to take part in the Fourth
+          of July celebration, which we did, and had the handsomest
+          carriages and more of them than any other society in the
+          procession. We paid our own expenses, although the city had
+          made an appropriation for the celebration. In 1876 we were
+          not invited to take part in the festivities, but some of us
+          felt that on such a day, our centennial anniversary, we
+          should not be ignored. Accordingly I started out to see what
+          could be done, but finding some of our most active friends
+          ill and others absent from home, I decided to do what I
+          could alone. I had mottoes from the grand declarations of
+          the Fathers painted and put on my house, which the
+          procession would pass on two sides.
+
+          Some of our most prominent ladies seeing that I was
+          determined to make a manifestation, drove with me in the
+          procession, our carriage and horses decorated with flags,
+          the ladies wearing sashes of red, white and blue, and
+          bearing banners with mottoes and evergreens. A little
+          daughter of Mrs. Clara Foltz, the lawyer, dressed in red,
+          white and blue, was seated in the center of the carriage,
+          carrying a white banner with silver fringe, a small flag at
+          the top with a silver star above that, with streamers of
+          red, white and blue floating from it, and in the center, in
+          letters large enough to be seen some distance, the one word
+          "Hope." On my flag the motto was: "We are Taxed without
+          being Represented"; Mrs. Maria H. Weldon's, "We are the
+          disfranchised Class"; Mrs. Marion Hooker's, "The Class
+          entitled to respectful Consideration"; and Miss Hannah
+          Millard's, "We are governed without our Consent." On the
+          front of my house in large letters was the motto: "Taxation
+          without Representation is Tyranny as much in 1876, as it was
+          in 1776"; on the other side was, "We are Denied the Ballot,
+          but Compelled to Pay Taxes"; fronting the other side was,
+          "Governments Derive their Just Powers from the Consent of
+          the Governed." Mrs. McKee also had the last motto on her
+          house. On the evening of July 3, after we had all our
+          preparations completed, we sent to one of the marshals and
+          asked him to give us a place in the procession _next to the
+          negroes_, as we wished to let our legal protectors have a
+          practical illustration of the position occupied by their
+          mothers, wives, sisters and daughters in this boasted
+          republic. We _did_ want to go in, however, _ahead of the
+          Chinamen_, as we considered our position at present to be
+          between the two. The marshal willingly assigned us a place,
+          but not the one we desired. "We cannot allow you," said he,
+          "to occupy such a position. You must go in front, next to
+          the Pioneer Association"; and being in part members of that
+          society we accepted the decision. Our carriage was the
+          center of attraction. Many, after reading our mottoes, said:
+          "Well, ladies, we will help you to get your rights"; "It is
+          a shame for you to be taxed and not have the right to vote."
+          Hundreds of people stood and read the mottoes on the house,
+          making their comments, both grave and gay: "Good for Mrs.
+          Knox"; "She is right"; "If I were in her place I would never
+          pay a tax"; "I guess one of the strong-minded lives here."
+
+     Mrs. Knox was married to Mr. Goodrich, the well-known architect,
+     in 1878, in whom she has found a grand, noble-souled companion,
+     fully in sympathy with all her progressive views, and with whom
+     she is passing the advancing years of her well-spent life in
+     luxury and unalloyed happiness.
+
+     Mrs. Van Valkenburg tried to vote under the claim that the
+     fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States
+     entitled her to registration, and being refused, brought suit
+     against the registrars. The case was decided against her after
+     being carried to the Supreme Court of California. These cases
+     argued in the Supreme Court have been of inestimable value in the
+     progress of the movement, lifting the question of woman's rights
+     as a citizen above the mists of ridicule and prejudice, into the
+     region of reason and constitutional law. We cannot too highly
+     appreciate the bravery and persistence of the few women who have
+     furnished these test cases and compelled the highest courts to
+     record their decisions.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[496] Having spent several days with Mrs. Schenck, in her cozy,
+artistic home surrounded with a hedge of brilliant geraniums, I can
+readily testify to the many virtues and attractions her large
+circle of friends has always accorded her. From all I had heard I
+was prepared to find Mrs. Schenck a woman of remarkable cultivation
+and research, and I was not disappointed. Refined, honorable in her
+feeling, clear in her judgments of men and measures, just and
+upright In all her words and actions, she was indeed the fitting
+leader for the uprising of women on the Pacific Slope. The
+preparation of this chapter occupied the last year of her life, her
+one wish to live was to complete the task, but when her failing
+powers made that impossible she charged her friend Mrs. Manning,
+with whom she resided, to take up the work that had fallen from her
+hands and make a fair record of all that had been done and said, by
+her noble coaedjutors, who had labored so faithfully to inaugurate
+the greatest reform of the century.--[E. C. S.
+
+[497] Among them are Laura Fowler, Kate Kennedy, Mary N. Wadleigh,
+Trinity County; Anna L. Spencer, Alpine; Mrs. D. M. Coleman,
+Shasta; Miss A. L. Irish, Mono; Los Angeles City Board of Education
+has three women out of its five members, to-wit., Mrs. C. B. Jones
+(chairman), Mrs. M. A. Hodgkins (secretary), Mrs. M. Graham.
+Oakland Board, Miss A. Aldrich; Sacramento, Charlotte Slater; San
+Jose, Mrs. B. L. Hollenbeck. Sister Mary Frances of the order of
+"Sisters of Charity" came to California in 1849, and devoted her
+great energies, and rare accomplishments, to the cause of education
+up to the time of her demise in April, 1881. Annie Haven, Miss
+Prince, Miss Austin, and a host of others have been successful in
+the same field of labor, including Miss Merweidel, founder of the
+kindergarten system in San Francisco.
+
+[498] Among them were Mrs. Sarah Wallis of Mayfield, Mrs. E. T.
+Schenck, Mrs. L. M. Clarke, Emily Pitts (afterwards Mrs. Stevens of
+San Francisco).
+
+[499] _President_, Elizabeth T. Schenck; _Vice-President_,
+Emily Pitts Stevens; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Hutchinson;
+_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Celia Curtis; _Treasurer_, Mrs. S.
+J. Corbett.
+
+[500] The following persons were present: Mrs. E. T. Schenck,
+president of Woman Suffrage Associasion of San Francisco; Mrs. E.
+Pitts Stevens, Mrs. Celia Curtis, Mrs. Walton, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. S.
+J. Corbett, M. D.; Mary Collins, Mrs. E. P. Meade, M. D.; Mrs.
+Alpheus Bull, Mrs. James S. Bush, Mrs. S. M. Clarke, Mrs. Judge
+Shafter, Mrs. Judge Burke, Mrs. Thomas Varney, Mrs. R. B. Swain,
+Mrs. Carlton Curtis, Mrs. T. Richardson, Mrs. I. W. Hobson, Mrs.
+Smythe, Mrs. J. W. Stow, Mrs. C. G. Ames, Mrs. Barry and 30 others.
+
+[501] Rev. C. G. Ames, San Francisco; Mrs. S. S. Allyn, Oakland;
+Mrs. Sarah Wallis, Mayfield; Mrs. Bowman, Sacramento; Mrs.
+Georgiana Bruce Kirby, Santa Cruz; Mrs. Fannie Kingsbury, San
+Diego; Mrs. Elmira Eddy, Nevada; Mrs. A. A. Haskell, Petaluma;
+Minnie H. McKee, Santa Clara.
+
+[502] See Appendix to California chapter.
+
+[503] At the close of the convention a State society was organized,
+with the following officers: _President_, Mrs. A. A. Haskell of
+Petaluma; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. J. W. McComb of San Francisco,
+Mrs. Denio of Solano, Mrs. Kingsbury of San Diego, Mrs. E. J. Hall
+of Los Angeles, Mrs. Eddy of Nevada, Mrs. Lewis of Sacramento, Mrs.
+Kirby of Santa Cruz, Mrs. Agnes Eager of Alameda, Mrs. Watkins of
+Santa Clara, Mrs. L. D. Latimer of Sonoma; _Secretary_, Mrs. Minnie
+McKee of Santa Clara. _Board of Control_, Mrs. C. H. Spear, Mrs. C.
+G. Ames, Mrs. Minnie Edwards, Mrs. Celia Curtis, Miss Laura Fowler,
+Mr. John A. Collins, Miss Kate Atkinson, Mrs. Pitts Stevens.
+
+[504] Mrs. Kingsbury of San Diego, Mrs. H. F. M. Brown, Addie L.
+Ballou, Paulina Roberts, Mrs. C. H. Spear, Laura Cuppy Smith, Mrs.
+F. A. Logan, M. D., Mrs. C. M. Churchill, John A. Collins, and a
+large number of local speakers, who aided in organizing societies,
+or in keeping up the interest in those already formed.
+
+[505] Chief among its contributors were Eliza W. Farnham, Sarah M.
+Clark, Amanda Simonton Page, Mrs. M. D. Strong, Fanny Green, Annie
+K. Fader, Eliza A. Pittsinger, Mrs. James Neal, Mrs. Elizabeth
+Williams.
+
+[506] Among the many who have been active and faithful in the
+movement for the political rights of women, whose names should be
+mentioned, are: Mrs. Eliza Taylor, Mrs. O. Fuller, Elizabeth
+McComb, Dr. Laura P. Williams, Mrs. Dr. White, Sallie Hart, Dr. R.
+H. McDonald, Hon. Frank Pixley, and many others in _San Francisco_;
+Fanny Green McDougal, _Oakland_; Mrs. Phebe Benedict, _Antioch_;
+Mrs. Isabella Irwin, _San Rafael_; Mrs. Cynthia Palmer, Mrs. Emily
+Rolfe, _Nevada City_; Mrs. Elizabeth Condy, _Stockton_; Miss E. S.
+Sleeper, _Mountain View_; Mrs. Laura J. Watkins, Mrs. Damon, _Santa
+Clara_; Mrs. Dr. Kilpatrick, _San Mateo_; Mrs. S. G. Waterhouse,
+Drs. Kellogg and Bearby, Mrs. M. J. Young, Mrs. E. B. Crocker, and
+others, _Sacramento_; Mrs. Mary Jewett, Mr. and Mrs. Howell,
+_Healdsburgh_; Mrs. Lattimer, _Windsor_; Mr. and Mrs. Denio, Mrs.
+E. L. Hale, _Vallejo_; Mrs. J. Lewellyn, Mrs. Potter, _St. Helena_;
+Mr. and Mrs. J. Egglesson, _Napa_; Henry and Abigail Bush,
+_Martinez_; Rowena Granice Steele, _Merced_; Mrs. Jennie Phelps
+Purvis, Mrs. Lapham and daughter, _Modesto_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
+
+     The Long Marches Westward--Abigail Scott Duniway--Mary Olney
+     Brown--The First Steps in Oregon--Col. C. A. Reed--Judge G. W.
+     Lawson--1870--The New Northwest, 1871--Campaign, Mrs. Duniway and
+     Miss Anthony--They Address the Legislature in Washington
+     Territory--Hon. Elwood Evans--Suffrage Society Organized at
+     Olympia and at Portland--Before the Oregon Legislature--Donation
+     Land Act--Hon. Samuel Corwin's Suffrage Bill--Married Woman's
+     _Sole_ Traders' Bill--Temperance Alliance--Women Rejected--Major
+     Williams Fights their Battles and Triumphs--Mrs. H. A.
+     Loughary--Progressive Legislation, 1874--Mob-Law in Jacksonville,
+     1879--Dr. Mary A. Thompson--Constitutional Convention,
+     1878--Woman Suffrage Bill, 1880--Hon. W. C. Fulton--Women
+     Enfranchised in Washington Territory, Nov. 15, 1883--Great
+     Rejoicing, Bonfires, Ratification Meetings--Constitutional
+     Amendment Submitted in Oregon and Lost, June, 1884--Suffrage by
+     Legislative Enactment Lost--Fourth of July Celebrated at
+     Vancouvers--Benjamin and Mary Olney Brown--Washington
+     Territory--Legislation in 1867-68 Favorable to Women--Mrs. Brown
+     Attempts to Vote and is Refused--Charlotte Olney French--Women
+     Vote at Grand Mound and Black River Precincts,
+     1870--Retrogressive Legislation, 1871--Abby H. Stuart in
+     Land-Office--Hon. William H. White--Idaho and Montana.
+
+
+In the spring of 1852, when the great _furor_ for going West was at
+its height, in the long trails of miners, merchants and farmers
+wending their way in ox-carts and canvas-covered wagons over the
+vast plains, mountains and rivers, two remarkable women, then in
+the flush of youth, might have been seen; one, Abigail Scott
+Duniway, destined to leave an indelible mark on the civilization of
+Oregon, and the other, Mary Olney Brown, on that of Washington
+territory. What ideas were revolving in these young minds in that
+long journey of 3,000 miles, six months in duration, it would be
+difficult to imagine, but the love of liberty had been infused in
+their dreams somewhere, either in their eastern homes from the
+tragic scenes of the anti-slavery conflict, or on that perilous
+march amidst those eternal solitudes by day and the solemn
+stillness of the far-off stars in the gathering darkness. That this
+long communion with great nature left its impress on their young
+hearts and sanctified their lives to the best interests of humanity
+at large, is clearly seen in the deeply interesting accounts they
+give of their endeavors to mould the governments of their
+respective territories on republican principles. Writing of herself
+and her labors, Mrs. Duniway says:
+
+     I was born in Pleasant Grove, Tazewell county, Illinois, October
+     22, 1834, of the traditional "poor but respectable parentage"
+     which has honored the advent of many a more illustrious worker
+     than myself. Brought up on a farm and familiar from my earliest
+     years with the avocations of rural life, spending the early
+     spring-times in the maple-sugar camp, the later weeks in
+     gardening and gathering stove-wood, the summers in picking and
+     spinning wool, and the autumns in drying apples, I found little
+     opportunity, and that only in winter, for books or play. My
+     father was a generous-hearted, impulsive, talented, but
+     uneducated man; my mother was a conscientious, self-sacrificing,
+     intelligent, but uneducated woman. Both were devotedly religious,
+     and both believed implicitly that self-abnegation was the crowing
+     glory of womanhood. Before I was seventeen I was employed as a
+     district school teacher, received a first-class certificate and
+     taught with success, though how I became possessed of the
+     necessary qualifications I to this day know not. I never did,
+     could, or would study when at school.
+
+     In the spring of 1852 my father decided to emigrate to Oregon. My
+     invalid mother expostulated in vain; she and nine of us children
+     were stowed away in ox-wagons, where for six months we made our
+     home, cooking food and washing dishes around camp-fires, sleeping
+     at night in the wagons, and crossing many streams upon
+     wagon-beds, rigged as ferryboats. When our weary line of march
+     had reached the Black Hills of Wyoming my mother became a victim
+     to the dreadful epidemic, cholera, that devastated the emigrant
+     trains in that never-to-be-forgotten year, and after a few hours'
+     illness her weary spirit was called to the skies. We made her a
+     grave in the solitudes of the eternal hills, and again took up
+     our line of march, "too sad to talk, too dumb to pray." But ten
+     weeks after, our Willie, the baby, was buried in the sands of the
+     Burnt River mountains. Reaching Oregon in the fall with our
+     broken household, consisting of my father and eight motherless
+     children, I engaged in school-teaching till the following August,
+     when I allowed the name of "Scott" to become "Duniway." Then for
+     twenty years I devoted myself, soul and body, to the cares,
+     toils, loves and hopes of a conscientious wife and mother. Five
+     sons and one daughter have been born to us, all of whom are
+     living and at home, engaged with their parents in harmonious
+     efforts for the enfranchisement of women.
+
+     The first woman suffrage society ever formed in Oregon, was
+     organized in Salem, the capital of the State, in the autumn of
+     1870, and consisted of about a dozen members. Col. C. A. Reed was
+     chosen president and G. W. Lawson, secretary. This little society
+     which maintained a quiescent existence for a year or more and
+     then disbanded without ceremony, was, in part, the basis of all
+     subsequent work of its character in Oregon. In the winter of 1871
+     this society honored me with credentials to a seat in the woman
+     suffrage convention which was to meet in San Francisco the
+     following May. My business called me to the Golden City before
+     the time for the convention, and a telegraphic summons compelled
+     me to return to Oregon without meeting with the California
+     Association in an official way, as I had hoped. But my
+     credentials introduced me to the San Francisco leaders, among
+     whom Emily Pitts Stevens occupied a prominent position as editor
+     and publisher of the _The Pioneer_, the first woman suffrage
+     paper that appeared on the Pacific coast. Before returning to
+     Oregon I resolved to purchase an outfit and begin the publication
+     of a newspaper myself, as I felt that the time had come for
+     vigorous work in my own State, and we had no journal in which the
+     demands of women for added rights were treated with respectful
+     consideration.
+
+
+[Illustration: "Yours for Liberty, Abigail Scott Duniway"]
+
+
+     Soon after reaching my home in Albany I sold my millinery store
+     and removed to Portland, where, on May 5, 1871, the _New
+     Northwest_ made its appearance, and a siege of the citadels of a
+     one-sexed government began, which at this writing is going on
+     with unabated persistency. The first issue of this journal was
+     greeted by storms of ridicule. Everybody prophesied its early
+     death, and my personal friends regarded the enterprise with
+     sincere pity, believing it would speedily end in financial
+     disaster. But the paper, in spite of opposition and burlesque,
+     has grown and prospered.
+
+     In August, 1871, Susan B. Anthony favored Oregon and Washington
+     territory with a visit. The fame of this veteran leader had
+     preceded her, and she commanded a wide hearing. We traveled
+     together over the country, visiting inland villages as well as
+     larger towns, holding woman suffrage meetings and getting many
+     subscribers for the _New Northwest_. During these journeyings I
+     became quite thoroughly initiated into the movement and made my
+     first efforts at public speaking. After a six weeks' campaign in
+     Oregon, we went to Olympia, the capital of Washington territory,
+     where the legislature was in session, and where, through a motion
+     of Hon. Elwood Evans, we were invited to address the Assembly in
+     advocacy of equal rights for all the people. From Olympia we
+     proceeded to Victoria, a border city belonging to a woman's
+     government, where we found that the idea of the ballot for woman
+     was even more unpopular than in the United States, though all, by
+     strange inconsistency, were intensely loyal to their queen. After
+     an interesting and profitable experience in the British
+     possessions we returned to Puget Sound, stopping over on our
+     route at the different milling towns that teem with busy life
+     upon the evergreen shores of this Mediterranean of the Pacific.
+     At Seaettle we organized an association[507] in which many of the
+     leading ladies and gentlemen took a prominent part; after which
+     we returned to Olympia, where a territorial organization was
+     effected.[508]
+
+     Returning to Portland, we called a convention, and organized the
+     Oregon State Woman Suffrage Association, with Harriet W.
+     Williams, a venerated octogenarian, president. This estimable
+     woman had been one of the earliest leaders of the woman suffrage
+     movement in the State of New York, and her presence at the head
+     of our meetings in Oregon was a source of genuine satisfaction to
+     the friends of the cause in the new State of her adoption.
+     Subsequently, Mrs. Williams was compelled to resign on account of
+     increasing infirmities, but her wise counsels are still cherished
+     by her successors, whom she regards with motherly solicitude as
+     she serenely awaits the final summons of the unseen messenger.
+     Many of those who early distinguished themselves in this
+     connection deserve special mention because of their
+     long-continued zeal in the work.[509] If others failed us, these
+     were always ready to work the hardest when the fight was hottest.
+     And whatever might be our differences of opinion personally, we
+     have always presented an unbroken phalanx to the foe. The
+     original society at Salem having disbanded, its members joined
+     the new State Association organized at Portland, which has ever
+     since been regarded as the nucleus of all our activities.
+
+     In September of 1872, I visited the Oregon legislature, where I
+     went clothed by our association with discretionary power to do
+     what I could to secure special legislation for the women of the
+     State, who, with few exceptions, were at that time entirely under
+     the dominion of the old common law. The exceptions were those
+     fortunate women who, having come to Oregon as early as 1850 and
+     '52, had, by virtue of a United States law, known as the Oregon
+     Donation Land Act, become possessed of "claims," as they were
+     called, on equal shares with their husbands, their half, or
+     halves, of the original ground being set apart as their separate
+     property in realty and _fee simple_. This Donation Land Act
+     deserves especial mention, it being the first law enacted in the
+     United States which recognized the individual personality of a
+     married woman. It became a temporary law of congress in 1850,
+     mainly through the efforts of Hon. Samuel R. Thurston, delegate
+     from Oregon territory (which at that time included the whole of
+     Washington territory), aided by the eminent Dr. Linn of Missouri,
+     from whom one of the principal counties of the State of Oregon
+     derives its name.
+
+     My first experience in the capitol was particularly trying. I
+     spent two days among my acquaintances in Salem in a vain attempt
+     to find a woman who was ready or willing to accompany me to the
+     state-house. All were anxious that I should go, but each was
+     afraid to offend her husband, or make herself conspicuous, by
+     going herself. Finally, when I had despaired of securing company,
+     and had nerved myself to go alone, Mary P. Sawtelle, who
+     afterwards became a physician, and now resides in San Francisco
+     where she has a lucrative practice, volunteered to stand by me,
+     and together we entered the dominion hitherto considered sacred
+     to the aristocracy of sex, and took seats in the lobby, our
+     hearts beating audibly. Hon. Joseph Engle, perceiving the
+     innovation and knowing me personally, at once arose, and, after a
+     complimentary speech in which he was pleased to recognize my
+     position as a journalist, moved that I be invited to a seat
+     within the bar and provided with table and stationery as were
+     other members of the profession. The motion carried, with only
+     two or three dissenting votes; and the way was open from that
+     time forward for women to compete with men on equal terms for all
+     minor positions in both branches of the legislature--a privilege
+     they have not been slow to avail themselves of, scores of them
+     thronging the capitol in these later years, and holding valuable
+     clerkships, many of them sneering the while at the efforts of
+     those who opened the way for them to be there at all.
+
+     Hon. Samuel Corwin introduced a woman suffrage bill in the House
+     of Representatives early in the session; and while it was
+     pending, I was invited to make an appeal in its behalf, of which
+     I remember very little, so frightened and astonished was I,
+     except that once I inadvertently alluded to a gentleman by his
+     name instead of his county, whereupon, being called to order, I
+     blushed and begged pardon, but put myself at ease by informing
+     the gentlemen that in all the bygone years while they had been
+     studying parliamentary rules, I had been rocking the cradle.
+
+     One member who had made a vehement speech against the bill, in
+     which he had declared that no respectable woman in his county
+     desired the elective franchise, became particularly incensed, as
+     was natural, upon my exhibiting a woman suffrage petition signed
+     by the women he had misrepresented, and headed, _mirabile dictu_,
+     by the name of his own wife! The so-called representative of
+     women lost his temper, and gave vent to some inelegant
+     expletives, for which he was promptly reprimanded by the chair.
+     This offender has since been many times a candidate for office,
+     but the ladies of his district have always secured his defeat.
+     The woman suffrage bill received an unexpectedly large vote at
+     this session, and was favored in 1874 by a still larger one, when
+     it was ably championed by Hon. C. A. Reed, the before named
+     ex-president of the first woman suffrage society in the State.
+
+     In 1872 the Senate, the House concurring, passed a Married
+     Woman's Sole Trader bill, under the able leadership of Hon. J. N.
+     Dolph, who has since distinguished himself as our champion in the
+     Senate of the United States. This bill has ever since enabled any
+     woman engaged in business on her own account to register the fact
+     in the office of the county clerk, and thereby secure her tools,
+     furniture, or stock in trade against the liability of seizure by
+     her husband's creditors.
+
+     Perhaps I cannot better illustrate the general feeling of
+     opposition to women having a place in public affairs at that
+     time, than by describing the scenes in the State Temperance
+     Alliance in February of that year, when somebody placed my name
+     in nomination as chairman of an important committee. The
+     presiding officer was seized with a sudden deafness when the
+     nomination was made, and the Alliance was convulsed with
+     merriment. Ladies on all sides buzzed about me, and urged me to
+     resent the insult in the name of womanhood. And, as none of them
+     were at that time public speakers, I felt obliged to rise and
+     speak for myself.
+
+     "Mr. President," I exclaimed, "by what right do you refuse to
+     recognize women when their names are called? Are men the only
+     lawful members of this Alliance? And if so, is it not better for
+     the women delegates to go home?"
+
+     "Mr. President: The committees are now full!" shouted an excited
+     voter. Somebody, doubtless in ridicule, then nominated me as
+     vice-president-at-large, which was carried amid uproarious
+     merriment. I took my seat, half frightened and wholly indignant;
+     and the deliberations of the sovereign voters were undisturbed
+     for several hours thereafter by word or sign from women. At last
+     they got to discussing a bill for a prohibitory liquor law, and
+     the heat of debate ran high. During the excitement somebody
+     carried a note to the presiding officer, who read it, smiled,
+     colored, and rising, said: "We are hearing nothing from the
+     ladies, and yet they constitute a large majority of this
+     Alliance. Mrs. Duniway, will you not favor us with a speech?"
+
+     I was taken wholly by surprise, but sprang to my feet and said:
+     "Mr. President: I have always wondered what it was that consumed
+     so much time in men's conventions. I hope gentlemen will pardon
+     the criticism, but you talk too much, and too many of you try to
+     talk at once. My head is aching from the roar and din of your
+     noisy orators. Gentlemen, what does it all amount to? You are
+     talking about prohibition, but you overestimate your political
+     strength. Disastrous failures attend upon all your endeavors to
+     conquer existing evils by the votes of men alone. Give women the
+     legal power to combat intemperance, and they will soon be able to
+     prove that they do not like drunken husbands any better than men
+     like drunken wives. Make women _free_. Give them the power the
+     ballot gives to you, and the control of their own earnings which
+     rightfully belong to them, and every woman will be able to settle
+     this prohibition business in her own home and on her own account.
+     Men will not tolerate drunkenness in their wives; and women will
+     not tolerate it in husbands unless compelled to."
+
+     A prominent clergyman arose, and said: "Mr. President: I charge
+     the sins of the world upon the mothers of men. There are twenty
+     thousand fallen women in New York--two millions of them in
+     America. We cannot afford to let this element vote." Before I was
+     aware of what I was doing I was on my feet again. Shaking my
+     finger at the clergymen, I exclaimed: "How _dare_ you make such
+     charges against the mothers of men? You tell us of two millions
+     of fallen women who, you say, would vote for drunkenness; but
+     what say you, sir, to the twenty millions of fallen men--all
+     voters--whose patronage alone enables fallen women to live? Would
+     you disfranchise them, sir? I pronounce your charge a libel upon
+     womanhood, and I know that if we were voters you would not _dare_
+     to utter it."
+
+     A gentleman from Michigan--Mr. Curtis--called me to order, saying
+     my remarks were personal. "You, sir, sat still and didn't call
+     this man to order while he stood up and insulted all womanhood!"
+     I exclaimed, vehemently. "Prohibition is the question before the
+     house," said the gentleman, "and the lady should confine herself
+     to the resolution." "That is what I am doing, sir. I am talking
+     about prohibition, and the only way possible to make it succeed."
+
+     The chair sustained me amid cries of "good!" "good!" but I had
+     become too thoroughly self-conscious by this time to be able to
+     say anything further, and, with a bow to the chairman whom I had
+     before forgotten to address, I tremblingly took my seat.
+
+     A resolution was passed, after a long and stormy debate,
+     declaring it the duty of the legislature to empower women to vote
+     on all questions connected with the liquor traffic; and I, as its
+     author, was chosen a committee to present the same for
+     consideration at the coming legislative session. Woman suffrage
+     gained a new impetus all over the Northwest through this victory.
+     Everybody congratulated its advocates, and the good minister who
+     had unwittingly caused the commotion seized the first opportunity
+     to explain that he had always been an advocate of the cause. I
+     was by this time so thoroughly advertised by the abuse of the
+     press that I had no difficulty in securing large audiences in all
+     parts of the Pacific Northwest.
+
+     I was chosen in April, 1872, as delegate to the annual meeting of
+     the National Association, held in New York the following month.
+     Horace Greeley received the nomination for the presidency at the
+     Cincinnati Liberal Republican Convention while I was on the way;
+     and when I reached New York I at first threw what influence I had
+     in the Association in favor of the great editor. But Miss
+     Anthony, who knew Mr. Greeley better than I did, caused me to be
+     appointed chairman of a committee to interview the reputed
+     statesman and officially report the result at the evening
+     session. Miss Anthony and Mrs. Jane Graham Jones of Chicago were
+     the other members of this committee. We obtained the desired
+     interview, of which it only needs to be said that it became my
+     humiliating duty to ask pardon in the evening for the speech in
+     advocacy of the illustrious candidate which in my ignorance I had
+     made in the morning. That Mr. Greeley owed his defeat in part to
+     the opposition of women in that memorable campaign, I have never
+     doubted. But he builded better than he knew in earlier years, for
+     he planted many a tree of liberty that shall live through the
+     ages to come, overshadowing in a measure his failure to recognize
+     the divine right of political equality for woman in his later
+     days.
+
+     The first annual convention of the Oregon State Association met
+     in Portland, February 9, 1873. Many ladies and several
+     gentlemen[510] of more or less local prominence assisted at this
+     convention, but we were able to prevail upon but one gentleman,
+     Col. C. A. Reed of Salem, to occupy the platform with us. This
+     convention received favorable notice from the respectable press
+     of the State, and was largely attended by the best elements of
+     the city and country. Delegates were chosen to attend the
+     forthcoming State Temperance Alliance which held its second
+     annual meeting February 20, and to which a dozen of us went
+     bearing credentials. It was evident from the first that trouble
+     was brewing. The enemy had had a whole year to prepare an
+     ambuscade of which our party had no suspicion. A Committee on
+     Credentials was appointed with instructions to rule the woman
+     suffrage delegation out of the Alliance as a "disturbing
+     element." Hon J. Quinn Thornton was chairman of that committee.
+     In his report he declared all delegations to be satisfactory
+     (including those from the penitentiary) except the women whom he
+     styled "setting hens," "belligerent females," etc., after which
+     he subsided with pompous gravity. All eyes were turned upon me,
+     and I felt as I fancy a general must when the success or failure
+     of an army in battle depends upon his word. "Mr. President," I
+     exclaimed, as soon as I could get the floor, "I move to so amend
+     the report of the committee as to admit the suffrage delegation."
+     The motion was seconded by a half-dozen voices. Then followed a
+     scene which beggars description. It was pandemonium broken loose.
+     When I arose again to address the chair that worthy ordered my
+     arrest by the sergeant-at-arms, saying: "Take that crazy woman
+     out of the house and take care of her." The officer came forward
+     in discharge of his duty, but he quailed before my uplifted
+     pencil, and several gentlemen stepped into the aisle and began
+     drawing off their coats to defend me, among them a veteran
+     minister of the gospel. I smiled and bowed my thanks, and as
+     nobody could hear a word amid the uproar I complacently took my
+     seat while the officer skulked away, crestfallen. All that day
+     and evening, and until one o'clock the next afternoon, a noisy
+     rabble of self-styled temperance men sought to prevent bringing
+     the question to a square and honorable vote. Major George
+     Williams, a brave man who had lost a limb in fighting for his
+     country, at last succeeded in wearying the chairman into a
+     semblance of duty. The result was a triumph for the advocates of
+     suffrage. A recess was then taken, during which my hand was so
+     often and enthusiastically shaken that my shoulder was severely
+     lamed. The first thing in order after resuming business was my
+     report as Legislative Committee. I advanced to the platform amid
+     deafening cheers and, as soon as I could make myself heard, said,
+     in substance, that the legislature had decided that it was an
+     insult to womanhood to grant women the right to vote on
+     intemperance and debar them from voting on all honorable
+     questions. I then offered a fair and unequivocal woman suffrage
+     resolution, which was triumphantly carried. The disappointed
+     minority seceded from the Alliance and set up a "Union" for
+     themselves; but their confederacy did not live long, and its few
+     followers finally returned to their _alma mater_ and gave us no
+     further trouble.
+
+     Woman suffrage associations were formed in several counties
+     during the year 1874. Our strength was now much increased by the
+     able assistance of Mrs. H. A. Loughary, who suddenly took her
+     place in the front rank as a platform speaker. The editorial work
+     of the _New Northwest_ received a valuable auxiliary in June of
+     this year in the person of Catharine A. Coburn, a lady of rare
+     journalistic ability, who held her position five years, when my
+     sons, W. S., H. R. and W. C. Duniway, having completed their
+     school duties and attained their majority, were admitted to
+     partnership in the business. Mrs. Coburn now holds a situation on
+     the editorial staff of the _Daily Oregonian_.
+
+     In the autumn of 1876 I was absent at the Centennial Exposition,
+     whither I had gone in the summer in response to an invitation
+     from the National Woman Suffrage Association to "Come over into
+     Macedonia and help." The work for equal rights made favorable
+     headway in the legislature of Oregon that year through the
+     influence of a convention held at Salem under the able leadership
+     of Mrs. H. A. Loughary and Dr. Mary A. Thompson.
+
+     In June, 1878, a convention met in Walla Walla, Washington
+     territory, for the purpose of forming a constitution for the
+     proposed new State of Washington, and in compliance with the
+     invitation of many prominent women of the territory I visited the
+     convention and was permitted to present a memorial in person,
+     praying that the word "male" be omitted from the fundamental law
+     of the incubating State. But my plea (like that of Abigail Adams
+     a century before) failed of success, through a close vote
+     however--it stood 8 to 7--and men went on as before, saying, as
+     they did in the beginning: "Women do not wish to vote. If they
+     desire the ballot let them ask for it." In September of that year
+     I was again at my post in the Oregon legislature circulating the
+     _New Northwest_ among the law-makers, and doing what else I could
+     to keep the cause before them in a manner to enlist their
+     confidence and command their respect. An opportunity was given me
+     at this session to make an extended argument upon constitutional
+     liberty before a joint convention of the two Houses, which
+     occupied an hour in delivery and was accorded profound attention.
+     I was much opposed to the growing desire of the legislature to
+     shirk its responsibility upon the voters at large by submitting a
+     proposed constitutional amendment to them when the constitution
+     nowhere prohibits women from voting, and I labored to show that
+     all we need is a declaratory act extending to us the franchise
+     under the existing fundamental law. Dr. Mary A. Thompson followed
+     in a brief speech and was courteously received. The Married
+     Woman's Property bill, passed in 1874, received some necessary
+     amendments at this session, and an act entitling women to vote
+     upon school questions and making them eligible to school offices,
+     was passed by a triumphant majority.
+
+     I went to Southern Oregon in 1879, and while sojourning in
+     Jacksonville was assailed with a shower of eggs (since known in
+     that section as "Jacksonville arguments") and was also burned in
+     effigy on a principal street after the sun went down.
+     Jacksonville is an old mining town, beautifully situated in the
+     heart of the Southern Oregon mountains, and has no connection
+     with the outside world except through the daily stagecoaches. Its
+     would-be leading men are old miners or refugees from the
+     bushwhacking district whence they were driven by the civil war.
+     The taint of slavery is yet upon them and the methods of
+     border-ruffians are their hearts' delight. It is true that there
+     are many good people among them, but they are often over-awed by
+     the lawless crowd whose very instincts lead them to oppose a
+     republican form of government. But that raid of the outlaws
+     proved a good thing for the woman suffrage movement. It aroused
+     the better classes, and finally shamed the border ruffians by its
+     own reaection. When I returned to Portland a perfect ovation
+     awaited me. Hundreds of men and women who had not before allied
+     themselves with the movement made haste to do so. The newspapers
+     were filled with severe denunciations of the mob, and
+     "Jackson-villains," as the perpetrators of the outrage were
+     styled, grew heartily disgusted over their questionable glory.
+
+     When the legislature met in the autumn of 1880 it was decided by
+     the Woman Suffrage Association that we could "raise the blockade"
+     and encourage agitation in the work by consenting to an attempt
+     to amend the State constitution. Pursuant to this decision a
+     resolution was offered in the Senate by Hon. W. C. Fulton of
+     Clatsop, and in the House by Hon. Lee Laughlin, which, after
+     considerable discussion _pro_ and _con_ in which I was graciously
+     invited to participate on the floor of both Houses, was passed by
+     the requisite two-thirds majority. The result was considered a
+     triumph for the cause. A grand ratification jubilee was held in
+     the opera-house in honor of the event, and resolutions of thanks
+     to the lawmakers were passed, accompanied by many expressions of
+     faith in the legislation of the future.
+
+     In the meantime the work was going steadily on in Washington
+     territory, my own labors being distributed about equally between
+     the two sections of the Pacific Northwest that had formerly been
+     united under one territorial government. In the autumn of 1881
+     the legislature of Washington met one afternoon in joint
+     convention to listen to arguments from Hon. William H. White and
+     myself, on which occasion I held the floor for nearly three
+     hours, in the midst of an auditory that was itself an
+     inspiration. Mr. White, a Democrat of the old school, and now
+     (1885) holding the office of United States marshal in the
+     territory, under commission from President Cleveland, based his
+     plea for woman suffrage upon the enfranchisement of the colored
+     men, urging it strongly as a means of Democratic retaliation. The
+     suffrage bill passed in the House on the following day by a
+     majority of two, but was defeated in the Council by a majority of
+     two, showing that the vote would have been a tie if taken under
+     the joint-ballot rule.
+
+     Returning to Oregon I renewed the contest, and in the autumn of
+     1882 we were all gratified by the passage of the pending
+     constitutional amendment by a very nearly unanimous vote of each
+     House. Then the Oregon campaign began in earnest. The question
+     had assumed formidable proportions and was no longer an ignored
+     issue. The work went on with accelerated speed, and as far as
+     could be ascertained there was little or no opposition to it. The
+     meetings were largely attended and affirmative speakers were
+     ready to assist at all times, the help of this kind representing
+     all grades of the professions, led by the best and most
+     influential men of the State everywhere.
+
+     Another year went by, and the time for assembling the Washington
+     territory legislature was again at hand. Immediately upon
+     arriving at Olympia I learned that a coterie of politicians,
+     finding open hostility no longer effectual, had combined to crush
+     the woman suffrage bill, which had passed the House triumphantly,
+     by lobbying a "substitute" through the Council. In pursuance of
+     this seemingly plausible idea they talked with the ladies of
+     Olympia and succeeded in convincing a few of them that all women,
+     and especially all leaders of the movement, must be kept away
+     from the capitol or the bill would certainly be defeated.
+     Several women who ought to have have known better were deceived
+     by these specious pleaders, and but for some years of experience
+     in legislative assemblies that had brought me to comprehend the
+     "ways that are dark and tricks that are vain," for which the
+     average politician is "peculiar," the ruse would have succeeded.
+     I remained at headquarters, enduring alike the open attacks of
+     the venal press and the more covert opposition of the saloons and
+     brothels, and, as vigilantly as I could, watched all legislative
+     movements, taking much pains to keep the public mind excited
+     through the columns of the _Daily Oregonian_ and the weekly
+     issues of the _New Northwest_. The bill, which had been prepared
+     by Professor William H. Roberts, passed the House early in the
+     session; but it tarried long in the Council, and those most
+     interested were well-nigh worn out with work and watching before
+     the measure reached a vote. It came up for final passage November
+     15, 1883, when only three or four women were present. The Council
+     had been thoroughly canvassed before-hand and no member offered
+     to make a speech for or against it. The deathly stillness of the
+     chamber was broken only by the clerk's call of the names and the
+     firm responses of the "ayes" and "noes." I kept the tally with a
+     nervous hand, and my heart fairly stood still as the fateful
+     moment came that gave us the majority. Then I arose and without
+     exchanging words with any one left the state-house and rushed
+     toward the telegraph-office, half a mile distant, my feet seeming
+     to tread the air. Judge J. W. Range of Cheney, president of a
+     local woman suffrage society, overtook me on the way, bound on
+     the same errand. He spoke, and I felt as if called back to earth
+     with a painful reminder that I was yet mortal. A few minutes more
+     and my message was on the way to the _New Northwest_. It was
+     publication-day and the paper had gone to press, but my jubilant
+     and faithful sons opened the forms and inserted the news, and in
+     less than half an hour the newsboys were crying the fact through
+     the streets of Portland, making the _New Northwest_, which had
+     fought the fight and led the work to the point where legislation
+     could give a victory, the very first paper in the nation to
+     herald the news to the world. The rejoicing in Oregon, as well as
+     in Washington territory, was most inspiriting. A bloodless battle
+     had been fought and won, and the enemy, asleep in carnal
+     security, had been surrendered unawares. The women of Oregon
+     thanked God and took courage.
+
+     After passing the Council the bill passed leisurely, and some of
+     us feared perilously, through the various stages of clerical
+     progress till November 22, when it received the signature of
+     Governor William A. Newell, who used a gold pen presented him for
+     the purpose by women whom his act made free. And when at a given
+     signal the church bells rang in glad acclaim, and the loud boom
+     of minute-guns reverberated from the forest-clothed hills that
+     border Puget Sound and lost itself at last in the faint echoes of
+     the far-off hights, the scroll of the dead century unrolled
+     before my inner vision and I beheld in spirit another scene on
+     the further verge of the continent, when men in designing to ring
+     the bell at Independence Hall in professed honor of the triumph
+     of liberty, although not a woman in the land was free, had sought
+     in vain to force the loyal metal into glad responses; for the
+     old bell quivered in every nerve and broke its heart rather than
+     tell a lie!
+
+     An immense ratification jubilee was held in the evening of the
+     same day at the city hall in Olympia, with many distinguished
+     speakers.[511] Similar meetings were subsequently held in all the
+     principal towns of the Pacific Northwest. The freed women of
+     Washington thankfully accepted their new prerogatives. They were
+     appointed as jurors in many localities, and have ever since
+     performed their duties with eminent satisfaction to judges,
+     lawyers and all clients who are seeking to obey the laws. But
+     their jurisdiction soon became decidedly uncomfortable for the
+     law-breaking elements, which speedily escaped to Oregon, where,
+     as the sequel proved, they began a secret and effective war upon
+     the pending constitutional amendment. We all knew we had a
+     formidable foe to fight at the ballot-box. Our own hands were
+     tied and our own guns spiked, while our foe was armed to the
+     teeth with ballots, backed by money and controlled by vice,
+     bigotry and tyranny. But the leading men of the State had long
+     been known to favor the amendment; the respectable press had
+     become mildly, and in a few cases earnestly acquiescent; no
+     opposition could be raised at any of our public meetings, and we
+     felt measurably sure of a victory until near election time, when
+     we discovered to our dismay that most of the leading politicians
+     upon whom we had relied for aid had suddenly been seized with an
+     alarming reticence. They ceased to attend the public meetings and
+     in every possible way ignored the amendment, lest by openly
+     allying themselves with it they might lose votes; and as all of
+     them were posing in some way for office, for themselves or
+     friends, and women had no votes with which to repay their
+     allegiance, it was not strange that they should thus desert us.
+
+     Our Republican senator in congress, Hon. J. N. Dolph, favored the
+     Woman Suffrage Association with an able and comprehensive letter,
+     which was widely circulated, urging the adoption of the amendment
+     as a measure of justice and right, and appealing to the voters to
+     make Oregon the banner State of the great reform. Leading
+     clergymen, especially of Portland, preached in favor of woman
+     suffrage, prominent among them being Rev. T. L. Eliot, pastor of
+     the Unitarian church; Chaplain R. S. Stubbs of the Church of Sea
+     and Land, and Rev. Frederic R. Marvin of the First Congregational
+     society. Appeals to voters were widely circulated from the pens
+     and speeches of many able gentlemen.[512] Not one influential man
+     made audible objection anywhere.
+
+     We had carefully districted and organized the State, sparing
+     neither labor nor money in providing "Yes" tickets for all
+     parties and all candidates and putting them everywhere in the
+     hands of friends for use at the polls. But the polls were no
+     sooner open than it began to appear that the battle was one of
+     great odds. Masked batteries were opened in almost every
+     precinct, and multitudes of legal voters who are rarely seen in
+     daylight except at a general election, many of whom were refugees
+     from Washington territory, crowded forth from their hiding-places
+     to strike the manacled women down. They accused the earnest
+     ladies who had dared to ask for simple justice of every crime in
+     the social catalogue. Railroad gangs were driven to the polls
+     like sheep and voted against us in battalions. But, in spite of
+     all this, nearly one-third of the vote was thrown in our favor,
+     requiring a change of only about one-fourth of the opposing vote
+     to have given us a victory, and proving to the amazement of our
+     enemies that the strength of our cause was already
+     formidable.[513] We were repulsed but not conquered. Before the
+     smoke of the battle had cleared away we had called immense
+     meetings and passed vigorous resolutions, thanking the lovers of
+     liberty who had favored us with their suffrages, and pledging
+     ourselves anew to the conflict.
+
+     We at once decided that we would never again permit the
+     legislature to remand us to the rabble in a vain appeal for
+     justice. We had demonstrated the impossibility of receiving a
+     fair, impartial vote at the hands of the ignorant, lawless and
+     unthinking multitude whose ballots outweigh all reason and
+     overpower all sense. In pursuance of this purpose I went to the
+     legislature of 1885 and found no difficulty in securing the aid
+     of friendly members of both Houses who kindly championed the
+     following bill:
+
+          _Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Oregon:_
+
+          That the elective franchise shall not hereafter be denied to
+          any person in this State on account of sex.
+
+          This act to be in force from and after its approval by the
+          governor.
+
+     After much parliamentary fillibustering the vote of both Houses
+     was recorded upon this bill and stood conjointly 34 to 54. This
+     vote, coming so soon after our defeat at the polls, is regarded
+     as the greatest victory we have yet won. The ablest lawyers of
+     the State and of Washington territory are preparing elaborate
+     opinions showing the constitutionality of our present plan, and
+     these are to be published in the form of a standard work, with
+     appropriate references for convenient use. The movement exhibits
+     a healthy, steady and encouraging growth, and is much accelerated
+     by its success in Washington territory.
+
+     On the Fourth of July of this year a grand celebration was held
+     at Vancouver, on Washington soil, the women of Oregon having
+     resolved in large numbers that they would never again unite in
+     celebrating men's independence-day in a State where they are
+     denied their liberty. The celebration was a success from first to
+     last. Boys and girls in equal numbers rode in the liberty-car and
+     represented the age of the government. The military post at
+     Vancouver joined heartily in the festivities, headed by the
+     gallant soldier, General Nelson A. Miles, commander-in-chief of
+     the department of the Columbia. The fine Fourteenth Infantry Band
+     furnished the instrumental music, and a local choir rendered
+     spirited choruses. The New Declaration of Independence was read
+     by Josie De Vore Johnson, the oration was delivered by Mattie A.
+     Bridge, and Louise Lester, the famous _prima donna_, electrified
+     the delighted crowd by her triumphant rendition of the
+     "Star-Spangled Banner." The exercises closed with the
+     announcement by the writer, who had officiated as president of
+     the day, that the Executive Committee of the Oregon Woman
+     Suffrage Association had, during the noon recess, adopted the
+     following resolutions:
+
+          _Resolved_, That our thanks are due to General Nelson A.
+          Miles of the department of the Columbia for his valuable
+          cooeperation in the exercises and entertainments of this
+          historic day.
+
+          _Resolved_, That we thank the citizens of Clarke County, and
+          especially of Vancouver, for their hospitality and kindness,
+          so graciously bestowed upon their less fortunate Oregon
+          neighbors, who have not yet achieved their full
+          independence, and we shall ever cherish their fraternal
+          recognition in grateful remembrance.
+
+          _Resolved_, That while we deplore the injustice that still
+          deprives the women of Oregon of the liberty to exercise
+          their right to the elective franchise, we rejoice in the
+          record the women of Washington are making as citizens, as
+          voters and as jurors. We congratulate them upon their
+          newly-acquired liberties, and especially upon the
+          intelligent and conscientious manner in which they are
+          discharging the important public duties that in no wise
+          interfere with their home affairs. And we are further
+
+          _Resolved_, That if our own fathers, husbands, sons and
+          brothers do not at the next session of the Oregon
+          legislature bestow upon us the same electoral privileges
+          which the women of Washington already enjoy, we will prepare
+          to cross the Columbia River and take up our permanent abode
+          in this "land of the free and home of the brave."
+
+     The resolutions evoked cheers that waked the echoes, and the
+     celebration, reported by the Oregon press, contributed largely to
+     the growth of the equal-rights sentiment among the people of the
+     State. Two stanzas of a spirited poem are subjoined, written for
+     the Woman Suffrage Association just after our defeat at the
+     polls, by a young man from Southern Oregon who has withheld his
+     own name but included the names of all the counties in his
+     glorious prophecy:
+
+          From Clatsop and from Clackamas, from Linn and Tillamook;
+          From Grant, Multnomah, Lane and Coos, and Benton, Lake and
+              Crook;
+          From Josephine, Columbia, and loyal Washington,
+          And Union, Baker and Yamhill, and proud old Marion;
+          From where the Cascade mountain-streams their foaming waters
+              pour,
+          We're coming, mothers, sisters, dear, "ten times ten thousand
+              more."
+
+          From Klamath's lakes and Wasco's plains, and Jackson's rolling
+              hills;
+          From Douglas with her mines of gold, and Curry with her mills;
+          From Umatilla's burdened fields, and hills and dales of Polk,
+          We're coming with our votes and songs to break the tyrant's
+              yoke,
+          And in the ears of Liberty this song of joy we'll pour,
+          We're coming, mothers, sisters, dear, "ten times ten thousand
+              more."
+
+Mrs. Mary Olney Brown gives an amusing account of her attempts to
+vote in Washington territory. The incidents related occurred
+several years before the passage of the act specifically
+enfranchising women. She says:
+
+     I do not think there has ever been a session of our legislature
+     that has not had before it the subject of woman suffrage. It has
+     been my habit to write out, and send to all parts of the
+     territory, before the assembling of each legislature, petitions
+     to be signed, asking for a law guaranteeing to women the
+     exercise of their right to vote. These petitions were not without
+     their effect, though no one knew who sent them out, or, when
+     returned, who selected the member to receive and present them to
+     the legislature. At the session of 1867, mainly through the
+     efforts of Edward Eldridge of Whatcom County, an act was passed
+     giving "all white American citizens above the age of twenty-one
+     years" the right to vote. This law is still on our statute books;
+     but, like the fourteenth amendment, is interpreted to mean only
+     male citizens. During the time between the passage of this law
+     and the next election, I wrote to some of the prominent women of
+     the principal towns, telling them of the law, and urging them to
+     go out and vote at the coming election, and also to induce as
+     many more to go as they could. But no notice was taken of my
+     letters. I was looked upon as a fanatic, and the idea of a woman
+     voting was regarded as an absurdity. The law seemed to be in
+     advance of the people. It needed lectures and organized societies
+     among us to educate the women into a just appreciation of their
+     rights and duties.
+
+     In the autumn of 1868, Dr. Smith wrote several articles on the
+     right of women to the ballot, as did also Mr. Eldridge. The
+     latter asserted that it was the intention of the law to give the
+     women of the territory the right to vote; that being a member of
+     the legislature he had purposely stated in his remarks, that if
+     the bill passed in that form, it would give the women the right
+     to vote; and a member from his seat cried out, "That is what we
+     want!" Mr. Eldridge urged the women to go out to the polls and
+     vote. These articles were published in the Olympia _Transcript_,
+     the Republican paper, J. N. Gale, one of the editors, being an
+     advocate of suffrage. Still not a woman made a move. Many wished
+     to vote; they knew it was the only way to secure their rights,
+     and yet they had not the courage to go to the polls in defiance
+     of custom.
+
+     Seeing this to be the case, and knowing that if anything was done
+     some one must take the initiative, I determined to cast aside my
+     timidity and set the ball rolling. Accordingly, several weeks
+     before the election of 1869 I gave out word that I was going to
+     the polls to vote. I had the previous year removed with my family
+     from Olympia, and was living on White River in King county. The
+     announcement that I would attend the election caused a great
+     commotion in White River precinct. A fearful hue and cry was
+     raised. The news reached Olympia and Seaettle, and some of the
+     papers deprecated the idea that "a woman should unsex herself by
+     dabbling in the filthy pool of politics." But I was fully
+     committed. The law had been on our statute books for nearly three
+     years. If it was intended for our benefit, it was time we were
+     availing ourselves of it. So, nothing daunted, I determined to
+     repair to the polling place, the district school-house,
+     accompanied by my husband, my daughter (Mrs. Axtell) and her
+     husband--a little band of four--looked upon with pity and
+     contempt for what was called our "fanaticism."
+
+     For several days before the election the excitement in the
+     neighborhood and other settlements along the river was intense.
+     Many gentlemen called on me and tried to persuade me to stay at
+     home and save myself from insult. I thanked them for their
+     kindness, and told them I fully appreciated their good
+     intentions, but that I had associated with men all my life, and
+     had always been treated as a lady; that the men I should meet at
+     the polls were the same that I met in church and social
+     gatherings, and I knew they would treat me with respect. Then
+     they begged my husband not to allow me to go; but he told them
+     his wife had as good a right to vote as he had; and that no
+     citizen can legally deprive another of the right to vote.
+
+     On the morning of the election, just before we reached the
+     school-house, a man met us and said, "Mr. Brown, look here now!
+     If Mrs. Brown goes up to vote she will be insulted! If I was in
+     your place I wouldn't let her go any farther. She had better go
+     back." My husband answered, "Mr. Brannan, my wife has as good a
+     right to vote as I have, and I would not prevent her if I could.
+     She has a mind of her own and will do as she thinks best, and I
+     shall stand by her and see that she is well treated! Besides
+     [speaking with emphasis], she will not be insulted either!"
+     "Well," said the man, "if she was my wife she shouldn't go!
+     She'll be sure to be insulted!" I looked him full in the face,
+     and said with decision, "Mr. Brannan, a gentleman will be a
+     gentleman under all circumstances, and will always treat a lady
+     with respect." I said this because I knew the man, and knew that
+     if anyone offered any annoyance, it would be he, and so it
+     proved.
+
+     As we drove up to the school-house and alighted, a man in an
+     angry voice snapped out, "Well! if the women are coming to vote,
+     I'm going home!" But he did not go; he had too much curiosity; he
+     wanted to see the fun. He stayed and was converted. After
+     watching the sovereign "white male citizen" perform the laborious
+     task of depositing his vote in the ballot-box, I thought if I
+     braced myself up I might be equal to the task. So, summoning all
+     my strength, I walked up to the desk behind which sat the august
+     officers of election, and presented my vote. When behold! I was
+     pompously met with the assertion, "You are not an American
+     citizen; hence not entitled to vote." The great unabridged
+     dictionary of Noah Webster was opened, and the definition of the
+     word citizen read to me. They all looked to see me vanquished;
+     they thought I would have to retreat before such an overwhelming
+     array of sagacity. The countenances of the judges wore a pleased
+     expression that they had hit on so easy an expedient to put me
+     _hors du combat_, while the crowd looked astonished that I did
+     not sink out of sight. Waiting a moment, I said, "The definition
+     is correct. A citizen of the United States, is a _person_ owing
+     allegiance to the government; but then all persons are not _men_;
+     and the definition of "citizeness" is a female citizen. I claim
+     to be an American citizen, and a native-born citizen at that; and
+     I wish to show you from the fourteenth amendment to the
+     constitution of the United States, that women are not only
+     citizens having the constitutional right to vote, but also that
+     our territorial election law gives women the privilege of
+     exercising that right."
+
+     When I commenced speaking, all the men, with the exception of
+     two--the one who had urged my husband not to let me go to the
+     school-house, and a low, degraded fellow, who had a squaw for a
+     wife--came and ranged themselves around me and the judges before
+     whom I stood, and listened attentively. It was a new subject to
+     them. They had heard of woman suffrage, but only in ridicule. Now
+     it was being presented to them in a very different light. As I
+     proceeded there was a death-like stillness, so intent were they
+     to catch every word. Even the man who had declared he would go
+     home if the women were going to vote, was among the most
+     interested of the listeners. There was but one interruption; the
+     two men, of whom I have spoken, to make good their assertion that
+     I would be insulted, got behind a desk in the far corner of the
+     room, and began talking and laughing very loudly; but they were
+     promptly called to order. Silence being restored, I went on to
+     show them that the original constitution recognized women as
+     citizens, and that the word citizen includes both sexes, as is
+     proved by the phrases, "male citizen," and "female citizen"; that
+     women from the beginning had been unjustly deprived of the
+     exercise of their constitutional rights; that they had for years
+     been petitioning those in power to restore them to their
+     political freedom, when the emancipation of the Southern slaves
+     threw upon the country a class of people, who, like the women of
+     the nation, owed allegiance to the government, but whose
+     citizenship was not recognized. To settle this question, the
+     fourteenth amendment was adopted. Its first section declares
+     emphatically who are citizens, and guarantees to them the
+     exercise of all their natural rights under the equal protection
+     of the law. (Here I read to them the section.) No distinction is
+     made in regard to sex; the word "person" being used, which
+     includes both men and women.
+
+     "And now, honorable gentlemen," I said, in conclusion, "I am a
+     'person,' declared by the fourteenth amendment to be a citizen,
+     and still further, I am a native-born citizen of the same race
+     and color of these gentlemen by whom I am surrounded, and whose
+     votes you do not hesitate to receive; and, had our territorial
+     law failed to give me the right to vote, this amendment would
+     protect me in the exercise of it. I again offer my vote, and hope
+     you will not refuse it." No hand was extended to receive it; but
+     one of the judges threw himself back in his seat, and with great
+     dignity of manner and an immense display of ignorance, exclaimed,
+     "Women have no right to vote; and the laws of Congress don't
+     extend over Washington territory." This was too much for even the
+     strongest opponents. On every side was heard, "Oh, Mr. Alvord!
+     why, yes, they do!" "Mr. Alvord, you are mistaken, the laws of
+     congress do extend over our territory"; and some tried to explain
+     to him that the territory belonged to the United States and was
+     under the jurisdiction of the national government, and that of
+     course the laws of congress extended over it. But still more
+     pompously, he again declared, "It is no such thing, the laws of
+     congress don't extend over Washington territory." A look of
+     disgust and shame was depicted on nearly every countenance, and
+     the cause of woman suffrage had advanced perceptibly in the minds
+     of the audience.
+
+     Another of the judges arose, and said, he had never thought much
+     on the subject. He had no doubt but Mrs. Brown was right, woman
+     were citizens and had the right to vote; but as the courts had
+     not instructed the election officers to take the votes of women,
+     and as the precinct was a small one, he was afraid their whole
+     vote would be thrown out if they received the women's ballots.
+     So, although he should like to see the women have their rights,
+     he should have to refuse Mrs. Brown's vote. Here an Irishman
+     called out, "It would be more sensible to let an intelligent
+     white woman vote than an ignorant nigger." Cries of "Good for
+     you, Pat! good for you, Pat!" indicated the impression that had
+     been made. My daughter now went up and offered her vote, which
+     was, of course, rejected.
+
+     My going to the polls was noised abroad, and set men as well as
+     women thinking. They examined the law for themselves, and found
+     that women had a right to vote, so that before the next election
+     many were prepared to act. In May, 1870, I published an appeal to
+     the women of the territory, quoting to them the law, and urging
+     them to avail themselves of its provisions by going to the polls
+     and voting. My sister, Charlotte Olney French, living in Grand
+     Mound precinct, some twenty-five miles from Olympia, began
+     talking the matter up; and, being a woman of energy and
+     influence, she soon had the whole neighborhood interested. With
+     the assistance of an old lady, Mrs. Peck, she planned a regular
+     campaign. By the programme the women were to get up a picnic
+     dinner at the school-house where the election was to be held, and
+     directly after, while the officers of election were in good humor
+     (wives will understand the philosophy of this), they were to
+     present their votes. My sister, being a good talker and well
+     informed on all the constitutional, judicial and social phases of
+     the question as well as a good judge of human nature, was able to
+     meet and parry every objection, and give information where
+     needed, so that by the time dinner was over, the judges, as well
+     as everybody else, were in the best of spirits. When the voting
+     was resumed, the women (my sister being the first) handed in
+     their ballots as if they had always been accustomed to voting,
+     and everything passed off pleasantly. One lady, Mrs. Sargent,
+     seventy-two years old, said she thanked the Lord that He had let
+     her live until she could vote. She had often prayed to see the
+     day, and now she was proud to cast her first ballot.
+
+     It had been talked of for some days before the election in the
+     adjoining precinct--Black River--that Mrs. French was organizing
+     a party of women to attend the election in Grand Mound precinct;
+     but they were not sure the judges would let them vote. "If they
+     do," said they, "if the Grand Mound women vote, the Black River
+     women shall!" So they stationed a man on a fleet horse, at the
+     Grand Mound polls, with instructions to start as soon as the
+     women began to vote, and ride with all haste back to their
+     precinct and let them know. The moment the man rode in sight of
+     the school-house he swung his hat, and screeched at the top of
+     his voice, "They're voting! They're voting!" The teams were all
+     ready in anticipation of the news, and were instantly flying in
+     every direction, and soon the women were ushered into the
+     school-house, their choice of tickets furnished them, and all
+     allowed to vote as "American citizens."
+
+     While the women of these two precincts were enjoying the exercise
+     of their political rights, the women of Olympia were suffering
+     the vexation of disappointment. I had been stopping there for
+     some weeks previous to the election, trying to induce the women
+     to go to the polls, and also to convince the men that women had a
+     legal right to vote, and that their right must be respected. The
+     day before election the judges were interviewed as to whether
+     they would take the votes of the women. They replied, "Yes; we
+     shall be obliged to take them. The law gives them the right to
+     vote, and we can not refuse." This decision was heralded all over
+     the city, and women felt as if their millennium had come.
+     To-morrow, for the first time, their voice would be heard in the
+     government through the ballot. All day long women met each other,
+     and asked: "Are you going to the election to-morrow?" Groups
+     gathered in parlors and discussed the matter, and everything
+     seemed auspicious.
+
+     But how true the saying: "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and
+     the lip!" Before nine o'clock the next morning, the word had been
+     communicated all over town that "the women need not come out to
+     the polls as the judges would not take their votes." They would
+     give no reason why, but said "they had decided not to take the
+     votes of the women." About a dozen of us gathered together to
+     consult what was best to be done; finding most of them inclined
+     to back out, I urged the necessity of our making an effort; that
+     whether the judges took our votes or not, it was not best to give
+     it up as the rest had done; if we did, it would be harder to make
+     an effort next time; that I had been to the polls once and had my
+     vote refused, and could be refused again; at any rate, I had the
+     right to vote, and I should go and offer it if I had to go alone.
+     Three of the number said they would go with me--Mrs. Patterson,
+     Mrs. Wiley and Mrs. Dofflemyer; these, with Mr. Patterson, my
+     husband and myself made our party. As we reached the court-house
+     where the election was held, Mr. Dofflemyer met us and took his
+     wife home, she meekly submitting.
+
+     Just before us a cart rattled up bearing a male citizen, who was
+     too drunk to know what he was doing, or even to do anything. He
+     was lying on his back in the cart, with feet and hands up,
+     hurrahing at the top of his voice. This disgusting, drunken idiot
+     was picked up out of the cart by two men, who put a ticket into
+     his hand, carried him to the window (he was too drunk to stand),
+     shoved him up and raised his arm into the aperture; his vote
+     received, he was tumbled back into the cart.
+
+     I then stepped up and offered my vote, and was answered with, "We
+     have decided not to take the votes of the women!" "On what
+     grounds do you refuse?" I asked. No answer. "Do you refuse it on
+     legal grounds?" Still no answer. I then said, "Under the election
+     law of this territory, setting aside my constitutional right as a
+     citizen of the United States, I have the right to vote at this
+     election. Have you the election law by you?" "No, we have not got
+     it here," they said. I knew they had, but did not dispute their
+     word. "Very well," I said, "I can quote it for you." I did so,
+     and then said, "Under this territorial law I claim my right, and
+     again I offer you my vote as an American citizen. If you doubt my
+     citizenship, I will insist on taking the oath. Will you receive
+     it?" The answer was, "No; we have decided not to take women's
+     votes, and we cannot take yours." "Then," said I, "it amounts to
+     this: the law gives women the right to vote in this territory,
+     and you three men who have been appointed to receive our votes,
+     sit here and arbitrarily refuse to take them, giving no reason
+     why, only that you have decided not to take the women's votes.
+     There is no law to sustain you in this usurpation of power. We
+     can claim legal redress. Are you willing to stand a legal
+     prosecution?" "Yes," was the response of each one separately. It
+     was now plain to see why the votes of the women were refused; the
+     judges had been hired to do the dirty work, and money pledged in
+     case of prosecution. They were men in moderate circumstances and
+     could not have stood the cost of a suit individually. The ready
+     assent they gave showed such a contingency had been thought of
+     and provided against by the opponents of woman suffrage. The
+     other two women then offered their votes, which were also
+     refused.
+
+     In the autumn of 1871 Susan B. Anthony came to Olympia and
+     attended the first woman suffrage convention ever held here. Our
+     legislature was in session, and a joint hearing before the two
+     Houses was extended to her. Her statesman-like argument clearly
+     proved the right of our women to vote under both the national
+     constitution and the territorial law. After Miss Anthony left,
+     there arose a rumor that the election law was to be repealed, and
+     a committee of women attended every session, determined if
+     possible to prevent it. They were at the capitol the last day,
+     prepared to stay until the adjournment; they were urged to go
+     home, but would not unless a solemn promise was made them that
+     the law should in no way be tampered with. This the members
+     refused to do, until a bright idea struck one of them, which was
+     that they need not disturb the law, but could make it inoperative
+     by enacting another statute. This being whispered among the
+     members, the promise was given, and the women retired.
+     Immediately after, the following act was passed by both Houses,
+     approved and signed by the governor:
+
+          _Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory
+          of Washington:_
+
+          SECTION 1. That hereafter no female shall have the right of
+          ballot, or vote at any poll or election precinct in this
+          territory until the Congress of the United States of America
+          shall, by direct legislation, declare the same to be the
+          supreme law of the land.
+
+          SEC. 2. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
+
+          Approved November 29, 1871.   EDWARD S. SOLOMON, _Governor_.
+
+     When the proclamation to hold a convention to form a constitution
+     preparatory to our admission into the Union as a State, was
+     issued, I recommended to the Territorial Woman Suffrage
+     Association that we make every effort to secure to the convention
+     as many delegates as possible in favor of woman suffrage, and
+     then that we circulate petitions asking them to leave out the
+     word "male" from the constitution. Failing to get the society to
+     take any associated action, I went to work individually, wrote
+     and sent out petitions into every town and country place where
+     there was a post-office, asking that the word "male" be left out
+     of the constitution. With each petition I sent a letter to the
+     person whose name I had procured from the postmaster of the
+     place, stating the object, urging a thorough circulation, and
+     directing its return at a given date to Mary Olney Brown,
+     President of the Washington Territorial Woman Suffrage
+     Association; thus giving the credit of the work to the Society.
+
+     I could not get a member of our Association to circulate the
+     petition in Olympia, so every day that I could get away from home
+     I took my petition in hand and canvassed for signatures. If I
+     went shopping or on an errand I took it with me, and in that way
+     I procured over 300 names. My experience had taught me that the
+     principal opposition to woman's voting came from ignorance as to
+     her true position under the government. She had come to be looked
+     upon almost as a foreign element in our nation, having no lot nor
+     part with the male citizen, and I felt that it was necessary to
+     disabuse the minds of the people generally, and the delegates to
+     the convention particularly, of this notion. I therefore wrote
+     five articles on the "Equality of Citizenship," which Mrs.
+     Duniway kindly published in the _New Northwest_. The Olympia
+     _Courier_ also printed them, and placed the paper on file in the
+     city reading-room; and when I met a man who had not made up his
+     mind on the subject I recommended him to the reading-room, and
+     several after perusing the articles were converted and signed the
+     petition.
+
+     On the assembling of the legislature Mrs. A. H. H. Stuart and
+     myself watched a favorable opportunity to present an equal rights
+     bill. We let them talk up the matter pretty well over a petition
+     signed by fifty women of one of the upper counties, when one day
+     Mrs. Stuart came to me and said: "Now, Mrs. Brown, write out your
+     bill; the speaker of the House sent me word they were ready for
+     it." I sat down and framed a bill[514] to the best of my ability,
+     which was duly presented and respectfully debated. Mrs. Duniway
+     came from Portland to urge its passage, and the day before it
+     came to a vote both Houses adjourned and invited her to speak in
+     the hall of representatives. She made one of her best speeches.
+     The members of both Houses were present, besides a large audience
+     from the city. The next day the House passed the bill by two
+     majority, and on the day following it was lost in the Council by
+     two majority. In the House the vote stood, ayes, 13; nays, 11. In
+     the Council, ayes, 5; nays, 7.
+
+     Saturday evening Mrs. Duniway made another telling speech in the
+     city hall, at the close of which Mr. White, a lobby member, made
+     a few remarks, in which he disclosed the cause of the defeat of
+     the bill in the Council. He said, after the bill passed the House
+     the saloon-keepers, alarmed lest their occupation would be gone
+     if women should vote, button-holed the members of the Council,
+     and as many of them as could be bought by drinks pledged
+     themselves to vote against the bill. The members of the Council
+     were present, and though an urgent invitation was given to all to
+     speak, not one of them denied the charge made by Mr. White. On
+     the following Monday an effort was made in the Council to
+     reconsider the bill, but failed. Thus stands our cause at
+     present. There will be a greater effort than ever before put
+     forth during the next two years to secure an affirmative vote in
+     our legislature.
+
+As Mrs. Brown wrote the above in 1881, the promise in the closing
+sentence was really quite prophetic, since the legislature of 1883
+passed a law enfranchising the women of the territory.[515] Mrs.
+Duniway concludes her account with a brief reference to the work in
+neighboring territories:
+
+     In addition to all that is being done in Oregon and Washington,
+     we are actively engaged in pushing the work in Idaho and Montana
+     territories, where the _New Northwest_ has been thoroughly
+     circulated in many localities and many spirited public meetings
+     have been held. The Idaho legislature seriously considered and
+     came near adopting a woman suffrage bill last winter, and the
+     women of the territory are confidently awaiting a triumph at the
+     next biennial session. Remembering Dakota's set-back through the
+     governor's veto in 1885, they are carefully planning to avoid a
+     like calamity in their own territory. In Montana the cause has
+     made less apparent progress, but there is much quiet and
+     constantly increasing agitation in its favor. Popular feeling is
+     steadily ripening for the change, and let the rest of the world
+     wag as it will, there cannot be much longer hindrance to the
+     complete triumph of liberty in the Pacific Northwest.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[507] Hon. H. L. Yesler, the city's founder and mayor; Mrs. Yesler,
+Rev. John F. Damon, Mrs. Mary Olney Brown, Rev. Daniel Bagley and
+others.
+
+[508] Its leaders being Mrs. Abble H. H. Stuart, Mrs. P. C. Hale,
+Hon. Marshall Blinn, Hon. Elwood Evans, and Mr. J. M. Murphy,
+editor of the _Washington Standard_.
+
+[509] Mr. D. W. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Shanahan, Mr. and Mrs.
+A. B. Gibson, Rev. T. L. Eliot, Mr. B. C. Duniway, Dr. Mary A.
+Thompson, Rev. Isaac Dillon and Hon. and Mrs. G. W. Brown.
+
+[510] Addresses were made in advocacy of the cause by Col. Reed,
+Mrs. J. Devore Johnson, Miss V. M. Olds, Rev. T. L. Eliot, Mrs. C.
+A. Coburn, Mrs. Beatty (colored), and the writer. The celebrated
+McGibeney family furnished the music, and the Portland press gave
+favorable reports of the proceedings. Valuable aid was also
+contributed by Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Hendee, Mr. and Mrs. J. W.
+Peters, and Mrs. M. J. Foster.
+
+[511] Governor Newell, Judge Orange Jacobs, Judge B. F. Dennison,
+Mrs. Pamela Hale, Hon. Philip D. Moore, Mr. W. S. Duniway, Captain
+William H. Smallwood, the writer, and a large number of the members
+of the legislature.
+
+[512] S. F. Chadwick, United States Representative M. C. George,
+ex-United States Senator J. H. Mitchell, United States District
+Judge M. P. Deady, Hon. H. W. Scott, editor of the _Oregonian_,
+ex-Governor A. C. Gibbs, District-Attorneys J. F. Caples and T. A.
+McBride, and various ex-members of the legislature.
+
+[513] The official vote of the State was 11,223 for the amendment,
+and 28,176 against.
+
+[514] _Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Territory of
+Washington:_
+
+SECTION 1. All female citizens of the age of twenty-one years shall
+be entitled to vote at all elections in the territory, subject only
+to such regulations as male citizens.
+
+SEC. 2. Any officer of election who shall refuse to take the vote
+of a woman citizen (otherwise qualified to vote), shall be liable
+to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500.
+
+SEC. 3. All laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
+
+SEC. 4. This act to be in force on and after its passage.
+
+[515] The bill was introduced in the Washington House by
+Representative Coply, and was supported in speeches by Messrs.
+Coply, Besserer, Miles, Clark and Stitzel, while Messrs. Landrum
+and Kincaid spoke against it. The vote was: _Ayes_--Besserer,
+Brooks, Clark, Coply, Foster, Goodell, Hungate, Kuhn, Lloyd,
+Martin, Miles, Shaw, Stitzel and Speaker Ferguson--14.
+_Noes_--Barlow, Brining, Landrum, Ping, Kincaid, Shoudy and
+Young--7. _Absent_--Blackwell, Turpin and Warner--3. The bill was
+favorably reported in the Council, November 15, by Chairman Burk of
+the Judiciary Committee. No one offered to speak on it. The vote
+stood: _Ayes_--Burk, Edmiston, Hale, Harper, Kerr, Power and
+Smith--7. _Noes_--Caton, Collins, Houghton, Whitehouse and
+President Truax--5. Governor W. A. Newell approved the bill
+November 22, 1883.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+LOUISIANA--TEXAS--ARKANSAS--MISSISSIPPI.
+
+     St. Anna's Asylum, Managed by Women--Constitutional Convention,
+     1879--Women Petition--Clara Merrick Guthrie--Petition Referred to
+     Committee on Suffrage--A Hearing Granted--Mrs. Keating--Mrs.
+     Saxon--Mrs. Merrick--Col. John M. Sandige--Efforts of the Women
+     all in Vain--Action in 1885--Gov. McEnery--The _Daily
+     Picayune_--Women as Members of the School-Board--Physiology in
+     the Schools--Miss Eliza Rudolph--Mrs. E. J. Nicholson--Judge
+     Merrick's Digest of Laws--Texas--Arkansas--Mississippi--Sarah A.
+     Dorsey.
+
+
+I.--LOUISIANA.
+
+Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick has furnished the following interesting
+facts from her native State, for which we feel ourselves deeply
+indebted:
+
+     Like the children of one family the States have a common
+     resemblance, but they are various in character as in geographical
+     outline. In Louisiana the Anglo-American finds himself
+     side-by-side with inhabitants of French or Spanish descent, and
+     in many of the country parishes the African freedmen outnumber
+     all the rest.
+
+     St. Anna's Asylum in New Orleans is controlled and managed by a
+     board of directors composed entirely of women. Among the inmates
+     in 1878 was a German woman who had resided in the institution for
+     many years. Finding herself in ill-health and fearing the
+     approach of the end, she confided to the ladies of the board that
+     she had a thousand dollars in bank which she wished to bequeath
+     to the home where she had been provided for and sheltered so
+     long. At her earnest request a will was drawn up in accordance
+     with her wishes, and signed by members of the board who were
+     present as witnesses. Shortly after, the woman died and her will
+     was submitted to the proper authority for admission to probate.
+     When the ladies were duly informed that the will was null and
+     void, they naturally asked why, and were told that under
+     Louisiana law women were not lawful witnesses to a will. Had they
+     only called in the old darkey wood-sawyer, doing a day's work in
+     the asylum yard, and had him affix his mark to the paper, the
+     money would have accrued to the asylum; as it was, it went to the
+     State.
+
+     Early in 1879, when a convention to make a new State
+     constitution[516] had been called and was about to assemble in
+     New Orleans, Mrs. Merrick tried to arouse the ladies of the
+     board, representing to them that in the controlling power they
+     exercised over St. Anna's Asylum they were only children
+     _playing_ they were a part of the people and citizens of the
+     State, when in reality they were legally powerless to perform any
+     free and independent act. The ladies were mortified by the
+     position in which they found themselves but were not willing to
+     take any step to remedy their pitiful case, not even to sign the
+     petition which was afterwards drawn up by Mrs. Saxon and Mrs.
+     Merrick to present to the constitution-makers to have these
+     disabilities removed. The petition was as follows:
+
+          _To the Honorable President and Members of the Convention of
+          Louisiana, convened for the purpose of framing a new
+          Constitution:_
+
+          The undersigned, citizens of the State of Louisiana,
+          respectfully represent:
+
+          That up to the present time all women, of whatever age or
+          capacity, have been debarred from the right of
+          representation, notwithstanding the burdensome taxes which
+          they have paid.
+
+          They have been excluded from holding any office save in
+          cases of special tutorships in limited degree, or of
+          administration only in specified cases.
+
+          They have been debarred from being witnesses to wills or
+          notarial acts, even when executed by their own sex.
+
+          They look upon this condition of things as a grievance
+          proper to be brought before your honorable body for
+          consideration and relief.
+
+          As a question of civilization, we look upon the
+          enfranchisement of women as an all-important one. In
+          Wyoming, where it has been tried for ten years, the
+          law-makers and clergy unite in declaring that this influx of
+          women voters has done more to promote morality and order
+          than thousands of armed men could have accomplished.
+
+          Should the entire franchise seem too extended a privilege,
+          we most earnestly urge the adoption of a property
+          qualification, and that women may be allowed a vote on
+          school and educational matters, involving as they do the
+          interests of women and children in a great degree.
+
+          So large a proportion of the taxes of Louisiana is paid by
+          women, many of them without male representatives, that in
+          granting consideration and relief for grievances herein
+          complained of, the people will recognize justice and equity.
+          To woman as well as man "taxation without representation is
+          tyranny," she being "a person, a citizen, a freeholder, a
+          tax-payer," the same as man, only government has never held
+          out the same fostering, protecting hand to all alike, nor
+          ever will, until women are directly represented.
+
+          Wherefore, we, your petitioners, pray that some suitable
+          provision remedying these evils be incorporated in the
+          constitution you are about to frame.
+
+     While this petition was being circulated, favorable articles
+     appeared from time to time in the public prints. The following,
+     signed "Fatima," the _nom de plume_ of Clara Merrick Guthrie,
+     appeared in the _Democrat_:
+
+          A well-known notary signed this petition with a flourish,
+          remarking that "few women and not over half the men were
+          aware of the disabilities of wives and daughters."
+
+          If the convention should invest women of property with the
+          elective franchise it would give to the respectable side of
+          politics a large body of sensible voters which would go far
+          toward neutralizing the evil of unlimited male suffrage. The
+          policy in the Northern States has been to demand
+          unrestricted suffrage, but the women of Louisiana may with
+          propriety exhibit certain variations in the nature of their
+          appeal. This subject in all its phases inspires my
+          enthusiasm, but I dare not be as eloquent as I might, lest a
+          messenger should be sent to me with an urgent request to
+          address the convention next Monday evening. * * * *
+
+          _On dit._--Other ladies beside our brave Mrs. Saxon are
+          desired to give their views. Now surely the convention would
+          not ask these quiet house-mothers, who are not even remotely
+          akin to professional agitators, to do such violence to their
+          old-time precedents if the prospect of some reward were not
+          encouraging and immediate. Nothing could induce me to make
+          personal application save the solemn obligation of the whole
+          august body to accede to my timid proposal simultaneously
+          and by acclamation. Fortunately for us there are women in
+          Louisiana more sacrificing of their naturally shrinking
+          disposition, who perhaps take the cause more seriously than
+          your correspondent, who would make a most persuasive
+          enrolling-officer but not so gallant a general for active
+          service.
+
+     After securing over 400 influential names[517] the petition was
+     sent in to the convention and was referred to the Committee on
+     Suffrage, Mr. Felix P. Poche, chairman, now judge of the Supreme
+     Court. On May 7, the committee invited the ladies to a conference
+     at Parlor P, St. Charles Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Saxon, Colonel and
+     Mrs. John M. Sandige and Mrs. Mollie Moore Davis were present.
+     Mrs. Saxon spoke for an hour and replied to questions from the
+     committee. She made a very favorable impression and was highly
+     commended for her argument. On June 16 the friends of the
+     petition were notified that a hearing would be granted them at
+     the evening session of the convention. Mrs. Harriette C. Keating
+     and Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon had consented to speak if such a
+     hearing were granted.
+
+     Col. John M. Sandige, who had occupied prominent positions in the
+     political affairs of the State, gave much encouragement and
+     assistance. He did not hesitate to urge the importance of this
+     movement, and the necessity that the women who were most
+     interested should cheerfully assume their responsibility in
+     relation to it. While Mrs. Saxon was known already as a fearless
+     and able reformer, and Dr. Harriette C. Keating as a noble
+     representative of woman in professional life, he thought it was
+     desirable to have a voice from the home and from society, and
+     Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick was solicited to come forward and
+     endorse what her colleagues would say, in a few words at the
+     close of the proceedings. Mrs. Merrick finally agreed that she
+     should see her duty in the light in which it was presented if
+     Judge Merrick, who constituted her court of last resort, should
+     leave her entirely free to act in the case. After a consultation,
+     to her great surprise and consternation the judge said, "You have
+     always desired to help women--here is an opportunity; go forward
+     and do your share in this work."
+
+     The surprise could hardly have been greater if a procession of
+     slaves twenty-five years ago had come up in force to the lordly
+     mansion of their master with several spokesmen chosen from their
+     ranks, for the avowed purpose of asking for their freedom. The
+     ladies were treated with a delicate courtesy and kindness on this
+     unusual occasion, which they can never forget. Judge Poche, with
+     the tact of a true gentleman, endeavored to smooth a difficult
+     way, reassuring the failing courage of the ladies while assisting
+     them to mount the platform. The _Daily Picayune_ of June 17,
+     1879, said:
+
+          The usually prosaic and unimpressive appearance of the
+          convention hall assumed for the occasion an entire change
+          last evening. When the convention closed its forenoon's
+          labors, it took a recess until half-past 7 o'clock for the
+          purpose of affording the female suffragists an opportunity
+          to plead their cause before a full meeting. The scene before
+          the convention was called to order was interesting and
+          amusing. As the minutes rolled on the crowd of ladies
+          commenced to pour in, and by 8 o'clock the hall contained
+          some fifty representatives of the gentler sex of the
+          Crescent City. Every age of womanhood and every class of
+          beauty found a representative upon the floor. About half a
+          dozen "society girls" occupied a retired corner of the room,
+          while a number of the notables, including Mrs. Myra Clark
+          Gaines, took possession of the middle of the hall.
+
+          Promptly at 8 o'clock President Wiltz climbed to his seat
+          and called the convention to order in a tone slightly husky
+          from nervous excitement. Secretary Harris, having summoned
+          up his spare courage, called the roll in a determined voice.
+          Of the 134 members 106 responded to their names. After the
+          usual preliminaries Mr. Poche announced that a committee of
+          ladies were in attendance, prepared to address the
+          convention upon the question of woman suffrage. He then
+          introduced Mrs. Dr. Keating. The fair speaker had scarcely
+          begun before it was seen that she possessed a clear, slow
+          enunciation and perfect confidence in her ability to enforce
+          the doctrines of the cause she was to advocate. She read
+          from manuscript and showed no little knowledge of the rules
+          of oratory.
+
+          Mrs. Saxon was greeted with a burst of applause, which was
+          gracefully acknowledged by the recipient; her address was
+          earnest and made a deep impression.
+
+          Mr. Robertson of St. Landry then offered the following
+          resolution, which lies over under the rules:
+
+          _Resolved_, That the committee on elective franchises be
+          directed to embody in the article upon suffrage reported in
+          this convention, a provision giving the right of suffrage to
+          women upon the same terms as to men.
+
+          After some talk the resolution was laid aside to allow
+          another speech to be made. Mrs. E. T. Merrick was introduced
+          by Mr. Poche, as the wife of ex-Chief-Justice Merrick, and a
+          shower of applause followed the appearance of the lady. She
+          said:
+
+          _Mr. President and Delegates of the Convention:_--We have
+          met with such unexpected kindness in the reception which you
+          have accorded us to-night, that we find it hard to give
+          expression to anything but thanks. When we remember the
+          persistent and aggressive efforts which our energetic
+          sisters of the North put forth before they could obtain a
+          hearing before any legislative assembly, we find ourselves
+          lost in a pleasing astonishment at the graciousness which
+          beams upon us here from all quarters. Should we even now be
+          remanded to our places and have our petitions met with an
+          utter refusal, we should be grieved to the heart, we should
+          be sorely disappointed, but we never could cherish the least
+          feeling of rebellious spite toward this convention of men,
+          who have shown themselves so respectful and considerate
+          toward the women of Louisiana.
+
+          Perhaps some of the gentlemen thought we did not possess the
+          moral courage to venture even thus far from the retirement
+          in which we prefer to dwell; perhaps they thought we would
+          not dare to appear in person before this formidable body and
+          speak for our own cause. Be assured that a resolute and
+          conscientious woman can put aside her individual preferences
+          at the call of duty, and act unselfishly for the good of
+          others. You are our witnesses that we have not wearied you
+          by our importunities, nor have we sought in any disingenuous
+          manner to influence you in our favor. We are simply here in
+          response to your own courteous invitation to explain our
+          ideas and opinions on the great question of woman's
+          enfranchisement. The ladies who have already addressed you
+          have given you our arguments, and in eloquent language have
+          made their appeal, to which you could not have been
+          insensible. It only remains for me to give you some of my
+          own individual views in the few words which are to conclude
+          this interview.
+
+          We assure you we are not cherishing any ambitious ideas of
+          political honors and emoluments for women. We do not wish to
+          become governors or legislators, nor have we any inordinate
+          desire to obtain seats in congress. I have seen but one
+          woman who ever expressed even a wish to be president of
+          these United States. But we do ask with most serious
+          earnestness that you should give us the ballot, which has
+          been truly called the expression of allegiance and
+          responsibility to the government. All over the world this
+          same movement is advancing. In many countries earnest,
+          thoughtful, large-hearted women are working day and night to
+          elevate their sex; to secure higher education; to open new
+          avenues for their industrious hands; trying to make women
+          helpers to man, instead of being millstones round his neck
+          to sink him in his life struggle. Ah, if we could only
+          infuse into your souls the courage which we,
+          constitutionally timid as we are, now feel on this subject,
+          you would hasten to perform this act of justice, and
+          inaugurate the beginning of the end which all but the blind
+          can see is surely and steadily approaching. We are willing
+          to accept anything. We have always been in the position of
+          beggars, as now, and cannot be choosers if we wished. We
+          will gladly accept the franchise on any terms, provided they
+          be wholly and entirely honorable. If you should see proper
+          to subject us to an educational test, even of a high order,
+          we should try to attain it; if you require a considerable
+          property qualification, we would not complain. We would be
+          only too grateful for any amelioration of our legal
+          disabilities. Allow me to ask, are we less prepared for the
+          intelligent exercise of the right of suffrage than were the
+          freedmen when it was suddenly conferred upon them? Has not
+          this right been to them a beneficial stimulant, inducing
+          them to use exertions to promote their improvement, and has
+          it not raised them to a superior place, above the
+          disfranchised classes, such as the Chinese, Indians and
+          women?
+
+          Perhaps you think only a few of us desire the ballot. If
+          that were so, we think it would not be any sufficient reason
+          for withholding it. In old times most of our slaves were
+          happy and contented. Under the rule of good and humane
+          masters, they gave themselves no trouble to grasp after a
+          freedom which was beyond their reach. So it is with us
+          to-day. We are happy and kindly treated (as witness our
+          reception here to-night), and in the enjoyment of the
+          numerous privileges which our chivalrous gentlemen are so
+          ready to accord; many of us who feel a wish for freedom, do
+          not venture even to whisper a single word about our rights.
+          For the last twenty-five years I have occasionally expressed
+          a desire to vote, and it was always received as a matter of
+          surprise, but the sort of effect produced was as different
+          as the characters of the individuals with whom I conversed.
+          * * * *
+
+          Gentlemen of the convention, we now leave our cause in your
+          hands, and commend it to your favorable consideration. We
+          have pointed out to you the signs of the dawning of a
+          better day for woman, which are so plain before our eyes,
+          and implore you to reach out your hand and help us up, that
+          we may catch the first glimpse of its glory before it floods
+          the world with noon-day light.[518]
+
+          Col. John M. Sandidge read a letter from Mrs. Sarah A.
+          Dorsey:
+
+                                                  JUNE 11, 1879.
+
+          _Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention:_--Too weak
+          from recent illness and suffering to appear personally
+          before you by the side of the women of Louisiana who are
+          asking for the privilege and responsibility of political
+          suffrage, I am forced to use this mode of indorsing their
+          movement.
+
+          Being left by the fiat of God entirely alone in the world,
+          with no man to represent me, having large interests in the
+          State and no voice either in representation or taxation
+          while hundreds of my negro lessees vote and control my life
+          and property, I feel that I ought to say one word that may
+          perhaps aid many other women whom fate has left equally
+          destitute. It is doubtful whether I shall rise from my couch
+          of pain to profit by the gift should the men of Louisiana
+          decide to give the women of the State the right which is the
+          heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race--representation for
+          taxation. But still I ask it for my sisters and for the
+          future of the race. We women of Louisiana have always been
+          treated before the law as civil partners of our husbands. In
+          every respect our rights have been protected.
+
+          It needs but one more step to make us civilly free, and this
+          we ask you to embody in your new constitution. Many men are
+          not opposed to the fact of female suffrage, but to its mode
+          at present; that could be corrected, and women need not be
+          exposed to the coarseness and strife of the polls as they
+          are now conducted. There is no man among you who does not
+          believe his wife or his daughter intelligently capable of
+          taking a voice in the government. If my lessees are capable
+          of being citizens of Louisiana, it is because for thirty
+          years of my life and for five generations of my ancestors we
+          have interested ourselves in their civilization and in their
+          instruction. Gentlemen, we ask nothing that would unsex
+          ourselves. We do not expect to do man's work; we can never
+          pass the limits which nature herself has set. But we ask for
+          justice; we ask for removal of unnatural restrictions that
+          are contrary to the elemental spirit of the civil law; we do
+          not ask for rights, but for permission to assume our natural
+          responsibilities.
+
+          Praying that the hearts and minds of the men of Louisiana
+          may be moved toward this act of justice, I am, with profound
+          respect, your obedient servant,
+
+                                             SARAH A. DORSEY.
+
+     The Webster _Tribune_, Mr. Scanland, editor, of June 25, 1879,
+     shows the sensation created in the remotest parishes of Louisiana
+     by this hearing before the convention:
+
+          The ladies, it seems, are about walking up and demanding
+          enlarged liberties. We were under the impression that women
+          generally had about as much latitude as they wanted, but if
+          they desire more, the _Tribune_ says, in the name of
+          gallantry if not justice, let them have all they wish. There
+          is an element throughout the Union agitating the proposition
+          that they are entitled to vote because they are taxed. The
+          Constitution of the United States provides that no one shall
+          be taxed without representation. Representation is based on
+          population, and, of course, the ladies are enumerated; and
+          the "horrid men" claim that the ladies are represented
+          through them. This a great many repudiate, and their heads
+          are about level. When a man assumes to represent a woman, he
+          undertakes a larger contract than he imagines--something we
+          would not dream of attempting in a political or any other
+          sense.
+
+          The ladies who advocate female suffrage claim that as they
+          are governed by the laws they have a right to a voice in
+          making them. Many of the ablest women of this country hold
+          that belief, and of all our noble statesmen, not one has
+          advanced an answer to this demand--reasonable, if it does
+          come from women. A French essayist held that as women are a
+          part of society, they have a right to be judges of its
+          members, assist in making its laws, and condemn and punish
+          transgressors. They have their influence, but that is not so
+          effective as power. * * * * Some of the brightest intellects
+          that adorn the social circles throughout this country and
+          State hold these views and ably advance them. Among them in
+          this State are Mrs. E. L. Saxon, Mrs. Merrick, wife of
+          ex-Chief-Justice Merrick, and Mrs. Dr. Harriette Keating.
+          When our convention was discussing the suffrage question,
+          these ladies petitioned to be heard. Of course the request
+          was allowed. Last Tuesday evening the above-mentioned ladies
+          addressed the congress at length. Their speeches were able,
+          and the ideas they advanced were sound logic; but if carried
+          into effect may prove beneficial, and may not. Woman
+          suffrage is an experiment. Like everything else, we will
+          never know its effects until after it is tried. We only wish
+          that there were a few more men in that convention who could
+          make as able speeches as did these ladies--notwithstanding
+          the Utopian ideas advanced.
+
+     When the new constitution finally went forth, it contained, as
+     the result of all our arguments and appeals, but one little
+     concession:
+
+          ARTICLE 232. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards,
+          shall be eligible to any office of control or management
+          under the school laws of the State.
+
+     Judge I. F. Marshall of Catahoula parish, an accomplished
+     gentleman and able lawyer, suggested this article, and it was
+     presented and championed by Hon. F. L. Claiborne[519] of Pointe
+     Coupee. The women of Louisiana have never realized any advantage
+     from this law. All school offices are filled by appointment of
+     the governor, and there was no serious agitation for the
+     enforcement of this clause in the new constitution until the
+     autumn of 1885, when, in response to the demand that women should
+     be appointed on the school-board of New Orleans, Gov. McEnery,
+     through a correspondent of the _Times-Democrat_, gave his opinion
+     as follows:
+
+          If a married woman occupied an office under the school laws,
+          in which it was necessary to bring a suit to enforce some
+          right connected with it, she would have to get the consent
+          of her husband to bring the suit and join him with her.
+          There are only a few exceptional cases where the married
+          woman can legally act independently of her husband. Our code
+          so recognizes the paramount control of the husband that when
+          a widow, who is the tutor of her minor children, wishes to
+          marry, and gets the consent of a family meeting to be
+          retained in the tutorship, the code, article 255, says: Her
+          second husband becomes of necessity the co-tutor, and, for
+          the administration of the property subsequently to his
+          marriage, becomes bound _in solido_ with his wife. And so it
+          would be in the appointment of a married woman to a public
+          office. Her husband, of necessity, would share it with her;
+          would, in fact, be the officer. And as to unmarried women,
+          Article 232 does not repeal any of their disabilities. It
+          does not repeal the laws creating the essential differences
+          between men and women. It, as I stated, simply asserts a
+          right, and is inoperative until there is legislation to
+          enforce it.
+
+     The _Daily Picayune_ of November 16, under the head lines of
+     "Women as Members of School Boards," "The Law and the Facts in
+     the Case Presented by Mrs. Merrick," gives the following:
+
+          Last Thursday evening, November 12, a special meeting or
+          reception was held by the women's club at their rooms on
+          Baronne street. On this occasion the club was addressed by
+          Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick, a good and practical-minded friend
+          of the cause of woman. The 12th was the seventieth birthday
+          of Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and a decorated picture of
+          the famous woman hung in the rooms. Mrs. Merrick read a
+          sketch of the life of Mrs. Stanton, but devoted the first
+          part of the evening to reading the following paper, the
+          matter of which is, of the keenest interest to all thinking
+          men and women in the State:
+
+          More than eighty thousand children attend the public schools
+          in Louisiana, and of this number one-half are girls, and of
+          the 389 teachers employed in the public schools of New
+          Orleans, 368 are women. It cannot be denied that these are
+          of equal concern and importance to the State with any like
+          number of boys and men, nor does it require any argument to
+          prove that mothers are best qualified to superintend and
+          look after the welfare of their own children. In view of
+          this fact the convention of 1879 embodied the following
+          article in the constitution of the State:
+
+          ARTICLE 232. Women 21 years of age and upward shall be
+          eligible to any office of control or management under the
+          school laws of this State.
+
+          Notwithstanding the absolute right conferred by this article
+          on women over twenty-one years of age, the chief executive
+          of the State, with his present views, is apparently
+          unwilling to make any appointment of women to such
+          management without further legislation. The views of the
+          Governor on all questions are always entitled to great
+          respect. The question is one of interpretation, and many of
+          the best lawyers in Louisiana do not hesitate to hold and
+          declare a different view.
+
+          I am told that there are in the various constitutions of the
+          States and general government two classes of provisions, the
+          one self-executing and absolute, and the other requiring
+          legislative action before they can be exercised. For example
+          of the first class, article 59 of the constitution declares
+          that "the supreme executive power of the State shall be
+          vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the
+          Governor of Louisiana." Nobody would ever undertake to say
+          that the governor was dependent on any more legislation to
+          carry this into effect so as to enable him to fill his
+          office. If he were, it would then become necessary to
+          legislate about every other article, and so the constitution
+          would be worthless, everything being required to be done
+          over by the legislature before the constitution could have
+          any effect.
+
+          Article 232 of the constitution is imperative. It declares
+          that women over twenty-one years of age shall be eligible to
+          any office of control or management under the school laws of
+          the State. Can the legislature repeal or modify this
+          mandate? Of course not. Could the absoluteness of this right
+          be expressed in plainer or more energetic terms? No, indeed.
+          We are told and have been made to understand that it is a
+          right conferred by the constitution of the State, which
+          cannot be defeated or enlarged, or even abridged in any way
+          by the legislature; neither by modification, repeal, or
+          inaction. That this article being paramount law, itself
+          repeals all legislation inconsistent with it. The
+          constitution, I am told, prescribes the legal and other
+          qualifications for our judges of the courts. Nobody ever
+          thought legislative action was needed when their
+          qualifications are according to that instrument, to enable
+          them to take their places on the bench.
+
+          Article 185 of the constitution prescribes the
+          qualifications of voters or electors, and we are instructed
+          that all conflicting laws on that point are annulled by the
+          sovereign will of the people in convention assembled. In
+          fact, good lawyers have given us innumerable examples,
+          illustrations and decisions to this effect; and even women,
+          who are for the most part ignorant of the laws of their
+          State, begin to understand that they have a right to a place
+          on the school-board for some one of their own sex here in
+          Louisiana. True, it has been said that there are other
+          articles which are in conflict with article 232, but we are
+          told the other provisions of the constitution relate to
+          other and more general subjects, and on this very subject
+          the framers of the constitution have in very positive and
+          unmistakable terms declared its precise will, and it is
+          wasting time to try to explain it away. These wise jurists
+          do not fear to tell us further, that special laws or
+          provisions in a constitution or statute abrogate or limit
+          the general provisions in the same instrument.
+
+          We are sorry that our governor apprehends any difficulty
+          would arise in regard to married women being school
+          directors. He says the husband might change his domicile and
+          the wife would be obliged to follow him, and if bond were
+          required she could not sign it without his consent, and
+          finally the fact was she could not do _anything_ without the
+          husband's consent. Then "the husband would share the office
+          with her." I have heard that it was difficult to prevent
+          outside influences from operating upon the minds of men in
+          office. We have certainly heard some complaints of this
+          sort, but it seems that there would be no great danger
+          encountered from this source. The duties which this article
+          of the constitution permits women to perform are not
+          generally remunerative, and would be probably more a labor
+          of love than of reward. As to the other objections, perhaps
+          the husband _would_ sign his wife's bond, and perhaps he
+          would _not_ move away while she held the office. I have
+          heard that sheriffs sometimes run away after giving bond,
+          and people are sometimes elected to office and unable to
+          qualify, and others disappoint the public by resigning.
+          Moreover we have ascertained the fact that a tutrix may
+          subsequently marry, and that act does not prevent her from
+          filling the office of tutrix, neither does the fact of being
+          already married prevent her from discharging the duties of
+          tutrix. But I see no harm done if the husband should become
+          the assistant of his wife in this office. Is it not manifest
+          that the two together would have a superior official
+          knowledge of the needs and exigencies of the girls sent to
+          the public schools and the women who teach them daily, than
+          the husband could possibly attain by himself? But the whole
+          difficulty, it seems to us, might be obviated. Let the
+          governor appoint unmarried women. A woman who has been so
+          unfortunate as to be a widow would not be objectionable.
+
+          The article says: "Women over twenty-one years shall be
+          eligible" to these offices. It does not say the legislature
+          may make them "eligible." By its own inherent force it
+          declares them eligible. If they are really eligible, then
+          why not have them selected and appointed? They have every
+          requisite for the office, and as the dictionary says, are
+          "proper to be chosen." They are "qualified to be elected."
+          They are "legally qualified." They are eligible. It is not
+          at all likely that the legislature will ever do the vain
+          thing of affirming a constitutional right so explicitly
+          given.
+
+          The opposition of the executive, therefore, seems to be a
+          bar not only to this provision being carried out, but also
+          to the raising of any question under it for the
+          consideration of the judiciary. It is confidently hoped and
+          expected that he will consent to reconsider the whole
+          question. We feel sure the governor will not intentionally
+          be guilty of any injustice to the women of Louisiana, and
+          will not desire to withhold any benefit from them which has
+          already been conferred by the State constitution. Women all
+          over the Union rejoiced when this generous concession was
+          granted here in Louisiana. In many other States they enjoy
+          the same, and greater privileges, and letters and inquiries
+          have come from distant States, asking why this law has not
+          gone into effect. We are aware that any reform changing
+          existing conditions must move slowly, and is apt to be
+          unpopular with men in authority; then it also antagonizes
+          the inertia of women, who are too modest to thrust
+          themselves forward, saying, "I am ready to serve the State";
+          yet they know all the time they can do good service in
+          relation to the schools. Only give them a kindly helping
+          hand, and we feel sure that a valuable cooeperating influence
+          will be felt, of which no one has ever dreamed in the past.
+          We leave this matter to the governor, to the citizens of
+          Louisiana, and to the fathers who take a deep interest in
+          the welfare of their daughters as well as of their sons.
+
+     Our legislature passed a law requiring physiology to be taught in
+     the public schools, while the vast majority of the teachers of
+     the State are women, and no college in which that science is
+     taught is open to them. In 1885, Dr. Chaille gave a course of
+     free lectures on physiology and anatomy for the benefit of the
+     New Orleans teachers, who, while they are doing the most
+     important-public work in training the rising generation in the
+     rudiments of learning, are denied the advantages of the higher
+     education that would fit them for the duties of their profession.
+     A fitting precedent for the action of our rulers may be found in
+     Shakespeare's, "Titus Andronicus," in which rude men seize the
+     king's daughter, cut out her tongue and cut off her hands, and
+     then bid her go call for water and wash her hands.
+
+     The State Pharmaceutical Association, formed in 1882 with 110
+     members, unanimously elected Miss Eliza Rudolph a member. Miss
+     Rudolph was then the only woman in the drug business. Having been
+     refused admission to the medical college of the State University,
+     she perfected herself in pharmacy by a course of private
+     lectures. In 1884 she was elected corresponding secretary of the
+     association.
+
+     The _Daily Picayune_, in closing its half-century, gives the
+     following of Mrs. E. J. Nicholson, its chief owner and manager
+     since January, 1876:
+
+          "Pearl Rivers," the lady's _nom de plume_, was already well
+          known in the republic of letters before she became, as she
+          now is, the most eminent female journalist in the world,
+          largely owning and successfully directing for years a great
+          daily political journal. The fact is unique. The fame of
+          Mrs. Nicholson belongs to the world of letters and her
+          biography may be found in any dictionary of Southern
+          authors, nevertheless a history of the _Picayune_ would not
+          be complete without some notice of one who has had so much
+          to do with its destiny. Miss Eliza J. Poltevent is a native
+          of Hancock county, Mississippi. She was born on the banks of
+          one of the most beautiful streams in the South, Pearl river.
+          She wrote over the name of "Pearl Rivers," and her poems
+          made her a conspicuous niche in the temple of Southern
+          letters. She wrote much for the _Picayune_ and wrote herself
+          into love as well as fame. She was married to Col. Holbrook,
+          the proprietor of the paper, and after his death in 1876,
+          she succeeded to the ownership. This was a trying position
+          for a woman. The South had not recovered from the
+          devastation of the war, and the _Picayune_ was involved in
+          embarrassments. Friends even advised her to dispose of the
+          property and not to undertake so formidable a task as the
+          conduct of a daily paper under existing complications. Brave
+          and true-hearted, with a profound and abiding conviction of
+          her duty in the matter, she assumed the control of the
+          paper. She wisely surrounded herself with able and devoted
+          assistants, and with their help has gallantly and
+          successfully surmounted many formidable obstacles, until she
+          has seen the _Picayune_ reestablished on a sound and
+          prosperous basis. Mr. George Nicholson had acquired a
+          proprietorship in it, and when Mrs. Holbrook assumed control
+          the firm name was E. J. Holbrook & Co. On June 28, 1878, the
+          interests of the two copartners were further consolidated by
+          marriage. Since then the _Picayune_ has been published under
+          the firm name of Nicholson & Co., and the columns daily
+          attest the energy, enterprise and ability with which it is
+          conducted, while its advertising patronage speaks for
+          itself.
+
+     Mrs. Martha R. Field is a member of the editorial staff of the
+     _Picayune_. She has charge of the Sunday woman's column, besides
+     her regular column over the _nom de plume_ of Catherine Cole.
+
+     The _Times-Democrat_ is owned by Mrs. Burke, who however leaves
+     its management to her husband, Col. Burke. Miss Bessie Bisland,
+     under the name of B. L. R. Dane, contributes to the Sunday paper,
+     and edits the "_Bric-a-Brac_ column" which consists of criticisms
+     and reviews of the leading magazines. This paper boasts the most
+     clever "Society column" in the country; it is edited by Mrs.
+     Jennie Coldwell Nixon who is now, 1886, superintendent of the
+     Woman's Department of the Exposition.
+
+     Mrs. J. Pinkney Smith edits the "Social Melange" of the _States_.
+     Among the regular Sunday contributors are Miss Corrinne
+     Castillanos, who buzzes as the Society Bee, and Mrs. Mollie Moore
+     Davis, known as the "Texas Song Bird." Mrs. Ada Hilderbrand,
+     editor of the _Courier_ at Gretna, did the printing for the
+     Woman's Exposition.
+
+     New Orleans has a Woman's National Press Association of which
+     Mrs. E. J. Nicholson is president; a Christian Woman's Exchange,
+     Mrs. R. M. Wamsley, president, doing a business of $45,000 a
+     year,[520] a Southern Art Union and Woman's Industrial
+     Association, with Mrs. J. H. Stauffer and others on the auxiliary
+     executive committee, and a Woman's Club,[521] originated by Miss
+     Bessie Bisland who was the president of the club for the first
+     year, 1885.
+
+     The laws of Louisiana relating to women have been given by Judge
+     E. T. Merrick, a well-known legal authority and for ten years the
+     chief-justice of the Supreme Court of the State:
+
+          The rights of married women to their estates are probably
+          better secured in Louisiana than in any other of these
+          United States. The laws on this subject are derived from
+          Spain. Certain provinces of that kingdom were conquered and
+          for centuries held by the Visigoths, among whom, as among
+          the Franks at Paris, the institution called the community of
+          aquets and gains between husband and wife, prevailed. In
+          Spain, as in France, there were certain provinces in which
+          the ancient Roman law continued in force, and they were
+          called the provinces of the written law. In these (called
+          also the countries of the _dotal regime_) there was no
+          community between the spouses of their acquisitions. Both of
+          these systems are recognized by the Louisiana civil code,
+          but if the parties marry without any marriage settlement the
+          law implies that they have married under the _regime_ of the
+          community. To prevent error it is proper to observe that
+          there have been three civil codes adopted in Louisiana,
+          viz., in 1808, 1825 and 1870. The marriage laws are
+          substantially the same in all, but bear different numbers in
+          each code. The following references are to the code of 1870.
+          Except in a very limited number of cases the husband and
+          wife are incapable of making binding contracts with each
+          other during the marriage. Hence all settlements of
+          property, to be binding, must be executed before marriage
+          and in solemn form, that is, before a notary and two male
+          witnesses having the proper qualifications. The betrothed
+          are granted considerable liberty over the provisions of
+          their marriage contract, as the following quotations show:
+
+          ART. 2,325. In relation to property, the law only regulates
+          the conjugal association in default of particular
+          agreements, which the parties are at liberty to stipulate as
+          they please, provided they be not contrary to good morals
+          and under the modifications hereafter prescribed.
+
+          ART. 2,326. Husband and wife can in no case enter into any
+          agreement or make any renunciation the object of which would
+          be to alter the legal order of descents, either with respect
+          to themselves, in what concerns the inheritance of their
+          children, posterity, or with respect to their children
+          between themselves, without prejudice to the donations
+          _inter vivas_ or _mortis causa_, which may take place
+          according to the formalities and in the cases determined by
+          this code.
+
+          The parties are also "prohibited from derogating from the
+          power of the husband over the person of his wife and
+          children which belongs to the husband as the head of the
+          family, or from the rights guaranteed to the surviving
+          husband or wife" (C. C., Art. 2,327).
+
+          If the parties adopt the _dotal regime_ in their marriage
+          contract the dotal effects are (except under some
+          circumstances) inalienable during marriage; and at the
+          dissolution of the marriage, they are to be replaced or
+          returned to the wife, or her heirs, and to secure this, the
+          wife has a mortgage on her husband's lands, and a privilege
+          on his movables, including those of the community (C. C.,
+          Art. 2376; Art. 2347). "The dower is given to the husband,
+          for him to enjoy the same as long as the marriage shall
+          last." Strong as is this language, the dowry is given by the
+          wife or her father or mother or other relations or friends,
+          simply to support the marriage.
+
+          Under the _regime_ of the community, the individual property
+          of the husband or wife, and all property either may acquire
+          afterwards by inheritance or donations re-remain separate
+          property. The conjugal partnership is defined by C. C., Art.
+          2402. "This partnership, or community, consists of the
+          profits of all the effects of which the husband has the
+          administration and enjoyment, either of right or in fact, of
+          the produce of the reciprocal industry and labor of both
+          husband and wife, and the estates which they may acquire
+          during marriage, either by donations made jointly to them
+          both, or by purchase, or in any other similar way, even
+          should the purchase be in the name of one of the two, and
+          not of both, because in that case the period of time when
+          the purchase is made is alone attended to, and not the
+          person who made the purchase."
+
+          During the marriage the husband has the management of the
+          community, and he can sell or exchange the same, but he
+          cannot give away the real estate without binding his estate
+          to recompense the wife or her heirs, for the one-half so
+          given away. All the income of his estate must enter into the
+          community. On the other hand the wife may at her pleasure
+          take her own estate from the management of the husband into
+          her own control and discretion (C. C. 2384). But in this
+          contingency she must contribute to the family expenses (C.
+          C. 2389 and 2435).
+
+          If the affairs of the husband become embarrassed, the wife
+          can sue the husband for a separation of property, and get a
+          judgment against him for all indebtedness, on account of
+          money or property used or disposed of by him, and sell him
+          out under execution, and buy in the property herself if she
+          sees fit. Thus she stands in a more favorable position
+          toward the community than the husband, who is bound for all
+          its debts, for she can stand by and choose. If the community
+          becomes prosperous, she has the absolute right, as owner, to
+          one-half of it after payment of debts, and a right to the
+          income of the other half until she dies, or marries a second
+          time.
+
+          By causing her claims on account of her separate or
+          paraphernal estate to be recorded, she secures a mortgage
+          against her husband's lands and the lands of the community.
+          If a husband or wife dies affluent, leaving the survivor in
+          necessitous circumstances, the latter can claim one-fourth
+          of the estate of the deceased. This is called "the marital
+          fourth." The wife, also, if she or the children do not
+          possess one thousand dollars in their own right, can claim
+          as a privilege and against the creditors, one thousand
+          dollars, or a sum which, with her own estate, shall equal
+          that amount.
+
+          The wife cannot appear in court, or dispose of, or mortgage,
+          or acquire real estate, without the consent of the husband,
+          but the judge of the court of the domicil may authorize the
+          wife to sue, or be sued. If the husband refuses to empower
+          the wife to contract, she may cite him into court and have
+          the property of the proposed contract settled by an order of
+          the judge. The wife has full power to make a will without
+          any authorization from her husband or the court.
+
+          ART. 2,398. The wife, whether separated in property, by
+          contract, or by judgment, or not separated, cannot bind
+          herself for her husband, nor conjointly with him, for debts
+          contracted by him before or during the marriage.
+
+          ART. 119. The husband and wife owe to each other mutual
+          fidelity, support and assistance.
+
+          ART. 120. The wife is bound to live with her husband, and
+          follow him wherever he chooses to reside; the husband is
+          obliged to receive her, and furnish her with whatever is
+          required for the convenience of life in proportion to his
+          means and condition.
+
+          It is provided that the domicil for granting divorces of
+          such marriages as have been solemnized in Louisiana, shall
+          be in that State so that the courts of Louisiana may grant
+          divorces for causes and faults committed in foreign
+          countries. For abandonment and other causes, a final divorce
+          cannot be granted until one year after a decree of
+          separation from bed and board has elapsed without a
+          reconciliation. In other particulars the law is similar to
+          that of the other States.
+
+
+[Illustration: Caroline E. Merrick]
+
+
+One day in 1842, the New Orleans _Delta_ had this item: "Myra Clark
+Gaines argued her own case in court in this city; the only instance
+of a lady appearing as counsel in the courts." Mrs. Gaines was a
+remarkable woman. She carried on a suit for many years against the
+city of New Orleans to recover property that belonged to her, and,
+through untold difficulties and delays, triumphed at last. She
+preserved her youth, beauty and vivacity until late in life. All
+who knew her can readily recall her bright, sparkling face, and
+wonderful powers of conversation. In her long experience in
+litigation, she became well versed in the laws regarding real
+estate and the right of descent. Mrs. Gaines was a generous woman
+and did not desire to rob the poor; to many such she gave a
+quit-claim title to the property which she had secured under her
+suits.
+
+In 1869, the New Orleans _Republican_ had an excellent editorial
+fully endorsing the demand for woman's enfranchisement. In 1870 the
+_Livingston Herald_, published in Ponchatoula parish, by J. O. and
+J. E. Spencer, advocated suffrage for women.
+
+In 1874, the secretary of the treasury rendered a decision that
+when a woman owns a steamboat she may be named in the papers as the
+master of the same. This decision, despite the opposition of
+Solicitor Raynor, received confirmation in case of Mrs. Miller, in
+1883, from Secretary Charles J. Folger.
+
+
+II.--TEXAS.
+
+In the adoption of the first constitution of Texas, woman had some
+representatives in the convention to remind the legislators of that
+State of her existence, and to demand that the constitution be so
+framed as to secure the right of suffrage alike to both sexes. On
+the resolution of Mr. Mundine, to extend suffrage to women, in the
+constitutional convention of Texas, January, 1869, Hon. L. D. Evans
+said:
+
+     I do not favor the adoption of this measure at the present time,
+     because the country is not yet prepared, yet it is entitled to
+     our respectful consideration--therefore I thank the convention
+     for allowing me the opportunity to state the ground on which the
+     friends of woman suffrage place their advocacy, so far as I may
+     be able under the five-minute rule. It does not comport with the
+     dignity of a representative body engaged in forming a
+     constitution of government to thrust aside the claim of woman to
+     the right of suffrage,--a claim that is advocated by some of the
+     ablest statesmen and political philosophers of Europe and
+     America, and is destined to a sure and speedy triumph.
+
+     Aristotle, the profoundest thinker of antiquity, in his treatise
+     on politics, defines a citizen to be "one who enjoys a due share
+     in the government of that country of which he is a member." If he
+     does not enjoy this right, then he is no citizen, but a subject.
+     Every citizen, therefore, is entitled to a voice--a vote--a due
+     share in the government of his country. I am aware that the
+     courts and politicians in democratic America have not so defined
+     citizenship. The reason is that politics is not yet a positive
+     science, and they have failed to analyze this question. Had they
+     a clear conception of the constituent elements--the anatomy, so
+     to speak, of the body politic, they would perceive that
+     suffrage--a voice in the government--is an essential condition of
+     citizenship. Aristotle, in his treatise, which is perhaps the
+     ablest yet given to the world, pointed out that families, not
+     individuals, are the constituent units of a State.
+
+     A family--a household--exists and is held together by natural
+     laws, independent of the State, and an aggregation of these
+     constitute the State. The head of the family, whoever that may
+     be, according to its structure, is the representative in the
+     State. All the constituent members of the family, consisting, in
+     its most perfect form, of husband, wife, children and domestics,
+     are subject to the authority of the head, and have no voice, no
+     vote, no share in the government, except through their head or
+     representative. In societies where the common law obtains, which
+     in this respect is a transcript of the Bible, the wife, like the
+     child, is subordinated to the authority of the husband, and on
+     principle, has no voice, no vote. On the decease of the husband,
+     the widow becomes the head of the family, and on principle is
+     entitled to a voice, a vote. But in countries where the civil law
+     governs, the wife is the partner, and not the subject of her
+     husband, and on principle ought to have her due share in the
+     government.
+
+     When the children in a family, whether male or female, attain the
+     age fixed by law for the control of their own affairs, and do
+     control them, they are free, independent, and on every principle
+     are entitled to a due share in the government--to a vote. Every
+     member of society who is free and independent--capable of
+     managing his own affairs, or making his own living, and does make
+     it, should have the same right of choice in the selection of his
+     political agents that he has to select his legal or business
+     agents. But all persons, no matter from what cause, who are
+     unable to maintain themselves, and are dependent for their
+     support upon others, are incapable of any share in the
+     government, and should have no voice--no vote. As soon as the
+     principle of citizenship comes to be thoroughly understood, woman
+     suffrage must be adopted throughout the United States, in
+     England, and in every country where representative government
+     exists.
+
+_The Revolution_ of August 20, 1868, said:
+
+     We have received from Loring P. Haskins, esq., a delegate to the
+     convention, the following excellent report and declaration made
+     and signed by a majority of the committee to whom the subject of
+     woman suffrage was referred. We need scarcely bespeak attentive
+     reading:
+
+          _Report of the Committee on State Affairs upon Female
+          Suffrage, with accompanying Declaration:_
+
+          July 30, 1868--Introduced and ordered to be printed.
+
+                         COMMITTEE ROOM, AUSTIN, Texas, July 10, 1868.
+
+          _To the Hon. E. J. Davis, President of the Convention:_
+
+          A majority of your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was
+          referred the declaration introduced by the Hon. T. H.
+          Mundine of the county of Burleson, to extend the right of
+          suffrage to all citizens of the State over the age of
+          twenty-one years, possessing the requisite qualifications
+          for electors, have examined with much care said declaration
+          and considered the object sought to be accomplished, and
+          have arrived at the conclusion that said declaration ought
+          to be a part of the organic law.
+
+          It was said by George Washington that the safety of
+          republican government depends upon the virtue and
+          intelligence of the people. This declaration is not a new
+          theory of government for the first time proposed to be made
+          a part of our republican institutions. The idea of extending
+          the elective franchise to females has been discussed both in
+          Great Britain and in the United States. Your committee are
+          of the opinion that the true base of republican government
+          must ever be the wisdom and virtue of the people.
+
+          In this State our system of jurisprudence is a combination
+          of civil and Spanish law, intermixed with the common law of
+          England; and this peculiar system, just in all its parts for
+          the preservation of the rights of married and unmarried
+          women, is likely to be continued. The time was when woman
+          was regarded as the mere slave of man. It was believed, in
+          order to perpetuate the pretended divine right of kings to
+          rule, that the mass of the people should be kept in profound
+          ignorance and that woman was not entitled to the benefits of
+          learning at all. It is not remarkable that as the benign
+          principles of Christianity have been promulgated, free
+          government has steadily progressed and the divine rights of
+          woman have been recognized.
+
+          The old constitution of the republic of Texas, the
+          constitution of the State of Texas of 1845, the laws enacted
+          for the protection of married women, the many learned
+          decisions of the Supreme Courts of Texas and Louisiana, and
+          other courts, clearly indicate that the march of
+          intelligence is onward and that our advanced civilization
+          has approximated to the period when other and more sacred
+          rights are to be conceded. Is it just that woman, who bears
+          her reasonable portion of the burdens of government, should
+          be denied the right of aiding in the enactment of its laws?
+
+          The question of extending the freedom of the ballot to woman
+          may well claim the attention of the law-maker, and in view
+          of the importance of the subject a majority of your
+          committee earnestly recommend the passage of the
+          declaration.
+
+                                          H. C. HUNT, _Chairman_,
+
+                                   T. H. MUNDINE,    BENJ. WATROUS,
+                                   WM. H. FLEMING,    L. P. HARRIS.
+
+
+                               A DECLARATION.
+
+          Be it declared by the people of Texas in convention
+          assembled, that the following shall be a section of the
+          constitution of the State of Texas, known as section ---- of
+          article ----: Every person, without distinction of sex, who
+          shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and who
+          shall be a citizen of the United States, or is at the time
+          of the adoption of this constitution by the congress of the
+          United States a citizen of the State of Texas, and shall
+          have resided in this State one year next preceding an
+          election, and the last six months within the district,
+          county, city or town in which he or she offers to vote,
+          shall be an elector.
+
+The _Woman's Journal_ of December 4, 1875, contains a letter from
+Mrs. Sarah W. Hiatt, who presented a memorial to the constitutional
+convention. The memorial was referred to the Committee on Suffrage.
+In regard to the effect, she says:
+
+     Since the presentation of the memorial I have had some very
+     interesting letters on the subject from a few of our leading men;
+     some for, others against woman suffrage, but all treating the
+     subject respectfully. I copy below a portion of one just
+     received. I should like to give it entire with the writer's name,
+     but have not his permission to do so:
+
+          As you apprehended, the question of suffrage had been
+          definitely settled in the convention before the reception of
+          your letter. It remains as heretofore, unrestricted manhood
+          suffrage. That all the rabble, the very _debris_ of society,
+          should be allowed a voice in government, and yet
+          intelligent, highly-cultivated women who are amenable to the
+          laws of the State and who own and pay taxes on property,
+          should be debarred from a voice in making the laws which are
+          to affect their persons and property equally with that of
+          the men, is to my mind simply an outrage on reason and
+          justice. * * * The fear of ignoring the right of petition,
+          and gallantry towards your sex on the part of a few,
+          prevented the memorial from being summarily rejected.
+          Outside of ---- and ---- I know of no member of the
+          convention who openly favors woman suffrage in any form. It
+          is true there are a number of gentlemen who, in private
+          conversation, will admit the justice of your plea, but avoid
+          it by saying that ladies generally neither demand nor desire
+          the right to vote. The truth is, these men (and society is
+          full of them) have not the moral courage to do simple
+          justice.
+
+     Thus you see that, so far as the action of this convention is
+     concerned, our cause is defeated. Yet I do not feel discouraged.
+     I think there is hardly a State in the Union that has such just
+     and excellent laws concerning the property rights of women as
+     Texas. There is also great liberality of sentiment here
+     concerning the avocations of women. But the right of women to the
+     ballot seems to be almost a new idea to our people. I have never
+     lived in a community where the women are more nearly abreast of
+     the men in all the activities of life than here in this frontier
+     settlement. In our State a woman's property, real or personal, is
+     her own, to keep, to convey, or to bequeath. The unusual number
+     of widows here, due to the incursions of the Indians during and
+     since the war, has made the management as well as the ownership
+     of property by women so common a thing as to attract no notice. I
+     might give interesting instances, but that would take time, and
+     my point is this, that the laws which have enabled, and the
+     circumstances which have driven women to rely upon and to exert
+     themselves, have been educational, not only to them, but also to
+     the community. The importance of this education to the
+     future--who can measure it? It is true that many of them can
+     neither read nor write, but in this the men are not in advance of
+     them. It as often happens that the woman can read while the man
+     cannot, as the reverse. And they are almost universally resolved
+     that their children shall not grow up in the ignorance that has
+     been their portion. If the women could vote, our convention would
+     not think of submitting a constitution that did not secure to the
+     State a liberal free school system.
+
+The legislature of 1885, after a hard struggle, enacted a law
+making it compulsory on the heads of all departments to give at
+least one-half of the clerical positions in their respective
+offices to women. The action has extraordinary interest, and is
+regarded as a victory for the woman's rights party. Mrs. Jenny
+Bland Beauchamp of Dennison writes:
+
+     Texas claims to be a woman's State, in that her laws are
+     unusually just and lenient to women. A woman who has property at
+     marriage can keep it. She can even claim any property that she
+     can prove was bought with that money. The wife is entitled to
+     half the community whether she owned any of the original stock or
+     not. She has a life interest in the homestead; no deed of trust
+     can be put upon it, nor can it be mortgaged. It can only be
+     conveyed from her by actual sale with her written consent. Under
+     our latest revised statutes women have the right of suffrage, but
+     have never exercised it; nor is the subject agitated to any great
+     extent.
+
+     Three years ago, when the State University was built, it was
+     decided that it should be coeducational, and young women are now
+     being educated there side by side with young men. Texas has many
+     liberal men and women. It is generally remarked that the women of
+     the State are better educated than the men.
+
+          Miss Julia Pease, a Vassar graduate and daughter of the late
+          ex-Governor Pease, has charge of 6,000 acres of land. She
+          lives in the family mansion at Austin with her mother, and
+          in addition to her other duties superintends the education
+          of the three children of her deceased sisters.
+
+          Mrs. Rogers, the "cattle queen" of Texas, inherited from her
+          first husband a herd of 40,000 cattle. The widow managed the
+          business, and in due time married a preacher twenty years
+          younger than herself, who had seven children. She attends to
+          her estate herself, rides among her cowboys on horseback,
+          and can tell just what a steer or cow is worth at any size
+          or age.
+
+          The largest individual sheep-owner is a woman, known all
+          over the State as the "Widow Cullahan." Her sheep, more than
+          50,000 in number, wander over the ranges of Uvalda and
+          Bandern counties, in the southwestern part of the State.
+          Their grade is a cross between the hardy Mexican sheep and
+          the Vermont merino. They are divided into flocks of 2,000
+          head each, with a "bossero" and two "pastoras" in charge of
+          each flock. At the spring and fall shearings long trains of
+          wagons transport the "widow's" wool to the market at San
+          Antonio.
+
+          Texas has two female dentists. Mrs. Stocking is one of the
+          most successful dental surgeons in the State. The other,
+          Miss Emma Tibler, went from Kentucky to Texas for the
+          purpose of teaching. Finding this profession full, she
+          studied dentistry and is now a successful practitioner of
+          Cleburne.
+
+          The youngest telegrapher in the world is probably Hattie
+          Hutchinson, in charge of an office in Texas. She is only ten
+          years old.
+
+
+III.--ARKANSAS.
+
+Under date of March, 1868, Miles L. Langley writes from
+Arkadelphia, Arkansas, in regard to the efforts for equality in the
+constitutional convention:
+
+                                   ARKADELPHIA, Ark., March 5, 1868.
+
+     SUSAN B. ANTHONY--_Dear Friend_: With a sad heart but an
+     approving conscience, I will give you some information relative
+     to the action of our constitutional convention on the franchise
+     question.
+
+     The new constitution--a copy of which I send you--makes no
+     difference between men, on account of race or color and contains
+     other excellences; but alas! it fails to guarantee to woman her
+     God-given and well-earned rights of civil and political equality.
+
+     I made a motion to insert in the constitution a section to read
+     thus: "All citizens twenty-one years of age, who can read and
+     write the English language, shall be eligible to the elective
+     franchise, and be entitled to equal political and legal rights
+     and privileges." The motion was seconded and I had the floor,
+     but the House became so clamorous that the president could not
+     restore order, and the meeting adjourned with the understanding
+     that I was to occupy the floor next morning. But next morning,
+     just as I was about to commence my speech, some of the members
+     tried to "bully" me out of the right to speak on that question. I
+     replied that I had been robbed, shot, and imprisoned for
+     advocating the rights of the slaves, and that I would then and
+     there speak in favor of the rights of women if I had to fight for
+     the right! I then proceeded to present arguments of which I am
+     not ashamed. I was met with ridicule, sarcasm and insult. My
+     ablest opponent, a lawyer, acknowledged in his reply that he
+     could not meet my argument. The motion was laid on the table.
+
+     The Democrats are my enemies because I assisted in emancipating
+     the slaves. The Republicans have now become my opponents, because
+     I have made an effort to confer on the women their rights. And
+     even the women themselves fail to sympathize with me.
+
+                              Very respectfully,     MILES L. LANGLEY.
+
+     The Arkansas _Ladies' Journal_ says:
+
+          They tell us that women are not fit for politics. This may
+          be true; and as it is next to impossible to change the
+          nature of a woman, why wouldn't it be a good idea to so
+          change politics that it shall be fit for women?
+
+     In 1885, Arkansas formed its first woman suffrage society at
+     Eureka Springs through the efforts of Miss Phoebe Couzins, Mrs.
+     Lizzie D. Fyler, president. The association numbers some fine
+     speakers. The press is not in opposition, one or two papers favor
+     the cause.
+
+     Misses Pettigrew and Sims have been elected clerks of the
+     legislature. Several other ladies were candidates for the
+     positions, and the contest was quite exciting. Mrs. Simonson and
+     Miss Emily Thomas are members of the board of directors of a
+     lumber company at Batesville, and Miss Thomas is also bookkeeper
+     of the firm.
+
+A very able report[522] of what has been done in Arkansas for the
+elevation of woman was presented by Mrs. Lizzie D. Fyler at the
+annual Washington convention in March, 1884.
+
+
+IV.--MISSISSIPPI.
+
+Mississippi secures to a married woman her own separate estate, and
+enables her to contract with her husband, or others, and carry on
+business in her own name. She may sue her husband, or others, and
+be sued, and has practically most of her civil rights; but her
+political rights are denied as in all other States.
+
+     In 1877 a law was passed by which henceforth no one can legally
+     sell liquor in Mississippi unless he can obtain the written
+     consent of a majority of the adult citizens of both sexes
+     resident in the township.
+
+     The Mississippi Industrial College for Women held its formal
+     opening October 22, 1885, at Columbus. Students had come from all
+     parts of the State. More than 300 had already entered. The
+     occasion was a brilliant one. Speeches were made by Senator E.
+     T. Sykes, Senator J. McMcartin of Claiborne county, Col. J. L.
+     Power of Jackson, Hon. James T. Harrison, Governor Lowry, and Dr.
+     Jones. Mrs. E. G. Peyton of Hazelhurst, to whose efforts the
+     founding of the Industrial College is largely due, was called
+     upon, and in a few well-chosen remarks expressed the pride she
+     felt in the State and in the college, feeling sure, she said,
+     that Mississippi's daughters were now in safe hands.
+
+     Miss Lilian Light, the eight-year-old daughter of Mr. Jere Light
+     of Hayneville, when only five or six years old began to make
+     figures in clay, and now (1885) has a large collection of mud
+     cats, hogs, dogs, cows, horses, and men. The figures are declared
+     to be not childish imitations, but remarkably acute likenesses.
+     Her best piece represents a negro praying, and is said to be very
+     clever.
+
+     Miss C. F. Boardman of Elmore's Point, two miles from Biloxi, on
+     the Bock Bay, has received the chief premiums awarded for oranges
+     grown on the Gulf coast outside of Florida. This lady has 1,000
+     bearing orange trees of the choicest varieties, and has devoted
+     her attention to the production of these and other tropical
+     fruits, with great success. She came to the South for health a
+     few years ago, and has not only found that, but has established
+     for herself a pleasing and profitable industry in fruit culture.
+     Her oranges were exhibited among numerous fine competing
+     specimens, and were chosen for high excellence.
+
+     Miss Eliza A. Dupuy for many years contributed copiously to Mr.
+     Bonner's _Ledger_. Miss Dupuy, who was descended from prominent
+     Virginia families, was in her youth a teacher. The first story
+     written by her was produced when she was only fourteen years old.
+     More fortunate than the majority of authors, she leaves behind
+     her a considerable sum earned by her ever-busy pen.
+
+Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey was perhaps the most remarkable woman that
+Mississippi can boast. She was the niece of Mrs. Warfield, the
+author of the "Household of Bouverie," who had great influence in
+forming her literary tastes. The New Orleans Monthly _Review_
+contains many able articles on abstruse questions from her pen.
+One, in the February number for 1876, on the "Origin of the
+Species," is exceptionally able and interesting. It was read in
+October, 1875, before the New Orleans Academy of Sciences by Mrs.
+Dorsey herself. This article shows extensive reading in scientific
+questions. She was made corresponding member of the Academy, an
+honor she appreciated more highly for her sex than for herself. She
+was a large-souled, noble woman, devoted to what she considered
+Southern interests. She bequeathed to Jefferson Davis the estate,
+called Beauvoir, on which he now resides.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[516] Emily P. Collins of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, wrote Miss
+Anthony: "Our State is to form a new constitution this spring. I
+feel that now if ever is the time to strike for woman's
+emancipation. 'We, the people' includes women as well as men, and
+regardless of former legislative enactments we should be allowed to
+vote and be voted for as delegates to the constitutional
+convention. If I only had some one to aid me, or had your moral
+courage, I would proclaim myself a candidate for the constitutional
+convention. The colored people ought to sustain me for I have ever
+been their steadfast friend, and they themselves owe their
+emancipation chiefly to women. They cannot elect a colored man
+here, but could I have their support I have personal friends enough
+to secure my election. The parish ought to be stumped in support of
+some candidate whose efforts should be pledged to the insertion of
+a clause in the new constitution to prohibit future legislatures
+making sex a qualification for voting."
+
+[517] The following letter from Mrs. Saxon to Mrs. Minor gives the
+reason why she could not be present at the National Convention held
+in St. Louis:
+
+"Almost entirely unaided I have gained 300 names in five weeks.
+Among them two Presbyterian ministers, wives of three others, seven
+of the most prominent physicians, all of the city administrators,
+two distinguished judges, several lawyers and many leading business
+men. I have begged Mrs. Emily P. Collins to urge upon the
+Association to meet here next year. I feel that now and before this
+convention is our most important work, so I must stay and try and
+influence the members all in my power. I was unaware of the action
+I was to take here, and if I get before the convention it will not
+be before the morning of the 7th, or I would come anyway as I have
+been offered a free passage by both rail and river. Mrs. Collins
+was with me for a few days and will assure you of my untiring
+efforts in the cause here. God knows I would be willing to buy
+fifteen minutes before the whole convention, the day they vote on
+that bill, by the sacrifice of my life; for remembering the grand
+women I have seen sacrificed along life's path, I think from their
+memory a power and eloquence would spring that might win hearts of
+steel and force justice to women from them. I will write again in a
+few days and report progress.
+
+                 "Very sincerely your friend,         E. L. SAXON."
+
+"_May 5, 1879._"
+
+[518] Of her speech Mrs. Merrick writes: "Fearing that I could not
+be heard, I proposed to my son-in law, Mr. Guthrie, that he should
+read it for me, but Mrs. Saxon objected, saying, 'No matter if they
+do not hear a word you say! You do not wish a man to represent you
+at the polls; represent yourself now, if you only stand up and move
+your lips.' 'I will,' said I, 'you are right.'--[EDITORS.
+
+[519] The Claibornes are a distinguished Virginia family, but
+belong to the history of Mississippi and Louisiana since
+territorial times. Mr. Claiborne now regrets that he did not go
+farther, for he is satisfied that women may be trusted with powers
+that have long been withheld. He says he was led to reflect
+seriously on the subject by the able addresses of Mrs. Keating,
+Mrs. Saxon and Mrs. Merrick, who made a profound impression on the
+convention.
+
+[520] The officers of the Christian Woman's Exchange for 1885,
+were: _President_, Mrs. R. M. Walmsley; _Vice-Presidents_, Mesdames
+T. G. Richardson, M. W. Bartlett, Albert Baldwin, John R. Juden, J.
+H. Allen; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Theo. Auze; _Corresponding
+Secretary_, Mrs. E. J. Wharton; _Treasurer_, Mrs. S. H. Davis;
+_Acting Treasurer_, Mrs. F. N. Griswold; _Board of Managers_,
+Mesdames S. Landrum, M. C. Jennings, B. D. Wood, A. Brittin, Percy
+Roberts, S. Delgado, F. N. Griswold, E. L. Wood, Wm. Muller, E.
+Ranlett, G. W. Pritchard, L. P. Wayne, T. H. Holmes, J. B. Wallace,
+Albert Baldwin, P. N. Strong, K. Fuhri, S. H. Kennedy, H. J. Leovy,
+John Parker, R. M. Walmsley, T. G. Richardson, Theo. Auze, E. J.
+Wharton, S. H. Davis. M. W. Bartlett, D. A. Given, John R. Juden,
+J. H. Allen, Fred. Wing.
+
+[521] The original members of the Woman's Club were: Miss Bessie
+Bisland, Mrs. Elizabeth W. Baker, Miss C. Farrar, Mrs. J. M.
+Ferguson, Miss M. E. Hagan, Miss J. E. Linsler, Miss H. D. Pickens,
+Miss M. Siebold, Mrs. M. J. C. Swayze, Miss E. Schrieves, Miss M.
+Manning, Miss P. Teiltebaum.
+
+[522] See Report Washington Convention, 1884.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV. (CONTINUED).
+
+DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA--MARYLAND--DELAWARE--KENTUCKY--TENNESSEE--
+VIRGINIA--WEST VIRGINIA--NORTH CAROLINA--SOUTH CAROLINA--FLORIDA--
+ALABAMA--GEORGIA.
+
+     Secretary Chase--Women in the Government Departments--Myrtilla
+     Miner--Mrs. O'Connor's Tribute--District of Columbia Suffrage
+     Bill--The Universal Franchise Association, 1867--Bill for a
+     Prohibitory Law Presented by Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, 1869--A Bill for
+     Equal Wages for the Women in the Departments, Introduced by Hon.
+     S. M. Arnell, 1870--In 1871 Congress Passed the Organic Act for
+     the District Confining the Right of Suffrage to Males--In 1875 it
+     Withdrew all Legislative Power from the People--Women in Law,
+     Medicine, Journalism and the Charities--Dental College Opened to
+     Women--Mary A. Stuart--The Clay Sisters--The School of
+     Pharmacy--Elizabeth Avery Meriwether--Judge Underwood--Mary
+     Bayard Clarke--Dr. Susan Dimock--Governor
+     Chamberlain--Coffee-Growing--Priscilla Holmes Drake--Alexander H.
+     Stephens.
+
+
+I.--DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
+
+The District covers an area of 64 square miles, and contains a
+population of 200,000. It was originally a portion of Maryland, and
+was ceded to congress by that State for the exclusive use of the
+Federal government. Hon. Salmon P. Chase, secretary of the treasury
+under Abraham Lincoln, seeing that most of the gifted young men had
+been drafted or had enlisted in the army, introduced young women as
+clerks in the government departments. The experiment proved
+successful, and now there are about six thousand women in the
+various departments. Mr. Chase often alluded to this afterwards as
+one of the most important acts of his life. The war brought many
+bright, earnest women to Washington, led thither by patriotism,
+ambition, or the necessity of finding some new employment. This new
+vital force, this purer element, infused into the society at the
+capitol, has been slowly introducing more liberal ideas into that
+community.
+
+The first specific work for woman in the District of Columbia of
+which we find any record was that of Myrtilla Miner of New York,
+who opened a Normal School for colored girls, December 3, 1851. She
+began with six pupils in a small room in a private house, but soon
+had more offered than could be accommodated. Through much ridicule
+and untold difficulties she struggled alone, but successfully, for
+ten years, when Miss Emily Howland came to her aid. The heroism of
+this noble woman has been told by Mrs. Ellen O. Connor in a little
+volume[523] which is a beautiful tribute to the memory of Miss
+Miner. The Miner Normal School of Washington is now a thorough and
+popular school for colored girls.
+
+For a brief report of what has been accomplished in the District of
+Columbia, we are indebted to Belva A. Lockwood:
+
+     In 1866, the women of Washington were first aroused to the
+     consideration of the suffrage question, by the discussion of "The
+     District of Columbia suffrage bill" proposing to strike out the
+     word "white" in order to extend the franchise to colored men. Mr.
+     Cowan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, offered an amendment to
+     strike out the word "male" also, and thus enfranchise the women
+     of the District. It was said his proposition was not made in good
+     faith, but simply to embarrass Republican legislation. However it
+     served a good purpose for all disfranchised classes, as the
+     amendment called out a notable debate,[524] lasting three days,
+     and received the votes of nine influential senators in its favor.
+     The voting of the newly enfranchised negroes at the May election,
+     1867, brought out in strong color the beauties of masculine
+     legislation, and immediately after there was a movement among the
+     friends of woman's enfranchisement. A meeting was called by James
+     and Julia Holmes at their residence, where the "Universal
+     Franchise Association" was organized.[525] As soon as their
+     meetings, regularly held, took on a serious air, the combined
+     power of the press was brought to bear upon them with the
+     determination to break them up. But the meetings were continued,
+     notwithstanding the opposition; and although most of the speeches
+     were good, they were often interrupted with hisses and yells, and
+     the police, when appealed to, failed to keep order, seeming
+     rather to join hands with the mob. In order to put a check on the
+     rabble, contrary to the spirit of the society, a fee was charged
+     at the door. Strangely enough, so great had the interest become,
+     the crowd increased instead of lessening, and night after night
+     Union League Hall was crowded, until the coffers of the
+     association contained nearly $1,000. The press of the city in the
+     meantime had kept up a fusilade of ludicrous reports, in which
+     the women were caricatured and misrepresented, all of which they
+     bore with fortitude, and without any attempt at reply. The
+     meetings continued through the year notwithstanding the cry of
+     the timid that the cause was being injured and fair reputations
+     blighted.
+
+     June 25, 1868, a deputation from the District Franchise
+     Association appeared, by appointment, before the House Committee
+     of the District, to urge the passage of the bill presented in the
+     House of Representatives by Hon. Henry D. Washburn, accompanied
+     by a petition signed by eighty women of the District:
+
+          "Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of
+          this act, no person shall be debarred from voting or holding
+          office in the District of Columbia by reason of sex."
+
+          Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing began by saying that the friends
+          of equal freedom for women in the District had thought the
+          revision of the local government a fit time to present their
+          claims and submit a memorial, setting forth the justice of
+          passing the bill before the committee to remove the
+          restrictions that forbid women to vote in the District. The
+          movement was not wholly new, and was known by those active
+          in the work to be approved by a large mass of women who were
+          not prepared to express themselves openly. The
+          enfranchisement of woman is needful to a real
+          reconstruction.
+
+          Mr. Wilcox read a memorial, signed by a committee of
+          residents of the district, consisting of eleven ladies and
+          eleven gentlemen, including Mrs. Griffing, Mrs. E. D. E. N.
+          Southworth, Miss Lydia S. Hall (formerly of Kansas), Mrs.
+          Annie Denton Cridge, Judge A. B. Olin and Mrs. Olin,
+          recalling the fact that congress had freed 3,000 slaves, and
+          enfranchised the 8,000 colored men of the district, both of
+          which experiments had worked well, notwithstanding
+          conservative predictions to the contrary; and showing that,
+          while the former experiments, on a small scale
+          comparatively, had yielded rich results, so the
+          enfranchisement of half the adult population would produce
+          vast good. He incidentally answered the usual arguments
+          against suffrage, and affirmed that those who possess
+          neither the power of wealth nor of knowledge wherewith to
+          protect themselves, most need political power for that
+          purpose. He remarked that the competition for votes among
+          politicians was a tremendous educating force, and that laws
+          would not be certain of enforcement unless those for whose
+          benefit they were made were clothed with power to compel
+          such enforcement.
+
+          Mrs. Mary T. Corner presented a number of points as to the
+          laws of the district relating to women, of some of which
+          Judge Welker took notes with a view to their speedy
+          investigation by the committee. As to suffrage, she pointed
+          out that women do not come under the head of paupers,
+          minors, felons, rebels, idiots or aliens, and that the
+          reasons existing for the disfranchisement of such persons do
+          not apply to native-born, loyal women. She showed that women
+          are not represented in the government of the district,
+          though taxed by it, and by law cannot properly protect
+          themselves, their children, or their property, nor hold
+          municipal office, however fit. A wife cannot hold property
+          in the district except by proxy. Women understand their
+          needs and condition better than men, and should be free to
+          regulate them. The swarms of foreigners who are freely
+          admitted to the polls know less of our institutions than the
+          masses of our women. Women have voted and held the highest
+          offices in other countries with great success. Are our women
+          less capable than these? At the conclusion Mrs. Corner
+          returned thanks to the committee for their attention; and
+          the latter, without expressing an opinion on the matter,
+          complimented the speakers on the ability and eloquence with
+          which their views had been presented. It was also stated
+          that a large number of petitions would be presented in
+          support of the bill. The committee expressed themselves as
+          unable, by reason of the lateness of the session and the
+          pressure of other business, to promise an early report. The
+          interview lasted about an hour, and was very cordial and
+          pleasant on both sides.
+
+     September 25, 1868, the Universal Franchise Association held its
+     first annual meeting[526] at Union League Hall, Mrs. Josephine S.
+     Griffing presiding. A letter was read from Senator Pomeroy,
+     stating that he was willing to act as president of the society.
+     In closing he said:
+
+          I trust the friends will unite in one association. We have
+          but one object in view, and should all labor together to
+          accomplish this end, viz.: the enfranchisement of every
+          citizen, with no partiality for race or sex. The American
+          citizen is the only safe depository for the ballot, and the
+          only safeguard for individual and national liberty. Let us
+          labor to realize, even in our day and time, this true type
+          of republican government. The rights and safety of
+          individuals and of the nation demand it.
+
+     In 1869, the executive committee passed a resolution to expend
+     the money that had been accumulated at the meetings of the
+     association in a series of lectures for the purpose of
+     enlightening the public mind upon the question of equal political
+     rights for women. Among the speakers engaged were Anna Dickinson,
+     Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, D. R. Locke (Nasby), Theodore Tilton.
+     From that time the women of the district were permitted to speak
+     their minds freely.
+
+     In the House of Representatives, March 21, 1870, Mr. Arnell, on
+     leave, introduced the following bill:
+
+          _A bill to do justice to the female employees of the
+          Government, and for other purposes._
+
+          Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
+          the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
+          hereafter all clerks and other employes in the civil service
+          of the United States shall be paid, irrespective of sex,
+          with reference to the character and amount of services
+          performed by them.
+
+          SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, in the employment
+          of labor, clerical or other, in any branch of the civil
+          service of the United States, no discrimination shall be
+          made in favor of either sex.
+
+          SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That where examinations
+          of candidates for positions in the civil service of the
+          United States are prescribed by law, or by the heads of
+          departments, bureaus, or offices, said examinations shall be
+          of the same character for persons of both sexes.
+
+          SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the designations,
+          chief clerk, chief or head of division, chief or head of
+          section, clerk of the fourth class, clerk of the third
+          class, clerk of the second class, clerk of the first class,
+          copyist, messenger, laborer, and all other designations of
+          employes, in existing acts of Congress, or in use in any
+          branch of the civil service of the United States, shall be
+          held, hereafter to apply to women as well as to men; and
+          that women shall be regarded equally eligible with men to
+          perform the duties of the afore-designated clerks and
+          employes, and shall receive the compensation therefor
+          prescribed by law.
+
+          SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That this act shall not
+          be so construed as to require the displacement of any person
+          now employed, but shall apply to all vacancies hereafter
+          occurring, for any cause.
+
+          SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts
+          of acts, in conflict with any of the provisions of this act
+          be, and the same are hereby, expressly repealed.
+
+     Thousands of petitions for this bill were circulated. Mrs.
+     Lockwood went to New York, and secured seven hundred signatures,
+     visiting both of the suffrage conventions then in session in that
+     city, the National and the American. The bill was shortly
+     afterward passed in a modified form, and has ever since been in
+     force in all of the government departments.
+
+     In February, 1871, congress passed the organic act for the
+     district, making of it a territory and granting suffrage to the
+     male members of the commonwealth. There was also granted under
+     this bill a right to a delegate in congress. In the meetings
+     which followed for the nomination of delegates a number of women
+     took part. Mrs. Lockwood often broke the monotony with a short
+     speech, and on one occasion only lacked one vote of an election
+     to the general convention for the nomination of a delegate to
+     congress.
+
+     The women of the district were not permitted to vote under the
+     organic act, but soon after the organization of its legislature,
+     bills to provide for this were introduced into both Houses. Mrs.
+     Lockwood prepared an exhaustive address upon these pending bills,
+     and was granted a hearing before both Houses of the legislature,
+     but they were finally lost. In 1875 congress withdrew the
+     legislative power from the people of the District of Columbia.
+
+     It was also in 1871 that the National University Law School, then
+     principally under the control of Prof. Wm. B. Wedgewood,
+     organized a law class for women, in which fifteen matriculated.
+     Mrs. Lockwood had been denied admission the previous year to the
+     law class of Columbia College for the reason, as given by the
+     trustees, "that it would distract the attention of the young
+     men." About this time a young colored woman, Charlotte Ray of New
+     York, was graduated from the law class of Howard University and
+     admitted to the bar with the class. Of the fifteen women who
+     entered the National University only two completed the course,
+     viz., Lydia S. Hall, and Belva A. Lockwood. The former never
+     received her diploma. The latter, after an appeal to President
+     Grant, received her diploma, and was admitted to the district
+     bar, September 23, 1873. Since that period Emma M. Gillett,
+     Marilla M. Ricker, and Laura DeForce Gordon have been admitted to
+     the district bar, and there seems to be no longer any hindrance
+     to such admissions. The above-named have all appeared in court,
+     and a number of other ladies have been graduated in the district.
+     Women have also been appointed notaries public, and examiners in
+     chancery.
+
+     In the profession of medicine there has been more liberality. Dr.
+     Susan A. Edson and Dr. Caroline B. Winslow have been in full
+     practice here since the close of the war. Dr. Mary Parsons and
+     Dr. Cora M. Bland and others, are practicing with marked success.
+     Last year there were fourteen women duly registered with the
+     health department, and they all seem to be in good standing.
+     Howard University has admitted women to its medical classes for
+     some years, and both white and colored women have availed
+     themselves of the privilege. Last year Columbia College opened
+     its doors in the medical department, with a suggestion that the
+     classes in law and theology may soon be opened also.
+
+     Many women in the district within the last few years have entered
+     into business for themselves, as they are now permitted to do
+     under the law of 1869, and are milliners, merchants,
+     market-women, hucksters. In the art of nursing, which has been
+     reduced to a science, they have free course.
+
+     In 1871, a large number of ladies tried to register in the city
+     of Washington. They marched in solid phalanx some seventy[527]
+     strong to the registrar's office, but were repulsed. They tried
+     afterwards to vote, but were refused, whereupon Mrs. Spencer sued
+     the inspectors, and Mrs. Webster sued the registrars, so testing
+     their rights in two suits in the Supreme Court of the
+     District.[528]
+
+     In 1866 Jane G. Swisshelm commenced the publication of a liberal
+     sheet in the District of Columbia, known as _The Wasp_. This was
+     the continuation of a paper formerly published by her in
+     Pittsburg, Pa., and in St. Cloud, Minn., called _The Visitor_.
+     Many other papers by women have been since published in the
+     District. Perhaps the most voluminous author in this country is
+     Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, who has written a volume for each
+     year of her life, and is now sixty-five years of age. Her
+     authorship has been confined to romances, which have been very
+     popular. A large proportion of the teachers of the public schools
+     in the District are women, some of them of very marked culture.
+     Many of the most noted and successful private schools, some with
+     collegiate courses, are conducted by women. Among these, Mrs.
+     Margaret Harover who taught in the District during the war, is
+     worthy of mention, also Mrs. Ellen M. O'Connor, president of the
+     Miner school. Mrs. Sarah J. Spencer, as associate principal of
+     the Spencerian business college whence large classes of young
+     women have been graduated for many years past, is deservedly
+     popular. She was at one time prominent in the woman suffrage
+     movement, acting as corresponding secretary of the National
+     Association. She is now engaged in one of the large charity
+     organizations of the city. Many colored women who have been
+     graduated from Howard University, have become quite successful as
+     teachers, and some have studied medicine. All of the copyists in
+     the office of registrar of deeds are women. A goodly number are
+     short-hand reporters for the courts, among whom Miss Camp,
+     daughter of the assistant clerk, is notably skillful.
+
+     The number of women who hold property in the District is large
+     and rapidly increasing. A woman may now enter into almost any
+     honorable profession that she chooses, and maintain her
+     respectability. All of the professions are open to her, and the
+     sphere of trades is rapidly widening. The progress made in this
+     regard in the last quarter of a century amounts almost to a
+     revolution. The first women ever admitted to the reporter's
+     gallery of the Senate and House were Abigail Dodge (Gail
+     Hamilton), and Helen M. Barnard, both political writers of great
+     power; the former as a reporter for the New York _Times_, and the
+     latter for the New York _Herald_. Mrs. Barnard, during Grant's
+     administration, was sent as commissioner of immigration to
+     Liverpool, visiting England, Ireland and Scotland. Returning in
+     the steerage of an ocean steamer, she gave one of the finest
+     reports ever made upon this question. This resulted in the
+     passage by the legislature of New York of a bill for the better
+     protection of emigrants on shipboard, and the appointment by the
+     United States government of an inspector of immigration for every
+     out-going steamer.
+
+     Women were first appointed as clerks in the government
+     departments in 1861 by Secretary Chase, at the earnest
+     solicitation of Treasurer Spinner. They were employed at
+     temporary work at $50 a month--one-half the lowest price paid to
+     any male clerk--until they were recognized by an act of congress
+     in which their salary was fixed at $900 a year, in the general
+     appropriation bill of July 23, 1866. The men doing the same work
+     were of four classes, receiving, respectively, $1,000, $1,400,
+     $1,600, $1,800. Treasurer Spinner, in his report of October,
+     1866, said:
+
+          The experiment of employing females as clerks has been, so
+          far as this office is concerned, a success. For many kinds
+          of office-work, like the manipulation and counting of
+          fractional currency, they excel, and in my opinion are to be
+          preferred to males. There is, however, quite as much
+          difference in point of ability between female clerks as
+          there is between the several classes of male clerks, whose
+          equals some of them are. Some are able to accomplish twice
+          as much as others, and with greater accuracy. So, too, some
+          of them incur great risks, being responsible for making
+          mistakes in count, and for counterfeits overlooked. Such
+          should, by every consideration of justice and fair dealing,
+          be paid according to their merits, and the risks and
+          liabilities they incur.
+
+     And in 1868, Mr. Spinner urged the committee of which Mr.
+     Fessenden of Maine was the chairman, to so amend the bill
+     providing for the reorganization of the treasury department as to
+     increase the salary of the female clerks who have the handling of
+     money, stating that cases had occurred in which women had lost
+     more than half their monthly pay by reason of being short in
+     count, or of allowing counterfeit notes to pass their hands.
+
+     Secretary M'Cullough asserted that women performed their clerical
+     duties as creditably as men, and stated that he had three ladies
+     who performed as much labor, and did it as well as any three male
+     clerks receiving $1,800 a year. It is now a quarter of a century
+     that women have served the government in these responsible
+     positions, and still, with but few exceptions, they receive only
+     the allotted $900. Mrs. Fitzgerald, the expert in the redemption
+     bureau of the treasury, who has for fifteen years deciphered
+     defaced currency, in which no man has ever yet proved her equal,
+     receives $1,400. In 1886 she subjected herself to an examination
+     for an increase to $1,600, but, failing to answer some questions
+     foreign to her art, she was compelled to content herself with the
+     former salary.
+
+
+II.--MARYLAND.
+
+_The Revolution_ of February 26, 1868, shows an effort in the
+direction of progress on this question in Maryland. A correspondent
+says:
+
+     Notwithstanding the present ascendancy of conservatism in
+     Maryland, the progressive element is not wholly annihilated; in
+     proof of which, we send information of the working of this
+     leaven, as developed in an association lately organized in the
+     city of Baltimore, under the name of the "Maryland Equal Rights
+     Society." For nearly a year past it has been in contemplation to
+     form a society based upon the principle of equal chance to all
+     human kind, irrespective of sex or color, through the mediumship
+     of the elective franchise. The first public meeting of the
+     friends of the movement was held on the afternoon of November 12,
+     1867, at the Douglass Institute, at which twelve persons, white
+     and colored, were present. Some steps were taken towards
+     organization in the framing and adopting of a constitution based
+     upon the principle afore-mentioned; but further business was
+     deferred in hope of securing a larger attendance at a subsequent
+     meeting. Two weeks later a second meeting was called, when the
+     constitution was signed by fourteen persons, ten of whom were
+     white and four colored. Officers were chosen, consisting of a
+     president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer,
+     together with eight other members to act as an executive
+     committee. The last meeting, held January 29, was attended by
+     Alfred H. Love and Rachel Love of Philadelphia. To Mr. Love the
+     society is indebted for many valuable suggestions as to the best
+     means of becoming an effective co-worker in the cause of human
+     progress.
+
+     Our colored friends, who have control of the Douglass Institute,
+     have testified their good will toward the movement in giving the
+     society the use of an apartment in the building, free of charge.
+     This is the one instance in which we have met with encouragement
+     in our own community. We have sought it in high places, among
+     those we supposed to be friends, and found it not. It appears to
+     be the nature of fine linen to dread the mud splashes of the
+     pioneer's spade and pick-ax, and for silk and broadcloth to
+     shrink from contact with the briers of an uncleared thicket;
+     hence our sole recourse is to appeal to those only who are
+     dressed for the service. We are conscious that we have entered
+     upon no easy task; but, ashamed of having so long left our
+     Northern sisters to toil and endure alone in a cause which is not
+     one of section but of humanity, we come forward at last to assume
+     our share of the hardship, trusting that what we have lost in our
+     tardiness may be made up in earnestness and activity.
+
+From various papers we clip the following items:
+
+     At the election in Baltimore, January 20, 1870, there were three
+     women who applied to be registered as voters at the third-ward
+     registry office. Their names were Mrs. L. C. Dundore, Mrs. A. M.
+     Gardner and Miss E. M. Harris. Their cases were held under
+     advisement by the register.----In 1871, a Maryland young lady,
+     Miss Middlebrook, raised over 5,000 heads of cabbage. On
+     Christmas, she sold in the Baltimore market 500 pounds of turkey
+     at 20 cents per pound.----Mrs. H. B. Conway of Frederick county,
+     has established a reputation as a contractor for "fills" and
+     "cuts." She has filled several contracts in Pennsylvania, been
+     awarded a $100,000 job on the Western Maryland railroad, and now,
+     1885, is engaged in the work of excavating a tract in Baltimore
+     for building-sites.
+
+Miss R. Muller has for several years been engaged as subscription
+and general correspondence clerk for the Baltimore _Daily
+American_. She was the first woman to be employed in that city on
+newspaper work during the present century. In the chapter on
+newspapers it will be seen that Anna R. Green established the first
+newspaper in the Maryland colony one hundred and nineteen years
+ago, doing the colony printing; and that Mary R. Goddard not only
+published a paper, writing able editorials, but was also the first
+postmaster after the revolution. And from the following item it
+would seem that the first woman to claim her right to vote must be
+credited to Maryland:
+
+     At the regular meeting of the Maryland Historical Society in
+     Baltimore, December, 1885, Hon. J. L. Thomas read a paper on
+     "Margaret Brent, the first woman in America to claim the right
+     to vote." She lived at St. Mary's city on the river of the same
+     name two hundred and forty years ago, and was related to Lord
+     Baltimore. She was the heir of Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's
+     brother and agent, and as such she claimed not only control of
+     all rents, etc., of Lord Baltimore, but also the right to two
+     votes in the assembly as the representative of both Calvert and
+     Baltimore. The first claim the courts upheld, but the second was
+     rejected.
+
+On March 20, 1872, Hon. Stevenson Archer made an exhaustive speech
+on the floor of the House of Representatives, entitled, "Woman
+Suffrage not to be tolerated, although advocated by the Republican
+candidate for vice-presidency." The speech was against Senator
+Wilson's bill to enfranchise the women of the territories. The
+honorable representative from Maryland may have been moved to enter
+his protest against woman's enfranchisement by the fact that the
+women of his State had in convention assembled early in the same
+month made a public demand for their political rights:
+
+     The Havre de Grace _Republican_ says that the convention of the
+     Maryland Equal Rights Association, held in Raine's Hall,
+     Baltimore, last week, was a grand success. Mrs. Lavina C.
+     Dundore, president of the association, presided over the
+     convention with dignity and grace. Many prominent and able
+     champions of the cause were present and delivered eloquent and
+     telling addresses in favor of woman's enfranchisement, which were
+     listened to with marked attention by the large audiences in
+     attendance. The friends of the cause in Maryland feel much
+     gratified at this exhibition of the rapidly increasing interest
+     in the movement.
+
+Meetings had been held in Baltimore during the years of 1870-71,
+and lectures given by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B.
+Anthony, and others.
+
+Charlotte Richmond of Baltimore writes the _Woman's Journal_, April
+22, 1873:
+
+     The American _Journal of Dental Science_ makes the following
+     statement: "The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, having had
+     the honor of conferring the first degree of Doctor of Dental
+     Surgery in the world, has also graduated the first woman who ever
+     received a diploma in medicine or dentistry in Baltimore, in the
+     person of Miss Emilie Foeking of Prussia, who, after attending
+     two full courses of lectures and demonstrations, passed a very
+     creditable final examination. Miss Foeking conformed to all the
+     rules and regulations of the college during the two sessions that
+     she was a student; no favor whatever as to requirement being
+     asked for on her part, or extended to her by the faculty, on
+     account of sex. She has fairly earned her degree by proficiency
+     and earnest application. After a short time Miss Foeking will
+     return to Berlin, where she intends to locate. That she will
+     succeed in establishing a large and lucrative practice, there is
+     no doubt, as she is well qualified professionally, and is in
+     manner so perfect a lady as to command the respect of all who
+     know her."
+
+     You will see by this extract from one of our medical journals,
+     that a lady has been graduated from our dental college. I hope
+     she has left the doors open, so that some of our own countrywomen
+     may enter and acquit themselves as honorably, but without the
+     difficulties which she has been compelled to encounter. You are
+     aware of the proceedings of the Philadelphia college in regard to
+     female students. Our Baltimore dentist, for we feel proud to
+     claim her as ours, although admitted in the college, still had
+     all the prejudices to meet in the minds of the people, but they
+     were too courteous and hospitable to act upon those feelings so
+     far as to turn her from their doors. She was brave and did not
+     surrender; not even when her sensitive woman's heart was wounded
+     and humiliated by the little acts done heedlessly under the
+     impression that a woman had stepped out of her sphere and was
+     taking upon herself a vocation belonging exclusively to men. She
+     is naturally sincere, modest and dignified. With these lady-like
+     qualifications, together with ability and perseverance, she has
+     won the honor and esteem of the faculty and the students.
+
+     I wish that Prussia could have witnessed the success of her
+     daughter on the night of commencement--the wreaths of laurel, and
+     the incessant applause while she was on the stage. I, for one,
+     felt quite proud to see my city acknowledge the foreign
+     lady-student so gracefully. She is already practicing to some
+     extent, and in every case gives the most entire satisfaction. I
+     trust there will be no more college doors closed against our sex,
+     for the reason that the male students do not want us. Let the
+     professors and trustees be just. We have proved that a true lady
+     is no disadvantage in a college with male students. I think the
+     way is now clear for women to enter upon the dental profession.
+     Miss Foeking has proved that a woman can be successful when she
+     undertakes an honorable profession.
+
+
+[Illustration: Mary B. Clay]
+
+
+For the facts in regard to the Baltimore Dental College we are
+indebted to the dean of the faculty:
+
+                    BALTIMORE COLLEGE OF DENTAL SURGERY, Jan. 2, 1886.
+
+     MISS SUSAN B. ANTHONY--_Dear Miss_: Your letter of 27th of last
+     month came safely to hand. In reply I will say that only two
+     members of the fair sex have been graduated with us. Miss Emilie
+     Foeking of Prussia, whose present address I do not know, and Miss
+     Pauline Boeck of Germany, who has since died. Miss Foeking was
+     graduated in 1873, and Miss Boeck in 1877. I have learned that
+     both of these young ladies were attentive and energetic in the
+     pursuit of their studies, and were graduated with credit to
+     themselves. We have the "Woman's Medical College," from which
+     quite a number of young women have been graduated. For
+     information in regard to this institution I would refer you to
+     its dean, Prof. Wm. D. Booker, 157 Park avenue.
+
+                                   Very truly yours,     R. B. WINDER.
+
+
+III.--DELAWARE.
+
+Mary A. Stuart is the active representative of the movement for
+woman suffrage in Delaware. From year to year she has written and
+contributed to our National conventions in Washington, and has been
+among the delegates on several occasions to address congressional
+committees. In her report she says:
+
+     My father was the first man in the State Senate to propose the
+     repeal of some of our oppressive laws, and succeeded in having
+     the law giving all real estate to the eldest male heir repealed.
+     The law of 1871 gave a married woman the right to make a will,
+     provided her husband gave his written consent, with the names of
+     two respectable witnesses thereunto attached. In 1873 the law was
+     repealed, and another act passed giving married women the right
+     to make a will, buy property and hold it exempt from the
+     husband's debts, but this law does not affect his tenancy by
+     courtesy.
+
+     Prior to 1868, bonds, mortgages, stocks, etc., were counted
+     personal property, all of which went into the possession of the
+     husband the moment the woman answered "I will," in the marriage
+     ceremony. I worked hard to get the law passed giving the wife the
+     right to her own separate earnings, and at last was greatly
+     helped by the fact that a woman petitioned for a divorce, stating
+     in her application that she was driven from her home, that she
+     and her two children had worked hard and saved $100 for a rainy
+     day, and now her husband claimed the money. It was a case in
+     point, and helped the members of our legislature to pass the
+     wages bill.
+
+     Delaware College, the only institution of the kind in the State,
+     was open to girls for thirteen years, but owing to a tragedy
+     committed by the boys in hazing one another, resulting in death,
+     the doors were thereafter closed to girls, although they were in
+     no way directly or indirectly implicated in the outrages. When
+     Governor Stockley was appealed to, he simply gave some of the old
+     arguments against coeducation, and did not recommend, as he
+     should have done, an appropriation at once by the State to build
+     a similar college, with all the necessary appointments for the
+     education of girls. We have women who are practicing physicians,
+     and are also in the State Medical Boards. We have none who
+     practice law or preach in our pulpits, and all the political
+     offices of the State are closed to women. No notaries, bank
+     cashiers, telegraph operators. Women are still in the belief that
+     work outside the home is a disgrace to the men of their families.
+
+     In February, 1881, Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, Miss Couzins and
+     Mrs. Lockwood, held various hearings before the legislature. Mrs.
+     Lockwood read to the gentlemen article 4 of the constitution as
+     amended in 1834: "Any white male citizen over 22 years of age who
+     shall be a tax-payer, shall be eligible to vote for electors."
+     She then showed them how readily, without any marked revolution,
+     the word "white" had been stricken out, while the word tax-payer
+     had virtually become a dead letter. Then turning to the first
+     paragraph of the United States revised code she cited the passage
+     which states that in determining the meaning of statutes after
+     February 25, 1877, "words importing the masculine gender may be
+     applied to females." * * * * At this point the chairman of the
+     committee placed before Mrs. Lockwood the Delaware code from
+     which she read a similar application of the law made many years
+     before. Having laid this foundation she asserted that the women
+     of Delaware were legally entitled to vote under the laws as they
+     are, but that to prevent all question on the subject, she would
+     recommend a special enactment like that prepared in the bill
+     before them. An amendment to the State constitution giving
+     suffrage to women was presented in the House of Representatives
+     in February, 1881, and referred to the committee on privileges
+     and elections. It was reported adversely. The vote showed that
+     all the members, with two[529] exceptions, were opposed to the
+     measure.
+
+Among the friends in Delaware were several liberal families, active
+in all the progressive movements of the day. Preeminent among these
+was that of the noble Thomas Garrett, whose good words of
+encouragement for woman's enfranchisement may be found in the bound
+copies of _The Revolution_ as far back as 1868. His private letters
+to those of us interested in his labors of love are among our most
+cherished mementoes. He was a man of good judgment, broad
+sympathies, and unswerving integrity.
+
+
+IV.--KENTUCKY.
+
+Mary B. Clay, daughter of Cassius M. Clay, sends us the following
+report of what has been done to change the status of women in
+Kentucky:
+
+     The earliest agitation of the suffrage question in our State
+     arose from the advent of Miss Lucy Stone in Louisville, in 1853,
+     at which time she delivered three lectures in Masonic Hall to
+     crowded audiences. George D. Prentice gave full and friendly
+     reports in the _Courier-Journal_. In later years, Anna Dickinson
+     and others have lectured in our chief cities. But the first note
+     of associated effort is that given in _The Revolution_ from
+     Glendale, which says:
+
+          We organized here an association with twenty members the
+          first of October, 1867, and now have fifty. We hope soon to
+          have the whole of Hardin county, and by the close of another
+          year the whole of the State of Kentucky, enlisted on the
+          side of woman's rights.
+
+     In the winter of 1872 Hannah Tracy Cutler and Margaret V. Longley
+     were granted a respectful hearing before our legislature at
+     Frankfort. In May, 1879, self-appointed, I represented Kentucky
+     at the May anniversary of the National Association at St. Louis.
+     In the autumn following, Miss Anthony, during an extended lecture
+     tour through the State, stopped in Richmond several days, and
+     aided us in organizing a local suffrage society.[530] Letters
+     were at once written to the leading editors asking them to
+     publish articles on the subject. Many favorable answers were
+     received, and we have largely availed ourselves of the columns of
+     the papers to keep up the agitation. My sister, Sally Clay
+     Bennett, edits a column in the Richmond _Register_, sister Anne a
+     column in the Lexington _Gazette_, and Kate Dunning Clarke, a
+     column in the _Turf, Field and Farm_. Mrs. Clarke is also
+     associate editor of the Kentucky _State Journal_. The Misses
+     Moore are making a success of a daily paper at Milledgeville.
+
+     In May, 1880, Mrs. Bennett and myself were delegates at the great
+     National Mass Convention in Farwell Hall, Chicago. In October,
+     1881, the American Association held its annual meeting in
+     Louisville. It was largely attended and fully and fairly reported
+     by the press of the city. At its close, a Kentucky State
+     association was organized, with Laura Clay as president.
+
+     In January, 1882, the Richmond and Louisville clubs secured a
+     hearing before the judiciary committee of the Senate, Mrs.
+     Bennett and myself representing the former, and John A. Ward the
+     latter. With the valuable aid of Mrs. Mary Haggart of
+     Indianapolis we made a most favorable impression upon our
+     legislators. The points in which our laws are defective and upon
+     which our appeals and arguments were based are well indicated by
+     the pleas of our several petitions:
+
+          That women might have municipal and presidential suffrage by
+          statute; that in marriage women might own their property as
+          men own theirs; that women who were married might be the
+          legal guardians of their children's property and persons as
+          well as the father; that women should be appointed with
+          equal responsibility and authority as assistant physicians
+          in insane asylums, and that the appointment of all the
+          officers in such asylums should be made by the legislature,
+          and not by the governor, as now; that women be appointed on
+          boards of visitors and commissioners to all asylums where
+          women are inmates or prisoners.
+
+     In 1884, all of the Clay sisters--Mrs. Bennet, Mary, Laura and
+     Anne--with Mrs. Haggart, again went to Frankfort, and held
+     meetings in the legislative hall, which were largely attended by
+     the best classes of the citizens of that city, as well as by
+     members of the legislature.
+
+     For several years we have had a woman for State Librarian. In
+     Fayette, one of our most aristocratic counties, Lexington being
+     its county seat, a woman was elected to the office of county
+     clerk by a majority of 200 over her male competitor. In two other
+     counties women are also county clerks. Each of them had served so
+     efficiently in her husband's office, that at his death she had
+     been elected in his place.
+
+     That woman has to fight every step of her way to the recognition
+     of her rights as a citizen equal before the law, is shown by the
+     following despatch from Frankfort, dated December 18, 1885:
+
+          Mrs. M. C. Lucas was elected by the vote of Daviess county
+          to the office of jailer, to succeed her husband, who was
+          killed by a mob while in discharge of his duty. When she
+          appeared before the county court to give bond for the
+          office, the Judge refused to allow her to qualify. A writ of
+          mandamus from the Circuit Court was applied for to compel
+          the court to allow her to qualify, but the motion was
+          denied. An appeal was then taken to the Court of Appeals.
+          Yesterday that court affirmed the decision of the Circuit
+          Court, that a woman cannot legally hold the office of county
+          jailer.
+
+     A woman in Madison county acted as census-taker, and performed
+     her duty well. She was the niece of Mr. Justice Miller of the
+     Supreme Court of the United States. Gen. W. J. Sanderson,
+     internal revenue collector for the eighth district, employed two
+     young ladies as clerks, Miss Brown and Miss Price, the former of
+     whom is said to be his best clerk. She is the sister of Mrs.
+     Smith, the circuit clerk of Laurel county. The successor of
+     General Sanderson, employs his two daughters as clerks, and they
+     receive the same pay as men who do the same work.
+
+     Many women in our State manage their own farms. My mother, during
+     my father's absence as minister to Russia, took his farm of 2,500
+     acres (he making her his attorney), paid off a large debt on the
+     property, built an elegant house costing $30,000, stocked the
+     farm, and largely supported the family of six children, with
+     money which she made during the war. She fed government mules,
+     and did it so well that she would return them to camp before the
+     time expired, in better condition than most feeders got theirs.
+     She is now, 1885, conducting her own farm of 350 acres, selling
+     several thousand dollars' worth of wheat, cattle, and sheep
+     annually, giving her personal attention to everything, at the age
+     of seventy. During the adventurous and perilous period of my
+     father's life she shared his dangers, and was ever his mainstay
+     in upholding his hands against slavery; and in that crowning
+     point of his life, when he was mobbed in Lexington, my mother sat
+     at his bed-side, and wrote at his dictation, "Go tell your secret
+     conclave of dastardly assassins, Cassius M. Clay knows his rights
+     and how to defend them."
+
+     Two of my sisters, Laura and Anne, and myself are practical
+     farmers, each having under her immediate superintendence the
+     workmen, both white and black, on 300 acres. We raise corn,
+     wheat, oats, cattle and sheep, buying and selling our own stock
+     and produce. We took possession of the land without stock or
+     utensils, and by our observation and experience, prudence and
+     industry, have greatly improved the lands and stock, and annually
+     realize a handsome income therefrom.
+
+     Miss Laura R. White of Manchester, sister of Hon. John D. White,
+     who ably advocated our cause in congress as well as in his own
+     State, was graduated with marked honor from the Michigan State
+     University in 1874. Since that time she has studied architecture
+     in the Boston Institute of Technology one year, worked as
+     draughtsman in the office of the supervisory architect of the
+     treasury department at Washington, two years, studied in the
+     special school of architecture in Paris one year, and is now,
+     1886, prosecuting her studies with a liberal selection of French
+     and English architectural works at her mountain home in Kentucky.
+     Mrs. Bessie White Heagen, the youngest daughter of Mrs. Sarah A.
+     White, was graduated with honor from the Roxbury High School of
+     Boston, and from the school of Pharmacy of Michigan University.
+     Being denied examination and the privileges of college graduates
+     of the college of pharmacy at Louisville, where she was employed
+     by a prominent pharmacist, she brought suit and obtained a
+     verdict in her favor.
+
+     Early in 1882, Dr. J. P. Barnum employed young women in his store
+     with the expectation of being able to educate them in the college
+     of pharmacy. But the hostility of the students to the proposed
+     innovation, and the lack of a systematic laboratory course,
+     caused the relinquishment of that plan and the formation of the
+     new school. Prominent gentlemen in the community assisted Dr.
+     Barnum, and the Louisville School of Pharmacy was duly
+     incorporated under the general laws of Kentucky.[531] Though
+     sustained by men of wealth and influence, the school met with
+     great opposition, the State Board of Pharmacy refusing to
+     register the women who were graduated from it until compelled to
+     do so by a mandamus from the Law and Equity Court, Judge Simral
+     presiding. March 7, 1884, the legislature incorporated the
+     Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women, and by special enactment
+     empowered its graduates to practice their profession without
+     registration or interference from the State board.
+
+     The school confers two degrees; its full course taking three
+     years and requiring more work than is done in other schools. So
+     far its graduates have been representative women, and all have
+     found responsible situations awaiting them. Its faculty remains,
+     with a few exceptions, as in the first session. Dr. J. P. Barnum,
+     to whose indefatigable efforts the foundation of the school is
+     due, is dean and professor of pharmacy and analytical chemistry;
+     Dr. T. Hunt Stuckey, a graduate of Heidelberg University, who
+     joined his efforts with Dr. Barnum at an early day, is professor
+     of _materia medica_, toxicology and microscopy. Mrs. D. N.
+     Marble, professor of general and pharmaceutical chemistry, and
+     Mrs. Fountaine Miller, professor of botany, were graduates of the
+     first class.
+
+     Mrs. Kate Trimble de Roode, in a recent letter says:
+
+          Kentucky has had school suffrage for thirty years, but as
+          the right is not generally known or understood, few women
+          have ever availed themselves of the privilege. The State
+          librarian has for many years been a woman, and there are
+          several post-mistresses also in this State. The State
+          University has recently admitted women on equal terms to all
+          its departments. As a general thing the young women of
+          Kentucky are better educated than the men, the latter being
+          early put to business, while most parents desire above all
+          things to secure to their daughters a liberal education. We
+          have a number of women practicing medicine in the larger
+          cities, one architect, but as yet no lawyers, although
+          several women have taken a full course of study for that
+          profession. The question of woman suffrage has been but
+          little agitated in this State, although the last
+          legislature gave a respectful hearing to several ladies on
+          the question. The property rights of married women are in a
+          crude state; the wife's personal property vests in the
+          husband; the profits and rents that accrue from her real
+          estate belong to him also. She can make no will without the
+          assent of her husband, and if given, he can revoke it at any
+          time before the will is probated. The wife's wages belong to
+          her husband. She cannot sue or be sued without he joins her
+          in the suit. The wife's dower is a life interest in a third
+          of the husband's real estate, whereas the husband's curtesy,
+          where there is issue of the marriage, born alive, is a life
+          interest in all the real estate belonging to the wife at the
+          time of her death. This is the statutory law, but the wife
+          by obtaining a decree in chancery may possess all the rights
+          of a _femme sole_. A bill securing more equal rights to
+          women passed the House of the last legislature, but failed
+          in the Senate. The courtesy of Kentucky men to women in
+          general, has kept them from realizing their civil and
+          political degradation, until, by some sudden turn in the
+          wheel of fortune, the individual woman has felt the iron
+          teeth of the law in her own flesh, and warned her slumbering
+          sisterhood. We are now awaking to the fact that an
+          aristocracy of sex in a republic is as inconsistent and
+          odious as an aristocracy of color, and indeed far more so.
+
+
+V.--TENNESSEE.
+
+We are indebted to Mrs. Elizabeth Lisle Saxon for the following:
+
+     Elizabeth Avery Meriwether is the chief representative of liberal
+     thought in Tennessee. Her pen is ever ready to champion the
+     wronged. I first came to know her when engaged in a newspaper
+     discussion to reestablish in the public schools of Memphis three
+     young women who had been dismissed because of "holding too many
+     of Mrs. Meriwether's views"--the reason actually given by the
+     superintendent and endorsed by the board of directors. A seven
+     month's war was carried on, ending in a triumphant reinstallment
+     of the teachers, a new superintendent, and a new board of
+     directors. Public opinion was educated into more liberal ideas,
+     and the _Memphis Appeal_, through its chivalrous editor, Mr.
+     Keating, declared squarely for woman suffrage.
+
+     When Col. Kerr introduced into the Tennessee legislature a bill
+     making divorce impossible for any cause save adultery, Mrs.
+     Meriwether wrote the ablest article I ever read, in opposition,
+     which Mr. Keating published in his paper, and distributed among
+     the members of the legislature. The result was a clear vote
+     against the bill.
+
+     With Mrs. Lide Meriwether and Mrs. M. J. Holmes, she publicly
+     assailed the cross examination of women in criminal trials,
+     either as culprits or witnesses, until the practice was broken
+     up, and private hearings accorded. In 1876 she sent a memorial to
+     the National Democratic convention at St. Louis, asking that
+     party to declare for woman suffrage in its platform. Though her
+     appeal was not read, hundreds of copies were circulated among the
+     members in the hope of stirring thought on the subject in the
+     South. It provoked much sarcasm because it was signed only by
+     Mrs. Meriwether and Mrs. Saxon. In 1880-81 Mrs. Meriwether was
+     one of the speakers in the series of conventions held by the
+     National association in the Western and New England States.
+
+
+VI.--VIRGINIA.
+
+In the winter of 1870, immediately after the National Washington
+convention, Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, while spending a few days in
+Richmond, formed the acquaintance of Mrs. Anna Whitehead Bodeker, a
+most earnest advocate of the ballot for women. Mrs. Davis held a
+parlor meeting in the home of Mrs. Bodeker, enlisting the interest
+of several prominent citizens of Richmond, who very soon invited
+Mrs. Joslyn Gage to their city to give a series of lectures. Of the
+result of this visit we give Mrs. Bodeker's report as published in
+_The Revolution_ of May, 1870:
+
+     DEAR REVOLUTION:--I glory in announcing a grand achievement in
+     the great reform of the day in Virginia. Our energetic and heroic
+     leader, Mrs. M. Joslyn Gage, after giant efforts on her part, and
+     with the aid of some strong advocates of the reform, on Friday
+     evening, May 6, 1870, organized in the city of Richmond a
+     Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association. The whole proceedings
+     I here append, for immediate publication in your columns.
+
+     Mrs. Gage, advisory counsel for New York, in the National Woman
+     Suffrage Association of America, delivered a lecture upon
+     "Opportunity for Woman," at Bosher's Hall, corner of Ninth and
+     Main streets, on Thursday evening. The lecture was able, earnest
+     and eloquent, and was listened to with rapt attention by the
+     friends of the cause present. At its conclusion, Judge John C.
+     Underwood gave notice that on the following evening a meeting
+     would be held at the United States Court room (which he freely
+     proffered for the purpose) to organize a State Association, adopt
+     a constitution, elect officers, and appoint delegates to the
+     anniversary of the National Association soon to be held in New
+     York city. The judge remarked that, upon conversing with Governor
+     Wise upon the subject, he expressed his warm sympathy with the
+     objects of the movement save upon the question of giving women
+     the ballot. With all the other rights claimed, he was heartily in
+     accord; especially, he thought, should the professions be opened
+     to women, more particularly the medical, they being the natural
+     physicians of their sex and of children.
+
+     Pursuant to the above notice, a meeting was held in the United
+     States court-room. Judge John C. Underwood was called to preside.
+     Previous to action on the regular business of the meeting,
+     several articles favorable to the movement were read. Miss Sue L.
+     F. Smith, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Wm. A. Smith, read very
+     charmingly a well-written essay prepared by herself in advocacy
+     of granting to women the full meed of powers and responsibilities
+     now enjoyed by men. Mr. William E. Colman read an article
+     entitled "Clerical Denunciation of Woman Suffrage--A Defense,"
+     being a reply to a violent attack made by the Rev. Dr. Edwards of
+     this city, upon the adherents of the movement, in a sermon
+     delivered by him recently. A proposed constitution for the
+     government of the Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association was
+     adopted; after which came the election of officers[532] of the
+     society. On motion of Judge Underwood, Miss Sue L. F. Smith was
+     appointed delegate to represent Virginia in the National
+     Association to be held in New York city May 12, 13, the society
+     having by resolution connected itself as an auxiliary to said
+     National Association. Mrs. Gage offered resolutions, which were
+     unanimously adopted, after which she delivered a forcible
+     address, enumerating many of the wrongs to which women are
+     subjected in this State, dwelling particularly upon the laws
+     depriving mothers of the right to their own children, placing the
+     property of married women at the mercy of their husbands, and
+     depriving the wives of all voice in the disposition of the
+     property possessed by them before marriage.
+
+In the winter of 1871, Miss Anthony was honored by an invitation
+from the society, and held several meetings in Judge Underwood's
+court-room. About this time appeared the following:
+
+     Judge Underwood, having stated in a letter that after mature
+     consideration he had come to the conclusion that the fourteenth
+     and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United
+     States, together with the enforcement act of May 31, 1870, have
+     secured the right to vote to female citizens as fully as it is
+     now exercised and enjoyed by male citizens, a test case is to be
+     made at once in the Virginia courts. As there are very few
+     advocates of woman suffrage in Virginia, some of the leaders of
+     the movement in Washington are about to move to Alexandria to
+     perfect an organization and be ready with a case when Judge
+     Underwood opens court there.
+
+But Mrs. Bodeker, who also memorialized the general assembly, was
+first to make the attempt to vote. The Richmond _Dispatch_
+describes the occasion:
+
+     Yesterday morning the judges of the second precinct of Marshall
+     ward, J. F. Shinberger, esq., presiding, were surprised at the
+     appearance of a lady at the polls. She wished to deposit a
+     ballot, but as the judges declined to allow this, in view of her
+     not having registered, she then asked to be permitted to have a
+     paper with the following inscription placed in the ballot-box:
+     "By the Constitution of the United States, I, Anne Whitehead
+     Bodeker, have a right to give my vote at this election, and in
+     vindication of it drop this note in the ballot-box, November 7,
+     1871." This paper was taken by the judges, and will be deposited
+     with the ballots in the archives of the Hustings court.
+
+One remarkable incident in Gen. Grant's administration was Miss
+Elizabeth VanLew's appointment as postmaster at Richmond. She held
+the office eight years, notwithstanding the persistent opposition
+of politicians. The _Ballot-Box_ said:
+
+     Miss VanLew was postmaster in Richmond under Grant, introducing
+     many reforms in the office, but through the envy of men, who were
+     voters, she, a non-voter, lost her office, as she had lost wealth
+     and friends from her devotion to the Union during the war. Now,
+     since its close, she finds not only her former slave men
+     permitted to make laws for her, but also those whom she opposed
+     when they were seeking their country's life. But women of all
+     ranks, white and colored, are awaking to their need of the ballot
+     for self-protection.
+
+The Philadelphia _Press_, edited by J. W. Forney, said:
+
+     Some covert enemies of the president and the new civil-service
+     reform have been spreading a report, through sensational
+     specials, that the Richmond post-office is to be given to some
+     prominent Virginian of local standing as soon as Miss VanLew's
+     commission expires. If there is any post-office in the United
+     States in which the whole nation at this time has a special
+     interest, it is this one of Richmond which the present incumbent
+     holds, as it were, by a national right, and certainly by popular
+     acclaim. We have not time in a brief paragraph to tell the
+     striking story of what Miss VanLew has done and what she has
+     suffered for the country. Her story will pass into standard
+     history, however, as sadly illustrative of our times. She herself
+     is known and loved wherever the horrors of Libby and Belle Isle
+     are mourned and denounced.
+
+
+VII.--WEST VIRGINIA.
+
+Hon. Samuel Young, in a letter to _The Revolution_, dated Senate
+Chamber, Wheeling, West Virginia, February 22, 1869, writes:
+
+     In 1867, I introduced a bill in the State Senate, looking to the
+     enfranchisement of all women in West Virginia, who can read the
+     Declaration of Independence intelligently, and write a legible
+     hand, and have actually paid tax the year previous to their
+     proposing to vote. But even this guarded bill had no friends but
+     myself. * * * I introduced a resolution during the present
+     session of our legislature, asking congress to extend the right
+     of suffrage to women. Eight out of the twenty-two members of the
+     Senate voted for it. This is quite encouraging--advancing from
+     one to eight in two years. At this rate of progress, we may
+     succeed by next winter. I give the names of those who are in
+     favor of and voted for female suffrage in the Senate: Drummond,
+     Doolittle, Humphreys, Hoke, Wilson, Workman, Young, and
+     Farnsworth, president. The same senators voted to invite Miss
+     Anna E. Dickinson to lecture in the state-house during her late
+     visit to Wheeling.
+
+
+VIII.--NORTH CAROLINA.
+
+We are indebted to Mrs. Mary Bayard Clarke of New Berne for the
+following:
+
+     Since 1868, when the constitution was changed, a married woman
+     has absolute control of all the real estate she possessed before
+     marriage or acquired by gift or devise after it, except the power
+     to sell without the consent of her husband, who in his turn is
+     not at liberty to sell any real estate possessed by him before
+     marriage, or acquired after it, without the consent of his wife.
+     Should he sell any real estate without the wife's consent, in
+     writing, she can, after his death, claim her dower of one-third
+     in such real estate. If she owns a farm and her husband manages
+     it, she can claim full settlements from him, he having no more
+     rights than any other agent whom she may employ. So her property,
+     real and personal, is her individual right, with the income
+     therefrom. But she cannot contract a debt that is binding on her
+     property without the consent of her husband. With his written
+     consent, which must be registered in the office of the clerk of
+     the county in which she resides, she may become a free-trader
+     with all the rights of a man, her husband having no claim to her
+     gains and not being responsible for any debt which she may
+     contract. By giving this written consent her husband virtually
+     places her in the position of an unmarried woman, as far as her
+     property is concerned.
+
+     In 1881, finding that a widow had no right to appoint a guardian
+     for her children by "letters testamentary," I, through my son,
+     William E. Clarke, who was then senator for this county in our
+     State legislature, succeeded in getting this law so changed that
+     she now has the same rights as a man. In cases of divorce or
+     separation while the children are under age, it is discretionary
+     with the judge to give the children to either parent; but public
+     sentiment always gives them to the mother while young.
+
+     As a rule the women of the South are better educated than the
+     men, the boys being put to work while the girls are at school.
+     The girls are not trained to work in any way, and very few, as
+     yet, see the necessity of being regularly trained to do anything
+     by which they may make a living except as teachers. Our
+     public-school system requires a course through the normal school
+     for all teachers. Mixed schools are not popular with us, but we
+     have been forced into them by the public-graded-school tax, which
+     has crushed out our private schools. I am now, and have been for
+     the past two years, making an effort to have women on our
+     school-boards, and a female as well as a male principal for every
+     mixed public school, on the ground that mothers have as much
+     right to a voice in the education of their daughters as fathers
+     have in that of their sons. We have female teachers in our public
+     schools but not as principals, and the pay of the women is,
+     regardless of the quality of their work, always considerably less
+     than that of men.
+
+     Our Supreme Court granted a license to Miss Tabitha A. Holton to
+     practice law, and there is no legal impediment in the way of one
+     doing so. The same is true of the medical profession. Dr. Susan
+     Dimock was a North Carolinian by birth and on her application
+     for admission to the State Medical Society was unanimously
+     elected a member of that body. The African Methodist-Episcopal
+     Conference, Bishop Turner presiding, ordained Miss Sarah A.
+     Hughes of Raleigh, a bright mulatto girl, as deacon in the
+     church. Shortly after the close of the late war, my husband being
+     then incapacitated for work by wounds received in the Mexican and
+     the civil war, and my sons under age, I applied to Governor
+     Jonathan Worth for the position of State librarian. Though
+     cordially acknowledging my fitness, intellectually, for the
+     office, and admitting that my sex did not legally disqualify me
+     to hold it, he positively refused to appoint me or any other
+     woman to any office in his gift. Public sentiment then sustained
+     him, but it would not now do so; so many ladies of culture,
+     refinement and social position have been, since the war, forced
+     to work or starve, that it is now nothing remarkable to see them
+     and their daughters doing work which twenty years ago they would
+     have been ostracised for undertaking.
+
+     In a letter to the Boston _Index_, published August, 1885, the
+     venerable Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith, who is now a resident of
+     this State, truthfully says,
+
+          The women of the North can have little conception of the
+          hindrances which their sisters of the South encounter in
+          their efforts to accept new and progressive ideas. The other
+          sex, in a blind sort of way, hold fast to an absolute kind
+          of chivalry akin to that of the renowned Don Quixote, by
+          which they try to hold women in the background as a kind of
+          porcelain liable to crack and breakage unless daintily
+          handled. Women here see the spirit of the age and the need
+          of change far more clearly than the men, and act up to this
+          light, but with a flexible grace that disarms opposition.
+          They see the necessity of work and are turning their
+          attention to methods for remunerative labor, far more
+          difficult to obtain at the South than at the North.
+
+     I cordially endorse this extract. The Southern man does not wish
+     his "women folks" to be self-supporting, not because he is
+     jealous of their rivaling him, but because he feels it is his
+     duty to be the bread-winner. But the much sneered at "chivalry"
+     of the South, while rendering it harder for a woman to break
+     through old customs, most cordially and heartily sustains her
+     when she has successfully done so. There are fewer large centers
+     in the South than in the North, and much less attrition of mind
+     against mind; the people are homogeneous and slower to change,
+     and public opinion is much less fluctuating. But once let the
+     tide of woman suffrage fairly turn, and I believe it will be
+     irresistable and advance far more steadily and rapidly in the
+     South than it has done in the North. Let the Southern women be
+     won over and the cause will have nothing to fear from the
+     opposition of the men. But, after twenty years' experience as a
+     journalist, my honest opinion is that until the Southern women
+     can be made to feel the pecuniary advantages to them of suffrage,
+     they will not lift a finger or speak a word to obtain it.
+
+     In 1881, at the March meeting of the Raleigh Typographical Union,
+     No. 194, my son, being then a member of that Union, introduced
+     and, after some hard fighting, succeeded in carrying a resolution
+     placing women compositors on a par in every respect with men.
+     There was not at that time a single woman compositor in the
+     State, to my son's knowledge; there is one now in Raleigh and two
+     apprentices, who claimed and receive all the advantages that men
+     applying for admission to the Union receive.
+
+     Mrs. C. Harris started the _South Atlantic_ at Wilmington. The
+     Misses Bernheim and their father started a magazine in the same
+     city called _At Home and Abroad_, which was afterwards moved to
+     Charlotte; both were short-lived. We have now the _Southern
+     Woman_. This is the only journal ever edited and managed by a
+     woman alone, with no man associated with or responsible for it. I
+     have been for twenty years connected with the press of this State
+     in one way and another, and am called the "Grandmother of the
+     North Carolina Press Association." In 1880 I delivered an
+     original poem before the association, and another Masonic one
+     before the board of the orphan asylum; making me, I believe, the
+     first native North Carolina woman that ever came before the
+     public as a speaker. I was both denounced and applauded for my
+     "brass" and "bravery." Public sentiment has changed since then.
+
+     Mrs. Marion A. Williams, president of the State National Bank at
+     Raleigh for several years, is probably the first woman ever
+     elected to that responsible position in any State of this Union.
+     In 1885 Louisa B. Stephens was made president of the First
+     National Bank of Marion, Iowa; and a national bank in Newbery,
+     South Carolina, honored itself by placing a woman at the head of
+     its official board.
+
+     The _North Carolinian_ of January, 1870, contained an able
+     editorial endorsing woman suffrage, closing with:
+
+          For one we say, tear down the barriers, give woman an
+          opportunity to show her wisdom and virtue; place the ballot
+          in her hands that she may protect herself and reform men,
+          and ere a quarter of a century has elapsed many of the
+          foulest blots upon the civilization of this age will have
+          passed away.
+
+From an interesting article in the _Boston Advertiser_, May 22,
+1875, by Rev. James Freeman Clark, concerning Dr. Susan Dimock, one
+of North Carolina's promising daughters, whose career was ended in
+the wreck of the Schiller near the Scilly islands, we make a few
+extracts:
+
+     One of our eminent surgeons, Dr. Samuel Cabot, said to me
+     yesterday:
+
+          "This community will never know what a loss it has had in
+          Dr. Dimock. It was not merely her skill, though that was
+          remarkable, considering her youth and limited experience,
+          but also her nerve, that qualified her to become a great
+          surgeon. I have seldom known one at once so determined and
+          so self-possessed. Skill is a quality much more easily found
+          than this self-control that nothing can flurry. She had that
+          in an eminent degree; and, had she lived, she would have
+          been sure to stand, in time, among those at the head of her
+          profession. The usual weapons of ridicule would have been
+          impotent against a woman who had reached that supreme
+          position which Susan Dimock would certainly have attained."
+
+     During the war of the rebellion, Miss Dimock sought admission
+     into the medical school of Harvard University, preferring, if
+     possible, to take a degree in an American college. Twice she
+     applied, and was twice refused. Hearing that the University of
+     Zurich was open to women, she went there, and was received with a
+     hospitality which the institutions of her own country did not
+     offer. She pursued her medical studies there, and graduated with
+     honor. A number of the "Revue des Deux Mondes" for August, 1872,
+     contains an article called "Les Femmes a l'Universitie de
+     Zurich," which speaks very favorably of the success of the women
+     in that place. The first to take a degree as doctor of medicine
+     was a young Russian lady, in 1867. Between 1867 and 1872 five
+     others had taken this degree, and among them Miss Dimock is
+     mentioned. From the medical school at Zurich, she went to that at
+     Vienna; and of her appearance there we have this record: A
+     distinguished German physician remarked to a friend of mine
+     residing in Germany that he had always been opposed to women as
+     physicians--but that he had met a young American lady studying at
+     Vienna, whose intelligence, modesty and devotion to her work was
+     such as almost to convince him that he was wrong. A comparison of
+     dates shows that this American student must have been Dr. Dimock.
+
+     On her return to the United States Dr. Dimock became resident
+     physician at "The Hospital for Women and Children," on Codman
+     Avenue, in Boston. Both the students of medicine and the patients
+     became devotedly attached to her; they were fascinated by this
+     remarkable union of tenderness, firmness and skill. The secret
+     was in part told by what she said in one of her lectures in the
+     training-school for nurses connected with the woman's hospital:
+     "I wish you, of all my instructions, especially to remember this.
+     Where you go to nurse a patient, imagine that it is your own
+     sister before you in that bed; and treat her as you would wish
+     your own sister to be treated." While at this hospital, she was
+     also able to carry out a principle in which she firmly believed,
+     namely--that in a hospital the rights of every patient, poor and
+     rich, should be sacredly regarded, and never be postponed even to
+     the supposed interests of medical students. No student was
+     allowed to be present at any operation, except so far as the
+     comfort and safety of her patients rendered the student's
+     presence desirable. Her interest in the woman's hospital was
+     very great. She was in the habit, at the beginning of each year,
+     of writing and sealing up her wishes for the coming year. Since
+     her death, her mother has opened the envelope of January 1, 1875,
+     and found it to contain a prayer for a blessing on "my dear
+     hospital."
+
+     And now this young, strong soul so ardent in the pursuit of
+     knowledge, so filled with a desire to help her suffering sisters,
+     has been taken by that remorseless deep.
+
+
+IX.--SOUTH CAROLINA.
+
+The first action we hear of in South Carolina was a Woman's Right's
+Convention in Columbia, Dec. 20, 1870, of which the Charleston
+_Republican_ said:
+
+     The chairman, Miss Rollin, said: "It had been so universally the
+     custom to treat the idea of woman suffrage with ridicule and
+     merriment that it becomes necessary in submitting the subject for
+     earnest deliberation that we assure the gentlemen present that
+     our claim is made honestly and seriously. We ask suffrage not as
+     a favor, not as a privilege, but as a right based on the ground
+     that we are human beings, and as such, entitled to all human
+     rights. While we concede that woman's ennobling influence should
+     be confined chiefly to home and society, we claim that public
+     opinion has had a tendency to limit woman's sphere to too small a
+     circle, and until woman has the right of representation this will
+     last, and other rights will be held by an insecure tenure."
+
+     Mr. T. J. Mackey made a forcible argument in favor of the
+     movement. He was followed by Miss Hosley, who made a few brief
+     remarks upon the subject. General Moses thought woman's
+     introduction upon the political platform would benefit us much in
+     a moral point of view, and that they had a right to assist in
+     making the laws that govern them as well as the sterner sex.
+     Messrs. Cardozo, Pioneer and Rev. Mr. Harris followed in short
+     speeches, endorsing the movement and wishing it success.
+     Resolutions were adopted, and officers chosen.[533] The following
+     letters were read:
+
+                         EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Columbia, Jan. 19, 1871.
+
+          _Miss L. M. Rollin_:--I have the honor to acknowledge the
+          receipt of your invitation to be present at the preliminary
+          organization of the association for the assertion of woman's
+          rights in this State, and regret that the pressure of public
+          duties precludes my indulging myself in that pleasure. Be
+          assured, however, that the cause has my warmest sympathy,
+          and I indulge the hope that the time is not far distant when
+          woman shall be the peer of man in political rights, as she
+          is peerless in all others, and when she will be able to
+          reclaim some of those privileges that are now monopolized by
+          the sterner sex.
+
+          I have the honor to be, very respectfully, etc.,
+
+                                              R. K. SCOTT, _Governor_.
+
+               OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Columbia, Feb. 1, 1871.
+
+          I hoped when I received your invitation to the meeting
+          to-night of the friends of woman suffrage, that I should be
+          able to attend in person, but at a late hour I find other
+          duties standing in the way, and I can only say a word of
+          approval and encouragement with my pen. The woman suffrage
+          cause is to my mind so just and so expedient as to need
+          little argument. To say that my mother, my sisters or my
+          wife have less interest in good government than I have, or
+          are less fitted by nature to understand and use the ballot
+          than I am, is to contradict reason and fact.
+
+          Upon the same grounds that I defend my own right to share in
+          the government which controls and protects me, do I now
+          assert the right of woman to a voice in public affairs. For
+          the same reasons that I would regard an attempt to rob me of
+          my civil rights as tyranny, do I now protest against the
+          continued civil inequality and thralldom of woman. I take no
+          merit or pride to myself for such a position. I have felt
+          and said these things during my whole life. They are to me
+          self-evident truths; needing no more demonstration by
+          argument than the first lines of the Declaration of American
+          Independence. My claim for woman is simply this: Give her a
+          full and fair chance to act in any sphere for which she can
+          fit herself. Her sphere is as wide as man's. It has no
+          limits except her capacity. If woman cannot perform a
+          soldier's duty, then the army is not her sphere; if she can,
+          it is her sphere, as much as it is man's.
+
+          I value the ballot for woman chiefly because it opens to her
+          a wide, free avenue to a complete development of all her
+          powers. The Chinese lady's shoe is nothing compared to the
+          clamps and fetters which we Americans have put upon woman's
+          mind and soul. An impartial observer would scarcely condemn
+          the one and approve the other. What we need now is to
+          accustom the public to these radical truths. Demand the
+          ballot; demand woman's freedom. It is not a conflict of
+          argument or reason, so much as a crusade against habit and
+          prejudice. To tell the truth, I don't think there is a
+          respectable argument in the world against woman suffrage.
+          People think they are arguing or reasoning against it when
+          they are in fact only repeating the prejudices in which they
+          have been trained. With the sincerest wishes for the success
+          of your meeting and of all your efforts for woman suffrage,
+          I remain, yours very truly,
+
+                                             D. H. CHAMBERLAIN.
+
+The American association memorialized the legislature March 13,
+1872. The joint committee recommended an amendment to the
+constitution of the State, providing that every person, male or
+female, possessed of the necessary qualifications, should be
+entitled to vote. B. F. Whittemore, H. J. Maxwell, W. B. Nash, G.
+F. McIntyre, were the committee on the part of the Senate; C. D.
+Hayne, W. J. Whipper, Benj. Byas, B. G. Yocom, F. H. Frost,
+committee on the part of the House.
+
+In the debate in congress in 1874, Hon. Alonzo J. Ransier of South
+Carolina, the civil-rights bill being under discussion, claimed
+that equal human rights should be extended to women as follows:
+
+     And may the day be not far distant when American citizenship in
+     civil and political rights and public privileges shall cover not
+     only those of our sex, but those of the opposite one also; until
+     which time the government of the United States cannot be said to
+     rest upon the "consent of the governed," or to adequately protect
+     them in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
+
+Miss Sallie R. Banks, for some years a teacher of colored schools
+in South Carolina, has been appointed collector of internal revenue
+for the Sumter district.
+
+
+X.--FLORIDA.
+
+In 1880, the agricultural department at Washington, paid a premium
+of $12 to Madame Atzeroth of Manatee, for the first pound of coffee
+ever grown out of doors in the United States.
+
+The following is from a letter to the Savannah _News_, reporting a
+judgment rendered by a Florida county judge, in a case between an
+old black man and his wife:
+
+                                   OCALA, Fla., May 12, 1874.
+
+     Be it known throughout all christendom that the husband is the
+     head of the wife, and whatever is his is his'n, and whatever is
+     hers is his'n, and come weal or woe, peace or war, the right of
+     all property is vested in the husband, and the wife must not take
+     anything away. The ox belongs to Uncle Ben, and he must keep it,
+     and the other things, and if the old woman quits she must go
+     empty-handed. Know all that this is so by order of the Judge of
+     Probate.
+
+                                   [Signed]      WM. R. HILLYER.
+
+Though quaintly expressed, yet this decision is in line with the
+old common law and the statutes of many of the States in this Union
+to-day.
+
+
+XI.--ALABAMA.
+
+The women of Alabama are evidently awake on the temperance
+question, though still apparently unprepared for suffrage. In a
+report of a meeting in Birmingham in 1885, the following, from a
+prominent editor, was read by the president:
+
+     Tell the admirable lady, Mrs. Bryce, that I would devote
+     everything to the cause she espouses, but there's no use. Let
+     women demand the ballot, and with it they can destroy whisky, and
+     by no other agency. There is no perfect family or state in which
+     woman is not an active governing force. They should have the
+     courage to assert themselves and then they can serve the country
+     and the race.
+
+If a thunderbolt had fallen it would not have created a greater
+sensation. The ladies at first grew indignant and uttered
+protestations. When they grew calmer, the corresponding secretary
+was ordered to furnish the editor with the following:
+
+     The ladies of the W. C. T. U. return thanks to the editor for his
+     kindly and progressive suggestions, but, in their opinion, they
+     are not ready to ask any political favors. Whenever suffrage is
+     granted to the women of the United States, those of Alabama will
+     be found on the right side.
+
+At Huntsville lives Mrs. Priscilla Holmes Drake, whose name has
+stood as representative of our National Association in Alabama
+since 1868.
+
+
+XII.--GEORGIA.
+
+We give a letter from Georgia's great statesman, defining his views
+of woman's sphere:
+
+          HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 29, 1878.
+
+     _Mrs. E. L. Saxon, New Orleans, La._
+
+     MY DEAR MADAM:--Your letter to Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, of the
+     22d inst., came duly to hand. He requests me to thank you for it,
+     and to say in reply that he has ever sympathized with woman in
+     her efforts for a higher and broader sphere of intellectual and
+     moral culture, as well as physical usefulness in life. He does
+     not go so far as to endow woman with the ballot, or to fit her
+     for the more masculine duties of the State. Her sphere, by
+     nature, is circumscribed within certain physical boundaries, but
+     in all those things to which she is fitted by nature, and can
+     enter without interference with the laws of God, he would open
+     the doors wide to her.
+
+               Very respectfully yours,     C. P. CULVER, _Secretary_.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[523] Myrtilla Miner; published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston
+and New York.
+
+[524] See Vol. II., page 90.
+
+[525] _President_, Hon. Samuel C. Pomeroy; _Vice-Presidents_,
+Josophine S. Griffing, Belva A. Lockwood, Jas. H. Holmes, John H.
+Craney; _Advisory Council_, Mary E. O'Connor, Josephine S.
+Griffing, Caroline B. Winslow, Dr. Susan A. Edson, Lydia S. Hall,
+Mr. and Mrs. Boyle, Caroline B. Colby, and others.
+
+[526] The officers elected were: _President_, United States Senator
+S. C. Pomeroy; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing, Mrs.
+Belva McNall Lockwood, Miss Stickney, Thaddeus Hyatt, Caroline B.
+Winslow, M. D., S. Yorke At Lee, Mrs. Josephine L. Slade, Prof.
+William J. Wilson, Mrs. Mary Olin, Judge A. B. Olin, Mrs. C. M. E.
+Y. Christian, Prof. George B. Vashon, J. H. Crossman, Mrs. Angeline
+S. Hall, Dr. C. B. Purvis, Mrs. Dr. Hathaway, Bishop Moore, Mrs. C.
+A. F. Stebbins, Giles B. Stebbins, Miss Emily Stanton, Dr. John
+Mayhew, John R. Elvana, J. C. O. Whaley, Charles Roeser, George T.
+Downing; _Recording Secretary_, George F. Needham; _Treasurer_,
+Daniel Breed; _Board of Managers_, Josephine S. Griffing, Hamilton
+Wilcox, Dr. Daniel Breed, Mrs. Corner, Geo. F. Needham, Mrs. Lydia
+S. Hall, J. H. Crane; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Mary T.
+Corner. Letters were reported from Frederick Douglass, George
+William Curtis, Mrs. E. Oakes Smith. Addresses were delivered by J.
+H. Crossman, G. F. Needham, Mrs. Lockwood, R. J. Hinton, and Mr.
+Tibbits of Virginia. Dr. Breed recited an original poem, entitled,
+"Woman's Pledge to Freedom."
+
+[527] The names of the women who attempted to register and vote
+were: Jane A. Archibald, Clara M. Archibald, Mary Anderson, S. W.
+Aiken, Sallie S. Barrett, Mary B. Baumgras, Florence Riddle
+Bartlett, Ann M. Boyle, M. W. Browne, Deborah B. Clarke (Grace
+Greenwood's mother, eighty years of age), C. W. Campbell, Elizabeth
+T. Cowperthwaite, Mary T. Corner, Mary M. Courtenay, Mary A.
+Donaldson, Mary A. Dennison, Ruth Carr Dennison, L. S. Doolittle,
+Dr. Susan A. Edson, Sarah P. Edson, B. F. Evans, E. W. Foster,
+Olive Freeman, Maggie Finney, Julia H. Grey, Josephine S. Griffing,
+A. A. Henning, Susie J. Hickey, Calista Hickey, E. M. Hickey, Mary
+Hooper, Ruth G. D. Havens, E. E. Hill, Lydia S. Hall, Julia
+Archibald Holmes, N. M. Johnson, Jennie V. Jewell, Carrie Ketchum,
+Joanna Kelly, Sara J. Lippincott (Grace Greenwood), Belva A.
+Lockwood, Susie S. McClure, A. Jennie Miles, Augusta E. Morris, M.
+T. Middleton, Savangie E. Mark, A. E. Newton, M. C. Page, Eliza Ann
+Peck, Mary A. Riddle, A. R. Riddle, Caroline Risley, Sarah Andrews
+Spencer, E. D. E. N. Southworth, Caroline A. Sherman, Mary S.
+Scribner, Belle Smith, Maria T. Stoddard, Ada E. Spurgeon, Rubina
+Taylor, Harriet P. Trickham, Eliza M. Tibbetts, Dr. Caroline B.
+Winslow, Sarah E. Webster (mother of Dr. Susan A. Edson), Julia A.
+Wilbur, Mrs. Westfall, Mary Willard, Amanda Wall, Lucy A. Wheeler.
+
+[528] For full account see Vol. II., page 587.
+
+[529] David Eastburn and Henry Swaine of New Castle county.
+
+[530] The officers were: Sally Clay Bennett, Maggie S. Burnham,
+Mrs. Somers, Mary B. Clay.
+
+[531] The incorporators who formed the Board of Regents were, the
+Right Rev. Thomas U. Dudley, D. D., Bishop of Kentucky; Rev. James
+P. Boyce, D. D., President of the Baptist Theological Seminary;
+Rev. E. F. Perkins, Rector of St. Paul's Church; Hon. I. H.
+Edwards, Chancellor of Louisville Chancery Court; Theodore Harris,
+President Louisville Banking and Insurance Co.; W. N. Haldeman,
+President _Courier Journal_ Co.; Nicholas Finzer, President of
+Finzer tobacco works; Samuel L. Avery, President B. F. Avery Co.;
+G. H. Cochran, President Louisville School Board; Robert Cochran,
+Commissioner of Chancery Court; Hon. Charles Godshaw, Trustee of
+Jury Fund; Dr. E. A. Grant and Mr. James K. Lemon. The board was
+organized by the election of Mr. Theodore Harris, _President_, Dr.
+E. A. Grant, _Secretary_, and James K. Lemon, _Treasurer_. The
+school opened with fifteen students, and continued until June,
+1883. A lecture and practical course combined, occupy ten months of
+the year--lectures being given five afternoons of each week during
+the term.
+
+[532] _President_, Mrs. Anne W. Bodeker, Richmond;
+_Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Maria G. and Judge John C. Underwood, Mr.
+and Mrs. Judge Westal Willoughby, Mr. and Mrs. Judge Lysander Hill,
+all of Alexandria; Mr. R. M. Manly, Richmond; Mrs. Martha Haines
+Bennett, Norfolk; Mr. Andrew Washburne and Mr. William E. Coleman,
+Richmond; _Secretary_, Miss Sue L. F. Smith, Richmond; _Executive
+Committee_, Rev. W. F. Hemenway, Mrs. Andrew Washburne, Mrs. Dr. E.
+H. Smith, Dr. and Mrs. Langstedt, Richmond, and Mrs. Allen
+(Florence Percy) of Manchester.
+
+[533] _President_, Gov. R. K. Scott; _Vice-Presidents_, Hon. B. F.
+Whittemore, Hon. G. F. McIntyre, Gen. W. J. Whipper, Mrs. R. C.
+DeLarge, Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, Mrs. A. J. Ransier, and Mrs. R. K.
+Scott; _Secretary_, Miss K. Rollin; _Treasurer_, Mrs. K. Harris.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV. (CONCLUDED).
+
+CANADA.
+
+
+We are indebted to Miss Phelps of St. Catharines and Mrs. Curzon of
+Toronto for the facts we give in regard to women's position in the
+Dominion. Miss Phelps says:
+
+     History tells us that when the thirteen American colonies
+     revolted and their independence was declared there were 25,000
+     who adhered to the policy of King George, under the name of the
+     United Empire Loyalists, some of whom came to Canada, others to
+     Acadia and others wandered elsewhere. The 10,000 who sought a
+     home in Canada at once formed a government in harmony with
+     English laws and usages. Parliament was established in 1803 at
+     York, now Toronto, and during that session the first law for the
+     protection of married women was passed. At first, if a married
+     woman desired to dispose of her property, she was obliged to go
+     before the courts to testify as to her willingness to do so. In
+     1821 a bill was passed enabling her to go before justices of the
+     peace. This was a great convenience, for the courts were not
+     always in session when it was imperative for her to sell. In 1849
+     a bill was passed to naturalize women who married native-born or
+     naturalized subjects. In 1859, under the old parliament of
+     Canada, the Married Woman's Property act was passed, which in
+     brief provides that every woman who may marry without any
+     marriage-contract or settlement shall, after May 4, 1859,
+     notwithstanding her coverture, have, hold and enjoy all her real
+     estate, whether belonging to her before marriage or in any way
+     acquired afterward, free from her husband's debts and obligations
+     contracted after May 4, 1859. A married woman may also hold her
+     personal property free from the debts and contracts of her
+     husband, and obtain an order of protection for her own earnings
+     and those of her minor children. She may become a stockholder of
+     any bank, insurance company or any incorporated association, as
+     if she were a _feme sole_, and may vote by proxy or otherwise. A
+     married woman is liable on contracts respecting her own real
+     estate. No married woman is liable to arrest either on mesne or
+     final process. Any superior court of law or equity or any judge
+     of said court, or a judge of a surrogate court, or deputy, may,
+     on hearing the petition of a mother, or minor whose father is
+     dead, appoint her as guardian--notwithstanding the appointment of
+     another person by the father--of the estate to which the minor is
+     entitled, and of such sums of money as are necessary from time to
+     time for the maintenance of the minor. In 1881 a law was passed
+     enabling a woman to discharge a mortgage on her lands without her
+     husband being a party to it, while a husband cannot dispose of
+     his property without her consent.
+
+     More than thirty years ago school suffrage was granted to women
+     on the same grounds as to male electors, and they are eligible to
+     all school offices. Women have, however, been slow to avail
+     themselves of this privilege, owing to their ignorance of the
+     laws and their lack of interest in regard to all public measures.
+     When they awake to their political rights they will feel a deeper
+     responsibility in the discharge of their public duties. But the
+     steady increase in the number of those who avail themselves of
+     this privilege is the one encouraging indication of the growth of
+     the suffrage movement in Canada.
+
+     In 1882 the municipal act was so amended as to give married
+     women, widows and spinsters, if possessed of the necessary
+     qualifications, the right to vote on by-laws and some other minor
+     municipal matters. Again, in 1884, the act was still further
+     amended, extending the right to vote at municipal elections to
+     widows and unmarried women on all matters. In Toronto, January 4,
+     1886, the women polled a large vote, resulting in the election of
+     the candidate pledged to reform. But it must be remembered that
+     this progressive legislation belongs only to the Province of
+     Ontario.
+
+Mrs. Curzon writes:
+
+     In the year 1876 Dr. Emily H. Stowe--graduated in New
+     York--settled in Toronto for the practice of her profession.
+     Thoroughly imbued with the principles roughly summed up in the
+     term "woman's rights," and finding that her native Canada was not
+     awake to the importance of the subject, she lectured in the
+     principal towns of Ontario on "Woman's Sphere and Woman in
+     Medicine." By reason of the agitation caused by these lectures a
+     Woman's Literary Club[534] was organized in Toronto with Dr.
+     Stowe, president, and Miss Helen Archibald, secretary. The
+     triumphs scored through the efforts of this club were the
+     admission of women to the University College and School of
+     Medicine of Toronto, Queen's University and the Royal Medical
+     School of Kingston, and the founding of a medical school for
+     women in each city. When the municipal franchise was granted to
+     women the club decided to come out boldly as a suffrage
+     organization. Accordingly by resolution the Toronto Woman's
+     Literary Club was dissolved and the Canadian Woman Suffrage
+     Association[535] formed, March 9, 1883.
+
+     McGill University at Montreal has an annex for women founded
+     through the munificence of one of the merchants of that
+     city.----Dalhousie College, Halifax, admits women on the same
+     footing as men. The Toronto _Mail_ says it is only a question of
+     time when all Canadian colleges will do the same thing.----In
+     1883 the provincial legislature of Nova Scotia gave duly
+     qualified women the right to vote, and they exercised it very
+     generally the following year.----In New Brunswick the old laws
+     and prejudices remain, but woman suffrage has its friends and
+     advocates in Mrs. E. W. Fisher and Mr. and Mrs. W. Frank Hathaway
+     of St. Johns.----In 1885 the Mount Allison Methodist College at
+     Sackville, N. B., conferred the degree of M. A. on Miss Harriet
+     Stewart. This is the first instance of an educational institution
+     in the Dominion conferring such an honor upon a lady.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[534] _The Ballot-Box_ in 1880 said: "_The Citizen_ of Toronto,
+Ont., has established a 'Ladies' Column' under the auspices of the
+Toronto Woman's Literary Club, the first ladies' club ever formed
+in Canada. This club has been in existence four years. _The
+Citizen_ is said to be the first Canadian paper devoted, even in
+part, to woman's interest. Heading this change 'Important Notice,'
+it says: 'We have great pleasure in announcing that we have made an
+arrangement with the Toronto Woman's Literary Club to occupy an
+important space in our columns, for the advance of moral, social,
+educational and family matters affecting woman generally. Mrs. S.
+A. Curzon has charge of this column as associate editor.' The club
+in a stirring salutatory defines its work and objects. It is the
+intention to give, each week, a _resume_ of the current topics
+concerning women, education, the franchises, the legal abilities
+and disabilities of women, etc., hoping to arouse a national
+sentiment among Canadian women and intelligence upon these
+important subjects. This appeal is signed by Mrs. McEwen, the
+president, and Emily H. Stowe, Mrs. W. J. MacKenzie, Mrs. W. B.
+Hamilton and Mrs. S. A. Curzon, the executive committee."
+
+[535] The officers were: _President_, Mrs. Donald McEwen;
+_Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Curzon, Mrs. E. H. Stowe, M. D., Captain W.
+F. McMaster, John Hallam, esq.; _Treasurer_, Mrs. W. B. Hamilton;
+_Secretary_, Miss J. Foulds; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. McKenzie,
+Mrs. S. McMaster, Mrs. Riches, Mrs. Miller, Miss Hamilton, Miss
+McMaster, Miss Alexander, William Houston, J. L. Foulds, P.
+McIntyre, Phillips Thompson, Thomas Bengough.
+
+
+[Illustration: Mentia Taylor]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+BY CAROLINE ASHURST BIGGS.
+
+     Women Send Members to Parliament--Sidney Smith, Sir Robert Peel,
+     Richard Cobden--The Ladies of Oldham--Jeremy Bentham--Anne
+     Knight--Northern Reform Society, 1858--Mrs. Matilda
+     Biggs--Unmarried Women and Widows Petition
+     Parliament--Associations formed in London, Manchester, Edinburgh,
+     1867--John Stuart Mill in Parliament--Seventy-three Votes for his
+     Bill--John Bright's Vote--Women Register and
+     Vote--Lord-Chief-Justice of England Declares their Constitutional
+     Right--The Courts give Adverse Decisions--Jacob Bright secures
+     the Municipal Franchise--First Public Meeting--Division on Jacob
+     Bright's Bill to Remove Political Disabilities--Mr. Gladstone's
+     Speech--Work of 1871-2--Fourth Vote on the Suffrage Bill--Jacob
+     Bright fails of Reelection--Efforts of Mr. Forsyth--Memorial of
+     the National Society--Some Account of the Workers--Vote of the
+     New Parliament, 1875--Organized Opposition--Diminished Adverse
+     Vote of 1878--Mr. Courtney's Resolution--Letters--Great
+     Demonstrations at Manchester--London--Bristol--Nottingham--
+     Birmingham--Sheffield--Glasgow--Victory in the Isle of Man--Passage
+     of Municipal Franchise Bill for Scotland--Mr. Mason's Resolution--
+     Reduction of Adverse Majority to 16--Conference at Leeds--Mr.
+     Woodall's Amendment to Reform Bill of 1884--Meeting at Edinburgh--
+     Other Meetings--Estimated Number of Women Householders--Circulars
+     to Members of Parliament--Debate on the Amendment--Resolutions of
+     the Society--Further Debate--Defeat of the Amendment--Meeting at
+     St. James Hall--Conclusion.
+
+
+In writing a history of the woman suffrage movement, it is
+difficult to say where one should begin, for although the organized
+agitation which arose when John Stuart Mill first brought forward
+his proposal in parliament dates back only eighteen years, the
+foundations for this demand were laid with the very earliest
+parliamentary institutions in England. As a nation we are fond of
+working by precedents, and it is a favorite saying among lawyers
+that modern English law began with Henry III. In earlier Saxon
+times women who were freeholders of lands or burgesses in towns had
+the same electoral rights as men. We have records of the reigns of
+Mary and Elizabeth, showing that ladies of the manse, in their own
+right, sent members to parliament. Down to the time of the civil
+wars women were accustomed to share in the election of "parliament
+men." In 1640, some women voted in an election for the county of
+Suffolk, Sir Simonds d'Ewes being high-sheriff:
+
+     Who, as soon as he had notice thereof, sent to forbid the same,
+     conceiving it a matter verie unworthy of anie gentleman, and most
+     dishonourable in such an election to make use of their voices,
+     although in law they might have been allowed.
+
+The spirit of the Puritans was not favorable to woman's equality;
+but, though disused, the right was never absolutely taken away by
+law. In a celebrated trial, Olive _vs._ Ingram (reign of George
+II.) the chief-justice gave it as his opinion that "a person paying
+scot and lot," and therefore qualified to vote, was a description
+which included women; and all the writs of election down to the
+time of William IV. were made to "persons" who were freeholders.
+However, for all purposes of political life this right was as good
+as dead, being absolutely forgotten. But still the local franchises
+remained. We have no data to determine whether these were as
+completely neglected as the parliamentary franchise. Parishioners
+voted for overseers of the poor and for other local boards; and
+women were never legally disqualified from voting in these
+elections. The lowest period in the condition of women appears to
+have been reached at the end of the last century, though they were
+not then indifferent to politics. "You cannot," says Miss
+Edgeworth's Lady Davenant, "satisfy yourself with the common
+namby-pamby phrase, 'Ladies have nothing to do with politics.' * *
+* Female influence must exist on political subjects as well as on
+all others; but this influence should always be domestic not
+public; the customs of society have so ruled it." This sentence
+exactly represented ordinary English feeling. It was never
+considered derogatory to an English lady to take an active part in
+elections, provided she did so for some member of her family; but
+of direct responsibility she had none.
+
+In the ferment of opinion which preceded the great Reform bill,
+woman's claim to participate in it was never heard. The new
+franchises which were then for the first time created applied
+exclusively to _male_ persons, but in the old franchises continuing
+in force, the word "person" alone is strictly used. Mr. Sidney
+Smith said:
+
+     In reserving and keeping alive the qualifications in existence
+     before those itself created, this statute falls back exactly to
+     the accustomed phraseology of the earlier acts. Whenever it
+     confers a new right it restricts it to every male person.
+     Whenever it perpetuates existing franchises, it continues them
+     to every person, leaving the word "male" out on system.
+
+This may have been little more than an oversight, or it may have
+been that respect for precedent which used to be an inherent
+quality in English statesmen. But it is curious that the first
+petition ever, to our knowledge, presented for women's suffrage to
+the House of Commons should date from this same year. It was
+presented on August 3, 1832, and is the worthy predecessor of many
+thousands in later times. Hansard thus describes it:
+
+     Mr. Hunt said he had a petition to present which might be a
+     subject of mirth to some honorable gentlemen, but which was one
+     deserving of consideration. It came from a lady of rank and
+     fortune, Mary Smith of Stanmore, in the county of York. The
+     petition stated that she paid taxes, and therefore did not see
+     why she should not have a share in the election of a
+     representative; she also stated that women were liable to all the
+     penalties of the law, even death, and ought to have a voice in
+     the fixing of them; but so far from this, on their trials both
+     judges and jurors were of the opposite sex. She could see no good
+     reason for the exclusion of women from political rights while the
+     highest office of the State, that of the crown, was open to the
+     inheritance of females; and, so we understood, the petitioner
+     expressed her indignation against those vile wretches who would
+     not marry, and yet would exclude females from a share in the
+     legislation. The prayer of the petition was that every unmarried
+     female, possessing the necessary pecuniary qualifications, should
+     be entitled to vote for members of parliament.
+
+The following year Sir Robert Peel in opposing vote by ballot said:
+
+     The theoretical arguments in favor of woman suffrage were at
+     least as strong as those in favor of vote by ballot. There were
+     arguments in favor of extending the franchise to women to which
+     it was no easy matter to find a logical answer. Other and more
+     important duties were entrusted to women. Women were allowed to
+     hold property, to vote on many occasions in right of that
+     property; nay, a woman might inherit the throne and perform all
+     the functions of the first office of the State. Why should they
+     not vote for a member of parliament?
+
+But Sir Robert Peel evidently had no idea that a time would come
+when women would ask this question in downright seriousness.
+Meanwhile the preference for the words "male person" in the new
+enactments still continued. It was employed in the Municipal
+Corporation Reform act, 1835; and in the Irish poor-law act of
+1838, women, as well as clergymen, were expressly excluded from
+election as poor-law guardians. The repeal of the corn-laws brought
+the political work of women to the front; they formed local
+committees, collected funds and attended meetings. In a speech on
+free-trade, delivered in Covent Garden Theater January 15, 1845,
+Richard Cobden said:
+
+     There are many ladies present, I am happy to say; now, it is a
+     very anomalous fact that they cannot vote themselves, and yet
+     that they have a power of conferring votes upon other people. I
+     wish they had the franchise, for they would often make much
+     better use of it than their husbands.
+
+Again in 1848, in supporting a motion of Mr. Joseph Hume in the
+House of Commons to the effect that the elective franchise should
+be extended to all householders, Mr. Cobden said:
+
+     A gentleman asked me to support universal suffrage on the ground
+     of principle, and I said to him, if it is a principle that a man
+     should have a vote because he pays taxes, why should not a widow
+     who pays taxes and is liable to serve as church-warden and
+     overseer, have a vote for members of parliament? The gentleman
+     replied that he agreed with me.
+
+In 1853, Mr. W. J. Fox, member for Oldham, in acknowledging the
+presentation to him by the ladies of Oldham of a signet-ring
+bearing the inscription, "Education, the birthright of all," spoke
+strongly in favor of women having a definite share in political
+life:
+
+     If women have nothing to do with politics, honest men ought to
+     have nothing to do with politics. They keep us pure, simple,
+     just, earnest, in our exertions in politics and public life. They
+     have to do with it, because while the portion of man may be by
+     the rougher labors of the head and hands to work out many of the
+     great results of life, the peculiar function of woman is to
+     spread grace and softness, truth, beauty, benignity over all. Nor
+     is woman confined to this. In fact I wish that her direct as well
+     as indirect influence were still larger than it is in the sphere
+     of politics. Why, we trust a woman with the sceptre of the realm,
+     consider her adequate to make peers in the State and bishops in
+     the Church; surely she must be adequate to send her
+     representatives to the lower House. I know the time may not have
+     come for mooting a question of this sort; but I know the time
+     will come, and that woman will be something more than a mere
+     adjective to man in political matters. She will become a
+     substantive also. And why not?
+
+Other speakers and writers brought forward the same point. Jeremy
+Bentham declared he could find no reasons for the exclusion of
+women, though he laid no stress on the matter; Herbert Spencer in
+"Social Statics" (1851), Mr. Thomas Hare in his book on
+"Representation," and Mr. Mill in "Representative Government," all
+discussed it. In 1843 Mrs. Hugo Reid published an excellent volume,
+"A Plea for Woman," in which she maintained that "There is no good
+ground for the assumption that the possession and exercise of
+political privileges are incompatible with home duties." In 1841 a
+strong article appeared in the _Westminster Review_, written by
+Mrs. Margaret Mylne, a Scotch lady still living. Mrs. Stuart Mill's
+admirably comprehensive article appeared in the same review in
+1851.[536] In 1846, also, Col. T. Perronet Thompson, the well-known
+anti-corn-law advocate, wrote:
+
+     Whenever the popular party can agree upon and bring forward any
+     plan which shall include the equal voting of women, they will not
+     only obtain an alliance of which most men know the importance,
+     but they will relieve the theory of universal suffrage from the
+     stigma its enemies never fail to draw upon it, of making its
+     first step a wholesale disqualification of half the universe
+     concerned.
+
+Among other writers and speakers on the subject, we must also
+enumerate Anne Knight, an earnest warm-hearted Quaker lady. She
+sometimes lectured upon it, and many of her letters written to Mrs.
+Elizabeth Pease Nichol of Edinburgh, Lord Brougham, and others, are
+still preserved, in which she eagerly advocates the admission of
+women to the suffrage. She assisted in founding the Sheffield
+Female Political Association. On February 26, 1851, this
+association held a meeting at the Democratic Temperance Hotel,
+Sheffield, and unanimously adopted an address, which was the first
+manifesto dealing with the suffrage ever formulated by a meeting of
+women in England:
+
+     ADDRESS OF THE SHEFFIELD POLITICAL ASSOCIATION TO THE WOMEN OF
+     ENGLAND--_Beloved Sisters_: We, the women of the democracy of
+     Sheffield, beg the indulgence of addressing you at this important
+     juncture. We have been observers for a number of years of the
+     various plans and systems of organization which have been laid
+     down for the better government and guidance of democracy, and we
+     are brought to the conclusion that women might with the strictest
+     propriety be included in the proclamation of the people's
+     charter; for we are the majority of the nation, and it is our
+     birth-right, equally with our brother, to vote for the man who is
+     to sway our political destiny, to impose the taxes which we are
+     compelled to pay, to make the laws which we with others must
+     observe; and heartily should we rejoice to see the women of
+     England uniting for the purpose of demanding this great right of
+     humanity, feeling assured that were women thus comprehended, they
+     would be the greatest auxiliaries of right against might. For
+     what would not the patient, energetic mind of woman accomplish,
+     when once resolved? The brave and heroic deeds which history
+     records are our testimony that no danger is too great, no
+     struggle too arduous for her to encounter; thus confirming our
+     convictions that woman's cooeperation is greatly needed for the
+     accomplishment of our political well-being. But there are some
+     who would say: "Would you have woman enjoy all the political
+     rights of men?" To this we emphatically answer: Yes! for does she
+     not toil early and late in the factory, and in every department
+     of life subject to the despotism of men? and we ask in the name
+     of justice, must we continue ever the silent and servile victims
+     of this injustice? perform all the drudgery of his political
+     societies and never possess a single political right? Is the
+     oppression to last forever? We, the women of the democracy of
+     Sheffield, answer, No! We put forth this earnest appeal to our
+     sisters of England to join hand and heart with us in this noble
+     and just cause, to the exposing and eradicating of such a state
+     of things. Let us shake off our apathy and raise our voices for
+     right and liberty, till justice in all its fulness is conceded to
+     us. This we say to all who are contending for liberty, for what
+     is liberty if the claims of women be disregarded? Our special
+     object will be the entire political enfranchisement of our own
+     sex; and we conjure you, our sisters of England, to aid us in
+     accomplishing this holy work. We remain with heartfelt respect,
+     your friends.[537]
+
+At the end of 1858 there was established in Newcastle-on-Tyne an
+association called the Northern Reform Society, which had universal
+suffrage for its object, and it expressly invited the contributions
+of women. Letters were written by Matilda Ashurst Biggs, and
+afterwards by two or three women in different parts of the country,
+offering to become members. In acknowledging these letters, the
+secretary stated that the Northern Reform Union only contemplated
+the extension of the franchise to men, although he admitted that
+many of its leading members were individually in favor of "woman
+suffrage" but they believed that by asking for manhood suffrage,
+they were advancing a step towards universal franchise. He added.
+"The society will be very glad of women's subscriptions, and trusts
+that they will use their best efforts to promote its extension."
+Undoubtedly, there has never been any reluctance to accept the
+subscriptions of women towards promoting the objects of men. In
+commenting upon this letter, Mrs. Biggs[538] said in the _Newcastle
+Guardian_, February 19, 1859:
+
+     I have never given my rights to be merged in those of any other
+     person, and I feel it an injustice that I, who am equally taxed
+     with men, should be denied a voice in making the laws which
+     affect and dispose of my property, and made to support a State
+     wherein I am not recognized as a citizen. I consider that a
+     tyranny which renders me responsible to laws in the making of
+     which I am not consulted. The Northern Reform Society, which
+     "takes its stand upon justice," should claim for us at least that
+     we be exempted from the duties, it we are to be denied the rights
+     belonging to citizens.
+
+These books, speeches and letters though scattered and unconnected,
+slowly prepared the ground for the organized agitation. Another
+Reform bill grew into preparation. Men's thoughts were turned again
+towards the question of representation, and every word spoken on
+behalf of the enfranchisement of women assumed double force as it
+drew near to a political issue. The enfranchisement of women
+advanced from a question of philosophical speculation to actual
+politics in the election of John Stuart Mill member of parliament
+for Westminster in 1865. In his election address, Mr. Mill, as
+previously in his work on representative government, openly avowed
+this article of political faith. Nevertheless, the first speech of
+which we have record in the House of Commons plainly vindicating
+the right of women to the vote, was that of a man who differed from
+Mr. Mill in every other feature of his political life and
+creed--Mr. Disraeli. He used almost the same form of argument as
+Sir Robert Peel had done thirty years before, but unlike the former
+statesman he backed it up with his vote and personal influence for
+many succeeding years. It was in 1866 that he spoke these words,
+long and gratefully remembered by the women of the country:
+
+     In a country governed by a woman--where you allow woman to form
+     part of the estate of the realm--peeresses in their own right for
+     example--where you allow a woman not only to hold land, but to be
+     a lady of the manor and hold legal courts--where a woman by law
+     may be a church-warden and overseer of the poor,--I do not see,
+     where she has so much to do with the State and Church, on what
+     reasons, if you come to right, she has not a right to vote.
+
+These words from Disraeli were the spark that fired the train. In
+answer to a request from Miss Jessie Boucherett, Mrs. Bodichon and
+Miss Bessie R. Parkes, Mr. Mill replied that if they could find a
+hundred women who would sign a petition for the franchise, he would
+present it to the House of Commons. A committee was immediately
+formed in London, and the petition was circulated. In two or three
+weeks it had received 1,499 signatures. Among these were many who
+in after years took a prominent part, not only in suffrage, but in
+other movements for the elevation of women. The petition was
+presented by Mr. Mill in May, 1866, and was received with laughter.
+He then gave notice of a motion to introduce into the Reform bill a
+provision to the same effect. The committee[539] immediately began
+to circulate petitions and pamphlets. Two of these were by Mrs.
+Bodichon, "Reasons for, and Objections against the Enfranchisement
+of Women," being the substance of a paper she had read at the
+Social Science Congress, in October, 1866. We give the text of the
+petition, as it differed somewhat from those circulated in after
+years:
+
+     _To the Honorable, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great
+     Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled:_
+
+     The humble petition of the undersigned,--showeth, That your
+     petitioners fulfill the conditions of property or rental
+     prescribed by law as the qualification of the electoral
+     franchise, and exercise in their own names the rights pertaining
+     to such conditions; that the principles in which the government
+     of the United Kingdom is based, imply the representation of all
+     classes and interests in the State; that the reasons alleged for
+     withholding the franchise from certain classes of her majesty's
+     subjects do not apply to your petitioners. Your petitioners
+     therefore humbly pray your honorable House to grant to such
+     persons as fulfill all the conditions which entitle to a vote in
+     the election of members of parliament, excepting only that of
+     sex, the privilege of taking part in the choice of fit persons to
+     represent the people in your honorable House.
+
+This form of petition was only signed by unmarried women and widows
+of full age, holding the legal qualification for voting in either
+county or borough, but there were other forms for other classes of
+persons. On March 28, the Right Hon. H. A. Bruce presented a
+petition from 3,559 persons, mostly women. Mr. Mill, in April,
+presented one with 3,161 names collected by the Manchester
+committee, and the Right Hon. Russell Gurney one signed by 1,605
+qualified women, _i. e._, free-holders and householders who would
+have had the vote had they been men. In all 13,497 were counted in
+the parliamentary report this session; among these were many
+clergymen, barristers, physicians and fellows of colleges.
+
+While we are on the subject of petitions we may as well briefly
+glance at what was done in this branch of work during succeeding
+years.[540] No better method could be found of testing public
+opinion, or of affording scope for quiet, intelligent agitation.
+Many friends could help by circulating petitions, distributing
+literature at the same time and arguing away objections. In 1868
+there were presented 78 petitions with nearly 50,000 signatures.
+One of them, headed by Mrs. Somerville and Florence Nightingale,
+contained 21,000 names, and was a heavy but delightful burden which
+Mr. Mill could hardly carry to the table. This petition excited
+great attention. During all these years no petitions were presented
+against granting the suffrage to women. These numbers were
+undoubtedly a surprise to many members of parliament who were
+inclined to look upon woman suffrage as an "impracticable fad,"
+"the fantastic crochet of a few shrieking sisters." But the
+collection and arrangement of the signatures took up incalculable
+time, and after a few years this method of agitation was discarded
+to a great extent in the large political centres. Friends became
+wearied out with the toilsome process of year by year collecting
+signatures, which when presented were silently and indifferently
+dropped into the bag under the table of the House of Commons. But
+during the early days of the movement these petitions, signed by
+all classes of men and women, were invaluable in arousing interest
+in our movement.
+
+In 1867, for the better prosecution of the work, instead of one
+committee embracing the whole of England, separate associations
+were formed in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. The London
+committee consisted of ladies only, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Mrs.
+Fawcett, Miss Hampson, Miss Hare, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Stansfeld, with
+Mrs. Taylor as secretary. In the Manchester committee Mr. Jacob
+Bright, M. P., at once took up the position of leader and advocate
+which he afterwards so long and nobly maintained in the House of
+Commons. Miss Becker was appointed secretary. The Edinburgh
+committee elected Mrs. McLaren[541] for their president. At a
+special general meeting, November 6, 1867, it was resolved that
+these three societies should form one national society, thus
+securing the advantages of cooeperation while maintaining freedom of
+action. The same rule applied to societies in Birmingham, Bristol
+and other towns.
+
+To return to the debate in the House of Commons on May 20, 1867 on
+clause 4 of the Representation of the People bill. Mr. Mill moved
+to leave out the word "man" and insert the word "person." His
+speech has been too long before the public to need quotation; it is
+a model of inductive reasoning and masterly eloquence. The debate
+which followed was very unequal in character, but the division was
+gratifying, for he received 73 votes (including pairs, 81); 194
+voted against him. Mr. Mill wrote afterwards to a friend:
+
+     We are all delighted at the number of our minority, which is far
+     greater than anybody expected the first time, and would have been
+     greater still had not many members quitted the House, with or
+     without pairing, in the expectation that the subject would not
+     come on. But the greatest triumph of all was John Bright's vote.
+
+At the election for Manchester, held near the end of 1867 (when Mr.
+Jacob Bright was elected), Lily Maxwell, whose name had been
+accidentally left on the parliamentary register, recorded her vote.
+No objection was taken to it by the returning officer, or by the
+agents of either candidate. The _Times_ devoted a leading article
+to it. The circumstance was of no legal value, but it was useful to
+show that a woman could go through the process of recording a vote
+in a parliamentary election even before the Ballot act was passed.
+The idea gained ground that by the new Reform act the right to vote
+had been secured to women. The Reform act of 1867, sec. 3, declares
+that:
+
+     Every man shall in and after the year 1868 be entitled to be
+     registered as a voter, and when registered, to vote for a member
+     to serve in parliament.
+
+In the substitution of the word "man" for that of "male person"
+in the Reform act of 1832, a great difference was already
+discernable, but this difference was more important when taken into
+conjunction with what was popularly known as "Lord Romilly's act,"
+an act for shortening the language used in acts of parliament (13
+and 14 Vict.). This act provides, "that all words importing
+the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include
+females, unless the contrary is expressly provided"; and in the
+Representation of the People act there was no express provision to
+the contrary. This had been pointed out by one or two members at
+the time.
+
+Accordingly the several societies united in a systematic endeavor
+to procure the insertion of women's names on the registers of
+electors under the new Reform act. A circular respectfully
+requesting the boards of overseers to insert on the list of voters
+the names of all persons who had paid their rates, was sent to
+several hundred boards in different parts of the country. Very few
+replies were received, but women were placed on the lists in many
+counties, in Aberdeen, Salford and many small districts in
+Lancaster, Middlesex, Kent, etc. The overseers of Manchester
+declined compliance. In that city there were 5,100 women
+householders who claimed their votes, and when the revision courts
+were opened in September, this claim came on for consideration. The
+case was ably argued, but the revising barrister decided against
+admitting it, granting, however, a case for trial at the Court of
+Common Pleas. Another case was also granted, being that of Mrs.
+Kyllman, a free-holder, her claim being under the old free-holding
+franchise 8 Henry VI., to wit.:
+
+     Elections of knights of the shire shall be made in each county by
+     people dwelling and resident therein of whom each has free-hold
+     to the value of L40 by the year.
+
+In the majority of districts the revising barristers disallowed the
+claims; but in four district-revision courts the women's names were
+admitted. In Finsbury, one of the metropolitan boroughs, Mr.
+Chisholm Anstey was revising barrister, and he admitted them on
+account of ancient English law; in Cockermouth, Winterton and two
+townships of Lancashire, the revising barrister admitted them upon
+his interpretation of the Reform act taken in conjunction with Lord
+Romilly's act. In the suffrage report for this year the number of
+women placed on the electoral roll by these decisions is estimated
+at about 230, but undoubtedly there were others concerning whom no
+information was received. In many cases the women voted: 15 did so
+in Finsbury (not only was there no disturbance, but hardly any
+remark was made, and they expressed their surprise that it was so
+easy a thing to do); 12 in Gordon and 10 in Levenshulme, both
+little districts in Lancashire, and smaller numbers in other
+places. In Chester the parliament candidate issued his election
+placards to "Ladies and Gentlemen."
+
+On November 7, the case of the 5,000 Manchester women householders
+was argued before the Court of Common Pleas. Mr. J. D. Coleridge
+(now Lord Coleridge, Lord-chief-justice of England) and Dr.
+Pankhurst were the counsel for the appellants. Mr. John Coleridge
+in an able argument spoke of the ancient constitutional right of
+women to take part in elections. He produced copies from the record
+office of several indentures returning members to parliament, the
+signatures of which were in the hand-writing of women, or to which
+women were parties. He argued that the term "man" in the Reform act
+included woman, not only generally but specifically, under the
+provisions of Lord Romilly's act. The case was argued before
+Lord-chief-justice Boville; the decision was given on November 9,
+and decisively pronounced that the new Reform act had never
+intended to include women, and that they were incapacitated from
+voting. This decision did not affect the women who were already on
+the register, and many voted in the general election which took
+place afterwards. Thus women have been shut out from electoral
+rights, not by any decree of parliament, but by this decision of
+the Court of Common Pleas. However there was no appeal from this
+Court, except to parliament, and from this time forward the
+character of the agitation changed. The year 1868 ended with a
+legal decision which seemed crushing in its finality, while the
+same year had given the most conclusive proof that women wished to
+vote, and would do so whenever the opportunity offered.
+
+The next year, 1869, gave another convincing proof that women were
+eager to vote, and brought us the most substantial triumph yet
+obtained, due to the wisdom and skilful tactics of Mr. Jacob
+Bright, member of parliament for Manchester. This victory was the
+municipal franchise for women. Early in 1869 Mr. Hibbert introduced
+a bill to regulate the conditions of the municipal franchise. By
+the Municipal Corporation Amendment act, passed in 1835, male
+persons only were authorized to vote. The present bill was to amend
+that. Mr. Jacob Bright, seconded by Sir Charles Dilke and Mr.
+Peter Rylands, proposed the omission of the word "male" from the
+bill, and the insertion of a clause securing to women the right of
+voting in municipal elections. Mr. Hibbert concurred in the
+introduction of these amendments, though he did not anticipate they
+would lead to any result beyond a discussion. A circular containing
+full information upon the ancient and existing rights of women to
+vote in local affairs was sent to each member of parliament by the
+Manchester committee. It showed that before the passing of the
+Municipal Corporation act of 1835, women rate-payers had rights
+similar to those of men in all matters pertaining to local
+government and expenditure; and that in non-corporate districts
+they still exercised such rights, under the provisions of the
+Public Health act, and other statutes guarding the electoral
+privileges of the whole body of rate-payers. But when any district
+was incorporated into a municipal borough, the women rate-payers
+were disfranchised, although those not included within its
+boundaries remained possessed of votes. It showed also that women
+can vote in parochial matters, and take part in vestry meetings,
+called for various purposes, such as the election of church-wardens
+and way-wardens, the appointment of overseers, the sale of parish
+property, and, formerly, the levying of church-rates; also that
+they can vote in the election of poor-law guardians--that in fact,
+in none of those ancient voting customs, was the sex of the
+ratepayers taken into consideration as either a qualification or
+disqualification. We quote from the Manchester society:
+
+     In the House of Commons on June 7, 1869, on consideration of the
+     Municipal Franchise bill as amended, Mr. Jacob Bright rose to
+     move that in this act and the said recited act (Municipal
+     Corporation Reform act, 1835) wherever words occur which import
+     the masculine gender, the same shall be held to include females
+     for all purposes connected with and having reference to the
+     election of or power to elect representatives of any municipal
+     corporation. He stated that his object was to give the municipal
+     vote to every rate-payer within the municipal limits; to give to
+     municipal property the representation which all property enjoyed
+     elsewhere; that had the proposition been an innovation, a
+     departure from the customary legislation of the country, he would
+     not have brought it in as an amendment to a bill; but that his
+     object was to remove an innovation--to resist one of the most
+     remarkable invasions of long-established rights which the
+     legislation of this or any other country could show. The bill
+     before the house was an amendment of the Municipal Corporation
+     act of 1835. That act was the only act in regard to local
+     expenditure and local government which established this
+     disability. Before and since, all acts of parliament gave every
+     local vote to every rate-payer. The Health of Towns act of 1848
+     had a clause almost identical with the one he was moving. He was
+     therefore asking the House not only to make the bill in harmony
+     with the general legislation of the country, but to allow it to
+     be in harmony with its latest expressed convictions as shown in
+     the act of 1848. There were in England 78 non-corporate towns
+     which were not parliamentary boroughs, with populations varying
+     from 20,000 to 6,000. In these every rate-payer voted. There was
+     little if any difference between their government and that of
+     municipal towns. Who could assign a reason why women should vote
+     in one and not in the other? Every parochial vote was in the
+     hands of the whole body of rate-payers. Women held the most
+     important parochial offices. The sister of the member for
+     Stockport had acted as overseer. Miss Burdett Coutts had been
+     urged to take the office of guardian. Had she been a large
+     rate-payer in a municipal town, what an absurdity to shut her out
+     from the vote! He then showed how the process of disfranchisement
+     was going on, and quoted Darlington and Southport. The latter
+     town was incorporated in 1867. In 1866, 2,085 persons were
+     qualified to vote for commissioners; 588 of these were women.
+     From the moment of incorporation these votes were extinguished
+     without a reason being assigned, though they had exercised them
+     from time immemorial. Such would be the case with any town
+     incorporated in the future. He appealed to the metropolitan
+     members, and showed them that unless his clauses were carried,
+     when they came to establish corporations throughout the
+     metropolis, as some of them desired, all the female rate-payers
+     would be struck off the roll; that over a population of 3,000,000
+     this exclusion would prevail. He stated that where women had the
+     vote they exercised it to an equal degree with the men. Mr.
+     Lings, the comptroller for the city of Manchester, affirms that
+     according to his experience the number of men and women who vote
+     in local affairs bears a just proportion to the number of each on
+     the register. He showed that as the bill was a largely
+     enfranchising measure, his clause was in strict harmony with it,
+     but that while the bill sought to increase the representation of
+     those who were already considerably represented, the clause which
+     he wished to add would give representation to those who within
+     municipal towns were totally deprived of it. He concluded by
+     saying that questions had come to him, since these amendments had
+     been on the paper, from women in different parts of the country,
+     and from those who by their social and intellectual positions
+     might be regarded as representatives of their sex, asking why
+     there should always be this tender regard for the representation
+     and therefore the protection of men, and this apparent disregard
+     for the interest of women; and he appealed to the House, by its
+     decision, to show that as regards these local franchises it had a
+     common regard for the whole body of rate-payers.
+
+Mr. Jacob Bright's motion, which he supported with all the tact,
+earnestness and judgment of which he afterwards gave such repeated
+proofs in bringing forward his Women's Disabilities bill, was
+seconded by Mr. Rylands. Mr. Bruce (the home secretary) said he
+had shown conclusively that this proposition was no novelty, and
+that women were allowed to vote in every form of local government,
+except under the Municipal Corporations act. The clause introduced
+no anomaly, and he should give it his cordial support. Mr. Hibbert
+also supported the clause, which was agreed to amid cheers, and it
+was passed without a dissentient word or the faintest shadow of
+opposition, as was also the proposal of Sir Charles Dilke, to leave
+out the word "male" in the first clause.
+
+In the House of Lords an attempt was made by Lord Redesdale to
+reverse the decision of the House of Commons, but the proposal
+found no seconder, and therefore fell to the ground. The Earl of
+Kimberley, on behalf of the government, supported the proposition,
+as did also Lord Cairns, from the opposition benches. The Municipal
+Franchise bill became law in August, 1869. One well-known statesman
+said at the time, "This is a revolution; this vote means still
+another, and there never was so great a revolution so speedily
+accomplished." In 1869 the Ballot act had not been passed; this was
+in the days of open voting. It was therefore possible to ascertain
+with accuracy in how large a proportion the women householders
+availed themselves of their restored right to vote whenever a
+contested election took place. On the following November a letter
+of inquiry was sent to the town clerk of every municipal borough in
+England and Wales, and by their courtesy in replying it was
+ascertained that the women voted in very large numbers. In our
+municipal towns the average ratio of women householders to men
+householders is about one to seven. This varies greatly in
+different localities. In Tewkesbury, for instance, there was only
+one woman householder to twenty-three men householders, while in
+Bath the proportion had risen as high as one to three. The women
+voters were in about the same proportion. In the larger boroughs
+the proportion was especially good, while there were cases in which
+the polling of the women exceeded that of the men. In Bodmin,
+Cornwall, two women voted, one of whom was 92 and the other 94
+years of age.
+
+The first public meeting in connection with women's suffrage was
+held in Manchester, April 14, 1868, in the assembly room of the
+Free Trade Hall. The occasion was one of great interest. Mr. Henry
+D. Pochin, the mayor of Salford (which adjoins Manchester), took
+the chair, and the first resolution was moved by Miss Becker,
+seconded by the venerable Arch-deacon Sandford, and supported by
+Mr. T. B. Potter, M. P.:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the exclusion of women from the exercise of the
+     franchise in the election of members, being unjust in principle
+     and inexpedient in practice, this meeting is of opinion that the
+     right of voting should be granted to them on the same conditions
+     as it is or may be granted to men.
+
+The other resolutions were spoken to by Dr. Pankhurst, Mrs. Pochin
+(who had also written a very exhaustive pamphlet on "The Claim of
+Woman to the Elective Franchise," signed, _Justitia_), Mr. Chisholm
+Anstey, Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., Miss Annie Robertson of Dublin,
+Mr. F. W. Myers, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Mr. J.
+W. Edwards. This meeting, and the one which followed in Birmingham,
+May 6, are fair types of those which have followed by thousands.
+With few exceptions they have been addressed by men and women
+jointly; the resolutions passed have generally been of a directly
+practical and political character. They have been presided over,
+whenever possible, by the chief magistrate, or some other
+well-known man in the locality; in comparatively few cases have
+women presided, and very seldom, indeed, strangers. Thus they have
+been modeled closely on the ordinary English political meeting; and
+this form, quite apart from the principles discussed at the
+meetings, has done much to identify women's suffrage with the
+practical politics of the day. The first meeting ever held in
+London (July, 1869,) excited much attention. Admittance here was by
+ticket. Mrs. Peter A. Taylor took the chair; Miss Biggs read the
+report, and a noble array of speakers followed.[542]
+
+The principle of women's suffrage was unhesitatingly conceded by
+the passing of the Municipal Amendment act of 1869. The time was
+come to demand its application in parliamentary elections.
+Moreover, the decision of the Court of Common Pleas had left no
+mode of action possible except for parliament to reverse that
+decision. Mr. Jacob Bright, therefore, on the first day of the
+session gave notice of his intention to introduce a bill to remove
+the electoral disabilities of women. Sir Charles Dilke, a Liberal,
+and Mr. E. B. Eastwick, a Conservative, also gave their names on
+the back of the bill.
+
+     A BILL _to remove the Electoral Disabilities of Women_:
+
+     Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with
+     the advice and consent of the Lords, spiritual and temporal, and
+     Commons in this present parliament assembled, and by the
+     authority of the same, as follows:
+
+     _First_--That in all acts relating to the qualification and
+     registration of voters or persons entitled or claiming to be
+     registered and to vote in the election of members of parliament,
+     wherever words occur which import the masculine gender, the same
+     shall be held to include females for all purposes connected with,
+     and having reference to the right to be registered as voters, and
+     to vote in such elections, any law or usage to the contrary
+     notwithstanding.
+
+On February 16, the bill was read for the first time, and on May 4,
+it came on for its second reading. Mr. Jacob Bright earnestly
+appealed to the House to grant this measure of justice:
+
+     The women who are interested in this subject, he concluded, are
+     only acting in the spirit of one of the noblest proverbs of our
+     language, "God helps those who help themselves." Is it a matter
+     of regret to us that they should have these aspirations? Ought it
+     not rather to be a subject of satisfaction and of pride? That
+     this bill will become law, no one who has observed the character
+     of this agitation and who knows the love of justice in the
+     British people can doubt. I hope it will become law soon, for I
+     have a desire which will receive the sympathy of many in this
+     House. I have a strong desire that when our children come to read
+     the story of their country's fame, it may be written there that
+     the British parliament was the first great legislative assembly
+     in the world, which, in conferring its franchises, knew nothing
+     of the distinctions of strong and weak, of male and female, of
+     rich and poor.
+
+The result of the division surprised and cheered all the supporters
+of the measure. The government was neutral, and members of the
+cabinet voted on either side according to their own opinions. The
+second reading was carried by a vote of 124 to 91, being a majority
+in its favor of 33. Those who witnessed that division will never
+forget the grateful enthusiasm with which Mr. Jacob Bright was
+received when he came up to the ladies' gallery, with his wife
+leaning upon his arm. But our triumph was short-lived. Before the
+bill went into committee, a week later, it became known that the
+government intended to depart from its attitude of neutrality. A
+strong pressure was exercised to crush the bill, and the contest of
+course became hopeless. On the division for going into committee
+220 votes were counted against 94 in its favor.
+
+It became evident that we were in for a long contest, which would
+require not only patience, courage and determination, but a high
+degree of political sagacity. Organizations had to be perfected,
+and additional societies established; meetings had to be called,
+and lectures given to explain the question. In March of this year
+the _Women's Suffrage Journal_ was established in Manchester. Miss
+Becker has conducted this monthly from the beginning with great
+talent and spirit; it is frequently quoted by the ordinary press,
+and its pages contain the best record extant of the movement. This
+same year of 1870, which witnessed our first parliamentary defeat,
+brought compensation also of such magnitude as to outweigh the
+temporary overthrow of the franchise bill. This was the Elementary
+Education act, by which women were not only admitted to vote for
+school-board candidates, but expressly enabled to sit on these
+boards, and thus exercise not only elective, but legislative
+functions of the most important character. The election clause
+reads thus:
+
+     The school-board shall be elected in the manner provided by this
+     act, in a borough by the persons whose names are on the burgess
+     roll of such borough for the time being in force, and in a parish
+     not situated in the metropolis, by the rate-payers.
+
+In London, with the sole exception of the city, the persons who
+elect the vestries, _i. e._ the rate-payers, are the electors--this
+includes women as a matter of course. In the city only,
+the electors were to be the same persons who elected
+common-council-men, and as these included men only, women are thus
+excluded from voting in the school-board election, though even here
+it may be observed they are eligible to sit on the board. Thus,
+within the space of two years, two important measures were extended
+unexpectedly.
+
+In 1871 Mr. Jacob Bright again introduced the Women's Disabilities
+Removal bill, and it was also supported by Mr. Eastwick and Dr.
+Lyon Playfair. It was thrown out in the division upon the second
+reading on May 3, by a majority of 69; 151 (including tellers and
+pairs 159) voting for it, and 220 (including tellers and pairs 228)
+voting against it. The most remarkable feature of the debate was a
+speech made by Mr. Gladstone, which certainly justified the
+confidence that women have subsequently entertained that the great
+minister was willing to see justice done to them:
+
+     The ancient law recognized the rights of women in the parish; I
+     apprehend they could both vote and act in the parish. The modern
+     rule has extended the right to the municipality, so far as the
+     right of voting is concerned.... With respect to school-boards, I
+     own I believe that we have done wisely, on the whole, in giving
+     both the franchise and the right of sitting on the school-board
+     to women. Then comes a question with regard to parliament, and we
+     have to ask ourselves whether we shall or shall not go
+     further.... I admit, at any rate, that as far as I am able to
+     judge, there is more presumptive ground for change in the law
+     than some of the opponents of the measure are disposed to
+     own.... I cannot help thinking that, for some reason or other,
+     there are various important particulars in which women obtain
+     much less than justice under social arrangements.... I may be
+     told that there is no direct connection between this and the
+     parliamentary franchise, and I admit it, but at the same time I
+     am by no means sure that these inequalities may not have an
+     indirect connection with a state of law in which the balance is
+     generally cast too much against women, and too much in favor of
+     men. There is one instance which has been quoted, and I am not
+     sure there is not something in it--I mean the case of farms.... I
+     believe to some extent in the competition for that particular
+     employment women suffer in a very definite manner in consequence
+     of their want of qualification to vote. I go somewhat further
+     than this, and say that so far as I am able to form an opinion of
+     the general tone and color of our law in these matters, where the
+     peculiar relation of men and women is concerned, that law does
+     less than justice to women [hear, hear], and great mischief,
+     misery and scandal result from that state of things in many of
+     the occurrences and events of life. [Cheers.] ... If it should be
+     found possible to arrange a safe and well-adjusted alteration of
+     the law as to political power, the man who shall attain that
+     object, and who shall see his purpose carried onward to its
+     consequences in a more just arrangement of the provisions of
+     other laws bearing upon the condition and welfare of women, will,
+     in my opinion, be a real benefactor to his country. [Cheers.]
+
+In another portion of his speech Mr. Gladstone said that the
+personal attendance of women in election proceedings, until the
+principle of secret voting should be adopted, was in his eyes an
+objection of the greatest force--thus giving reason to believe that
+as soon as vote by ballot was secured, this objection would be
+removed. Mr. Gladstone did not on this occasion vote against the
+bill, but left the House without voting.
+
+In 1872, our indefatigable leader again moved the second reading of
+the bill on the 4th of May. His speech was calm and masterly, and
+he was ably supported, but the division remained much the same; 143
+for the bill and 222 against it. This year the Scotch Education
+bill was passed, which extended the voting of women and their
+election on school-boards to Scotland; thus the principle of direct
+representation on a matter so important as national education was
+recognized. The Ballot act also, which at once rendered elections
+orderly and safe, henceforth gave increased security and comfort to
+women who were voting in municipal elections.
+
+In this year a new committee was established in London called the
+Central committee, to which all other branches of the society had
+the right of appointing delegates, and the movement received
+thereby a considerable increase of strength and solidity.[543]
+
+Meantime each branch of the society was working away indefatigably.
+During 1871, the _Suffrage Journal_ recorded 135 public meetings,
+and during 1872, 104 in England and 63 in Scotland. The work in
+Scotland was chiefly carried on in the way of lectures by Miss Jane
+Taylour, who during these early years of the movement was an
+untiring and spirited pioneer, Miss Agnes McLaren often
+accompanying her and helping her to organize the meetings.
+
+We must not omit to mention Mary Burton (sister of John Hill Burton
+the historiographer of Scotland), who was also one of the most
+energetic workers of the Edinburgh committee, especially in the
+north of Scotland; and Mrs. Dick Lauder who had the courage to free
+herself from the opinions in which she had been educated, and with
+much sacrifice devoted herself to the work. Space fails us fitly to
+record the indomitable efforts of Eliza Wigham, one of the
+honorable secretaries of the Edinburgh committee. In England, Mrs.
+Ronniger organized and spoke at many meetings, as did Mrs. Fawcett,
+Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss Becker, Miss Craigen and, less frequently,
+Mrs. Josephine Butler, Lady Amberley, Miss Annie Young and others.
+Mrs. Grote, wife of the historian and herself a well-known author,
+took part in one meeting held in Hanover Square rooms, London, on
+March 26, 1870. Mrs. Grote was then upwards of seventy years of
+age. Rising with great majesty, she spoke with all the weight that
+age, ability and experience could give, greatly impressing her
+audience. Miss Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart Mill,
+also made her maiden speech at this meeting; it was delivered with
+much grace, excellent in thought as in manner.
+
+Many additional local committees were established, and good work
+was done by familiarizing the public mind with the principles of
+the association. Ward meetings were held in which the women
+burgesses and municipal voters were assembled, and while the
+responsibilities of the vote they already possessed were pointed
+out to them, attention was called to the prior importance of the
+vote which was withheld from them.
+
+In 1873, for the fourth time, our unwearied champion, Mr. Jacob
+Bright, brought forward his bill. This time the second reading was
+fixed for April 30. He was supported in the debate by Mr. Eastwick,
+Sergeant Sherlock, Lord John Manners, Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Heron, Mr.
+Henley, and Sir J. Trelawny. While all these gentlemen deserved our
+thanks for the able assistance they rendered the cause, the speech
+of Mr. Henley, Conservative member for Oxfordshire, so old a member
+that he was styled the "Father of the House," excited special
+attention. He said he had once felt considerable doubt and dislike
+of the measure, but after careful watching of the way in which
+women gave the local votes, he had come to the conclusion that an
+extension of the principle would be useful. The votes in favor of
+the bill increased at this debate to 155 (with tellers and pairs
+172), a larger number than had ever before been obtained, while the
+opposition remained stationary.
+
+Along with the petitions of this year were two memorials signed by
+upwards of 11,000 women, and presented to Mr. Gladstone and Mr.
+Disraeli. Every English county, with the exception of the smallest,
+Rutland, and most large towns sent representative signatures. An
+effort was made this session by Mr. William Johnston, the member
+for Belfast, to introduce amendments into the Irish Municipal bill,
+which would have had the effect of extending the municipal
+franchise to Irish women householders. But the bill was withdrawn,
+and similar efforts made in subsequent years have met with the like
+fate.
+
+This year the death of Mr. John Stuart Mill saddened the hearts of
+all. He will never be forgotten as the first man who carried this
+question into the arena of practical politics and gave it the
+weight of an honored name. The strength and vitality of the
+movement were further tested by a disaster which threatened to do
+it a lasting injury. The general election took place early in the
+spring of 1874, and to the regret and consternation of the friends
+of equal suffrage, their able and devoted leader, Mr. Jacob Bright,
+lost his seat for Manchester--a loss in a great degree attributable
+to his unshrinking advocacy of an unpopular question. Never did his
+clients, for whom he had sacrificed so much, feel so deeply the
+need of the power which the franchise would have given them to keep
+so good a friend in the House of Commons. Not only was Mr. Bright
+defeated, but Mr. Eastwick, the friend who had always seconded the
+bill, also lost his seat with about seventy others of our
+supporters. We were thus compelled to look around for fresh
+leaders. The task of bringing in a bill was accepted by Mr.
+Forsyth, the Conservative member for Marylebone, one of the London
+boroughs; with him were associated Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. Russell
+Gurney and Sir R. Anstruther, men differing widely on matters of
+party politics. The bill was introduced early in the session, but
+no day was found for it, and in the middle of July it was
+withdrawn. Considerable discussion was excited by the unexpected
+action of Mr. Forsyth, who on his own responsibility inserted in
+the bill an additional clause by which married women were
+especially excluded from its operation. Although the insertion of
+this clause would probably have made no difference, the bulk of
+legal opinion being that under the law of coverture, married women
+even when possessed of property are not "qualified persons," yet
+the society joined in requesting that this additional clause should
+be dropped and the original form of the bill adhered to.
+
+Memorials, signed by upwards of 18,000 women headed by Florence
+Nightingale, Harriet Martineau, Lady Anna Gore Langton (sister of
+the Duke of Buckingham), Frances Power Cobbe, Anna Swanwick, were
+again this year forwarded to Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone. An
+important memorial was also forwarded from a large conference held
+in Birmingham in January, which represents very accurately the
+special aspects of the question in England. The president of the
+conference was Mrs. William Taylor, sister-in-law of Mr. Peter A.
+Taylor, M. P.:
+
+     _To the Right Honorable William Ewart Gladstone, M. P., First
+     Lord of Her Majesty's Treasury:_
+
+     The memorial of members and friends of the National Society for
+     Women's Suffrage, in conference assembled at Birmingham, January
+     22, 1874, showeth, that your memorialists earnestly desire to
+     urge on the attention of her majesty's government the justice and
+     expediency of abolishing the disability which precludes women,
+     otherwise legally qualified, from voting in the election of
+     members of parliament.
+
+     They submit that the disability is anomalous, inasmuch as it
+     exists only in respect to the parliamentary franchise. The
+     electoral rights of women have been from time immemorial equal
+     and similar to those of men in parochial and other ancient
+     franchises, and in the year 1869 a measure was passed, with the
+     sanction of the administration of which you are the head,
+     restoring and confirming the rights of women ratepayers to the
+     exercise of the municipal franchise.
+
+     The electoral disability is further anomalous, because by the law
+     and constitution of this realm, women are not disabled from the
+     exercise of political power. Writs, returning members to serve
+     in the House of Commons, signed by women as electors or returning
+     officers, are now in existence, and the validity of such returns
+     has never been disputed. Women who were heirs to peerages and
+     other dignities exercised judicial jurisdiction and enjoyed other
+     privileges appertaining to such offices and lordships without
+     disability of sex. The highest political function known to the
+     constitution may be exercised by a woman. The principle that
+     women may have political power is coeval with the British
+     constitution. On the other hand the practice of women taking part
+     in voting at popular elections is equally ancient in date, and
+     has been restored and extended by the action of the present
+     parliament. Your memorialists therefore submit that to bring the
+     existing principle and practice into harmony by removing the
+     disability which prevents women who vote in local elections from
+     voting in the election of members of parliament, would be a step
+     in the natural process of development by which institutions,
+     while retaining the strength and authority derived from the
+     traditions of the past, and preserving the continuity of the
+     national life, continually undergo such modifications as are
+     needed in order to adapt them to the exigencies of the age and
+     the changed conditions of modern life.
+
+     They also submit that the old laws regulating the qualifications
+     of electors do not limit the franchise to male persons; that the
+     laws under which women exercised the parochial franchise were
+     couched in the same general terms as those regulating the
+     parliamentary suffrage, and that while the latter were not
+     expressly limited to men, the former were not expressly extended
+     to women. There is, therefore, a strong presumption that the
+     exclusion of women from the parliamentary suffrage was an
+     infringement on their ancient constitutional rights, rendered
+     possible in a barbarous age by the comparative weakness and
+     smallness of the number of persons affected by it, and continued
+     until the exclusion had become customary. The franchise of women
+     in local elections has been from time to time under judicial
+     consideration, and their right to take part in such elections has
+     been repeatedly confirmed by the judges. During the arguments in
+     these cases, the question of their right to vote in the election
+     of members of parliament was frequently mooted and conflicting
+     opinions thereon incidently expressed by various judges, but the
+     matter was never judicially decided, and no authoritative
+     judgment was ever given against the right until the year 1868,
+     after the passing of two modern acts of parliament in 1832 and
+     1867, the former of which for the first time in English history,
+     in terms, limited the franchise created by it to every "male
+     person," and the latter to every "man" qualified under its
+     provisions. Your memorialists submit that had the question of the
+     right of women to vote in the election of members of parliament
+     been raised in the law courts under the old statutes which
+     contain no reference to sex, and before the passing of the
+     limiting acts of 1832 and 1867, that the precedents which had
+     determined the right in their favor in the construction of the
+     law as to local government must have been held to apply to the
+     case of qualified freeholders or others who claimed the right as
+     regards parliamentary government.
+
+     They submit also, that even after these limiting acts, women had
+     reasonable grounds for claiming the suffrage under the existing
+     law. There is an act of parliament which declares that "in all
+     acts, words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and
+     taken to include females, ... unless the contrary is _expressly
+     provided_." The act of 1867 contained clauses imposing personal
+     liabilities and pecuniary burdens on certain classes of
+     ratepayers. In these clauses, as in the enfranchising clauses,
+     and throughout the act, words importing the masculine gender were
+     alone used. No provision was made that these words should not
+     include females. Accordingly in enforcing the act the extra
+     liabilities and burdens were imposed on women ratepayers, to many
+     of whom they caused grievous hardship. There was, therefore,
+     reason to expect that the enfranchising clauses would bear the
+     same interpretation, inasmuch as they were confessedly offered as
+     an equivalent for the increased liabilities. But when the women
+     who had been subjected to the liabilities claimed their votes,
+     they found that words importing the masculine gender were held to
+     include women in the clauses imposing burdens, and to exclude
+     them in the clauses conferring privileges, in one and the same
+     act of parliament.
+
+     This kind of injustice was shown in a marked manner in the case
+     of certain women ratepayers of Bridgewater, who, in a memorial
+     addressed to you in 1871, set forth the grievance of most heavy
+     and unjust taxation which was levied on them, in common with the
+     other householders of that disfranchised borough, for the payment
+     of a prolonged commission respecting political bribery. The
+     memorialists felt it to be unjust and oppressive, inasmuch as,
+     not exercising the franchise nor being in any way directly or
+     indirectly concerned in the malpractices which led to the
+     commission, they were nevertheless required to pay not less than
+     three shillings in the pound according to their rental. To that
+     memorial you caused a reply to be sent through Mr. Secretary
+     Bruce, stating that "it was not in the power of the secretary of
+     State to exempt women owning or occupying property from the local
+     and imperial taxation to which that property is liable." While
+     fully admitting this, your memorialists beg to represent that it
+     is in the power of the legislature to secure to women the vote
+     which their property would confer, along with its liability to
+     local and imperial taxation, were it owned or occupied by men.
+
+     They submit that this concession has recently been granted in
+     respect to local taxation, and that if justice demands that Women
+     should have a voice in controlling the municipal expenditure to
+     which their property contributes, justice yet more urgently
+     demands that they should have a voice in controlling the imperial
+     expenditure to which the same property is liable. The local
+     expenditure of the country amounts to about L30,000,000, the
+     imperial expenditure to about L70,000,000 annually; if,
+     therefore, the matter be regarded as one of taxation only, the
+     latter vote is of more importance than the former. Local
+     government deals with men and women alike, and knows no
+     distinction between male and female ratepayers. But imperial
+     government deals with men and women on different principles, and
+     in such a manner that whenever there is any distinction made in
+     the rights, privileges and protection accorded to them
+     respectively, the difference is always against women and in favor
+     of men. They believe this state of things is a natural result of
+     the exclusion of women from representation, and it will be found
+     impracticable to amend it until women are admitted to a share in
+     controlling the legislature.
+
+     By the deprivation of the parliamentary vote, women, in the
+     purchase or renting of property, obtain less for their money than
+     men. In a bill which passed the House of Commons last session,
+     provision was made for the amalgamation in one list of the
+     municipal and parliamentary registers of electors. In that list
+     it appeared that the same house, the same rent and the same taxes
+     conferred on a man the double vote in municipal and parliamentary
+     government, and on a woman the single vote only, and that the
+     less honorable and important one. When the occupation of a house
+     is transferred from a man to a woman, say to the widow of the
+     former owner, that home loses the privilege of representation in
+     the imperial government, though its relations with the
+     taxgatherer continue unaltered. There have been various societies
+     formed with a view to enable persons to acquire portions of
+     landed or real property, partly for the sake of the vote attached
+     to such property. Should a woman purchase or inherit such an
+     estate, the vote, which has been one important consideration in
+     determining the value, would be lost through her legal disability
+     to exercise it.
+
+     The deprivation of the vote is a serious disadvantage to women in
+     the competition for farms. A case is recorded of one estate in
+     Suffolk from which seven widows have been ejected, who, if they
+     had possessed votes, would have been continued as tenants. A
+     sudden ejection often means ruin to a family that has sunk
+     capital in the land, and it is only too probable that no day
+     passes without the occurrence of some such calamity to some
+     unhappy widow, who, but for the electoral disability, might have
+     retained the home and the occupation by which she could have
+     brought up her family in comfort and independence.
+
+     Besides this definite manner in which the electoral disability
+     injures women farmers, it has a more or less directly injurious
+     influence on all self-dependent women who maintain themselves and
+     their families by other than domestic labor. A disability, the
+     basis of which is the presumed mental or moral incapacity of the
+     subject of it to form a rational judgment on matters within the
+     ordinary ken of human intelligence, carries with it a stigma of
+     inferiority calculated to cause impediment to the entrance on or
+     successful prosecution of any pursuit demanding recognized
+     ability and energy. This presumed incapacity is probably the
+     origin of the general neglect of the education of women, which is
+     only now beginning to be acknowledged, and the absence of
+     political power in the neglected class renders it difficult if
+     not impossible to obtain an adequate share for girls in the
+     application of educational funds and endowments. So long as women
+     are specifically excluded from control over their parliamentary
+     representatives, so long will their interests be postponed to
+     claims of those who have votes to give; and while parliament
+     shall continue to declare that the voices of women are unfit to
+     be taken into account in choosing members of the legislature, the
+     masses of men will continue to act as if their wishes, opinions
+     and interests were undeserving of serious consideration.
+
+     It is now nearly two years since you, in your place in the House
+     of Commons, said that the number of absolutely self-dependent
+     women is increasing from year to year, and that the progressive
+     increase in the number of such women is a very serious fact,
+     because those women are assuming the burdens that belong to men;
+     and you stated your belief that when they are called upon to
+     assume those burdens, and to undertake the responsibility of
+     providing for their own subsistence, they approach the task under
+     greater difficulties than attach to their more powerful
+     competitors. Your memorialists therefore ask you to aid women in
+     overcoming these difficulties, by assisting to place them,
+     politically at least, on a level with those whom you designate as
+     "their more powerful competitors."
+
+     One of the greatest hindrances in the path of self-dependent
+     women is the opposition shown by members of many trades and
+     professions to women who attempt to engage in them. The medical
+     and academical authorities of the University of Edinburgh have
+     successfully crushed the attempt of a small band of female
+     students to qualify themselves for the medical profession, and
+     the same spirit of "trades unionism" is rife in the industrial
+     community. A few months ago the printers of Manchester, learning
+     that a few girls were practicing type-setting, and endeavoring to
+     earn a little money thereby, instantly passed a rule ordaining a
+     strike in the shop of any master printer who should allow type
+     set up by women to be sent to his machines to be worked. At the
+     present time, in a manufacturing district in Yorkshire where
+     there are "broad" and "narrow" looms, at the former of which much
+     more money can be earned, the men refuse to allow women to work
+     at the broad looms, though they are quite able to manage them,
+     because the work is considered too remunerative for women. At
+     Nottingham there is a particular machine at which very high wages
+     can be earned, at which women now work, and the men, in order to
+     drive them out of such profitable employment, have insisted on
+     the masters taking no more women on, but as those at present
+     employed leave, supplying their places by men. A master
+     manufacturer reports: "We have machines which women can manage
+     quite as well or better than men, yet are they not permitted by a
+     selfish combination of the strong against the weak." These are
+     only samples of the cases that are constantly occurring of
+     successful attempts to drive women out of remunerative
+     occupations. Your memorialists submit that women would be more
+     able to resist such attempts if they had the protection of the
+     suffrage; and that men would be less likely to be thus aggressive
+     and oppressive if they had learned to regard women as their
+     political equals.
+
+     Besides the restrictions on the industrial liberties of women
+     effected by combinations of men, there are existing and proposed
+     legislative restrictions from which men are exempt, and which
+     exercise a powerful influence on the market for their labor. For
+     the coming session we have the proposal further to limit their
+     hours of paid labor in factories, and to place other restrictions
+     on their labor in shops; also a proposition to place married
+     women on the footing of half-timers. Without here expressing any
+     opinion as to the wisdom of these proposals, we urge that members
+     of the House of Commons would be more capable of dealing with
+     them in a just and appreciative spirit if they were responsible
+     for their votes to the persons whose interests are directly
+     concerned and whose liberties they are asked to curtail; and,
+     further, that it is a grave question how far it is safe to trust
+     the industrial interests of women, as a class, to the
+     irresponsible control of the men who have manifested to
+     individuals and to sections of working women the spirit indicated
+     by the examples we have cited.
+
+     In the same speech you spoke of a state of the law in which the
+     balance is generally cast too much against women and too much in
+     favor of men. Since you directed your attention to this matter,
+     you have not been able either to introduce or to assist others
+     who have introduced measures to ameliorate the state of the law
+     respecting women, and such proposals have been unable to win
+     consideration from parliament. Your memorialists cannot believe
+     that this neglect has arisen from want of a desire on your part
+     to deal with the grievances under which you have admitted that
+     your countrywomen suffer; they are therefore led to the
+     conclusion that you have been unable to take into consideration
+     the affairs of an unrepresented class, owing to the preoccupation
+     of parliament with the concerns of those to whom it is directly
+     responsible.
+
+     You stated that "the question was, to devise a method of enabling
+     women to exercise a sensible influence, without undertaking
+     personal functions and exposing themselves to personal
+     obligations inconsistent with the fundamental particulars of
+     their condition as women," and that the objection to the personal
+     attendance of women at elections was in your mind an objection of
+     the greatest force. They respectfully submit that the exercise of
+     the municipal franchise involves the personal attendance of women
+     at the polls, and that since your words were uttered changes have
+     been effected which render the process of voting absolutely
+     identical for municipal and parliamentary elections, and the
+     whole proceeding perfectly decorous and orderly. Experience has
+     proved that women can vote at municipal elections without
+     prejudice to the fundamental particulars of their condition as
+     women, whatever these may be; and this experience shows that they
+     may vote in parliamentary elections without the smallest personal
+     prejudice or inconvenience. The school-board elections have also
+     shown that women can appeal to large constituencies and go
+     through the ordeal of public meetings, addresses and questions
+     from electors, to which men must submit who seek the suffrages of
+     a great community, without any sacrifice of womanly dignity, or
+     of the respect and consideration accorded to their position and
+     their sex. They therefore submit that events have obviated the
+     objections you entertained in 1871 to the proposal to give
+     representation to women, and that the course taken by the
+     administration over which you preside in assenting to the
+     extension of the municipal and school-board franchise to them; in
+     calling them to the public functions of candidates and members of
+     school-boards; and lastly, of securing the passing of a law which
+     renders the process of voting silent and secret, have taken away
+     all reasonable grounds for objecting on the score of practical
+     inconvenience to the admission of women to the exercise of a
+     vote, which they would have to give in precisely the same manner,
+     but not nearly so often, as those votes which they already
+     deliver.
+
+     It has been said that there is neither desire nor demand for the
+     measure, and further, that women do not care for and would not
+     use the suffrage if they possessed it. But the demand for the
+     parliamentary franchise is enormously greater than was the demand
+     for the municipal franchise, and for the school-board franchise
+     there was no apparent call. Yet these two measures were passed
+     purely on their own merits, and it was not held to be necessary
+     to impose on their promoters, over and above the obligation to
+     make out their case, the condition that a majority of the women
+     of England or of a particular district should petition for the
+     proposed boon. Experience proved the wisdom and justice of this
+     course, for although women throughout the country had taken no
+     active part in agitating for the municipal franchise, no sooner
+     was the privilege accorded than they freely availed themselves of
+     it, and statistics obtained from some of the largest boroughs in
+     the kingdom show that from the first year that women possessed
+     the suffrage, they have voted in about equal proportion with men
+     to the number of each on the register. The parliamentary vote is
+     more honorable and important than the municipal vote; it is,
+     therefore, safe to conclude that women who value and use the
+     latter will appreciate and exercise the former as soon as it
+     shall be bestowed upon them. Your memorialists submit that great
+     injustice and injury are done by debarring these women from a
+     voting power which there is such strong presumptive ground for
+     believing that they would freely exercise but for the legal
+     restraint.
+
+     Your memorialists are especially moved to call your attention to
+     the urgency of the claim at the present time, when a bill
+     extending the application of the principle of household suffrage
+     is about to be proposed to parliament, which bill received last
+     year such expressions of approval from members of her majesty's
+     government as to lead to the belief that they are willing to take
+     the proposal into serious consideration. They submit that the
+     claim and the need for representation of women householders are
+     even more pressing than that of agricultural laborers. The
+     grievances under which women suffer are equally great, and the
+     demand for the franchise has been pressed by a much greater
+     number of women and for a much longer period of time than in the
+     case of county householders now excluded. The number of persons
+     who petitioned last session for the County Franchise bill and for
+     the Women's Disabilities bill respectively were, for the former,
+     1,889, and for the latter, 329,206. The latter bill has received
+     most influential support from both sides of the House, and more
+     votes have been recorded in its favor than have been given for
+     any bill not directly supported as a party measure by one or
+     other of the great parties in the State. Under these
+     circumstances your memorialists earnestly request that you will
+     use your influence as leader of the House of Commons and of the
+     government to secure the passing of the bill introduced by Mr.
+     Jacob Bright, either as a substantive enactment, or as an
+     integral portion of the next measure that shall be passed dealing
+     with the question of the representation of the people.
+
+     Signed on behalf of the conference,
+
+                                   CAROLINE M. TAYLOR, _President_.
+
+The first vote that was given by the new parliament was on April 7,
+1875, Mr. Forsyth having moved the second reading in an able
+speech. It at once became manifest that the question had made great
+progress in the country. In spite of the loss of the seventy
+friends at the preceding general election, our strength in the new
+parliament had greatly increased. Including tellers and pairs, 170
+voted for the bill, and only 250 against. This result appears to
+have alarmed our opponents, who proceeded to form an association of
+peers, members of parliament and other influential persons, to
+resist the claims of women to the suffrage. They issued a circular
+which will be read by future generations with a smile of
+amazement.[544]
+
+It may have been partly owing to the influence of this association
+that the next year, when Mr. Forsyth again brought forward his
+bill, April 26, 1876, although the numbers of our friends and
+supporters remained undiminished, the opponents had considerably
+increased. This was due, also, no doubt, in great degree to the
+unexpected attitude taken on this question by the Right Hon. John
+Bright, the most powerful living advocate for freedom and
+representative government. In Mr. Mill's division of 1867, Mr.
+Bright had voted in favor of the measure, and while his brother had
+charge of the bill, he had never opposed it. His opposition speech
+in this debate, therefore, caused extreme disappointment and
+discouragement. It had little of the force which had always
+characterized his pleas for political justice. The most eloquent
+voice in the House of Commons lost its magic power when no longer
+inspired by truth. The women in the gallery listened with sorrowful
+hearts. Though they knew Mr. Bright's opinion could not block the
+wheels of progress, yet they felt intense regret that so honored a
+friend to freedom should abandon his most cherished principles when
+applied to women.
+
+The parliamentary history of the next few years may be very briefly
+recorded. In 1877 the bill had again passed into the hands of our
+beloved leader, Mr. Jacob Bright, who had resumed his place in the
+House of Commons, as member of parliament for Manchester. After a
+debate of great interest, and while our advocate, Mr. Leonard
+Courtney, was speaking, the opponents of the measure burst into a
+tumultuous uproar, which effectually drowned his voice. This new
+method of setting up shouts and howls in place of arguments, has
+since been brought to bear on more than one public question, but it
+was then comparatively novel. Mr. Courtney, nothing daunted, would
+not give way, and when six o'clock, which is the hour for closing
+the debates on Wednesday, struck, it was no longer possible to take
+a division.
+
+The following year, 1878, Mr. Jacob Bright was unable from failing
+health to continue in charge of the bill in the House of Commons,
+and a deputation of members from each society waited on Mr.
+Courtney and placed it in his hands. June 19, was set for the
+second reading. In his speech Mr. Courtney dwelt on the benefits
+that may accrue to women from representation. He added:
+
+     The political reasons for granting the prayer of the bill appear
+     to me to be undeniable, but I confess they are not the reasons
+     why I most strongly support it. I believe it will develop a
+     fuller, freer and nobler character in women by admitting them
+     into the sphere of political thought and duty. Some may say, "But
+     what is to be the end?" I do not know that we are always bound to
+     see the goal towards which we are moving. If we are moving on
+     right principles; if we are actuated by a feeling of justice; if
+     the hand that moves above us and leads us on is a hand in which
+     we can place implicit confidence,--then I say, trust to that
+     light, follow that hand, without fear of the future.
+
+The bill was again lost by 219 votes against 140, thus showing a
+smaller adverse majority than on the last division. This year Mr.
+Russell Gurney died. His name will always be associated with the
+women's suffrage movement, which he had supported ever since Mr.
+Mill's division in 1867. The death of Lady Anna Gore Langton about
+this time was also a severe loss.
+
+The last time that the question was brought before that parliament
+was the following summer, 1870. Mr. Courtney, after taking counsel
+with his parliamentary friends, made an important change in the
+conduct of his measure. It had hitherto been brought forward as a
+bill, which, if passed, would have made the actual change desired
+in the law; as the parliament was now verging towards its close, it
+was thought wiser to test the opinion of the House by bringing the
+question forward in the form of a resolution. Two purposes were
+served by this change: one was that many men who were in favor of
+the principle of women's suffrage had objected to it when brought
+forward as an isolated measure of reform involving a large addition
+to the constituency, and possibly therefore a new election; the
+other was, that the time for discussion of a private member's bill
+is very limited. On Wednesdays, when such bills come on, the House
+only sits in the morning, and the debate must be concluded at a
+quarter before six, while the forms of the House afford greater
+facilities for discussing and voting upon motions. Mr. Courtney in
+a clear and exhaustive speech moved his resolution as follows:
+
+     That in the opinion of this House it is injurious to the best
+     interests of the country that women who are entitled to vote in
+     municipal, parochial and school-board elections when possessed of
+     the statutory qualifications, should be disabled from voting in
+     parliamentary elections, although possessed of the statutory
+     qualifications, and that it is expedient that this disability
+     should be forthwith repealed.
+
+The debate was animated, but the result on division was much the
+same as before: 113 (including tellers and pairs, 144) voting for
+it, and 217 (with tellers and pairs, 248) against it. Thus closed
+the ninth parliament of Victoria, as far as women's suffrage was
+concerned.
+
+The steady perseverance and unflagging courage of the devoted band
+of men and women had achieved victories at many points along the
+line of attack.[545] Every suffrage meeting was the means of
+gaining converts. The agitation for the suffrage kept the memory of
+women's wrongs and grievances fresh before the public mind. These
+years saw the medical profession legally thrown open to women, and
+facilities given them in school and hospital for obtaining that
+education which had been hitherto sought abroad. Pharmacy no longer
+excluded them. London University opened its gates. The Irish
+Intermediate Education bill, in 1878, which was originally
+introduced for boys only, was, after several energetic discussions,
+widened, so as to include girls. Women began to be elected as
+poor-law guardians. A Scotch Married Women's Property bill was
+passed, which was a great improvement on the former law. A
+Matrimonial Causes Amendment act was also carried, which enables
+magistrates to grant a judicial separation to wives who are
+brutally treated, along with a maintenance for their children. Some
+of our friends regretted that these side issues should absorb the
+time of those who might otherwise have been working exclusively for
+suffrage; but this was a short-sighted fear. By broadening the
+basis of work, by asking simultaneously for better laws, better
+education, better employments and wider fields of usefulness, the
+sympathies of more women were engaged; while underlying and
+supporting all was the steady agitation for the suffrage with its
+compact organization of committees, meetings, publications and
+petitions which kept parliament awake to the fact that though still
+disfranchised, women had claims which it could not afford to
+ignore.
+
+
+[Illustration: Priscilla Bright McLaren]
+
+
+This was a time when the agitation for the suffrage had apparently
+reached a stationary condition, neither advancing nor receding, in
+which it was destined to remain for some years longer. Other
+causes, as the abolition of West Indian slavery and the corn laws,
+have had a similar period of apparent torpor succeeding the first
+activity. Justin McCarthy in his "History of our own Times," says:
+
+     This is, from whatever cause, a very common phenomenon in our
+     political history. A movement which began with the promise of
+     sweeping all before it, seems to lose all its force, and is
+     supposed by many observers to be now only the care of a few
+     earnest and fanatical men. Suddenly it is taken up by a minister
+     of commanding influence, and the bore or the crotchet of one
+     parliament is the great party controversy of a second, and the
+     accomplished triumph of a third.
+
+During the year of 1879, it was thought desirable to ascertain by
+some practical test what were the various reasons which caused
+thinking women to wish for the suffrage; and letters were addressed
+to ladies who were eminent either in literature or art, or who were
+following scientific or professional careers, or were engaged in
+any form of philanthropic work. The answers that were returned were
+collected into a pamphlet of exceeding interest, which was sent to
+each member before the debate, and it was amazing to watch from the
+gallery how the little green pamphlet was consulted and quoted
+from, in the most opposite quarters of the House, by friends who
+sought fresh arguments from it or by enemies who were looking for
+some sentence on which to base a sarcasm.[546]
+
+As a specimen of these letters Miss Frances Power Cobbe said:
+
+     So far from the truth is the reiterated statement of certain
+     honorable members of parliament that women do not desire the
+     franchise, that in my large experience I have scarcely ever known
+     a woman possessed of ordinary common sense, and who had lived
+     some years alone in the world, who did not earnestly wish for it.
+     The women who gratify these gentlemen by smilingly deprecating
+     any such responsibilities, are those who have dwelt since they
+     were born in well-feathered nests, and have never needed to do
+     anything but open their soft beaks for the choicest little grubs
+     to be dropped into them. It is utterly absurd (and I am afraid
+     the members of parliament in question are quite aware they are
+     talking nonsense) to argue from the contented squawks of a brood
+     of these callow creatures, that full grown swallows and larks
+     have no need of wings, and are always happiest when their pinions
+     are broken.
+
+The production of this pamphlet marked an era in women's suffrage
+literature. It was impossible after this to doubt that a large body
+of thinking women, not the queens of society, but the women who
+wrote, read, thought, or worked, were in favor of having full
+admission to political rights and responsibilities.
+
+The chief work of the society had now crystallized into five or six
+great centres. Edinburgh, under the presidency of Mrs. McLaren,
+assisted by Miss Wigham and Miss Kirkland, treasurer and secretary,
+was the recognized centre of activity for Scotland. In Ireland
+there was a committee in Dublin, of which Mrs. Haslam is the most
+active member; and the North of Ireland Committee, led by Miss
+Isabella Tod.[547] The three principal associations in England were
+those of London,[548] including the east and north-east counties;
+Manchester,[549] taking charge of the north of England and Wales,
+and Bristol[550] looking after the West. The officers of the
+several committees of the three kingdoms form a National Central
+Committee which has its headquarters in London and superintends all
+of the work bearing specially upon the action of parliament.
+
+Petitions were still sent in, but no longer in such enormous
+numbers. It had become evident that parliament cared little for a
+long roll of names from the unrepresented classes; they were now
+chiefly collected as a means of discovering how public opinion
+stood in any particular district. For instance, in 1879, a petition
+was sent from 1,447 women householders of Leicester. The total
+number of women householders in this town was 2,610, of whom only
+1,991 could be applied to, and there is no reason to suppose that
+public opinion was more advanced in Leicester than in the majority
+of large manufacturing towns.
+
+The municipal elections occur in England every November, and our
+custom in some towns was to call meetings of the women householders
+in every ward in which there was a contest, to explain to them the
+responsibilities resting upon the voters, and after an earnest
+address from some one of the ladies, to invite the respective
+candidates to speak. By these means not only was the interest of
+the women awakened in local politics, but the candidates themselves
+were reminded of the interests of an important section of their
+constituencies.
+
+With the beginning of 1880, came again the promise of a reform
+bill. The majority of the Liberal members of the House of Commons
+had pledged themselves to their constituents in its favor. But as
+our enemies were still reiterating that women themselves did not
+care for the franchise, some further proof of their sympathy was in
+order. The first great demonstration in favor of women was held in
+Free Trade Hall, Manchester, which seats about 5,000 people,
+February 3, where women were admitted free, and seats reserved for
+men in the gallery at 2s. 6d. each. This arrangement was adopted to
+make it a meeting of women. One hundred gentlemen were present
+besides the reporters.
+
+The purpose of the demonstration had been explained at preliminary
+ward meetings to which men and women came in crowds. On the night
+in question the scene exceeded the most sanguine expectations.
+Those who had witnessed the great free trade gatherings which
+assembled to hear Charles Villiers, Richard Cobden and John Bright,
+never saw a more enthusiastic audience. Mrs. Duncan McLaren of
+Edinburgh, who had been invited to preside, took her seat followed
+by an array of distinguished women, such as had never before graced
+any platform in the history of the three kingdoms, while the vast
+area and galleries were crowded with women of wealth and culture;
+factory women, shop-keepers and hard toilers of every station were
+also there. Some had walked twenty miles to attend that great
+meeting. They sat on the steps of the platform, climbed on every
+coigne of vantage, stood in dense masses in every aisle and corner.
+A large over-flow meeting was also held in the neighboring Memorial
+Hall over which Mrs. Lucas presided, but even this could not
+accommodate all who came, and thousands went away disappointed. It
+was truly a marvelous meeting, grand in its numbers, grand in the
+enthusiasm which had brought so many thousands together unattracted
+by the names of any distinguished speakers, to sympathize with
+each other in a great national movement, and to proclaim unity of
+action until it was gained; and it was grand also in the
+impressiveness of the words that were uttered. The president in her
+clear grave tones which were heard in the breathless stillness over
+that large assembly, said:
+
+     It seems like a dream. But only a grave reality could have
+     brought so many women together. Need we wonder that the
+     beneficent designs of Providence have been so imperfectly carried
+     out when only one-half the intellect and heart of the nation have
+     hitherto been called into action, and the powers of the other
+     half have been almost wholly suppressed? Women are learning along
+     with good men that politics in the true sense has to do with
+     human interests at large.
+
+When Mrs. McLaren had concluded, one speaker after another, gave
+her special testimony in favor of the necessity of obtaining
+representation. The number was so great that no one was allowed
+more than ten minutes.[551]
+
+This demonstration was quickly followed by others that were every
+way as successful. In connection with one at St. James' Hall,
+London, over which Viscountess Harberton presided, a procession of
+working women marched through the streets with a banner on which
+was inscribed "We're far too low to vote the tax; we're not too low
+to pay." Here also an overflow meeting was held to accommodate the
+numbers that could not be admitted into the hall. On November 4,
+the same scene was repeated at the Colston Hall, Bristol, and Mrs.
+Beddoe, the wife of a popular physician in that city presided, and
+on November 11, the last demonstration of that year was convened in
+the Albert Hall, Nottingham, where Mrs. Lucas took the chair. The
+following year saw no relaxation in these efforts. The Birmingham
+demonstration took place on February 22, 1881. It was a most
+inclement night and great fears had been entertained that it would
+prove a failure, but nothing had power to keep the crowds of women
+away or to lessen their enthusiasm. Mrs. Crosskey, the wife of Dr.
+Crosskey, one of the most respected of the Birmingham Liberal
+leaders, presided. The next was in St. George's Hall, Bradford, on
+November 22, and here again Mrs. McLaren took the chair, and said:
+
+     We are here to-night in the spirit of self-sacrifice. We have had
+     our sorrows in working on this question. We are here because we
+     know there are on our statute books unjust laws which subject
+     many women to sorrow and suffering, and the fact that we have
+     worked our way to such a platform proves that women are capable
+     of holding a political position, and ought to have a voice in our
+     national affairs. We cannot rest contented under the
+     consciousness of injustice because there are women who accept it
+     as their natural condition. We feel it our duty to arouse our sex
+     everywhere to a sense of their high destiny. The inspiration for
+     this work has come from a higher source than ourselves, and we
+     have had often to feel that God does not leave his children to
+     fight their battles alone.
+
+In 1882 there were two more demonstrations. The first was in Albert
+Hall, Sheffield, on February 27, Lady Harberton presiding, and it
+was crowded to overflowing with women of all ranks and conditions
+of society. The demonstration at Glasgow was on November 3, and no
+way inferior to the other in brilliancy and interest.[552]
+
+These demonstrations conclusively proved that the suffrage is
+desired, not only by a few educated women, the leaders of the
+movement, but by the great masses of the hard-working women. They
+proved also woman's political capacity and organizing power. No
+body of persons could possibly do more to manifest their desire for
+political liberty than the women who have organized and attended
+these demonstrations. So far as I am aware no such meetings
+have been attempted by the agricultural laborers over whose
+enfranchisement the House of Commons has been so deeply exercised,
+and though the absence of interest which these classes of men have
+as a whole shown in the question of the franchise is no argument
+for depriving them of it, the political knowledge and aspirations
+that women have shown for more than fifteen years ought to count
+for something in establishing their claim.
+
+The session of 1880 was broken, and the dissolution of parliament
+in March, the general election which followed, the change in the
+government and the consequent press of public affairs, made it
+impossible to bring forward any measure for the suffrage, but the
+principle was most splendidly and triumphantly vindicated in the
+ancient kingdom of the Isle of Man which has an independent
+government dating from the time of its first colonization under the
+vikings. It has in modern times its elective house which is called
+the House of Keys and is equivalent to the Commons. Its Upper House
+consists of the attorney-general, the clerk of the rolls, the
+bishop, two judges (or deemsters) and other officials. It enacts
+its own laws and imposes its own taxes, but is subject to imperial
+control by requiring the sanction of the queen before any law can
+come into effect. Some few years ago the franchise was felt to be
+too restricted, and a movement was set on foot which culminated in
+1880 in a bill to extend the franchise to every male person who was
+a householder. Mr. Richard Sherwood, who five years previously had
+brought forward a similar motion, moved an amendment to omit the
+word "male" for the purpose of extending the franchise to women who
+possessed the requisite qualification, which was carried by 16 to
+3, a vote of two-thirds of the whole body of the House of Keys. It
+then went before the Council which refused the franchise to female
+occupiers and lodgers, though agreeing to give it to all female
+owners of real estate of L4 annual value. Thus modified the bill
+was sent back to the House of Keys which gave up the lodger
+franchise but adhered to that for occupiers. The bill thus altered
+was again sent back to the Council and again returned with a
+message that the Council refused to come to an agreement. The Keys
+then proposed a compromise, limiting the qualification to woman
+occupiers of L20 a year. This again was refused, and the Council
+were prepared to reject the bill altogether. Sooner than lose the
+whole, the Keys assented, signing, however, a protest in which they
+stated that they had complied simply to secure a part of a just
+principle rather than lose the whole. The act was signed by the
+governor, the Keys and the Council on December 21, received the
+royal assent on January 5, 1881, and was immediately afterwards,
+according to ancient custom, proclaimed as law on the Tynwald Hill.
+
+Fully to estimate this victory, it must be remembered that the vote
+thus gained is the complete parliamentary franchise. Though the
+total area of the island is so small and though only those women
+who were absolutely owners of property were enfranchised, they
+numbered about 700. The law came into operation immediately, and
+the election began March 21. The women voted in considerable
+numbers, and were, as an eye-witness states, without exception
+quite intelligent and business like in this procedure. At the
+polling stations, the first persons who recorded their votes were
+women. We may mention in proof of their political gratitude that in
+the district where Mr. Sherwood was one of the candidates, every
+woman, whatever her party, voted for his reelection.
+
+Just before the opening of parliament in 1881, Mr. Courtney
+accepted a position in the administration, which rendered it
+impossible for him to continue in charge of any independent
+measure. By his advice, application was made to Mr. Hugh Mason,
+member for Ashton under Lyme. But the state of public business
+during the session never permitted the resolution to be discussed.
+The same disappointment occurred in the session of 1882--the
+difficulties in Ireland and Egypt occupying the attention of the
+government and the country to an extent which almost precluded any
+measure of domestic reform. Nevertheless, by constant and arduous
+efforts, these two years witnessed the passing of the Municipal
+Franchise bill for Scotland.
+
+The Municipal Franchise act of 1869 applied to English women only.
+Early in the session of 1881, Dr. Cameron, member for Glasgow,
+introduced a bill to assimilate the position of Scottish women to
+that which their English sisters had enjoyed for twelve years. The
+bill passed the House of Commons before Easter, and was then
+brought forward in the House of Lords by the Earl of Camperdown,
+passed May 13, and received the royal assent June 3. This law
+applied only to women rate-payers of the royal and parliamentary
+burghs, and did not extend to the police burghs, the populous
+places endowed with powers of local self-government under the
+general Police and Improvement act of 1862. A request was sent to
+Mr. Cameron to exert himself for a similar extension of the
+franchise to the women of the police burghs, and he answered by
+introducing in the following year, 1882, another act which gave to
+all women rate-payers the right, not merely of voting at elections
+of burgh commissioners, but also of voting with the other
+inhabitants as to whether a populous place should be constituted a
+police burgh.
+
+The election under these new measures was in November, 1882, and
+then Scottish women voted for the first time, excepting of course
+in school-board elections. The result was entirely satisfactory,
+though the number of women who voted varied greatly--in some places
+where no special interest attached to the election none came to
+vote, while in others they voted in equal proportion with the men,
+and in a few towns nearly every woman whose name was on the
+register voted. The passing of these two franchise bills was an
+undoubted triumph of the women's suffrage party. As one of the
+opponents in the debate of July, 1883, scornfully observed, "Had it
+not been for the question of women's suffrage being agitated
+throughout the country at the time, we should not have heard a
+syllable of the Scottish women's franchise bill," a sneering
+admission which we willingly construe into compliment.
+
+The year 1882 also witnessed the passing of the Married Women's
+Property act, whose immense benefits can hardly be estimated, and
+we may confidently assert that but for the unceasing agitation of
+the friends of women's suffrage, another quarter of a century would
+have been suffered to pass without bringing in this tardy measure
+of justice.[553]
+
+We now come to the session of 1883, inoperative as far as actual
+legislation was concerned, but rich in its augury for the future.
+Already in April the improved temper of the House on questions in
+which women were concerned, had been shown by the brilliant
+majority that voted with the Rt. Hon. Mr. Stansfeld for the
+suppression of the Contagious Diseases acts which have so long
+stained the English statute book. Early in May a memorial to Mr.
+Gladstone was signed by 110 Liberal members of parliament,
+unconnected with the government, in which they stated:
+
+     That in the opinion of your memorialists no measure for the
+     assimilation of the county and borough franchise will be
+     satisfactory unless it contain provisions for extending the
+     suffrage without distinction of sex to all persons who possess
+     the statutory qualifications for the parliamentary franchise.
+
+This memorial was a most remarkable manifestation of the support
+which members on the Liberal side of the House are pledged to give
+to the principle of justice to women. Nor are we wanting in
+Conservative support. Sir Stafford Northcote, has always given his
+friendly approval to the movement, and has very recently repeated
+his assurances of cooeperation in answer to a deputation of ladies
+who waited on him. After repeated balloting, Mr. Mason obtained a
+day, July 6, on which to bring forward his resolution. It was thus
+worded:
+
+     That in the opinion of this House the parliamentary franchise
+     should be extended to women who possess the qualifications which
+     entitle men to vote, and who, in all matters of local government
+     have the right of voting.
+
+Mr. Edward Leatham, also a Liberal, gave notice to oppose the
+resolution affirming with a curious liberalism, that "it is
+undesirable to change the immemorial basis of the franchise, which
+is that men only shall be qualified to elect members to serve in
+this House." Thus after a silence of four years, years of apparent
+inertia, but really fraught with progress, the debate once again
+revived in parliament. Mr. Jacob Bright said:
+
+     They have told us women can get what they want without the
+     franchise. That used to be said of working men--but since they
+     have had a vote, members in every part of the House have had a
+     generosity and sympathy and courage in all matters affecting
+     working men which they never had before. Precisely the same
+     effect would follow if you gave women the franchise. I admit that
+     women have gained much without the franchise, and I will tell the
+     House when that gain began: It began with the introduction of the
+     question of women's suffrage to the House, and the gain has been
+     mainly due to the awakening intelligence of women on political
+     questions owing to the wide-spread agitation and the demand for
+     women's suffrage. They have gained without the franchise,
+     municipal votes, school-board votes, the right to sit on
+     school-boards, the magnificent act of last year--an act which
+     ought to confer lasting fame on the present lord chancellor--the
+     Married Women's Property act. And owing to the untiring energy of
+     the right honorable member for Halifax (Mr. Stansfeld), they have
+     succeeded in inflicting a blow on an act of parliament[554] more
+     unjust to women than anything which has ever been passed, a blow
+     from which that act will never recover. These things have been
+     gained without the franchise. But who will tell me they would not
+     have gained them sooner, with less heart-breaking labor, if they
+     had had the political franchise?
+
+Mr. Courtney also addressed the House in stirring words. The result
+was most encouraging. Four years had passed since a division had
+been taken, and the enormous majority against us which in so many
+divisions had maintained its strength had dwindled to only 16. A
+total of 164, including tellers and pairs supported the resolution
+against an opposition of only 180. If the Liberal side of the House
+had only been canvassed on this occasion it would have been a
+victory, as 119 Liberals voted for it and paired, and only 75
+against it.
+
+With the close of the session the question was transferred to the
+country, and the events of the autumn made it amply evident that
+the majority of Liberals were in favor of extending the
+parliamentary suffrage to women. A great conference was held in
+October at Leeds, where delegates from between 500 and 600 Liberal
+organizations were present. Fully 2,000 delegates were present at
+the first meeting. After a long discussion upon the coming Reform
+bill, the Rev. T. Crosskey, of Birmingham, proposed a rider to the
+resolution which would include women's suffrage, as follows:
+
+     _Resolved_, That, in order to meet the just expectations of the
+     country, and to fulfill the pledges given at the last general
+     election, this conference is of opinion that a measure for the
+     extension of the franchise should confer on householders in the
+     counties the same electoral rights as those enjoyed by
+     householders in parliamentary boroughs; _and that, in the opinion
+     of this meeting, any measure for the extension of the suffrage
+     should confer the franchise upon women, who, possessing the
+     qualifications which entitle men to vote, have now the right of
+     voting in all matters of local government_.
+
+Mr. Walter McLaren seconded Dr. Crosskey in an able speech, and
+Miss Jane Cobden (daughter of the late Richard Cobden) who was
+sitting on the platform, and who had been appointed delegate from
+the Liberal association of Midhurst, supported the resolution. She
+begged them, representing as they did the Liberal principles of all
+England, to give it their hearty support. This was a continuation
+of the struggle in which Liberals had taken part during the last
+fifty years, and she trusted they would be true to their
+principles.
+
+Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, the daughter of Mr. John Bright, M. P.,
+who had been appointed delegate from one of the few Liberal
+associations which comprise women among their members, said:
+
+     There was in this country a considerable and increasing number of
+     earnest women of strong liberal convictions, who felt keenly the
+     total exclusion of their sex from the parliamentary suffrage.
+     Their hope was, of course, in the Liberal party, though all of
+     its members were not yet converted to true liberalism. The
+     Liberal women would not rest satisfied until there was throughout
+     the United Kingdom a real and honest household suffrage. They
+     knew that they were weak in the cabinet, and they regretted to
+     know that some of the most eminent leaders of the Liberal party
+     were not in this matter wholly their friends. These leaders had
+     fears which she thought the future would show to have been
+     unfounded. But she could venture to say on behalf of the Liberal
+     women of England that they were not unmindful of the past, and
+     were not ungrateful for the services which these men rendered and
+     were prepared to render to their country. Women were grateful.
+     They sympathized with the efforts of Liberal statesmen in the
+     past, and they knew how faithfully and loyally to follow. But
+     they felt that they must sometimes originate for themselves, and
+     they dared not blindly and with absolute faith follow any man,
+     however great or however justly and deeply beloved. Further, she
+     could say that, with the result of the high political teaching
+     they had had in the past, they would endeavor faithfully,
+     intelligently and with what ability was given to them, to uphold
+     those great principles of justice, and trust in the people which
+     she believed had made the Liberal party what it was, and which
+     alone were capable of lifting it to the highest triumphs in the
+     future.
+
+There were enthusiastic cheers when Mrs. Clark had finished
+speaking. The historical interest, the self-evident justice of the
+plea brought forward by the daughters of the great reform leaders
+on behalf of the continuance of the grand cause of freedom for
+which their fathers had so bravely battled, went to the hearts of
+the crowded assembly. Delegates who had come determined to vote
+against the resolution--the "monstrous political fad," as one of
+our opponents in parliament had called it--said, almost with tears
+in their eyes, "We can't vote against the daughters of Bright and
+Cobden," and when the resolution with the rider was put, a forest
+of hands went up in its support, and in that vast crowd there were
+only about thirty dissentients. The following evening Miss Jane
+Cobden and Mrs. Scatcherd addressed an open-air meeting of 30,000
+men who could not gain access to Victoria Hall, where John Bright
+was speaking on the franchise for men, and a unanimous cheer was
+given in favor of women's suffrage.
+
+This was only the beginning of the autumn campaign among the
+Liberal associations. The general committee of the Edinburgh United
+Liberal Association met on November 16, 1883, in the Oddfellows'
+Hall (No. 2), Forrest road, Edinburgh, to consider the questions of
+the Local Government Board (Scotland) bill, the equalization of the
+burgh and county franchise, and the extension of the parliamentary
+vote to women householders. After the two first subjects had been
+considered, the following resolution, moved by ex-Bailie Lewis, was
+adopted:
+
+     _Resolved_, That this meeting regards the extension of the
+     parliamentary franchise to female householders as just and
+     reasonable, and would hail with satisfaction the introduction of
+     a government measure which would confer the parliamentary
+     franchise upon all female householders, whether resident in
+     counties or burghs.
+
+November 21, a meeting of the general council of the Manchester
+Liberal Association was held in the Memorial Hall to consider the
+resolutions passed at the Leeds conference. Mr. J. A. Beith
+presided. Mr. J. W. Southern moved the following resolution:
+
+     _Resolved_, That in order to meet the just expectation of the
+     country and to fulfill the pledges given at the last general
+     election, this council is of opinion that a measure for the
+     extension of the franchise should confer on householders and
+     lodgers in the counties the same electoral rights as those
+     enjoyed by householders and lodgers in parliamentary boroughs,
+     and should extend to Ireland the franchise enjoyed by Great
+     Britain; and that, in the opinion of this meeting, any measure
+     for the extension of the suffrage should confer the franchise
+     upon women who, possessing the qualifications which should
+     entitle men to vote, have now the right of voting in all matters
+     of local government.
+
+An amendment to strike out the portion relating to women having
+been rejected, the resolution was carried unanimously. November 26,
+the sixth annual meeting of the National Liberal Association was
+held at Bristol. Here also one or two ladies were present as
+delegates. After a resolution affirming the urgency of the question
+of parliamentary reform had been passed, Mr. Lewis Fry, M. P.,
+moved:
+
+     _Resolved_, That in the opinion of this meeting any measure for
+     the extension of the suffrage should confer the franchise upon
+     women who, possessing the qualifications which entitle men to
+     vote, have now the right of voting in all matters of local
+     government.
+
+The resolution was seconded by Dr. Caldicott, supported in
+excellent speeches by Mrs. Walter McLaren and Mrs. Ashworth
+Hallett, and carried by a majority of five. Many other Liberal
+associations of less importance, during the autumn, affirmed the
+principle of women's suffrage. All the political associations in
+Ulster, both Conservative and Liberal, either formally or
+informally signified their acceptance of the principle. In the
+progress of the movement it was very encouraging to see so many
+brave women[555] of ability crowding our platform, conscientiously
+devoting their time, talents and money to this sacred cause, ready
+and able to fill the vacant places that time must make in our
+ranks.
+
+The year 1884 opened with good hopes. There was the immediate
+prospect of a reform bill, intended so to widen the representation
+of the people as to fix it on a satisfactory basis for another
+generation at least. The time seemed opportune for the attainment
+of women's suffrage. There had been repeated proof that the
+majority of the Liberal party in the country admit the justice of
+their claims; there were renewed promises of support on the part of
+members of parliament of all shades of political opinion. Many
+times the claims of women for the franchise have been set aside by
+the assertion that so important a privilege could not be granted
+till the time came for the general re-settlement of the question.
+That time appeared to have come. A considerable extension of the
+suffrage was to be granted, so as to include another 2,000,000 of
+unenfranchised men; what better time to recognize the claims of
+women who already possessed the qualifications of property or
+residence which alone in England give the vote? A few persons
+expected that the government Reform bill would contain a clause
+relating to women, but this expectation was not generally shared.
+It was well known that strong differences of opinion existed in the
+cabinet which would render it well-nigh impossible for the
+government to introduce the question as one of their own; and
+though there may have been disappointment, there was no great
+surprise when the Franchise bill, on its introduction, was found to
+contain no reference to women.
+
+Meanwhile there had been a change in the leadership of the
+movement. Mr. Hugh Mason having intimated his intention to resign
+the conduct of the measure, Mr. William Woodall, member of
+parliament for Stoke-on-Trent, consented to take charge of it. A
+conference of friendly members of parliament was held in the House
+of Commons on February 7, and it was then agreed that should the
+government Franchise bill not extend to women, an amendment with
+the object of including them should be moved at some stage of the
+discussion in the House of Commons. Mr. Woodall agreed to take
+charge of this amendment.
+
+On February 28, Mr. Gladstone moved in the House of Commons for
+leave to bring in a bill to amend the representation of the people.
+The forms of the House did not admit of Mr. Woodall's amendment
+being placed on the notice-paper until after the second reading of
+the bill, but during the adjourned debate on the second reading he
+found an opportunity to announce that he would move his proposed
+clause while the House was in committee on the bill. He remarked
+that the fundamental principle of the bill as it was described by
+the prime minister was to give a vote to every household, but as
+there was no provision for giving the franchise to such
+householders if they happened to be women, he intended to propose
+the insertion of a clause to remedy this omission. The clause was:
+
+     For all purposes connected with and having reference to the right
+     of voting in the election of members of parliament, words in the
+     Representation of the People acts importing the masculine gender
+     include women.
+
+A careful analysis of the opinions of members of the House of
+Commons gave every promise that such an amendment might be
+successful. The views of 485 out of the entire number were known,
+while 155 had never expressed an opinion, about one-third of these
+being new members. Of those whose opinions were known, 249, or a
+majority, had expressed themselves in favor of women's suffrage,
+236 had expressed themselves against it. The preponderance of
+support had hitherto always been among the Liberal ranks, for
+though the leaders of the Conservative party had given the
+principle their hearty approval, their example had not been
+followed by their partisans. It appeared probable therefore that,
+if the government held itself neutral on the occasion and permitted
+fair play, the amendment would be carried mainly by means of their
+own friends.
+
+During the spring, meetings of considerable importance were held in
+the country. The first was at Edinburgh on March 22. It was a
+demonstration of women inferior in no respect to those we have had
+occasion to chronicle of former years. No more imposing assemblage
+for a political object had ever been seen in Edinburgh. The largest
+hall in the city--that of the United Presbyterian Synod--was
+crowded to the doors, and an overflow meeting was held in the
+Presbytery Hall. Banners were hung above the platform and a roll
+inscribed with the names of the principal supporters of the
+movement was conspicuously displayed.[556] Lady Harberton occupied
+the chair and was accompanied by the delegates.[557] Letters[558]
+of sympathy were read by Miss Wigham, the secretary.
+
+     LADY HARBERTON said: If our legislators say taxation and
+     representation should go together, it is right that they should
+     give expression to this opinion fairly and openly, and at all
+     times and seasons insist upon it that those women who are
+     ratepayers and who are in fact heads of households, ought not to
+     be excluded from the privilege of voting for a member to
+     represent them in the House of Commons. This is no question of
+     women usurping the place of men or any trivialities of that kind;
+     it is a much more serious matter. The exclusion of women from the
+     right to representation has already led to laws being passed
+     about them and their interests, that I do not hesitate to call a
+     disgrace to humanity. [Cheers.] That they are not more commonly
+     recognized as such is due, I think, to two causes. One thing is
+     that women of the upper classes, who are usually wealthy, are
+     able by the aid of money so to hedge themselves around with
+     barriers to oppose the inconveniences placed upon women by the
+     laws, that they very often do not feel them so much; while women
+     of the classes who are not wealthy are so crushed and oppressed
+     by the working of these laws that they are unable to take the
+     first step, which is agitation, towards getting them altered or
+     repealed. [Cheers.] It often seems to me that another reason why
+     women themselves are not more enthusiastic upon this question of
+     the franchise is, that from their earliest childhood they are
+     taught that the first duty of women is unselfishness, the putting
+     of their own interests and wishes behind those of others. Any
+     discussion of this great question only brings forth hysterical
+     clamor that "women should stay at Home"--with a very big "H."
+     [Laughter and cheers.] Well, I have been examining a little into
+     the conduct of those ladies who do stay at home so much, and what
+     do I find? Why, that they rush about and seem like the changing
+     colors of the kaleidoscope, now collecting at a bazaar, anon
+     singing at a concert, with no end of publicity [cheers], but as
+     long as no rational object is promoted by their action, it is all
+     counted as staying quietly home in the nursery, whether they have
+     children or not. That is their notion of being "thoroughly
+     domesticated." [Laughter.] Now, much as I could wish myself that
+     men had done their duty and agitated for us, in this case it is
+     an undeniable fact that they have not shown that readiness, I may
+     say eagerness, to begin that one could have wished; it therefore
+     changes at once into one of those duties men have not seen their
+     way to do, and so becomes of necessity women's work.
+
+A series of meetings[559] after this was held in Bath, Newcastle
+and London.
+
+The audiences heartily concurred with the speakers that the time
+when a reform bill was before parliament was the fittest and most
+opportune moment in which to press forward the claim of women to
+representation.
+
+We may observe once again with pride, how hearty and cheering have
+always been the sympathy and assistance that men have rendered to
+women in this movement in England. At no time has there been a
+possibility of a feeling of bitterness between the sexes or a
+conviction that their interests were antagonistic, for the plain
+reason that there have always been men working side by side with
+women. Our suffrage meetings have been attended and supported by
+political leaders, members of parliament, town councils or
+prominent movers among the working-class associations. Except in
+the great demonstrations, which for special reasons were confined
+exclusively to women, our movement has formed part of the ordinary
+political life of the country.
+
+The _Suffrage Journal_ for May contains a very carefully drawn
+calculation of the number of women in the United Kingdom who will
+probably receive the franchise if the wider qualifications
+contained in the present Franchise bill become law. It must be
+remembered that there are now 3,330,720 more houses than electors
+in the British Isles. In boroughs where household suffrage already
+prevails for men, the unrepresented houses should guide us to a
+tolerably correct estimate of the number of women householders. We
+may say that practically there are 446,000 houses in the boroughs
+of England and Wales, whose inhabitant in each case being a woman,
+is unrepresented. The proportion varies much in different
+localities; in the city of Bath one-fourth the householders are
+women. If we calculate that one house in every six in the boroughs
+is occupied by a woman, we find that 349,746 is the probable number
+to be enfranchised there.
+
+For the counties there are no means of arriving at so close a
+result, but by estimating the proportion of women householders to
+be the same as that of women land-owners, or one in seven, we reach
+the fairly approximate calculation of 390,434, in the counties. The
+same method of calculation applies to Scotland and to Ireland,
+where, however, the proportion of woman land-owners is one in
+eight.[560]
+
+In order to show that the desire for the suffrage was not confined
+to any one rank, class or profession of women, a circular was
+signed by a large number of ladies and sent to every member of both
+houses of parliament. It was as follows:
+
+     SIR: We desire to call your attention to the claim of women who
+     are heads of households to be included in the operation of the
+     government Franchise bill.
+
+     Women have continuously presented this claim before parliament
+     and the country since the Reform bill of 1867. The introduction
+     of a measure declared by the government to be intended to deal
+     with the franchise in an exhaustive manner, renders it especially
+     necessary now to urge it upon the attention of parliament.
+
+     We respectfully represent that the claim of duly qualified women
+     for admission within the pale of the constitution is fully as
+     pressing as that of the agricultural laborer, and that the body
+     of electors who would thereby be added to the constituencies,
+     would be at least equal in general and political intelligence to
+     the great body of agricultural and other laborers who are to be
+     enfranchised by the government bill.
+
+     Among this body would be found women land-owners, who form
+     one-seventh of the land proprietors of the country; women of
+     means and position living on their own property; schoolmistresses
+     and other teachers; women engaged in professional, literary and
+     artistic pursuits; women farmers, merchants, manufacturers and
+     shopkeepers; besides large numbers of self-supporting women
+     engaged in industrial occupations. The continued exclusion of so
+     large a proportion of the property, industry and intelligence of
+     the country from all representation in the legislature is
+     injurious to those excluded, and to the community at large.
+
+     Several bills having special reference to the interests and
+     _status_ of women have been introduced in parliament during the
+     present session. This affords a powerful reason for the immediate
+     enfranchisement of women, in order that members of parliament may
+     have the same sense of responsibility towards the class affected
+     by them whether dealing with questions relating to women or to
+     men.
+
+     For these and other reasons we earnestly beg that you will give
+     your support to the amendment to be introduced by Mr. Woodall in
+     committee on the Representation of the People bill for including
+     women householders in its operation. We are, sir, yours
+     faithfully,[561]
+
+In this circular women of all opinions were represented, but a
+special circular, signed only by ladies of Conservative views, was
+sent to the conservative associations. These ladies pointed out
+that justice to women themselves, and the welfare of the whole
+community are involved in the admission of the women householders
+who at this moment are possessed of the existing statutory
+qualifications:
+
+     To bring in a new class, under new conditions, whilst continuing
+     to exclude those who fulfill the present conditions, would be
+     very injurious to those excluded and set a wrong example before
+     the community. Every enlargement of the electoral franchise for
+     men which can now take place necessarily includes many whose
+     interests in the country cannot equal those of the women who now
+     claim it. Their position is already recognized by their
+     possession of every local franchise whatsoever. Justice requires
+     that the principle should be fully carried out by extending to
+     women the right to vote for members of parliament, whose
+     legislation so strongly affects their welfare. Prudence also
+     requires that an important class of educated and philanthropic
+     persons should not be left out, or their claims postponed, when a
+     large addition is likely to be made to the less educated portion
+     of the electorate. We most seriously believe that few things
+     could happen more dangerous for the real happiness of the nation
+     than to permit the opportunity to pass without the admission of
+     legally qualified women within the circle of the constitution.
+
+A correspondence also was conducted with Mr. Gladstone by the
+Bristol Ladies' Liberal Association and others whom they invited to
+join them, of known Liberal views, urging him to receive a
+delegation and praying that
+
+     It may not in the future be said that women alone were unworthy
+     of any measure of confidence which you so rightly extended even
+     to the humblest and most ignorant men.
+
+Mr. Gladstone declined to receive the deputation, partly on the
+ground of illness, partly lest the admission of their views might
+interfere with his plans for the bill. So the day of battle drew
+on, when a rumor began to be circulated that the government
+intended to oppose Mr. Woodall's clause, on the ground that its
+admission might endanger the bill. Strenuous efforts were at the
+same time made to induce him to withdraw the amendment, and the
+government whips plainly intimated that the question would not be
+considered an open one, on which members were to be free to vote
+according to their convictions, but as one which the government had
+made up their minds to oppose. With the hope of changing this
+determination a memorial was signed by seventy-seven members of
+parliament, and presented to Mr. Gladstone, asking him to leave the
+introduction of the clause an open question. It represented--
+
+     That the Franchise bill being now in committee a favorable
+     opportunity is afforded for the discussion of the amendment for
+     extending its provisions to women, of which notice has been given
+     by Mr. Woodall.
+
+     That your memorialists have heard a rumor that her majesty's
+     government have declared against allowing the question to be
+     discussed and decided on its merits, on the ground that the
+     adoption of the proposal might endanger the bill.
+
+     That your memorialists are of the opinion that the claim of women
+     who are householders and ratepayers is just and reasonable, and
+     that the time when the House is engaged in amending the law
+     relating to the representation of the people is the proper time
+     for the consideration of this claim.
+
+     That during the discussion in committee on the Reform bill of
+     1867, an amendment for extending its provisions to women was
+     introduced by Mr. John Stuart Mill, and that on that occasion the
+     government of the day offered no opposition to the full and free
+     discussion of the question, and placed no restriction on the free
+     exercise of the judgment of members of their party as to the
+     manner in which they should vote. The tellers appointed against
+     Mr. Mill's motion were not even the government tellers.
+
+     That your memorialists earnestly pray that the precedent so
+     instituted may be followed on the present occasion, and that the
+     clause proposed by Mr. Woodall may be submitted to the free and
+     unbiased decision of the House on its own merits.
+
+     They desire earnestly to express their conviction that the course
+     of allowing the question to be an open one, on which the
+     government is prepared to accept the decision of the House,
+     cannot possibly endanger or prejudice the Franchise bill. In
+     connection with this your memorialists would press on your
+     attention the fact that Mr. Woodall's amendment is in the form of
+     a new clause, and would not therefore come under discussion until
+     the bill as it stands has passed through committee.
+
+This request was refused. On June 9, such unexpected progress was
+made by the committee of the House of Commons with the Franchise
+bill that all the government clauses were carried. There were many
+amendments on the paper which took precedence of Mr. Woodall's, but
+these were hastily gone through or withdrawn, and in the middle of
+the morning sitting of June 9, he rose and moved the introduction
+of his clause. Mr. Woodall's speech was a masterpiece of earnest
+but temperate reasoning. He was fortunate enough to present an old
+and well-worn subject in new lights. He said that Mr. Gladstone had
+affirmed the principle of the measure to be to give every
+householder a vote, and it would now be his endeavor to pursuade
+parliament that women were capable citizens, who would meet all the
+conditions so clearly laid down by the prime minister. Against the
+charge of inopportunity in bringing the subject forward at this
+crisis, he reminded the House of Mr. Chamberlain's words on a
+recent occasion, that it was always opportune to do right.
+
+     Mr. Gladstone said there were two questions to be considered. One
+     of these was the question whether women were to be enfranchised,
+     the other whether the enfranchisement should be effected by a
+     clause introduced in committee on the present bill. The second
+     question was that on which he was about to dwell. He deprecated
+     the introduction of new matter into the bill. The cargo which the
+     vessel carried was, in the opinion of the government, as large as
+     she could carry safely. The proposal was a very large one. It did
+     not seem unreasonable to believe that the number of persons in
+     the three kingdoms to be enfranchised by the amendment would be
+     little short of half a million. What was the position in which
+     Mr. Woodall placed the government when he requested them to
+     introduce a completely new subject on which men profoundly
+     differed, and which, it was clear, should receive a full and
+     dispassioned investigation? It was not now practicable to give
+     that investigation. This was one of those questions which it
+     would be intolerable to mix up with purely political and party
+     debates. If there was a subject in the whole compass of human
+     life and experience that was sacred beyond all other subjects it
+     was the character and position of woman. Did his honorable friend
+     ask him to admit that the question deserved the fullest
+     consideration? He gave him that admission freely. Did he ask
+     whether he (Mr. Gladstone) wished to bind the members of the
+     Government or his colleagues in the cabinet with respect to the
+     votes they would give on this question? Certainly not, provided
+     only that they took the subject from the vortex of political
+     contention. He was bound to say, whilst thus free and open on the
+     subject itself, that with regard to the proposal to introduce it
+     into this bill he offered it the strongest opposition in his
+     power, and must disclaim and renounce all responsibility for the
+     measure should Mr. Woodall succeed in inducing the committee to
+     adopt his amendment.
+
+On motion of Lord John Manners the debate was adjourned till June
+12.
+
+On the intervening day a meeting was summoned of the general
+committee of the society. Miss Cobbe first, and Mr. Woodall
+subsequently, presided, and the following resolutions were passed:
+
+     _Resolved_, That the claim of duly qualified women to the
+     exercise of the suffrage having been continuously presented
+     before parliament and the country since the Reform bill of 1867,
+     this meeting is of opinion that the time when the legislature is
+     again engaged in amending the law relating to the representation
+     of the people is the proper time for the consideration of this
+     claim.
+
+     _Resolved_, That this meeting heartily approves of the amendment
+     which Mr. Woodall has moved in committee on the Franchise bill
+     for extending its provisions to duly qualified women, and pledge
+     themselves to support his action by every means in their power.
+
+     _Resolved_, That they have heard with astonishment that her
+     majesty's government refuse to allow this amendment to be
+     discussed on its merits and to be decided by the free exercise of
+     the judgment of members of the House of Commons, but that the
+     government require their supporters to refrain from such free
+     exercise of their judgment on the alleged ground that the
+     adoption of the proposal would endanger the Franchise bill.
+
+     _Resolved_, That in the opinion of this meeting the exercise of
+     such pressure appears to be an infringement of the privileges of
+     a free parliament and an aggression on the rights of the people.
+     They hold that all sections of the community, whether electors or
+     non-electors, have an indefeasible right to have matters
+     affecting their interests submitted to the unbiased judgment, and
+     decided by the unfettered discretion of the members sent to
+     represent them in parliament.
+
+     _Resolved_, That a declaration signed by 110 Liberal members of
+     the House of Commons was presented last session to Mr. Gladstone
+     which set forth that, in the opinion of the memorialists, no
+     measure for the assimilation of the borough and county franchise
+     could be satisfactory unless it contained provisions for
+     extending the suffrage, without distinction of sex, to all
+     persons who possess the statutory qualifications for the
+     parliamentary franchise.
+
+     _Resolved_, That this meeting calls upon those who signed this
+     declaration, and all other members who believe that the claim of
+     duly qualified women to the parliamentary franchise is reasonable
+     and just, to support the clause moved by Mr. Woodall, in
+     committee on the Franchise bill, for extending its provisions to
+     such women.
+
+     _Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to Mr.
+     Gladstone and to every member of parliament.
+
+     _Resolved_, That petitions to both houses of parliament in
+     support of Mr. Woodall's clause be adopted and signed by the
+     chairman on behalf of this meeting.
+
+Some members of parliament who attended this meeting explained that
+though they were as firmly convinced as ever of the justice of the
+claim, they could not vote for it after Mr. Gladstone's distinct
+declaration that he would abandon the bill if the amendment were
+passed. On June 12 Lord John Manners resumed the debate. He said:
+
+     That although this proposal had never been of a party character,
+     it had always been a political question. There was no question
+     connected with the franchise which had been more thoroughly
+     discussed, threshed and sifted. Guided by every consideration of
+     justice and fairness, of equity, of analogy and experience, he
+     should give it his cordial and unhesitating support.
+
+The next speech of importance was Mr. Stansfeld's. He maintained
+that the acceptance of the clause by the government would have
+strengthened rather than weakened the bill, and that its insertion
+certainly would not have rendered the bill less palatable to the
+House of Lords:
+
+     The principle of this bill is household suffrage. Household
+     suffrage is one of two things--it is either put as a rough test
+     of capable citizenship, or else it means what I will call the
+     family vote. The women to be enfranchised under this clause would
+     be first of all women of property, intelligence and education,
+     having a status in the country; secondly a large class of women
+     of exceptional competency, because having lost the services and
+     support of men who should be the bread-winners and the heads of
+     families, they are obliged to step into their shoes and to take
+     upon themselves the burdens and responsibilities which had
+     previously devolved upon men, and because they have done this
+     with success. I decline either by word or deed to make the
+     admission that these women are less capable citizens than the
+     2,000,000 whom the right honorable gentleman proposes to
+     enfranchise by this bill. Well, then, let it be the family
+     vote--that is to say, exceptions apart, let the basis of our
+     constitution be that the family, represented by its head, should
+     be the unit of the State. Now that is the idea which recommends
+     and has always recommended itself to my mind. But on what
+     principle, or with what regard to the permanence and stability of
+     that principle, can you exclude the head of the family and give
+     that family no voice, because the head happens to be a woman? If
+     this clause be excluded from the measure, as it will be, this
+     will not be a bill of one principle, but of two principles. It
+     will not be a bill containing only the principle of household
+     suffrage interpreted as the family vote, but one founded on these
+     two principles--first, a male householding vote; and, secondly,
+     the exclusion of the head of the household when the head is a
+     woman. That is a permanent principle of exclusion, and therefore
+     the bill with this clause left out is a declaration for ever
+     against the political emancipation of women.
+
+After some speeches against the motion Colonel King-Harman said:
+
+     In the old state of the franchise it was not so much a matter of
+     importance to women whether they possessed votes or not, but now
+     that this bill proposed to create two million new voters of a
+     much lower order than those now exercising the franchise, it
+     became of importance to secure some countervailing advantage.
+     They were told this was a matter which could wait. What were the
+     women to gain by waiting? They had waited for seventeen years
+     during which the subject had been discussed, and now they were
+     told to wait till two million of the common orders had been
+     admitted to a share in the parliamentary management of the
+     country. The honorable member for Huddersfield (Mr. Leatham) had
+     used an argument which he (Colonel King-Harman) thought a most
+     unworthy one, namely, that the franchise was not to be extended
+     to women, because, unhappily, there are women of a degraded and
+     debased class. Because there were 40,000 of them in this
+     metropolis alone, the remaining women who were pure and virtuous
+     were to be deprived of the power of voting. But would Mr. Leatham
+     guarantee that the 2,000,000 men he proposes to enfranchise shall
+     be perfectly pure and moral men? Would he propose a clause to
+     exclude from the franchise those men who lead and retain in vice
+     and degradation these unfortunate women? No--men may sin and be a
+     power in the State, but when a woman sins not only is she to have
+     no power, but her whole sisterhood are to be excluded from it. He
+     believed that every idea of common sense pointed to the
+     desirability of supporting the amendment, and he therefore had
+     great pleasure in doing so.
+
+There were also excellent speeches from Mr. Cowen (Newcastle),
+General Alexander, Sir Wilfred Lawson and Mr. Story, and finally
+from Sir Stafford Northcote the leader of the Conservative
+opposition. He observed:
+
+     That the prime minister had told them that they did not consider
+     this clause to be properly introduced now, because this was not
+     the time for the question. It seemed to him, on the contrary,
+     that it was the very best opportunity for dealing with it,
+     because they were going enormously to increase the electorate,
+     and would, therefore, make the inequality between men and women
+     much greater than it was before. It would be said they were going
+     to extend the property franchise if this amendment were carried.
+     On that issue they were prepared to join and to maintain that it
+     was a right thing, and it was the duty of that House to make
+     proper provision for those classes of property holders now
+     without a vote. Members who had canvassed boroughs would remember
+     that after going into two or three shops and asking for the votes
+     of those who were owners, they have come to one perhaps of the
+     most important shops and have been told, "Oh, it is of no use
+     going in, there is no vote there." Such women are probably of
+     education and gentle character, and perhaps live as widows and
+     take care of their families; they have every right to be
+     consulted as to who should be the man to represent the
+     constituency in which they lived and to take care of their
+     interests and the interests of those dependent on them. That was
+     the ground on which Lord Beaconsfield stood. They had adhered to
+     that ground for several years, and there they stood now.
+
+The division took place at a late hour with the result that the
+clause was defeated by 271 votes to 135, being a majority against
+it of 136, or two to one. But though such a vote would have been a
+sore discouragement if it had represented the real opinion of the
+House, on the present occasion it meant little if anything. The
+government had sent out a "five-line" whip for its supporters, and
+so effective had this whip been, combined with Mr. Gladstone's
+assertion that he would give up the responsibility of the bill if
+the clause were carried, that 98 Liberals and 6 Home Rulers, known
+to be supporters of our cause, voted with the government, even Mr.
+Hugh Mason being among this number, while 34 Liberals and 7 Home
+Rulers, also friends of ours, were absent from the division. We may
+safely assume that had the government more wisely left it an open
+question, upon which members were free to vote according to their
+consciences, our defeat would have been turned into a victory. On
+the other hand while our Liberal friends thus voted against the
+amendment or abstained from voting, the bulk of our supporters in
+this division were Conservatives, a circumstance unknown in the
+previous history of the movement.
+
+An important conference of friends and supporters was held the next
+morning in the Westminster Palace Hotel at which Mr. Stansfeld
+presided. To use Miss Tod's words:
+
+     Never had a defeated army met in a more victorious mood. There
+     was much indeed to encourage in the degree of importance to which
+     the question had attained. It had risen from a purely speculative
+     into a pressing political question; it had been debated during
+     two days, and it was heartily supported by the Conservative
+     leader.
+
+The speeches at the conference were animated and full of hope for
+the future. Mr. Stansfeld congratulated the meeting on having made
+a new departure; their question had become one of practical
+politics, and they had now to address themselves in all the
+constituencies to the political organizations.
+
+A magnificent meeting was held in St. James Hall the following
+week. The hall was densely crowded in every part, and an overflow
+meeting was arranged for those unable to gain admission. Some of
+the speakers[562] proposed as the best measure for agitation, a
+determined resistance against taxation.[563]
+
+Repeated attempts to obtain a day for the debate and division were
+followed by repeated disappointments. The session commenced in
+November, 1884. Mr. Woodall at once gave notice of a bill. In
+presenting it to the House, he concluded after consultation with
+parliamentary friends, to add a clause defining the action of his
+bill to be limited to unmarried women and widows.[564] The enacting
+clause of the bill was as follows:
+
+     For all purposes of and incidental to the voting for members to
+     serve in parliament, women shall have the same rights as men, and
+     all enactments relating to or concerned in such elections shall
+     be construed accordingly, provided that nothing in this act shall
+     enable women under coverture to be registered or to vote at such
+     elections.
+
+The addition of this clause excited much discussion. Those in favor
+of it argued that this limitation would certainly be imposed in
+committee of the House, which though it was in all probability
+prepared to give the vote to women possessed of independence,
+dreaded the extension of faggot votes which would have been the
+almost inevitable consequence of admitting married women; while the
+result would be the same whether the limitation clause was
+introduced by the promoters of the bill or by a parliamentary
+committee, and it would be more likely to obtain support at the
+second reading if its intentions were made clear in the beginning.
+On the other hand it was argued that the principle of giving the
+vote to women in the same degree that it was given to men, was the
+basis upon which the whole agitation rested; that marriage was no
+disqualification to men, and therefore should not prove so to
+women; and that, though it might be necessary to accept a
+limitation by parliament, it was not right for the society to lower
+its standard by proposing a compromise. This divergence in the
+views of the supporters of the movement was the cause of much
+discussion in the public press and elsewhere, and unfortunately
+resulted in the abstention of some of the oldest friends of the
+cause from working in support of this particular bill, although it
+was admitted on all sides that if a day could be obtained its
+chances in a division were very good.
+
+The bill was introduced on November 19, 1884, and its opponents
+took the unprecedented course of challenging a division at this
+stage. Leave was however given to bring it in, and the second
+reading was set down for November 25, and then for December 9; on
+each occasion it was postponed owing to the adjournment of the
+House. It was next set down for Wednesday, March 4, but its chance
+was again destroyed by the appropriation by the government of all
+Wednesdays for the Seats bill. Mr. Woodall then fixed on June 24,
+but before that time the ministerial crisis occurred, and when that
+day arrived the House had been adjourned for the reelections
+consequent upon a change of government. He then obtained the first
+place on Wednesday, July 22, but again ministers appropriated
+Wednesdays, and all chances for the session being over, Mr. Woodall
+gave order to discharge the bill.
+
+This delay stands in sharp and painful contrast with the promptness
+with which parliament passed the Medical Relief bill. A clause had
+been inserted in the Franchise bill disfranchising any man who had
+been in receipt of parish medical aid for himself or family. This
+clause caused great dissatisfaction as it was stated it would
+disqualify from voting a large number of laborers in the
+agricultural counties; parliament therefore found time amidst all
+the press of business and party divisions to pass the Medical
+Relief bill removing this disfranchisement from _men_, though we
+are repeatedly assured that nothing but the want of time prevents
+their fair consideration of the enfranchisement of _women_. It is
+another proof that there is always time for a representative
+government to attend to the wants of its constituents.
+
+Another effort was made in the House of Lords by Lord Denman who
+introduced a bill for extending the parliamentary vote to women.
+The committees[565] were unaware of his intention until they read
+a notice of the bill in the newspapers. The enacting clause was as
+follows:
+
+     All women, not legally disqualified, who have the same
+     qualifications as the present and future electors for counties
+     and divisions of counties and boroughs, shall be entitled to vote
+     for knights of the shire for counties and divisions of counties
+     and for boroughs, at every election.
+
+A division was taken upon it on June 23, just after the Seats bill
+had been passed and the peers were about to adjourn in consequence
+of the change of government. Many protests were made that the time
+was ill chosen, and some peers left the House to avoid recording
+their votes while others voted against it without reference to its
+merits as a question. The division showed 8 in favor and 36
+against. There appears to be a strong impression that if a bill to
+enfranchise women were passed by the Commons it would be accepted
+by the Lords, while there is at the same time a feeling that any
+measure dealing with the representation of the people should
+originate with the Commons, and not in the upper House.
+
+During the year 1885 we sustained the loss of many of the earliest
+friends of the movement; chief among these Professor Fawcett, who
+from the commencement of its history had given it his firm and
+unflinching support. His conviction that justice and freedom must
+gain the upper hand often caused him to take a more sanguine view
+of the prospect than the event has justified. He was the firm
+friend of women in all their recent efforts, and helped them to
+obtain employment in the civil service, to enter the medical
+profession, to open the universities, and in many other ways. Next
+to be mentioned is the death of Mrs. Stansfeld. She was the
+daughter of Mr. William H. Ashurst, who was a staunch advocate of
+freedom and may be remembered as the first English friend of
+William L. Garrison. She had been a member of the suffrage
+committee in London for more than sixteen years, and gave unfailing
+sympathy to all the efforts made by her noble husband, James
+Stansfeld, in behalf of the rights of humanity. This year has also
+been saddened by the death of Mrs. Ronald Shearer, formerly Helena
+Downing, an able and true-hearted woman, who had devoted her
+strength and talents to the furtherance of our cause at a time when
+its advocates were still the objects of ridicule and attack.
+
+The electorate of three millions of men is now increased to five
+millions, and by this extension of the suffrage the difficulty of
+waging an up-hill fight in the interests of the still excluded
+class has also been increased. The interests of the newly
+represented classes will imperatively claim precedence in the new
+parliament. Like the emancipated blacks who received the vote after
+the American civil war, while the women who had supported the cause
+of the Union by their enthusiasm and their sacrifices were passed
+over, the miners and laborers of English counties have received the
+franchise for which they have never asked, in preference to the
+women who have worked, petitioned and organized themselves for
+years to secure it. Women have now to appeal to this new electorate
+to grant that justice which the old electorate has denied them;
+they have to begin again the weary round of educating their new
+masters by appeals and arguments; they will once more see their
+interests "unavoidably" deferred to the interests of the
+represented classes; they will once again be bidden to stand aside
+till it is time for another Reform bill to be considered!
+
+In recounting the history of woman suffrage frequent allusion has
+been made to the parallel movements which have been carried on
+through the same course of years; the most important of these have
+been: (1) The admission of women to fields of public usefulness;
+(2) removal of legal disabilities and hardships; (3) admission to a
+better education and greater freedom of employment. Much of the
+progress that has been made has been the work of the active friends
+of woman suffrage, and under the fostering care of the suffrage
+societies.
+
+Under the first division comes the work of women on the
+school-boards. The education act of 1870 expressly guaranteed their
+right of being elected, and even in the first year several were
+elected. One, Miss Becker, in Manchester, has retained her seat
+ever since. In London the number of lady members has greatly
+varied. Beginning with two, Miss Jarrett and Miss Davis, in 1879 it
+rose to nine, but now, 1885, has sunk again to three, Miss
+Davenport Hill, Mrs. Westlake, and Mrs. Webster. Taken as a whole,
+their influence has been very usefully exerted for the benefit of
+the children and the young teachers. Under this head also comes
+women's work as poor-law guardians. The first was elected in
+Kensington in 1875. Six years afterwards a small society to promote
+the election of women was founded by Miss Mueller, and the number
+elected is steadily increasing. There are now in England and
+Scotland in all forty-six. In Ireland women are still debarred from
+this useful work. The election occurs every year, and it is one of
+the local franchises that women as well as men exercise. Last year
+three ladies were appointed members of the Metropolitan Board which
+looks after London hospitals and asylums. In 1873 Mr. Stansford,
+then president of the local government board, appointed Mrs. Hassan
+Session assistant inspector of work-houses, and after an interval
+of twelve years Miss Mason was appointed to the same position.
+Women are also sometimes appointed as church wardens, overseers of
+the roads, and registrars of births and deaths. These are the only
+public offices they fill.
+
+Under the second heading, the removal of legal disabilities, is
+included the Married Woman's Property act, which was finally passed
+in 1882, twenty-five years after it had been first brought forward
+in parliament by Sir Erskine Perry. The ancient law of England
+transferred all property held by a woman, except land, absolutely
+to her husband. A step was gained in 1870 by which the money she
+had actually earned became her own. This was followed by frequent
+amendments, sometimes in Scotland, sometimes in England, and a
+comprehensive bill met with frequent vicissitudes, now in the House
+of Lords, now in the Commons. The honor of this long contest is
+chiefly due to Mrs. Jacob Bright and Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy, whose
+unwearied efforts were finally crowned with success by the act of
+1882, under which the property of a married woman is absolutely
+secured to her as if she were single, and the power to contract and
+of sueing and being sued, also secured to her. The right to the
+custody of their own children is another point for which women are
+struggling. In 1884, Mr. Bryce, M. P., brought in a bill to render
+a mother the legal guardian of her children after the father's
+death. This was read a second time by a vote of 207 for, and only
+73 against. In 1885, however, though passing the House of Lords, it
+was postponed till too late in the Commons. Another important
+alteration in the legal condition of married women was made in
+1878. In that year Mr. Herschell introduced the Matrimonial Causes
+act to remedy a gross injustice in the divorce law, and Lord
+Pensance inserted a clause which provided that if a woman were
+brutally ill-treated by her husband, a magistrate might order a
+separate maintenance for her and assign her the care of her
+children. It is no secret that the original drafting of this clause
+was due to Miss Frances Power Cobbe. The long struggle which is not
+yet terminated against the infamous Contagious Diseases acts
+belongs to this division of work. The acts were passed in 1866,
+'69, and for many years were supported by an overpowering majority
+of the House of Commons. Mr. Stansfeld, who has always been the
+supporter of every movement advancing the influence of women, has
+been the leader of this agitation. Mrs. Josephine Butler, Mrs.
+Stewart of Ougar, and latterly Mrs. Ormiston Chant, have been the
+most untiring speakers on this question. On April 26, 1883, Mr.
+Stansfeld carried a resolution by a vote of 184 against 112 for the
+abolition of the acts, since which time the acts have been
+suspended, but we must look to the new parliament for their total
+repeal. The Criminal-law Amendment act was the great triumph of
+1885. It had been postponed session after session, but the bold
+denunciation of Mr. Stead, editor of the _Pall Mall Gazette_,
+finally roused the national conscience, and now a larger measure of
+protection is afforded to young girls than has ever been known
+before.
+
+Of the successive steps by which colleges have been founded for
+women, and the universities opened to them, it is impossible to
+give any record. The London University and the Royal University of
+Ireland, recognize fully the equality of women; nine ladies secured
+the B. A. diploma from the latter university in 1884, and nine more
+in 1885. Oxford and Cambridge extend their examinations to women.
+The Victoria University acknowledges their claim to examination.
+The London school of medicine gives a first rate education to women
+(there are 48 this session), and the Royal College of Surgeons,
+Dublin, admits them to its classes. There are now about 45 ladies
+who are registered as medical practitioners. One of them, Miss
+Edith Stone, was appointed by Mr. Fawcett medical superintendent of
+the female staff at the general post-office, London. The success of
+the movement for supplying women as physicians for the vast Indian
+empire has attained remarkable success during the last two years.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[536] This was called out by the movement in America. A report of a
+convention held in Worcester, Mass., published in the New York
+_Tribune_, fell into the hands of Mrs. Taylor and aroused her to
+active thought on the question. She comments on a very able series
+of resolutions passed at this convention, in which such men
+as Emerson, Parker, Channing, Garrison and Phillips took
+part.--[EDITORS.
+
+[537] _Council of the Association_--Mrs. S. Turner, Mrs. S.
+Bartholomew, Mrs. E. Stephenson, Mrs. M. Whalley, Mrs. E. Rooke,
+Mrs. E. Wade, Mrs. C. Ash, president _pro tem._, Mrs. E.
+Cavill, treasurer, Mrs. M. Brook, financial-secretary, Mrs. A.
+Higginbottom, corresponding secretary.
+
+[538] Mrs. Biggs, Anna Knight, Mrs. Hugo Reid and many other
+English women were roused to white heat on this question, by the
+exclusion of women as delegates from the World's Anti-slavery
+Convention held in London in 1840. That was the first pronounced
+public discussion, lasting one entire day, on the whole question of
+woman's rights that ever took place in England, and as the
+arguments were reproduced in the leading journals and discussed at
+every fireside, a grand educational work was inaugurated at
+that time. The American delegates spent several months in
+England--Lucretia Mott speaking at many points. She occupied the
+Unitarian pulpit in London and elsewhere. As Mrs. Hugo Reid sat in
+this convention throughout the proceedings and met Lucretia Mott
+socially on several occasions, we may credit her outspoken
+opinions, in 1843, in a measure to these influences.--[EDITORS.
+
+[539] The committee as at first formed, consisted of the following
+persons: The very Rev. the Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Alford, Miss
+Jessie Boucherett, Professor Cairnes, Rev. W. L. Clay, Miss Davies,
+the originator of Girton College, Lady Goldsmid, Mr. G. W.
+Hastings, Mr. James Heywood, Mrs. Knox, Miss Manning, and Mrs.
+Hensleigh Wedgwood. Mrs. Peter A. Taylor was treasurer, and Mrs. J.
+W. Smith, _nee_ Miss Garrett, honorary secretary. A few months
+later Mrs. Smith's death left this post vacant, and Mrs. P. A.
+Taylor then assumed the office of secretary which she retained with
+the aid of Miss Caroline Ashurst Biggs till 1871. No one else could
+have rendered such services to our movement while it was in its
+infancy as Mrs. Taylor gave. Her gentle and dignified presence, her
+untiring energy, the experience of organization and public life
+which she already possessed, her influence with an extended circle
+of friends chosen from among the most liberal thinkers of the
+nation, secured at once attention and respect for any cause she
+took up. Many years before she had worked hard for the association
+of the Friends of Italy, and on the breaking out of the American
+civil war her sympathies and practical knowledge led her to found a
+society for assisting the freedmen. In acknowledgment of the
+invaluable assistance she rendered, her friends in America sent a
+book containing a complete set of photographs of all the chief
+anti-slavery workers. When she began her efforts for women's
+suffrage, the English Abolitionists were among the first
+correspondents to whom she applied, and they nearly all responded
+cordially. For years her house, Aubrey House, Kensington, was the
+centre of the London organization to which she gave her time,
+strength, and money, well earning the title of "Mother of the
+Movement," which loving friends have since bestowed.
+
+[540] In 1869, 255 petitions, signed by 61,475 persons; in 1870,
+663 petitions, signed by 134,561 persons; in 1871, 622 petitions,
+signed by 186,976 persons (75 of these petitions were from public
+meetings and signed only by the chairman, or from town councils and
+sealed with the official seal); in 1872, 829 petitions with 350,093
+signatures; in 1873, 919 petitions, with 329,206 signatures; in
+1874, 1,494 petitions with 430,343 signatures; and in 1875, 1,273
+petitions were sent in containing 415,622 signatures.
+
+[541] This lady, sister of John and Jacob Bright, and wife of the
+senior member for Edinburgh, Mr. Duncan McLaren, so much esteemed
+that he was sometimes spoken of as the "Member for Scotland,"
+unites in her own person all the requisites for a leader of the
+movement. She has the charm and dignified grace so generally found
+among Quaker ladies, and the pathetic eloquence which belong to her
+family. She is clear-sighted in planning action, and enthusiastic
+and warm-hearted in carrying it out, and for the past sixteen years
+the movement in Scotland has centered around her.
+
+[542] Mr. Thomas Hare, Mr. Boyd Kinnear, Mr. Mill, who was no
+longer in parliament, the Rev. Charles Kingsley (this was the first
+and only meeting at which he was present), Prof. Fawcett, M. P. and
+Mrs. Fawcett, Lord Houghton, Mr. John Morley, Sir Charles W. Dilke,
+Bt. M. P., Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. P., Professor Masson of Edinburgh,
+and Mr. Stamfeld, M. P.
+
+[543] Mrs. Penington, Mr. Hopwood, Q. C. and Professor Amos were
+honorary secretaries the first year, and succeeding them Miss C. A.
+Biggs and Miss Agnes Garrett. The principal committees united with
+the central, including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh,
+Dublin and the North of Ireland.
+
+[544] Minutes of a meeting at the House of Commons, June 23, 1875.
+Present: The Right Honorable E. P. Bouverie, in the chair; and the
+following members of parliament: Right Hon. H. C. Childers, Marquis
+of Hamilton, Lord Randolph Churchill, Hon. E. Stanhope, Mr.
+Bentinck, Mr. Beresford Hope, Mr. Chaplin, Mr. Hayter, Sir Henry
+Holland, Sir Henry James, Mr. Kay Shuttleworth, Mr. Edward Leatham,
+Mr. Merewether, Mr. Newdegate, Mr. Raikes, Mr. de Rothschild, Mr.
+Scousfield, Mr. Whitbread.
+
+_Resolved_, That a committee of peers, members of parliament and
+other influential men be organized for the purpose of maintaining
+the integrity of the franchise, in opposition to the claims for the
+extension of the parliamentary suffrage to women.
+
+_Resolved_, That Mr. E. P. Bouverie be requested to act as
+chairman, and Lord Claud John Hamilton and Mr. Kay Shuttleworth as
+honorary secretaries.
+
+The following members have since joined those named above: Lord
+Elcho, Right Hon. E. Knatchbull-Hugessen, Right Hon. J. R. Mowbray,
+Sir Thomas Bazley, Mr. Butt, Mr. Gibson and Colonel Kingscote.
+
+[545] We must mention the names of the ladies who during the
+previous two or three years had been most active in speaking and
+organizing societies. So many meetings had been held that there was
+hardly a town of any importance in England, Ireland or Scotland
+where the principles of woman suffrage had not been explained and
+canvassed. One of the foremost for her activity in this department
+of work was Miss Mary Beedy, an American lady, resident for some
+years in England. She had thoroughly mastered the legal and
+political condition of the question in this country, and her
+untiring energy, her clear common sense, and her ready logic made
+her advocacy invaluable. The regret was general when she was
+compelled to return to America. Miss Helena Downing, niece of Mr.
+McCarthy Downing, member of parliament for Cork, arranged and gave
+many lectures during 1873 and 1874. Miss. Lillias Ashworth,
+honorary secretary of the Bristol committee, frequently spoke at
+meetings about this time. In Scotland Miss Jane Taylour and others
+still continued their indefatigable labors, in which they were
+frequently assisted by Miss Isabella Stuart of Balgonie in
+Fifeshire. In Ireland, in addition to the usual meetings in the
+north, a series of meetings in the south was undertaken by Miss
+Tod, Miss Beedy and Miss Downing. Other meetings were addressed by
+Miss Fawcett, Miss Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs, Miss Eliza Sturge,
+Miss Rhoda Garrett, Mrs. Fenwick-Miller and many others. During
+1873 Mrs. Henry Kingsley, sister-in-law of one novelist and wife of
+another, also spoke frequently. Space fails me to do justice to the
+varied powers of the speakers who have carried our movement on
+during these years of patient perseverance; to the clear logic and
+convincing power of Mrs. Fawcett's speeches; to the thrilling
+eloquence of her cousin, Rhoda Garrett, now, alas! no longer with
+us; to Miss Becker's accurate legal knowledge and masterly
+presentation of facts and arguments; to Miss Helena Downing's
+eloquence marked by the humor, pathos and power which were hers by
+national inheritance. During these years of trial, too, the cause
+owed much to the strenuous advocacy of the Misses Ashworth, Anne
+Frances and Lillias Sophia, nieces of Jacob Bright. Miss Ashworth
+did not herself speak at meetings, but she comforted and helped
+those who did, while Lillias possessed the family gift of eloquence
+and charmed her audience by her witty, forcible and telling
+speeches. So numerous and so well attended have been these meetings
+during these and subsequent years, that it is impossible to
+exonerate men and women from the charge of willful blindness if
+they still misconstrue the plain facts of the question.
+
+[546] First in the list came six ladies, members of school-boards:
+Mrs. Buckton of Leeds, Miss Helena Richardson of Bristol, Mrs.
+Surr, Mrs. Westlake, Mrs. Fenwick Miller and Miss Helen Taylor,
+London; then followed the opinions of ladies who were guardians of
+the poor. Forty ladies known as authoresses or painters came next
+on the list; among these were Mrs. Allingham, Mrs. Cowden Clarke,
+Mrs. Eiloart, Mary Howitt, Emily Pfeiffer, Augusta Webster. Women
+doctors came next: Dr. Garrett Anderson, Dr. Annie Barker, Dr.
+Elizabeth Blackwell, Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake, Dr. Eliza Dunbar, Dr.
+Frances Hoggan, Dr. Edith Pechey; and next to the doctors came Miss
+Eliza Orme, the only woman who was successfully practicing law. The
+section of education included the names of Mrs. Wm. Gray, and her
+sister. Miss Shirreff, Mrs. Nichol (Edinburgh), Miss Emily Davies,
+founder of Girton College, Miss Byers, founder of the Ladies'
+Collegiate School, Belfast, Mrs. Crawshay and Miss Mary Gurney.
+Nineteen ladies, the heads of women's colleges and high-schools,
+next gave their reasons why they desired the suffrage. After these
+came ladies engaged in philanthropic work, which included the
+sisters Rosamund and Florence Davenport Hill, Florence Nightingale,
+Miss Ellice Hopkins, eminent for rescue work; Miss Irby, well-known
+for her efforts among the starving Bosnian fugitives; Miss Manning,
+secretary of the National Indian Association; Mrs. Southey,
+secretary of the Women's Peace Association; Mrs. Lucas, and Mrs.
+Edward Parker, president and secretary of the British Women's
+Temperance Society. The opinions were various, both in kind and in
+length, some being only a confession of faith in a couple of lines,
+others a page of able reasoning.
+
+[547] Miss Tod gives the spirit to each movement in Ulster, which
+is the intellectual headquarters of Ireland. She is the pioneer in
+all matters of reform; she is asked to speak in churches; she
+instigated the efforts which led to girls participating in the
+benefits of the Irish Intermediate Education act, which was being
+restricted to boys; she has organized and has won friends and votes
+not only over her own district of Ulster, but in many other
+quarters of Ireland; and often when in England some indefinable
+torpor has crept over a meeting--as will happen at times--a few
+eloquent and heart-stirring words from her have been sufficient to
+raise the courage and revive the interest.
+
+[548] Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Lucas, Miss Biggs,
+Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Mrs. Arthur Arnold,
+Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Lady Harberton, Mrs. Pennington, Miss
+Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart Mill, Miss Henrietta
+Mueller, member of the London school-board, and others.
+
+[549] Mrs. Jacob Bright, Miss Becker, Mrs. Scatcherd, Miss Corbutt,
+Mr. Steinthal, Mrs. Thomasson, and others.
+
+[550] Led by Mrs. Lillias Ashworth Hallett, Mrs. Helen Bright
+Clark, niece and daughter of John Bright, Mrs. Beddoe, Miss Snyder,
+Miss Estlin, the Priestman sisters, Miss Blackburn and Miss Colby,
+Eliza Sturge, Mrs. Ashford, Mrs. Matthews. Mrs. Ann Comen and Mrs.
+Alfred Osler, niece of Mrs. Peter Taylor, are the chief Birmingham
+and Nottingham workers.
+
+[551] Lady Harberton, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Ashworth Hallet, Mrs.
+Josephine Butler, Mrs. Ellis, Miss Eliza Sturge, Mrs. Wellstood
+(Edinburgh), Mrs. Haslam (Dublin), Miss Becker, Mrs. Pearson, Miss
+Jessie Craigen, Miss Helena Downing, Miss Lucy Wilson, Mrs. Nichols
+(Edinburgh), Mrs. O'Brien, and in the overflow meeting Mrs. Lucas
+and Miss Biggs. At the close of the meeting the enthusiastic and
+prolonged cheering which rose from the crowd, the cordial
+hand-shakes of utter strangers with words of encouragement and
+sympathy brought tears to the eyes of many who had the privilege of
+being present on that occasion.
+
+[552] Mrs. McLaren occupied the chair and was accompanied by Mrs.
+Nichol, Miss Wigham, Miss Tod, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Craigen,
+Miss Becker, Miss Beddoe, Mrs. Shearer (formerly Miss Helena
+Downing), Miss Flora Stevenson, Mrs. Wellstood, Miss Annie
+Stoddart, Mrs. Burton and a distinguished visitor from New York,
+Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was able on this visit to England
+to estimate the wide difference in the position of women since the
+time--more than forty years before--she had been refused a seat as
+a delegate in the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London.
+
+[553] MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY COMMITTEE.--The committee, at the
+time of the final meeting, November 18, 1882, consisted of the
+following ladies and gentlemen: Mrs. Addey; Mr. Arthur Arnold, M.
+P.; Mrs. Arthur Arnold; Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P.; Mrs. Josephine E.
+Butler; Mr. Thomas Chorlton; Mr. L. H. Courtney, M. P.; Sir C. W.
+Dilke, Bart., M. P.; Rev. Alfred Dewes, D.D., LL.D.; Mrs. Gell;
+Lady Goldsmid; Rev. Septimus Hansard; Mr. Thomas Hare; Miss Ida
+Hardcastle; Mrs. Hodgson; Mr. William Malleson; Mrs. Moore; Mr. H.
+N. Mozley; Dr. Pankhurst; Mrs. Pankhurst; Mrs. Shearer; Mrs.
+Sutcliffe; Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. P.; Mrs. P. A. Taylor; Mrs.
+Venturi; Miss Alice Wilson; Miss Lucy Wilson; _Treasurer_, Mrs.
+Jacob Bright. _Secretary_, Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy.
+
+The immediate passage of this bill was in a large measure due to
+Mrs. Jacob Bright, who was unwearied in her efforts, in rolling up
+petitions, scattering tracts, holding meetings, and in company with
+her husband having private interviews with members of parliament.
+For ten consecutive years she gave her special attention to this
+bill. I had the pleasure of attending the meeting of congratulation
+November 18, and heard a very charming address from Mrs. Bright on
+the success of the measure. Mr. Jacob Bright and other members of
+the committee spoke with equal effect.--[E. C. S.
+
+[554] The Contagious Diseases acts.
+
+[555] Miss Henrietta Mueller and her sister Mrs. Eva McLaren, Mrs.
+Ormiston Chant, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Mrs. Oliver Scatcherd, Mrs.
+Charles McLaren, Miss Florence Balgarnie, Miss Laura Whittle,
+Florence and Lillie Stacpoole, Miss Frances Lord, Mrs. Stanton
+Blatch and Mrs. Helena Downing Shearer.
+
+[556] The inscription was: "Women Claim Equal Justice with Men.
+_The Friends of Women_: Henry Fawcett, John Stuart Mill, Chas.
+Cameron, Jacob Bright, Leonard Courtney, Duncan McLaren, George
+Anderson, James Stansfeld, Sir Wilfred Lawson, J.P. Thomasson."
+
+[557] Mrs. Buchanan, Curriehill; Mrs. O. Scatcherd, Leeds; Mrs.
+Nichol, Mrs. M'Laren, Miss Wigham, Dr. A. M'Laren, Miss Hunter,
+Mrs. Paterson, Miss L. Stevenson, Miss F. Stevenson, Mrs. M'Queen,
+Mrs. Hope, Mrs. M. Miller, Miss S.S. Mair, Miss R. Smith, Miss E.
+Kirkland, Mrs. Raeburn and Miss A.G. Wyld, Edinburgh; Mrs. O.
+Chant, Mrs. Hodgson, Bonaly; Miss Tod, Belfast; Mrs. Somerville,
+Dalkeith; Mrs. Forbes, Loanhead; Mrs. D. Greig, Mrs. Erskine
+Murray, Miss Greig, Mrs. Lindsay, Miss Barton and Mrs. A. Campbell,
+Glasgow; Miss Simpson, Miss Caldwell, Portobello; Mrs. M'Kinnel,
+Dumfries; Mrs. M'Cormick, Manchester; Miss Burton, Liberton; Miss
+Balgarnie, Scarborough; Miss A.S. Smith, Gorebridge; Miss Drew,
+Helensburgh; Miss Blair, Girvan; Mrs. Smith, Mrs. F. Smith,
+Bothwell.
+
+[558] Miss Helen Taylor, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Fawcett, London; Mrs.
+Thomasson, Bolton; Miss Orme, Miss Jane Cobden, Miss C. A. Biggs,
+Mrs. Fenwick-Miller, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, London; Mrs. Hallet, Bath;
+Miss Becker, Manchester; Miss Priestman, Bristol; Mrs. Helen Bright
+Clark, Street, Somersetshire; Miss Mueller, London; Mrs. Eva
+M'Laren, Bradford; Mrs. Charles M'Laren, London; Mrs. Pochin,
+Bodnant, Conway; Mrs. Campbell, Tilliechewan Castle; Mrs.
+Charteris, Edinburgh; Mrs. Edward Caird, Mrs. Young, Mrs. Kinnear,
+Mrs. A. B. M'Grigor, Glasgow; Mrs. Arthur, Barshaw, Paisley; Mrs.
+Readdie, Perth; Miss Birrel, Cupar; Mrs. Dunn, Aberdeen; Miss
+Duncan, Foxhall; Miss Chalmers, Slateford; Miss Smith, Linlithgow;
+Miss Macrobie, Bridge of Allan; Mrs. Ritchie, Mrs. Greenlees,
+Glasgow; Mrs. Ord, Nesbit, Kelso; Mrs. Gordon, Nairn; Mrs. Gerrard,
+Aberdeen; Miss Stoddart, Kelso; Mrs. Robertson, Paisley; Miss
+Maitland, Corstorphine.
+
+[559] EDINBURGH.--The first resolution was moved by Miss Tod and
+seconded by Mrs. Scatcherd:
+
+     _Resolved_, That this meeting, whilst thanking the 110 Liberal
+     members who signed the memorial to Mr. Gladstone to the effect
+     that no measure of reform would be satisfactory which did not
+     recognize the claims of women householders, trusts that since the
+     bill unjustly excludes them, these members will be faithful to
+     the convictions expressed in that memorial, and will support any
+     amendment to the bill which has for its object the
+     enfranchisement of duly qualified women.
+
+The second resolution, a memorial to Mr. Gladstone, was moved by
+Miss Flora Stevenson, member of the Edinburgh school-board,
+seconded by Mrs. McLaren and supported by Miss Florence Balgarnie
+and Mrs. Ormiston Chant. The third resolution, the adoption of
+petitions, was moved by Miss S. S. Mair, a grand-niece of Mrs.
+Siddons, and Mrs. Lindsay of Glasgow.
+
+BATH, GUILD HALL.--Presided over by the mayor. Among other speakers
+were Mrs. Beddoe, Miss Becker, Mrs. Jeffrey and Mrs. Ashworth
+Hallet.
+
+NEWCASTLE, TOWN HALL.--Followed on April 21, under the presidency
+of the mayor. The crowd was so great that an overflow meeting had
+to be arranged. The speakers were Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Miss Tod, Mrs.
+Eva McLaren and Mrs. Scatcherd. The audience was largely composed
+of miners and working people, and the enthusiasm manifested was
+striking. A Newcastle paper reports that this was the first
+occasion on which Mrs. Ashton Dilke had appeared in public since
+her husband's death, and tears glistened in many eyes as the men
+who were his constituents welcomed her among them once more. Some
+miners walked twelve miles to hear her and twelve miles back after
+the meeting, who had to go down the pit at 3 o'clock next morning.
+Some could not get in, and pleaded piteously for an overflow
+meeting. "We have come a long way to hear Mistress Dilke; do bring
+her." Some women after hearing Miss Tod said: "She's worth hearing
+twice, is that," and insisted on following her to the overflow
+meeting.
+
+LONDON, ST. JAMES HALL.--Three days later there was a great meeting
+presided over by Sir Richard Temple G. C. S. I., and addressed by
+Mr. W. Summers, M. P., Mrs. Fawcett, the Rt. Hon. Jas. Stansfeld,
+M. P., Mrs. Charles McLaren, Mr. Woodall, M. P., Mr. J. Rankin, M.
+P., Miss Tod, Mr. J. R. Hollond, M. P., Viscountess Harberton and
+Miss Jane Cobden.
+
+[560] The result is as follows:
+
+                         No. of Inhabited          Estimated No. of
+                              Houses.             Women Householders.
+  ENGLAND AND WALES.
+             Boroughs,      2,098,476                  340,746
+             Counties,      2,733,043                  390,434
+                            ----------4,831,519        --------740,180
+  SCOTLAND.
+             Boroughs,        329,328                   54,888
+             Counties,        409,677                   58,525
+                              --------739,005           -------113,413
+  IRELAND.
+             Boroughs,        129,837                   21,339
+             Counties,        784,571                   98,034
+                              --------914,108           -------119,373
+                                                               -------
+                                                               972,966
+
+[561] Signed by Eveline Portsmouth (Countess of Portsmouth), E. P.
+Verney (Lady Verney), Florence Nightingale, Anne J. Clough (Newham
+College), Clara E. L. Rayleigh (Lady Rayleigh), Selina Hogg (Lady
+Hogg), Anna Swanwick, Julia Camperdown (Countess of Camperdown),
+Mina E. Holland, (Mrs. John Holland), (Lady) Dorothy Nevill,
+Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Helen P. Bright Clark, Jane E. Cobden,
+Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, M. Power (Lady Power), Louisa Colthurst
+(Dowager Lady Colthurst), Frances E. Hoggan, M. D., Florence
+Davenport Hill (Poor-law Guardian), Louisa Twining (Poor-law
+Guardian), Maryanne Donkin (Poor-law Guardian), Rosamond Davenport
+Hill (M. L. S. B.), Mary Howitt, Maria G. Grey, Emily A. E.
+Shireff, Deborah Bowring (Lady Bowring), Emily Pfeiffer, Barbara L.
+S. Bodichon, Augusta Webster, Catherine M. Buckton, Frances M. Buss
+(North London Collegiate School), Sophia Bryant, B. Sc., Malvira
+Borchardt (Head Mistress of Devonport High School), Louisa
+Boucherett, Jessie Boucherett, Margaret Byers (Ladies' Collegiate
+School, Belfast), Ellice Hopkins.
+
+[562] Mrs. Lucas presiding, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Miss Becker, Miss
+Orme, Mrs. Beddoe, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Eva M'Laren, Mrs. Simcok,
+Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Mrs. Louisa Stevenson, Miss Balgarnie, Miss
+Mueller, Miss Wilkinson, Mrs. Ashworth Hallett, Miss Tod.
+
+[563] Miss Mueller's spirited protest against taxation without
+representation, owing to her official reputation as a member of the
+London school-board, attracted unusual attention. For some time she
+kept her doors barred against the coarse minions of the law, but
+ultimately they entered the house, seized her goods and carried
+them off to be sold at public auction, but they were bought in by
+friends next day. Miss Charlotte E. Hall and Miss Babb have
+protested and resisted taxation for many years.
+
+It is probable that Miss Mueller's example will be followed by many
+others next year. This quiet form of protest used to be very
+generally followed by members of the society of Friends, and must
+command the sympathy of our co-workers in the United States, who
+date their national existence from their refusal to submit to
+taxation without representation.--[E. C. S.
+
+[564] The bill was prepared and brought in by Mr. Woodall, Mr.
+Illingworth, Mr. Coleridge Kennard, Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. Yorke and
+Baron Henry de Worms.
+
+[565] _Central Committee of the National Society for Women's
+Suffrage_--Mrs. Ashford (Birmingham), Miss Lydia E. Becker
+(Manchester), Alfred W. Bennett, esq., M. A., Miss Caroline Ashurst
+Biggs, Miss Helen Blackburn, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Hon. Emmeline
+Canning, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Miss Jane Cobden, Miss
+Courtenay, Leonard Courteny, esq., M. P., Mrs. Cowen (Nottingham),
+Miss Mabel Sharman Crawford, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Hon. Mrs. Maurice
+Drummond (Hampstead), Mrs. Millicent G. Fawcett, Miss Agnes
+Garrett, Rev. C. Green (Bromley), Mrs. Ashworth Hallett (Bristol),
+Viscountess Harberton, Thomas Hare, esq., Mrs. Ann Maria Haslam
+(Dublin), Frederick Hill, esq., Mrs. John Hollond, Mrs. Frank
+Morrison, C. H. Hopwood, esq., Q. C., M. P., Mrs. John Hullah,
+Coleridge Kennard, esq., M. P., Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, Mrs. E.
+M. Lynch, Robert Main, esq., Mrs. Laura Pochin McLaren, Mrs. Eva
+Mueller McLaren (Bradford), Mrs. Priscilla Bright McLaren
+(Edinburgh), Miss Henrietta Mueller, Frederick Pennington, esq., M.
+P., Mrs. F. Pennington, Miss Reeves, Mrs. Saville, Miss Lillie
+Stacpole, Rev. S. A. Steinthal (Manchester), J. S. Symon, esq.,
+Miss Helen Taylor, Sir Richard Temple, G. C. S. I.; J. P.
+Thomasson, esq., M. P., Mrs. Katherine Lucas Thomasson (Bolton),
+Miss Isabella M. Tod (Belfast), Miss Williams, William Woodall,
+esq. M. P. _Secretary_, Miss Florence Balgarnie. _Assistant
+Secretary_, Miss Torrance. _Organizing Agent_, Miss Moore.
+_Treasurer_, Mrs. Laura Pochin McLaren. _Office_, 29 Parliament
+street, London S. W.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+CONTINENTAL EUROPE.[566]
+
+BY THEODORE STANTON.
+
+          If you would know the political and moral status of a
+          people, demand what place its women occupy.--[L. AIME
+          MARTIN.
+
+          There is nothing, I think, which marks more decidedly the
+          character of men or of nations, than the manner in which
+          they treat women.--[HERDER.
+
+     The Woman Question in the Back-ground--In France the Agitation
+     Dates from the Upheaval of 1789--International Women's Rights
+     Convention in Paris, 1878--Mlle. Hubertine Auclert Leads the
+     Demand for Suffrage--Agitation began in Italy with the
+     Kingdom--Concepcion Arenal in Spain--Coeducation in
+     Portugal--Germany: Leipsic and Berlin--Austria in Advance of
+     Germany--Caroline Svetla of Bohemia--Austria Unsurpassed in
+     contradictions--Marriage Emancipates from Tutelage in
+     Hungary--Dr. Henrietta Jacobs of Holland--Dr. Isala van Diest of
+     Belgium--In Switzerland the Catholic Cantons Lag Behind--Marie
+     Goegg, the Leader--Sweden Stands First--Universities Open to
+     Women in Norway--Associations in Denmark--Liberality of Russia
+     toward Women--Poland--The Orient--Turkey--Jewish Wives--The Greek
+     Woman in Turkey--The Greek Woman in Greece--An Unique
+     Episode--Woman's Rights in the American Sense not known.
+
+
+The reader of the preceding pages will be sorely disappointed if he
+expects to find in this brief chapter a similar record of progress
+and reform. If, however, he looks simply for an earnest of the
+future, for a humble beginning of that wonderful revolution in
+favor of women which has occurred in the United States, and to a
+less degree in England, during the past quarter of a century, his
+expectations will be fully realized. More than this; he will close
+this long account of woman's emancipation in the new world
+convinced that in due season a similar blessing is to be enjoyed by
+the women of the old world.
+
+For the moment, the woman question in Europe is pushed into the
+background by the all-absorbing struggle still going on in various
+forms between the republican and monarchical principle, between the
+vital present and the moribund past; but the most superficial
+observer must perceive, that the amelioration of the lamentable
+situation of European womanhood is sure to be one of the first
+problems to come to the front for resolution, as soon as liberty
+gains undisputed control on this continent,--a victory assured in
+the not-distant future. When men shall have secured their rights,
+the battle will be half won; women's rights will follow as a
+natural sequence.
+
+The most logical beginning for a sketch of the woman movement on
+the continent, and indeed of any step in advance, is of course
+France, where ideas, not facts, stand out the more prominently;
+for, in questions of reform, the abstract must always precede the
+concrete,--public opinion must be convinced before it will accept
+an innovation. This has been the _role_ of France in Europe ever
+since the great revolution; it is her _role_ to-day. She is the
+agitator of the old world, and agitation is the lever of reform.
+
+
+[Illustration: George Sand]
+
+
+The woman movement in France dates from the upheaval of 1789.
+Though the demands for the rights of man threw all other claims
+into the shade, a few women did not fail to perceive that they also
+had interests at stake. Marie Olympe de Gouges, for example, in her
+"Declaration of the Rights of Woman," vindicated for her sex all
+the liberties proclaimed in the famous "Declaration of the Rights
+of Man." During the empire and the restoration the reform slept;
+under the July monarchy there was an occasional murmur, which burst
+forth into a vigorous protest when the revolution of 1848 awakened
+the aspirations of 1789, and George Sand consecrated her talent to
+the cause of progress. During the second empire, in spite of the
+oppressive nature of the government, the movement took on a more
+definite form; its advocates became more numerous; and men and
+women who held high places in literature, politics and journalism,
+spoke out plainly in favor of ameliorating the condition of French
+women. Then came the third republic, with more freedom than France
+had enjoyed since the beginning of the century. The woman movement
+felt the change, and, during the past ten years, its friends have
+been more active than ever before.
+
+The most tangible event in the history of the question in France is
+the International Woman's Rights Congress, the first international
+gathering of the kind, which assembled in Paris in the months of
+July and August during the exposition season of 1878. The committee
+which called the congress contained representatives from six
+different countries, viz.: France, Switzerland, Italy, Holland,
+Russia and America. Among the eighteen members from France were two
+senators, five deputies and three Paris municipal councilors. Italy
+was represented by a deputy and the Countess of Travers, an
+indefatigable friend of the undertaking, who died just before the
+opening of the congress. The American members of the committee were
+Julia Ward Howe, Mary A. Livermore and Theodore Stanton. Among the
+members[567] of the congress, besides those just mentioned, were
+deputies, senators, publicists, journalists, and men and women of
+letters from all parts of Europe. Sixteen different organizations
+in Europe and America sent delegates. The National Woman Suffrage
+Association was represented by Jane Graham Jones and Theodore
+Stanton, and the American Woman Suffrage Association by Julia Ward
+Howe.
+
+The work of the congress was divided into five sections, as
+follows: the historical, the educational, the economic, the moral,
+and the legislative. The congress was opened on July 25, by Leon
+Richer, its promoter and originator, and one of the most
+indefatigable friends of women's rights in France. He invited Maria
+Deraismes, an able speaker well known among Paris reformers, to act
+as temporary chairman. The next thing in order was the election of
+two permanent presidents, a man and a woman. The late M. Antide
+Martin, then an influential member of the Paris municipal council,
+and Julia Ward Howe were chosen. Mrs. Howe, on taking the chair,
+made a short speech which was very well received; Anna Maria
+Mozzoni, of Milan, a most eloquent orator, followed; and then
+Genevieve Graham Jones advanced to the platform, and in the name of
+her mother, Jane Graham Jones, delegate of the National Woman
+Suffrage Association, she conveyed to the congress messages of
+good-will from the United States. This address, delivered with much
+feeling, and appealing to French patriotism, was enthusiastically
+received. When Miss Jones had taken her seat, M. Martin arose,
+thanked the foreign ladies for their admirable words, and concluded
+in these terms: "In the name of my compatriots, I particularly
+return gratitude to Miss Graham Jones for the eloquent and cordial
+manner in which she has just referred to France, and in turn, I
+salute republican America, which so often offers Europe examples of
+good sense, wisdom and liberty."
+
+At the second session was read a long and eloquent letter from
+Salvatore Morelli,[568] the Italian deputy. Theodore Stanton read a
+paper entitled, "The Woman Movement in the United States." The
+third session was devoted to the educational phase of the woman
+question. Tony Revillon, who has since become one of the radical
+deputies of Paris, spoke, and Miss Hotchkiss presented an able
+report on "The Education of Women in America." After Miss Hotchkiss
+had finished, Auguste Desmoulins, now a member of the Paris
+municipal council, offered, as president of the section, a
+resolution advocating the principal reforms--the same studies for
+boys and girls, and coeducation--demanded by Miss Hotchkiss. The
+resolution was carried without debate. Aurelia Cimino Folliero de
+Luna, of Florence, followed in a few remarks on the "Mission of
+Woman." Eugenie Pierre, of Paris, spoke on the "Vices of Education
+in Different Classes of Society," and in closing complimented
+America in the highest terms for its progressive position on the
+woman question. In fact, the example of the United States was
+frequently cited throughout the proceedings of this congress, and
+the reformers of America may find some joy in feeling that their
+labors are producing fruit even in the old world.
+
+At the last session of the congress, August 9, 1878, a permanent
+international committee was announced. France, England, Italy,
+Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Poland,
+Russia, Roumania and the United States are all represented on this
+committee.[569] The chief duties of this committee were to be the
+advancement of the reforms demanded by the congress and to issue
+the call for the next international gathering. The congress ended
+with a grand banquet on the evening of the last day's session, in
+which about two hundred guests participated.
+
+The present situation in France is full of interest and
+encouragement. There are societies, journals, and different groups
+of reformers all striving independently but earnestly to better the
+situation of French women politically, civilly, morally and
+intellectually. At the head of the agitation in favor of women's
+political rights stand Hubertine Auclert and her vigorous monthly,
+_La Citoyenne_[570]; the reformers of the code are lead by Leon
+Richer and his outspoken monthly, _Le Droit des Femmes_[571]; the
+movement in favor of divorce, which was crowned with success in the
+summer of 1884, is headed by Alfred Naquet in the senate, and finds
+one of its earliest and ablest supporters in Olympe Audouard; the
+emancipation of women from priestly domination--and herein lies the
+greatest and most dangerous obstacle that the reformers
+encounter--counts among its many advocates Maria Deraismes; woman's
+moral improvement, to be mainly accomplished by the abolition of
+legalized prostitution, is demanded by Dr. and Mrs. Chapman and
+Emilie de Morsier; while the great uprising in favor of woman's
+education has such a host of friends and has already produced such
+grand results, that the brief limits of this sketch will permit
+neither an enumeration of the one nor the other.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The transition from France to Italy is easy and natural, for it is
+on the Cisalpine peninsula that Gallic ideas have always taken
+deeper root than elsewhere on the Continent, and, as might be
+expected, the Italian woman movement resembles in many respects
+that of which we have just spoken.
+
+With the formation of the kingdom of Italy in 1870 began a
+well-defined agitation in favor of Italian women. The educational
+question was first taken up. Prominent among the women who
+participated in this movement were Laura Mantegazza, the
+Marchioness Brigida Tanari, and Alessandrina Ravizza. Aurelia
+Cimino Folliero de Luna, who has devoted her whole life to
+improving the condition of her countrywomen, writes me from
+Florence on this subject. "Here it was," she says, "that the
+example of American and English women, who in this respect were
+our superiors, was useful to us. While we were still under foreign
+domination and ignorant of solidarity of sex, they were free and
+united." The new political life produced a number of able women
+orators and writers, such as Anna Mozzoni, Malvina Frank, Gualberta
+Beccari, and many others. The last named founded at Venice _La
+Donna_, and in 1872 Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna established in
+Florence _La Cornelia_, which has since ceased to exist, while in
+1882 Ernesta Napollon began at Naples the publication of the
+short-lived _L'Umanitario_, the youngest of a goodly list of
+journals which have done much to excite an interest in the woman
+question. The Italian government has generously seconded the
+efforts of the reformers. The code has been modified, schools have
+been established, the universities thrown open and courses in
+agriculture proposed.
+
+But the most significant sign of progress in Italy was afforded by
+the great universal suffrage convention, held at Rome on February
+11, 12, 1881. Anna Mozzoni, delegate to the convention from the
+Milan Society for the Promotion of Woman's Interests, of which she
+is the able president, made an eloquent appeal for woman suffrage
+and introduced a resolution to this effect which was carried by a
+good majority.[572] In 1876 a committee of the Chamber, of which
+the deputy Peruzzi was chairman, reported a bill in favor of
+conferring on women the right to vote on municipal and provincial
+questions (_voto amministrativo_), a privilege which they had
+formerly enjoyed in Lombardy and Venice under Austrian rule. This
+bill was reintroduced in 1882 by the Depretis ministry and was
+reported upon favorably by the proper committee in June, 1884. It
+is believed that the proposition will soon become a law. If such is
+the case, Italian women will enjoy the same rights as Italian men
+in municipal and provincial affairs, with this exception, that they
+will not be eligible to office in the bodies of which they are
+electors.[573] Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna, says:
+
+     I make no doubt that in a few years the question of the
+     emancipation of women in Italy will be better understood; will be
+     regarded from a more elevated standpoint and will receive a more
+     general and greater support; for if we turn to the past, we shall
+     be astonished at what has already been accomplished in this
+     direction.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Concepcion Arenal, the distinguished Spanish authoress, signals
+several signs of progress in her country. This lady writes:
+
+     In the schools founded by the Madrid Association for the
+     Education of Women, nearly five hundred girls pursue courses in
+     pedagogics, commercial studies, modern languages, painting, etc.
+     This instruction, for the most part gratis, is given by
+     professors who devote their time and strength to this noble
+     object without receiving any remuneration,--worthy continuators
+     of the grand work of the founder of the Madrid high-school for
+     women, Fernando de Castro, of blessed memory, one of the most
+     philanthropic men I ever met, who so loved mankind that his name
+     should be known in every land. Nine hundred and eighteen girls
+     attended the session of 1880-1881 of the school of music and
+     declamation at Madrid, and the number has since increased.
+
+     A few years ago a school of arts and trades was founded at the
+     capital, and women were admitted to the classes in drawing. In
+     1881, one hundred and thirty availed themselves of this
+     privilege. In 1882, one hundred and fifty-four female students
+     were present at the institutions (_institutos_) for intermediate
+     education in Spain. The coeducation of the sexes, therefore, is
+     not unknown to us. In that year Valencia, Barcelona, Gerona and
+     Seville each counted sixteen, while the single girl at Mahon
+     discontinued her studies on the ground that she preferred not to
+     mingle with boys. At Malaga, the only female aspirant for the
+     bachelor's degree took seven prizes, and was "excellent" in all
+     her studies. During the academic year, 1881-1882, twelve women
+     attended lectures in the Spanish universities. The three at
+     Madrid were all working for the doctorate, and one had passed the
+     necessary examinations; the two at Valladolid were occupied with
+     medicine, while at Barcelona five were studying medicine, one
+     law, and one pharmacy. Three of the medical students have passed
+     their examinations, but instead of the degrees, which are refused
+     them, they are granted certificates which do not allow them to
+     practice.
+
+     Our public opinion is progressing, as is evidenced by the laws,
+     and especially by the educational reforms, which are the
+     exclusive work of men. The council of public instruction, a
+     consulting body holding by no means advanced ideas, was called
+     upon a short time ago, to decide whether the university
+     certificates conferred upon women could be converted into regular
+     degrees, which would entitle the recipients to the enjoyment of
+     the privileges attached to these titles. The learned council
+     discussed, hesitated, tried to decide the question, but finally
+     left it in a situation which was neither clear nor conclusive.
+     This hesitancy and vagueness are very significant; a few years
+     ago a negative decision would have been given promptly and in the
+     plainest terms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Portugal is following closely upon the steps of Spain, and, in the
+former as in the latter country, it is in the department of
+education that the most marked signs of an awakening are to be
+found. Rodrigues de Freitas, the well-known publicist and
+republican statesman of Porto, says:
+
+     There is not a single intermediate school for girls in all
+     Portugal. In 1883, the Portugese parliament took up the subject
+     of intermediate instruction, and discussed the question in its
+     relation to women, and the progress in this direction realized in
+     France during the last few years. A deputy who opposed the
+     reform, recalled the words of Jules Simon, pronounced in a recent
+     sitting of the council of public instruction at Paris. The
+     philosopher remarked:
+
+          We are here a few old men, very fortunate gentlemen, in
+          being excused from having to marry the girls you propose to
+          bring up.
+
+     Our minister of the interior, who has charge of public
+     instruction, followed, and declared that he was in favor of the
+     establishment of girls' colleges. He said:
+
+          It is true that M. Jules Simon considers himself fortunate
+          in not having to marry a girl educated in a French college;
+          but I think I have discovered the reason for this aversion.
+          He is getting in his dotage, otherwise he would experience
+          no repugnance in proposing to such a girl, provided, of
+          course, that, along with an education, she was at the same
+          time pretty and virtuous.
+
+     The chamber laughed. And such is the situation to-day: the
+     minister favorable to the better instruction of women, while
+     neither minister nor deputies make an earnest effort to bring it
+     about.
+
+     This dark picture is relieved, however, by one or two bright
+     touches. There are many private boarding schools where families
+     in easy circumstances send their daughters, who learn to speak
+     several languages, are taught a little elementary mathematics and
+     geography, and acquire a few accomplishments. Some of the pupils
+     of these institutions pass with credit the examinations of the
+     boys' lyceums or colleges. Article 72, of the law of June 14,
+     1880, on intermediate instruction, reads as follows: "Students of
+     the female sex, who wish to enter the State schools, or pass the
+     examinations of said schools, come within the provisions of this
+     law, except as regards the regulations concerning boarding
+     scholars." That is to say, girls enjoy in the State intermediate
+     schools the same privileges as male day scholars. Many girls have
+     availed themselves of this opportunity and have passed the lyceum
+     examinations.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Crossing the Rhine into the Teutonic countries, we find less
+progress on the whole, than among the Latin races. Germany,
+however, if behind France and Italy, is far ahead of Spain and
+Portugal. The agitation is divided into two currents: the Leipsic
+and the Berlin movements. The former is the older, the General
+Association of German Women having been founded in Leipsic in
+October, 1865. Louise Otto-Peters, the prime mover in the
+organization of this association, may be considered the originator
+of the German movement. A novelist of much power, whose stories all
+teach a lesson in socialism, she established in 1848, the year of
+the great revolutionary fermentation throughout Europe, the first
+paper which advocated the interests of women in Germany. The aims
+of the Leipsic and Berlin reformers were of an economic and
+educational nature. It was felt that the time had come when woman
+must have wider and better paid fields of work, and when she must
+be more thoroughly educated in order to be able the easier to gain
+her livelihood. A paper, _New Paths_ (_Neue Bahnen_), was
+established as the organ of the association. It still exists. The
+plan of holding annual conventions--much like those which have been
+in progress in America for so many years--in the chief cities of
+Germany was settled upon, and numerous meetings of this kind have
+already occurred. At these gatherings all questions pertaining to
+woman's advancement are discussed, and auxiliary associations
+organized. The General Association of German Women has sent several
+petitions to the Reichstag, or imperial parliament, demanding
+various reforms and innovations. The principal members of the
+association are Louise Otto-Peters, the president and editor of the
+_Neue Bahnen_; Henriette Goldschmidt, the most effective speaker of
+the group; and Mrs. Winter, the treasurer, all of whom live in
+Leipsic; Miss Menzzer of Dresden; Lina Morgenstern, the well-known
+Berlin philanthropist; and Marie Calm of Cassel, perhaps the most
+radical of the body, whose ideas on woman suffrage are much the
+same as those entertained in England and the United States. In
+fact, an American is frequently struck by the similarity between
+many of the features of the General Association of German Women,
+and the Woman's Rights Association in the United States.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Berlin movement, which resembles that of Leipsic in everything
+except that it is rather more conservative, owes its origin to that
+distinguished philanthropist, Dr. Adolf Lette. The Lette Verein, or
+Lette Society, so called in honor of its founder, was organized in
+December, 1865, but a few months after the establishment of the
+Leipsic association. The object of the society is, as has already
+been said, to improve the material condition of women, especially
+poor women, by giving them a better education, by teaching them
+manual employments, by helping to establish them in business--in a
+word, by affording them the means to support themselves. The Lette
+Society has become the nucleus of similar organizations scattered
+all over the German empire. Its organ, the _German Woman's
+Advocate_ (_Deutcher Frauenanwalt_), is a well-conducted little
+monthly, edited by the secretary of the society, Jenny Hirsch. Anna
+Schepeler-Lette, daughter of the founder, has been for many years
+and is still at the head of this admirable society. She writes me:
+
+     If we are asked whether we would have women enter public life,
+     whether we would wish them to become professors in the
+     university, clergymen in the church, and lawyers at the bar, as
+     is the case in America, we should make no response, for they are
+     but idle questions. These demands have not yet been made in
+     Germany, nor will they be made for a long time to come, if ever.
+     But why peer into the future? We have to-day many institutions,
+     many customs, which past centuries would have looked upon as
+     contrary to Divine and human law. In this connection we would say
+     with Sancho Panza: "What is, is able to be."
+
+The German philosopher, Herr von Kirchmann, is more decided in his
+views concerning the future of his countrywomen. In one of his last
+works, entitled "Questions and Dangers of the Hour" (_Zeitfragen
+und Abenteuer_) is a chapter on "Women in the Past and Future,"
+where it is shown that the female sex has been gradually gaining
+its freedom, and the prediction is made that the day is near at
+hand when women will obtain their complete independence and will
+compete with men in every department of life, not excepting
+politics.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Turning to the other great Germanic nation, Austria, we find still
+less progress than in the north. In fact, the movement in the south
+is little more than a question of woman's self-support. The
+important problem of woman's education is not yet resolved in
+Germany, and in Austria still less has been done. "In two
+particulars," writes a Berlin correspondent, "Austria may be said
+to be in advance of Germany. The admission of women to the
+university does not present such insurmountable difficulties, and
+her employment in railroad, post, and telegraph offices does not
+encounter such strong opposition." But it must not be supposed from
+this statement that the Austrian universities are open to women.
+"Our universities are shut against women," Professor Wendt, of
+Troppau, informs me; "but they may pass the same examinations as
+boys who have finished their preparatory studies, though it is
+distinctly stated in the women's diplomas that they may not
+continue their studies in the university." The professors, however,
+sometimes allow foreign girls to attend lectures. Professor Bruhl,
+of Vienna, for example, has lectured to men and women on anatomy.
+The Academy of Fine Arts at Vienna is not open to women, though the
+Conservatory of Music is much frequented by them. In 1880, in fact,
+three women received prizes for musical compositions. Johanna
+Leitenberger, of Salzburg, writes:
+
+     Several newspapers are devoted to the different phases of the
+     woman's movement in Austria. Some years ago an ex-officer,
+     Captain A. D. Korn, who, if I am not mistaken, had passed some
+     time in England and America, founded the _Women's Universal
+     Journal_ (_Allgemeine Frauen Zeitung_). This newspaper was wholly
+     devoted to women's interest, but it soon died. The same thing is
+     true of the _Women's Journal_ (_Frauenblaetter_) of Gratz, which
+     appeared for a short time under my editorship. * * * * On October
+     9, 10, 11, 1872, the third German women's convention (_Deutsche
+     Frauenkonferenz_) was held at Vienna, under the auspices of the
+     general society for popular education and the amelioration of
+     women's condition. The other two sittings of this society had
+     been held at Leipsic and Stuttgart. The soul of this new movement
+     was Captain Korn, whom I have already mentioned. His study of the
+     woman question in the United States may have prompted him to
+     awaken a similar agitation among the women of the Austrian
+     empire. Addresses were delivered at this convention by ladies
+     from Vienna, Hungary, Bohemia and Styria and all the various
+     interests of women were discussed. * * * * The proceedings of the
+     convention attracted considerable attention, and produced
+     favorable impressions on the audience, which was recruited from
+     the better classes of the population. But the newspapers of
+     Vienna ridiculed the young movement, its friends grew lukewarm,
+     and every trace was soon lost of this first and last Austrian
+     women's rights convention.
+
+In one important particular the Austro-Hungarian empire treats
+women more fairly than is the case in other European countries.
+Elise Krasnohorska, the Bohemian author, writes me:
+
+     Women have a voice in the municipal, provincial and national
+     elections, though male citizens duly authorized by them cast
+     their vote. With this single reserve--a very important one, it
+     must be confessed--our women are politically the equals of men.
+     At Prague, however, this is not the case. The Bohemian capital
+     preserves an ancient privilege which is in contradiction to the
+     Austrian electoral law, and which excludes us from the elective
+     franchise. Universal suffrage does not exist in the empire, but
+     the payment of a certain amount of taxes confers the right to
+     vote. I do not enter into the details of the electoral law, which
+     is somewhat complicated, which has its exceptions and
+     contradictions, and is in fact an apple of discord in Austria in
+     more than one respect; but, speaking generally, it may be said
+     that a woman who owns property, who is in business, or who pays
+     taxes, may designate a citizen possessing her confidence to
+     represent her at the polls. Our women are satisfied with this
+     system, and prefer it to casting their ballot in person.
+
+     It may be said, also, that women are eligible to office, or at
+     least that there is no law against their accepting it, while
+     there are instances of their having done so. In southern
+     Bohemia, a short time ago, a countess was chosen member of a
+     provincial assembly (_okresni zastupitestvo_) with the approval
+     of the body, on the condition that she should not participate
+     personally in its deliberations, but should be represented by a
+     man having full power to act for her. At Agram in Croatia, a
+     woman was elected, a few years ago, member of the municipal
+     council, and no objection was made. Of course such cases are very
+     rare, but they have their significance.
+
+Carolina Svetla, the distinguished poet and author, has done,
+perhaps, the most to awaken thought on the woman question in
+Bohemia. She stands at the head of a talented group of literary
+women, which plays a brilliant part in the fatherland of Huss. The
+means for woman's instruction, however, are most lamentable in
+Bohemia. The universities are shut against women, and though two
+women have been graduated in Switzerland, their degrees are not
+recognized in their native land. Beyond primary instruction the
+State does almost nothing for its women, though they outnumber the
+other sex by two hundred thousand. In several of the large cities
+of Bohemia something has been accomplished for girls' high-school
+and normal-school instruction; but, in general, we may say that the
+intellectual development of Bohemian girls is left to private
+instruction. Associations of women have done much to fill this
+void, one of which, founded by Carolina Svetla, is devoted to the
+industrial and commercial instruction of girls. Two thousand women
+belong to this association, and five hundred girls attend its
+school annually, while many young women frequent its school for the
+training of nurses. This vigorous organization has disarmed
+prejudices by the success of its schools and by the arguments of
+its monthly organ, the _Zenske Listy_, ably edited by Elise
+Krasnohorska, one of the best known Bohemian poets, and a leader in
+the work of improving the condition of her countrywomen. Vojta
+Naprstek, a man who has justly been named "the woman's advocate,"
+has founded at Prague the Women's American Club, whose object is
+charity and the intellectual elevation of women, and has presented
+the club a valuable collection of books and objects of art. A lady,
+writing me from Prague, says:
+
+     The club has always been in a most flourishing condition,
+     although it has never had a constitution or by-laws to hold it
+     together,--nothing but the single bond of philanthropy. At first
+     it had not even a name. But outsiders began to call its members
+     'the Americans,' because they adopted American improvements in
+     their homes. The appellation was accepted by the club as an
+     honorable title, and from that time it formally called itself the
+     "American Club."
+
+The Austrian code, in its treatment of women, is unsurpassed in
+contradictions. Women, for example, may testify in criminal
+actions, but they may not be witnesses to the simplest legal
+document. There are many absurdities of this sort in the existing
+law which were unknown in the ancient code of independent Bohemia,
+which was more liberal in its treatment of women. Divorce exists,
+but divorced persons cannot marry again. Bohemia being a part of
+Austria, women vote in the same way as has already been mentioned
+in what was said of the latter country. But at Prague, however,
+women do not vote, the capital still retaining its old laws on this
+subject.
+
+Concerning the other grand division of the empire of the Hapsburgs,
+Hungary, much the same may be said as of Bohemia. It is only within
+the last forty years that Hungary has striven to attain to the
+level of occidental civilization and culture, so that the question
+of the amelioration of women's condition is of very recent origin
+in that country. Rose Revai, of Budapest, writes:
+
+     Hungarian legislators have always treated us favorably in all
+     matters pertaining to the family, marriage and inheritance. By
+     the mere act of marriage we attain our majority and are
+     emancipated from tutelage. As heirs, our interests are not
+     forgotten, and as widows, we have the control over our own
+     children. In business and trade we enjoy equal rights with men.
+     And Hungarian women have not been slow to take advantage of these
+     privileges, as is shown by those of our sex who occupy worthy
+     positions in literature, art, commerce, industry, the theater and
+     the school-room.
+
+Although the Hungarian universities are still closed against women,
+there are many girls' industrial and normal schools and colleges.
+The impetus given to female education in Hungary is chiefly
+due to the late Baron Joseph Eoetvoes, the savant, poet and
+philanthropist, who was minister of public instruction in 1867.
+Women are employed in the postal and telegraphic service.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Returning north, to Holland, we find much the same situation as
+in the other Teutonic nations. "The women of Holland are
+unquestionably better educated, and entertain as a body more
+liberal ideas than French women," said a Dutch lady to me, who had
+lived many years at Paris; "but, on the other hand, there is not
+the little group of women in the Netherlands who grasp the real
+meaning of the woman question as is the case here in France."
+Woman's social position is a little better in Holland than in the
+Catholic countries. In 1870 an essay on the woman question "by a
+lady" demanded political rights for women, and there are a few
+instances of women having lectured on that subject. The Dutch
+universities are open to female students, and Aletta Henriette
+Jacobs, the first and only female physician in Holland, has a
+successful practice at Amsterdam. Dr. Jacobs recently attempted to
+vote, and carried the question before the courts. Elise A.
+Haighton, of Amsterdam, writes:
+
+     A few of our women do not hesitate to participate in political
+     and social discussions. The Union (_Unic_), a society which aims
+     to promote popular interest in politics by meetings, debates,
+     tracts, etc.; the Daybreak (_Dageraad_), a radical association
+     which holds very ultra opinions on politics, religion and
+     science, and supports a magazine to which many scientific men
+     contribute; and the New Malthusian Band, an organization
+     sufficiently explained by its name, all count several women among
+     their members.
+
+Elise van Calcar, the veteran Dutch authoress, sums up the
+situation in Holland, as follows:
+
+     I am sorry to have to confess that, as regards the general
+     emancipation of women, we have accomplished but very little. Our
+     work is indirect; we can only proclaim the injustice of our
+     position.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two countries, the product of Latin and Teutonic civilization,
+Belgium and Switzerland, must be touched upon before we turn to the
+Scandinavian people. Of the first, Belgium, about the same may be
+said as of Holland with which she was so long united politically. A
+correspondent in Belgium writes me as follows:
+
+     There cannot be said to be any movement in this country in favor
+     of the emancipation of women. No journal, no association, no
+     organization of any kind exists.
+
+But public opinion is said to be quite favorable. Women are making
+their way slowly into certain callings. The professors of the
+universities of Liege and Ghent, when asked their opinion not long
+ago by the minister of public instruction, expressed a desire to
+see women admitted to the privileges of these institutions on the
+same terms as men, and to-day female students are found at all the
+institutions for higher education. Another correspondent writes:
+
+     Within the past few years an effort has been made among the women
+     of the middle classes in the large cities, and secondary and
+     professional schools have been established for girls, which are
+     already producing good fruit. This movement is beginning to make
+     itself felt among the upper classes, and it is to be hoped that
+     the next generation will make longer strides in the direction of
+     instruction than is the case with the present generation.
+
+In one respect at least Belgium is far behind her neighbor,
+Holland. Dr. Isala van Diest, the first and so far the only female
+physician in Belgium, although she has passed successfully all the
+necessary examinations and taken all the necessary degrees, may not
+practice medicine in her own country. She wrote me recently:
+
+     I fear I shall soon be obliged to give up the fight and go to
+     France, England or Holland, unless I wish to lose the fruit of
+     all my studies.
+
+Concerning the higher education of women Dr. van Diest writes:
+
+     There existed in Belgium some years ago a law which required
+     students who would enter the university, to pass the examination
+     of graduate in letters (_gradue-en-lettres_). Candidates for this
+     degree were expected to know how to translate Greek and write
+     Latin. But as there were no schools where girls could study the
+     dead languages with the thoroughness of boys who were trained six
+     years in the classics, the former were almost entirely shut out
+     from enjoying the advantages of an university course. This
+     _graduat_, however, no longer exists, and the entrance of women
+     into our universities is now possible. Female students are found
+     to-day at Brussels, Liege and Ghent, but their number is still
+     very small. It was in 1880 that the first woman entered the
+     university of Brussels, but it was not until 1883 that their
+     admission became general. They pursue, for the most part,
+     scientific studies, thereby securing more lucrative positions as
+     teachers, and pass their examinations for graduation with
+     success.
+
+Switzerland being made up of more than a score of separate cantons
+closely resembling our States in their political organization, it
+is difficult to arrive at the exact situation throughout the whole
+country--small though it be. However, generally speaking, it may be
+said that the Helvetic republic has remained almost a passive
+spectator of the woman movement, though a few signs of progress are
+worthy of note. The Catholic cantons lag behind those that have
+adopted Protestantism, and the latter are led by Geneva. Though
+subject to the Napoleonic code, Geneva has never known that
+debasing law of the tutelage of women which existed for so long a
+time in the other cantons, even in the intelligent canton of Vaud,
+where it was abolished only in 1873. It was not until 1881 that a
+federal statute put an end to the law throughout all Switzerland.
+Geneva has always been very liberal in its treatment of married
+women--divorce exists, excellent intermediate girls' schools were
+created more than thirty years ago, and women are admitted to all
+the university lectures. Marie Goegg, the untiring leader of the
+movement in that country, writes me:
+
+     However, notwithstanding these examples of liberality, which
+     denote that the law-makers had a breadth of view in accord with
+     their time, Switzerland, as a whole, has been one of the least
+     disposed of European States to accept the idea of the civil
+     emancipation of woman, much less her political emancipation, so
+     that from 1848 to 1868 the demands of American women were
+     considered here to be the height of extravagance.... The seed
+     planted in America in 1848, though its growth was difficult,
+     finally began to take root in Europe. The hour had come.
+
+In March, 1868, Marie Goegg published a letter, in which she
+invited the women of all nations to join with her in the formation
+of a society. In July of that same year the Woman's International
+Association was founded at Geneva with Marie Goegg as president.
+The organization began immediately an active work, and through its
+efforts, several of the reforms already mentioned were brought
+about, and public opinion in Switzerland considerably enlightened
+on the question. Mrs. Goegg says:
+
+     With the object of advancing the young movement, I established at
+     my own risk a bi-monthly, the _Woman's Journal_ (_Journal des
+     femmes_). But this was a violation of that good Latin motto,
+     _festina lente_, and, at the end of a few months the paper
+     suspended publication. Swiss public opinion was not yet ready to
+     support such a venture.
+
+     It may be pointed out here that, except in England, all the
+     women's societies created in Europe had, up to the time of the
+     organization of the International Association refrained from
+     touching the question of the political rights of women. The Swiss
+     association, on the contrary, always included this subject in its
+     programme. But, unfortunately, at the moment when our efforts
+     were meeting with success, and the future was full of promise for
+     the cause which we advocated, the terrible Franco-German war
+     broke out, and, for various reasons unnecessary to go into here,
+     I felt constrained to resign the presidency, and the association
+     came to an end.
+
+Two years later the International Association was revived in the
+form of the Solidarity (_Solidarite_), whose name signified the
+spirit which ought to unite all women. In 1875 Mrs. Goegg became
+president of the new organization as well as founder and editor of
+its organ, the _Solidarity Bulletin_ (_Bulletin de la Solidarite_).
+But on September 20, 1880, both society and journal ceased to
+exist. The president in her farewell address said:
+
+     The dissolution of the Solidarity ought not to discourage us, but
+     ought rather to cause us to rejoice, for the recent creation of
+     so many women's national societies in different countries proves
+     that the Solidarity has accomplished its aim, so that we have
+     only to retire.
+
+The striking success of university coeducation in Switzerland calls
+for a few words of notice. Mrs. Goegg writes:
+
+     In October, 1872, I sent a petition to the grand-council of
+     Geneva, asking that women be admitted to the university of Geneva
+     on the same footing as men. The state of public opinion on this
+     subject in Switzerland, and especially in Geneva, may be judged
+     from the fact that, fearing to compromise the demand if I acted
+     in my own name or that of the Solidarity, the petition was
+     presented as coming from "the mothers of Geneva." Our prayer was
+     granted.
+
+The number of women who have pursued studies at Geneva has steadily
+increased every year. In 1878 the university of Neufchatel was
+thrown open to women, while the university of Zurich has long had a
+large number of female students. Professor Pflueger, of the
+university of Bern, writing to me in April, 1883, said:
+
+     From February 2, 1876, to the present time, thirty-five women
+     have taken degrees at our medical school. The lectures are
+     attended each semester on an average by from twenty-five to
+     thirty women, while from three to six follow the lectures on
+     philosophy and letters. The presence of women at our university
+     has occasioned no serious inconvenience and many colleagues favor
+     it.
+
+The rector of the university of Geneva wrote, February, 1883:
+
+     Up to the present time the attendance of women at our university
+     has occasioned us no inconvenience except in some lectures of the
+     medical school, where the subjects are not always of a nature to
+     admit of their treatment before mixed classes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We shall now glance at the situation of woman in the three
+Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Sweden stands
+first, just as Germany does among the Teutonic nations, and France
+among the Latin nations; in fact we may perhaps go farther and say
+that of all Continental States, Sweden leads in many respects at
+least, in the revolution in favor of women.
+
+The State, the royal family, private individuals, and, above all,
+women themselves have all striven to outstrip each other in the
+emancipation of Swedish women. Normal schools, high schools,
+primary schools, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Academy
+of Fine Arts, both at Stockholm, dairy schools and a host of other
+educational institutions, both private and public, are thrown wide
+open to women. The State has founded scholarships for women at
+Upsala University and at the medical school of the university of
+Lund. Numerous benevolent, charitable and industrial societies
+have been established and in many instances are managed by women.
+But the best idea may be gained of the liberal spirit which
+prevails in Sweden by showing what the State has done for the
+emancipation of women. For instance, in 1845, equality of
+inheritance for son and daughter was established, and the wife was
+given equal rights with the husband as regards the common property;
+in 1846, woman was permitted to practice industrial professions and
+to carry on business in her own name; in 1861, the professions of
+surgery and dentistry were opened to her; in 1864, her rights in
+trade and industrial pursuits were enlarged; in 1870, she was
+admitted to the universities and medical profession; in 1872, a
+woman of twenty-five was given the full right of disposing of
+herself in marriage, the consent of parents and relations having
+been necessary before that time; and in 1874, a married woman
+became entitled to control that part of her private property set
+aside for her personal use in the marriage contract, as well as to
+possess her own earnings. The reforms in favor of married women are
+in no small measure due to the society founded in 1871 by Mrs.
+E. Anckarsvaerd and Anna Hierta Retzius, whose aim was the
+accomplishment of these very reforms.
+
+A good beginning has been made toward securing full political
+rights for Swedish women. In many matters relative to the
+municipality, women vote on the same terms with men, as for
+example, in the choice of the parish clergy, in the election of
+municipal councilors, and members of the county council. This
+latter body elects the House of Lords, so that woman's influence,
+through an intermediate electoral body, is felt in the upper
+chamber. May this not be one reason why the Swedish legislature has
+been so liberal toward women? Demands have been made, but in vain,
+for the complete franchise which would confer upon women the
+privilege of voting for members of the diet. Woman's interests have
+found a warm and energetic advocate in the _Home Review_
+(_Tidskrift foer Hemmet_), which was founded in 1859 by the Hon.
+Rosalie d'Olivecrona and the Baroness Leyonhufoud, to-day the Hon.
+Mrs. Adlersparre. The paper is still edited by the latter; Rosalie
+d'Olivecrona, who has always been a most active friend of the woman
+movement, having retired in 1868.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If we cross the boundaries of Sweden into the sister kingdom of
+Norway, we find the condition of woman absolutely changed.
+"Concerning Norway, I have said almost nothing," writes Camilla
+Collett, the distinguished Norwegian author, in some notes which
+she sent me recently on the situation of women in Scandinavia, "for
+the very simple reason that there is little to say." The long and
+oppressive domination of Denmark prostrated Norway, but her close
+union with Sweden since the fall of Napoleon, has begun to have a
+good effect, and the liberal influence of the latter country in
+favor of woman is already beginning to be felt in the other half of
+the Scandinavian peninsula. One step in advance has been the
+opening of the university to women--"The best thing that can be
+said of Norway," says Camilla Collett. Miss Cecilie Thoresen, the
+first female student to matriculate at Christiania University,
+writing to me from Eidsvold, Norway, in December, 1882, says it was
+in 1880 that she decided to try and take an academic degree. Her
+father, therefore, applied to the minister of public instruction
+for the necessary authorization; the latter referred the
+application to the university authorities, who, in their turn,
+submitted the portentous question to the faculty of the law-school.
+In due season Miss Thoresen received this rather unsatisfactory
+response:
+
+     The admission of women to the university is denied, but we
+     recognize the necessity for changing the law on the subject.
+
+Thereupon Mr. H. E. Berner, the prominent liberal member of the
+Storthing, or Norwegian parliament, introduced a bill permitting
+women to pursue university studies leading to the degrees in arts
+and philosophy (_examen artium_ and _examen philosophicum_). The
+committee reported unanimously in favor of the bill; on March 30,
+1882, it passed without debate the Odelsthing, one of the two
+chambers of the Storthing, with but one dissenting voice--that of a
+clergyman; on April 21, 1882, it received the unanimous vote of the
+other house, the Lagthing; and it finally became a law on June 15,
+1882. But Mr. Berner did not stop here. He once wrote me:
+
+     In my opinion there hardly exists nowadays another social problem
+     which has a better claim on public attention than that of the
+     emancipation of women. Until they are placed on an equal footing
+     with men, we shall not have departed from the days of barbarism.
+
+In 1884, Mr. Berner succeeded in making it possible for women to
+take all university degrees, the law of 1882 having opened to them
+only the degrees in arts and philosophy. He is now pressing on the
+attention of parliament other reforms in favor of women; and he has
+recently written me that he believes that his efforts will be
+crowned with success.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Denmark nothing has been done in the direction of political
+rights, nothing for school suffrage, though the liberal movement of
+1848 improved woman's legal position slightly. But the situation of
+married women is still very unsatisfactory, for it may be summed up
+by saying that her property and her children are controlled by the
+husband. In 1879 many thousand women petitioned the legislature for
+the right to their own earnings, and a law was passed to this
+effect. During the last twenty years, thanks to the example set by
+Sweden, much has been done to open to women the field of work. In
+1875 the university consented to receive women, but as the State
+furnishes them only primary instruction, and does nothing for their
+intermediate instruction, leaving this broad gap to be filled by
+private efforts, the educational situation of Danish women leaves
+much to be desired. But the women themselves have turned their
+attention to this matter, and high schools and professional schools
+for women, and generally managed by women, are springing up.
+
+Denmark has produced several journals devoted to the interests of
+women and edited by women. The _Friday_ (_Fredagen_), issued from
+July, 1875, to 1879, was edited by Vilhelmine Zahle. It was a bold,
+radical little sheet. The name was probably taken from the _Woman's
+Journal and Friday Society_, which appeared at Copenhagen in 1767,
+under the anonymous editorship of a woman. The _Woman's Review_
+(_Tidsskrift for Kvinder_) began to appear in January, 1882. Its
+editor, Elfride Fibiger, has associated with her Mr. Friis, a very
+earnest friend of the women's movement, who has given a more
+progressive turn to the paper, which has come out for women's
+suffrage--the first journal in Denmark to take this radical step.
+
+Perhaps the most encouraging sign of progress is the foundation,
+during the past few years, of numerous associations of women with
+different objects in view. John Stuart Mill's "Subjection of
+Women," which was translated into Danish and widely read; the
+"Letters from Clara Raphael," of Mathilde Fibiger, which appeared
+still earlier, in 1850; the writings of Camilla Collett, of Norway;
+the liberal utterances of the great poets of the North, Bjoernsen,
+Hostrup and Ibsen, whose "Nora" has rightfully procured for him
+the title of "Woman's Poet"; the great progress in America, England
+and Sweden; all these influences stimulated thought, weakened
+prejudices and prepared the way for reforms in the Danish
+peninsula. Kirstine Frederiksen, of Copenhagen, says:
+
+     It is plainly evident that Danish women are weary of the part
+     allotted to them in the old society, a part characterized by the
+     sentiment that the best that can be said of a woman is that there
+     is nothing to say about her.... When, in due time, the claim for
+     political rights is made here in Denmark, then will women from
+     all classes unite in their efforts to secure the palladium which
+     alone can protect them from arbitrariness and subjection.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We shall now take up the Slavonic countries, beginning with Russia,
+which stands first, not only because of its vastness, but also
+because of its liberality toward women. The position of the Russian
+women before the law is very peculiar. Children, whatever their age
+and whether male or female, are never emancipated from the control
+of their parents. The daughter can only escape from this authority,
+and then only in a limited degree, by marriage, and the son by
+entering the service of the State. In the provinces alone girls of
+twenty-one may marry without the parents' consent. The married
+woman is in the full power of her husband, though she is the
+mistress of her own fortune. Divorce exists. Russian women vote on
+an equality with men for members of the municipal councils and
+county assemblies, and these two bodies choose the boards which
+transact the public business, such as superintending the collection
+of taxes, keeping the roads in order, directing the schools, etc.
+The Russian woman does, not however, appear at the polls, but is
+represented by some male relative or friend (as we have already
+seen in Austria) who casts the vote for her. Thus the Russian
+woman, except that she is ineligible to office, possesses all the
+political rights of the Russian man--a privilege, however, that is
+of little value in a country where liberty is crushed under the
+iron heel of autocracy. The position of the Russian peasant women
+is not as good as that of the women of the upper classes. They find
+some comfort, however, in the doctrines of the rapidly spreading
+religious sects, which resemble somewhat the American Revivalists
+or Anabaptists. In fact, the subject condition of Russian women is
+one of the chief causes of the growth of these sects; down-trodden
+by society and the State, they seek liberty in religion. In some of
+these sects women preach. Miss Maria Zebrikoff, an able Russian
+writer, sends me this curious information:
+
+     We have lately heard of a new sect which preaches a doctrine
+     exalting woman. She is placed above man, because she can give
+     birth to another being. Her pain and travail are so great, that
+     alleviating the other sufferings and annoyances of woman would be
+     but a poor reward; she is entitled to the deepest gratitude of
+     mankind.
+
+Thought concerning the emancipation of woman was first awakened
+among the upper classes about 1840, inspired by George Sand, but
+was confined to a narrow circle of men of science and authors. The
+new ideas continued to exist in a latent form until the freedom of
+the serfs in 1860, when they burst forth into life. The reforms of
+the last reign, the abolishment of bureaucratic government and the
+emancipation of the slaves, advanced the cause of woman, for the
+daughters of the office-holders and land-owners, reduced to poverty
+by these changes, were forced to go forth into the world and earn
+their own living. Woman's success in the walks of higher
+education--especially in medicine--has been a great victory for the
+friends of the rights of woman. The government, the professors of
+the university and women themselves have all united, more or less
+heartily, in a common effort to give Russian women facilities for a
+complete education. The first woman's medical school in Russia owes
+its origin to a donation of 50,000 rubles from a woman. The war
+department--for Russia thinks of medicine only in its relation to
+the army--came to the aid of the new movement, and the medical
+profession, though in a restricted manner, was thrown open to
+women.[574] As yet women physicians may treat only diseases of
+women and children, but, notwithstanding this drawback, there are
+fifty-two women physicians in St. Petersburg and two hundred and
+fifty in Russia. During the last war with Turkey twenty women
+physicians did noble work in the army. Women flock to the
+universities in great numbers. An attempt has been made to render
+the profession of law accessible to them, but the government has
+prohibited it. It is expected that ere long women will be
+professors in the university. The chemical, medical and legal
+associations have already received women into membership.
+
+In literature Russian women take an active part; reviews,
+magazines, and political journals counting many women among their
+contributors and in some cases their directors. Writes Maria
+Zebrikoff:
+
+     It is especially in the domain of fiction that Russian women
+     excel. After the two renowned names of Tourgueneff and Tolstoi,
+     the greatest genius of which our contemporary literature can
+     boast is Krestowsky, the pseudonym of woman.
+
+"The reaectionary party," exclaims the same lady with enthusiasm,
+"counts in its ranks no woman distinguished for thought or talent."
+Even this brief glance at woman's position in Russia conclusively
+proves that when the day of liberty comes to the great Cossack
+empire, the women will be as thoroughly fitted to enter upon all
+the duties of citizenship as the men. The women of no other
+continental nation are perhaps better prepared for complete
+emancipation than those of Russia. Here, as in several other
+respects, autocratic Russia resembles free America. The good-will
+of every transatlantic friend of woman's elevation should ever go
+forth to this brave, struggling people of the North.
+
+The civil law of the kingdom of Poland, a part of Russia, has been,
+since 1809, the Napoleonic code; the other Polish provinces of
+Russia are subject to Russian law. Under the former, the woman has
+an equal share in the patrimony; but the married woman is a
+perpetual minor. According to the Russian code, on the contrary, a
+girl receives only a fourteenth part of the patrimony; and when a
+distant relative dies, brothers alone inherit. But a woman has
+absolute control of her own property: and when she becomes of age,
+at twenty-one, she may buy, own, sell, without being subjected to
+any tutelage, without requiring the consent of the husband--the
+very contrary of the Napoleonic code. This same thing is true in
+several other particulars, a striking illustration of the fact that
+much-abused Russian civilization is in some respects superior to
+the much-vaunted Latin civilization. In regard to education, the
+Polish woman is not so well off. In the primary schools alone does
+she enjoy equal rights; in secondary education she has far fewer
+advantages than the boy; while as for university instruction, she
+is forced to seek it in Russia or in foreign lands, the Polish
+universities being absolutely closed against her. In the Polish
+provinces under direct Russian authority, the State does nothing
+whatever for woman's instruction; and in the kingdom of Poland, the
+same thing is true except in the matter of primary instruction.
+Polish women may practice medicine, if, besides this foreign
+diploma, they also pass an examination before the medical school of
+St. Petersburg. Tomaszewicz Dobrska is one of the few Polish women
+who has succeeded in this difficult field.
+
+The Academy of Fine Arts at Cracow is open to men alone, but
+Madeline Andrzejkowicz has endeavored to fill the gap by
+establishing at Warsaw a school of painting for women. The first
+woman's industrial school was founded in 1874 at Warsaw, and during
+the first six years, to 1880, it had 743 scholars. Establishments
+of this kind are now quite numerous in the kingdom, but, for
+political reasons, they have not been founded in the Polish
+provinces of Russia. The unfortunate political situation of Poland,
+which robs even men of their rights, is an insurmountable obstacle
+in the way of the emancipation of women. There are, however, many
+encouraging signs of progress. At Warsaw there is more than one
+newspaper edited by a woman. Marie Ilnicka has owned and edited for
+more than sixteen years, at the capital, a paper which is widely
+read and which has great influence. It is no uncommon thing for
+women to deliver public lectures, which are very popular and draw
+large houses. Elise Orzeszko, the distinguished Polish novelist,
+tells me:
+
+     We have confidence in the efforts of the men who are leading
+     society and who are sacrificing their talents and earnestly
+     toiling to advance liberal ideas. In the meanwhile our duty is to
+     awaken thought on the question of woman's rights, so that when a
+     better day does come to Poland, women may be ready to participate
+     in the common welfare.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But we cannot close this brief sketch without mentioning the
+Orient, that region of transition between the darkness of Asia and
+the light of occidental Europe; for, though the position of woman
+is in general so lamentable that at first glance it seems best to
+pass over this portion of the continent in silence, one catches
+here and there a glimmer of progress that portends a better day in
+the still distant future. And, too, regenerate Greece commands our
+attention, for she indeed is a rich oasis in this desert of
+Mohammedan conquest.
+
+There are many Ottoman women, especially among the rich families,
+who desire to change their dress and enter into relations with the
+women of other religions, but the ecclesiastical and civil
+authorities are always ready to check this tendency and to
+rigorously enforce the ancient customs. In certain harems earnest
+efforts have been made to establish true family life and to bring
+up the children under the eye and care of the parents, with the aid
+of foreign governesses, who, along with the languages, inculcate
+the habits and manners of occidental nations. Vain attempts have
+been made to found girls' schools. There are noble natures who long
+for amelioration of their state, and for progress, but fanaticism
+condemns everything to mortal stagnation.
+
+The Jewish woman leads a contracted, monotonous existence under the
+authority of the priest. The wives of many rich bankers have tried
+to do something to improve the condition of Hebrew women by
+founding aid societies, primary schools, and normal schools. The
+Bulgarian women of the country enjoy an agricultural and pastoral
+life, and those of the city are simple and primitive in their
+habits and customs. But little has been done for woman's
+instruction, though some worthy attempts have been made to
+establish schools. The hope of the regeneration of the Oriental
+woman lies in the influence of Greek civilization. The emancipation
+of the Greek woman means the emancipation of the Turkish woman.
+
+The Greek woman in the Orient must be studied under two heads: the
+Greek woman in Turkey and the Greek woman in Greece. In
+both cases we find them filled with the spirit of western
+civilization--perhaps it would be better to say, with the spirit of
+their classic ancestors. Primary, secondary and normal schools,
+asylums, hospitals, societies--all for women and generally managed
+by women--are found in all the Greek centers of Turkey. Calliope A.
+Kechayia, the cultured principal of the Zappion, the famous girls'
+college at Constantinople, says:
+
+     The intellectual condition of the Greek woman in the Orient is,
+     generally speaking, not inferior to that of women in many parts
+     of Europe; and as regards the instruction of the girls of the
+     lower classes, it is much superior to that of several Latin
+     countries.
+
+The Greek woman in Greece differs essentially from the Oriental
+woman. With the independence of Greece came a great patriotic
+movement for the building up of the new nationality, a movement in
+which women took a most active and prominent part. Several American
+women, especially Mrs. Hill, lent their aid and founded the first
+girls' school at Athens. "A whole generation of women," says a
+Greek lady, "distinguished for their social and family virtues,
+received their education in this college." An association of
+Greeks soon afterward established a normal school for women. The
+Greek government also early took up the question of popular
+education without excluding women from its plans. The way in which
+young Greek schoolmistresses hastened all over the peninsula,
+spreading knowledge, the Greek language and their own enthusiasm
+throughout the newly liberated nation, is one of the most unique
+episodes in modern history. "It is true and beyond dispute," I am
+told by Miss Kechayia, "that the Greece of to-day owes its rapid
+progress and its Greek instruction to its women." But the Greek
+woman is more than a school-mistress. The wife of a public man has
+other than social duties to occupy her. She often represents her
+husband before his constituents. She participates actively and
+usefully in many of his political affairs. It frequently happens
+that the wife goes into the provinces to solicit votes for her
+husband, and sometimes in drawing-room lectures she defends his
+political conduct. "In truth these facts would not be believed by a
+foreigner if he had not seen them with his own eyes," I was once
+told by a Greek. Associations of various kinds have been formed by
+women during the past few years, and there is at least one instance
+of a woman lecturing in public on literary topics. However, woman's
+rights in the American sense has not yet penetrated into Greece,
+but from what has just been said it will be seen that when that day
+comes, the reform will find a soil well prepared for its reception.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Such is a brief and general view of the present status of the Woman
+Question on the European Continent. It will have been constantly
+noticed in the preceding pages that in every country there are
+evidences of progress. Public opinion in the Old World is slowly
+but surely accepting Voltaire's statement when the broad-minded
+philosopher says, with a dash of French gallantry: "Women are
+capable of doing everything we do, with this single difference
+between them and us, that they are more amiable than we are." In
+matters of instruction, the ideas of Montesquieu and Aime Martin
+are gaining ground. "The powers of the sexes," wrote the
+penetrating author of the "Spirit of the Laws," "would be equal if
+their education were, too. Test women in the talents that have not
+been enfeebled by the way they have been educated, and we will then
+see if we are so strong." "It is in spite of our stupid system of
+education," declared Aime Martin, more than fifty years ago, "that
+women have an idea, a mind and a soul." And even the more radical
+utterances of the late Eugene Pelletan find an echo. "By keeping
+women outside of politics," once said the distinguished senator,
+"the soul of our country is diminished by one-half." No wonder then
+that Frances Power Cobbe likens this revolution to the irresistible
+waves of the ocean. "Of all the movements, political, social and
+religious, of past ages, there is, I think," writes Miss Cobbe,
+"not one so unmistakably tide-like in its extension and the
+uniformity of its impulse, as that which has taken place within
+living memory among the women of almost every race on the globe.
+Other agitations, reforms and revolutions have pervaded and lifted
+up classes, tribes, nations, churches. But this movement has
+stirred an entire sex, even half the human race. * * * When the
+time comes to look back on the slow, universal awakening of women
+all over the globe, on their gradual entrance into one privileged
+profession after another, on the attainment by them of rights of
+person and property, and, at last, on their admission to the full
+privileges of citizenship, it will be acknowledged that of all the
+'Decisive Battles of History,' this has been, to the moralist and
+philosopher, the most interesting; even as it will be (I cannot
+doubt) the one followed by the happiest Peace which the world has
+ever seen."
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[566] This chapter is, in large part, a resume of Mr. Stanton's
+valuable work "The Woman Question in Europe," published in 1884 by
+the Putnams of New York, to which we refer the reader who desires
+to study more in detail the European movement for women.--[THE
+EDITORS.
+
+[567] The United States was represented by Albert Brisbane and Mrs.
+Brisbane, of New York; Elizabeth Chalmers and Mrs. Gibbons, of
+Philadelphia; Colonel T. W. Higginson, of Massachusetts; Miss
+Hotchkiss, Fernando Jones and his wife and daughter, Jane Graham
+Jones and Genevieve Graham Jones (now Mrs. Geo. R. Grant), Mrs.
+Klumpke and her two daughters, of Chicago; Mrs. Party and Louisa
+Southworth, of Ohio.
+
+[568] Before closing this brief sketch, I desire to mention with
+deep gratitude the name of the man who first lifted up his voice in
+the Italian parliament to defend and protect women. Salvatore
+Morelli deserves the veneration of every Italian woman. His first
+book, "Woman and Science" (_La Donna e la Scienza_), dedicated to
+Antona Traversi, was animated by a just and noble spirit, too
+radical, however, to meet with universal approbation. When he
+entered parliament, Morelli, with the same courage, constancy, and
+radicalism, demanded the complete emancipation of women.
+Conservatives laughed, and many friends of our movement trembled
+for the cause. Ably seconded by Mancini, he succeeded in securing
+for women the right to testify in civil actions, a dignity which
+they had not previously enjoyed, although, by an absurd
+contradiction they could be witnesses in criminal cases, convict of
+murder by a single word and send the criminal to the scaffold. One
+of Morelli's last acts was a divorce bill which was examined by the
+Chamber. Guardasigilli Tomman Villa, the then Minister of Justice,
+was inclined to accept it, but death, which occurred in 1880, saved
+poor Morelli the pain of seeing his proposition rejected. An appeal
+to women has been made to raise a modest monument to Salvatore
+Morelli in memory of his good deeds, by Aurelia Cimino Folliero de
+Luna. The author of this essay has been requested to receive
+subscriptions to this fund. Such subscriptions will be acknowledged
+and forwarded to the Italian Committee. They should be addressed to
+Theodore Stanton, 9 rue de Bassano, Paris, France.
+
+[569] The American members are as follows: Massachusetts, Julia
+Ward Howe, Lucy Stone; Illinois, Jane Graham Jones, Miss Hotchkiss;
+New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Theodore
+Stanton; Pennsylvania, Mrs. Gibbons, of Philadelphia.
+
+[570] The office of this journal is 12, rue de Cail, Paris.
+
+[571] The office of this journal is 4, rue des Deux-Gares, Paris.
+
+[572] See the _Index_, of Boston, May 19, 1881, where I give in
+full this remarkable speech.
+
+[573] What is said of Austria in this respect further on in this
+chapter will apply to Italy if the proposed reform is finally
+accepted by parliament.
+
+[574] Recent reforms in the war department call for economy, and
+the minister has been forced to refuse the usual subsidy for the
+support of the woman's medical courses and they are unfortunately
+in a very critical situation. The result will probably be the
+foundation of medical colleges for women independent of government
+aid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+REMINISCENCES.
+
+BY E. C. S.
+
+
+Reaching London amidst the fogs and mists of November, 1882, the
+first person I met, after a separation of many years, was our
+revered and beloved friend, William Henry Channing. The tall,
+graceful form was somewhat bent; the sweet, thoughtful face
+somewhat sadder; the crimes and miseries of the world seemed more
+heavy on his heart than ever. With his refined, nervous
+organization, the gloomy moral and physical atmosphere of London
+was the last place on earth where that beautiful life should have
+ended. I found him in earnest conversation with my daughter and a
+young Englishman soon to be married, advising them not only as to
+the importance of the step they were about to take, but as to the
+minor points to be observed in the ceremony. At the appointed time
+a few friends gathered in Portland-street chapel, and as we
+approached the altar, our friend appeared in surplice and gown, his
+pale, spiritual face more tender and beautiful than ever. This was
+the last marriage service he ever performed, and it was as pathetic
+as original, his whole appearance so in harmony with the exquisite
+sentiments he uttered that we who listened felt as if for the time
+being we had entered with him into the Holy of Holies.
+
+Some time after, Miss Anthony and I called on him, to return our
+thanks for the very complimentary review he had written of the
+History of Woman Suffrage. He thanked us in turn for the many
+pleasant memories we had revived in those pages, which he said had
+been as entertaining as a novel; "but," said he, "they have filled
+me with indignation, too, over the repeated insults offered to
+women so earnestly engaged in honest endeavors for the uplifting of
+mankind. I blushed for my sex more than once in reading these
+volumes." We lingered long in talking over the events connected
+with this great struggle for freedom. He dwelt with tenderness on
+our divisions and disappointments, and entered more fully into the
+humiliations suffered by women than any man we ever met. His
+conversation that day was fully as appreciative of the nice points
+in the degradation of sex as is John Stuart Mill in his wonderful
+work on "The Subjection of Woman." He was intensely interested in
+Frances Power Cobbe's efforts to suppress the vivisectionists, and
+the last time I saw him he was presiding at a parlor meeting at
+Mrs. Wolcott Brown's, when Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell gave an
+admirable address on the causes and cure of the social evil. Mr.
+Channing spoke beautifully in closing, paying a warm and merited
+compliment to Miss Blackwell's clear and concise review of all the
+difficulties involved in the question.
+
+Reading so much of English reformers in our journals, of the
+Brights, the McLarens, the Taylors, of Lydia Becker, Caroline
+Biggs, Josephine Butler and Octavia Hill, and of their great
+demonstrations with lords and members of parliament in the chair,
+we had longed to compare the actors in those scenes with our
+speakers and conventions on this side the water. At last we met
+them, one and all, in London, York, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow,
+Edinburgh, in great public meetings and parlor reunions, at dinners
+and receptions, listened to their public men in parliament, the
+courts and the pulpit, to the women in their various assemblies,
+and came to the conclusion that Americans surpass them in oratory
+and the spirited manner in which they conduct meetings. They have
+no system of elocution in England such as we have--a thorough
+training of the voice, in what is called vocal gymnastics. A
+hesitating, apologetic way seems to be the national idea for an
+exordium on all questions. Even their ablest men who have visited
+this country, such as Kingsley, Stanley, Arnold, Spencer, Tyndal,
+Huxley, and Canon Farrar, have all been criticised by the American
+public for their stammering enunciation. They have no speakers to
+compare with Wendell Phillips and George William Curtis, or Anna
+Dickinson and Phoebe W. Couzins. John Bright is without a peer
+among his countrymen, as are Mrs. Bessant and Miss Helen Taylor
+among the women. Miss Tod, from Belfast, is a good speaker. The
+women, as a general thing, are more fluent than the men; those of
+the Bright family in all its branches have deep, rich voices.
+
+Among the young women, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Mrs.
+Scatcherd, Miss Henrietta Mueller, Mrs. Fenwick Miller, and Lady
+Harberton, all speak with comparative ease and self-possession. The
+latter is striving to introduce for her countrywomen a new style of
+dress, in which all the garments are bifurcated, but so skillfully
+adjusted in generous plaits and folds, that while the wearer enjoys
+the utmost freedom, the casual observer is quite ignorant of the
+innovation. We attended one of their public meetings for the
+discussion of that question, at which Miss King, Mrs. Charles
+McLaren, and Lady Harberton appeared in the new costume. All spoke
+in its defense, and were very witty and amusing in criticising the
+present feminine forms and fashions. Lady Harberton gave us a
+delightful entertainment one evening at her fine residence on
+Cromwell Road, where we laughed enough to dissipate the depressing
+effect of the fogs for a week to come over the recitations of
+Corney Green on the piano. There, among many other celebrities, we
+met Moncure D. Conway[575] and his charming wife.
+
+I reached England in time to attend the great demonstration in
+Glasgow to celebrate the extension of the municipal franchise to
+the women of Scotland. It was a remarkable occasion. St. Andrew's
+immense hall was packed with women; a few men were admitted to the
+gallery at half a crown apiece. It was said there were 5,000 people
+present. When a Scotch audience is thoroughly roused, nothing can
+equal the enthusiasm. The arriving of the speakers on the platform
+was announced with the wildest applause, the entire audience
+rising, waving their handkerchiefs, and clapping their hands, and
+every compliment paid the people was received with similar
+outbursts of pleasure. Mrs. McLaren, a sister of John Bright,[576]
+presided, and made the opening speech. I had the honor, on this
+occasion, of addressing an audience for the first time in the old
+world. Many others spoke briefly. There were too many speakers; no
+one had time to warm up to the point of eloquence. Our system of
+conventions of two or three days, with long speeches discussing
+pointed and radical resolutions, is quite unknown in England. Their
+meetings consist of one session of a few hours into which they
+crowd all the speakers they can summon together. They have a few
+tame resolutions on which there can be no possible difference of
+opinion printed, with the names of those who are to speak appended.
+Each of these is read, a few short speeches made, that may or may
+not have the slightest reference to the resolution, which is then
+passed. The last is usually one of thanks to some lord or member of
+parliament who may have condescended to preside at the meeting, or
+to do something for the measure in parliament; it is spoken to like
+all that have gone before. The Queen is referred to tenderly in
+most of the speeches, although she has never done anything to merit
+the approbation of the advocates of suffrage for woman. As on this
+occasion a woman conducted the meeting, much of the usual red tape
+was omitted.
+
+From Glasgow quite a large party of the Brights and McLarens went
+to Edinburgh, where the Hon. Duncan McLaren gave us a warm welcome
+to Newington House, under the very shadow of the Salisbury crags.
+These and the Pentland Hills are the remarkable feature in the
+landscape as you approach this beautiful city, with its monuments
+and castles on which are written the history of the centuries. We
+passed a few charming days driving about, visiting old friends, and
+discussing the status of woman on both sides of the Atlantic. Here
+we met Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Jane and Eliza Wigham, whom I had
+not seen since we sat together in the World's Anti-slavery
+Convention in London in 1840, Yet I knew Mrs. Nichol at once; her
+strongly-marked face is one not readily forgotten.
+
+I went with the family on Sunday to Friends' meeting, where a most
+unusual manifestation for that decorous sect occurred. I had been
+told that if I felt inclined, it would be considered quite proper
+for me to make some remarks, and just as I was revolving an opening
+sentence to a few thoughts I desired to present, a man arose in a
+remote part of the house, and began in a low voice to give his
+testimony as to the truth that was in him. All eyes were turned
+toward him, when suddenly a friend leaned over the back of the
+seat, seized his coat-tails and jerked him down in a most emphatic
+manner. The poor man buried his face in his hands, and maintained a
+profound silence. I learned afterwards that he was a bore, and the
+friend in the rear thought it wise to nip him in the bud. This
+scene put to flight all intentions of speaking on my part, lest I,
+too, might get outside the prescribed limits, and be suppressed by
+force. I dined with Mrs. Nichol at Huntly Lodge, where she has
+entertained in turn many of our American reformers. Her walls have
+echoed to the voices of Garrison, Rogers, Samuel J. May, Parker
+Pillsbury, Henry C. Wright, Douglass and Remond, and hosts of
+English philanthropists. Though over eighty, she is still awake on
+all questions of the hour, and generous in her hospitalities as of
+yore.
+
+Later, Miss Anthony, in company with Mrs. Rebecca Moore, spent
+several weeks in Edinburgh looking over Mrs. Nichol's voluminous
+correspondence with the anti-slavery apostles, to see if anything
+of interest could be gleaned for these volumes. She found Mrs.
+Moore as a traveling companion better than the most approved
+encyclopedia, as she possessed all possible information on every
+subject and locality, so that all Miss Anthony had to do was to
+keep her ears open whenever she was sufficiently rested to listen.
+There, too, Miss Anthony visited Dr. Agnes McLaren, in her
+_recherche_ home, and found her as charming in the social circle as
+she was said to be skillful in her profession. She spent several
+days also with Dr. Jex Blake, and from her lips heard the full
+account of her prolonged struggle to open the medical college to
+women, and to secure for them as students equal recognition. After
+listening to all the humiliations to which they had been subjected,
+and their final expulsion from the university, and of the riots in
+Edinburgh, Miss Anthony felt that Dr. Jex Blake had fought the
+battle with great wisdom and heroism. The failure of the experiment
+in that university was not due to a want of tact in the women who
+led the movement, but to the natural bigotry and obstinacy of the
+Scotch people, the universal hostility of the medical professors to
+all innovations, and the antagonism men feel towards women as
+competitors in the sciences and professions. Before leaving
+Edinburgh a public reception was tendered to Miss Anthony, Mrs.
+Nichol presiding. Professor Blackie, Mrs. Jessie Wellstood, and the
+honored guest herself, did the speaking. With refreshments and
+conversation it was altogether a pleasant occasion.
+
+In the meantime I was making new friends in the other parts of the
+kingdom. Mrs. Margaret Lucas, whose whole soul is in the temperance
+movement, escorted me from Edinburgh to Manchester, to be present
+at another great demonstration in the Town Hall, the finest
+building in that district. It had just been completed, and, with
+its ante-rooms, dining hall, and various apartments for social
+entertainments, was altogether the most perfect hall I had seen in
+England. There I was entertained by Mrs. Matilda Roby, who, with
+her husband, gave me a most hospitable reception. She invited
+several friends to luncheon one day, among others, Miss Lydia
+Becker, editor of the _Suffrage Journal_ in that city, and the Rev.
+Mr. Steinthal, who had visited this country and spoken on our
+platform. The chief topic at the table was John Stuart Mill, his
+life, character, writings, and his position with reference to the
+political rights of woman. In the evening we went to see Ristori in
+Queen Elizabeth. Having seen her many years before in America, I
+was surprised to find her still so vigorous. And thus, from week to
+week, were suffrage meetings, receptions, dinners, luncheons and
+theatres pleasantly alternated.
+
+The following Sunday we heard a grand sermon from Moncure D.
+Conway, and had a pleasant interview with him and Mrs. Conway at
+the close of the sessions. Later we spent a few pleasant days at
+their artistic home, filled with books, pictures, and mementoes
+from loving friends. A billiard-room with well-worn cues and balls
+may in a measure account for his vigorous sermons--quite a novel
+adjunct to a parsonage. A garden reception there to Mr. and Mrs.
+Howells, gave us an opportunity to see the American novelist
+surrounded by his admiring friends. Howells and Hawthorne seemed to
+be great favorites in the literary circles of England at that time,
+but I never read one of their novels without regretting for the
+honor of American women that they had not painted more vigorous and
+piquant characters for their heroines.
+
+One was always sure of meeting some Americans worth knowing at the
+Conway's in Bedford Park. We dined there with Mary Clemmer and Mr.
+Hudson, just after their marriage, and a bright, pretty daughter of
+Murat Halstead, who chatted as gaily among the staid English as on
+her native heath. There, too, we first saw Mrs. William Mellen with
+her daughters, from Colorado Springs, now residing in London for
+the purpose of educating a family of seven children,[577] although
+there is no so fitting place to educate children to the duties of
+citizens of a republic, as under our own free institutions. If
+possessed of wealth, they readily adopt aristocratic ideas, and
+enjoy the distinctions of class they find in all monarchical
+countries, which totally unfit them for properly appreciating the
+democratic principles it is our interest to cherish at home.
+
+The Sunday after Mr. Conway left for Australia, I was invited to
+fill his pulpit. Spending a few days with Mrs. Conway, we attended
+the Ladies' Club one afternoon. The leading spirits seemed to be
+Miss Orme and Miss Richardson, both attorneys in practice, with an
+office in London, though not yet regularly admitted to the Queen's
+Bench. The topic of discussion was the well-worn theme--the
+education of girls; but no one seemed quite prepared to take off
+all the ligatures from their bodies and the fears of everything
+known or unknown from their minds, and leave them for a season to
+grow as nature intended, that we might find out by seeing them in
+their normal condition what their real wants and needs might be. I
+suggested for their next topic, the proper education of boys, which
+was accepted. I retired that night very nervous over my sermon for
+the next day, and the feeling steadily increased until I reached
+the platform; but once there, my fears were all dissipated, and I
+never enjoyed speaking more than on that occasion, for I had been
+so long oppressed with the degradation of woman under canon law and
+church discipline that I had a sense of relief in pouring out my
+indignation.
+
+My theme was, "What has Christianity done for Woman?" and by the
+facts of history, I showed clearly that to no form of religion was
+woman indebted for one impulse of freedom, as all alike have taught
+her inferiority and subjection to man. No lofty virtues can emanate
+from such a condition. Whatever heights of dignity and purity women
+have individually attained, can in no way be attributed to the
+dogmas of their religion.
+
+With my son Theodore, always deeply interested in my friends and
+public work, we called on Mrs. Gray, Miss Jessie Boucherett and Dr.
+Hoggan, who had written essays for "The Woman Question in Europe";
+on our American minister, Mr. Lowell, Mr. and Mrs. George W.
+Smalley, and many other notable men and women. By appointment we
+had an hour with the Hon. John Bright at his residence on
+Piccadilly. As his photograph, with his fame, had reached America,
+his fine face and head, as well as his political opinions, were
+quite familiar to us. He received us with great cordiality, and
+manifested a clear knowledge, and deep interest in regard to all
+American affairs. Free trade and woman suffrage formed the basis of
+our conversation; the literature of our respective countries, our
+great men and women, the lighter topics of the occasion. He is not
+sound in regard to the political rights of women, but it is not
+given to any one man to be equally clear on all questions. He voted
+for John Stuart Mill's amendment to the "Household Suffrage Bill,"
+in 1867, but, as he said, as a personal favor to a friend, without
+any strong convictions as to the merits of what he considered "a
+purely sentimental measure."
+
+We attended the meeting called to rejoice over the passage of the
+Married Woman's Property bill, which gave to the women of England
+in 1882 what we had enjoyed in many States in this country since
+1848. Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Almy, and several
+members of parliament made short speeches of congratulation to
+those who had been instrumental in carrying the measure. It was
+generally conceded that to the tact and persistence of Mrs. Bright,
+more than to any other one person, belonged the credit of that
+achievement. Hon. Jacob Bright was at that time a member of
+parliament, and fully in sympathy with the bill; and while Mrs.
+Bright exerted all her social influence to make it popular with the
+members, her husband, thoroughly versed in parliamentary tactics,
+availed himself of every technicality to push the bill through the
+House of Commons. Mrs. Bright's chief object in securing this bill,
+aside from establishing the right every human being has to his own
+property, was, to lift married women on an even plane with widows
+and spinsters, thereby making them qualified voters.
+
+The next day we went out to Barn Elms to visit Mr. and Mrs. Chas.
+McLaren. Mr. McLaren, a Quaker by birth and education, has
+sustained to his uttermost the suffrage movement, and his charming
+little wife, the daughter of Mrs. Pochin, is worthy the noble
+mother who was among the earliest leaders on this question,
+speaking and writing with equal ability on all phases of the
+subject. Barn Elms is a grand old estate, a few miles out of
+London. It was the dairy farm of Queen Elizabeth, and presented by
+her to Sir Francis Walsingham. Since then it has been inhabited by
+many persons of note. It has existed as an estate since the time of
+the early Saxon Kings, and the record of the sale of Barn Elms in
+the time of King Athelston is still extant. What with its well-kept
+lawns, fine old trees, and glimpses here and there of the Thames
+winding round its borders, and its wealth of old associations, it
+is indeed a charming spot. Our memory of those days will not go
+back to Saxon Kings, but remain with the liberal host and hostess,
+the beautiful children and the many charming acquaintances we met
+at that fireside. I doubt whether any of the ancient lords and
+ladies who dispensed their hospitalities under that roof, did in
+any way surpass the present occupants. Mrs. McLaren, interested in
+all the reforms of the day, is radical in her ideas, a brilliant
+talker, and, for one so young, remarkably well informed on all
+political questions. One thing is certain, those old walls never
+echoed to more rebellious talk among women against existing
+conditions,[578] than on that evening.
+
+It was at Barn Elms I met for the first time Mrs. Fannie Hertz, to
+whom I was indebted for many pleasant acquaintances afterwards. She
+is said to know more distinguished literary people than any other
+woman in London. I saw her, too, several times in her own cozy
+home, meeting at her Sunday-afternoon receptions many persons I was
+desirous to know. On one occasion I found George Jacob Holyoake
+there, surrounded by a bevy of young ladies, all stoutly defending
+the Nihilists in Russia, and their right to plot their way to
+freedom; they counted a dynasty of Czars as nothing in the balance
+with the liberties of a whole people. As I joined the circle Mr.
+Holyoake called my attention to the fact that he was the only one
+in favor of peaceful measures among all those ladies. "Now," said
+he, "I have often heard it said on your platform, that the feminine
+element in politics would bring about perpetual peace in
+government, and here all these ladies are advocating the worst
+forms of violence in the name of liberty." "Ah," said I, "lay on
+their shoulders the responsibility of governing, and they would
+soon become as mild and conservative as you seem to be." He then
+gave us his views on cooeperation, the only remedy for many existing
+evils, which he thought would be the next step toward a higher
+civilization.
+
+There, too, I met some Positivists, who, though quite reasonable on
+religious questions, were very narrow on the sphere of woman. The
+difference in sex, which is the very reason why men and women
+should be associated in all spheres of activity, they make the
+strongest reason why they should be separated. Mrs. Hertz belongs
+to the Harrison school of Positivists. I went with her to one of
+Mrs. Orr's receptions, where we met Robert Browning, a fine looking
+gentleman of seventy years, with white hair and mustache. He is
+frank, easy, playful, and a good talker. Mrs. Orr seemed to be
+taking a very pessimistic view of our present sphere of action,
+which Mr. Browning, with poetic coloring, was trying to paint more
+hopeful.
+
+The next day I dined with Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, in company
+with Mr. John P. Thomasson, member of parliament, and his wife, and
+afterwards we went to the House of Commons and had the good fortune
+to hear Gladstone, Parnell, and Sir Charles Dilke. Seeing Bradlaugh
+seated outside the charmed circle, I sent my card to him, and in
+the corridor we had a few moments' conversation. I asked him if he
+thought he would eventually get his seat; he replied, "Most
+assuredly I will. I shall open the next campaign with such an
+agitation as will rouse our politicians to some consideration of
+the changes gradually coming over the face of things in this
+country."
+
+The place assigned ladies in the House of Commons is really a
+disgrace to a country ruled by an Empress. This dark perch is the
+highest gallery immediately over the speaker's desk and government
+seats, behind a fine wire-work, so that it is quite impossible to
+see or hear anything. The sixteen persons who can crowd in the
+front seat, by standing with their noses partly through some open
+work, can have the satisfaction of seeing the cranial arch of their
+rulers, and hearing an occasional pean to liberty, or an Irish
+growl at the lack of it. I was told this net work was to prevent
+the members on the floor from being disturbed by the beauty of the
+women. On hearing this I remarked that I was devoutly thankful that
+our American men were not so easily disturbed, and that the beauty
+of our women was not of so dangerous a character.
+
+I could but contrast our spacious galleries in that magnificent
+capitol at Washington, as well as in our grand State capitols,
+where hundreds of women can sit to see and hear their rulers at
+their ease, with these dark, dingy buildings, and such inadequate
+accommodations for the people. My son, who had a seat on the floor
+just opposite the ladies' gallery, said he could compare our
+appearance to nothing better than birds in a cage. He could not
+distinguish an outline of anybody. All he could see was the moving
+of feathers and furs, or some bright ribbon or flower.
+
+In the libraries, the courts, and the House of Lords, I found many
+suggestive subjects of thought. Our American inventions seem to
+furnish them cases for litigation. A suit in regard to Singer's
+sewing machine was just then occupying the attention of the Lord
+Chancellor. Not feeling much interest in the matter, I withdrew and
+joined my friends, to examine some frescoes in the ante-room. It
+was interesting to find so many historical scenes in which women
+had taken a prominent part. Among others, there is Jane Lane
+assisting Charles II. to escape, and Alice Lisle concealing the
+fugitives after the battle of Sedgemoor. Six wives of Henry VIII.
+stand forth a solemn pageant when one recalls their sad fate. Alas!
+whether for good or ill, woman must ever fill a large space in the
+tragedies of the world.
+
+I passed a few pleasant hours in the house where Macaulay spent his
+last years. The once spacious library and the large bay window
+looking out on a beautiful lawn, where he sat from day to day
+writing his flowing periods, possessed a peculiar charm for me, as
+the surroundings of genius always do. I thought as I stood there
+how often he had unconsciously gazed on each object in sight in
+searching for words rich enough to gild his ideas. The house is now
+owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Winckworth. It was at
+one of their sociable Sunday teas that many pleasant memories of
+the great historian were revived.
+
+We went with Mrs. Lucas to a meeting of the Salvation army, in
+Exeter Hall, which holds 5,000 people. It was literally packed--not
+an inch of standing-room even, seemed to be unoccupied. This
+remarkable movement was then at its height of enthusiasm in
+England, and its leaders proposed to carry it round the world, but
+it has never been so successful in any other latitude. They not
+only hold meetings, but they march through the streets, men and
+women, singing and playing on tambourines. The exercises on this
+occasion consisted of prayers, hymns, and exhortations by Mr. and
+Mrs. Booth. When this immense audience all joined in the chorus of
+their stirring songs, it was indeed very impressive. The whole
+effect was like that of an old-fashioned Methodist revival meeting.
+I purchased their paper, _The War Cry_, and pasted it in my journal
+to show the wild vagaries to which the human mind is subject. There
+is nothing too ridiculous or monstrous to be done under the
+influence of religious enthusiasm. In spite, however, of the
+ridicule attached to this movement, it is at least an aspiration
+for that ignorant, impoverished multitude. The first thing they
+were urged to do was to give up intoxicating drinks, and their
+vicious affiliations. If some other organization could take hold of
+them at that point, to educate them in the rudiments of learning
+and right living, and supplement their emotions with a modicum of
+reason and common sense in the practical affairs of life, much
+greater good might result from this initiative step in the right
+direction.
+
+One of the most remarkable and genial women we met was Miss Frances
+Power Cobbe. She called one evening at 10 Duchess street, and
+sipped with us the five o'clock cup of tea, a uniform practice in
+England. She is of medium height, stout, rosy, and vigorous
+looking, with a large, well-shaped head, a strong, happy face, and
+gifted with rare powers of conversation. I felt very strongly
+attracted to her. She is frank and cordial and pronounced in all
+her opinions. She gave us an account of her efforts to rescue
+unhappy cats and dogs from the hands of the vivisectionists. We saw
+her, too, in her own cozy home and in her office in Victoria Row.
+The perfect order in which her books and papers were all arranged,
+and the exquisite neatness of the apartments were refreshing to
+behold.
+
+My daughter, having decided opinions of her own, was soon at
+loggerheads with Miss Cobbe on the question of vivisection. After
+showing us several German and French books with illustrations of
+the horrible cruelty inflicted on cats and dogs, enlarging on the
+hypocrisy and wickedness of these scientists, she turned to my
+daughter and said, "Would you shake hands with one of these
+vivisectionists?" "Yes," said Harriot, "I should be proud to shake
+hands with Virchow, the great German scientist, for his kindness to
+a young American girl. She applied to several professors to be
+admitted to their classes, but all refused except Virchow; he
+readily assented, and requested his students to treat her with
+becoming courtesy. 'If any of you behave otherwise,' said he, 'I
+shall feel myself personally insulted.' She entered his classes and
+pursued her studies unmolested and with great success. "Now," said
+she, "would you refuse to shake hands with any of your statesmen,
+scientists, clergymen, lawyers or physicians, who treat women with
+constant indignities and insults?" "Oh, no"; said Miss Cobbe.
+"Then," said Mrs. Blatch, "you estimate the physical suffering of
+cats and dogs as of more consequence than the humiliation of human
+beings. The man who tortures a cat for a scientific purpose is not
+as low in the scale of being, in my judgment, as one who sacrifices
+his own daughter to some cruel custom." Though Miss Cobbe weighs
+over two hundred pounds, she is as light on foot as a deer and is
+said to be a great walker. After seeing her I read again some of
+her books. Her theology now and then evidently cramps her, yet her
+style is vigorous, earnest, sarcastic, though at times playful and
+pathetic. In regard to her theology, she says she is too liberal to
+please her orthodox friends and too orthodox to please the
+liberals, hence in religion she stands quite solitary.
+
+Suffering from the effects of the prolonged fogs, we took our
+letters of introduction from Dr. Bayard of New York to the two
+leading high-dilution homeopathic physicians in London, Drs. Wilson
+and Berridge. We found the former a good talker and very original.
+We were greatly amused with his invectives against the quacks in
+the profession; the "mongrels," as he called the low dilutionists.
+The first question he asked my daughter was if she wore high heels;
+he said he would not attempt to cure any woman of any disease so
+long as she was perched on her toes with her spine out of plumb.
+His advice to me was to get out of the London fogs as quickly as
+possible. No one who has not suffered a London fog can imagine the
+terrible gloom that pervades everywhere. One can see nothing out of
+the windows but a dense black smoke. Drivers carry flambeaux in the
+streets to avoid running into each other. The houses are full; the
+gas burns all day, but you can scarcely see across the room;
+theaters and places of amusement are sometimes closed, as nothing
+can be seen distinctly. We called on Dr. Berridge, also, thinking
+it best to make the acquaintance of both that we might decide from
+their general appearance, surroundings, conversation and
+comparative intelligence, which one we would prefer to trust in an
+emergency. We found both alike so promising that we felt we could
+trust either to give us our quietus, if die we must, on the high
+dilutions. It is a consolation to know that one's closing hours at
+least are passed in harmony with the principles of pure science. On
+further acquaintance we found these gentlemen true disciples of the
+great Hahneman.
+
+As we were just then reading Froude's "Life of Carlyle," we drove
+by the house where he lived and paused a moment at the door, where
+poor Jennie went in and out so often with a heavy heart. It is a
+painful record of a great soul struggling with poverty and
+disappointment; the hope of success as an author so long deferred
+and never wholly realized. His foolish pride of independence and
+headship, and his utter obliviousness as to his domestic duties and
+the comfort of his wife, made the picture still darker. Poor
+Jennie, fitted to shine in any circle, yet doomed all her married
+life to domestic drudgery, with no associations with the great man
+for whose literary companionship she had sacrificed herself. It
+adds greatly to one's interest in Scott, Dickens, Thackeray,
+Charlotte Bronte, Bulwer, James and George Eliot, to read them
+amidst the scenes where they lived and died. Thus in my leisure
+hours, after the fatigues of sight-seeing and visiting, I re-read
+many of these authors near the places where they spent their last
+days on earth.
+
+As I had visited Ambleside forty years before and seen Harriet
+Martineau in her prime, I did not go with Miss Anthony to Lake
+Windermere. She found the well-known house occupied by Mr. William
+Henry Hills, a liberal Quaker named after William Henry Channing.
+Mrs. Hills received the party with great hospitality, showed them
+through all the apartments and pointed out the charming views from
+the windows. They paused a few moments reverently in the chamber
+where that grand woman had passed her last triumphant days on
+earth. On the kitchen hearth was still sitting her favorite cat,
+sixteen years old, the spots in her yellow and black fur as marked
+as ever. Puss is the observed of all observers who visit that
+sacred shrine, and it is said she seems specially to enjoy the
+attention of strangers. From here Miss Anthony drove round
+Grasmere, the romantic home of Wordsworth, wandered through the old
+church, sat in the pew he so often occupied and lingered near the
+last resting-place of the great poet. As the former residence of
+the anti-slavery agitator, Thomas Clarkson, was on Ulswater,
+another of the beautiful lakes in that region, Miss Anthony
+extended her excursion still further and learned from the people
+many pleasing characteristics of these celebrated personages. On
+her way to Ireland she stopped at Ulverston and visited Miss Hannah
+Goad, who was a descendant of the founder of Quakerism, George Fox.
+She was in the old house in which he was married to Margaret Fell
+and where they lived many years; attended the quaint little church
+where he often spoke from the high seats, looked through his
+well-worn Bible, and the minutes of their monthly meetings, kept by
+Margaret Fell two centuries ago.
+
+Returning to London we attended one of Miss Biggs' receptions and
+among others met Mr. Stansfeld, M. P., who had labored faithfully
+for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases acts, and in a measure
+been successful. We had the honor of an interview with Lord
+Shaftsbury at one of his crowded receptions, and found him a little
+uncertain as to the wisdom of allowing married women to vote, for
+fear of disturbing the peace of the family. I have often wondered
+if men see in this objection what fatal admissions they make as to
+their own selfishness and love of domination.
+
+Miss Anthony was present at the great Liberal conference at Leeds
+on October 17, to which Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, Miss Jane Cobden,
+Mrs. Tanner, Mrs. Scatcherd and several other ladies were duly
+elected delegates from their respective Liberal leagues, and
+occupied seats on the floor. Mrs. Clark and Miss Cobden, daughters
+of the great Corn-law reformers, spoke eloquently in favor of the
+resolution to extend parliamentary suffrage to women, which was
+presented by Walter McLaren of Bradford. As these young women made
+their impassioned appeals for the recognition of woman's political
+equality in the next bill for the extension of suffrage, that
+immense gathering of 1,600 delegates was hushed into profound
+silence. For a daughter to speak thus in that great representative
+convention in direct opposition to her loved and honored father,
+the acknowledged leader of that party, was an act of heroism and
+fidelity to her own highest convictions almost without a parallel
+in English history, and the effect on the audience was as thrilling
+as it was surprising. The resolution was passed by a large
+majority. At the reception given to Mr. John Bright that evening,
+as Mrs. Clark approached the dais on which her noble father stood
+shaking the hands of passing friends, she remarked to her husband,
+"I wonder if father has heard of my speech this morning, and if he
+will forgive me for thus publicly differing with him?" The query
+was soon answered. As he caught the first glimpse of his daughter
+he stepped down and, pressing her hand affectionately, kissed her
+with a fond father's warmth on either cheek in turn. The next
+evening the great Quaker statesman was heard by the admiring
+thousands who could crowd into Victoria Hall, while thousands,
+equally desirous to hear, failed to get tickets of admission. It
+was a magnificent sight, and altogether a most impressive gathering
+of the people. Miss Anthony with her friends sat in the gallery
+opposite the great platform, where they had a fine view of the
+whole audience. When John Bright, escorted by Sir Wilfred Lawson,
+took his seat, the immense audience rose, waving hats and
+handkerchiefs and with the wildest enthusiasm giving cheer after
+cheer in honor of the great leader. Sir Wilfred Lawson in his
+introductory remarks facetiously alluded to the resolution adopted
+by the conference as somewhat in advance of the ideas of the
+speaker of the evening. The house broke into roars of laughter,
+while the father of Liberalism, perfectly convulsed, joined in the
+general merriment.
+
+But when at length his time to speak had come, and Mr. Bright went
+over the many steps of progress that had been taken by the Liberal
+party, he cunningly dodged all in the direction of the emancipation
+of the women of England. He skipped round the agitation in 1867 and
+John Stuart Mill's amendment presented at that time in the House of
+Commons; the extension of the municipal suffrage in 1869; the
+participation of women in the establishment of national schools
+under the law of 1870, both as voters and members of school-boards;
+the Married Woman's Property bill of 1882; the large and increasing
+vote for the extension of parliamentary suffrage in the House of
+Commons, and the adoption of the resolution by that great
+conference the day before. All these successive steps towards
+woman's emancipation he carefully remembered to forget.
+
+During Miss Anthony's stay in Leeds she and her cousin, Dr. Fannie
+Dickinson, were guests of Mrs. Hannah Ford at Adel Grange, an old
+and lovely suburban home, where she met many interesting women,
+members of the school-board, poor-law guardians and others. The
+three daughters of Mrs. Ford, though possessed of ample incomes,
+have each a purpose in life; one had gathered hundreds of factory
+girls into evening schools, where she taught them to cut and make
+their garments, as well as to read and write; one was an artist and
+the third a musician, having studied in London and Florence. It was
+during this ever-to-be-remembered week that Miss Anthony, escorted
+by Mrs. Ford, visited Haworth, the bleak and lonely home of the
+Brontes. It was a dark, drizzly October day, intensifying all the
+gloomy memories of the place. She sat in the old church pew where
+those shivering girls endured such discomforts through the fearful
+services, with their benumbed feet on the very stone slab that from
+time to time was taken up to deposit in the earth beneath their
+loved dead! She was shown through the house, paused at the place
+under the stairs where the imperial Shirley had her fierce
+encounter with that almost human dog, Keeper; she stood in the
+drawing-room where the sainted three sisters, arm-in-arm, paced up
+and down plotting their weird stories. She walked through the same
+old gate, on the same single stone pavement and over the same stile
+out into the same heather fields, gazing on the same dreary sky
+above and the same desolate earth on every side. She dined in the
+same old "Black Bull"; sat in poor Branwell's chair and was served
+by the same person who dealt out the drinks to that poor
+unfortunate--then a young bar-maid, now the aged proprietor.
+
+Miss Anthony crossed from Barrow to Belfast, where she was given a
+most cordial reception at the house of one of Ireland's
+distinguished orators, Miss Isabella M. Tod, who took her to one of
+her Ulster temperance meetings at Garvah, where they were the
+guests of Rev. Thomas Medill, a cousin of the distinguished Chicago
+editor. There, as Miss Anthony listened to the prayers and
+exhortations of the Presbyterian ministers and to the arguments of
+Miss Tod, and heard no appeals to the audience to join in the work
+of suppressing the traffic, a realizing sense of the utter
+powerlessness of the queen's subjects in Ireland dawned upon her
+for the first time. In all that crowd there was not one who had any
+voice in the decision of that question. The entire control of the
+matter rested with three magistrates appointed by the queen, who
+are in nowise responsible to the tax-paying people to whom they
+administer the laws. Had Miss Tod been addressing an American
+audience, she would have appealed to every man to vote only for
+candidates pledged to no-license. From Garvah they made a
+pilgrimage to the Giant's Causeway. Miss Anthony had, when at Oban,
+visited Fingal's Cave, and the two wonders that always fix
+themselves upon the imagination of the youthful student of the
+world's geography fully matched her expectations.
+
+At Dublin she visited the Castle, the old parliament building, now
+a bank; Kings and Queens College, that gives diplomas to women;
+the parks, the cemeteries, the tomb of Daniel O'Connell. She
+attended a meeting of the common council, of which Alfred Webb, the
+only surviving son of the old abolitionist, Richard D. Webb, was a
+member, and there she listened to a discussion on a petition to the
+queen that the people of Dublin might be allowed to elect their own
+tax-collector instead of having one placed over them by "the powers
+that be" at London, as the official thus appointed had just proved
+a defaulter. In listening to the outrages perpetrated upon a
+helpless people by foreign officials, the one wonder to her was,
+not that so many of Ireland's sons are discontented, but that they
+are not in open rebellion.
+
+There Miss Anthony made the acquaintance of numbers of excellent
+Friends,[579] and with Mrs. Haslam visited their large free library
+and attended their First-day meeting. In Dublin, too, she met
+Michael Davitt, who seemed to her a most sincere champion of
+liberty for himself and his people. Miss Anthony spent a week with
+Mr. and Mrs. Haslam in Cork, visiting Blarney Castle, the old
+walled city of Youghal with its crumbling Quaker meeting-house and
+fine old mansion in which Sir Walter Raleigh lived, and thence to
+the beautiful Lakes of Killarney, and in a jaunting-car through the
+evicted tenants' district, entering the hovels and talking with the
+inmates. The sad stories poured into her ears, and the poverty and
+wretchedness she saw, proved to her that none of Mr. Redpath's
+revelations, so shocking to the humanity of our people, were in the
+least over-drawn. The circuit through Limerick, Galway, Clifton and
+Belfast was made in third-class cars, that she might talk with the
+people of the working class. This was the season for their county
+fairs, which gave her an opportunity to see the farmers driving
+their cattle and taking their meagre products to the fair. The
+women and girls were uniformly barefooted, while some of the men
+and boys wore shoes. In reply to her query why this was so, one man
+said, "It is all we can do to get shoes for them as airnes the
+money." The same old story; woman's work, however arduous, brings
+no price in the market.
+
+While in London we attended several large and enthusiastic reform
+meetings. We heard Bradlaugh address his constituency on that
+memorable day at Trafalgar Square, at the opening of parliament,
+when violence was anticipated and the parliament houses were
+surrounded by immense crowds, with the military and police in large
+numbers to maintain order. We heard Michael Davitt and Miss Helen
+Taylor at a great meeting in Exeter Hall, the former on home-rule
+for Ireland, and the latter on the nationalization of land, showing
+that in ancient times the people had many privileges long since
+denied. They even had forests and commons and the road-side, where
+their cows, sheep and geese could glean something. The facts and
+figures given in these two lectures as to the abject poverty of the
+people and the cruel system by which every inch of land had been
+grabbed by their oppressors, were indeed appalling. A few days
+before sailing we made our last visit to Ernestine L. Rose and
+found our noble coadjutor, though in delicate health, pleasantly
+situated in the heart of London, as deeply interested as ever in
+the struggles of the hour.
+
+Dining one day with Mrs. Lucas, we were forcibly impressed with the
+growing liberality of people of all shades of belief and of all
+professions. The guests on that occasion were Mrs. Hallock,
+sister-in-law of Robert Dale Owen, thoroughly imbued with his
+religious and social ideas; Dr. Mary J. Hall, the only woman
+practicing homeopathy in England; Miss Henrietta Mueller, member of
+the London school-board; Miss Clara Spence, a young actress from
+America, who gave us some fine recitations; and such liberals in
+politics and religion as Mrs. Stanton Blatch and myself, while our
+hostess was an orthodox Friend. However we were all agreed on one
+point, the right of women to full equality everywhere. In the
+evening we went to see Mrs. Hallock's daughter, Ella Deitz, in the
+play of "Impulse." We urged Mrs. Lucas to accompany us, but she
+said she had never been to a theater in her life.
+
+A great discomfort in all English homes is the cold draughts
+through their halls and unoccupied rooms. A moderate fire in the
+grates in the family apartments is their only mode of heating, and
+they seem quite oblivious as to the danger of throwing a door open
+into a cold hall on one's back while the servants pass in and out
+with the various courses' at dinner. As we Americans were sorely
+tried under such circumstances, it was decided in the Basingstoke
+mansion to have a hall stove, which, after a prolonged search, was
+found in London and duly installed as a presiding deity to defy the
+dampness that pervades all those ivy-covered habitations, as well
+as the neuralgia that wrings their possessors. What a blessing it
+proved, more than any one thing making the old English house seem
+like an American home! The delightful summer heat we in America
+enjoy in the coldest weather is quite unknown to our Saxon cousins.
+Although many came to see our stove in full working order, yet we
+could not persuade them to adopt the American system of heating the
+whole house at an even temperature. They cling to the customs of
+their fathers with an obstinacy that is incomprehensible to us, who
+are always ready to try experiments. Americans complain bitterly of
+the same freezing experiences in France and Germany, and in turn
+foreigners all criticise our over-heated houses and places of
+amusement.
+
+An evening reception at Mrs. Richardson's, in the city of York,
+gave us an opportunity of a personal greeting with a large circle
+of ladies identified with the suffrage movement, and a large public
+meeting the next day in the Town Hall enabled us to judge still
+further of the merits of English women as speakers. Here I was
+entertained by Mrs. Lucretia Kendall Clarke, an American, who had
+spent five years as a student in Dresden, where she made the
+acquaintance of Mr. Clarke. It is said in England that the
+American girls capture all the choice young men; that our rich
+cattle-dealers get all their best horses, cows, sheep, dogs, and
+that in time we shall rob them of all that is best in the country.
+One thing is certain, we shall always regret our hospitable
+invitation to the sparrows, as they are making war on our native
+birds instead of fulfilling their mission to the "Diet of Worms."
+In company with Mrs. Scatcherd we spent an hour in that magnificent
+York cathedral, said to be one of the finest in England. Being
+there at the time for service we had the benefit of the music. To
+us, lost in admiration of the wonderful architecture and the
+beautiful carving in wood and stone, the solemn strains of the
+organ reverberating through those vast arches made the whole scene
+very impressive. As women in many of the churches are not permitted
+to take part in the sacred ceremonies, the choir is composed of
+men, and boys from ten to fifteen who sing the soprano and alto.
+But these old ideas, like the old Roman wall that still surrounds
+that city, time only can remove.
+
+We had a merry trip from York to London. Miss Mueller, Mrs. Chant,
+Mrs. Shearer, Miss Stackpole, in our compartment, discussed freely
+the silly objections to woman's enfranchisement usually made by
+our legislators. We found on comparing notes that the arguments
+usually made were the same in the House of Commons as in the halls
+of Congress. If the honorable gentlemen could only have heard their
+stale platitudes with good imitations in voice and manner, I doubt
+whether they would ever again air their absurdities. I regretted
+that our Caroline Gilkey Rogers had not been there to have given
+her admirable impersonation of a Massachusetts legislator.
+
+A few days later I attended another meeting in Birmingham and
+stayed with a relative of Joseph Sturge, at whose home I had
+visited forty years before. This was called to discuss the
+degradation of women under the Contagious Diseases acts. Led by
+Josephine Butler, the women of England have been deeply stirred on
+the question of repeal, and are very active in their opposition to
+the law. We heard Mrs. Butler speak in many of her society
+meetings, as well as on several public occasions. Her style is not
+unlike that we hear in Methodist class-meetings from the best
+cultivated of that sect; her power grows out of her deeply
+religious enthusiasm.
+
+In London we met Emily Faithful, who had just returned from a
+lecturing-tour in the United States, and were much amused with her
+experiences. Having taken prolonged trips over the whole country
+from Maine to Texas for many successive years, Miss Anthony and I
+could easily add the superlative to all her narrations. She dined
+with us one day at Mrs. Mellen's, where we also had the pleasure of
+meeting Miss Jane Cobden, a daughter of the great Corn-law
+reformer, who was much interested in forming Liberal leagues, to
+encourage the Liberal party and interest women in the political
+questions under consideration. She passed a day with us at
+Basingstoke, and together we visited Mrs. Caird, the author of
+"Whom Nature Leadeth," an interesting story of English life. I
+found the author a charming woman, but in spite of the title I
+really could not find one character in the three volumes that
+seemed to follow the teachings of nature.
+
+Two weeks again in London, visiting picture-galleries, museums,
+libraries, going to teas, dinners, receptions, concerts, theaters
+and reform-meetings; it is enough to turn one's head to think of
+all the different clubs and associations managed by women. It was a
+source of constant pleasure to me to drive about in hansoms and try
+to take in the vastness of that wonderful city; to see the
+beautiful equipages, fine saddle-horses and riders and the skill
+with which the bicycles were so rapidly engineered through the
+crowded streets. The general use of bicycles and tricycles all over
+England, even for long journeys, is fast becoming the favorite mode
+of locomotion both for ladies and gentlemen.
+
+It was a pleasant surprise to meet the large number of Americans
+usually at the receptions of Mrs. Peter Taylor.[580] Graceful and
+beautiful in full dress, standing beside her husband, who evidently
+idolizes her, Mrs. Taylor appeared quite as refined in her
+drawing-room as if she had never been "exposed to the public gaze,"
+while presiding over a suffrage convention. Mr. Peter Taylor, M.
+P., has been untiring in his endeavors to get a bill through
+parliament against "compulsory vaccination." Mrs. Taylor is called
+the mother of the suffrage movement. The engraving of her sweet
+face which adorns the English chapter will give the reader a good
+idea of her character. The reform has not been carried on in all
+respects to her taste, nor on what she considers the basis of high
+principle. Neither she nor Mrs. Jacob Bright has ever been
+satisfied with the bill asking the right of suffrage for "widows
+and spinsters" only. To have asked this right "for all women duly
+qualified," as but few married women are qualified by possessing
+property in their own right, the result would have been
+substantially the same without making any invidious distinctions.
+Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Bright felt that as married women were the
+greatest sufferers under the law, they should be the first rather
+than the last to be enfranchised. The others, led by Miss Becker,
+claimed that it was good policy to make the demand for "spinsters
+and widows," and thus exclude the "family unit" and "man's
+headship" from the discussion; and yet these were the very points
+on which the objections were invariably based. They claimed that if
+"spinsters and widows" were enfranchised they would be an added
+power to secure to married women their rights. But the history of
+the past gives no such assurance. It is not certain that women
+would be more just than men, and a small privileged class of
+aristocrats have long governed their fellow-countrymen. The fact
+that the spinsters in the movement advocated such a bill shows that
+they are not to be trusted in extending it. John Stuart Mill, too,
+was always opposed to the exclusion of married women in the demand
+for suffrage.
+
+If our English friends had our system of conventions and
+discussions in which every resolution is subject to criticism,
+changes could be more readily effected. But as their meetings are
+now conducted, a motion to amend a resolution would throw the
+platform into the wildest confusion and hopelessly bewilder the
+chairman. We saw this experiment made at the great demonstration in
+St. James' Hall the night before Mr. Mason's bill was to be acted
+on in the House of Commons. For its effect on their champions some
+were desirous that a resolution should be endorsed by that great
+audience proposing higher ground; that instead of "spinsters and
+widows," the demand should be for "all duly qualified women." After
+the reading of one of the resolutions Miss Jessie Craigen arose and
+proposed such an amendment. Mr. Woodhall, M. P., in the chair,
+seemed quite at a loss what to do. She was finally, after much
+debate and prolonged confusion, suppressed, whether in a
+parliamentary manner or not I am unable to say. Here we should have
+discussed the matter at length if it had taken us until midnight,
+or adjourned over until next day, "the spinsters and widows" having
+been the target for all our barbed arrows until completely
+annihilated.
+
+Spending two months in traveling on the continent, Miss Anthony had
+many amusing experiences. While visiting our minister and his wife,
+Mr. and Mrs. Sargent, at Berlin, she occupied some rainy days, when
+sight-seeing was out of the question, in doing up papers and
+writing a large number of letters on our official paper, bearing
+the revolutionary mottoes, "No just government can be formed
+without the consent of the governed," "Taxation without
+representation is tyranny." For a brief period she was in the full
+enjoyment of that freedom one has when a pressing duty to family
+and friends has been thoroughly discharged. But alas! her
+satisfaction was soon turned to disappointment. After a few days a
+dignified official appeared at the American Legation with a large
+package bearing the proscribed mottoes, saying, "such sentiments
+cannot pass through the post-office in Germany." So all that form
+of propagandism was nipped in the bud, and in modest, uncomplaining
+wraps the letters and papers started again for the land of the free
+and reached their destination.
+
+But this experience did not satisfy the "Napoleon of our movement"
+that the rulers in the old world could securely guard their
+subjects from those inflammable mottoes to which from long use we
+are so indifferent. She continued to sow the seeds of rebellion as
+she had opportunity, in Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. It
+is well for us that she did not experiment in Russia, or we should
+now be mourning her loss as an exile in Siberia. At all points of
+interest books are kept for visitors to register their names; Miss
+Anthony uniformly added some of our Pilgrim Fathers' heroic
+ejaculations in their struggle for liberty, which friends visiting
+the same places afterwards informed us were carefully crossed out
+so as to be quite illegible. But we may hope for their restoration
+in the near future and that they may yet do an effective work. Thus
+circumscribed with her pen and not being able to speak a foreign
+language, happily no rebellions were fomented by her rapid transit
+through their borders.
+
+My sense of justice was severely tried with all I heard of the
+persecutions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh for their
+publications on the right and duty of parents to limit population.
+Who can contemplate the sad condition of multitudes of young
+children in the old world whose fate is to be brought up in
+ignorance and vice--a swarming, seething mass whom nobody
+owns--without seeing the need of free discussion of the
+philosophical principles that underlie these tangled social
+problems. The trials of Foote and Ramsey, too, for blasphemy,
+seemed unworthy a great nation in the nineteenth century. Think of
+well-educated men of good moral standing, thrown into prison in
+solitary confinement for speaking lightly of the Hebrew idea of
+Jehovah and the New Testament account of the birth of Jesus! Our
+Protestant clergy never hesitate to make the dogmas and
+superstitions of the Catholic church seem as absurd as possible,
+and why should not those who imagine they have outgrown Protestant
+superstitions make them equally ridiculous? Whatever is true can
+stand investigation and ridicule.
+
+The last of April, when the wild-flowers were in their glory, Mrs.
+Mellen and her lovely daughter, Daisy, came down to Basingstoke to
+enjoy its beauty. As Mrs. Mellen had known Charles Kingsley and
+entertained him at her residence in Colorado, she felt a desire to
+see his former home. Accordingly, one bright morning Mr. Blatch
+drove us through Stralfieldsage over the grounds of the Duke of
+Wellington, well stocked with fine cattle, sheep and deer. This
+magnificent place was given him by the English government after the
+battle of Waterloo. A lofty statue of the duke that can be seen for
+miles around stands at the entrance. A drive of a few miles further
+brought us to Eversley, the home of Canon Kingsley, where he
+preached many years and where all that is mortal of him now lies
+buried. We wandered through the old church, among the moss-covered
+tombstones and into the once happy home, now silent and deserted,
+his loved ones scattered in different quarters of the globe.
+Standing near the last resting-place of the author of "Hypatia,"
+his warning words for woman, in a letter to John Stuart Mill,
+seemed like a voice from the clouds, saying with new inspiration
+and power, "This will never be a good world for woman until the
+last remnant of the canon law is civilized off the face of the
+earth."
+
+Mrs. Mellen's spacious home in Pembroke Gardens, Kensington, was
+thrown open for her American friends in London to celebrate the
+Fourth of July. A large number of our English acquaintances were
+also present, who very kindly congratulated us on the stirring
+events of that day in 1776. Of the Americans assembled, many
+contributed to the general entertainment. Grace Greenwood, Miss
+Rachel Foster, Miss Kate Hillard and Miss Mildred Conway gave
+recitations. Miss Lippincott, daughter of Grace Greenwood, sang
+some fine operatic music; Mrs. Carpenter of Chicago sang sweetly,
+playing her own accompaniment; Mr. Frank Lincoln gave some of his
+amusing impersonations; Miss Maud Powell of Chicago, only fourteen
+years of age, who had been taking lessons in France and Germany for
+some years, played exquisite airs on the violin; Mrs. Flora Stark,
+Miss Alice Blatch and Miss Conway gave us some fine classical music
+on the piano, and Nathaniel Mellen sang some pathetic negro
+melodies.[581] Altogether it was a pleasant occasion and I felt
+quite proud of the varied talents manifested by our young people.
+Some English friends remarked on their cleverness and readiness,
+all spontaneously called out without any time for preparation.
+
+We heard Mr. Fawcett speak to his Hackney constituents at one
+of his campaign meetings. In the course of his remarks he
+mentioned with evident favor as one of the coming measures the
+disestablishment of the church, and was greeted with loud applause.
+Soon after he spoke of woman suffrage as another question demanding
+consideration, but this was received with laughter and jeers,
+although the platform was crowded with advocates of the measure,
+among whom were the wife of the speaker and her sister, Dr. Garrett
+Anderson, who sat just behind him. The audience were evidently in
+favor of releasing themselves from being taxed to support the
+church, forgetting that women were taxed also not only to support
+the church, in which they had no voice, but the State, too, with
+its army and navy. Mr. Fawcett was not an orator, but a simple,
+straightforward speaker. He made but one gesture, striking his
+right clenched fist into the palm of the left hand at the close of
+all his strongest assertions; but being sound and liberal, he was a
+great favorite with his constituents.
+
+A pleasant trip southward through Bath to Bristol brought us to the
+home of the Misses Priestman and Mrs. Tanner, sisters-in-law of
+John Bright. I had stayed at their father's house forty years
+before, so we felt like old friends. I found them all charming,
+liberal women, and we enjoyed a few days together, talking over our
+mutual struggles, and admiring the beautiful scenery for which that
+part of the country is quite celebrated. The women of England were
+just then organizing political clubs, and I was invited to speak
+before the one in Bristol. They are composed of men and women
+alike, for the discussion of all political questions. The next day
+I spoke to women alone in the church on the Bible view of woman's
+creation and destiny. It is strange that those who pretend to be
+well-versed in Scripture do not see that the simultaneous creation
+of man and woman and the complete equality of the sexes are as
+clearly taught in the first chapter of Genesis as the reverse is in
+the allegorical garden-scene in the second. The drive over the
+suspension-bridge by moonlight to dine with Mrs. Garnet, a sister
+of John Thomasson, M. P., was a pleasant episode to public speaking
+and more serious conversation. There, too, we had an evening
+reception. There is an earnestness of purpose among English women
+that is very encouraging under the prolonged disappointments
+reformers inevitably suffer. There is something so determined and
+heroic in what Mary Priestman does and says that one would readily
+follow her through all dangers. It added much to my comfort in
+this visit to have an escort in Mrs. Lucas.
+
+Later Miss Anthony visited Bristol and had a complimentary
+reception at the Misses Priestman's. She was the guest of Miss Mary
+Estlin, who had spent some time in America, a dear friend of Sarah
+Pugh and Parker Pillsbury. Miss Estlin was from home during my
+visit, so that I did not see her while in England. The order of
+English homes among the wealthy classes is very enjoyable. All goes
+on from year to year with the same servants, the same surroundings,
+no changes, no moving, no building even; in delightful contrast
+with our periodical upheavings, always uncertain where we shall go
+next, or how long our main dependents will stand by us.
+
+From Bristol we went to Greenbank to visit Mrs. Helen Bright Clark,
+a daughter of the great orator. In the evening the parlors were
+crowded, and I was asked to give an account of the suffrage
+movement in America. Some clergymen questioned me in regard to the
+Bible position of woman, whereupon I gave quite an exposition of
+its general principles in favor of liberty and equality. As two
+quite distinct lines of argument can be woven out of those pages on
+any subject, on this occasion I selected all the most favorable
+texts for justice to woman, and closed by stating the limits of its
+authority. Mrs. Clarke, though thoroughly in sympathy with the
+views I had expressed, feared lest my very liberal utterances might
+have shocked some of the strictest of the laymen and clergy.
+"Well," I said, "if we who do see the absurdities of the old
+superstitions never unveil them to others, how is the world to make
+any progress in the theologies? I am now in the sunset of life, and
+I feel it to be my special mission to tell people what they are not
+prepared to hear, instead of echoing worn-out opinions." The result
+showed the wisdom of my speaking out of my own soul. To the
+surprise of Mrs. Clark, the primitive Methodist clergyman called on
+Sunday morning to invite me to occupy his pulpit in the afternoon
+and present the same line of thought I had the previous evening. I
+accepted his invitation. He led the services and I took my text
+from Genesis i., 27, 28, showing that man and woman were a
+simultaneous creation, endowed with equal power in starting.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Clark I found very agreeable, progressive people, with
+a nice family of boys and girls. Like all English children, they
+suffered too much repression, while our American children have too
+much latitude. If we could strike the happy medium between the two
+systems, it would be a great benefit to the children of both
+countries. The next day we drove down to see Glastonbury cathedral.
+England is full of these beautiful ruins, covered with flowers and
+ivy, but the saddest spectacles, with all this fading glory, are
+the men, women and children whose nakedness neither man nor nature
+seeks to drape.
+
+Returning to London we accepted an invitation to take tea with Mrs.
+Jacob Bright. A choice circle of three it was, and a large server
+of tempting viands was placed on a small table before us. Mrs.
+Bright, in earnest conversation, had helped us each to a cup of
+tea, and was turning to help us to something more, when over went
+table and all, tea, bread and butter, cake, strawberries and cream,
+silver, china, in one conglomerate mass. Silence reigned. No one
+started; no one said "Oh!" Mrs. Bright went on with what she was
+saying as if nothing unusual had occurred, rang the bell, and when
+the servant appeared, pointing to the _debris_, she said, "Charles,
+remove this." I was filled with admiration at her coolness, and
+devoutly thankful that we Americans maintained an equally dignified
+silence.
+
+At a grand reception given in our honor by the National Central
+Committee, in Princess' Hall, Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., presided and
+made an admirable opening speech, followed by his sister, Mrs.
+McLaren, with a highly complimentary address of welcome. By
+particular request Miss Anthony gave a presentation of the
+industrial, legal and political status of American women; while I
+set forth their educational, social and religious limitations. Mr.
+John P. Thomasson, M. P., made the closing address, expressing his
+satisfaction with the addresses of the ladies and the progress made
+in both countries.[582]
+
+Mrs. Thomasson, daughter of Mrs. Lucas, gave several delightful
+evening parties,[583] receptions and dinners, some for ladies
+alone, where an abundant opportunity was offered for a critical
+analysis of the idiosyncracies of the superior sex, especially in
+their political dealings with women. The patience of even such
+heroic souls as Lydia Becker and Caroline Biggs was almost
+exhausted with the tergiversations of members of the House of
+Commons. Alas for the many fair promises broken, the hopes
+deferred, the votes fully relied on and counted, all missing in the
+hour of action. One crack of Mr. Gladstone's whip put a hundred
+Liberals to flight in a twinkling, members whom these noble women
+had spent years in educating. I never visited the House of Commons
+that I did not see Miss Becker and Miss Biggs trying to elucidate
+the fundamental principles of just government to some of them.
+Verily their divine faith and patience merited more worthy action
+on the part of their representatives.
+
+We formed very pleasant friendships with Miss Frances Lord and Miss
+Henrietta Mueller, spending several days with the latter at 58
+Cadogan square, and both alike visited us at different times in
+Basingstoke. Miss Lord has translated some of Ibsen's plays very
+creditably to herself, and, we understand, to the satisfaction of
+the Swedish poet. Miss Lord is a cultured, charming woman,
+attractive in society, and has a rare gift in conversation; she is
+rather shrinking in her feelings. Miss Mueller, her devoted friend,
+is just the opposite; fearless, aggressive and self-centered. Miss
+Lord discharged her duties as poor-law guardian faithfully, and
+Miss Mueller, as member of the London school-board, claimed her
+rights when infringed upon, and maintained the dignity of her
+position with a good degree of tact and heroism. We met Miss
+Whitehead, another poor-law guardian, at Miss Mueller's, and had a
+long talk on the sad condition of the London poor and the grand
+work Octavia Hill had done among them. Miss Mueller read us a paper
+on the dignity and office of single women. Her idea seems to be
+very much like that expressed by St. Paul in his epistles, that it
+is better for those who have a genius for public work in the church
+or State not to marry; and Miss Mueller carries her theory into
+practice thus far. She has a luxurious establishment of her own, is
+fully occupied in politics and reform, and though she lives by
+herself she entertains her friends generously, and does whatever it
+seems good to her to do. As she is bright and entertaining and has
+many worshipers, she may fall a victim to the usual fate in spite
+of her admirable essay, which has been printed in tract form and
+circulated extensively in England and America. Miss Mueller gave
+Miss Anthony and myself a farewell reception on the eve of our
+departure for America, when we had the opportunity of meeting once
+more most of the pleasant acquaintances we had made in London.
+Although it was announced for the afternoon, we did in fact receive
+all day as many as could not come at the hour appointed. Dr.
+Elizabeth Blackwell took breakfast with us; Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs.
+Seville[584] and Miss Lord were with us at luncheon; Harriet Hosmer
+and Olive Logan soon after; Mrs. Peter Taylor later, and from three
+to six o'clock the parlors were crowded.
+
+Returning from London I passed my birthday, November 12, in
+Basingstoke. It was a sad day to us all, knowing that it was the
+last before my departure for America. When I imprinted the farewell
+kiss on the soft cheek of little Nora in the cradle, she in the
+dawn and I in the sunset of life, I realized how widely the long
+years and the broad ocean would separate us forever. Miss Anthony,
+who had been visiting Mrs. Parker, near Warrington, met me at
+Alderly Edge, where we spent a few days in the charming home of Mr.
+and Mrs. Jacob Bright. There we found their noble sisters, Mrs.
+McLaren and Mrs. Lucas, young Walter McLaren and his lovely bride,
+Eva Mueller, whom we had heard several times on the suffrage
+platform. We rallied her on the step she had lately taken,
+notwithstanding her sister's able paper on the blessedness of a
+single life. While here we visited Dean Stanley's birthplace; but
+on his death the light and joy went out, and the atmosphere of the
+old church whose walls had once echoed to his voice, and the house
+where he had spent so many useful years, seemed sad and deserted.
+But the day was bright and warm, the scenery all around was
+beautiful, cows and sheep were still grazing in the meadows, the
+grass as green as in June. This is England's chief charm, forever
+green, some compensation for the many cloudy days. An evening
+reception in Mrs. Bright's spacious parlors, with friends from
+Manchester and other adjoining towns, with speeches of welcome and
+farewell, finished our visit at Alderly Edge.
+
+As our good friends Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas had determined to
+see us safely on board the Servia, they escorted us to Liverpool,
+where we met Mrs. Margaret Parker, Mrs. Scatcherd and Dr. Fanny
+Dickinson of Chicago. Another reception was given us at the
+residence of Dr. Ewing Whittle. Several short speeches were
+made, all cheering the parting guests with words of hope and
+encouragement for the good cause.
+
+Here the wisdom of forming an international association was
+considered. The proposition met with such favor from those present
+that a committee was appointed to correspond with the friends in
+different nations. As Miss Anthony and myself are members of that
+committee,[585] now that these volumes are finished and we are at
+liberty once more, we shall ascertain as soon as possible the
+feasibility of a grand international conference in New York in
+1888, to celebrate the fourth decade of our movement for woman's
+enfranchisement. Such conventions have been held by the friends of
+anti-slavery, peace, temperance, social purity and evangelical
+christianity, and why may not the suffrage cause, too, receive a
+new impetus from the united efforts of its friends in all
+countries.
+
+On the broad Atlantic for ten days we had many opportunities to
+review all we had seen and heard. There we met our noble friends,
+Mr. and Mrs. Hussey of New Jersey; also Mrs. Margaret Buchanan
+Sullivan of Chicago, just returning from an extended tour in
+Ireland, who gave us many of her rich experiences. Sitting on deck
+hour after hour, how often I queried with myself as to the
+significance of the boon for which women were so earnestly
+struggling. In asking for a voice in the government under which we
+live, have we been pursuing a shadow for forty years? In seeking
+political power, are we abdicating that social throne where they
+tell us our influence is unbounded? No! no! the right of suffrage
+is no shadow, but a substantial entity that the citizen can seize
+and hold for his own protection and his country's welfare. A direct
+power over one's own person and property, an individual opinion to
+be counted on all questions of public interest, is better than
+indirect influence, be it ever so far-reaching.
+
+Though influence, like the pure white light, is all-pervading, yet
+it is oft-times obscured with passing clouds and nights of
+darkness; like the sun's rays, it may be healthy, genial,
+inspiring, though sometimes too direct for comfort, too oblique for
+warmth, too scattered for any given purpose. But as the prism by
+dividing the rays of light reveals to us the brilliant coloring of
+the atmosphere, and as the burning-glass by concentrating them in a
+focus intensifies their heat, so does the right of suffrage reveal
+the beauty and power of individual sovereignty in the great drama
+of national life, while on a vital measure of public interest it
+combines the many voices of the people in a grand chorus of protest
+or applause.
+
+After an unusually calm, pleasant voyage, for November, we sailed
+up our beautiful New York harbor just as the sun was rising in all
+his glory, gilding every hill-top and distant spire in the
+landscape, and with grateful hearts we celebrated the national
+Thanksgiving-day once more with loving friends in the great
+Republic.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[575] He asked me confidentially if I knew what the "D" in his name
+stood for. "Why," said I, "in line with your profession, it must be
+for 'Divinity,' or 'Doxology.'" "No," said he, "for 'Dynamite.'" As
+we were being blown up just then in all parts of London, I begged
+him not to explode until Sunday morning in old South Church, as I
+would rather see a wreck of the old theologies than of our charming
+hostess and Corney Green, who were giving us this pleasant
+entertainment.
+
+[576] She says she prefers to be known as the wife of Duncan
+McLaren, a member of parliament from Edinburgh for sixteen years,
+who always voted right on the woman question, while John Bright is
+opposed to the movement.
+
+[577] She occupies the home of an English woman who has taken her
+seven children to Germany for their education. How strange it is
+that so many parents imagine that they can educate their children
+better in a foreign land.
+
+[578] After dinner, while the gentlemen still lingered at the
+table, the ladies being alone, an unusual amount of heresy as to
+the rights of "the divinely appointed head of the house" found
+expression. A young English-woman, who had been brought up in great
+retirement, turned to me and said, "I never heard such declarations
+before; do you ladies all really believe that God intended men and
+women to be equal, and do you really feel that girls have a right
+to enjoy as many privileges as boys?" In chorus we all promptly
+said, "We do," and I added, "If you will recall all the events of
+your life thus far, and your own feelings at times, you will find
+that again and again your own heart has protested against the
+injustice to which you have been subjected. Now," said I, "think a
+little, and see if you can recall no sense of dissatisfaction at
+the broad difference made between your sisters and brothers."
+"Well," said she, "I did often wonder why father gave the boys half
+a crown a week for spending money, and us girls a few pence; why so
+much thought and money were expended on their education, and so
+little on ours; but as I saw that that was the custom everywhere, I
+came to the conclusion that they were a superior order of beings,
+and so thought no more about it, and I never heard that theory
+contradicted until this evening."
+
+[579] Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Haslam, Mr. Wigham, brother of
+Eliza Wigham, and his cultured wife; Hannah Webb, the daughter of
+Richard, and Thomas Webb and daughters, in whose old family-record
+book of visitors she was shown the autographs of William Lloyd
+Garrison and Nathaniel P. Rogers over the date of 1840.
+
+[580] On one occasion I counted fourteen: Miss Risley Seward, Mrs.
+Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Laura Curtis Bullard, Miss Rachel
+Foster, Mrs. William Mellen and two sons and daughters, Mr.
+Theodore Tilton. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Stanton Blatch and myself.
+
+[581] Aside from those already mentioned were William Henry
+Channing, L. N. Fowler, the phrenologist, and his daughter; Mrs.
+Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Miss
+Anthony, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Phillips, several members
+from the Bright, the McLaren and the Cobden families, Mrs. Conway,
+Miss Emily Faithful, Mr. William Henry Blatch, Mr. Stark, the
+artist; Philip Marston, the blind poet; Miss Orme and Miss
+Richardson, attorneys-at-law; Judge Kelley, wife and daughter
+Florence, Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs and sisters, Miss
+Julia Osgood.
+
+[582] Among the distinguished persons on the platform were Frances
+Power Cobbe, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Jacob Bright,
+Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Thomasson, Mrs. Margaret Parker, Mrs. Alice
+Scatcherd, Miss Becker, Miss Biggs, Mrs. Moore, Mr. and Mrs.
+Conway, Oscar Wilde and his queenly mother, Charles McLaren, M. P.,
+Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Miss Helen Taylor, Miss Orme, Miss Mueller,
+Miss Lord, Miss Foster, Mrs. and Miss Blatch, Mrs. Mellen, Miss Tod
+of Belfast, Mrs. Chesson, daughter of George Thompson, the great
+anti-slavery orator, and very many others whose names we cannot
+recall.
+
+[583] Where we met Mrs. Fawcett, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Sir Hugh
+Staples, Mr. Mitchell, the Misses Stackpole and brothers, Madame
+Venturi, Miss Biggs and sisters, Miss Frances Lord and her sister,
+who is doing a noble work in her kindergarten.
+
+[584] Mrs. Seville, whose husband was a professor at Sandhurst
+College, having recently awoke to the indignities the church heaps
+upon women, made her protest in discarding her bonnet and appearing
+on Sundays with her head uncovered, contrary to Paul's injunctions.
+Having thus attended church for two years, involving much criticism
+and disturbance, both the vicar and the bishop labored with her to
+resume the bonnet, but she remained incorrigible. She read us a
+letter of remonstrance from the bishop, over which we all had a
+hearty laugh.
+
+[585] The following is the report of the action prepared that
+evening by Mrs. Parker: "At a large and influential gathering of
+the friends of woman suffrage, at Parliament Terrace, Liverpool,
+November 16, 1883, convened by E. Whittle, M. D., to meet Mrs.
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony prior to their
+return to America, it was proposed by Mrs. Margaret E. Parker of
+Penketh (near Warrington), seconded by Mrs. McLaren of Edinburgh,
+and unanimously passed:
+
+"That this meeting, recognizing that union is strength and that the
+time has come when women all over the world should unite in the
+just demand for their political enfranchisement; therefore
+
+"_Resolved_, That we do here appoint a committee of correspondence,
+preparatory to forming an International Woman Suffrage Association.
+
+"_Resolved_, That the committee consist of the following friends,
+with power to add to their number:
+
+"_For the American Center_--Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Miss Susan
+B. Anthony, Miss Rachel Foster. _London Center_--Mrs. Peter A.
+Taylor, Mrs. Margaret B. Lucas, Miss Helen Taylor, Miss Henrietta
+Mueller, Miss Caroline A. Biggs, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss
+Eliza Orme, Miss Rebecca Moore, London; Mrs. Harriot Stanton
+Blatch, Basingstoke. _Manchester Center_--Mr. and Mrs. Jacob
+Bright, Manchester; Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Thomasson, Bolton; Mrs.
+Margaret E. Parker, Penketh; Dr. and Mrs. Whittle, Liverpool; Mrs.
+Oliver Scatcherd, Leeds; Mr. and Mrs. Walter McLaren, Bradford;
+Mrs. Philips, Liverpool; Mr. and Mrs. Crook, Bolton; Mr. Berners,
+Mr. Russell, Liverpool; Miss Becker, Manchester. _Bristol
+Center_--Miss Helen Bright Clarke, Street; Mrs. Alfred Ostler,
+Birmingham; Miss Priestman, Bristol. _Center for Scotland_--Mrs.
+Duncan McLaren, Mrs. Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Miss Eliza Wigham,
+Edinburgh. _Center for Ireland_--Miss Tod, Belfast; Mrs. Haslam,
+Dublin. _Center for France_--M'lle Hubertine Auclert, Mr. and Mrs.
+Theodore Stanton, Charlotte B. Wilbour, Paris.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE CENTENNIAL YEAR.
+
+Among those who sent most cordial letters of greeting, with
+requests that their names should be enrolled in the centennial
+autograph-book as signers of the woman's declaration of sentiments,
+were: _Maine_, Lavinia M. Snow, Lucy A. Snow; _New Hampshire_,
+Marilla M. Ricker, Abby P. Ela; _Massachusetts_, E. T. Strickland,
+Sarah E. Wall; _Rhode Island_, Paulina Wright Davis; _Connecticut_,
+Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr, Julia and Abby Smith;
+_New York_, Clemence S. Lozier, Henrietta Paine Westbrook, Nettie
+A. Ford, Elizabeth B. Phelps, Charlotte A. Cleveland, Elizabeth M.
+Atwell; _Pennsylvania_, E. A. Stetson Lozier, Anna Thomson; _New
+Jersey_, Ellen Dickinson, S. Mary Clute, Mary M. Van Clief, S. H.
+Cornell, Emma L. Wilde, Jennie Dixon, Casa Tonti, Marie Howland,
+Lucinda B. Chandler; _District of Columbia_, Addie T. Holton,
+Margaret E. Johnson, Sabra P. Abell, Ruth Carr Dennison, Ellen H.
+Sheldon, Mary Shadd Cary and ninety-four others, Mary F. Foster,
+Susan A. Edson; _Virginia_, Sally Holly, Carrie Putnam; _Kentucky_,
+Annie Laurie Quinby; _Tennessee_, Elizabeth Avery Meriwether;
+_Louisiana_, Elizabeth Lisle Saxon; _Michigan_, Sarah C. Owen,
+Margaret J. E. Millar; _Illinois_, A. J. Grover, Edward P. Powell,
+Cynthia A. Leonard, Susan H. Richardson; _Missouri_, Francis Minor,
+Annie R. Irvine; _California_, Sarah L. Knox, Sarah J. Wallis,
+Carrie M. Robinson, Mary E. Kellogg, Georgiana Bruce Kirby;
+_Oregon_, Mrs. A. J. Johns, Eveline Merrick Roork, Charles A. Reed;
+_Washington Territory_, Mary Olney Brown, Abby H. H. Stuart; _Utah
+Territory_, Annie Godbe; _Iowa_, Amelia Bloomer, Submit C. Loomis,
+Philo A. Lyon and seventy-five others of Humboldt, Jane A. Telker,
+Nancy R. Allen, Margaret Euart Colby, Mrs. Ellen M. Robinson, Mrs.
+G. R. Woodworth, Mrs. W. W. Johnson, Mrs. Caroline A. Ingham, Mrs.
+Mabel A. Stough, Mrs. R. H. Spencer, Mrs. J. W. Kenyon, Mrs. A. M.
+Horton, Miss L. T. Dood, Mary L. Watson, Mrs. Sarah A. McCoy, Mrs.
+J. J. Wilson, Mrs. F. L. Calkins, Mrs. L. H. Smith, Mrs. Emma C.
+Spear, Mrs. M. L. Burlingame, Mrs. G. W. Blanchard, Mrs. D. L.
+Ford, Mrs. E. C. Buffam, Mrs. Cora A. Jones, Mrs. Clara M. Wilson;
+_Wisconsin_, Laura Ross Wolcott, M. Josephine Pearce, Eliza T.
+Wilson, H. S. Brown; _Minnesota_, Sarah Burger Stearns; _Kansas_,
+Susan E. Wattles, Elsie Stewart, Henrietta L. Miller, Lottie
+Griffin, Jane M. Burke, Malura Hickson, Elsie J. Miller;
+_Colorado_, Alida C. Avery; _Ohio_, Sarah R. L. Williams, Margaret
+V. Longley; _England_, Lydia E. Becker, Caroline A. Biggs, Jessie
+M. Wellstood.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.
+
+ARTICLE 1. This organization shall be called the NATIONAL WOMAN
+SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.
+
+ARTICLE 2. The object of this Association shall be to secure
+NATIONAL Protection for women in the exercise of their right to
+vote.
+
+ARTICLE 3. All citizens of the United States subscribing to this
+Constitution, and contributing not less than one dollar annually,
+shall be considered members of the Association, with the right to
+participate in its deliberations.
+
+ARTICLE 4. The officers of this Association shall be a President, a
+Vice-President from each of the States and Territories,
+Corresponding and Recording Secretaries, a Treasurer and an
+Executive Committee of not less than five.
+
+ARTICLE 5. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of
+nine, and all officers of this Association shall be _ex-officio_
+members of the committee, with power to vote.
+
+ARTICLE 6. All woman suffrage societies throughout the country
+shall be welcomed as auxiliaries, and their accredited officers or
+duly appointed representatives shall be recognized as members of
+the National Association.
+
+OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION, 1886.
+
+_President_--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenafly, N. J.
+
+_Vice-Presidents-at-Large_--Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y.;
+Matilda Joslyn Gage, Fayetteville, N. Y.; Rev. Olympia Brown,
+Racine, Wis.; Phoebe W. Couzins, St. Louis, Mo.; Abigail Scott
+Duniway, Portland, Ore.
+
+_Honorary Vice-Presidents_--Ernestine L. Rose, London, England;
+Priscilla Holmes Drake, Huntsville, Ala.; Mrs. Perry Spear, Eureka
+Springs, Ark.; Sarah. J. Wallis, Mayfield; Sarah Knox Goodrich, San
+Jose, Cal.; Mary F. Shields, Colorado Springs, Col.; Rev. Phebe A.
+Hanaford, New Haven, Conn.; Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, Sioux Falls,
+Dak. Ter.; Rosina M. Parnell, Susan A. Edson, M. D., Ellen M.
+O'Connor, Washington, D. C.; Catherine V. Waite, Myra Bradwell,
+Chicago, Ill.; Zerelda G. Wallace, Indianapolis; Eliza Hamilton,
+Fort Wayne, Ind.; Amelia Bloomer, Council Bluffs; Mary V. Cowgill,
+West Liberty, Ia.; Prudence Crandall Philleo, Elk Falls; Mary T.
+Gray, Wyandotte; Mary A. Humphrey, Junction City, Kan.; Elizabeth
+H. Duval, Rinaldo, Ky.; Ann T. Greeley, Ellsworth; Lucy A. Snow,
+Rockland, Me.; Anna Ella Carroll, Baltimore, Md.; Sarah E. Wall,
+Worcester; Paulina Gerry, Stoneham, Mass.; Catherine A. F.
+Stebbins, Detroit, Mich.; Charlotte O. Van Cleve, Minneapolis,
+Minn.; Caroline Johnson Todd, St. Louis, Mo.; Harriet S. Brooks,
+Omaha, Neb.; Eliza E. Morrill, Sarah H. Pillsbury, Concord; Mary
+Powers Filley, North Haverhill, N. H.; Sarah G. Hurn, Vineland;
+Delia Stewart Parnell, Bordentown, N. J.; Clemence S. Lozier, M.
+D., New York; Amy Post, Rochester; Sarah H. Hallock, Milton; Mary
+R. Pell, Flushing, N. Y.; Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Hollywood, N. C.;
+Sophia O. Allen, South Newbury; Sarah R. L. Williams, Toledo;
+Louise Southworth, Cleveland, O.; Harriet W. Williams, Portland,
+Ore.; M. Adeline Thomson, Philadelphia, Penn.; Catherine C.
+Knowles, East Greenwich; Elizabeth B. Chace, Valley Falls, R. I.;
+Elizabeth Van Lew, Richmond, Va.; Mary Olney Brown, Abbie H. H.
+Stuart, Olympia, Wash. Ter.; Laura Ross Wolcott, Milwaukee; Emma C.
+Bascom, Madison, Wis.
+
+_Vice-Presidents_--Caroline M. Patterson, Harrison, Ark.; Ellen
+Clarke Sargent, San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. L. J. Terry, Pueblo,
+Col.; Isabella Beecher Hooker, Hartford, Conn.; Marietta M. Bones,
+Webster City, Dak.; Mary A. Stewart, Greenwood, Del.; Ruth C.
+Dennison, Washington, D. C.; Mrs. C. B. S. Wilcox, Interlachen,
+Fla.; Althea L. Lord, Savannah, Ga.; Dr. Jennie Bearby, Mountain
+Home, Idaho; Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Evanston, Ill.; Helen M.
+Gougar, Lafayette, Ind.; Jane Amy McKinney, Decorah, Ia.; Laura M.
+Johns, Salina Kan.; Mary B. Clay, Richmond, Ky.; Caroline E.
+Merrick, New Orleans, La.; Sophronia C. Snow, Hampden Corners, Me.;
+Caroline Hallowell Miller, Sandy Spring, Md.; Harriette R.
+Shattuck, Malden, Mass.; Fannie Holden Fowler, Manistee, Mich.;
+Sarah Burger Stearns, Duluth, Minn.; Olivia Fitzhugh, Vicksburg,
+Miss.; Virginia L. Minor, St. Louis, Mo.; Clara Bewick Colby,
+Beatrice, Neb.; Maria H. Boardman, Reno, Nev.; Ada M. Jarrett,
+Magdalena, N. Mex.; Marilla M. Ricker, Dover, N. H.; Cornelia C.
+Hussey, East Orange, N. J.; Lillie Devereux Blake, New York, N. Y.;
+Mary Bayard Clarke, New Berne, N. C.; Frances D. Casement,
+Painesville, O.; Harriette A. Loughary, McMinneville, Ore.; Matilda
+Hindman, Pittsburgh, Penn.; Anna S. Aldrich, Providence, R. I.;
+Elizabeth Lisle Saxon, Memphis, Tenn.; Jennie Bland Beauchamp,
+Denton, Tex.; Jennie A. Froiseth, Salt Lake City, Utah; Lydia
+Putnam, Brattleboro', Vt.; Mrs. Roger S. Greene, Seaettle, Wash.
+Ter.: Alura C. Collins, Milwaukee, Wis.; Amalia B. Post, Cheyenne,
+Wyoming.
+
+_Executive Committee_--May Wright Sewall, _Chairman_, 429 North New
+Jersey street, Indianapolis, Ind.; Laura DeForce Gordon, San
+Francisco; Mary J. Channing, Pasadena, Cal.; Dr. Alida C. Avery,
+Denver, Col.; Frances Ellen Burr, Emily P. Collins, Hartford,
+Conn.; Mrs. J. S. Pickler, Falktown; Linda W. Slaughter, Bismark,
+Dak. Ter.; Belva A. Lockwood, Dr. Caroline B. Winslow, Washington,
+D. C.; Flora M. Wright, Drayton Island, Fla.; Julia Mills Dunn,
+Moline; Rev. Florence Kollock, Englewood; Dr. Alice B. Stockham,
+Ada C. Sweet, Chicago, Ill.; Mary E. Haggart, Mary E. N. Cary,
+Indianapolis, Ind.; Narcisa T. Bemis, Independence; Mary J.
+Coggeshall, Des Moines, Ia; Annie C. Wait, Lincoln Center;
+Henrietta B. Wall, Mrs. S. A. Hauk, Hutchinson, Kan.; Sally Clay
+Bennett, Mary A. Somers, Richmond; Laura White, Manchester, Ky.;
+Maria I. Johnson, Mound, La.; Charlotte A. Thomas, Portland, Me.;
+Amanda M. Best, Bright Seat, Md.; Harriet H. Robinson, Malden; Sara
+A. Underwood, Dorchester Mass.; Julia Upton, Big Rapids; Cordelia
+Fitch Briggs, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Julia Bullard Nelson, Red Wing:
+Mrs. L. H. Hawkins, Shakopee; Mary P. Wheeler, Kasson, Minn.; Anne
+R. Irvine, Oregon; Elizabeth A. Meriwether, St. Louis, Mo.; Jennie
+F. Holmes, Tecumseh; Orpha C. Dinsmoore, Omaha, Neb.; Hannah R.
+Clapp, Carson City, Nev.; Mrs. A. B. I. Roberts, Candia, N. H.;
+Augusta Cooper Bristol, Vineland; Theresa A. Seabrook, Keyport, N.
+J.; Mathilde F. Wendt, New York; Caroline G. Rogers, Lansingburgh;
+Ellen S. Fray, Lewia C. Smith, Rochester, N. Y.; Sarah M. Perkins,
+Elvira J. Bushnell, Cleveland; Sarah S. Bissell, Toledo, O.; Mrs.
+J. M. Kelty, Lafayette, Ore.; Deborah L. Pennock, Kennett Square;
+Harriet Purvis, Philadelphia, Penn.; Lillie Chace Wyman, Valley
+Falls, R. I.; Lide Meriwether, Memphis, Tenn.; Mrs. D. Clinton
+Smith, Middleboro', Vt.; Mrs. F. D. Gordon, Richmond, Va.; Eliza T.
+Wilson, Menomonie; Laura James, Richland Center, Wis.; Barbara J,
+Thompson, Tacoma, Wash. Ter.; Mrs. J. H. Hayford, Laramie City,
+Wyoming Ter.
+
+_Recording Secretaries_--Julia A. Wilbur, Caroline A. Sherman,
+Washington, D. C.
+
+_Corresponding Secretaries_--Rachel G. Foster, Philadelphia, Penn.;
+Ellen H. Sheldon, Washington, D. C.
+
+_Foreign Corresponding Secretaries_--Caroline A. Biggs, London;
+Lydia E. Becker, Manchester, England; Marguerite Berry Stanton,
+Hubertine Auclert, Charlotte B. Wilbour, Paris, France; Clara
+Neymann, Berlin, Germany.
+
+_Treasurer_--Jane H. Spofford, Riggs House, Washington, D. C.
+
+_Auditors_--Eliza T. Ward, Ellen M. O'Connor, Washington, D. C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+CONNECTICUT.
+
+_Is the Family the Basis of the State?_
+
+BY JOHN HOOKER.
+
+The proposition that the family is the basis of the State has come
+down through many generations, so far as I know, unchallenged; but
+in the sense in which it is ordinarily understood, and for the
+purpose for which it is ordinarily used, it is entirely a fallacy.
+The State depends upon the family for the continuance of its
+population, just as it depends upon the school for the intelligence
+of its people and on religious institutions for their morality.
+But the State stands in no political relation to the family any
+more than to the school and the church. What is meant by the
+proposition as generally used is, that the State is politically an
+aggregate of families and not of individuals. This is entirely
+untrue, and if true the fact would be calamitous. Civil government
+is supposed to have had its origin in family government, the
+patriarch becoming chief of a tribe which was substantially the
+outgrowth and expansion of a single family; but if a nation was to
+be formed of such tribes it would be essential to its peace and
+prosperity that they should as soon as possible mingle into one
+homogeneous mass, and that no citizen should consider himself of
+one tribe rather than another. It is the family idea in a
+government like ours that makes the feuds which are handed down
+from generation to generation in some parts of the country. It made
+the frequent bloody contests of the clans in Scotland, and the
+dissensions of the Hebrew tribes. In a republic nothing can be more
+disastrous than that great political leaders should have large
+family followings. The first duty of the citizen is to forget that
+he belongs to any family in particular. He is an individual citizen
+of the State, and when he becomes a magistrate he must practically
+ignore the fact that he has family relatives who feel entitled to
+his special favor. He must, like justice, be blind to every fact
+except that the applicant for office or for justice is an
+individual citizen and must stand wholly on his personal merits or
+the justice of his cause.
+
+The proposition that the family is the basis of the State thus
+taken by itself is entirely false; but even if true, the use made
+of it as an argument against giving suffrage to women is equally
+fallacious. This can be shown by a single illustration. We will
+suppose there are two families, in both of which the father dies,
+leaving in one case a widow and one son, and in the other a widow
+and six daughters. Where is now the family representation? The son
+whom we will suppose to be of age, goes to the polls and we will
+suppose sufficiently represents the family to which he belongs; but
+where is the family representation for the other widow and her six
+daughters? She may be the largest tax-payer in the State, and yet
+she can have no voice in determining what taxes shall be laid, nor
+to what purposes the money shall be appropriated.
+
+The question whether the family is the basis of the State cannot be
+made an abstract question of political philosophy. Indeed the
+question is unmeaning when put as an abstract one. We might just as
+well ask, "Is the climate cold in a State?" or, "Is the English
+language spoken in a State?" It is only as we ask these questions
+about a _particular_ State that they have any meaning. "Is it cold
+in Russia?" "Is English spoken in Connecticut?"
+
+Take the case of a State ruled by a despot. Here the people are not
+the political basis of the State, either as families or as
+individuals. They have no political power whatever. The political
+basis of the State is the will of the despot. He is himself and
+alone the State politically. He makes the laws himself, and shoots
+and hangs those who disobey them. The people are indispensable to
+the State, and so in one sense its basis, just as the square miles
+that compose its territory are its physical basis, but the people
+stand in no political relation whatever to the State, any more than
+the rocks and gravel of its territory. It is only where the people
+of the State have the whole or a part of its political power, that
+the question can possibly arise as to whether individuals or
+families are its political basis. And when it thus arises, it comes
+up wholly with reference to a particular State, and not as an
+abstract question. And then it is wholly a question of fact, not
+one of political philosophy; a matter for simple ascertainment, not
+for speculation and reasoning. Thus, suppose the question to be,
+"Is the family or the individual the political basis of the State
+of Connecticut?" We are to answer the question solely by looking at
+the constitution and laws of the State. We look there and find that
+it is as clear as language can make it that the political basis of
+the State is the individual and not the family. The individual is
+made the voter--not the family--and that is the whole question. It
+was perfectly easy for the people, if they had so desired, when
+they were adopting a constitution, to make families and not
+individuals the depositaries of political power, but they chose to
+give the power to individuals, and thus the question is absolutely
+settled for the State. It is true, the State does not carry out
+completely its own theory, but this was its theory, and what it did
+was wholly in this direction and away from the family theory. We go
+to the constitution of the State to settle this question, just as
+we would to settle the question whether the governor's term is one
+year or two, or whether the judges hold office for a term of years
+or for life. While considering whether either of these provisions
+ought to be adopted, we are dealing with a matter proper for
+opinions and argument, but when the provisions have been adopted,
+the whole question becomes one of fact, and we look only to the
+constitution to determine it, and treat it as a matter not for
+discussion but for absolute ascertainment.
+
+When one is advocating the theory that the family should be the
+political basis of the State, he is simply saying that the
+constitution ought to be amended and the right of voting taken away
+from individuals and given to families. But it is idle to urge
+this. Such a measure would not get even a respectable minority
+of votes. It is decisive on this point that not a single
+representative government, so far as the writer knows, has adopted
+the theory that the family and not the individual should vote. A
+law peculiar to Russia gives its villages, in the management of
+their local matters, the right of voting by families--a perfect
+illustration, on a very small scale, of the family as the political
+basis of a State. But here woman suffrage is admitted as a
+necessary result; and where there is no man to represent the
+family, or he is unable to attend, the woman of the house casts the
+vote.
+
+The advocates of woman suffrage have no interest whatever in this
+question, as it is idle to suppose that it can become a practical
+one. The writer has taken what trouble he has in the matter solely
+in the interest of correct thinking.
+
+_Hartford, May, 1879._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+NEW YORK.
+
+     _Brief on the Legislature's Power to Extend the Suffrage,
+     Submitted February 19, 1880, to the Judiciary Committee of the
+     Assembly of the State of New York._
+
+BY HAMILTON WILCOX.
+
+I. LEGISLATURE OMNIPOTENT.--Unlike the Federal constitution, the
+State constitution does not reserve all powers not expressly
+delegated. It is held by the authorities that in the absence of
+positive restriction the legislature is omnipotent.
+
+"In a judicial sense, their authority is absolute and unlimited,
+except by the express restrictions of the fundamental law" (Court
+of Appeals, 1863, Bank of Chenango vs. Brown, 26 N. Y., 467; S. P.,
+Cathcart vs. Fire Department of New York, Id., 529; Supreme Court,
+1864, Clark vs. Miller, 42 Barb., 255; Luke vs. City of Brooklyn,
+43 Id., 54).
+
+"Only on the ground of express constitutional provisions limiting
+legislative power, can courts declare void any legislative
+enactment" (Court of Error. 1838, Cochran vs. Van Surlay, 29 Wend.,
+365; Newell vs. People, 7 N. Y. [3 Seld.], 9, 109).
+
+"Before proceeding to amend, by judicial sentence, what has been
+enacted by the law-making power, it should clearly appear that the
+act cannot be supported by any reasonable intendment or allowable
+presumption" (Court of Appeals, 1858, People vs. Supervisors of
+Orange, 17 N. Y., 235; affi'g, 27 Barb., 575).
+
+II. POWERS UNDEFINED.--The constitution forbids the legislature to
+do certain things. Otherwise it does not define or limit the
+legislature's powers (Art. 3, Sec.Sec. 3, 18, 19, 24).
+
+III. NO PROHIBITION.--No constitution of New York has ever
+forbidden the legislature to extend the suffrage beyond the
+classes specified by such constitution; nor has any ever forbidden
+unspecified persons to vote. The constitution simply secures the
+suffrage to certain classes, and there leaves the matter.
+
+IV. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.--The constitution declares that the
+object of its establishment is to secure the blessings of freedom
+to the people (Preamble, Revised Statutes, vol. 1., p. 82). Hence
+it, and all enactments under it, must be understood and construed,
+where a contrary intent is not clearly expressed, to be aimed at
+securing freedom to all.
+
+V. DISFRANCHISEMENT.--The constitution follows this declaration by
+laying down at its outset, as its fundamental principle, that "No
+member of this State shall be disfranchised or deprived of any of
+the rights or privileges secured to any citizens thereof, except by
+the law of the land" (Art. 1, Sec. 1, do., do.). Disfranchisement,
+then, must be express by the law. It cannot constitutionally be
+inflicted through mere implication or silence.
+
+Rules for the securing of freedom have often been found to cover
+unforeseen cases. Such was the fact in the famous decision of Lord
+Mansfield in 1774, that slavery was against the common law, under
+which slavery was afterward abolished throughout the British
+empire; and the decision of the highest court of Massachusetts,
+that the terms of the constitution of 1780 conferred freedom on the
+slaves of that State.
+
+Women, it is now fully recognized, are citizens, and hence "members
+of the State," entitled to the security guaranteed. The _practice_
+under the constitution has been to treat as _disfranchised_ all
+persons _not specified_ as entitled to vote. Though this practice
+is plainly against the declared object and principle of the
+constitution, it has been general and mostly continuous, and has
+thus acquired the force of law. This, however, does not impair the
+legislature's power to correct the practice by express enactment.
+
+VI. PRECEDENTS.--The legislature _has_ repeatedly corrected this
+practice by express enactments securing freedom to various portions
+of the people.
+
+(_a_). CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1801.--The act calling this
+convention extended the suffrage for members of that body--_the
+highest officers of the State_--to "all free male citizens over
+twenty-one years of age," while the constitution secured suffrage
+only to male holders of and actual taxpayers on a fixed amount of
+real estate (Session Law 1801, ch. 69, p. 151; constitution of
+1777, do., 1, 39).
+
+(_b_). CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1821.--The act providing for the
+convention that framed the constitution of 1822, while the existing
+constitution (as above) only specified as entitled to vote, holders
+of and taxpayers on a fixed amount of real estate--this act allowed
+_all_ freeholders, however small the value of their holdings, all
+actual taxpayers, all officers and privates, ex-officers and
+ex-privates, in militia or in volunteer or uniform corps, all
+persons exempt by law from taxation or militia duty, all workers on
+public roads and highways, or payers of commutation for such work;
+to vote on the question whether the convention should be held, to
+vote in the choice of delegates thereto--_again for the highest
+officers of the State_--and to vote on the question of adoption of
+the new constitution--_to exercise a voice in framing the State's
+fundamental law_. The council of revision, including the governor,
+which opposed and defeated part of this act, made no objection to
+this feature (Session Laws 1821, ch. 90, p. 83).
+
+The vote for governor, 1820, was 93,437--the largest ever cast in
+the State. That on the question of calling the convention in 1821
+was 144,247. One act of the legislature thus enfranchised _fifty
+thousand persons_. The vote on the new constitution stood: For,
+74,732; against, 41,402; majority for, 33,330. Thus the votes of
+fifty thousand persons--enfranchised, not by the constitution but
+by the legislature--carried the adoption of a new constitution,
+which further secured to them the freedom which the legislature had
+opened to them. The vote for governor in 1824--the next
+hotly-contested election--was 190,545; so that the immediate effect
+of the legislature's act was to add 97,108 persons to the
+constituency--to make a mass of new voters who outnumbered those
+specified by the constitution.
+
+(_c_). ALIENS VOTING.--The constitution specifies none but
+"citizens" as entitled to vote; yet the legislature, by a school
+law of many years' standing, allowed _aliens_ to vote for school
+functionaries, on filing with the secretary of state notice of
+intention to become naturalized (1 R. S., art. 2, Sec. 1, p. 65; 2 R.
+S., 63, Sec. 12; 2 R. S., 1,096, Sec. 31).
+
+(_d_). NORTHFIELD.--The proprietors of swamp-lands in the town of
+Northfield, Richmond county, were authorized to elect directors of
+drainage, without any restriction or qualification but ownership
+(Session Laws 1862, ch. 80, Sec. 2, p. 233).
+
+(_e_). The taxpayers of Newport, Herkimer county, were authorized
+to vote on the question of issuing bonds to raise money for a
+town-house. Under this law women who were taxpayers voted (Act
+April 9, 1873, Session Laws, ch. 187, Sec. 3, p. 304).
+
+(_f_). The taxpayers of Dansville, Livingston county, were
+authorized to vote on the issue of water-bonds. Under this act
+women voted (Act April 24, 1873, Session Laws, ch. 285, Sec. 4, p.
+409).
+
+(_g_). The taxpayers of Saratoga Springs were authorized to vote on
+the question of issuing bonds for the construction of an additional
+water-main. Under this ninety-nine women voted (Act May 13, 1876,
+Session Laws, ch. 254, Sec. 4, p. 250).
+
+VII. SCHOOL SUFFRAGE.--If the legislature can admit aliens to vote
+at school-meetings, it can admit female citizens to do so.
+
+VIII. PRESIDENTIAL SUFFRAGE.--1. The federal constitution provides
+that electors of president and vice-president shall be appointed
+"in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct" (Art. 2, Sec.
+2).
+
+2. It also provides that "this constitution shall be the supreme
+law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound
+thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the
+contrary notwithstanding" (Art. 6, Sec. 2).
+
+3. The legislature has the power under the federal constitution to
+provide whatever method it may choose for the appointment of the
+electors. The courts have no power to interfere, and even an
+executive veto would have no force. The legislature has sole and
+full power to say who may vote for electors and how the election
+shall be held.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+BY CARRIE S. BURNHAM.
+
+The common law of England as modified by English statutes prior to
+the Revolution has been formally adopted either by constitutions
+and statutes or assumed by courts of justice as the law of the land
+in every State save Louisiana, and in the absence of positive
+statutes is the common law of the United States. To understand the
+legal status of woman in Pennsylvania it is therefore necessary,
+_First_--To ascertain her condition under the common law;
+_Second_--How this law has been modified in this State by statutes.
+
+
+COMMON LAW.
+
+By the common law, which Lord Coke calls "the perfection of
+reason," women arrive at the age of discretion at twelve, men at
+fourteen; both sexes are of full age at twenty-one, entitled to
+civil rights, and if unmarried and possessed of freehold, they are
+equally entitled to the exercise of political rights (Blackstone,
+I., 463; IV., 212; Bouvier's Institutes, 156, 157; Decisions of
+English courts in 1612, quoted in 7 Mod. Rep., 264).
+
+"By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law"; that is,
+the legal existence of the woman is "merged in that of her
+husband." He is her "baron," or "lord," bound to supply her with
+shelter, food, clothing and medicine, and is entitled to her
+earnings--the use and custody of her person, which he may seize
+wherever he may find it (Blackstone, I., 442, 443; Coke Litt., 112
+a, 187 b; 8 Dowl., P. C., 632.)
+
+The husband being bound to provide for his wife the necessaries of
+life, and being responsible for "her morals" and the good order of
+the household, may choose and govern the domicil, choose her
+associates, separate her from her relatives, restrain her religious
+and personal freedom, compel her to cohabit with him, correct her
+faults by mild means and, if necessary, chastise her with
+moderation, as though she was his apprentice or child. This is in
+"respect to the terms of the marriage contract and the infirmity of
+the sex" (Bl., I., 444; 1 Bishop on Mar. and Div., 758; 8 Dowl. P.
+C., 632; Bouv. Insts., 277, 278, 2,283; 1 Wend. Bl., 442, note; 4
+Petersdorf's A. B., 21, note).
+
+Woman's character, exposed to the vilest slanders of "malignity and
+falsehood," and her chastity are protected on account of the injury
+sustained by the father, husband or master from loss of her
+services, or wrongful entry of his house, rather than the injury
+done to her as an individual (Bl. I., 445, note; III., 141, 143,
+note; 3 Serg. and Rawle, Penn., 36; 3 Penn., 49; 2 Watts' Penn.,
+474).
+
+The husband is entitled to recover damages for "criminal
+conversation with his wife," or for injury to her person whereby he
+is deprived of his "marital rights," or of her "company and
+assistance"; also an action of _trespass vi et armis_ against the
+individual enticing her away or encouraging her to live separately
+from him; the offense implies force and constraint, "the wife
+having no power to consent," and is punishable with fine and
+imprisonment (Bl., III., 139; 2 Inst., 434; Bouvier's Institutes,
+3,495).
+
+The wife has no action for injuries to her husband as she is not
+entitled to his services, neither has she any separate interest in
+anything during her coverture. The law takes notice only of the
+injuries done to the "superior of the parties related"; because
+"the inferior has no kind of property in the company, care or
+assistance of the superior, as the superior is held to have in
+those of the inferior" (Blackstone, III., 143; Bouv. Insts.,
+3,495).
+
+The husband, by marriage, becomes entitled absolutely to the
+personal property of his wife, which at his death goes to his
+representatives; also to the rents and profits of her lands, to the
+interest in her chattels real and _choses_ in action, of which he
+can dispose at pleasure, except by will. He acquires the same right
+in any property whether real or personal of which she may become
+possessed after marriage, and is liable during coverture for her
+debts contracted before marriage (Bl., II., 434, 435; Bouv. Insts.,
+4,005; Coke Litt., 46, 351).
+
+At his death she becomes possessed of her wardrobe and jewels, such
+of her chattels as remain undisposed of, and her own real estate;
+also quarantine (_i. e._, forty days' residence in "his mansion"),
+one-third of his personality absolutely and the use of one-third of
+any real estate of which he is possessed during coverture for the
+term of her natural life. _His_ mansion, realty and personalty
+includes what they have jointly earned as well as that of which he
+was possessed at marriage. The widow's right to one-third of the
+personal estate was abolished by English statutes prior to the
+Revolution, but has since been revived by Pennsylvania statutes
+(Blackstone, II., 129, 134, 139, 436, 492, 493; Coke Litt., 31, 34;
+Bouvier's Institutes, 1,750; Brightley's Purdon, 806, 2 and 3).
+
+At the death of the wife their joint earnings, also her chattels
+real, vest absolutely in the husband, and if they have had a living
+child the husband, as "tenant by the curtesy," becomes possessed of
+her entire real estate for life. The wife loses her dower by
+adultery, but the husband does not lose his curtesy on that
+account. Her dower is also barred by his treason and by a divorce
+grounded on his adultery (Blackstone, II., 127, 434; Roper, Husband
+and Wife, 1,210; 2 Kent, 131; 7 Watts, 563; Bouvier's Institutes,
+1,732).
+
+A husband cannot convey real estate directly to his wife, but may
+through a trustee; neither can he give "anything to her nor
+covenant with her, for the grant would be to suppose her separate
+existence, and to covenant with her would be to covenant with
+himself." Their covenants or indebtedness to each other before
+marriage are by the marriage extinguished (Blackstone, I., 442;
+Coke Litt., 3, 30; 112 a; 187 b; Connyn. Dig. Baron and Feme, D).
+
+The husband may devise any property to his wife, but the wife
+cannot make a will, the law supposing her to be under his coercion;
+neither can she bind her person or property, nor make nor enforce a
+contract, nor can she be a witness in any matter in which her
+husband is interested (Blackstone, II., 293, 498, 444; 2 Kent, 179;
+Bouv. Insts., 1,441; Connyn. Dig. Pleader, 2 A, 1; Baron and Feme,
+W; 2 Roper, Husband and Wife, 171).
+
+A wife, with the consent of her husband, may act as his or other's
+attorney, may be a guardian, trustee, administratrix or executrix,
+but cannot sue in _auter droit_ unless her husband join in the
+suit. This incapacitates her to act independently in either
+capacity (Blackstone, II., 503; 1 Anders., 117; 2 Story, Eq.
+Juris., 1,367, note; 57 Penn. St. Rep., 356).
+
+A wife cannot enforce her rights nor defend any action brought
+against her, but must plead coverture in person, being incapable of
+appointing an attorney (Bouv. Insts., 2,787, 2,907; 41 N. H., 106;
+2 Saund., 209; c. n. 1).
+
+When a woman marries after having commenced a suit, the suit
+abates; but the husband may _in equity_ sue her for his marital
+rights in her property; marriage of a female partner dissolves the
+partnership (Bouv. Insts., 4,037, 1,494; 4 Russ. Ch., 247; 3 Atk.
+Ch., 478; 2 P. Will Ch., 243).
+
+The father of legitimate children is bound for their maintenance
+and education, is entitled to their labor and custody and has power
+to dispose of them until twenty-one years of age, by deed or
+legacy, even though they are unborn at his death. The testamentary
+guardian's right to their custody supersedes that of their mother
+(Bl., I., 447, 451, 453; 2 Kent, 191 and 193; Bouv. Insts., 344; 5
+Rawle, 323; 2 Watts, 406; 5 East, 221; Purd. Dig., New Ed., 411,
+29; 5 Pitts, L. J., 406; 1 Pitts, 412).
+
+"A mother is entitled to no power, but to reverence and respect,
+from her children"; she has no legal authority over them nor right
+to their services, but her property is liable for their maintenance
+if the father has not an estate. The mother's appointment of a
+testamentary guardian is absolutely void (Bl., I., 453 and 461,
+note by Chitty; Vaughan, 180; 1 Leg. Gaz. R., 56).
+
+The mother of a "natural or illegitimate" child is its natural
+guardian, entitled to its control and custody and her settlement is
+its domicil (Bl., I., 459; 2 Kent, 216; 5 Term Rep., 278; Newton
+vs. Braintree, 14 Mass., 382).
+
+"Intestate personal property is divided equally between males and
+females, but a son, though younger than all his sisters, is the
+heir to the whole of real property" (Bl., I., 444, note by
+Christian).
+
+
+PENNSYLVANIA STATUTES AND COURT DECISIONS.
+
+This "perfection of reason" (the common law) has been changed in
+Pennsylvania in the following particulars:
+
+All women, married and single, are deprived of political rights by
+the use of the generic word "freeman" in the constitution (29 Legal
+Intelligencer, 5).
+
+Heir at common law is abolished by statute; however, the right to
+administer vests in the male in preference to the female of the
+same degree of consanguinity. Half-brothers are entitled to the
+preference over own sisters (Purdon, 410, 27; Single's Appeal, 59
+Penn. St. R., 55).
+
+Any property belonging to a woman before marriage, or which accrues
+to her during coverture by gift, bequest or purchase, continues, by
+the act of April 11, 1848, to be her separate property after
+marriage, and is not liable for the debts of her husband nor
+subject to his disposal without her written consent, duly
+acknowledged before one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas
+as voluntarily given; _provided_, that he is not liable for the
+debts contracted before or after marriage, or for her torts
+(Purdon's Dig., 1,005, 13).
+
+"This act protects the wife's interest in her separate property
+both as to title and possession," but "does not empower her to
+convey her real estate by a deed in which her husband has not
+joined," nor "create a lease without his concurrence," nor "execute
+an obligation for the payment of money or the performance of any
+other act," nor in any way dispose of her property save by gift or
+loan to him; she may bind her separate estate for his debts, and in
+security for the loan she may take a judgment or mortgage against
+the estate of the husband in the name of a third person, who shall
+act as her trustee (18 Penn. St. R., 506, 582; 21, 402; 1 Gr., 402;
+6 Phila., 531; Pur. Dig., 1,007, 21).
+
+The husband is the natural guardian or trustee of the property of
+the wife; but by application "to the Court of Common Pleas of the
+county where she was domiciled at the time of her marriage," the
+court will appoint a trustee (not her husband) to take charge of
+the property secured to her by the act of 1848. This act, however,
+does not authorize the appointment of a trustee, to the exclusion
+of her husband, of property owned by her prior to the passage of
+the act, nor was it intended to affect vested rights of husbands
+and does not protect them for the wife's benefit against the claims
+of creditors (10 Penn. St. Rep., 398 and 505; 18, 392 and 509; 21,
+260; 1 Jones, 272).
+
+In a clear case the wife's real estate cannot be levied upon and
+sold by a creditor of the husband, _but the burden of proof_ is
+upon her to show by evidence "which does not admit of a reasonable
+doubt," that she owned the property before marriage or acquired it
+subsequently by gift, bequest, or paid for it with funds not
+furnished by her husband nor the result of their joint earnings.
+The wife's possession of money is no evidence of her title to it
+(18 Penn. St. Rep., 366; 7 Phila., 118).
+
+If no property, or not sufficient property, of the husband can be
+found, the separate property and goods of the wife may be levied
+upon and sold for rent or for debts incurred for the support of the
+family (Purd. Dig., 1,006, 15; 38 Penn. St. Rep., 344).
+
+A married woman's bond and warrant of attorney are absolutely void,
+nor can she make a valid contract except for a sewing-machine or
+for the improvement of her separate property, and her bond given or
+a judgment confessed by her for such debt is void (24 Penn. St.
+Rep., 80; Act of 1872, Pur. Dig., 1,010).
+
+She may sell and transfer shares of the capital stock of any
+railroad company, but cannot herself or by attorney transfer
+certificates of city loan (28 Leg. Int., 116; Act June 2, 1871).
+
+A married woman cannot enforce her rights against third persons,
+either for the performance of a contract or the recovery of her
+property, without her husband join in the suit, although the party
+contracting with her is liable to an action (1 Gr., 21; Act of 1850
+and 1839; 6 Phila., 223).
+
+If divorced or separated from her husband by his neglect or
+desertion, she may protect her reputation by an action for slander
+and libel; but if her husband is the defendant, this suit, as also
+for alimony and divorce, must be in the name of a "next friend."
+She is entitled to a writ of _habeas corpus_ if unlawfully
+restrained of her liberty (Purd. Dig., 510, 12; 513, 24; 754, 1).
+
+The wife of a drunkard or profligate man by petitioning the Court
+of Common Pleas, setting forth these facts and his desertion of her
+and neglect to provide for her and their children, may be entitled
+to the custody of her children, and, as a "_feme sole trader_,"
+empowered to transact business and acquire a separate property,
+which shall be subject to her own disposal during life, and liable
+for the maintenance and education of her children. Her testimony
+must be sustained "by two respectable witnesses" (Pur. Dig., 692,
+5; Act of 1855, 2; 2 Roper, Husband and Wife, 171, 173).
+
+By act of April, 1872, any married woman having first petitioned
+the court, stating under oath or affirmation her intention of
+claiming her separate earnings, is entitled to acquire by her labor
+a separate property which shall not be subject to any legal claim
+of her husband or of his creditors, she, however, being compelled
+"to show title and ownership in the same." The husband's possession
+of property is evidence of his title to it; not so with the wife
+(Purd. Dig., 1,010, 38, 39; 4 Lansing, 164; 61 Barb., 145).
+
+A married woman may devise her separate property by will, subject,
+however, to the husband's curtesy, which in Pennsylvania attaches,
+though there be no issue born alive, and which she cannot bar
+(Purd. Dig., 806, 804; I Pars., 489; 26 Penn. St. R., 202, 203; 2
+Brewster, 302).
+
+The husband may bar the wife's dower by a _bona fide_ mortgage
+given by himself alone or by a judicial sale for the payment of his
+debts. It is also barred by a divorce obtained by her on the ground
+of his adultery, and in case of such divorce she is entitled to the
+value of one-half of the money and property which the husband
+received through her at marriage (Purd. Dig., 514; 2 Dall. 127; 12
+Serg. and R., 21; I Yeates Pa., 300).
+
+A single woman's will is revoked by her subsequent marriage, and is
+not again revived by the death of her husband; a single man's will
+is revoked by marriage absolutely only when he leaves a widow but
+no known heirs or kindred (Purd. Dig., 1,477, 18 and 19; 47 Penn.
+S. Rep., 144, 34, 483).
+
+If the husband die intestate leaving a widow and issue, the widow
+shall have one-third of his and their joint personalty absolutely,
+and one-third of the real estate for life; if there are no
+children, but collateral heirs, she is entitled to the use of
+one-half the realty, including the mansion-house, for her life, and
+one-half the personalty absolutely (Purd. Dig., 806, 2 and 3; Act
+of 1833, 1).
+
+If the wife die intestate leaving a husband and no issue, he is
+entitled to her entire personalty and realty during his life; if
+there are children her personal estate is divided between the
+husband and children share and share alike; in either case he is
+entitled to their entire joint estate (Purd. Dig., 806, 5; Act of
+1848, 9).
+
+Married women may be corporate members of any institution composed
+of and managed by women, having as its object the care and
+education of children or the support of sick and indigent women
+(Purd. Dig., 283; Act of 1859, 1).
+
+It is a crime, punishable by fine and imprisonment, to employ any
+woman to attend or wait upon an audience in a theater, opera or
+licensed entertainment, to procure or furnish commodities or
+refreshments (Purd. Dig., 337, 112).
+
+A man, by marriage, is subjected to no political, civil, legal or
+commercial disabilities, but acquires all the rights and powers
+previously vested in his wife. He is capable of all the offices of
+the government from that of postmaster to the presidency, and of
+transacting all kinds of business from the measuring of tape to the
+practice of the most learned professions. Woman, deprived of
+political power, is limited in opportunities for education, and, if
+married, is incapable of making a contract; hence crippled in the
+transaction of any kind of business.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+INDIANA.
+
+[A.]
+
+Governor Porter made the following novel appointment: On August 30,
+1882, Mrs. Georgia A. Ruggles, from Bartholomew county, presented
+to Governor Porter an application for a requisition from the
+governor of Indiana upon the governor of Kansas, for William J.
+Beck, charged with the crime of bigamy. Beck had been living a few
+months in Bartholomew county and had passed as an unmarried man;
+had gained the affections of a young lady much younger than himself
+and much superior to him by birth and education. After their
+marriage the fact that Beck had already one wife became known and
+he fled to Kansas. Mrs. Ruggles was a friend to the young lady who
+had been thus duped, and upon learning the facts she called the
+attention of the proper authorities to the matter, and begged them
+to effect Beck's arrest. They were not disposed to do so, and upon
+various excuses postponed action. She therefore determined to take
+the matter into her own hands. Governor Porter granted her the
+desired requisition; she went to Kansas, and on September 10, 1882,
+she received Beck from Samuel Hamilton, sheriff of Ellsworth
+county; she herself brought the prisoner, in cuffs, to Indiana,
+and, September 13, she delivered him into the hands of Thomas E.
+Burgess, sheriff of Bartholomew county. Beck was tried, convicted
+and sent to the penitentiary. This bit of justice was the fruit of
+a woman's pluck and a governor's good sense.
+
+
+EXTRACT FROM GEN. COBURN'S ADDRESS.
+
+The people expect that they will in their own way and time
+inaugurate such measures as will bring these questions in their
+entire magnitude into the arena. I hope to see 10,000 women in
+convention here. They can, if they will, create a public sentiment
+in favor of their enfranchisement that will be irresistible. They
+have the ears of the voters; they have access to the columns of the
+newspapers; they control all the avenues of social life. What can
+they not accomplish, if, with their whole hearts they set about it?
+The sphere of public life has many vacant places to be filled by
+women. Why shall they not serve upon the boards of trustees of our
+great reformatory and benevolent institutions, as superintendents
+in our hospitals, and as directors and inspectors in our prisons?
+The last legislature conferred upon them the right to hold any
+office in our great school system except one, that of State
+superintendent of public instruction. From them may now be
+selected, president of the State university, or of the Normal
+School, or of Purdue University, school commissioners and county
+superintendents. But the legislature should give them the power to
+rescue our prisons, hospitals and asylums from the indescribable
+horror of filth, neglect and cruelty which hangs like a murky cloud
+over many of them. Men have tried it and failed. Stupidity or
+partisanship or brutality or avarice, has transformed many a noble
+foundation of benevolence into a hell of abomination. Some one must
+step in to inspect; to enforce order, cleanliness and virtue; to
+bring comfort and hope to the downcast and to the outcast of
+society. This purpose must be backed up by the strong arm of power,
+by the sanction of the law, and that law must have upon it the
+stamp of woman's intellect. This year the women of Indiana can
+place themselves in the van of human progress and dictate the
+policy which mankind must recognize as just and true for ages to
+come. The public mind is not unprepared for this measure. The
+spread and the acceptance of great ideas is almost miraculous in
+intelligent communities.
+
+
+[B.]
+
+LEGAL OPINION BY W. D. WALLACE, ESQ., UPON THE POWER OF THE
+LEGISLATURE TO AUTHORIZE WOMEN TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
+
+_Capt. W. DeWitt Wallace, Attorney-at-law, Lafayette, Ind.:_
+
+DEAR SIR: You will confer a favor upon the friends of woman
+suffrage in Indiana, if you will send me, in writing, your opinion,
+as a lawyer, in answer to the following question, giving your
+reasons therefor: Can the legislature of this State empower women
+to vote for presidential electors?
+
+                               MARY F. THOMAS, _President I. W. S. A._
+
+_Richmond, Ind._, December 30, 1880.
+
+
+                                      LAFAYETTE, Ind., January 5, 1881.
+
+_Dr. Mary F. Thomas, President of Indiana Woman Suffrage
+Association, Richmond, Indiana:_
+
+DEAR MADAM: In your favor of the 30th ult., you ask my opinion
+upon, to me, a novel and most interesting question, viz.: "Can the
+legislature empower women to vote for presidential electors?" After
+the most careful consideration which I have been able to give to
+the subject, consistent with other duties, and with the aid of such
+books as I have at command, I answer your question in the
+affirmative. The grounds of my opinion I will proceed to state:
+Section 1, article 2, of the Constitution of the United States,
+which provides that the president and vice-president shall be
+chosen by electors appointed by the several States, declares in
+the following words how said electors shall be appointed:
+
+     Each State shall appoint in such manner as the legislature
+     thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole
+     number of senators and representatives to which said State may be
+     entitled in the congress, etc., etc.
+
+Now, in the absence of any provision in the State constitution,
+limiting or attempting to limit the discretion of the legislature
+as to the manner in which the presidential electors shall be
+chosen, there can be no doubt but that the legislature could
+empower female, as well as male, citizens to participate in the
+choice of presidential electors.
+
+Section 2, article 2 of our State constitution is as follows: In
+all elections, not otherwise provided for by this constitution,
+every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of
+twenty-one years, and upwards, who shall have resided in the State
+during the six months immediately preceding such election * * * *
+shall be entitled to vote in the township or precinct where he may
+reside.
+
+Two questions at once suggest themselves upon the reading of this
+section: _First_--Does the section apply to elections of
+presidential electors, and thus become a limitation upon the
+discretion of the legislature in case it shall direct the
+appointment of the electors by a popular vote? _Second_--If so, can
+a State constitution thus limit the discretion which the
+Constitution of the United States directs shall be exercised by the
+legislature? I shall consider the last question first.
+
+While the legislature is created by the State, all its powers are
+not derived from, nor are all its duties enjoined by the State. The
+moment the State brings the legislature into being, that moment
+certain duties enjoined, and certain powers conferred, by the
+nation, attach to it. Among the powers and duties of the
+legislature, which spring from the national constitution, is the
+power and duty of determining how the State shall appoint
+presidential electors. The Constitution of the United States
+declares in the most explicit terms that the State shall do this
+"in such manner as the legislature may direct." In the case of
+_Ex-Parte_ Henry E. Hayne, _et al._, reported in volume 9, at page
+106, of the Chicago Legal News, the Circuit Court of the United
+States for the district of South Carolina, in speaking of the
+authority upon which a State legislature acts in providing for the
+appointment of presidential electors, says:
+
+Section 1, article 2 of the constitution provides that electors
+shall be appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State
+may direct. When the legislature of a State, in obedience to that
+provision, has, by law, directed the manner of appointment of the
+electors, that law has its authorities solely from the Constitution
+of the United States. It is a law passed in pursuance of the
+constitution.
+
+Hon. James A. Garfield, who was a member of the Electoral
+Commission, in discussing before that body the source of the power
+to appoint electors, said:
+
+     The constitution prescribes that States only shall choose
+     electors. * * * To speak more accurately, I should say that the
+     power is placed in the legislatures of the States; for if the
+     constitution of any State were silent upon the subject, its
+     legislature is none the less armed with plenary authority
+     conferred upon it directly by the national
+     constitution.--[Electoral Commission, p. 242.
+
+That this section of the national constitution has always been
+understood to lodge an absolute discretion in the legislature, is
+proved by the practice in the different States. Chief Justice
+Story, in his "Commentaries on the Constitution of the United
+States," in speaking of this section of the constitution and the
+practice under it, says:
+
+     Under this authority, the appointment of electors has been
+     variously provided for by the State legislatures. In some States
+     the legislatures have directly chosen the electors by themselves;
+     in others they have been chosen by the people by a general ticket
+     throughout the whole State, and in others by the people in
+     electoral districts fixed by the legislature, a certain number of
+     electors being apportioned to each district. No question has ever
+     arisen as to the constitutionality of either mode, except that of
+     a direct choice by the legislature. But this, though often
+     doubted by able and ingenious minds, has been firmly established
+     in practice ever since the adoption of the constitution, and does
+     not now seem to admit of controversy, even if a suitable tribunal
+     existed to adjudicate upon it.--[2 Story on Constitution, section
+     1,472.
+
+Judge Strong, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the
+United States, and a member of the electoral commission, in
+discussing the subject of this section, says:
+
+     I doubt whether they [the framers of the national constitution]
+     had in mind at all [in adopting this section] the idea of a
+     popular election as a mode of appointing State electors. They
+     used the word _appoint_, doubtless thinking that the legislatures
+     of the States would themselves select the electors, or empower
+     the governor or some other State officer to select them. The word
+     appoint is not the most appropriate word for describing the
+     result of a popular election. Such a mode of appointment, I
+     submit is allowable, but there is little reason to think it was
+     contemplated. * * * It was not until years afterward that the
+     electors were chosen by vote.--[Electoral Commission, p. 252.
+
+Senator Frelinghuysen, also a member of the Electoral Commission,
+thus speaks of the practice in the several States:
+
+     Under this power [the power given by the section of the national
+     constitution, which we are now considering] the legislature might
+     direct that the electors should be appointed by the legislature,
+     by the executive, by the judiciary, or by the people. In the
+     earliest days of the republic, electors were appointed by the
+     legislatures. In Pennsylvania they were appointed by the
+     judiciary. Now, in all the States except Colorado, they are
+     appointed by the people.--[Electoral Commission, p. 204.
+
+If then it be true that the power to determine how the presidential
+electors shall be appointed is derived from the national
+constitution, and that power is a discretionary one, to be
+exercised in such manner as the legislature may direct, how can it
+be said that a State constitution can limit or control the
+legislative discretion? If the State can limit that discretion in
+one respect it can limit it in another, and in another, and in
+another, until it may shut up the legislature to but a single mode
+of appointment, which is to take away, and absolutely destroy all
+its discretion, and this is nullification, pure and simple. One of
+the questions before the electoral commission in the case of South
+Carolina, was whether the electoral vote of that State should not
+be rejected because the legislature, in providing for the
+appointment of the electors, had failed to obey a requirement of
+the State constitution in regard to a registry law. This raised, in
+principle, the very question we are now considering, and on that
+question Senator O. P. Morton, who was a member of the commission,
+and who was an able lawyer as well as a great statesman, thus
+expressed himself:
+
+     They [the presidential electors] are to be appointed in the
+     manner prescribed by the legislature of the State, and not by the
+     constitution of the State. The manner of the appointment of
+     electors has been placed by the Constitution of the United States
+     in the legislature of each State, and cannot be taken from that
+     body by the provisions of a State constitution. * * * The power
+     to appoint electors by a State, is conferred by the Constitution
+     of the United States, and does not spring from a State
+     constitution, and cannot be impaired or controlled by a State
+     constitution.--[Electoral Commission, p. 200.
+
+The distinguished lawyer and statesman [Hon. William Lawrence] who
+made the principle argument before the commission in favor of
+admitting the vote of the State, took the same ground (Electoral
+Commission, p. 186).
+
+The opinion of Justice Story, expressed in the Massachusetts
+constitutional convention of 1820, on a very similar question, and
+one involving the same principle, quoted by Mr. Lawrence in his
+argument, is very high authority, and I reproduce it here. He
+(Justice Story) said:
+
+     The question then was whether we have a right to insert in our
+     constitution a provision which controls or destroys a discretion
+     which may be, nay _must_ be, exercised by the legislature in
+     _virtue_ of _powers confided_ to it by the Constitution of the
+     United States. The fourth section of the first article of the
+     Constitution of the United States declares that the times, places
+     and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives
+     shall be prescribed by the legislature thereof. Here an express
+     provision was made for the manner of choosing representatives by
+     the State legislatures. They have an _unlimited_ discretion on
+     the subject. They may provide for an election in districts
+     sending more than one, or by general ticket for the whole State.
+     Here is a general discretion, a power of choice. What is the
+     proposition on the table? It is to limit the discretion, to leave
+     no choice to the legislature, to compel representatives to be
+     chosen in districts; in other words to compel them to be chosen
+     in a specific manner, excluding all others. Were not this plainly
+     a violation of the constitution? Does it not affect to control
+     the legislature in the exercise of its powers? * * * It assumes a
+     control over the legislature, which the Constitution of the
+     United States does not justify. It is bound to exercise its
+     authority according to its _own view_ of _public policy_ and
+     _principle_; and yet this proposition compels it to surrender all
+     discretion. In my humble judgment * * * it is a direct and
+     palpable infringement of the constitutional provisions to which I
+     have referred.--[Electoral Commission, p. 186.
+
+The conclusion seems irresistible that a State constitution cannot
+determine for the legislature who shall, or shall not, participate
+in the choice of presidential electors, and that in so far as our
+State constitution may attempt to do so, it is an infringement of
+the national constitution. The discretion of the legislature, by
+virtue of the supreme law of the land, being (except in so far as
+it is controlled by the national constitution itself) thus
+absolutely unlimited, it may, without doubt, as I think, authorize
+all citizens without regard to sex, to participate in the choice of
+presidential electors. But it has been suggested to me that
+possibly by the State legislature, as used in the section of the
+national constitution which we have been considering, was meant the
+whole people of the State in whom the legislative power originally
+resides and not the organized legislative body which they may
+create. We answer first that the language of the section will not
+admit of this construction. It clearly recognizes a distinction
+between the State or the people of the State, and its legislature.
+The language is not "each State shall appoint in such manner as
+_it_ may direct," etc., but it is, "each State shall appoint in
+such manner as the _legislature_ thereof may direct," etc.
+
+Again, it is a familiar canon of construction that in determining
+the meaning of a statute, recourse may be had to the history of the
+times in which it was enacted. When the Constitution of the United
+States was framed, all of the States had organized legislatures, or
+representative bodies who wielded the legislative power, and
+without doing violence to language, we must suppose that it was to
+_them_ the constitution referred. Again, the State legislatures are
+referred to not less than ten times in the national constitution,
+and in each instance the reference is such as to make it clear that
+the organized representative bodies are intended, and in article 5
+they are, in express terms, distinguished from conventions of the
+States. Indeed, the fundamental idea of the American government is
+that of a representative republic as opposed to a pure democracy,
+and it may well be doubted whether a State government, without a
+representative legislative body of some kind, would, in the
+American sense, be republican in form.
+
+Finally, it is apparent from the debates in the constitutional
+convention which framed the constitution, and from the whole plan
+devised for the election of president and vice-president, that it
+was not intended by the framers of the constitution to commit
+directly to the whole people of a State the authority to determine
+how the presidential electors should be chosen. Nothing seems to
+have given the convention more trouble than the mode of selecting a
+president. Many plans were proposed. Chief among these were:
+election by congress; election by the executives of the States;
+election by the people; election by the State legislatures; and
+election by electors. These were presented in many forms. The
+convention decided not less than three times, and once by a
+unanimous vote, in favor of election by the national congress, and
+as often reconsidered it (2 Madison Papers, pp. 770, 1,124, 1,190).
+The proposition that the president should be elected directly by
+the people, instead of by the national congress, received but one
+vote, while the proposition that he should be appointed by the
+State legislatures received two votes (2 Madison Papers, p. 1,124).
+The most cursory examination of the debates will, I think, convince
+any mind that it was to the _organized_ legislature of the State,
+and not to the people of a State, that the framers of the
+constitution intended to commit the power of determining how the
+presidential electors should be chosen. It seems, both from the
+debates and the plan adopted, to have been their studied effort to
+prevent the people from acting in the choice of their chief
+magistrate otherwise than through their representatives, and in no
+single step of the process are the people directly required or
+authorized by the national constitution to act, but in every
+instance the duty and the authority are devolved upon their
+representatives. For these reasons I think it clear that it was
+intended to invest the organized State legislatures with the power
+of determining how the presidential electors should be chosen, and
+that the discretion thus lodged in the legislature cannot be
+limited or controlled by a State constitution.
+
+                                             W. DE WITT WALLACE.
+
+
+[C.]
+
+In 1868, the Indiana (Friends) Yearly Meeting appointed Mrs. Sarah
+J. Smith of Indianapolis, and Mrs. Rhoda M. Coffin of Richmond, to
+visit the prisons of the State, with a view to ascertain the spirit
+of the management of these institutions, and the moral condition of
+their inmates. In obedience to this appointment the two ladies
+visited both of the State prisons of Indiana, and made a
+particularly thorough examination of the condition of the Southern
+prison (at Jeffersonville) where all our women convicts were kept.
+Here they found the vilest immoralities being practiced; they
+discovered that the rumors which had induced their appointment were
+far surpassed by the revolting facts.
+
+They visited Gov. Conrad Baker and urged him to recommend the
+General Assembly to make an appropriation for a separate prison for
+women. With the full sympathy of Governor Baker, who was not only a
+most honorable gentleman, but a sincere believer in the equal
+political rights of women, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Coffin appeared
+before the legislature of 1869, and by an unvarnished account of
+what they had witnessed and learned in the Southern prison, they
+aroused the legislators to immediate action, and an act to
+establish a "Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls" was
+passed at that session (viz., that of 1869). By statute the new
+institution was located at Indianapolis. It was opened in 1873, the
+first separate prison for women in this country. Mrs. Sarah J.
+Smith was made its first superintendent, and she retained that
+office, discharging all its duties with great ability, until 1883,
+when upon her resignation she was succeeded by Mrs. Elmina S.
+Johnson, who had up to that time been associated with Mrs. Smith as
+assistant superintendent.
+
+The first managing board of women consisted of Mrs. Eliza C.
+Hendricks (wife of Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks who was governor of
+Indiana on the opening of the prison), Mrs. Rhoda M. Coffin and
+Mrs. Emily A. Roach. The changes upon the board have been so
+infrequent that in addition to those on the first board and to
+those on the board at present, only three ladies can be mentioned
+in this connection, viz.: Mrs. Eliza S. Dodd of Indianapolis, Mrs.
+Mary E. Burson (a banker of Muncie) and Mrs. Sarah J. Smith, who,
+after resigning the superintendency, served on the board for a
+brief time.
+
+The board at present consists of Mrs. Eliza C. Hendricks,
+president, Mrs. Claire A. Walker and Mrs. M. M. James. From the
+opening of this institution Mrs. Hendricks has been connected with
+it; first as a member of the advisory board, for eight years a
+member of the managing board and during a large part of the time
+its president, she has served its interest with singular fidelity.
+The position is no sinecure. The purchasing of all the supplies is
+only a part of the board's work; the business meetings are held
+monthly and often occupy half a day, sometimes an entire day. These
+Mrs. Hendricks always attends whether she is in Indianapolis or in
+Washington; from the latter point she has many times journeyed in
+weather most inclement by heat and by cold, simply to look after
+the prison and to transact the business for it imposed by her
+position on its board. During the last eight years, since women
+have had control of its affairs, Miss Anna Dunlop of Indianapolis
+has served the institution as its secretary and treasurer. Perhaps
+the highest tribute that can be paid to the ability with which Miss
+Dunlop has discharged the responsible and complicated duties of her
+double office, lies in the fact that with the General Assembly of
+the State it has passed into a proverb that "The Woman's
+Reformatory is the best and most economically managed of the State
+institutions." The committees appointed to visit the penal
+institutions always report that "The accounts of the reformatory
+are kept so accurately that its financial status can always be
+understood at a glance."
+
+This institution has two distinct departments, the penal and the
+reformatory, occupying two sides of one main building and joined
+under one management. Convicts above sixteen years of age are
+ranked as women and confined in the penal department; those under
+sixteen years are accounted girls (children) and lodged in the
+reformatory department.
+
+The average number of girls in the institution from its opening has
+been 150; the number of women 45. There are now (July, 1885,) over
+200 inmates.
+
+All of the work of the institution is done by its inmates. A school
+is maintained in the building for the children; a few trades are
+taught the girls; all are taught housework, laundry work, plain
+sewing and mending; the greatest pains is taken to form in the
+inmates habits of industry and personal tidiness, and to prepare
+them to be good servants; and when their period of incarceration
+has expired, the ladies interest themselves in finding homes and
+employment for the discharged convicts whom they seek to restore to
+normal relations to society. The secretary estimates that of those
+who have been discharged from the institution during the last
+twelve years, fully seventy-five per cent. have been really
+restored and are leading honest and industrious lives.
+
+
+[D.]
+
+GOV. PORTER'S BIENNIAL MESSAGE, 1883: "I recommend that in the
+department for women in this hospital it shall be required by law
+that at least one of the physicians shall be a woman. There are now
+in this State not a few women who bear diplomas from respectable
+medical colleges, and who are qualified by professional attainments
+and experience to fill places as physicians in public institutions
+with credit and usefulness. It would be peculiarly fit that their
+services should be sought in cases of insanity among members of
+their own sex."
+
+
+[E.]
+
+About the year 1867, Miss Lucinda B. Jenkins, formerly of Wayne
+county, Indiana, left her work among the "Freedmen" in the South,
+to accept the position of matron in "The Soldiers' Orphans' Home"
+at Knightstown, Indiana. She afterwards became the wife of Dr.
+Wishard, the superintendent; and when the office was vacated by his
+death, she was authorized to assume his responsibilities, and
+perform his duties, with the exception of receipting bills and
+drawing appropriations, which latter duties, not being then
+considered as within the province of a woman, were delegated to the
+steward until the doctor's successor could be legally appointed.
+
+She was a lady of intelligence and true moral worth, possessing a
+dignified, pleasing manner, and other good qualities, which, with
+her long experience as co-manager of the institution, admirably
+fitted her for the position of superintendent; but she was a woman,
+without a vote or political influence, and it was necessary that
+"party debts" should be paid. She therefore continued her influence
+for the good of the institution without public recognition until
+1882, when she left to take charge of a private orphan asylum under
+the management of ladies of Indianapolis.
+
+
+[F.]
+
+Miss Susan Fussell is the daughter of the late Dr. B. Fussell of
+Philadelphia, to whom, with his estimable wife, women are indebted
+as the founder of the first medical college for women in the United
+States. At that period of our civil war, when women were admitted
+to the hospitals as nurses, Miss Fussell was at her brother's home
+at Pendleton, Indiana. She immediately volunteered her services,
+and was assigned to duty by the Indiana sanitary commission in the
+military hospitals in Louisville, Kentucky, where she served
+faithfully until the close of the war, giving the bloom of her
+youth to her country without hope of reward other than that which
+comes to all as the result of self-sacrificing devotion to the
+cause of humanity.
+
+At the close of the war she returned to Philadelphia, but learning
+soon that an effort was being made to induce the State of Indiana
+to provide a home for the soldiers' orphans, she again offered her
+services in any useful capacity in that work. A benevolent
+gentleman of Indianapolis who had been most urgent in calling the
+attention of the officers of the State to their duty in that
+matter, finding that there was no hope, offered to furnish Miss
+Fussell with the money necessary to clothe, rear, educate and care
+for a family of ten orphans of soldiers, and bring them up to
+maturity, if she would furnish the motherly love, the years of hard
+labor and self-sacrifice, the sleepless nights and endless patience
+needed for the work. After a few days of prayerful consideration
+she accepted, and in the fall of 1865 ten orphans were gathered
+together in Indianapolis from various parts of the State from among
+those who had no friends able or willing to care for them. In the
+spring of 1866 they were removed to the Soldiers' Home near
+Knightstown, where a small cottage and garden were assigned to
+their use. In 1875, she placed the older boys in houses where their
+growing strength could be better utilized, and moved with the girls
+and younger boys to Spiceland to secure the benefit of better
+schools. In 1877, all of the ten but one were self-supporting, and
+have since taken useful and respectable positions in society. The
+one exception was a little feeble-minded boy, who, with his
+brother, had been found in the county poor-house; his condition and
+wants very soon impressed her with the necessity for a State home
+for feeble-minded children in Indiana, it having been found
+necessary to send this boy to another State to be educated.
+He is now in a neighboring State institution, and is almost
+self-supporting. With her usual energy and directness, she went to
+work to gather statistics on the subject of "Feeble-minded
+Children" in this and other States, and to interest others in their
+welfare. She at last found an active co-worker in Charles Hubbard,
+the representative from Henry county in the legislature, and their
+united efforts, aided by other friends of the cause, secured in
+1876 the enactment of the law establishing the Home for
+Feeble-minded Children, now in operation near Knightstown, Indiana.
+
+Having seen all her children well provided for, she began to look
+for further work, and soon conceived the idea of taking the
+children from the county poor-houses of the State and forming them
+into families. She offered to take the children in the Henry county
+poor-house and provide for them home, food, clothing and education,
+for the small sum of twenty-five cents per day for each child,
+which her experience had proven to be the smallest sum that would
+accomplish the good she desired; but the county commissioners would
+only allow her twenty cents per day. She accepted their terms,
+furnishing the deficit from her own means, and so earnest was she
+and so completely did she demonstrate the superiority of her plan
+for the care of these children, that she interested many others in
+the work, and the result was the passage of a law by the
+legislature of 1880-1881, giving to county commissioners the right
+to place their destitute children under the care of a matron,
+giving her sole charge of them and full credit for her work, and
+providing for her salary and their support. Under that law Miss
+Fussell now has all the destitute children of Henry county under
+her care, and has created a model orphans' home. Thus has this one
+woman been a power for good, and by following in the direct line of
+her duty, has been obliged to "meddle in the affairs of State" and
+to influence legislation.
+
+If in giving this sketch we have exceeded the limits allotted us,
+let us remember that our subject represents thousands of noble
+women who care rather that their light shall carry with it comfort
+and warmth, than be noted for its brilliancy, and who, having no
+voice in the government, are obliged to work out their beneficent
+ideas with much unnecessary labor.
+
+
+[G.]
+
+The friends of woman's equality addressed the following petition to
+each member of the State legislature:
+
+Being personally acquainted with Mrs. SARAH A. OREN, and knowing
+her to be a woman of refinement and culture, we can consistently
+urge upon you a favorable consideration of her claims as a
+candidate for election to the office of State librarian. She has
+had the benefit of a collegiate education, and has been for several
+years a successful teacher in Antioch College and in the public
+high-school of Indianapolis. She is mainly dependent on her own
+labor for the means to support and educate her children, who were
+_made fatherless by a rebel bullet_ at the siege of Petersburg. Her
+education and experience have admirably fitted her for the
+discharge of all the duties of the office of State librarian; and
+by electing her to that office, the Republican party will secure a
+faithful and efficient officer, and have the pleasure of making
+another payment on the debt we owe to the widows and orphans of
+those who died that our country might live.[586]
+
+Mrs. Oren was elected to the office of State librarian and
+performed the duties belonging to it with great efficiency and
+fidelity. She has been succeeded by Mrs. Margaret Peele, Mrs. Emma
+A. Winsor and Miss Lizzie H. Callis.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+MINNESOTA.
+
+[A.]
+
+In the early days, long before the organization of either State or
+local societies, there were, besides those mentioned in the main
+chapter, a few earnest women who were ever ready to subscribe for
+suffrage papers and circulate tracts and petitions to congress and
+the State legislature, whose names should be honored with at least
+a mention on the page of history. Among them were: Mrs. Addie
+Ballou, Mrs. Ellis White, Mrs. Eliza Dutcher, Mrs. Sarah Clark,
+Miss Amelia Heebner, Miss Emily A. Emerson, Mrs. Mary F. Mead, Mrs.
+E. M. O'Brien, Miss Ellen C. Thompson, Miss R. J. Haner, Mrs. Mary
+Hulett, Mrs. Gorham Powers, Mrs. C. A. Hotchkiss, Mrs. Emma Wilson,
+Mrs. Mary Wilkins, Mrs. Anna D. Weeks, Mrs. Mary Leland, Mrs. Susan
+C. Burger, Mrs. A. R. Lovejoy, and others.
+
+
+[B.]
+
+Of the seventy-six organized counties in Minnesota we give the
+following partial list of those that have elected women to the
+office of superintendent of public schools: _Mille Lacs County_,
+Olive R. Barker; _Pine_, Ella Gorton; _Lac Qui Parle_, Malena P.
+Kirley; _Anoka_, Mrs. Catharine J. Pierce, Mrs. Ellen Conforth,
+Miss Dailey; _Benton_, Mrs. Belle Graham, Mrs. E. K. Whitney;
+_Cottonwood_, Mrs. E. C. Huntington, Mrs. B. J. Banks, Mrs. L.
+Huntington; _Dodge_, Mrs. Mary Powell Wheeler, Mrs. P. L. Dart,
+Mrs. J. W. Willard, Barbara Van Allen; _Dakota_, Mrs. Martha
+Wallace, Harriet E. Jones, Mrs. C. H. Day, Mrs. C. Teachout, Nellie
+Duff, Mary Mather, Anna Manners, Jennie Horton; _Freeborn_, Mrs. J.
+B. Foote, Mrs. D. R. Hibbs, Mrs. A. W. Johnson, Mrs. J. H.
+Pickard; _Fillmore_, Charlotte Taeor, Margaret Hood, Mrs. M. E.
+Molstad, Mrs. A. E. Harsh; _Fairbault_, Jane Harris, Georgia Adams,
+Mrs. A. B. Thorp, Mrs. Levi Crump, Mrs. R. C. Smith, Mary Rumage,
+Mrs. L. A. Scott; _Goodhue_, Mrs. H. A. Hobart; _Brown_, Mrs. O. B.
+Ingraham; _Douglass_, Mrs. M. C. Lewis, Mrs. J. B. Van Hoesen, Mrs.
+Trask; _Houston_, Mrs. Annie M. Carpenter; _Hennepin_, Angelina
+Dupont, Mrs. M. F. Taylor; _Lyon_, Louise M. Ferro, M. D., Mrs. W.
+C. Robinson, Mertie Caley; _Mower_, Mrs. W. H. Parker, Mrs. V. J.
+Duffy, Mrs. J. F. Rockwell, Mrs. E. Hoppin, Sarah M. Dean;
+_Marshall_, Mrs. L. H. Stone; _Meeker_, Mrs. A. R. Jackman, Mrs.
+Orin Whitney, Mary E. Ferguson; _Martin_, Mrs. J. W. Fuller, Mrs.
+M. E. St. John, Mary E. Harvey, Mary A. McLean; _Olmstead_, Adelle
+Moore, Jane Haggerty, Mrs. R. S. Carver; _Polk_, Mrs. M. C. Perrin,
+Mrs. J. A. Barnum; _Ramsey_, Mrs. B. McGuire, Annie E. Dunn; _St.
+Louis_, Sarah Burger Stearns; _Winona_, Dr. Adaline Williams;
+_Stevens_ county reports one lady serving as school-district
+treasurer; _Otter Tail_ county reports six ladies serving in
+different places; _Wright_ county, four serving as clerks of
+school-districts; and in _Beeker_ county it is said ladies
+sometimes serve as deputies during their husbands' absence.
+
+
+[C.]
+
+In a volume edited by Harriet N. R. Arnold, entitled, "The Poets
+and Poetry of Minnesota," published in 1864, are the following
+names: Mrs. Laura E. Bacon Hunt, Mrs. Emily F. Bugbee Moore, Miss
+Eleanor C. Donnelly, Miss Jane Gray Fuller, Mrs. E. M. Harris, Miss
+Ninetta Maine, Mrs. J. R. McMasters, Harriet E. Bishop, Irene
+Galloway, Mary R. Lyon, Miss M. E. Pierson Smith, Mrs. Helen L.
+Pandergast, Julia A. A. Wood. Among the later writers possessing
+true poetic genius are Mrs. Julia Cooley Carruth, Miss Eva J.
+Stickney, Miss Jennie E. M. Caine, Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller.
+
+Among the authors who sent their books to the New Orleans
+Exposition in 1885, are Frances A. Shaw, Marion Shaw, Minnie May
+Lee, Eleanor G. Donnelly, Mrs. M. M. Sanford, Mrs. Julia Wood, Edna
+A. Barnard, Mrs. Arnold, Miss Franc E. Babbett, Mrs. Henderson,
+Miss Campbell, Mrs. C. H. Plummer, Mrs. Will E. Haskell, Mrs. Delia
+Whitney Norton, Maria A. Drew, Mrs. Jennie Lynch, Miss Mary A.
+Cruikshank.
+
+
+[D.]
+
+Mrs. Winchell, wife of the president of the Minnesota State
+University, kindly sent us the names of the fifty-six young women
+who were graduated from that institution between 1875 and 1885:
+Class of '75, Helen Mar Ely; '76, Martha Butler; '77, Matilda J.
+Campbell, Viola Fuller, Charlotte A. Rollet, Mary A. Maes; '78,
+Mary Robinson, Nettie Getchel; '79, Marian H. Roe, Caroline Rollet,
+Martha J. West, Evelyn May Champlin, Etta Medora Eliot; '80, Lizzie
+A. House, Bessie S. Lawrence, Minnie Reynolds, Lillian Todd, Cora
+Inez Brown; '81, Emily Hough, Diana Burns, Sarah E. Palmer, Lilla
+Ruth Williams; '82, Carrie Holt, Lydia Holt, Mary Eliza Holt, Alice
+E. Demmon, Louise Lillian Hilbourn, Emily D. McMillan, Ada Eva
+Pillsbury, Agnes V. Bonniwell, Grace W. Curtis, Marie Louise Henry,
+Mary Nancy Hughes, Carrie D. Fletcher; '83, Annie Harriet
+Jefferson, Kate Louise Kennedy, Sarah Pierrepont McNair, Anna
+Calista Marston, Janet Nunn, Emma Frances Trussell, Helen Louise
+Pierce, Martha Sheldon, Louise E. Hollister, Emma J. Ware; '84,
+Hannah Sewall, Susie Sewall, Anna Bonfoy, Bessie Latho, Addie
+Kingsbury, Belle Bradford, Emma Twinggi; '85, Mary Benton, Bertha
+Brown, Ida Mann, Mary Irving, Mabel Smith.
+
+Among the women who have been successful as preceptresses in the
+State University are: Helen Sutherland, M. A., Mrs. Augusta Norwood
+Smith, Matilda J. Campbell, B. L., Maria L. Sanford.
+
+Among the teachers in the normal schools of the State are the
+following:
+
+_Winona_--Martha Brechbill, Sophia L. Haight, Jennie Ellis, Sarah
+E. Whittaker, Kate L. Sprague, Vienna Dodge, Ada L. Mitchell, Anna
+C. Foekens, Rena M. Mead, Mary E. Couse, B. S.
+
+_Mankato Normal School_--Helen M. Philips, Defransa A. Swan, Anna
+McCutcheon, Genevieve S. Hawley, Mary E. Hutcheson, Eliza A.
+Cheney, Charity A. Green, M. Adda Holton.
+
+_St. Cloud Normal School_--Isabel Lawrence, Ada A. Warner, Minnie
+F. Wheelock, Rose A. Joclin, Mary L. Wright, Kittie W. Allen.
+Nearly all of the above-named teachers were graduated from Eastern
+colleges and universities.
+
+Women occupy the same positions as men and receive corresponding
+salaries. A recent report of Minneapolis schools names fifteen
+women in the High School receiving from $650 to $900 per year;
+twelve principals of ward schools, receiving from $750 to $1,000;
+and eleven primary principals receiving from $650 to $800. At St.
+Paul there were reported two principals getting $1,200 each, two
+getting $900, and twelve others getting $600 each; of the five lady
+assistants in the High School, one received $900, one $800, and
+three received $700 each. The principal of the High School at
+Duluth receives $750 per annum, and some of the assistants and
+principals of ward schools, $600.
+
+Miss Sarah E. Sprague, a graduate of St. Lawrence University, and
+of the Normal and Training School at Oswego, N. Y., has been
+employed since August, 1884, by the State Department of Public
+Instruction, for institute work, at a salary of $1,260 per year and
+expenses. Miss Sprague is a lady of rare ability and an honor to
+her profession.
+
+Prominent among private schools for young ladies is the Bennett
+Seminary at Minneapolis, Mrs. B. B. Bennett, principal; also the
+Wasioja Seminary, Mrs. C. B. P. Lang, preceptress, and Miss M. V.
+Paine, instructor in music. The services of Miss Mary E. Hutcheson
+have been highly valued as instructor in vocal music and elocution
+in the Mankato Normal School. Miss Florence Barton at Minneapolis,
+Mrs. Emily Moore of Duluth, are excellent teachers of music, and
+Miss Zella D'Unger, of elocution.
+
+Prominent among the kindergarten schools is that of Mrs. D. V. S.
+Brown at St. Paul; Mrs. Mary Dowse, Duluth; Miss Endora Hailman,
+Winona. The latter is director of the kindergarten connected with
+the Winona State Normal School. Miss Fannie Wood, Miss Kate E.
+Barry, Miss Ella P. McWhorter and Miss Abby E. Axtell, are reported
+as having rendered very efficient service as teachers in the State
+Deaf and Dumb Asylum; Miss Mary Kirk, Miss Alice Mott and Miss Emma
+L. Rohow are spoken of as having been earnest and devoted teachers
+in the State Institution for the Blind.
+
+Mrs. Viola Fuller Miner of Minneapolis, graduated from the State
+University, has long been known as a teacher and writer of much
+ability. Her pen never touches the suffrage question except to its
+advantage. Miss Eloise Butler, teaching in the High School of the
+same city, would gladly have lent her personal aid to suffrage work
+had time and strength permitted. We have at least the blessing of
+her membership and influence. Mrs. Sadie Martin, likewise a teacher
+of advanced classes and an easy writer, will be remembered as the
+first president of the local suffrage society of Minneapolis, and
+one much devoted to its interests. Mrs. Maggie McDonald, formerly a
+teacher at Rochester and long a resident of St. Paul, has ever been
+a devoted friend of the suffrage cause--commenced work as long ago
+as '69, and is to-day unflagging in hope and zeal. Mrs. Caroline
+Nolte of the same city, though much occupied as a teacher in the
+High School, still found time to aid in forming the St. Paul
+Suffrage Society. Miss Helen M. McGowan, a teacher at Owatonna, is
+spoken of as "a grand woman who believes in the ballot as a means
+to higher ends." Miss S. A. Mayo, a lady of fine culture and a
+successful teacher of elocution, was also an active member of this
+society while in the city. Miss Clara M. Coleman, a classical
+scholar from Michigan University, for one year principal of the
+Duluth High School, was a believer in equal rights for all and did
+not hesitate to say so. Miss Louise Hollister, a graduate of the
+Minnesota University, is Miss Coleman's successor and a friend of
+suffrage for women, with an educational qualification; she is
+vice-president of the Equal Rights League of Duluth. Miss Jenny
+Lind Gowdy, graduated from the Winona Normal School, is an
+excellent primary principal who teaches her pupils that girls
+should have the same rights and privileges as boys--no more, no
+less.
+
+
+[E.]
+
+The names of the women who have been admitted to the Minnesota
+State Medical Society are: Clara E. Atkinson, Ida Clark, Mary G.
+Hood, A. M. Hunt, Harriet E. Preston, Belle M. Walrath, Annes F.
+Wass, Lizzie R. Wass, Mary Twoddy Whetsone.
+
+Among the women who have practiced medicine in Minnesota are:
+Catharine Underwood Jewell, Lake City; E. M. Roys, Rochester;
+Harriet E. Preston, M. Mason, Mary E. Emery, Jennie Fuller, Clara
+E. Atkinson, St. Paul; Mary G. Hood, Mary J. Twoddy Whetsone, R. C.
+Henderson, A. M. Hunt, Adele S. Hutchinson, Mary L. Swain, D. A.
+Coombe, Minneapolis; E. M. Roys, Mary Whitney, Ida S. Clark,
+Rochester; Augusta L. Rosenthal, Winona; Fannie E. Holden, Anna
+Brockway Gray, Duluth.
+
+The board of officers of the Sisters of Bethany has for many years
+consisted of: _President_, Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve;
+_Vice-President_, Mrs. Euphemia N. Overlock; _Secretary_, Mrs.
+Harriet G. Walker; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Abbie G. Mendenhall.
+
+The city of Minneapolis takes the lead of all others in the State
+in the number of its benevolent institutions. It has its Woman's
+Industrial Exchange, as an aid to business women; its Woman's Home,
+or pleasant boarding-house; for the care of sick women, its
+Northwestern Woman's Hospital and training-school for nurses; also
+a homeopathic hospital for women; for the care of homeless infants,
+its Foundlings' Home; for unfortunate girls, its Bethany Home. All
+of these institutions are in the hands of the best of women. Among
+the most active are: Mrs. M. B. Lewis, Miss Abby Adair, Mrs. O. A.
+Pray, Mrs. J. M. Robinson, Mrs. John Edwards, Mrs. L. Christian,
+Mrs. S. W. Farnham, Mrs. Wm. Harrison, Mrs. H. M. Carpenter, Mrs.
+D. Morrison, Mrs. John Crosby, Mrs. George B. Wright, Mrs. Moses
+Marston, Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve, Mrs. T. B. Walker, Dr. Mary
+S. Whetsone, Mrs. C. S. Winchell, Dr. Mary G. Hood, Mrs. R. W.
+Jordan, Miss A. M. Henderson.
+
+In the city of Duluth there is a woman's home unlike any other in
+the State. It is managed by a corporate body of ladies known as
+home missionaries. The charter members are: Sarah B. Stearns, Laura
+Coppernell, Jennie C. Swanstrom, Fanny H. Anthony, Olive Murphy,
+Flora Davey, Jennie S. Lloyd, Fannie E. Holden, M. D. The work of
+this corporation is to seek out all poor women needing temporary
+shelter and employment. The classes chiefly cared for are poor
+widows and deserted wives, and such small children as may belong to
+them; also over-worked young women who may need a temporary
+resting-place; also young girls thrown suddenly upon their own
+resources without knowledge of how to care for themselves. These
+ladies care also for the unfortunate of another class, but in a
+retired place, unmarked by any sign. They prefer that to the usual
+plan of caring for the victims of men.
+
+
+[F.]
+
+Portrait and landscape-painters in oil and water-colors, who give
+promise of success: _Minneapolis_, Miss Clara V. Shaw, Miss Mary E.
+Neagle, Mrs. Frank Painter, Miss Mary Dunn, Mrs. Irene W. Clark,
+Miss C. M. Lenora, Mrs. Arthur Clark, Mrs. A. M. West, Miss Myra H.
+Twitchell, Mrs. A. L. Loring, Miss Luella Gurney, Mrs. Charles
+Fairfield, Mrs. A. T. Rand, Miss E. Robeson, Miss Helen Goodwin,
+Mrs. Sarah E. Corbett, Mrs. Lucille Hunkle, Miss Mary Kennedy, Mrs.
+Frances A. Pray. Mrs. W. B. Mead, Miss Flora Edwards, Mrs. Knight,
+Mrs. I. W. Mauley, Mrs. M. P. Hawkins; _St. Paul_, Miss Florence M.
+Cole, Miss Mary Hollingshead, Miss A. M. Shavre, Miss Alice
+Chandler, Mrs. Martha Griggs, Miss L. B. West, Mrs. Knox, Mrs.
+Theodosia Rose Cleveland, Mrs. Genevieve Jefferson, Mrs. C. B.
+Grant, Jennie Lynch, Miss Wilson, Miss Lilla Inness, Mrs. George
+Eastman, Mrs. Paine, Mrs. Fannie Smith, Miss Alice Page, Mrs.
+Hunter; _Winona_, Mrs. W. Ely, Mrs. Ella Newell, Miss D. E. Barr;
+_Lake City_, Mrs. H. B. Sargent, Mrs. J. G. Richardson, Bessie
+Milliken; _Stillwater_, Sadie S. Clark, Miss Field, Sarah Murdock;
+_Albert Lea_, Birdie Slocum; _Fairbault_, Grace McKinster, Miss S.
+E. Cook; _Litchfield_, Mrs. Carter; _Alexandria_, Mamie Lewis; _St.
+Cloud_, Mary Clarke; _Fergus Falls_, Mrs. Wurtle; _Owatonna_, Mrs.
+D. O. Searles; _Duluth_, Emma F. Shaw Newcome, Anna E. Gilbert,
+Mrs. A. D. Frost, De Etta Evans, Mrs. Persis Norton, Addie W. L.
+Barrow, Gertrude Olmstead, Addie Hunter, Fanny Woodbridge.
+Doubtless there are many others of worth in other localities
+improving their talents and finding real enjoyment and pecuniary
+recompense in the pursuit of their loved art.
+
+It is one of the imperfections of this chapter that the names
+cannot be given of the many gifted young ladies who have gone from
+Minnesota for a musical education to the New York and Boston
+Conservatories of Music. Of those who have gone from Duluth, and
+returned as proficients, may be named Mary Willis, Mary Ensign
+Hunter, Mary Munger, Florence Moore and Jessie Hopkins. With this
+beautiful thought in mind, "_noblesse oblige_," the christian
+workers of Duluth call upon these talented young ladies for aid in
+furnishing many entertainments for charity's sake, and are seldom
+disappointed.
+
+
+[G.]
+
+Among the occasional speakers and writers not mentioned in the main
+chapter are: Abbie J. Spaulding, Mrs. M. M. Elliot, Miss A. M.
+Henderson, Mrs. M. J. Warner, Lizzie Manson, Rebecca S. Smith,
+Viola Fuller Miner, Harriet G. Walker, Eliza Burt Gamble, Emma
+Harriman, Eva McIntyre, Mary Hall Dubois, Minnie Reed, Mrs. G. H.
+Miller, Dr. Mary Whetsone, Mrs. M. C. Ladd, Mrs. M. A. Seely, Mrs.
+E. S. Wright, Mrs. M. H. Drew, Mrs. E. J. Holly, Mrs. David
+Sanford, Mrs. F. E. Russell, Lily Long. Zoe McClary, daughter of
+Rev. and Mrs. Thomas McClary, gives promise of distinction.
+
+Since the formation of the State and local societies there are many
+women in their quiet homes who are ever ready to encourage any
+effort toward making all women more free, helpful and happy. Let
+this paragraph record the names of a few of these: Mary E. Chute,
+Isabelle L. Blaisdell, Mary Partridge, Mrs. C. C. Curtis, Frances
+A. Shaw, Lucy E. Prescott, Mrs. S. J. Squires, Minnie Reed, Mrs. E.
+S. Wright, Nellie H. Hazeltine, Adelle J. Grow, Mrs. A. B. Cole,
+Mrs. A. F. Bliss, Mrs. E. J. Holley, Frances P. Sawyer, Frances L.
+James, Mrs. M. C. Clark, Lucy Gibbs, Prudence Lusk, Lizzie P.
+Hawkins, M. Hammond, Mrs. E. Southworth, Josephine Strait, Kittie
+Manson, Mrs. R. C. Watson, Alice B. Cash, Emma Drew, Helen M. Olds,
+Mrs. W. W. Bilson, Adaline Smith, Mrs. L. A. Watts, Emily Moore,
+Olive Murphy, Mrs. L. A. Wentworth, Gertrude L. Gow, Della W.
+Norton, Mrs. V. A. Wright, Mrs. M. H. Wells, Aurelia Bassett, Kate
+C. Stevens, Mary Vrouman, Belle Hazen, Mrs. D. C. Hunt, Mrs. L. H.
+Young, Louisa Stevens, Esther Hayes, Sarah J. Crawford, Lucinda
+Roberts, Carrie Rawson, Sarah Herrick, Kate Tabor, Charlotte
+Herbert, Belle McClelland, Jane E. Knott, Margaret Bryson, Mary
+McKnight, Emma Coleman, Sarah Ricker, Mary M. Pomeroy, Sarah
+Pribble, Mary A. Grinnell, Eliza Van Ambden.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+CALIFORNIA.
+
+We give not only the names of the delegates present at the
+convention of 1870, but also of a few of the most earnest friends
+of the cause in the several counties of the State, not heretofore
+mentioned in connection with the early conventions.
+
+In San Francisco we must not omit the venerable Eliza Taylor, a
+sweet-faced Quaker, eighty years of age, nor Fanny Green
+McDougall--"Aunt" Fanny, as we loved to call her--nor Mrs. C. C.
+Calhoun, Mary F. Snow, Minnie Edwards, Mrs. O. Fuller, Mrs. C. M.
+Parker, Wm. R. Ryder, Mrs. M. J. Hendee, Kate Collins, Mary
+Kellogg, Louise Fowler, M. J. Hemsley and Mrs. H. T. Perry. In
+October, 1883, Elizabeth McComb, Mary Coggins, Mrs. J. V.
+Drinkhouse, Dr. and Mrs. E. D. Smith, Mrs. E. Sloan, Mrs. C. J.
+Furman, Elizabeth D. Layres, Miss Prince, Kate Kennedy, Carrie
+Parker, Marion Hill,[587] Mrs. Olmstead, Mrs. Dr. White, Dr. Laura
+P. Williams and Mrs. Olive Washburn were all members of the city
+and State associations. There was the brilliant Sallie Hart, who
+took such an active part in the "local option" contest in 1871, and
+who as a newspaper reporter and correspondent in the State
+legislature for two or three sessions was very active in urging the
+claims of woman upon the consideration of our law-makers.
+
+Hon. Philip A. Roach, often a prominent official of the State, and
+for many years editor of the _Daily Examiner_, is an advocate of
+woman's rights and was instrumental in getting an act, known as
+"Senator Roach's bill to Punish Wife-whippers," passed. It provided
+that such offenders should be punished by flogging upon the bare
+back at the whipping-post. A wise and just law, but it was
+afterward declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Hon.
+James G. Maguire, a brilliant and rising young lawyer, a member of
+the legislature in 1875, now a judge of the Superior Court of San
+Francisco, is a most reliable and talented advocate of equality for
+women. Among the members of the bar and other prominent men of the
+State are to be found a number who are either pronounced in their
+views of woman's right to vote, or are inclined to favor all
+measures tending to ameliorate woman's condition in life; of whom
+are Judge G. M. Clough, Judge Darwin, D. J. Murphy, Judge L. Quint,
+Col. J. P. Jackson of the _Daily Post_, Hon. Charles Gildea of the
+Board of Equalization, Judge Toohey, the late Judge Charles Wolff,
+Rev. Dr. F. F. Jewell, Dr. R. H. McDonald, the prominent temperance
+advocate; Hon. J. T. Wharton, P. S. Dorney, esq., Judge J. B.
+Lamar, Rev. Dr. Robert McKenzie, Capt. Walker of the _City Argus_,
+Hon. Frank Pixley of the _Argonaut_, ex-Gov. James A. Johnson of
+the _Daily Alta_, Alfred Cridge, esq., Dr. R. B. Murphy, N. Hawks,
+W. H. Barnes of _The Call_, O. Dearing, Hon. W. W. Marrow, Hon.
+Charles A. Sumner, representative in congress; Hon. J. B. Webster
+of the _California Patron_, in San Francisco. In other parts of the
+State are; Senator Cross of Nevada county, Assemblyman Cominette of
+Amador, Judge G. G. Clough, and Senator Kellogg of Plumas county,
+Hon. H. M. Larue, Speaker of the House, and Assemblyman Doty of
+Sacramento county, Senator Del Valle of Los Angeles, Hon. O. B.
+Hitchcock of Tulare county, Judge McCannaughy and Judge E. Steele
+of Siskyon county, Hon. T. B. Wigginton, Judge Charles Marks, R. J.
+Steele, esq., of Merced county; John Mitchell, John T. Davis and
+Capt. Gray of Stanislaus; Hon. J. McM. Shafter of Marin county;
+Senator Brooks and Judge J. D. Hinds of Ventura county.
+
+Sacramento county contains a large number of progressive men and
+women, though the good work has consisted mainly in the efforts
+made by committees appointed by the State society to attend the
+biennial sessions of the legislature, most of whom were not
+residents of the county. But among those who have done good service
+in Sacramento, the first and most active for many years has been
+Mrs. L. G. Waterhouse, now of Monterey. She espoused the cause in
+early life, and when many added years compelled her to retire from
+active service, her efforts in behalf of women were still
+continued. Miss Dr. Kellogg is not only a successful practitioner
+of medicine, but is gifted with eloquent speech, and has on several
+occasions addressed the legislature of the State; Dr. Jennie
+Bearby, for some years a resident of Sacramento, now of Idaho, is
+worthy of mention; Mrs. M. J. Young, attorney-at-law since June,
+1879; Annie G. Cummings and daughter, have been among the earliest
+and most faithful adherents to our cause. Mrs. E. B. Crocker has,
+through her social position, exerted great influence in a quiet
+way, and has contributed liberally from her vast wealth to aid the
+cause; she founded the Marguerite Home for aged women. Dr. and Mrs.
+Bowman, now of Oakland, were pioneers in this work; while Mesdames
+Jackson, Hontoon, Perley Watson, and Miss Hattie Moore are among
+the recent converts. Hon. Grove L. Johnson has been one of the most
+eloquent of all the fearless champions of women who have occupied a
+seat in the legislature; Hon. Creed Haymond deserves to rank with
+the foremost, as an able advocate of woman's political rights; Hon.
+S. J. Finney of Santa Cruz, Talbot Wallis, State Librarian, Judge
+Taylor, a prominent lawyer, and his brilliant wife, are also among
+our friends. Sarah A. Montgomery, Mattie A. Shaw, Mrs. A. Wilcox,
+Mary B. Lewis, Judge and Mrs. McFarland, Judge J. W. Armstrong,
+encouraged by his devoted and talented wife, and a large number of
+others, favor in a quiet way the ballot for women.
+
+San Joaquin county has been the home of Laura De Force Gordon since
+1870, and much of her practice as a lawyer has been in the courts
+at Stockton. Among the earliest advocates of suffrage were Mr. and
+Mrs. William Condy, Mr. and Mrs. Harry, Judge Brush, Hattie Brush,
+Judge Roysdon, William Hickman and wife, Mrs. E. Emery, William
+Israel, Hannah Israel, Miss E. Clifford, Dr. Holden, Richard Condy
+and his noble wife Elizabeth, who was the first president of the
+San Joaquin county society. Among a host of others are Mr. and Mrs.
+W. F. Freeman and their bright young daughter Sophronia, who gives
+promise of future usefulness in the lecture-field; Mr. and Mrs. J.
+C. Gage, whose daughter Hattie possesses marked artistic ability,
+and though still in her teens has produced oil paintings of rare
+beauty; Dr. Brown, physician in charge of the State Insane Asylum;
+Dr. Phoebe Tabor, for many years a successful medical practitioner;
+Mrs. N. G. Cary, Mrs. M. S. Webb, Mrs. Zignago, a successful
+business woman; Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Loomis, R. B. Lane, Mr. and Mrs.
+H. M. Bond, and Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Overhiser, both of whom are
+active members of that liberal woman's rights order, the Patrons of
+Husbandry. Hon. R. C. Sargent, a member of the legislature for
+several terms, has always aided the woman's cause by his vote and
+influence. Dr. J. L. Sargent and his intelligent wife are also
+friends to every measure tending to benefit woman. Hon. S. L.
+Terry, Senator F. T. Baldwin, James A. Lontitt, esq., Judge J. H.
+Budd, Judge A. Van R. Patterson, George B. McStay, Judge Buckley
+and a number of other prominent officials and members of the legal
+profession, are all in favor of equal rights.
+
+Sonoma county has a few fearless friends of woman suffrage. Mary
+Jewett, Mrs. Prince, Fannie M. Wertz and Miss E. Merrill were
+officers in the first organization formed at Healdsburg in that
+county in 1870, and together with J. G. Howell and wife, who were
+proprietors of the _Russian River Flag_, kept up the society for
+years. At Petaluma, Mrs. A. A. Haskell, Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Hatch,
+Kate Lovejoy and Mrs. Judge Latimer organized a society in 1869. In
+Solano county are Mr. and Mrs. Denio and Mrs. E. L. Hale of
+Vallejo; Mrs. Elizabeth Ober and Mrs. Celia Geddes of Fairfield.
+Napa county soon became an objective point for lecturers; a society
+was organized at St. Helena in 1871, with Mr. and Mrs. John
+Lewellyn, Charles King, Mrs. Potter and Dr. and Mrs. Allyn as
+officers; at Napa were Joseph Eggleton and wife and Mrs. Ellis. In
+San Mateo county was Mrs. Dr. Kilpatrick. Contra Costa county was
+organized in 1870, and Mrs. Phebe Benedict, Mrs. Abbott, Mary
+O'Brien, Sarah Sellers, Dr. and Mrs. Howard, Hannah Israel, an able
+writer and lecturer, and Capt. Kimball of Antioch, took an active
+part therein. Mrs. J. H. Chase of Martinez, E. H. Cox and wife of
+Danville, were pioneers in the cause, and Henry and Abigail Bush of
+Martinez, were most prominent in the first meetings held there.
+Mrs. Bush had the honor to preside over the second woman suffrage
+convention ever held in the United States, that at Rochester, N.
+Y., in 1848. O. Alley and wife, also of Martinez, extended their
+hospitality to lecturers who visited that place, and fully
+sympathized in the cause.
+
+In Marin county a society was formed in 1870, with Isabella Irwin,
+Mrs. Barney, Flora Whitney, Mrs. M. Dubois and Mary Battey Smith,
+as officers; Mrs. McM. Shafter, a gifted and influential lady, was
+also an active worker in the good cause. Alameda county--Rev. John
+Benton and wife, Professor E. Carr and wife, Mrs. C. C. Calhoun,
+Mrs. M. L. S. Duncan, Mrs. S. S. Allen, Dr. and Mrs. Powers, Mr.
+and Mrs. Ingersoll, Angie Eager, Mary Kenny, George and Martha
+Parry and Mr. and Mrs. William Stevens, were interested in the
+earlier agitation of the question; Mrs. Sanford, Mrs. A. M.
+Stoddard and Mrs. M. Johnson are among the later converts. Merced
+county the home of Rowena Granice Steele, the author, and publisher
+of the _San Joaquin Valley Argus_, has furnished the State with a
+worthy and capable advocate of woman suffrage, both as a speaker
+and writer. In her cozy, rose-embowered cottage at Merced, she
+generously entertains her numerous guests, who always seek out this
+distinguished and warm-hearted friend of woman. Stanislaus county
+is the present home of Jennie Phelps Purvis, a talented and
+brilliant woman, well known in literary circles in an early day and
+for some years a prominent officer and member of the State society.
+At Modesto are Mrs. Lapham and daughter Amel, and Mr. and Mrs.
+Brown, good friends to suffrage. In San Diego are Mrs. F. P.
+Kingsbury, Mrs. Tallant. In Santa Cruz county, Georgiana Bruce
+Kirby, Mrs. H. M. Blackburn, Mrs. M. E. Heacock, Rev. D. G.
+Ingraham, Ellen Van Valkenburg. In Los Angeles county, Mrs. Eliza
+J. Hall, M. D. Ingo county, J. A. Jennings. Santa Clara county, J.
+J. Owen, the able editor of the _San Jose Mercury_; Laura J.
+Watkins, Hon. O. H. Smith and wife, Mrs. G. B. McKee, Mrs.
+McFarland, Mrs. Herman, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. J. J.
+Crawford, Mrs. R. B. Hall, Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Wallis, Mrs. C. M.
+Putney, Mrs. Damon, Miss Walsh, and many others, have all helped
+the good cause in San Jose; while Louisa Smith of Santa Clara, a
+lady of advancing years, was ever a faithful friend of the cause,
+as was also Miss Emma S. Sleeper of Mountain View, formerly of Mt.
+Morris, N. Y. In Nevada county, originally the home of Senator A.
+A. Sargent, the question of woman suffrage was agitated at an early
+day. The most active friends were: Ellen Clark Sargent, Emily
+Rolfe, Mrs. Leavett, Mrs. E. P. Keeney, Mrs. E. Loyed, Elmira Eddy,
+Mr. and Mrs. William Stevens, Mrs. Hanson, Judge Palmer and Mrs.
+Cynthia Palmer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE SUCCESSIVE STEPS OF PROGRESS TOWARDS
+FREEDOM FOR WOMEN.
+
+     1848. Queen's College, Harley street, London, founded for girls.
+
+     1849. Bedford College, London, founded; incorporated, 1869.
+
+     1850. North London Collegiate School for girls opened by Miss
+     Buss, April 4.
+
+     1854. Cheltenham Ladies' College commenced.... Miss Nightingale
+     goes to Sentari; from hence may be dated the beginning of
+     training schools for nurses, metropolitan associations for
+     nursing the poor, etc., etc.
+
+     1856. Female Artists' Society founded.
+
+     1857. Divorce and Matrimonial Causes act passed, by which divorce
+     and judicial separation became attainable in course of law....
+     Ladies' Sanitary Association, founded October 1.
+
+     1858. _Englishwoman's Journal_ started (now _Englishwoman's
+     Review_) by Bessie R. Parkes and Mdme. Bodichon, March 2....
+     First swimming bath for ladies, opened in Marylebone, July 14.
+
+     1859. Society for the Employment of Women established in London,
+     June 22.
+
+     1860. Law-copying Office for women opened February 15....
+     Victoria Printing Press, established March 26.... Institution for
+     the Employment of Needle-women commenced.... First admission of
+     women students to the Royal Academy (Miss Herford).
+
+     1861. Lectures on Physiology to ladies at University College,
+     April.
+
+     1862. Social Science Congress in London; though not the first
+     time ladies had read papers at the congress--this was remarkable
+     for the increased share they took in its proceedings.... Ladies'
+     Negro Emancipation Society commenced.... New church order of
+     deaconesses founded on the model of Kaiserwerth.... First voyage
+     of Miss Rye to Australia, and commencement of her system of
+     emigration.
+
+     1863. Establishment of Queen's Institute, Dublin, for industrial
+     training of women.
+
+     1864. Female Medical and Obstetrical Society begun.... Working
+     Women's College, Queen's Square, opened October 26.
+
+     1865. Miss Garrett receives her medical diploma from
+     Apothecaries' Hall.
+
+     1866. A petition of 1,500 women for the franchise presented, and
+     the first women's suffrage society formed.
+
+     1867. Mr. Mill's motion in the House of Commons to give the
+     suffrage to women.... Lily Maxwell voted in Manchester for Mr.
+     Jacob Bright.
+
+     1868. In the general election many women who were left on the
+     register voted. Women's suffrage was declared illegal by the
+     Court of Common Pleas, November 9.... London University
+     establishes a women's examination.
+
+     1869. Ladies' Educational Association begun in London, which was
+     dissolved July 18, 1878, upon London University College admitting
+     women as regular students.... Women's College established at
+     Hitchin, October ... The telegraph service was transferred to
+     government, and women clerks were retained, thus entering the
+     civil service.... Municipal Franchise act passed; women first
+     voted under it November 1.
+
+     1870. Publication of _Women's Suffrage Journal_ commenced March
+     1.... Women's Disabilities Removal bill introduced by Mr. Jacob
+     Bright, M.P., read a second time, but rejected in committee,
+     May.... Lectures for women begun in Cambridge.... First
+     examinations of women in Queen's University, Ireland.... Married
+     Women's Property act (England) passed, August 9.... National
+     Indian Association established by Mary Carpenter (principal
+     object: the improvement of women's education in India),
+     September.... Vigilance Association established, October; mainly
+     occupied in women's questions.... Elementary Education act
+     passed.... First school-board election in London, November 25
+     (Miss Garrett and Miss Emily Davies elected in London; Miss
+     Becker, Manchester, etc.).
+
+     1871. Ladies' National Health Association commenced by Dr.
+     Elizabeth Blackwell.... Law of Ireland amended slightly with
+     regard to married women's property.... National Union for
+     improving the education of women established by Mrs. Grey,
+     November.
+
+     1872. New Hospital for Women, opened February, in Marylebone
+     (women doctors).... Girls' Public Day School Company formed.
+     First school opened January 1, at Chelsea; there are now
+     fifteen.... Girton College, Cambridge, incorporated. Hitchin
+     College subsequently removed to it.... New Bastardy act, passed
+     August 10, affording a greater measure of relief to unmarried
+     mothers.
+
+     1873. Mrs. Nassau Senior, appointed assistant inspector of
+     workhouses, January; the first government appointment of a lady;
+     made permanent, February, 1874.... First school-board election in
+     Scotland, February (twenty ladies elected).... Second English
+     school-board.... Custody of Infants act passed, which enables a
+     man, having a deed of separation from his wife, to give up the
+     custody of the children to her if he chooses.
+
+     1874. Women's Peace and Arbitration Auxiliary of the London Peace
+     Society formed, April.... Women's Protection and Provident League
+     formed, July 8 (benefit societies and trades unions for working
+     women).... Protection Orders given to wives in Scotland, July
+     19.... College for Working Women, Fitzroy street, London, opened
+     October.... London School of Medicine for Women, opened October
+     12.
+
+     1875. A lady first elected as poor-law guardian (Miss Merington,
+     in Kensington), April.... Albemarle Club opened for ladies and
+     gentlemen, May 29.... Newnham College, Cambridge, opened....
+     Employment of Women Office, opened in Brighton.... Female
+     clerkships in Post-Office Savings Bank.... Pharmaceutical Society
+     of Ireland admitted women to examinations.... Madras Medical
+     School opened to women.... First woman lawyer's office opened in
+     London (Miss Orme).... Metropolitan and National Nursing
+     Association formed.... Women delegates from women's unions first
+     admitted to Trades' Congress in Glasgow, October.
+
+     1876. Admission of women to Manchester New College, February
+     9.... First qualified woman pharmacist established in London
+     (Miss Isabella Clarke).... Plan-tracing office for women opened
+     (Miss Crosbie).... Employment of Women Office, opened in
+     Glasgow.... Scholarship for women established in Bristol
+     University College.... British Women's Temperance Association
+     commenced.... Passing of the act, known as Russell-Gurney's act,
+     enabling universities to admit women to degrees, August....
+     Resolutions of King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland
+     to confer medical degrees on women; five ladies passed their
+     examinations and received degrees in the following spring.... A
+     memorial, signed by 45,000 women, presented to the queen on
+     behalf of the Bulgarians.
+
+     1877. Teachers, Training and Registration Society inaugurated,
+     February 2.... Trinity College, London, decided to throw open its
+     musical examinations to women.... St. Andrew's University offered
+     "Literate in Arts" degrees to women.... A bill to amend the
+     Married Women's Property Law (Scotland) passed; came into force
+     January 1, 1878.... International Congress on Public Morality met
+     at Geneva, September.... Admission of women medical students to
+     the Royal Free Hospital, October 1.... Manchester and Salford
+     College for women (now affiliated to the Victoria University)
+     opened, October.
+
+     1878. Society to extend the knowledge of law among women
+     started.... Matrimonial Causes Amendment act passed; a clause
+     being inserted by Lord Penzance enabling magistrates to grant a
+     judicial separation to women if brutally treated by their
+     husbands, a maintenance to be given them, and the children to
+     remain under their mother's care.... Admission of women to London
+     University degrees and examinations, July 1.... Intermediate
+     Education act, Ireland; participation of girls in its benefits.
+
+     1879. Victoria University charter grants degrees to women....
+     Oxford, Somerville and Lady Margaret Halls opened, October....
+     Nine ladies elected on London school-board, November....
+     Pharmaceutical Society admits women as members, October.... Order
+     of St. Katherine for nurses established.... School for
+     wood-engraving and one for wood-carving established.
+
+     1880. Charter of Irish University gives degrees to women....
+     Demonstration of women in Manchester in favor of the suffrage,
+     February 3; followed by London, Bristol and Nottingham in the
+     same year.... Bill to give further protection to little girls
+     under 13 passed.... Mason College in Birmingham founded; equal
+     facilities to girls and boys.... First lady B. A. in London
+     University, October.... Melbourne University matriculates women,
+     March 22.... The Burial bill gives women the right to conduct
+     funeral services.... The House of Keys in the Isle of Man passed
+     women's suffrage for women who are owners of property, November
+     5.
+
+     1881. Suffrage bill in the Isle of Man received royal assent
+     January 5; seven hundred women are electors; general election
+     began March 21.... Cambridge University admits women students to
+     formal examinations by a vote of 398 against 32, February 24....
+     Durham University votes that women may become members.
+
+     1881. Sydney University (New South Wales) admits women to
+     matriculation and degrees.... New Zealand University confers
+     title of M. A. on a woman, August.... Poor-law Guardian
+     Association for promoting the election of ladies established,
+     March; seven ladies elected in London.... Somerville Club for
+     women opened.... Women clerks admitted to the civil service by
+     open competition.... Municipal Franchise act for Scotland, passed
+     June 3; came into operation January 1, 1882.... Married Women's
+     Property act for Scotland, passed July 18.
+
+     1882. London University Convocation resolves to admit women as
+     graduates, January 17.... Twelve women elected in London as
+     poor-law guardians, April; fifteen in the country.... Married
+     Women's Property act passed by the Lords and brought down to the
+     Commons May 22; passed and returned to the Lords August 16;
+     received royal assent August 18.... Addition to Municipal
+     Franchise act (Scotland) by inclusion of police burghs.... Women
+     first voted in Scotland under the new act, November 8....
+     Appointment of women as registrars of births and deaths in four
+     parishes.
+
+     1883. Married Women's Property act comes into operation January
+     1.... Appointment of Miss E. Shove as physician to female staff
+     in post-office; first appointment by government of a woman....
+     Poor-law guardian elections, April; thirteen ladies in London,
+     two in Scotland for the first time; thirteen in other towns in
+     England.... Mr. Stansfeld's resolution against the Contagious
+     Diseases acts carried in the House of Commons by a majority of
+     72, April 26; the acts consequently are suspended....
+     May.--Memorial to the Prime Minister signed by 110 independent
+     Liberal members, asking that women's suffrage shall be included
+     in the coming Reform bill.... Mr. Mason's resolution for women's
+     suffrage thrown out by a majority of only 16.... Great conference
+     of Liberal associations at Leeds on parliamentary reform votes
+     for woman suffrage, October 17, followed by similar votes at
+     Edinburgh, November 16; Manchester, November 21; Bristol,
+     November 26, and in many smaller places.... Guarantee-fund raised
+     in Bombay for lady physicians and hospitals for women commenced;
+     Calcutta University opened to women.
+
+     1884. Second reading of the bill for the Custody and Guardianship
+     of children carried, March 26, by a majority of 134.... First
+     lady, Mrs. Bryant, obtained degree of Doctor of Science in London
+     University.... Nine ladies obtain B. A. degree in Royal Irish
+     University.
+
+     1885. College of Surgeons, Ireland, opens its degrees to
+     women.... Criminal-law Amendment Bill passed in August, raising
+     the age of protection for girls, and giving increased facilities
+     for rescuing them from ruin.... Municipal suffrage granted to
+     women in Madras.... Miss Mason appointed inspector of workhouses
+     by local government board, November.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[586] Signed by Superintendents Public Schools, A. C. Shortridge,
+Indianapolis, Alexander M. Gow, Evansville, Wm. H. Wiley, Terre
+Haute, Jas. McNeil, Richmond, J. H. Smart, Fort Wayne, Wm. Phelan,
+Laporte, Barnabas C. Hobbs, Bloomingdale; Thomas Holmes, president
+Union Christian College, Mrs. Thos. Holmes, Merom; Geo. P. Brown,
+principal high-school, Mrs. Geo. P. Brown, Jessie H. Brown,
+assistant-superintendent public schools, Prof. W. A. Bell, Prof. T.
+Charles, Hon. Byron K. Elliott, Geo. Merritt, Mrs. George Merritt,
+Wm. Coughlen, Jno. S. Newman, president Merchants National Bank,
+Col. James B. Black, Jos. E. Perry, Dr. E. S. Newcomer, Mrs. S. E.
+Newcomer, Col. Samuel Merrill, Franklin Taylor, Phebe M. Taylor, H.
+H. Lee, Mrs. Elizabeth Lee, Dr. O. S. Runnels, Mrs. Dora C.
+Runnels, Horace McKay, Thomas E. Chandler, David Gibson, Miss Mary
+Bradshaw, Dr. J. C. Walker, Indianapolis; Elias Hicks Swayne,
+Mahala M. Swayne, Richmond; Dr. Geo. M. Dakin, Mrs. Geo. M. Dakin,
+Laporte.
+
+[587] Mrs. Hill was President of the San Francisco Woman Suffrage
+Society for three years prior to her death in 1884.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+TO
+
+THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
+
+Compiled by JOHN WEINHEIMER of _The New York Tribune_.
+
+
+  A.
+
+  Abelard, i, 759.
+
+  Abbott, Francis, iii, 127.
+
+  Adam and Eve, i, 561.
+
+  Adams, Abigail Smith, i, 32, 201.
+
+  Adams, Hannah, author, i, 205.
+
+  Adams, John, i, 31, iii, 79.
+
+  Adams, John Q., iii, 479.
+
+  Adams, Mary N., lecturer, iii, 614.
+
+  Addresses and appeals, i, 106, 595, 676, 742, 856; ii, 51, 67, 167,
+    168, 364, 485, 517; iii, 58, 129, 580.
+
+  Adelbert College, iii, 498.
+
+  _Agitator_, ii, 373, iii, 274.
+
+  Agrippa, Cornelius, i, 29.
+
+  Alabama, iii, 830.
+
+  _Albany Evening Journal_, ii, 282.
+
+  _Albany Knickerbocker_ on woman's rights, i, 611.
+
+  _Albany Register_ on woman's rights, i, 608, 609, 610, 611.
+
+  _Albany Law Journal_, ii, 691, 947.
+    --on "our laws," iii, 94.
+
+  Alcibiades and the dog, ii, 103.
+
+  Alcott, A. Bronson, iii, 193
+    --on woman suffrage, iii, 519.
+
+  Alcott, Abby May, appeal, i, 247.
+
+  Alcott, Louisa May, letter to Mrs. Stone, ii, 831.
+
+  Alexander, Janet, iii, 298.
+
+  Allen, Jane, case of, ii, 592.
+
+  Allen, Nancy R., argument before Senate Committee, iii, 160
+    --legacy, iii, 624
+    --Notary Public, made, iii, 626.
+
+  Allen, Sophia Ober, iii, 502.
+
+  Almanac, Woman's Rights, i, 863.
+
+  Amberly, Lady, letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 439.
+
+  AMERICAN EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION:
+    --"colored," the word, discussion, ii, 214
+    --Constitution, ii, 173
+    --Meetings:
+      Academy of Music (Brooklyn), ii, 398,
+      Church of the Puritans, ii, 182,
+      Cooper Institute, ii, 309,
+      Steinway Hall, ii, 378
+    --Memorial to Congress, ii, 226
+    --name changed to "Nat. Woman Suffrage Association," ii, 400
+    --officers, ii, 174
+    --organized, ii, 173
+    --letter of B. F. Wade, ii, 117
+    --report, Susan B. Anthony's, ii, 183.
+
+  American flag, design, i, 323.
+
+  AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION, ii, 756
+    --Celebration of Woman Suffrage in New Jersey, ii, 846
+    --constitution of, ii, 763
+    --conventions:
+      call for first, ii, 757,
+      Baltimore, 820,
+      Brooklyn in Plymouth Church, 831,
+      Cincinnati, O., 854,
+      Cleveland, O., 802,
+      Detroit, Mich., 834,
+      Indianapolis, Ind., 851,
+      Louisville, Ky., 861,
+      New York City in Apollo Hall, 821,
+      in Cooper Institute, 825,
+      in Steinway Hall, 809, 840,
+      Philadelphia, 815, 849,
+      St. Louis, Mo., 821,
+      Washington, D. C., 819, 858
+    --letter, circular, ii, 757
+    --members received at the White House by Mrs. Hayes, ii., 860
+    --memorial to Congress, ii., 859,
+      referred to Committee on Territories, 860
+    --report of chairman of Executive Committee, ii, 803
+    --resolutions, ii, 805, 809, 810, 818, 826, 837, 843, 849, 851, 859.
+
+  Ames, Chas. G., i, 271, ii, 844, iii, 754.
+
+  Amnesty, universal, ii, 315.
+
+  Amos, Sheldon, on vice, i, 796.
+
+  Anderson, Geo. W., iii, 699.
+
+  Andrews, Margaret H., letter to S. J. May, i, 531.
+
+  Angell, John W., iii, 341.
+
+  Ann Arbor University, ii, 541.
+
+  Anneke, Franceska, i, 571, ii, 374, 393
+    --sketch of, iii, 646.
+
+  Anniversaries, _See Conventions_.
+
+  Anthony, Daniel, Lucy and Mary, i. 461.
+
+  Anthony, Hon, Henry B., on woman suffrage, i, 867, ii, 106, 273
+    --Pembina Territory bill, on the, ii, 568
+    --Sargent's amendment to the Pembina Territory bill, on, _ib._
+    --suffrage on, iii, 339
+    --woman suffrage, his last utterance on, iii, 350.
+
+  ANTHONY, Susan B., i, 186, 465, 467,468, 476, 485, 487, 489, 490, 500,
+    501, 515, 517, 526, 570, 589, 591, 607, 624, 653, 673, 679, 716;
+    ii, 66, 67, 116, 154, 220, 286, 287, 322, 360, 361, 363, 375, 382,
+    389, 391, 427, 431, 437, 442, 456, 582, 584, 760; iii, 3, 40, 66,
+    151, 175, 178, 195, 243, 257, 412, 502, 560, 580, 630, 641, 697,
+    773, 811, 819
+    --Abolitionists, and the, ii, 264
+    --American Equal Rights Association, ii, 117, 171
+    --appeal for woman rights, 1854, i, 856
+    --appeal to Congress, ii, 167
+    --argument before Illinois Legislature, iii, 572
+    --argument before Senate Committee, iii, 160, 227
+    --arrest of, ii, 628
+    --arrest, incidents of, ii, 539
+    --arrest, resolution concerning, ii, 537
+    --birthday celebrated in Indianapolis, iii, 538
+    --"Bloomer," in a, i, 128
+    --bonnet and Noah's ark, iii, 522
+    --"Bread and Ballot," iii, 536
+    --California visit, iii, 756
+    --call, loyal women, ii, 53
+    --Centennial Exhibition, at the, iii, 27
+    --complimented by Judge Edmunds, iii, 160
+    --Constitutional Convention at Albany, before, ii, 284
+    --corruptionist, as a, ii, 936
+    --Declaration of Rights, reads, at Centennial, iii, 31
+    --delegate to Democratic National Convention, ii, 340,
+    --comments of the press, ii, 342
+    --Democratic National Convention, at the, iii, 182
+    --_feme sole_ capable of making a contract, iii, 21
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 340
+    --financial report, ii, 175
+    --fugitive wife's escape from an insane asylum, aids, i, 469
+    --general agent, appointed, i, 619
+    --Grant and Wilson  campaign, appeal, ii, 517
+    --Grant, U. S., conversation with, ii, 544
+    --Iowa, in, iii, 622
+    --Kansas campaign, i, 200, ii, 239, 254, 261, 262, 263
+    --lecture, "False Theory," iii, 675
+    --lecturing tour, Ohio, iii, 491
+    --Letters: Boston Convention, i, 256
+      --Brooks, James, to, ii, 97
+      --Carson League, i, 488
+      --Democratic National Convention, to, ii, 340
+      --Foote, E. B., to, ii, 941
+      --Garfield. Jas. A., to, iii, 185
+      --loyal women, from, ii, 875
+      --Mott, Lydia, to, i, 748
+      --Stanton, Mrs., to, announcing her having voted, ii, 934
+      --Wright, Martha C, to, i, 678.
+    --Logan, Olive, and, ii, 385
+    --"Male" in the Constitution, on the  word, ii, 91
+    --manhood suffrage, on, iii, 566
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 735
+    --meeting in Rahway, N. J., iii, 479
+    --meetings in Virginia, iii, 824
+    --Michigan campaign, iii, 522
+    --Napoleon of Woman Suffrage, the, i, 456
+    --Newport Convention, ii, 403
+    --on Mrs. Robert Dale Owen, i, 303
+    --Oregon visit, iii,  769
+    --police officer, and the, ii, 540
+    --portrait, i, 577
+    --President Mozart Hall Convention, i, 668
+    --President National Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 516
+    --presentations, iii, 193
+    --reception, Sorosis,  iii, 571
+    --registered, ii, 627
+    --reminiscences, Mrs. E. C. Stanton's, i, 456
+    --report, National Convention, at Cooper Institute, i, 689
+    --report as secretary of American Equal Rights Association, ii, 183
+    --_Revolution_, i, 46
+    --Secretary Loyal League, made, ii, 66
+    --sex, and her, ii, 112
+    --Speeches: Anti-Slavery question, ii, 898
+      --Congressional Committee, before, ii, 414, 513
+      --first public speech, i, 41
+      --Furness' Church, in, iii, 35
+      --Is It a Crime for a United States' Citizen to Vote? ii, 630
+      --Philadelphia Convention, i, 385
+      --Saratoga Convention, i, 621
+      --Teachers' Convention, N. Y. State, i, 513
+      --Temperance Convention, Rochester, i, 483
+      --Washington Convention, ii, 423, 521
+      --Washington Convention, iii, 259
+      --Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 57, 61.
+    --Suffrage, on, ii, 383
+    --tableau "Mother and Susan," i, 461
+    --Taxation without Representation, on, ii, 539
+    --Temperance Convention at Rochester, read call, i, 481
+    --testimonial, i, 534
+    --tour, western, ii, 367
+    --tour with Ernestine L. Rose, i, 97
+    --tracts, Kansas campaign, ii, 239
+    --tracts and petitions, on, i, 383
+    --Train, G. F., and _The Revolution_, criticism, ii, 264
+    --Trial:
+      --Arrest, ii, 628
+      --argument, Crowley's, ii, 648, 675
+      --argument, Judge Selden's, ii, 654
+      --bail, refused to give, ii, 629
+      --case opened by Judge Selden, ii, 652
+      --Gage, Matilda J., Letter to _Albany Law Journal_, ii, 947
+      --guilty, Court directs a verdict of, ii, 679
+      --Hunt's, Judge, decision, ii, 677
+      --Hunt's decision criticised, ii, 689
+      --Hunt's decision reviewed, ii, 946
+      --incidents, ii, 537
+      --indictment, ii, 647
+      --inspectors of elections, _See trials and decisions_
+      --Jones, B. W., testimony, ii, 650
+      --letter from Gerrit Smith, ii, 941
+      --trial, new, denied, ii, 687
+      --trial, new, motion for, ii, 680
+      --opening of, ii, 647
+      --petition to Congress praying for remission of fine, ii, 698
+      --reports, majority and minority, ii, 701, 711
+      --Pound, J. E., testimony ii, 653
+      --press comments, ii, 935
+      --resolutions concerning, ii, 537
+      --Selden's letter, ii, 935
+      --sentenced to pay a fine of $100, ii, 687
+      --testimony in trial of election inspectors, ii, 692
+      --Washington gossip, ii, 943.
+    --Tribute, "Aunt Lottie's," iii, 41
+    --tribute, to Laura C. Haviland, iii, 532
+    --tribute, from _The Leavenworth Commercial_ (Kansas), ii, 263
+    --tribute to Lucretia Mott, iii, 189
+    --tribute, St. Louis Convention, iii, 147
+    --tribute, Scovill's, ii, 420
+    --visit to Lucretia Mott, i, 414
+    --voted for Grant for President, ii, 628
+    --letter announcing her having voted, ii, 934
+    --Washington Territory Legislature, hearing before, iii, 786
+    --Wyoming visit, iii, 734.
+
+  Anti-Slavery struggle, i, 39, 52, 54, 323, 325, 339, 417
+    --Josephine Griffing and Freedman's Bureau, ii, 29
+    --Society reorganized, ii, 153.
+
+  Anti-Woman Suffrage Society, iii, 99.
+
+  Antonelli's, Cardinal, sacrilegious child, i, 788.
+
+  Appendix, i, 801, ii, 863, iii, 955.
+
+  Archer, Stevenson, iii, 816.
+
+  Arkansas, iii, 805
+    --Constitutional Convention, iii, 806.
+
+  Arnell's services in Congress, ii, 489, 491.
+
+  Arnett, Hannah, i, 442.
+
+  Art and artists, iii, 301.
+
+  Ashley, Henry, iii, 319.
+
+  Ashley, J. M., speech in Congress, iii, 495.
+
+  Astell, Mary, i, 30.
+
+  Attorneys, ii, 604.
+
+  Augustine, i, 756.
+
+  Austin, Helen V., sketch of, i, 312.
+
+  Austria, iii, 904.
+
+  Autograph book, Centennial, iii, 40.
+
+  Avery, Alida C., iii, 719.
+
+
+  B.
+
+  Ballard, Anna, iii, 407.
+
+  Ballot, the, ii, 168
+    --Sumner on the, ii, 95
+    --what is the, ii, 155.
+
+  _Ballot-Box_, iii, 51, 504.
+
+  Banks, N. P., speech, iii, 10.
+
+  Banquet, St. James Hotel, ii, 441.
+
+  Bar, admission to the, iii, 330.
+
+  Barber, Miss, i, 807.
+
+  Barkaloo, Helena, lawyer, iii, 404.
+
+  Barker, Jos., i, 114
+    --Pulpit, on the, i, 140.
+
+  Barnum, P. T., i, 503.
+
+  Barstow, Hon. A. C., i, 499
+    --battle-field, services on the, ii, 23
+    --letters to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 916.
+
+  Barton, Clara, appeal to soldier friends, ii, 418.
+
+  Bascom, Emma C, letter to S. B. Anthony, iii, 647.
+
+  Batchelder, Mrs. Dr. L. S., on working women, ii, 389.
+
+  "Battle Hymn of the Republic," ii, 18.
+
+  Battle of Lexington, commemoration of, iii, 414.
+
+  Baxter, Richard, on witchcraft, i, 765.
+
+  Bayard, Thos. F., ii, 567, 576; iii, 205-6.
+
+  Beck, Senator, on woman suffrage, iii, 209.
+
+  Becker, Lydia E., letters, iii, 62, 121, 249.
+
+  Beecher, Catharine E., ii, 787, iii, 399.
+
+  Beecher, Edward, ii, 368, iii, 566.
+
+  BEECHER, Henry Ward, Kansas campaign, ii, 265
+    --letter to American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in
+      St. Louis, ii, 825
+    --letter to Lucy Stone, Presidency American Woman Suffrage
+      Association, ii, 808
+    --letter to Washington Convention, ii, 496
+    --President of American Woman Suffrage Association, made, ii, 764
+    --speeches, ii, 156, 216, 399, 766, 774; iii, 52
+    --suffrage, universal, and, ii, 315
+    --Tilton colloquy, ii, 167
+    --Tilton trial, i, 789
+    --woman's right to vote, on, i, 620.
+
+  Beecher, Lyman, i, 393.
+
+  Belgium, iii, 909.
+
+  Bell, Lydia, iii, 693.
+
+  Bell, Dr. T. S., ii, 862.
+
+  Bellows, Dr., on woman's rights, i, 245.
+
+  Bennett, Dr. Alice, iii, 472.
+
+  Bennett, James Gordon, i, 546.
+
+  Bentham, Jeremy, iii, 836.
+
+  Bequests, i, 257, 258, 667, 742.
+
+  Berlin, iii, 903.
+
+  Berlin Congress, ii, 404.
+
+  Bible, Antoinette L. Brown's points, i, 535
+    --divorce, and, i, 213
+    --interpolations, i, 797
+    --revision, i, 798
+    --woman and the, discussion, i, 380.
+
+  Biggs, Caroline A., letter to S. B. Anthony, iii, 250
+    --letter to Rochester Convention, iii, 120
+    --letter to Washington Convention, iii, 261.
+
+  Biggs, Emily J., iii, 702.
+
+  Bingham, Anson, i, 687, ii, 461.
+
+  BIOGRAPHY: Austin, Helen V., i, 312
+    --Blake, Lillie D., iii, 408
+    --Barton, Clara, ii, 23
+    --Boyd, Louise V., i, 312
+    --Brown, Olympia, iii, 646
+    --Clark, Mary T., i, 312
+    --Colby, Clara B., iii, 670
+    --Collins, Emily, i, 88
+    --Davis, Paulina Wright, by "E. C. S.", i, 283
+    --Duniway, Abigail S., iii, 768
+    --Griffing, Josephine Sophie, ii, 26
+    --Lozier, Clemence, iii, 411
+    --Morrow, Jane, i, 313
+    --Owen, Mary Robinson, i, 313
+    --Owen, Robert Dale, i, 293
+    --Rose, Ernestine, i, 95
+    --Swank, Emma B., i, 313
+    --Thomas, Mary F., i, 314
+    --Underhill, Sarah E., i, 313
+    --Warren, Mercy Otis, in the Revolution, i, 201
+    --Way, Amanda M., i, 311
+    --Wright, Frances, i, 35.
+
+  Bird, Frank W., iii, 194.
+
+  Birdsall, Mary B., sketch of, i, 313.
+
+  Bittenbender, Ada M., sketch of, iii, 692.
+
+  Blackstone on the canon law, i, 771.
+
+  BLACKWELL, Antoinette L. B., ii, 760
+    --letter to Cooper Institute Convention, i, 862
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 723
+    --speech at American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in New York,
+      ii, 841
+    --Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 69.
+    (See Brown, A. L.)
+
+  BLACKWELL, Elizabeth, i, 37, 78
+    --letter to Emily Collins, i, 90
+    --letter to Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 831
+    --physician, as a, i, 94
+    --sanitary commission, ii, 13.
+
+  BLACKWELL, Henry B., ii, 382
+    --Kansas Campaign, ii, 232, 235
+    --South, on the, ii, 929
+    --speech at American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in Steinway
+      Hall, ii, 811
+    --at American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in Cooper
+      Institute, ii, 830
+    --Cleveland Convention, i, 126, ii, 780
+    --President of Am. Woman Suffrage Association, made, ii, 856
+    --_Vermont Watchman_, on, iii, 386
+    --Woman Suffrage in New Jersey, on, ii, 846.
+
+  BLAKE, Lillie Devereux, iii, 74, 223, 483
+    --Argument before House Committee, iii, 163
+    --sketch of, iii, 408
+    --Dix's Lenten lectures, her reply to, iii, 436
+    --lectures "Woman's Place to-day," iii, 436
+    --Washington Convention '76, iii, 7
+    --Washington Convention, at, ii, 541
+    --Fable, "The Selfish Rats," iii, 114
+    --speech, Battle of Lexington Commemoration, iii, 414.
+
+  Blake, S. L., against woman suffrage, iii, 371.
+
+  Blaine, Jas. G., iii, 164, 165, 366.
+
+  Blair, Henry W., letter to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 380.
+
+  BLOOMER, Amelia, i, 46
+    --address before Nebraska Legislature, iii, 672
+    --Cleveland National Convention, at, i, 128
+    --comments on Jane G. Swisshelm, i, 844
+    --portrait, i, 496
+    --replies to Senator Gaylord's speech against woman suffrage,
+      iii, 623
+    --speech at Rochester Temperance Convention, i, 483
+    --work done, iii, 613.
+
+  Bloomer costume, i, 127, 469, 844.
+
+  Blunt, Gen., Kansas campaign, ii, 243.
+
+  Boarding House Law, i, 688.
+
+  Bodeker, Anna W., iii, 823
+    --vote, attempted to, iii, 824.
+
+  Bohemia, iii, 907.
+
+  Bolton, Sarah Knowles, iii, 494.
+
+  Bolton, Sarah T., i, 300.
+
+  Bones, Marietta, address to Dakota Constitutional Convention,
+    iii, 665.
+
+  Booth, Mary L., i, 48, 624, ii, 433.
+
+  _Boston Commonwealth_, report of fifth Washington Convention, ii, 543.
+
+  Boston Convention, i, 255.
+
+  _Boston Transcript_, iii, 227.
+
+  Bottsford, Harriette, iii, 623.
+
+  Bower, E. S., iii, 700.
+
+  Bowles, Ada C., iii, 194.
+
+  Bowles, Samuel, letter to Mrs. Hooker, iii, 325.
+
+  Boyd, Louise V., sketch of, i, 312.
+
+  Bradburn, Geo., address, i, 56.
+
+  Bradlaugh, Charles, speaks in New York for woman suffrage, ii, 842.
+
+  Bradley, Judge, on the XIV. Amendment, ii, 457
+    --opinion, Bradwell case, ii, 624.
+
+  Bradstreet, Anne, i, 204, iii, 302.
+
+  Bradwell, Myra, application to Illinois Bar, ii, 601
+    --opinion denying, ii, 609
+    --Carpenter's, Matt. H., argument, ii, 615
+    --opinion of Justice Bradley, ii, 624
+    --report of proceedings in Illinois and U. S. Supreme Courts,
+      ii, 614
+    --U. S. Supreme Court decision, ii, 622
+    --writ of error, ii, 614.
+
+  Brent, Margaret, first woman in America to claim the right to vote,
+    iii, 815.
+
+  BRIGHT, Jacob, iii, 727, 841
+    --letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438
+    --municipal franchise bill, secures, iii, 845
+    --became law, iii, 847
+    --Parliament, fails of reelection, iii, 853
+    --speech on woman suffrage, iii, 849, 873
+    --votes for woman suffrage, iii, 842.
+
+  Bright, John, ii, 349, 366, 420
+    --speech against woman suffrage, iii, 861.
+
+  Bright, Wm. H., career of, iii, 729.
+
+  Brinkerhoff, Martha H., iii, 614.
+
+  British taxation, ii, 202.
+
+  Bromwell, H. P. H., iii, 720.
+
+  Brooklyn Bridge, iii, 440.
+
+  Brooks, James, on woman suffrage, ii, 97.
+
+  Brooks, Harriet S., sketch of, iii, 692.
+
+  Broomall, John H., iii, 464.
+
+  Brougham, Lord, i, 633.
+
+  BROWN, Antoinette L., i, 41, 119, 186, 624
+    --Bible argument, points on the, i, 535
+    --colleges, on, i, 144
+    --on the Half-world's Temperance Convention, i, 507
+    --pastor, ordained as, i, 473
+    --portrait, i, 449
+    --resolutions, Albany Convention, i, 593
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 553
+    --Syracuse National Convention, argument, i, 524
+    --World's Temperance Convention, at the, i, 152.
+    (See Blackwell, A. L. B.)
+
+  Brown, B. Gratz, speech, ii, 136
+    --universal suffrage, on, iii, 598.
+
+  Brown, David Paul, i, 333.
+
+  Brown, Martha McClellan, iii, 226.
+
+  Brown, Mary Olney, iii, 767
+    --argument, her right to vote, iii, 783
+    --vote, attempts to, iii, 780, 785.
+
+  BROWN, Olympia, iii, 73, 267, 301
+    --discussion with Fred. Douglass, ii, 311
+    --Kansas, in, i, 200, ii, 239, 240, 241
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 259
+    --sketch of, iii, 646
+    --speech at Equal Rights Association anniversary, Cooper Institute,
+      ii, 309
+    --speech before Congressional Committee, iii, 95
+    --speech, Washington Convention, '76, iii, 7
+    --speech at Washington Convention, ii, 422.
+
+  Brown, R. T., speech on suffrage, ii, 853.
+
+  Brown, Sarah A., nominated for office, iii, 705.
+
+  Brown, Wm. Wells, ii, 368.
+
+  Bruhn, Rosa, letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 439.
+
+  Buchanan, James, ii, 204.
+
+  Buck, J. D., iii, 511.
+
+  Buckalew, Senator, speech, ii, 146.
+
+  Buckingham, Mrs., iii, 337.
+
+  Buckley, Brother, on women as preachers, i, 784.
+
+  Burger, Sarah, iii, 526 (see Stearns, S. B.).
+
+  Burleigh, Celia, ii, 402, 790, 801, 817.
+
+  Burleigh, Charles C., i, 148, 549, 558, ii, 194, 392, 818.
+
+  Burnet, Rev. J., i, 55.
+
+  Burnham, Carrie S., ii, 600, iii, 444.
+
+  Burns, Anthony, i, 254.
+
+  Burns, Robert, ii, 266.
+
+  Burr, Frances Ellen, iii, 319
+    --letters to S. B. Anthony, ii, 912, iii, 334
+    --Senate Judiciary Committee, argument before, ii, 543.
+
+  Burtis, Sarah Anthony, i, 76.
+
+  Burton, Mary, iii, 852.
+
+  Bush, Abigail, i, 75, iii, 120.
+
+  BUTLER, Benj. F., letters to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 539, iii, 255
+    --report on Victoria C. Woodhull's memorial to Congress, ii, 464
+    --speech, ii, 514.
+
+  Butler, David, iii, 691.
+
+  Butler, Deborah, ii, 348.
+
+  Butler, Josephine E., on prostitution, iii, 145
+    --vice, on, i, 795.
+
+
+  C.
+
+  Cadwallader, John, i, 330.
+
+  CALIFORNIA, iii, 749
+    --Appendix, iii, 977
+    --constitution, liberal provisions, 750
+    --constitution and statute-laws, 760
+    --Conventions (_see Conventions_)
+    --journalism, 761
+    --Mill's Seminary, 751
+    --petition to Legislature, 755
+    --press, _ib._
+    --senator, Mrs. Gordon nominated for, 756
+    --silk culture, 762
+    --State Society organized, 754
+    --woman's lawyer bill, 757
+    --woman suffrage society, first, 752
+    --women made eligible to school offices, 757
+    --women in the industries, 763
+    --women in the State University, contest, 758.
+
+  Cameron, Don, iii, 176.
+
+  Campbell, Margaret W., iii, 269, 716
+    --speech in Detroit, ii, 839.
+
+  Campbell, Mary G., iii, 712.
+
+  Canada, women's position in, iii, 831.
+
+  Canon law, i, 755, 769, 770, 771, 774.
+
+  Carey, Mary A. S., iii, 72.
+
+  Carey, Samuel F., i, 121, 154.
+
+  Carpenter Hall, application for, iii, 16.
+
+  Carpenter, C. C., letter to Iowa Woman Suffrage Association, iii, 621.
+
+  Carpenter, Matt. H., on Sargent's amendment to Pembina Territory bill,
+    ii, 562
+    --Anthony, Susan B., trial, on, ii, 701
+    --argument in Myra Bradwell's application to Illinois Bar, ii, 615
+    --letter to Elizabeth C. Stanton, ii, 423.
+
+  Carr, Jeanne, iii, 751.
+
+  CARROLL, Anna Ella, iii, 153
+    --claim before Congress, ii, 12, 863
+    --statement of Benj. F. Wade, ii, 865
+    --letters, ii, 865, 866, 867, 868
+    --Tennessee campaign, ii, 3
+    --Vicksburg, on, ii, 11.
+
+  Cartter, Mrs. M. M., ii, 442.
+
+  Cartter, Chief-Justice, opinion, Spencer-Webster suit, ii, 597.
+
+  Cary, Alice and Phoebe, ii, 433.
+
+  Catherine II., i, 34.
+
+  Catholic Church, ii, 201, 207.
+
+  Cattle expert, Middie Morgan, iii, 404.
+
+  Cavender, John H., i, 328.
+
+  Centennial celebration, iii, 411.
+
+  Centennial headquarters, iii, 21.
+
+  Centennial Tea-Party, iii, 269.
+
+  Centennial year, iii, 1.
+
+  Centralization, iii, 89
+    --Matilda J. Gage, on, ii, 523.
+
+  Century Club, Philadelphia, iii, 469.
+
+  Chace, Elizabeth B., iii, 340, 341, 348.
+
+  Chalkstone, Mrs., ii, 59.
+
+  Chamberlain, D. H., favors woman suffrage, iii, 829.
+
+  Chambers, Rev. John, i, 159, 167, 500, 508.
+
+  Chandler, Dolly, iii, 275.
+
+  Chandler, Z., on Mrs. J. S. Griffing and the freedmen, ii, 33.
+
+  CHANNING, William Henry, i, 476, 583, 584, 587, 591
+    --appeal, woman's rights, i, 588
+    --resolutions, Rochester Convention, i, 580
+    --social relations, report on, i, 233
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 550
+    --Woman's Rights, Declaration, i, 129
+    --World's Temperance Convention and John Chambers, on the, i, 508,
+      iii, 922.
+
+  Chapin, Augusta, iii, 276.
+
+  Chapin, Clara C., iii, 691, 693.
+
+  Chapin, E. H., i, 476.
+
+  Chaplain, Mrs. E. F. Hobart, ii, 18.
+
+  Chapman, Maria Weston, i, 53
+    --poem, i, 82.
+
+  Chase, Salmon P., i, 167, ii, 73, iii, 808.
+
+  Cheever, George B., ii, 226.
+
+  Chicago Historical Society, iii, 179.
+
+  _Chicago Inter-Ocean_, iii, 682.
+
+  _Chicago Legal News_, iii, 562.
+
+  Chicago Legal News Company, ii, 607.
+
+  CHILD, Lydia Maria, i, 38, 258, 775
+    --letter to E. C. Stanton, ii, 910
+    --letter to St. Louis Convention, ii, 825
+    --petitions Congress, iii, 266
+    --universal suffrage, on, iii, 519.
+
+  Children, guardianship of, i, 747
+    --illegitimate, i, 760
+    --rearing of, i, 304.
+
+  Christine of Pisa, i, 29.
+
+  Christlieb, Prof., i, 787.
+
+  Church and State, i, 753.
+
+  Church, Elmwood, Illinois, iii, 563.
+
+  Churchill, Elizabeth K., iii, 371
+    --woman suffrage, on, ii, 812.
+
+  CITIZENSHIP, ii, 462, 468, 469, 470, 473, 532, 555, 556, 665
+    --Bates, Attorney-General, on, ii, 461
+    --Blake, Devereux, on, iii, 7
+    --Curtis, Justice, on, ii, 472
+    --Daniel, Justice, on, ii, 471
+    --Stanton, Elizabeth C., speech on, iii, 80
+    --Taney, Justice, on, ii, 472
+    --term defined, ii, 451
+    --Thorbeck, on, ii, 473
+    --White, Richard Grant, on, ii, 567.
+
+  Citizenship, women crowned with rights of, in Wyoming, iii, 726.
+
+  Claiborne, F. L., iii, 795.
+
+  Clark, Emily, i, 489.
+
+  Clark, Helen Bright, iii, 874.
+
+  Clark, Mary T., sketch of, i, 312.
+
+  Clark, Sidney, ii, 363.
+
+  Clarke, Hannah B., on woman suffrage, ii, 807.
+
+  Clarke, Jas. Freeman, on suffrage, i, 258, ii, 768, iii, 266
+    --speech, New England, Convention, i, 263.
+
+  Clarke, Mary Bayard, iii, 825.
+
+  Clarkson, Thomas, i, 54.
+
+  Clay, Mary B., iii, 818.
+
+  Clemmer, Mary, letter to S. B. Anthony, iii, 262
+    --letter to Senator Wadleigh, iii, 111.
+
+  Clergy, charges against, i, 135
+    --celibacy of, i, 757.
+
+  Clergymen and corkscrews, ii, 167.
+
+  Cleveland, Grover, iii, 437.
+
+  Clute, Oscar, on woman suffrage, ii, 770.
+
+  Cobbe, Francis Power, iii, 865
+    --letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438.
+
+  Cobden, Jane, iii, 875.
+
+  Cobden, Richard, favors woman suffrage, iii, 835.
+
+  Coe, Emma R., i, 146, 232.
+
+  Cogswell, Brainard, iii, 371.
+
+  Colburn, Catharine A., iii, 774.
+
+  Colburn, Mary J., iii, 650.
+
+  Colby, Clara Bewick, iii, 222
+    --sketch of, iii, 670.
+
+  Colby University opened to girls, iii, 355.
+
+  Cole, Mrs. Miriam M., ii, 790, 806, 832, iii, 501.
+
+  Coleman, Lucy N., speech at Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 62.
+
+  Coleridge, Lord, iii, 844.
+
+  Colfax, Schuyler, ii, 181.
+
+  Colleges, iii, 399
+    --women in, i, 144.
+
+  Colleges for women, iii, 296.
+
+  College, Woman's, Evanston, Ill., iii, 578.
+
+  Collier, Robert Laird, iii, 567.
+
+  Collins, Emily, reminiscences of, i, 88
+    --Miss Sarah Owen's correspondence, i, 91.
+
+  Collins, Jennie, speech at Washington Convention, ii, 423.
+
+  Collins, Stacy B., iii, 482.
+
+  Collyer, Robert, ii, 368, 371, 372
+    --recollections of Lucretia Mott, i, 409, 414
+    --speech at Chicago, iii, 565.
+
+  COLORADO: clergy, iii, 720
+    --Conventions, _See Conventions_
+    --Desert, great American, iii, 712
+    --equal-rights mass-meeting in Denver, 722
+    --leaders in the cause, 719
+    --legislation, 714, 715
+    --press, 715
+    --suffrage amendment, defeat of, 723
+    --suffrage first effort for, 712
+    --suffrage, Gov. McCook's message, 713
+    --woman suffrage, Gov. Evan's on, 722.
+
+  _Colorado Tribune_, iii, 715.
+
+  Columbia College, effort to open to women, iii, 410.
+
+  Colvin, N. J., letters to S. B. Anthony, i, 691, 750; ii, 914.
+
+  Conciliatory amendments, ii, 527.
+
+  _Concord Monitor_, iii, 371.
+
+  Congress, first Continental, iii, 17
+    --Elizabeth C. Stanton runs for, ii, 180
+    --Victoria C. Woodhull's memorial, 443
+    --Riddle's speech in support of, 448
+    --House majority report, 461
+    --Minority report, 464.
+
+  CONGRESSIONAL ACTION, ii, 90
+    --Anthony, Senator, speech, ii, 106
+    --arguments before House Committee, iii, 161
+    --arguments before Senate Committee, iii, 155
+    --Banks' N. P., speech, iii, 10
+    --Brooks' James, speech, ii, 96
+    --Brown's, Senator, speech, ii, 136
+    --Buckalew's, Senator, speech, ii, 146
+    --Butler's, Benj., speech, ii, 514
+    --Committee, special, House appoints, iii, 221
+    --Committee, special, on woman suffrage, Senate discussion, iii, 198
+    --Committee, special, on woman suffrage, House discussion, iii, 219
+    --Committee, standing, Senate discussion, iii, 190
+    --Cowan, Senator, speech, ii, 103, 110
+    --Cowan repels the charge of insincerity, ii, 121
+    --Davis's Senator, speech, ii, 144
+    --Debate, Senate and House, iii, 70
+    --Democrats and the petitions, ii, 95
+    --District of Columbia suffrage bill, ii, 103
+    --vote, ii, 151
+    --District of Columbia bill, Julian's amendment, ii, 482
+    --Doolittle, Senator, speech against, ii, 150
+    --electors, who constitute, House debates, ii, 326
+    --female employees, iii, 811
+    --Frelinghuysen's, Senator, speech, ii, 135
+    --hearing before Senate Committee, iii, 227
+    --Henderson, Senator, presents Mrs. Gerrit Smith's petition with a
+      speech, ii, 98
+    --House discussion, ii, 514
+    --Johnson's, Senator, speech, ii, 130
+    --joint resolutions before House affecting women, ii, 72
+    --Julian's bills, ii, 325
+    --Morrill's, Senator, speech, ii, 118
+    --National Association granted hearing, iii, 75
+    --Negro's hour, ii, 94
+    --Parker's bill, ii, 516
+    --Pembina Territory bill, debate on, Sargent's amendment, ii, 545;
+      am't rejected, 582;
+      Anthony's remarks, 568;
+      Bayard's remarks, 567, 575;
+      Boreman's remarks, 549, 580;
+      Carpenter's remarks, 562;
+      Conkling's remarks, 558, 559;
+      Edmund's remarks, 562, 569, 571, 572, 573, 580;
+      Ferry's remarks, 568;
+      Flanagan's remarks, 552;
+      Merrimon's remarks, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 560;
+      Morrill's remarks, 562;
+      Morton's remarks, 549, 569;
+      Sargent's remarks, 546, 555, 564, 567;
+      Stewart's remarks, 548, 558, 559, 564, 573, 579.
+    Petition, iii, 9
+    --petition read and referred, iii, 130
+    --petition, Rhode Island, ii, 560
+    --petition for universal suffrage, ii, 97
+    --petitions against the word "male" in Constitution, ii, 91
+    --Pomeroy's, Senator, resolution, ii, 324
+    --Pomeroy's, Senator, speech, ii, 151
+    --Report, first favorable majority, iii, 231
+    --report, first favorable, Senate, iii, 131
+    --report, minority, iii, 237
+    --reports on Victoria C. Woodhull's memorial, ii, 461, 464
+    --reports, iii, 150
+    --Republicans' protest in presenting petitions, ii, 94, 96
+    --Republicans, squirming of, ii, 101
+    --resolution to appoint special committee, iii, 175
+    --Sargent, Senator, speech, iii, 9
+    --Sixteenth Amendment, ii, 333
+    --Sixteenth Amendment, resolutions, iii, 154
+    --Stevens', Thaddeus, resolution, ii, 95
+    --Sumner, Charles, presents a petition under protest, ii, 96;
+      why he protested, ii, 100.
+    Wade, Benj. F., speech, ii, 123
+    --Williams, Senator, speech against, ii, 108
+    --Wilson's, Senator, bill, ii, 324
+    --Wilson's, Senator, speech, ii, 128.
+
+  Conkling, Roscoe, ii, 363
+    --on Senator McDonald's Woman Suffrage resolution, iii, 191
+    --talk with, ii, 347
+    --Senator Stewart and woman suffrage, on, ii, 558.
+
+  Connecticut, iii, 316
+    --Appendix, iii, 957
+    --Bar, admission to the, iii, 330
+    --Legislature, minority report, iii, 317.
+
+  Constitution, Story on the, ii, 477, 478, 588.
+
+  Constitution and suffrage, ii, 741.
+
+  Continental Europe, iii, 895.
+
+  CONVENTIONS: American Woman Suffrage Association (_See Am. Woman
+    Suffrage Association_)
+    --barn, in a, i, 123
+    --_California_, San Francisco, iii, 753, 760
+    --_Connecticut_, Hartford, iii, 197, 322
+    --_Colorado_, Denver, iii, 716, 720
+    --_Illinois_, Bloomington, iii, 572,
+      Chicago, ii, 368, iii, 175, 565, 570;
+      Galena, ii, 375;
+      Springfield, ii, 371, iii, 570.
+    --_Indiana_, Dublin, Wayne Co., i, 306;
+      Indianapolis, i, 307, iii, 175, 534, 537;
+      Richmond, i, 307;
+      Winchester, i, 308;
+    --_Iowa_, Des Moines, iii, 618, 623, 624;
+      Mount Pleasant, iii, 617;
+      Ottumwa, iii, 624.
+    --_Kansas_, Topeka, iii, 702, 709;
+      Salina, iii, 709.
+    --London, first ever held, ii, 406
+    --Loyalists' ii, 329
+    --_Maine_, Augusta, iii, 359, 363;
+      Portland, iii, 197, 352
+    --_Massachusetts_, Boston, ii, 178, iii, 192
+    --Worcester (Nat.), i, 215, 266
+    --_Michigan_, Detroit, iii, 516;
+      Grand Rapids, iii, 530;
+      Lansing, iii, 519
+    --_Minnesota_, Minneapolis, iii, 659
+    --_Missouri_, St. Louis, ii, 369, 407, iii, 142, 601, 606
+    --National, in 1866-67,
+      report by Caroline H. Dall, ii, 899
+    --_Nebraska_, Kearney, iii, 688 694;
+      Norfolk, iii, 689;
+      Omaha, iii, 241, 687, 690
+    --New England, i, 254, 255, 262, iii, 267
+    --_New Hampshire_, Concord, iii, 270, 368;
+      Dover, iii, 197;
+      Keene, _ib._;
+      New Haven, _ib._
+    --_New Jersey_, Vineland, iii, 479
+    --_New York_, Albany, i, 591, 628, 678, 745;
+      Rochester, i, 75, 577,
+        press comments, i, 802;
+      Rochester, iii, 117;
+      Saratoga, ii, 402;
+      Burleigh's, Celia, description, ii, 402;
+      Saratoga, i, 620, 623;
+      Saratoga, iii, 396;
+      Seneca Falls, i, 67,
+        press comments, i, 802;
+      Syracuse (Nat.), i, 517,
+        press comments i, 852
+    --New York Constitutional, ii, 269, 282
+    --New York City, Apollo Hall, ii, 427, 484, 533;
+      Broadway Tabernacle i, 631, 546;
+      Church of the Puritans (Nat.), 152;
+      Cooper Institute (Nat.), i, 688;
+      Irving Hall, ii, 426, 545;
+      Masonic Temple, ii, 584, iii, 19, 98;
+      Mozart Hall (Nat.), i, 668, 672;
+      Steinway Hall, ii, 809
+    --_Ohio_, Akron, i, 111;
+      Cincinnati (Nat.), i, 163;
+      Cincinnati, iii, 492;
+      Cleveland (Nat.), i, 124;
+      Cleveland, ii, 757;
+      Dayton, iii, 493;
+      Massilon, i, 123;
+      Salem, i, 103;
+      Toledo, ii, 377, iii, 506.
+  _Oregon_, Portland, iii, 773
+    --Paris, International, iii, 127, 585, 896
+    --_Pennsylvania_, Philadelphia, i, 375, iii, 34, 229;
+      Westchester, i, 350
+    --_Rhode Island_, Newport, ii, 403;
+      Providence, iii, 197, 340
+    --_South Carolina_, Columbia, iii, 828
+    --_Vermont_, Montpelier, iii, 385
+    --_Washington Ter._,  Walla Walla, iii, 775
+    --Washington, D. C., ii, 345, 356, 359, 416, 418, 425, 417, 442,
+      493, 521, 537, 538, 543, 582, iii, 3, 60, 71, 128, 150, 187,
+      221, 254
+    --_Wisconsin_, Janesville, iii, 642;
+      Madison, ii, 374;
+      Milwaukee, ii, 374, iii, 640;
+      Racine, iii, 645.
+
+  Conventions, Constitutional, Kansas, i, 189
+    --Massachusetts, i, 253
+    --New York, ii, 267
+    --Ohio, i, 105
+    --Pennsylvania, iii, 465.
+
+  Conventions held in Washington, why, iii, 150.
+
+  Cooper, Edward, against woman suffrage, iii, 422.
+
+  Cooper, Joseph, i, 447.
+
+  Cooper, Peter, iii, 399.
+
+  "Copperheads," going over to the, ii, 320.
+
+  Corbin, Hannah Lee, i, 33.
+
+  Cornell, A. B., iii, 223, 423.
+
+  Cornell, University, iii, 398.
+
+  Corner, Mary T., i, 122, iii, 810.
+
+  Correll, E. M., ii, 862, iii, 691.
+
+  Correspondence, _See Letters_.
+
+  Corson, Hiram, letter to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 472.
+
+  Courtney, Leonard, iii, 862.
+
+  COUZINS, Phoebe W., iii, 7, 60, 370
+    --address, "Woman as a Lawyer," ii, 542
+    --argument before House Committee, iii, 170
+    --delegate to National Democratic Convention, iii, 27
+    --Labors of, iii, 596
+    --reception, iii, 610
+    --Senate Judiciary Committee, argument before, ii, 543
+    --Speeches:
+        Centennial, iii, 36,
+        St. Louis Convention, iii, 142;
+        Washington Convention, 223, 258;
+        Woman Suffrage, ii, 387.
+
+  Couzins, Mrs. J. E. D., as a nurse, iii, 596.
+
+  Covenant, Ladies' National, ii, 39.
+
+  Cowan, Senator, speech on District of Columbia suffrage bill,
+    ii, 163, 110.
+
+  Cowles, Betsey M., i, 104.
+
+  Cox, Rt. Rev. Dr., i, 782.
+
+  Crandall, Prudence, iii, 316, 560, 703.
+
+  Craven, Rev. E. A., on Woman in the Pulpit, iii, 485.
+
+  Crawford, S. J., ii, 251.
+
+  Cromwellian era, i, 775.
+
+  Crosby, Howard, letter to Mrs. M. J. Gage, i, 798.
+
+  Crow, Wayman, iii, 595.
+
+  Crowley, Richard, argument Miss Anthony's trial, ii, 648.
+
+  "Crown and Anchor," i, 438.
+
+  Culver, Hon. Erastus D., speech at Cooper Institute Convention,
+    i, 709.
+
+  CURTIS, Geo. Wm., i, 668; ii, 378; iii, 440
+    --speech on woman suffrage, ii, 795
+    --speech, Constitutional Convention at Albany, ii, 288
+    --suffrage for women, favors, i, 672.
+
+  Cushman, Major Pauline, ii, 20.
+
+  Cutler, Hannah M. T., i, 123, 163, 380, 384; ii, 773, 788, 809, 818,
+    823, 853; iii, 561, 614, 675.
+
+
+  D.
+
+  Dahlgren, Madeleine, ii, 494, 495, iii, 101.
+
+  DAKOTA, iii, 662
+    --address to women of, M. J. Gage's, iii, 663
+    --Constitutional Convention, iii, 664
+    --Legislative action, iii, 662
+    --school suffrage, iii, 663, 666
+    --suffrage bill passed Legislature, iii, 667
+    --vetoed, iii, 667.
+
+  DALL, Caroline H., "Drawing-room Convention," i, 276
+    --lectures, i, 262
+    --letter to _The Nation_, ii, 101
+    --petition, i, 262
+    --reports National Conventions held in '66 and '67, ii, 899
+    --speech, New England Convention, i, 265.
+
+  Dana, Richard H., on womanhood, i, 367
+    --woman suffrage, on, i, 41.
+
+  Darlington, Hannah M., i, 349
+    --letter to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, i, 344.
+
+  Darrah, Lydia, i, 321.
+
+  Dartmouth College case, ii, 725.
+
+  Daughters of Liberty, i, 203.
+
+  Davis, Senator, speech against woman suffrage, ii, 144.
+
+  Davis, Edward M., ii, 358, iii, 45, 462.
+
+  Davis, Jefferson, ii, 542.
+
+  Davis, J. J., iii, 154.
+
+  Davis, Mary F., ii, 390, 791, iii, 480.
+
+  DAVIS, Paulina Wright, i, 37, 46, iii, 823
+    --colored women on, ii, 391
+    --death of, i, 827
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 336
+    --portrait, i, 273
+    --President, made, Boston Convention, i, 255
+    --President, made, Worcester convention, i, 221
+    --President, made, Worcester National Convention, i, 227
+    --reminiscences of, Elizabeth Cady Stanton's, i, 283
+    --speech, Boston Convention, i, 256
+    --speech, Syracuse National Convention, i, 533
+    --_The Una_, i, 246
+    --woman's rights movement, review of, ii, 428.
+
+  Deaths, Mrs. Dall's report, ii, 905.
+
+  Decisions and Trials, ii, 586.
+
+  Declaration, Channing's, i, 129.
+
+  Declaration of sentiments, i, 70.
+
+  Declaration and pledge, ii, 486.
+
+  DeFoe, Daniel, i, 29.
+
+  Delaware, iii, 817.
+
+  Democrats advocated woman suffrage, ii, 320.
+
+  Denmark, iii, 914.
+
+  Dentistry, Lucy B. Hobbs, iii, 401, 455.
+
+  Dentistry, women in, iii, 452.
+
+  Deroine, Jeanne, address to women of America, i, 234.
+
+  DICKINSON, Anna E., ii, 375, iii, 320, 811
+    --California, in, iii, 752
+    --Chicago Convention, at, ii, 368
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, her suggestion, ii, 227
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 916
+    --speech, Chicago, iii, 567
+    --speeches, ii, 40
+    --tribute, ii, 433
+    --"Young Elephant," ii, 42.
+
+  Dilke, Sir Charles, iii, 847.
+
+  Dimock, Susan, tribute, iii, 827.
+
+  Dinsmoor, Orpha C., sketch of, iii, 693.
+
+  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, iii, 808
+    --Conventions (see Conventions);
+    --Miner Normal School, iii, 809
+    --Organic Act, iii, 812
+    --suffrage bill, iii, 809, ii, 103, 482
+    --Universal Franchise Association, iii, 809
+    --women admitted to District bar, iii, 812
+    --women in government departments, iii, 808
+    --women in the profession of medicine, iii, 812
+    --women writers and teachers, iii, 813.
+
+  Disraeli on woman suffrage, iii, 839.
+
+  Dix, Dorothea, i, 479, ii, 12.
+
+  Dix, John A., i, 530.
+
+  Dix, Morgan, Lenten lectures, iii, 436
+    --Mrs. Blake's reply, iii, 436
+    --coeducation, on, iii, 410.
+
+  Divorce (see Marriage and Divorce).
+
+  Dodge, Mary Mapes, i, 49.
+
+  Dolph, J. N., iii, 778.
+
+  Doolittle's, Senator, speech against woman suffrage, ii, 150.
+
+  Dorsett, Martha Angle, lawyer, iii, 660.
+
+  Dorsey, Sarah A., iii, 794, 807.
+
+  Doud, Katharine R., iii, 645.
+
+  DOUGLAS, Frederick, i, 74, 584, 585, 587, ii, 391, iii, 74, 125
+    --discussion with Olympia Brown, ii, 311
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the origin of, ii, 326
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 265
+    --letter to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ii, 328
+    --Loyalists' Convention, delegate, ii, 329
+    --refuge in Mrs. E. C. Stanton's house, ii, 382
+    --_Revolution_, on the, ii, 382
+    --wolf-skins, in, ii, 377
+    --speech, Washington Convention '76, iii, 7.
+
+  Douglass, Sarah M., i, 332.
+
+  Douglass, Stephen A., ii, 263, 301.
+
+  Dow, Neal, i, 121, 154.
+
+  Downing, Geo. T., ii, 214, 215, 377.
+
+  Downing, Lucy, iii, 296.
+
+  Downs, Cora M., made a Regent, iii, 706.
+
+  Doyle, Sarah E. H., iii, 344.
+
+  Draper, E. D., ii, 242.
+
+  Dresser, Horace, ii, 952.
+
+  Duchess of Sutherland, i, 421.
+
+  Dugdale, Jos. A., on wills, i, 357.
+
+  DUNIWAY, Abigail Scott, arrest of, ordered, iii, 774
+    --career, iii, 768
+    --egged at Jacksonville, Oregon, iii, 775
+    --Constitutional liberty, on, _ib._
+    --lecturing tour, iii, 769
+    --temperance meeting, at a, iii, 772.
+
+
+  E.
+
+  Eaglesfield, Elizabeth, iii, 549.
+
+  Earl, Sarah H., tribute, i, 217
+    --President New England Convention, made, i, 254.
+
+  Eastman, Mary F., speeches, ii, 829, 840, 845, 854.
+
+  Ecclesine, Thos. C, iii, 420.
+
+  Eddy, Eliza F., will case, iii, 312.
+
+  Edgerton, A. J., on woman suffrage, iii, 666.
+
+  Editor, first colored, i, 91.
+
+  Editors, opinions of three liberal, ii, 227.
+
+  Editors interviewed, iii, 623.
+
+  Edmunds, Senator, on State rights and suffrage, ii, 561, 569, 570,
+    571, 572, 573. 580
+    --woman suffrage, on, iii 70.
+
+  Education, Mrs. Dall's report, ii, 900.
+
+  Education, compulsory, iii, 61.
+
+  Education, equal, ii, 909.
+
+  Educational movement, iii, 398.
+
+  Eggleston, Edward, on woman suffrage, ii, 810.
+
+  Eldridge, Edward, iii, 781.
+
+  Electors, qualification of, ii, 272, 463-4.
+
+  Eliot, Rev. Wm. G., i, 171.
+
+  Elizabeth, Queen, i, 30.
+
+  Ellsworth, Bertha H., iii, 700.
+
+  Elstob, Elizabeth, i, 30.
+
+  Emancipation Petition, ii, 78.
+
+  Emerson, on Power of Human Mind, ii, 427.
+
+  Episcopal restrictions, i, 785.
+
+  Essex County Society, iii, 270.
+
+  Estabrook, Prof., speech for woman suffrage, ii, 839.
+
+  "Eumenes", i, 451.
+
+  Evans, L. D., ii, 10, iii, 801.
+
+  Evarts, Wm. M., upon woman's subordination, i, 789, iii, 53.
+
+
+  F.
+
+  Fable, "The Selfish Rats," iii, 114.
+
+  Fales, Mrs. I. C, speech on suffrage, ii, 851.
+
+  Fairchild, Governor, ii, 375.
+
+  Faithful, Emily, letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 440.
+
+  Farnham, Eliza W., iii, 750
+    --speech at Mozart Hall, i, 669, iii, 750.
+
+  Ferrin, Mary Upton, i, 209, iii, 289
+    --speech before Judiciary Committee, Massachusetts Legislature,
+      i, 212.
+
+  Ferry, Thos. W., ii, 568, iii, 28, 154, on the Pembrina Territory
+    bill, ii, 568.
+
+  Feudalism, i, 761-3.
+
+  Flanagan, Senator, on Sargent's amendment to Pembrina Territory bill,
+    ii, 552.
+
+  Florida, iii, 829.
+
+  Field, Anna C, ii, 398.
+
+  Field, David Dudley, iii, 647.
+
+  Field, Kate, i, 620.
+
+  Fields, Jas. T., letter to H. B. Blackwell, ii, 838.
+
+  Fifteenth Amendment, ii, 314, 327, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 387, 455,
+    463, 478, 479, 502, 503, 556, 557, 569, 616, 618, 619, 641, 642,
+    663.
+
+  Filley, Mary Powers, iii, 97, 380.
+
+  Foeking, Emilie, iii, 816.
+
+  Foley, Margaret, iii, 301.
+
+  Folger, Chas. J., i, 750, ii, 271, iii, 801.
+
+  Folsom, Marianna, iii, 703.
+
+  Foltz, Clara S., iii, 757.
+
+  Foote, Samuel A., i, 629.
+
+  Forbes, Arathusa L., iii, 596.
+
+  Ford, Jennie G., iii, 693.
+
+  Forney, John W., on women and hospital clinics, 3, 450.
+
+  Foster, Abby Kelly, i, 40, 53, 101, 134, ii, 216.
+
+  Foster, J. Ellen, iii, 536.
+
+  Foster, Julia, i, 301.
+
+  Foster, Rachel, i, 391, iii, 474.
+
+  Foster, Stephen S., i, 141, ii, 381, iii, 372.
+
+  Fourteenth Amendment, ii, 313, 315, 323, 324, 327, 407, 411, 412, 422,
+    455, 457, 461, 463, 468, 478, 479, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 556,
+    586, 590, 593, 595, 596, 619, 617, 618, 619, 621, 622, 624, 625,
+    626, 641, 642, 663.
+
+  Fox, Charles James, i, 453.
+
+  Fox, W. J., on women in politics, iii, 836.
+
+  Fowler, Lydia F., i, 178, 478, 491.
+
+  France, ii, 202
+    --agitation in, address of Pauline Roland and Jeanne Deroine, i, 234
+    --international woman's rights congress, iii, 896.
+
+  "Frank Miller," ii, 19.
+
+  Franklin, Benjamin, i, 324, ii, 244, 475.
+
+  Franklin, William, i, 441.
+
+  Freedmen's Relief Association, Mrs. J. S. Griffing, ii, 26
+    --Josephine Griffing's letter to Lucretia Mott, ii, 869
+    --letters on the, ii, 45
+    --originator of, ii, 38.
+
+  Freeland, Margaret, arrest of, i, 475.
+
+  Frelinghuysen, F. G., speech, ii, 135.
+
+  Fremont, Jessie B., letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 911.
+
+  Fremont, Jno. C., Presidential campaign, i, 651.
+
+  French, Charlotte Olney, iii, 784.
+
+  Frothingham, O. B., ii, 186, 248, 380, 545.
+
+  Fry, Elizabeth, i, 479.
+
+  Fry, Elizabeth, and Lucretia Mott, i. 423.
+
+  Frye, Wm. P., iii, 105, 366.
+
+  Fuller, Margaret, i, 40, 49, 217, 801; iii, 307.
+
+  Fulton, W. C., iii, 776.
+
+  Furness' church, iii, 35.
+
+
+  G.
+
+  GAGE, Frances Dana, ii, 112, 113, 114, 116, iii, 561
+    --Cleveland Convention, at, i, 124
+    --lectures in Iowa, iii, 613
+    --letter to American Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 769
+    --at Cincinnati, ii, 857
+    --letter to Matilda Joslyn Gage, i, 117
+    --letter to _National Anti-Slavery Standard_, ii, 176
+    --letter to Lucy Stone, i, 656
+    --letter to Rochester Temperance Convention, i, 845
+    --letter to Washington Convention, ii, 424
+    --mothers and their children, on, i, 360
+    --National Convention, Philadelphia, at, i, 325
+    --negro testimony quoted by Senator Cowan in U. S. Senate, ii, 115
+    --Nichols, Mrs., and, i, 198
+    --orator, as an, i, 168
+    --portrait, i, 128
+    --reminiscences of Sojourner Truth, i, 115
+    --reply to Gerrit Smith's letter to Mrs. Stanton, i, 842
+    --speech, Akron Convention, i, 111;
+      Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 563;
+      Winchester, Ind., Convention, i, 308;
+      Equal Rights Association Convention, ii, 197, 200
+    --her last speech, ii, 223;
+      temperance and the ballot, ii, 211.
+
+  GAGE, Matilda Joslyn, i, 589, 591, iii, 65, 151, 227, 437
+    --address to women of Dakota, iii, 663
+    --Anthony case, her letter to _Albany Law Journal_, ii, 947
+    --appeal, iii, 413
+    --argument before House Committee, iii, 167
+    --Carpenter Hall, application for, iii, 17
+    --church influence on woman's liberties, iii, 74
+    --divorce on, i, 566
+    --Grant and Wilson campaign, appeal, ii, 517
+    --letter to wife of Admiral Dahlgren, ii, 494
+    --letter to Dakota Constitutional Convention, iii, 664
+    --letter to Omaha convention, iii, 259
+    --Minor suit, her review of Judge Waite's opinion, ii, 742
+    --_National Citizen_ prospectus, iii, 116
+    --_National Citizen and Ballot-Box_, i, 47
+    --petition, political disabilities, iii, 60
+    --portrait, i, 753
+    --report, iii, 522
+    --sketch of, i, 466
+    --speeches:
+      Centralization, at Washington Convention, ii, 523;
+      Congressional Committees, before, ii, 415, iii, 10, 93;
+      Furness' church, in, iii, 35;
+      Rochester Convention, i, 579;
+      Saratoga Convention, i, 622;
+      Syracuse National Convention, i, 528;
+      United States on trial, not Susan B. Anthony, ii, 630;
+      Washington National Convention, iii, 4
+    --Sunderland controversy, i, 543
+    --Van Schaick, and Mr., i, 406
+    --Woman, Church and State, i, 753.
+
+  "Gail Hamilton," iii, 365.
+
+  Gaines, Myra Clark, iii, 801.
+
+  Gale's, Senator, insulting epithets, i, 483.
+
+  Gallup, J. D., iii, 319.
+
+  Galusha, Eben, address, i, 55.
+
+  Gardner, Nannette B., ii, 587
+    --votes in Michigan, iii, 523.
+
+  Garfield, James A., letter to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 185.
+
+  Garret, Eliza, iii, 582.
+
+  Garrett, Thomas, iii, 818.
+
+  GARRISON, Wm. Lloyd, argument at Cleveland National Convention, i, 136
+    --attacked by Dr. Nevin, i, 144
+    --on Gen. Carey, i, 162
+    --letter to American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in
+      Philadelphia, ii, 816
+    --letter to Concord Convention, iii, 368
+    --letter to Rochester Convention, iii, 122
+    --letter to Worcester National Convention, i, 216
+    --London Anti-slavery Convention, and the, i, 61
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 733
+    --National Convention, Philadelphia, at, i, 378
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 548, 570
+    --tracts and petitions, on, i, 383
+    --tribute to Mrs. J. S. Griffing, ii, 38
+    --woman suffrage, apathy, ii, 322
+    --women in national councils, on the right of, i, 672
+    --World's Temperance Convention, on the, i, 160.
+
+  Gay, Sidney Howard, ii, 369.
+
+  Gaylord, Senator, iii, 623.
+
+  Geddes, Geo., on the Property bill, i, 64.
+
+  Generals, why kept in the army, ii, 75.
+
+  Geneva, iii, 909.
+
+  George Eliot, i, 302.
+
+  Georgia, iii, 830.
+
+  Germans against woman suffrage, ii, 231.
+
+  Germany, iii, 902.
+
+  Gibbons, Abby Hopper, i, 40.
+
+  Gibbs, Sarah A., dissection of a sermonizer, iii, 391.
+
+  Gibson, Anthony, i, 29.
+
+  Giddings, Joshua R., on woman suffrage, i, 128
+    --World's Temperance Convention, on the, i, 162.
+
+  Giddings, Maria L., i, 114.
+
+  Gillette, Rev. Mrs., ii, 837.
+
+  Gillingham, Lydia, i, 324.
+
+  Girls and boys, ii, 541.
+
+  Gladden, Washington, on woman suffrage, ii, 815.
+
+  GLADSTONE, ii, 293, 366
+    --Catholicism, i, 27
+    --speech on woman suffrage, iii, 850, 854, 877, 883, 888.
+
+  Goddard, Sarah, i, 44.
+
+  Godwin, Parke, on the higher education of women, iii, 433.
+
+  Goodell, Lavinia, iii, 648.
+
+  Goodrich, Sarah Knox, iii, 765.
+
+  Gordon, J. W., i, 307.
+
+  Gordon, Laura DeForce, iii, 6, 751
+    --Lectures, iii, 755
+    --Letter to Washington Convention, iii, 64
+    --Senator, nominated for, iii, 756.
+
+  Gougar, Helen M., iii, 540, 552, 697, 702, 708, 857.
+
+  Government, Hooker on, ii, 475
+    --Paine on, ii, 474
+    --Pillsbury on, ii, 201
+    --Priestly on, ii, 476
+    --Radical basis of, ii, 290
+    --Sharpe, Granville, on, ii, 475
+    --Summers, Lord, on, ii, 475
+    --theory, true, ii, 474.
+
+  "Grace Greenwood" (_see_ Mrs. Sara J. Lippincott).
+
+  GRANT. U. S., ii, 88
+    --campaign (1872), Tremont Temple meeting, iii, 278
+    --XV. Amendment, on the, ii, 646
+    --talk with Susan B. Anthony, ii, 544.
+
+  Grant and Wilson campaign, National Woman's Rights Association's
+    appeal, ii, 517.
+
+  Graves, Ezra, ii, 282, 307.
+
+  GREAT BRITAIN, ii, 202; iii, 833
+    --associations formed, iii, 841
+    --circular to Members of Parliament, iii, 881
+    --Conference, Edinburgh, iii, 878
+    --Conference, Leeds, iii, 874
+    --Conference, St. James' Hall, iii, 888
+    --demonstration, Birmingham, iii, 868
+    --demonstration, Manchester, iii, 867
+    --demonstrations, iii, 869
+    --education act, iii, 850
+    --education bill, Scotch, iii, 851
+    --household suffrage, iii, 886
+    --Isle of Man, iii, 870
+    --letters, woman suffrage, iii, 865
+    --Manchester Liberal Association, iii, 876
+    --married women's property act, iii, 872
+    --medical relief bill, iii, 890
+    --meetings during 1870, iii, 852
+    --memorial of the Birmingham conference, iii, 855
+    --memorial to Gladstone, iii, 883
+    --memorials, iii, 853, 854, 873
+    --municipal franchise bill, iii, 845
+    --municipal franchise bill for Scotland, iii, 871
+    --Northern Reform Society, iii, 838
+    --Parliament debates woman suffrage, iii, 850, 861, 862, 863, 873,
+      884, 889, 890
+    --petitions, iii, 866
+    --petitions and pamphlets, iii, 840
+    --petition to Parliament, Mary Smith's, iii, 835
+    --reform act, ii, 590
+    --Sheffield Association, iii, 837
+    --suffrage bill before Parliament, iii, 842
+    --chronological table of successive steps towards freedom, iii, 980
+    --women householders, iii, 881
+    --women in politics, iii, 835
+    --woman suffrage, able advocates of, iii, 836
+    --women suffrage meeting, first ever held in London, iii, 848
+    --_Woman Suffrage Journal_, iii, 850
+    --women vote, iii, 843
+    --women vote in Scotland, iii, 871.
+
+  Greece, iii, 919.
+
+  Greeley, Ann F., iii, 356.
+
+  GREELEY, Horace, ii, 227; iii, 408, 773
+    --abolitionists, denounced, ii, 287
+    --bullet and ballot, ii, 284
+    --defranchisement, panacea for, ii, 101
+    --enfranchisement of women, on, ii, 103
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 230
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, i, 628
+    --letter to Cleveland National Convention, i, 125
+    --letter to Paulina W. Davis, i, 520
+    --letter to Mrs. J. S. Griffing, ii, 36
+    --letter to Sam'l J. May on woman's rights, i, 653
+    --marriage, on, i, 730
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 740
+    --Owen, R. D., discussion, divorce, i, 296, 746
+    --Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, and, ii, 287
+    --support of, lost, ii, 269
+    --temperance speech, Metropolitan Hall, i, 491
+    --universal suffrage and universal amnesty, ii, 315
+    --woman and work, on, i, 589
+    --woman suffrage, opposed to, iii, 185
+    --woman suffrage, report against, ii, 285
+    --criticism, _New York Independent_, ii, 305.
+
+  Greeley's, Mrs., petition, ii, 287.
+
+  Green, Anna R., Md., iii, 815.
+
+  Green, Beriah, i, 417
+    --speech at Cooper Institute Convention, i, 699, 450, 487.
+
+  Gregory, Samuel, i, 38.
+
+  Grew, Rev. Henry, on woman's rights, i, 379.
+
+  Grew, Mary, i, 325
+    --speech at Cooper Institute Convention, i, 735
+    --woman suffrage, on, ii, 814
+    --President, iii, 457.
+
+  GRIFFING, Josephine S., i, 110; ii, 345, 422; iii, 810
+    --Freedman's Aid Association, letter to Lucretia Mott, ii, 869
+    --Freedman's Bureau, originator of, ii, 38
+    --Freedman's Relief Association, ii, 26
+    --letter to Horace Greeley, ii, 36
+    --letter to Lucretia Mott, ii, 33
+    --letter to Catharine F. Stebbins, ii, 874
+    --report 1871, ii, 484
+    --"Shirley Dare," on, ii, 30
+    --speech, Equal Rights Association, ii, 221
+    --testimonials of Congressmen, ii, 33
+    --tribute from Wm. Lloyd Garrison, ii, 38.
+
+  GRIMKE, Angelina, i, 39, 52
+    --anecdotes, by her husband, i, 402
+    --letter to Wm. Lloyd Garrison, i, 397
+    --sketch of "E. C. S.," i, 392
+    --speech against slavery, i, 334.
+
+  GRIMKE, Sarah Moore, i, 39, 53, 406
+    --letter, West Chester, Pa., Convention, i, 353.
+
+  Grover, A. J., iii, 560, 591.
+
+  Guardianship law, i, 749.
+
+  Gurney, Samuel, i, 421.
+
+  Guthrie, Clara Merrick, iii, 790.
+
+  Guthrie, Mrs., daughter of Frances Wright, ii, 543.
+
+
+  H.
+
+  Haggerty, James, ii, 210, iii, 434.
+
+  Hale, Sarah Josepha, i, 45, 388.
+
+  Hall, Israel, ii, 377.
+
+  Hall, Mary, admission to the Bar, iii, 330.
+
+  Halleck, Sarah H., ii, 60.
+
+  Hallock, Frances V., ii, 435.
+
+  Halstead, Murat, iii, 593.
+
+  Hamilton, Alexander, ii, 413.
+
+  Hamlin, Senator, ii, 411.
+
+  Hampden Society, iii, 270.
+
+  Hanaford, Phebe, ii, 398, 791; iii, 327, 479, 481.
+
+  Hancock, Gen. W. S., iii, 185, 431.
+
+  Hanna, Laura, iii, 720.
+
+  HARBERT, Elizabeth Boynton, iii, 560, 592, 621
+    --delegate to Republican National Convention, iii, 26
+    --oration, iii, 581
+    --speech before Congressional committee, iii, 76.
+
+  Harberton, Lady, speech at Edinburgh, iii, 879.
+
+  Hare, Thomas, ii, 292.
+
+  Harper, Frances E. W., ii, 838.
+
+  Harrington, Mary L., iii, 374.
+
+  Harris, Sarah, ii, 376.
+
+  _Hartford Courant_, iii, 322.
+
+  _Hartford Times_, ii, 538.
+
+  Harvard Annex, iii, 294.
+
+  Haskell, Mehitable, Worcester Convention, i, 232; iii, 286.
+
+  Hatch, Junius, "pin-cushion ministry," i, 539.
+
+  Hatton, Frank, iii, 617.
+
+  Haven, Gilbert, ii, 388; iii, 268, 528, 620; ii, 839, 398, 840.
+
+  Havens, E. O., iii, 526 428.
+
+  Haviland, Laura C, iii, 532.
+
+  Hawley, Jos. R., letter to Mrs. Stanton, iii, 28, 30, 90.
+
+  HAY, William, letter to Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 655
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, i, 631
+    --letter to _The North Star_, on the Saratoga Convention, i, 621;
+      paper, property rights, 607.
+
+  Hayes, R. B., iii, 165.
+
+  Hayhurst, Martha, i, 348.
+
+  Hazard, Rebecca N., ii, 855, iii, 604.
+
+  Hazlett, Adelle, ii, 787; iii, 522.
+
+  Heath, Jeannette Brown, i, 642.
+
+  Heloise, i, 759.
+
+  Henderson, Miss A. M., iii, 654.
+
+  Henderson, Senator, ii, 98.
+
+  Heroism, Kate Shelly, iii, 633.
+
+  Herricourt, Madame, ii, 569, 395.
+
+  Hertell's, Barbara, will, i, 63.
+
+  Hewitt, Rev. Dr., i, 502.
+
+  Heyrick, Elizabeth, i, 41.
+
+  Heywood, E. H., ii, 222.
+
+  Hiatt, Hannah, i, 306.
+
+  Hiatt, Sarah W., iii, 803.
+
+  Hicks, Elias, i, 412, 415.
+
+  HIGGINSON, Thos. Wentworth, iii, 275, 277, 305
+    --Brick Church meeting, i, 500
+    --coeducation, on, iii, 496
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 265
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 237
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 917
+    --letter to Cleveland National Convention, i, 131
+    --letter to Lucy Stone, i, 566
+    --marriage ceremony, on, i, 260
+    --Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, i, 253
+    --_New York Times_, on the, i, 648
+    --speech, in Cleveland, O., ii, 802
+    --speech, in Cooper Institute, ii, 828
+    --speech, Broadway Tabernacle Convention, at, i, 656
+    --speech, Cleveland Convention, ii, 760, 771
+    --speech, National Convention, New York, i, 642
+    --voters, qualification of, i, 249
+    --temperance and woman suffrage, on, ii, 819
+    --theological discussion, i, 647
+    --woman's rights almanac, i, 863
+    --women in Christian civilization, on, i, 791.
+
+  Hilda, Abbess, i, 30.
+
+  Hill, Benj. H., speech, iii, 217.
+
+  Hill, Charlotte, iii, 365.
+
+  Hill, Peter, iii, 524.
+
+  Hillier, C. J., iii, 756.
+
+  Hinckley, Frederick A., on woman suffrage in Rhode Island, iii, 349
+    --speech at Washington Convention, iii, 222.
+
+  Hindman, Matilda, iii, 459, 522, 621, 719, 723.
+
+  HOAR, Geo. F., minority report, iii, 131,
+    --presents petitions, iii, 104
+    --letter to Washington Convention, ii, 858
+    --speech, women in the Supreme Court, iii, 139
+    --select committee, U. S. Senate, iii, 198-216
+    --speech in 1871, ii, 820.
+
+  Hobart's, Ella F., services as chaplain in Union army, ii, 18.
+
+  Hobbs, Lucy B., dentist, iii, 401, 455.
+
+  Holland, J. G., iii, 46.
+
+  Holloway, Wm. R., iii, 534.
+
+  Homeopathic College, ii, 765.
+
+  Holland, iii, 907.
+
+  Holmes, Jennie F., iii, 683.
+
+  Holmes, Rev., iii, 390.
+
+  Hook, Frances, as a soldier, ii, 19.
+
+  HOOKER, Isabella B. iii, 194, 327
+    --argument before House Judiciary committee, iii, 103
+    --before Senate committee, iii, 105
+    --declaration and pledge, ii, 486
+    --letter to New York Convention, twenty-fifth anniversary, ii, 534
+    --police, how she would rule,, iii, 73
+    --receptions in Washington; iii, 99
+    --reminiscences of, iii, 320
+    --report, National Association, 1872, ii, 496
+    --speech before House Judiciary committee, ii, 458
+    --speech before Senate Judiciary committee, ii, 499
+    --thanks the champions of woman's rights in Congress, ii, 489
+    --Washington Convention, notes ii, 425.
+
+  Hooker, John, iii, 101, 327, 957.
+
+  Hopkins, E. A., on legal grievance of women, i, 584.
+
+  Hosmer, Harriet, iii, 143, 301, 595, 951.
+
+  Hospital clinics, iii, 448.
+
+  Houghton, Agnes A., iii, 359.
+
+  Hovey, Charles F., i, 625
+    --Bequests, i, 257, 258, 667.
+
+  Howe, Frederick B., iii, 438.
+
+  Howe, J. H., on women as jurors, iii, 736.
+
+  HOWE, Julia Ward, ii, 757, 770, 792, 873, portrait, 783; iii, 270,
+    275, 276, 371
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 335
+    --President of Am. Woman Suffrage Association, made, ii 834
+    --Speech in Philadelphia, ii, 817; in Detroit, 834
+    --Woman Suffrage in New Jersey, on, ii, 847.
+
+  Hoyt, John W., Gov. of Wyoming, iii, 241, 474, 730.
+
+  Hoyt, Mrs., on anti-slavery and woman's rights, ii, 59, 61, 63.
+
+  Howitt, Wm., letter to Lucretia Mott, i, 434.
+
+  Howland, Emily, i, 688.
+
+  Howland, Fannie, description of Washington Convention, ii, 416.
+
+  Howland, William, iii, 437.
+
+  Hubbard, R. D., iii, 326.
+
+  Hugo, Victor, ii, 369, iii, 75, 127.
+
+  Hulett, Alta C., iii, 572.
+
+  "Human Rights," Hurlbut's, i, 38.
+
+  HUNT, Harriot K., i, 219, 224, 255, 356, 531, 535, ii, 583
+    --medical education, on, i, 356
+    --physician, as a, i, 260
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 564
+    --taxation, protest against, i, 259, iii, 298.
+
+  Hunt's, Ward, Judge, decision Anthony trial, ii, 689
+    --resolution against, ii, 537.
+
+  Hunt's, Richard, tea table, i, 68.
+
+  Hunt, Seth, iii, 270.
+
+  Hurlbut's "Human Rights," i, 38.
+
+  Husband and wife, act concerning rights and liabilities of, i, 686.
+
+  Hussey, Cornelia Collins, iii, 482.
+
+  Husted, James W., favors suffrage for women, iii, 409, 417, 424, 437.
+
+  Hutchinson family, ii, 59, 239, 262, 309, 542, 934; iii, 35
+    --Letter, John W., i, 627.
+
+  Hutchinson, Anne, i, 206.
+
+  Hutchinson, Nellie, iii, 752.
+
+
+  I.
+
+  ILLINOIS, iii, 559
+    --Art Union, iii, 587
+    --Bar, Myra Bradwell's application, ii, 601
+    --opinion denying, ii, 609
+    --Carpenter's, Matt. H., argument, ii, 615
+    --opinion of Justice Bradley, ii, 624
+    --report of proceedings in Illinois and U. S. Supreme Courts,
+      ii, 614
+    --U. S. Supreme Court decision, ii, 622
+    --writ of error, ii, 614
+    --centennial celebration at Evanston, iii, 581
+    --Conventions (see conventions)
+    --Elmwood church trouble, iii, 563
+    --Garrett Biblical Institute, iii, 582
+    --houses of ill-fame, licensing Chicago, iii, 572
+    --married women's earnings act, iii, 570
+    --Master in Chancery, Mrs. Schuchardt, iii, 588
+    --Moline Association, iii, 589
+    --Monticello Ladies Seminary, iii, 579
+    --petitions, toils of circulating, iii, 590
+    --pulpit utterances, iii, 564
+    --Social Science Association, iii, 584
+    --Suffrage Association formed, iii, 569
+    --suffrage society, first, iii, 560
+    --temperance petition, iii, 587
+    --Woman's College at Evanston, iii, 578
+    --woman, as preacher, first in, iii, 579
+    --women elected as school officers, iii, 575
+    --women eligible as school officers, bill making, iii, 575
+    --women, trials and triumphs of, iii, 560.
+
+  Impeachment, articles of, iii, 31.
+
+  INDIANA, i. 290, iii, 533
+    --appendix, iii, 965
+    --campaign of 1882, iii, 543
+    --colleges open to women, iii, 548
+    --constitutional debates, i, 296
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --electoral bill, iii, 541
+    --Equal Suffrage Society Indianapolis, iii, 536
+    --laws for women, changes in, iii, 544
+    --legislative enactments, iii, 544
+    --legislative hearings, iii, 538
+    --liquor law, i, 307
+    --mass meeting in Indianapolis, iii, 541
+    --newspapers, iii, 555
+    --Republican State Convention, iii, 542
+    --secret conclave, iii, 535
+    --temperance petition, Mrs. Wallace, iii, 539
+    --women in schools, iii, 547.
+
+  Infidelity, i, 143.
+
+  International Convention, iii, 157, 585, 896, 952.
+
+  IOWA, iii, 612
+    --churches indorse woman suffrage, iii, 620
+    --Clergymen's tract, iii, 624
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --Fort Dodge, iii, 617
+    --friendly associations, iii, 635
+    --Governor Kirkwood appoints women to office, iii, 626
+    --Governor, first, to recognize woman suffrage, iii, 622
+    --Governor Sherman interviewed, iii, 624
+    --Inventions by women, iii, 632
+    --Journalism, iii, 629
+    --laws, improvement in, iii, 636
+    --lectures, iii, 630
+    --Legislative action, iii, 619
+    --Legislative action, summary, iii, 625
+    --mass meeting at the capitol, iii, 619
+    --medical profession, iii, 631
+    --Polk County Society, iii, 614
+    --Republican Convention, women's plank, iii, 620
+    --County School Superintendents, Attorney General's opinion,
+      iii, 627
+    --school offices, eligibility of women to hold, iii, 628
+    --societies organized, iii, 615, 617
+    --_State Register_, iii, 620
+    --women in office, iii, 626
+    --women employed as teachers, iii, 627
+    --woman suffrage, first agitation of, iii, 613
+    --woman suffrage society, first, iii, 614
+    --women in positions of trust, iii, 616.
+
+  Island No. 10, ii, 10.
+
+  Italy, iii, 899.
+
+
+  J.
+
+  Janney's, Mrs. R. A. S., recollections, i, 122.
+
+  Jay, John, ii, 413.
+
+  Jackson, Rev. E. M., i, 502.
+
+  Jackson, Francis, i, 189, 257, 634, 667, 743,
+    will case, iii, 310.
+
+  Jackson, James C., ii, 582.
+
+  Jackson, Mercy B., letter, ii, 920.
+
+  Jenkins, Lydia Ann, i, 145.
+
+  Jerry, rescue trials, i, 474.
+
+  Johnson, Andrew, ii, 205.
+
+  Johnson, Mariana, i, 103, 351.
+
+  Johnson, Oliver, i, 101, 367, 671; ii, 786, 813.
+
+  Johnson, Rev. Samuel, letter to National Convention in New York,
+    i, 635.
+
+  Johnson, Wm. H. and Mary, letter to Westchester, Pa., Convention,
+    i, 832.
+
+  Jones, Mrs. E. C., Jailoress, iii, 488.
+
+  Jones, Jane Graham, delegate to National Convention at Washington,
+    ii, 522, 442; iii, 229, 580
+    --address International Congress at Paris, iii, 585
+    --Genevieve Graham, daughter, iii, 586, 897.
+
+  Jones, J. Elizabeth, report, i, 168
+    --speech at Cooper Institute Convention, i, 694
+    --speech at Syracuse National Convention, i, 530.
+
+  Journalism, women in, i, 43, iii, 303, 629, 761, 813.
+
+  Judge direct a verdict of guilty, can a, ii, 690.
+
+  Julian, Geo. W., ii, 333, 489, 490, 552, 727
+    --amendment to District of Columbia suffrage bill, ii, 282
+    --speech on woman suffrage, ii, 801.
+
+  Juries, venerable decisions on, ii, 705.
+
+  Jury, women on, iii, 732.
+
+  Justice of Peace, Mrs. Esther Morris made, iii, 731.
+
+
+  K.
+
+  Kalamazoo college, iii, 525.
+
+  KANSAS, Mrs. Nichols' account, i, 185, iii, 696
+    --appeal, ii, 247
+    --campaign, 1867, ii, 928
+    --campaign, S. N. Wood's summing up of, ii, 254
+    --_Champion_ (Atchison) on woman suffrage, ii, 240
+    --_Commercial_, (Leavenworth) on the campaign, ii, 262
+    --constitutional amendment to strike word "white" from suffrage
+      clause, ii, 229
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --elections, iii, 701, 708
+    --Harvey, Governor, message, iii, 696
+    --legislative action, iii, 709
+    --Lincoln suffrage association, iii, 701
+    --Lincoln Auxiliary of the National Association, iii, 698
+    --parties in convention, action of, iii, 707
+    --press, iii, 699
+    --property rights, iii, 704
+    --Radical Reform Christian Association, iii, 703
+    --reminiscences, Helen Ekin Starrett's, ii, 250
+    --schools, iii, 706
+    --Stanton Suffrage Society organized, iii, 702
+    --suffrage organizations, history of, iii, 698
+    --suffrage song, the Hutchinsons, ii, 934
+    --Superintendent of Public Instruction, Sarah A. Brown nominated,
+      iii, 705
+    --suppressed proceedings, ii, 931
+    --Temperance Convention, ii, 231
+    --woman suffrage facts, iii, 709
+    --woman suffrage indorsed by Republican State Convention, iii, 707
+    --woman suffrage petitions, report of Judiciary Franchise Committee,
+      i, 194
+    --Women's Christian Temperance Union, iii, 703
+    --Women's Impartial Suffrage Association, address, ii, 932
+    --women run for office, iii, 708
+    --women in office, iii, 706
+    --women in the professions, iii, 706.
+
+  Kasson, John A., iii, 619.
+
+  Keating, Harriette C., iii, 791.
+
+  Kelley, W. D., suffrage resolution, iii, 71.
+
+  Kelly, Abby (_see Foster_).
+
+  Kemble, Fanny, i, 412.
+
+  KENTUCKY, iii, 818
+    --architecture, Miss White, iii, 820
+    --education, facilities for, iii, 821
+    --Louisville School of Pharmacy, iii, 821
+    --woman suffrage society, ii, 862
+    --school suffrage, i, 869, iii, 821.
+
+  King, Susan A., sketch of, iii, 420.
+
+  King, Thos. Star, i, 666.
+
+  Kingman, Judge, Kansas, i, 192.
+
+  Kingman, J. W., ii, 836, iii, 727, 241.
+
+  Kingsbury, Benjamin, iii, 359.
+
+  Kingsbury, Elizabeth A., ii, 310, iii, 476.
+
+  Kingsley, Henry, letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438.
+
+  Kirk, Mrs. Eleanor (Nellie Ames), ii, 390.
+
+  Knight, Ann, i, 438, iii, 837.
+
+  Knowlton, Helen M., iii, 302.
+
+
+  L.
+
+  Ladies' Art Association, iii, 399.
+
+  Lander, Mrs. Dick, iii, 852.
+
+  Lane, James H., i, 191.
+
+  Langdon, Lady Anna G., iii, 854.
+
+  Lapham, Elbridge G., presents petition, ii, 283
+    --votes for, ii, 304
+    --Anthony trial, ii, 647
+    --printing speeches in the House, iii, 174
+    --vote in Senate, iii, 218
+    --Senate committee, 228, 231
+    --Senate report, 232
+    --thanks to, iii, 252.
+
+  Lawrence, Amos A., iii, 330.
+
+  Lawrence, Sybil, iii, 532.
+
+  Lawyers, women, iii, 575.
+
+  Lee, Mary B., legacy, iii, 624.
+
+  Leftwich, i, 649.
+
+  Legacy, iii, 624.
+
+  Leipsic, iii, 902.
+
+  Leslie, Mrs. Frank, iii, 441.
+
+  Lester, Louise, iii, 780.
+
+  Letters:
+  Alcott, Louisa May, to Lucy Stone, ii, 831
+    --Amberly, Lady, to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 439
+    --Andrews, Margaret H., to S. J. May, i, 531
+    --Anthony, H. B., to S. B. Anthony, iii, 350.
+
+  Letters, Anthony, Susan B., to her family; Boston Convention, i, 256;
+    to Brooks, James, ii, 97;
+    to Foote, E. B., ii, 941;
+    to Garfield, iii, 185;
+    to Mott, Lydia, i, 748;
+    to National Democratic Convention, ii, 340;
+    to Wright, Martha C., i, 676.
+
+  Letters, Barton, Clara, to Susan B. Anthony,  ii, 916
+    --Bascom, E. C., to S. B. Anthony, iii, 647
+    --Becker, Lydia E., to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 62
+    --Beecher, H. W., to St. Louis Convention, ii, 825
+    --Bennett, Alice, to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 472
+    --National Association to Berlin Congress, ii, 404
+    --Briggs, Caroline A., to S. B. Anthony, iii, 250
+    --Blackwell, Elizabeth, to Emily Collins, i, 91
+    --Blackwell, Antoinette Brown, to Cooper Institute Convention,
+      i, 862
+    --Blackwell, Elizabeth, to Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 831
+    --Blackwell, H. B., to E. C. Stanton, ii, 232, 235
+    --Blair, Henry W., to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 380
+    --Bowles, Samuel, to Mrs. Hooker, iii, 325
+    --Bright, Jacob, to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438
+    --Brown, Olympia, to S. B. Anthony, ii, 259
+    --Bruhn, Rosa, to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 439
+    --Burleigh, Celia, giving account of Saratoga Convention, ii, 402
+    --Burns, Alexander, to Des Moines Convention, iii, 618
+    --Burr, Frances E., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 912, iii, 334
+    --Butler, Benjamin F., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 539, iii, 255.
+
+  Letters:
+    Carpenter, C. C., to Iowa W. S. Association, iii, 621
+    --Carpenter, M. H., to Elizabeth C. Stanton, ii, 423
+    --Channing, Wm. Henry, Cleveland National Convention, i, 129
+    --Child, L. Maria, to St. Louis Convention, ii, 825; E. C. Stanton,
+      ii, 910
+    --Clemmer, Mary, to Senator Wadleigh, iii, 111;
+      to S. B. Anthony, iii, 262
+    --Cobbe, Frances P., to Paulina W. Davis, ii, 438
+    --Cole M. M., to H. B. Blackwell, ii, 832
+    --Colvin A. J., to Susan B. Anthony, i, 691, 750; ii, 914
+    --Corner, Mary T., to Mrs. Bloomer, i, 122
+    --Corson, Hiram, to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 472
+    --Cutler, Mrs. H. M. T., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 915
+    --Dall, Caroline H., to _The Nation_, ii, 101
+    --Darlington, Hannah M., to Mrs. Stanton, i, 344
+    --Deroine, Jeanne, to women of America, i, 234
+    --Dickinson, Anna E., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 916
+    --Douglass, Fred., to E. Cady Stanton, ii, 328
+    --Faithful, Emily, to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 440
+    --Fields, James T., to H. B. Blackwell, ii, 838
+    --Folger, Charles J., to Susan B. Anthony, i, 750
+    --Foster, Rachel G., to _Our Herald_, iii, 243
+    --Freedman's Relief Association, on, ii, 35
+    --Fremont, Jessie B. to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 911.
+
+  Letters:
+    Gage, Frances D., to Cincinnati Convention, ii, 857;
+      Steinway Hall Convention, ii, 769;
+      Gage, M. E. J., to, i, 47;
+      Rochester Temperance Convention, i, 845;
+      Stone, Lucy, i, 656;
+      Washington Convention, ii, 424
+    --Gage, M. J., to Mrs. Dahlgren, ii, 494;
+      to Omaha Con., ii, 250;
+      to women of Dakota, iii, 663
+    --Garfield, James A., to S. B. Anthony, iii, 185
+    --Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, to American Woman Suffrage Association
+        meeting in Philadelphia, ii, 816;
+      to Third Decade Convention, Rochester, iii, 123;
+      to Concord Convention, iii, 368
+    --Geddes, George, to M. J. Gage, i, 64
+    --_Greeley_, Horace, to Susan B. Anthony, i, 628;
+      Cleveland National Convention, i, 125;
+      Davis, Paulina W., i, 520;
+      Marsh, Rev. John, i, 503;
+      May, S. J., on woman's rights, i, 653.
+      Severance, Mrs. C. M., i, 125
+    --_Griffing_, Josephine S., to Catharine A. F. Stebbins, ii, 874;
+      to Greeley, ii, 36
+    --Grimke, Angelina, to Wm. Lloyd Garrison, i, 397
+    --Grimke, Sarah M., to Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 353
+    --Grover, A. J., to Mrs. Stanton, i, 591.
+
+  Letters:
+    Hay, Wm., to Susan B. Anthony, i, 631;
+      Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 655
+    --Higginson, T. W., to S. B. Anthony, ii, 917;
+      Cleveland (Nat.) Convention, i, 131
+    --Hooker, Isabella B., to Susan B. Anthony, i, 535;
+      to Mrs. Dahlgren, iii, 100; Stone, Lucy, i, 566
+    --Howitt, Wm., to Lucretia Mott, i, 434
+    --Hugo, Victor, to Clemence S. Lozier, iii, 75
+    --Johnson, Samuel, National Convention in New York, i, 635
+    --Johnson, Wm. H. and Mary, to Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 832
+    --Kingman, J. W., to Lucy Stone, ii, 836
+    --Kingsley, Henry, to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438
+    --Lawrence, Amos A., to Abby Smith, iii, 330
+    --Leo, Andre, to Second Decade meeting, ii, 439
+    --Livermore, Mary A., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 921.
+
+  Letters: Manderson, C. F., to O. C. Dinsmoor, iii, 688
+    --Marsh, J., to Horace Greeley, i, 503
+    --Marsh, L. R., to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, ii, 922
+    --Martineau, Harriet, to P. W. Davis, i, 229
+    --Mott, Lucretia, i, 437
+    --Mayo, A. D., to Syracuse Con., i, 851
+    --Mendenhall, H. S., to Dr. Avery, iii, 724
+    --Meriman, Emelia J., to the Second Decade meeting, ii,  451
+    --Mill, John Stuart, to Paulina W. Davis, i, 220, ii, 419;
+      to S. N. Wood, ii, 252
+    --Miller, Francis, to S. B. Anthony, ii, 536
+    --Mills, Chas. D. B., to Mrs. Matilda J. Gage, ii, 424
+    --Mott, Lucretia, to Daniel O'Connell, i, 432;
+      to Josephine S. Griffing, ii, 873;
+      to Salem, Ohio, Convention, i, 812
+    --Mott, Lydia, to Susan B. Anthony, i, 630
+    --Mott, Mary, to Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 829.
+
+  Letters:
+    _New York Tribune_, on, canvass of 1859-'60, i, 677
+    --Nichols, Mrs. C. I. H., to Rochester Tem. Convention, i, 847
+    --Owen, Robert Dale, to Susan B. Anthony, i, 292
+    --Pastoral, i, 81
+    --Phelps, Almira L., to Mrs. Hooker, iii, 100
+    --Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, to Am. W. S. Association meeting in
+      Cooper In., ii, 831
+    --Phillips, Wendell, to S. B. Anthony, iii, 62;
+      to Third Decade Convention at Rochester, N. Y., iii, 122
+    --Pickler, J. A., to Matilda J. Gage, iii, 668
+    --Pomeroy, C. R., to Des Moines Convention, iii, 618
+    --Post, Amy, to S. B. Anthony, iii, 48
+    --Pugh, Sarah, to Salem, Ohio, Convention, i, 814
+    --Rose, Ernestine L., to Susan B. Anthony, i, 98; ii, 423;
+        iii, 50, 120;
+      to Mrs. J. S. Griffing, ii, 356
+    --Russell, Lucinda, to Harriet S. Brooks, iii, 682.
+
+  Letters: Sanford, R. M., to Cleveland Con., i, 819
+    --Sargent, A. A., to Third Decade Con., iii, 121;
+      to Omaha Con., iii, 245
+    --Sargent, J. T., to E. C. Stanton, ii, 911
+    --Saxon, Elizabeth L., to Mrs. Minor, iii, 791
+    --Severance, Caroline M., to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, ii, 911
+    --Shaw, Sarah B., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 239
+    --Smith, Gerrit, to Susan B. Anthony, i, 497; ii, 317, 538, 941;
+      Garrison, Wm. L., i, 223, 620;
+      Stanton, E. Cady, i, 708, 836;
+      St. Louis Convention, ii, 825
+    --Somerville, Mary, to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 440
+    --Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, to Akron, O., Convention, i, 815;
+      Cooper Institute Con., i, 860;
+      Greeley, Horace, i, 738;
+      Mott, Lucretia, iii, 45;
+      Omaha Convention, iii, 244;
+      Salem, O., Convention, i, 810;
+      Smith, Gerrit, i, 839;
+      Syracuse Convention, i, 848
+    --Stanton, Harriot, to Nebraska voters, iii, 247
+    --Stebbins, Catharine A. F., to Lucretia Mott, iii, 47
+    --Stone, Lucy,
+      to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 237, 919;
+      to Elizabeth C. Stanton, ii, 234;
+      to Salem, O., Convention, i, 813.
+
+  Letters:
+    Taylor, Mrs. M., to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438
+    --Tenney, Mrs. R. S., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 257
+    --Tilton, Theo., to American Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 770
+    --Wade, Benjamin F., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 117,
+      to Josephine Sophie Griffing, ii, 35
+    --Wallace, Zerelda G., to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 257
+    --Wattles, Susan E. to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 255
+    --Weber, Helene M., to M. A. Spofford, i, 822
+    --Weld, Angelina G., on organizations, i, 540
+    --Whiting, N. H., letter to Cooper Institute Convention, i, 861
+    --Winder, R. B., to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 817
+    --Wright, Elizur, to Paulina W. Davis, i, 217
+    --Wright, Henry C., to Garrison, i, 310
+    --Wright, Martha C., to Pillsbury, ii, 240.
+
+  Lewis, Ida, iii, 347.
+
+  _Lily, The_, i, 486.
+
+  _Lincoln_ (Kansas) _Beacon_, _Lincoln_ (Kansas) _Register_, iii, 699.
+
+  Lippincott, Sarah J., i, 46
+    --Saxe's poems, on, i, 828
+    --Washington Convention (Nat.), description of, ii, 359
+
+  List, Charles, address at Worcester National Convention, i, 232.
+
+  Little, Knox, iii, 471
+    --sermon to women, i, 728.
+
+  Livermore, Mary A., ii, 777; iii, 268, 274, 279, 388, 561, 565, 570.
+
+  Livingston, William, i, 441.
+
+  LOCKWOOD, Belva A., ii, 522, 240, 443, 523, 537, 585; iii, 64, 177,
+    809, 811, 818
+    --attempted to vote, iii, 813
+    --admitted to U. S. Supreme Court, iii, 141
+    --brief to U. S. Senate, on women as lawyers, iii, 106
+    --motion to admit Lowry to Supreme Court, iii, 174
+    --speech in Dr. Furness' Church, iii, 35
+    --women's rights, the way to get, iii, 73.
+
+  Logan, John A., on woman suffrage, iii, 207.
+
+  Longfellow, Samuel, speech at Cooper Institute Convention, i, 711
+
+  Lord, Mrs. A., iii, 703.
+
+  Loring, Geo. B., iii, 154.
+
+  Lords, feudal, i, 760, 762.
+
+  Loud, Huldah B., iii, 279.
+
+  Loughary. Mrs. H. A., iii, 774.
+
+  LOUISIANA, Constitutional Convention, iii, 789
+    --married women, laws relating to, iii, 799
+    --press, iii, 798
+    --St. Anna's Asylum, iii, 789
+    --schools, physiology in, iii, 797
+    --women eligible to school offices, iii, 795
+    --women's club, iii, 796.
+
+  Love, Mary F., i, 583, 587, 589 (See Davis, Mary F.).
+
+  Lovering, J. F., iii, 371.
+
+  Lowell, Jas. R., poem "Endurance," iii, 695.
+
+  Lowell, Josephine Shaw, appointed to office, i, 473;
+      police matrons, iii, 432
+    --Com'r of Charities, made a, iii, 417.
+
+  Lozier, Clemence S., M. D., iii, 405
+    --sketch of, iii, 411, 416, 421
+    --presided, 425
+    --seats for shop girls, 433
+    --protest against District Attorney Russell, 436
+    --appeal to voters, 437.
+
+  Lukens, Esther Ann, i, 311.
+
+  Lunt's, Bishop, defence of polygamy, i, 776.
+
+  Luther, Martin, will of, i, 358.
+
+  Luther and polygamy, i, 775, 776.
+
+  Lyford, Rev. C. P., on polygamy, i, 778.
+
+  Lynn, Eliza, i, 34.
+
+
+  M.
+
+  Macaulay, Catharine Sawbridge, i, 32, 790.
+
+  McCarthy, Justin, iii, 864.
+
+  McClellan, Geo. B., ii, 42, 75.
+
+  McClintock, Thomas, i, 539.
+
+  McClintock, Mary Ann, i, 67, iii, 454.
+
+  McCook, Edward, on suffrage, iii, 713.
+
+  McCook, Mrs. Mary, 715
+    --tribute, 718.
+
+  McDonald, Joseph E., women to the Supreme Court, iii, 111, 139, 155
+    --moves Standing Committee, iii, 190
+    --tribute, iii, 553.
+
+  McDowell, Anna E., _Woman's Advocate_, i, 388
+    --_Sunday Dispatch_, iii, 446
+    --J. Edgar Thomson's will, iii, 468
+    --Rev. Knox Little, iii, 471.
+
+  McDowell, Gertrude, iii, 693.
+
+  Mackey, T. J., iii, 828.
+
+  McLaren, Mrs. Duncan, iii, 842
+    --portrait, iii, 849; 951.
+
+  McLaren, Charles, Mr. and Mrs., iii, 927.
+
+  McLaren, Walter, iii, 874, 936.
+
+  McRae, Emma M., argument before House committee, iii, 161.
+
+  Madison, James, ii, 632.
+
+  Mahan, Asa, i, 151
+    --argument at Cleveland National Convention, i, 133.
+
+  MAINE, iii, 351
+    --Bar, admissions to, iii, 355
+    --conventions (see Conventions)
+    --faithful friends, iii, 365
+    --Goddard, Judge, iii, 353
+    --Industrial School for girls, iii, 356
+    --legislation, iii, 357, 364
+    --married women, law, iii, 352
+    --"Moral Eminence of Maine," iii, 359
+    --suffrage society, first, iii, 352
+    --women holding office, Supreme Judicial Court opinion, iii, 361
+    --women in office, Gov. Dingley's message, iii, 363
+    --women on school committees, iii, 351
+    --woman suffrage, progress made, 1873, iii, 357
+    --women tax-payers protest, iii, 356.
+
+  "Male" in the Constitution, ii, 91.
+
+  Manderson, Charles F., iii, 678
+    --letter to O. C. Dinsmoor, iii, 688.
+
+  Mandeville, Dr., i, 486.
+
+  Manikin, i, 37.
+
+  Mann, Horace, i, 356.
+
+  Mansfield, Arabella A., case of, ii, 606.
+
+  Manufactures in hands of women, i, 291.
+
+  Marcet, Jane, i, 34.
+
+  "Maria" and "Old Betty," ii, 114.
+
+  Marriage amendment act, English, ii, 293.
+
+  Marriage a cause of disfranchisement, ii, 621.
+
+  Marriage and minority disabilities, ii, 603.
+
+  Marriage, "Mrs. Schlachtfeld," on, iii, 723.
+
+  Marriage, what is legal status of, ii, 456.
+
+  MARRIAGE QUESTION:
+    Church views, i, 758
+    --devils, with, i, 769
+    --Greek church, under, i, 773
+    --heterogeneous, i, 719
+    --law, i, 107
+    --law of 1860, i, 686
+    --protest, Robert Dale Owen's, i, 295
+    --protest, Lucy Stone's, i, 260
+    --relations, i, 293
+    --Rose, Ernestine L., on, i, 237.
+
+  MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE:
+    Anthony, Susan B., on, i, 735
+    --bill before New York Legislature, i, 745
+    --Blackwell, Antoinette B., on, i, 723
+    --drunkenness, for, i, 485
+    --Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, on, i, 733
+    --Greeley, Horace, on, i, 740
+    --Greeley-Owen discussion, i, 296, 746
+    --law amended in Massachusetts, i, 211
+    --Mott, Lucretia, on, i, 746
+    --Phillips, Wendell, on, i, 732
+    --Rose, Ernestine L., on, i, 729
+    --Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, on, i, 716
+    --Stanton, Mrs., letter to Horace Greeley on, i, 738.
+
+  Marriages solemnized by women, iii, 301.
+
+  Marquette, i, 762.
+
+  Marsh, John, letter to Horace Greeley, i, 503.
+
+  Marsh, Luther R., iii, 408
+    --letter to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, ii, 922.
+
+  "Martian Statutes," i, 31.
+
+  Martin, John A., ii, 249.
+
+  MARTINEAU, Harriet, i, 34; iii, 854
+    --letter to Pauline W. Davis, i, 229
+    --letters to Lucretia Mott, i, 437.
+
+  MARYLAND, iii, 814
+    --Baltimore Dental Surgery, iii, 817
+    --Equal Rights Society, iii, 815.
+
+  Mason, O. P., iii, 683, 691.
+
+  MASSACHUSETTS, i, 201, iii, 265
+    --Association, anniversary, iii, 272
+    --association, work done, iii, 269
+    --conventions (see Conventions)
+    --Democratic Convention, action, iii, 278
+    --divorce law amended, i, 211
+    --Governors, action of, iii, 287
+    --Grant campaign, Tremont Temple meeting, iii, 278
+    --Harvard Annex, iii, 294
+    --Legislative, action, iii, 284
+    --Legislature, petition before, i, 258
+    --New England Women's Club, iii, 304
+    --petitions, iii, 274, 285
+    --Philosophy at Concord, School of, iii, 307
+    --prohibitionists, alliance with, iii, 280
+    --Republican Convention, action, iii, 277, 278
+    --school committees, women, iii, 290
+    --school suffrage, iii, 280, 288
+    --suffrage associations, iii, 273
+    --Supreme Court decisions, iii, 290
+    --women in the civil service, iii, 306
+    --women delegates to Republican Convention, iii, 277
+    --women opposed to suffrage, iii, 275
+    --women at the polls, iii, 282
+    --women, social condition, iii, 294
+    --woman suffrage political party, iii, 276
+    --woman suffrage ticket, iii, 281.
+
+  Mather, Cotton, iii, 303.
+
+  Maule, Mollie K., iii, 693.
+
+  Maxwell, Lily, iii, 842.
+
+  May, Joseph, iii, 34.
+
+  May, Samuel J., i, 40, 485, 518; ii, 418, 422
+    --"Colored," on the word, ii, 215
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 265
+    --President Rochester Convention, made, i, 578
+    --speech at American Equal Rights Association meeting, ii, 191
+    --speech on temperance, i, 478.
+
+  Mayo, A. D., letter to Syracuse Convention, i, 851.
+
+  Medical, iii, 299, 549.
+
+  Medical College, first opened to women, i, 88, 389.
+
+  Medical Education, Harriot K. Hunt on, i, 356.
+
+  Medical profession, i, 37
+    --Iowa women, iii, 631.
+
+  Meetings (see Conventions).
+
+  Memorials, ii, 226, 497; iii, 130, 480, 517, 539, 855
+    --Democratic Party, iii, 182
+    --Gladstone, iii, 883
+    --Greenback Convention, iii, 180
+    --Ohio Constitutional Convention, i, 105
+    --Republican Party, iii, 177
+    --Woodhull, Victoria C., ii, 443
+    --Legislatures, i, 673.
+
+  Mendenhall, Mrs. H. S., letter to Dr. Avery, iii, 724.
+
+  Meriman, Emelia J., letter to Second Decade meeting, ii, 441.
+
+  Meriwether, Elizabeth A., iii, 27, 154, 822.
+
+  Merrick, Caroline E., iii, 789
+    --women as school officers, iii, 795.
+
+  Merrick, Mrs. E. T., speech, Louisiana Constitutional Convention,
+    iii, 792.
+
+  Merrill, Catharine, iii, 548.
+
+  Merrimon, Senator, on the Pembina Territory bill, ii, 552-560.
+
+  Merritt, Paulina, T., iii, 540.
+
+  Methodists and women preachers, i, 784.
+
+  MICHIGAN, iii, 513
+    --churches, attitude of, iii, 521
+    --constitutional amendment, iii, 518;
+      lost, iii, 522
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --Episcopal Church bill, iii, 529
+    --legislative action, iii, 516
+    --local societies, iii, 529
+    --memorial, iii, 517
+    --Northwestern Association, iii, 516
+    --State Suffrage Society, iii, 515
+    --University, iii, 525
+    --State University, Ann Arbor, opened to girls, iii, 525
+    --vote for woman suffrage, iii, 522
+    --women's literary clubs and libraries, iii, 513
+    --women voting in Sturgis, iii, 514.
+
+  Middlesex society, iii, 270.
+
+  Miles, Nelson A., iii, 779.
+
+  MILL, John Stuart, ii, 341, 378, 727, 833
+    --death of, iii, 853
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 334
+    --"Household Suffrage Bill" amendment, ii, 182
+    --Letter to Paulina W. Davis, i, 220; ii, 419
+    --letter to S. N. Wood, ii, 252
+    --women government, on, iii, 77.
+
+  MILL, Mrs. John Stuart, essay, i, 225.
+
+  Miller, Francis, argument, ii, 523
+    --Argument Spencer-Webster suit, ii, 595
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 536.
+
+  Mills, Chas. D. B., letter to M. J. Gage, ii, 424; ii, 915.
+
+  Milton, John, i, 779, 780.
+
+  Ministers, charges against, i, 135.
+
+  MINNESOTA, iii, 648
+    --Appendix:
+      Early friends, iii, 973;
+      school officers, 973;
+      authors and poets, iii, 974;
+      graduates from State University, iii, 974;
+      teachers and professors, iii, 975;
+      medical profession, benevolent institutions, painters in oil and
+        water colors, iii, 976;
+      musical clubs, speakers and writers, iii, 977
+    --coeducation, iii, 656
+    --constitution, bill to amend, iii, 651
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --Evangelists, iii, 657
+    --homestead law, iii, 655
+    --Kasson Society, iii, 652
+    --legislative hearing, iii, 651
+    --petitions to Congress, iii, 651
+    --property rights of married women, iii, 655
+    --Rochester society, iii, 651
+    --school officers, voting for, iii, 653
+    --school suffrage, iii, 652
+    --State association organized, iii, 657
+    --teachers, iii, 660
+    --temperance question, iii, 655.
+
+  Miner, Myrtilla, iii, 808.
+
+  Minor, Francis, resolutions St. Louis Convention, ii, 407, 717.
+
+  MINOR, Virginia L., Dahlgren's, Mrs., memorial, on, iii, 103
+    --delegate to Nat. Democratic Convention, iii, 27
+    --labors of, iii, 596
+    --sanitary work, iii, 597
+    --speeches:
+      St. Louis Convention, ii, 409;
+      Washington Convention, iii, 257
+    --suit, ii, 715
+    --Chief-Justice Waite's opinion, ii, 734
+    --decision reviewed by Mrs. Gage, ii, 742
+    --reviewed by _Central Law Journal_, ii, 748
+    --taxes, refused to pay, iii, 607
+    --vote, attempted to, iii, 606.
+
+  MISSISSIPPI, iii, 806.
+
+  MISSOURI, i, 194, 594
+    --address to voters, iii, 599
+    --Church and State, iii, 601
+    --colleges and law schools, iii, 594
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --petition to Legislature, iii, 601
+    --suffrage movement, facts and incidents, iii, 604
+    --taxation, iii, 600
+    --Woman Suffrage Association organized, iii, 599;
+      division, iii, 603
+    --woman's union, iii, 607
+    --women in the war, iii, 596.
+
+  Mob Convention, Broadway Tabernacle, i, 546.
+
+  Mobs, i, 467.
+
+  Moody, W. W., iii, 662.
+
+  Morelli, Salvatore, iii, 898.
+
+  Morgan, E. D., i, 687.
+
+  Morgan, John T., on woman suffrage, iii, 210.
+
+  Morgan, Middie, live-stock reporter, iii, 403.
+
+  Morinella, Lucrezia, i, 29.
+
+  Mormonism, see _Polygamy_.
+
+  Morrill, Senator, on Sargent's amendment to Pembina Territory bill,
+    ii, 562
+    --speech on woman suffrage, ii, 118, 563.
+
+  Morris, Esther, made Justice of Peace, iii, 731.
+
+  Morris, W. H., iii, 691.
+
+  Morrow, Jane, sketch of i, 313.
+
+  Morton, O. P., iii, 114, 553
+    --Pembina Territory bill, on the, ii, 549, 569, 571.
+
+  Moss, Charles E., speech, ii, 200.
+
+  "Mother Bickerdyke" iii, 709.
+
+  Mott, James, i, 69, 174, 438.
+
+  MOTT, Lucretia, ii, 177, 184; iii, 456
+    --address at Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 355
+    --Bible, on the, i, 143
+    --Bible, position of woman, on the, i, 380
+    --Cleveland National Convention, at, i, 124
+    --dangerous woman, spoken of as a, i, 423
+    --divorce, on, i, 746
+    --eulogy by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, i, 407
+    --Farewell, last Convention, iii, 125
+    --funeral, i, 835
+    --Furness' church meeting, at, iii, 35
+    --home of, i, 411
+    --Howitt, William, correspondence, i, 434
+    --letter to Lydia Mott, i, 746
+    --letter to Josephine Griffing, ii, 873
+    --letter to St. Louis Convention, iii, 144
+    --letter to Salem, O., Convention, i, 812
+    --letter to Saratoga Convention, i, 626
+    --Luther's will, on, i, 359
+    --marriage of, i, 408
+    --marriage, on, i, 79
+    --Martineau, Harriet, correspondence, i, 437
+    --memorial service, iii, 188
+    --ministry, engaged in, i, 412
+    --O'Connell, Daniel, correspondence, i, 432
+    --portrait, i, 369
+    --President of the American Equal Rights Association, made, ii, 174
+    --President, meeting in Dr. Furness' church, iii, 35
+    --President National Woman's Rights at Syracuse, made, i, 519
+    --President Washington National Convention, made, ii, 346
+    --Pulpit, on the, i, 73
+    --recollections of, by Robert Collyer, i, 409, 414
+    --religion and theology, on, i, 422
+    --Rochester Convention, at, iii, 123
+    --sketch of, i, 407
+    --slavery, on, i, 416
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 557
+    --Syracuse National Convention, argument, i, 527
+    --tribute, Susan B. Anthony's, iii, 189
+    --womanhood, her reply to R. H. Dana's lecture, i, 368.
+
+  Mott, Lydia, i, 376, 476, 519, 578, 593, 623, 744
+    --letter Susan B. Anthony, i, 630; iii, 409.
+
+  Mott, Mary, letter to Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 829.
+
+  Mottoes, Washington Convention, 1880, iii, 151
+    --Newbury Society, Ohio, 502.
+
+  Moulton, Louise Chandler, i, 49.
+
+
+  N.
+
+  Nash, Clara H., iii, 358
+    --admitted to the Bar, iii, 355.
+
+  Nash, Mary E., iii, 623.
+
+  National Association, officers 1886, iii, 956.
+
+  _National Citizen_, iii, 114, 116, 125.
+
+  Nations, mortality of, ii, 201.
+
+  Neal, Alice Bradley, i, 386.
+
+  Neal, John, ii, 435; iii, 352.
+
+  NEBRASKA, iii, 670
+    --campaign, iii, 241
+    --canvass of the State, iii, 686
+    --Constitutional amendment, iii, 683;
+      again defeated, 691;
+      convention, 677;
+      debate, 678;
+      new constitution, 680
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --description of, iii, 671
+    --electors, qualifications of, iii, 680
+    --Fourteenth Amendment ratified, iii, 675
+    --Frontier life, iii, 671
+    --legislative action, iii, 672, 674, 675, 676, 683, 695
+    --State, made a, iii, 675
+    --suffrage societies, first, iii, 681
+    --Thayer County Association, iii, 686
+    --Woman Suffrage Amendment beaten at the polls, iii, 677
+    --woman suffrage bill passed House, beaten in Senate, iii, 672
+    --woman suffrage, first work in Lincoln, iii, 675
+    --women, leading, iii, 692.
+
+  Negro, civil and political right of, argument, ii, 59.
+
+  Negroes opposed to woman suffrage in Kansas, ii, 232, 238.
+
+  Negro suffrage, ii, 103, 106.
+
+  Nevin, Dr., defence of the clergy, i, 140.
+
+  New England Convention, i, 262.
+
+  NEW HAMPSHIRE, iii, 367
+    --married men, bill to protect, iii, 372
+    --married women, Judicial decision, iii, 379
+    --petitions, iii, 371
+    --Republican Convention, iii, 373
+    --State Association formed, iii, 370
+    --woman suffrage, first organized action, iii, 367
+    --women on school committees, iii, 374
+    --women voting, iii, 376.
+
+  NEW JERSEY, i, 441; iii, 476
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --Constitution, defects in, i, 451
+    --Historical Society, i, 447
+    --legislative hearings, iii, 490
+    --memorial to Legislature, iii, 480
+    --mothers' legal claim to their children, iii, 483
+    --property of married women, iii, 484
+    --State Society, iii, 479
+    --suffrage, progress made, iii, 479
+    --Women's Club of Orange, iii, 482
+    --Woman's Political Science Club, iii, 481
+    --women in the pulpit, iii, 484
+    --women as school trustees, iii, 484
+    --woman suffrage, celebration of, ii, 846
+    --woman suffrage, origin of, i, 447
+    --women voted, iii, 476.
+
+  _New Orleans Picayune_, iii, 798.
+
+  Newspapers, women in, i, 43.
+
+  NEW YORK, i, 63, 472, iii, 395
+    --appendix, iii, 959
+    --Constitutional Convention, ii, 269, 282
+    --Constitutional revision commission, iii, 409
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --disfranchisement bill, Attorney-General Russell's opinion,
+      iii, 434
+    --Lansingburgh taxpayers, iii, 441
+    --Legislative hearings, i, 464, 489, 605, 679, 745; iii, 406, 409,
+      417, 420;
+      disfranchisement bill, iii, 426, 431, 434;
+      reports on petitions, i, 612;
+      report on woman suffrage, i, 629;
+      school suffrage bill passed, iii, 424;
+      suffrage, power to extend, iii, 959
+    --License Law
+    of 1848, repeal, i, 474
+    --property rights granted, iii, 438
+    --reception at the capitol, iii, 438
+    --results, iii, 443.
+
+  _New York Christian Enquirer_ on the Worcester National Convention,
+    i, 243.
+
+  _New York Evening Express_, ii, 95.
+
+  _New York Evening Post_, ii, 102.
+
+  _New York Herald_ on Senator Wilson and woman suffrage, ii, 325.
+
+  _New York Independent_ on the New York Constitutional Convention,
+    ii, 305.
+
+  _New York Times_, i, 645, 648.
+
+  _New York Tribune_, ii, 101, 103, 304, 491, 820; iii, 46
+    --support lost, ii, 269
+    --World's Temperance Convention, on the, i, 511
+    --woman as a voter, on the, ii, 248
+    --Kansas campaign, on the, ii, 232.
+
+  Neyman, Clara, speech at Washington Convention, iii, 258.
+
+  Nichols, Elizabeth Pease, iii, 837, 925-6.
+
+  NICHOLS, Clarina I. Howard, iii, 704
+    --Centennial protest, iii, 49
+    --education of women, on, i, 356
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 258
+    --letter to Rochester Temperance Convention, i, 847
+    --portrait, i, 192
+    --reminiscences, i, 171
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 561
+    --Syracuse National Convention arguments, i, 522
+    --tribute, iii, 764
+    --work in Vermont, iii, 383.
+
+  Nicholson, Mrs. E. J., iii, 798.
+
+  Nightingale, Florence, ii, 14; iii, 854.
+
+  Nixon, Jennie C., iii, 798.
+
+  NORTH CAROLINA, iii, 825.
+
+  Northcote, Sir Stafford, iii, 873
+    --speech on woman suffrage, iii, 887.
+
+  Norton, Caroline, i, 229.
+
+  Norway, iii, 912.
+
+  Nye, Joshua, iii, 359.
+
+
+  O.
+
+  Obituaries, ii, 905; iii, 891.
+
+  O'Connell, Daniel, letter to Lucretia Mott, i, 432.
+
+  O'Connor, Henry, iii, 617.
+
+  OHIO, i, 101; iii, 491
+    --centennial celebration, women decline to take part, iii, 507
+    --Constitutional Convention, iii, 565
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --Equal Rights Association, iii, 491
+    --Painesville Equal Rights Society, iii, 509
+    --Senate Committee report on the suffrage question, i, 870
+    --Soldiers' Aid society, first, iii, 491
+    --Toledo society, iii, 503, 506
+    --women of Oberlin protest against enfranchisement, iii, 494.
+
+  Oliver, Anna, debate upon ordaining, i, 784
+    --suit, iii, 440.
+
+  Oliver, Lewise, letters, iii, 40.
+
+  _Omaha Republican_, iii, 682
+    --on Omaha Convention, iii, 251.
+
+  OREGON, iii, 767
+    --clergy favor woman suffrage, iii, 778
+    --constitutional amendment lost, iii, 778
+    --Convention at Portland, iii, 773
+    --Donation Land Act, iii, 770
+    --legislative action, iii, 779
+    --married woman's property bill, iii, 775
+    --married woman's sole trader bill, iii, 771
+    --school offices, women made eligible, iii, 775
+    --suffrage organizations formed, iii, 774
+    --suffrage society, first, iii, 768
+    --Temperance Alliance, iii, 771
+    --woman suffrage bill, iii, 771
+    --woman suffrage bill passed Legislature, iii, 776.
+
+  Oren, Mrs. Sarah A., iii, 548, 972.
+
+  Organizations, Angelina G. Weld, on, i, 540.
+
+  Orth, Judge, votes woman suffrage in Congress, ii, 483
+    --on national platform, iii, 225.
+
+  Orient, iii, 918.
+
+  Orme, Miss, iii, 928, 982.
+
+  Ostrander, Mrs. R., i, 180.
+
+  Otis, James, ii, 291, 644.
+
+  OWEN, Robert Dale, Women's Loyal League, ii, 50
+    --"male" in Federal Constitution, ii, 91
+    --birthday anniversary, 83rd, i, 619
+    --Greeley discussion on divorce, i, 746
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, i, 292
+    --sketch of, by Rosamond Dale Owen, i, 293
+    --speech at meeting in Philadelphia, ii, 817
+    --speech, property rights of married women, i, 296
+    --spiritualism, i, 301
+    --testimonial, silver pitcher, i, 300.
+
+  Owen, Mrs. Robert Dale, i, 302, 313,
+    (see Robinson, Mary).
+
+  Owen, Sarah C., letter to Emily Collins, i, 91
+    --speech, i, 78.
+
+
+  P.
+
+  Pacific Northwest, iii, 767.
+
+  Paddock, A. S., iii, 674.
+
+  Painter, Hetty R., iii, 693.
+
+  Paist, Harriet W., iii, 467.
+
+  Pan-Presbyterians, i, 783.
+
+  Panim, Ivan, i, 773.
+
+  Parasol-makers, ii, 829.
+
+  Parker, Alex., speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 560.
+
+  Parker, Julia Smith, argument before Senate Committee, iii, 156
+    (see Smith, Julia, and Abby).
+
+  Parker, Mary S., i, 39.
+
+  Parker Theodore, i, 626; ii, 207
+    --sermon "Function of Woman," i, 277.
+
+  Parnell, Stewart, M. P., iii, 71.
+
+  Parnell, Rosina M., iii, 956.
+
+  Parody, woman suffrage in the courts, ii, 599.
+
+  "Pastoral Letter," i, 81, 84.
+
+  Pat and the Locomotive, ii, 188.
+
+  Patridge, Lelia E., ii, 852; iii, 461.
+
+  Patterson, Catherine G., iii, 712.
+
+  Patterson, Jessie, iii, 708.
+
+  Peckham, Lilia, career, iii, 642.
+
+  Peel, Sir Robert, iii, 835.
+
+  Pellet, Sarah, speech at Saratoga Convention, i, 621.
+
+  Pembina Territory bill, U. S. Senate debate on Sargent's amendment,
+    ii, 545
+    --bill rejected, ii, 582
+    (see also Congressional).
+
+  Penn, William, i, 320.
+
+  Pennell, Mrs. Horace, i, 92.
+
+  PENNSYLVANIA, i, 320; iii, 444
+    --anti-slavery struggle, i, 323
+    --appendix, iii, 961
+    --Century Club, iii, 469
+    --Citizens' Suffrage Association, iii, 460
+    --common law, iii, 961
+    --Constitutional Convention, iii, 495
+    --Conventions (_see Conventions_)
+    --Fugitive Slave law i, 328
+    --hall, destruction of, i, 333
+    --Legislature recommends a sixteenth amendment, iii, 474
+    --literary women, iii, 469
+    --medical school controversy, iii, 447
+    --petitions to Legislature, iii, 463
+    --property law, married women's, iii, 445
+    --school officers, women elected, iii, 467
+    --school offices, women made eligible, iii, 465
+    --statutes and court decisions, iii, 963
+    --suffrage association formed in Philadelphia, iii, 457
+    --report, annual, iii, 459
+    --Swarthmore college, iii, 456
+    --temperance work in, i, 344
+    --University, attempt to open to women, iii, 474
+    --University, clinical instruction, iii, 448
+    --Woman's Medical College, i, 389
+    --Woman's Medical College, report on hospital clinics, iii, 450
+    --woman's rights, first legal argument, iii, 462
+    --women sold with cattle, iii, 445.
+
+  Perry, M. Frederica, lawyer, iii, 574.
+
+  Peru, iii, 6.
+
+  Peterson, Myra, iii, 703.
+
+  PETITION to Congress for a XVI. amendment, ii, 851
+    --first, sent to New York Legislature, iii, 395
+    --Sherman-Dahlgren against woman suffrage, ii, 494
+    --Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 78.
+
+  Petitions, i, 262, 308, 315, 489, 588, 625, 629; ii, 91, 282, 283,
+    286, 401, 514, 516, 560, 698; iii, 58, 104, 790
+    --form of, i, 676
+    --New York Legislature report, i, 612;
+      against, iii, 571, 841.
+
+  Petitioners, four classes of, ii, 283.
+
+  Phelps, Almira L., letter to Mrs. Hooker, iii, 100.
+
+  Phelps, Elizabeth B., woman's bureau, ii, 431.
+
+  Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, ii, 831.
+
+  _Philadelphia Press_, ii, 359; iii, 44
+    --_Ledger_, iii, 43.
+
+  Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, i, 325.
+
+  PHILLIPS, Wendell, ii, 317, 268; i, 469
+    --Anti-Slavery Convention, London, i, 54
+    --Grimke, Angelina, his opinion of, i, 399
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 230
+    --last letter on woman suffrage, iii, 122
+    --letter of regret, Saratoga Con., i, 627
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 62
+    --letter to Mrs. Stebbins, iii, 522
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 732
+    --Mrs. Eddy's will, iii, 312
+    --self-government, on, i, 258
+    --speeches:
+      Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 572, 637;
+      Cooper Institute Convention, i, 701;
+      Mozart Hall Convention, i, 674;
+      National Convention, Boston, ii, 178;
+      New England Convention, i, 273;
+      Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 84;
+      Worcester, Mass., Convention, i, 227
+    --treasurer of Jackson fund, i, 189
+    --woman suffrage, apathy, ii, 318
+    --World's Temperance Convention, at the, i, 152.
+
+  Philosophy, school of, at Concord, iii, 307.
+
+  Physical culture, ii, 908.
+
+  Physicians and nurses, iii, 298.
+
+  Pickler, J. A., letter to M. J. Gage, iii, 668.
+
+  Pierce, J. D., on woman suffrage, iii, 739.
+
+  Pierce, Wm. S., on woman suffrage, iii, 458.
+
+  Pierpont, Rev. John, iii, 294
+    --speech at Broadway Tabernacle, i, 451, 569.
+
+  PILLSBURY, Parker, speeches, i, 427, 671; ii, 173, 176, 201, 375;
+    iii, 173, 196, 275, 367, 478, 948
+    --appeal for, universal suffrage, ii, 917
+    --editor, _The Revolution_, ii, 264
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 265, 335, 337
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 265; iii, 367, 945.
+
+  Pitkin, Benjamin C, on woman's rights, i, 209.
+
+  Playfair, Lyon, iii, 850.
+
+  Plumb, P. B., the Kansas campaign, ii, 231, 253.
+
+  Plumly, Rush, i, 364.
+
+  Pochin, Henry D., iii, 847.
+
+  Pochin, Mrs., iii, 848, 929.
+
+  Poem, "Endurance," Lowell, iii, 695
+    --Frances D. Gage and the Hutchinsons, iii, 38
+    --"From Clatsop," iii, 780
+    --"Pastoral Letter," i, 84
+    --"Ancient Usage," i, 371
+    --"The Times That Try Men's Souls," i, 82
+    --"Woman's Cause," Lowell, i, 263
+    --Tennyson's Princess, iii, 258.
+
+  POLAND, iii, 917.
+
+  Police, women as, iii, 397, 431, 432.
+
+  Political campaigns, Anna E. Dickinson, ii, 43.
+
+  Political disabilities, ii, 315.
+
+  Polygamy, i, 776, 777, 778
+    --Miss Couzins on, iii, 223, 128, 130
+    --Bishop Lunt's defense of, i, 776.
+
+  Pomeroy, C. R., letter to Des Moines Convention, iii, 618.
+
+  Pomeroy, Senator, S. C., i, 185
+    --speeches, ii, 151, 324, 346, 419; iii, 727, 811.
+
+  Poppleton, A. J., speech at Omaha Convention, iii, 241.
+
+  Porter, Albert G., iii, 538, 553.
+
+  Portugal, iii, 901.
+
+  POST, Amy, i, 75
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 48
+    --Third Decade Meeting in Rochester, N. Y., iii, 117
+    --tried to vote, ii, 647.
+
+  Potter, T. B., iii, 848.
+
+  Powell, Aaron M., i, 468, 671; ii, 783.
+
+  Pray, Isaac C., speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 571.
+
+  Presidential campaigns:
+    --1856, John C. Fremont, i, 633, 641, 643
+    --1872, Grant and Wilson, ii, 217, 520
+    --1876, Hayes and Tilden, iii, 22, 26, 415
+    --1880, Garfield and Hancock, iii, 175, 187, 431.
+
+  Preston, Ann, i, 389, 390
+    --address at Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 360
+    --Dean Medical College, iii, 450.
+
+  Pretorius, Emile, letter to Woman's Nat. Loyal League, ii, 86.
+
+  Price, Abby, speech at Syracuse National Convention, i, 532
+    --Worcester Convention, i, 218, 242.
+
+  Priestley, celibacy, i, 759, 760.
+
+  Prince, Bradford L., iii, 417.
+
+  Privileges and immunities, ii, 453.
+
+  Progressive friends, i, 141.
+
+  Prohibition Convention, iii, 183.
+
+  Prohibitionists, alliance with, iii, 280.
+
+  Property Bill, i, 64
+    --bill, New York, i, 256
+    --laws, i, 171
+    --rights, Wm. Hay's paper, i, 607
+    --rights of married women, iii, 325
+    --opinions of Indiana Legislators, i, 299.
+
+  Prostitution, i, 264; iii, 144, 397, 398
+    (see, also, Vice).
+
+  Pryor, Margaret, iii, 477.
+
+  Pugh, Sarah, i, 327, 337, 376
+    --letter to Salem, O., Convention, i, 814; iii, 19, 34
+    --at Third Decade Convention, iii, 125.
+
+  Pulpit, ii, 902
+    --charges against, 135.
+
+  Pulte medical college, iii, 511.
+
+  Purvis, Robert, ii, 183, 265, 347, 358, 418; iii, 63, 72.
+
+
+  Q.
+
+  Quakers, i, 412, 783.
+
+  "Queen's women," i, 794.
+
+
+  R.
+
+  Ransier, A. J., ii, 542; iii, 829.
+
+  Raymond, Henry J., i, 547, 649.
+
+  Reconstruction, ii, 313.
+
+  Reed, C. A., iii, 768, 773.
+
+  Reed, Thomas B., in Congress, iii, 219, 366.
+
+  Reformation, i, 774.
+
+  Reid, Mrs. Hugo, iii, 836, 838.
+
+  REMINISCENCES:
+    --Collins, Emily, i, 88
+    --Davis, Paulina W., by "E. C. S.," i, 283
+    --Grimke, Angelina, by "E. C. S." i, 392
+    --Nichols, Clarina I. H., i, 171
+    --Stanton's, Elizabeth C., i, 456; iii, 922
+    --Starrett, Helen E., ii, 250
+    --Thomas, Mary F., i, 306
+    --Way, Amanda, i, 306.
+
+  Remond, Charles L., i,, 214, 220, 225.
+
+  Republican Party, iii, 279.
+
+  Republicans, treachery of, ii, 322.
+
+  Reports (see Woman Suffrage).
+
+  Resolutions:
+    i, 71, 219, 254, 535, 537, 542, 570, 574, 580, 593, 633, 641, 644,
+      646, 673, 694, 706, 708, 716, 723, 787, 808, 814, 816, 817, 820,
+      821, 823, 825, 827, 833, 834, 855;
+    ii, 57, 84, 154, 171, 190, 213, 358, 384, 388, 396, 407, 420, 436,
+      493, 521, 533, 537, 583, 584, 780, 809, 810, 818, 826, 837, 843,
+      859;
+    iii, 5, 19, 61, 69, 74, 124, 128, 152, 252, 256, 493, 566, 619, 641,
+      676, 707, 708, 780.
+
+  Retrospect, iii, 51.
+
+  Revelation, i, 647.
+
+  Revolution, 1776, i, 747
+    --Arnett, Hannah, i, 441
+    --battle, first, i, 203
+    --girls, two, with a drum and fife, i, 204
+    --spy, female, i, 323
+    --women in the, i, 201, 321, 444.
+
+  _Revolution, The_, i, 46; ii, 317, 319, 321, 324, 333, 340, 344, 345,
+    372, 381, 382, 400, 401, 407, 411, 426, 431; iii, 397, 398, 478,
+    752, 802
+    --editorial correspondence, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ii, 362, 367
+    --establishment of, iii, 401
+    --founded, when, ii, 264.
+
+  RHODE ISLAND, iii, 339
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --legislation, iii, 346
+    --State Association, organized, iii, 340,
+      address, iii, 345;
+      work done, iii, 343
+    --women represented, iii, 349
+    --Women's Board of Visitors, iii, 345
+    --women on school boards, iii, 341.
+
+  Richards, David M., iii, 715, 716, 719, 721.
+
+  Richardson, Susan Hoxie, iii, 560.
+
+  Ricker, Marilla M., iii, 106
+    --first woman to cast a vote, ii, 586
+    --prison reform, on, iii, 578.
+
+  Riddle, Albert G., iii, 106
+    --speech at Washington Convention, ii, 421
+    --speech before Congressional Committee, ii, 448
+    --Spencer-Webster suit, argument, ii, 587.
+
+  Roberts, Mrs. Marshall O., iii, 400.
+
+  Roberts, William H., iii, 777.
+
+  Robinson, Charles, i, 191.
+
+  Robinson, Emily, i, 103.
+
+  Robinson, Harriett Hanson, iii, 125, 196, 222, 227, 229, 265.
+
+  Robinson, Lelia J., application to the bar, iii, 307
+    --Supreme Court decision, iii, 308.
+
+  Robinson, Lucius (Gov.), defeat of, iii, 423
+    --vetoes school suffrage bill, iii, 418.
+
+  Robinson, Mary, sketch of, i, 293.
+
+  _Rochester Democrat and Chronicle_ on Miss Anthony's trial, ii, 715.
+
+  _Rochester Evening Express_ on Miss Anthony's trial, ii, 714.
+
+  _Rocky Mountain News_, iii, 715.
+
+  Roebling, Mrs., iii, 440.
+
+  Roebuck's flattery of woman, i, 537.
+
+  Rogers, Nathaniel P., i, 61, iii, 367.
+
+  Roland, Pauline, i, 234.
+
+  Rome, "The City of God," i, 794.
+
+  Root, H. K., speech at Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 560.
+
+  Root J. P., on the Kansas campaign, ii, 258.
+
+  ROSE, Ernestine L., i, 38, 52, 619, 624, 626, 636; ii, 390; iii, 514
+    --biography, i, 95
+    --debate, Cleveland National Convention, i, 133
+    --English women, on, i, 645
+    --Equal Rights Association, on the, ii, 397
+    --_Letters_:
+      to Susan B. Anthony, i, 99, iii, 50;
+      to Mrs. J. F. Griffing, ii, 356;
+      to Rochester Convention, iii, 120
+    --marriage, on, i, 237
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 729
+    --portrait of, i, 97
+    --propagandist, _Albany Register_ charges, i, 608
+    --resolutions, i, 707
+    --_Speeches_:
+      Broadway Tabernacle, i, 562, 661;
+      Cooper Institute Convention, i, 692;
+      New York Legislature, i, 607;
+      Philadelphia Convention, i, 376;
+      Rochester Convention, i, 579;
+      Syracuse Convention, i, 537;
+      Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 60, 64, 73;
+      Worcester Convention, i, 237
+    --tribute to Frances Wright, i, 692
+    --Westchester, Pa., Convention, at, i, 357
+    --women in colleges, on, i, 144; ii, 208
+    --in London, 1883, iii, 940.
+
+  Ross, E. G., letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 423.
+
+  Ross, James, i, 449.
+
+  Ross, Laura J., ii, 374;
+    (see Wolcott, Laura Ross).
+
+  Russell, Leslie W., iii, 434
+    --defeat of, iii. 437.
+
+  Russell, Lucinda, correspondence, iii, 682
+    --sketch of, iii, 692.
+
+  Russia, iii, 915.
+
+
+  S.
+
+  Sacrilegious child, Cardinal Antonelli's, i, 788.
+
+  Safe deposit companies, iii, 402.
+
+  St. Chrysostom's description of woman, i, 758.
+
+  St. John, Gov., J. P., ii, 258. iii, 706.
+
+  St. Paul, quotations, iii, 720.
+
+  Salic law, i, 774.
+
+  Sanborn, Frank B., ii, 765.
+
+  Sandford, Arch-Deacon, iii, 848.
+
+  Sanford, Rebecca M., i, 77
+    --letter to Cleveland Convention, i, 819.
+
+  Sandige, John M., iii, 791.
+
+  Sanitary Commission, ii, 13.
+
+  SARGENT, A. A., iii, 108
+    --California Constitution, on the, iii, 760
+    --District of Columbia suffrage bill, on the, ii, 483
+    --letter to Omaha Convention, iii, 245
+    --letter to Rochester Convention, iii, 121
+    --Pembina Territory bill, amendment, ii, 545;
+      bill rejected, ii, 582
+    --Pembina Territory bill, on the, ii, 546, 555, 564, 567
+    --resolution, woman suffrage, iii, 70
+    --speech in San Francisco, on woman's rights, ii, 483
+    --speech in Senate, iii, 9
+    --woman suffrage, joint resolution, iii, 75
+    --minister at Berlin, iii, 944.
+
+  Sargent, Elizabeth, M. D., iii, 763.
+
+  Sargent, J. T., letter to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, ii, 911
+    --speech at New England Convention, i, 270.
+
+  Saunders, Alvin, on woman suffrage, iii, 226, 674.
+
+  Savage, John, i, 38.
+
+  Saxe, Dana, and Grace Greenwood, i, 828.
+
+  Saxon Elizabeth L., iii, 180, 197, 241, 690, 791
+    --argument before Senate committee, iii, 157.
+
+  Scatcherd, Mrs. Oliver, iii, 875, 878, 923, 929, 936.
+
+  Schell, Augustus, favors woman suffrage, iii, 422.
+
+  Schenck, Elizabeth T., iii, 750, 754.
+
+  School of Design for Women, i, 390; iii, 399.
+
+  School officers, bill passed New York Legislature, iii, 417;
+    vetoed by Gov. Robinson, iii, 418.
+
+  School suffrage (see Suffrage Gained).
+
+  Schurz, Carl, i, 42; ii, 370; iii, 46.
+
+  SCOTLAND (see Great Britain, iii, 833).
+
+  Scott, Thomas A., ii, 5.
+
+  Scovill, James M., ii, 420; iii, 477.
+
+  Sears, Judge, in Kansas campaign, ii, 240, 253.
+
+  See, Rev. Isaac M., trial of, i, 780; iii, 485.
+
+  Segur, Rose L., iii, 103.
+
+  Selden, H. R., Miss Anthony's counsel, ii, 629, 647, 652, 654, 679,
+    680, 689;
+    appeal to Congress, 698.
+
+  Seneca Falls Convention, i, 67.
+
+  Severance, Caroline M., address at Broadway Tabernacle, i, 569
+    --New England Convention, i, 262
+    --letter to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, ii, 911.
+
+  Sewall, Samuel E., iii, 269.
+
+  Seward, Wm. H., on self-government, ii, 76, 77; iii, 85
+    --on woman's rights, i, 457.
+
+  Sewall, May Wright, iii, 226, 534, 557, 259.
+
+  Seymour, Horatio, thirty pieces of silver, i, 473.
+
+  Shattuck, Harriette R., iii, 226, 257.
+
+  Shaw, Sarah B., letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 239.
+
+  Shelly, Kate, heroism of, iii, 633.
+
+  Sherman-Dahlgren petition against woman suffrage, ii, 494.
+
+  Shields, M. F., iii, 719.
+
+  Sholes, C. L., report on rights of women in Wisconsin, i, 315;
+    iii, 640.
+
+  Shuman, Andrew, iii, 561.
+
+  Silk Culture, iii, 762.
+
+  Simpson, Bishop, favors woman suffrage, iii, 460, 616.
+
+  Sixteenth Amendment, ii, 333, 350, 351, 352, 353, 400, 420, 422,
+    425, 436; iii, 112.
+
+  Sixteenth Amendment, reasons for a, iii, 235.
+
+  Sixteenth Amendment, renewed appeal, iii, 58
+    --press comments, iii, 67.
+
+  Sketches, _see Biography_.
+
+  Slave law, fugitive, Pennsylvania, i, 328.
+
+  Slavery, Angelina Grimke's speech, i, 334
+    (see, also, Anti-Slavery).
+
+  Slavery sustained by the North, ii, 542.
+
+  Slavery and the war, ii, 77.
+
+  Slavonic countries, iii, 915.
+
+  Smith, Elizabeth Oakes, iii, 117, 128, 328, 826
+    --Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, at the, i, 253
+    --speech at Syracuse Convention, i, 522
+    --Worcester Convention, at, i, 231.
+
+  SMITH Gerrit, home of, i, 471
+    --letter to
+      Susan B. Anthony, i, 497; ii, 317, 538, 941;
+      Wm. Lloyd Garrison, i, 223, 620;
+      St. Louis Convention, ii, 825;
+      Elizabeth Cady Stanton, i, 708, 836
+    --speech at Syracuse National Convention, i, 526
+    --petition for woman suffrage, refused to sign, ii, 317.
+
+  Smith, Mrs. Gerrit, petition, ii, 98.
+
+  Smith, Hannah Whitehall, speech at Philadelphia Convention, iii, 230.
+
+  Smith, Julia and Abby, iii, 76, 98, 328, 336.
+
+  Smith, Sidney, iii, 834.
+
+  Snow, Lucy and Lavinia, iii, 365.
+
+  Social relations, Channing's report, i, 233.
+
+  Sojourner Truth, i, 115, 567; ii, 193, 222, 224, 926; iii, 458, 531.
+
+  Soldiers, women as, ii, 18, 869.
+
+  Somerville, Mary, i, 790
+    --letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 440.
+
+  Song, "A Hundred Years Hence," iii, 38.
+
+  Song, "Kansas Suffrage," ii, 934.
+
+  Sorosis, iii, 402, 571.
+
+  South, what the, can do, ii, 929.
+
+  SOUTH CAROLINA, iii, 828.
+
+  Southwick, Thankful, i, 341.
+
+  Southworth, Mrs. E. D. E. N., iii, 813.
+
+  SPAIN, iii, 901.
+
+  Spencer, Herbert, i, 26.
+
+  SPENCER, Sarah Andrews, iii, 35, 66, 97, 103
+    --argument before House Committee, iii, 166
+    --before Senate Judiciary Committee, ii, 543
+    --before D. C. Committee, iii, 12
+    --delegate Rep. Nat. Convention, iii, 26
+    --resolutions, iii, 152
+    --speeches, ii, 539
+    --suit, ii, 587
+    --Chief-Justice Cartter's opinion, ii, 597.
+
+  Spider-crab, Theodore Tilton, ii, 93.
+
+  Sprague, Homer B., ii, 425.
+
+  Stanford, Leland, iii, 764.
+
+  Stansfeld, M. P., James, iii, 872
+    --speech, iii, 886.
+
+  Stanton, Edwin M., and Mrs. J. S. Griffing, ii, 33.
+
+  STANTON, Elizabeth Cady, i, 61, 67, 79; ii, 322, 360, 361, 381, 382,
+    383, 391, 417, 418, 428, 430, 456, 582; iii, 7, 35, 40, 195, 222,
+    529, 560, 630, 644, 811
+    --Abolitionists, and the, ii, 264
+    --address to New York Legislature, i, 595
+    --appeal to women of New York State, i, 676
+    --appeal to women of the Republic, ii, 51
+    --appeal for Woman's Rights, i, 858
+    --argument before Senate committee, iii, 228
+    --"Bloomer," in a, i, 128
+    --California visit, iii, 756
+    --call, loyal women, ii, 53
+    --candidate for Congress, ii, 180
+    --children i, 457
+    --civil rights bill for women, ii, 541
+    --"copperheads," ii, 320
+    --divorce for drunkenness, argument, i, 485
+    --editorial correspondence in _The Revolution_, ii, 362, 367
+    --eulogy: Lucretia Mott, i, 407
+    --Equal Rights Association, ii, 173, 174
+    --eternal punishment, on, iii, 196
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 333
+    --girls and boys at school, on, ii, 541
+    --Grant and Wilson campaign, in, ii, 520
+    --Greeley, Horace, and, ii, 287
+    --Hurlbut, Judge, i, 39
+    --Kansas campaign, i, 200; ii, 253, 254, 261, 262, 263
+    --lecture, "Education of Girls," iii, 536
+    --lectures in Omaha, iii, 675
+    --lecturing tour, Ohio, iii, 491
+    --Letters:
+      to Akron, O., Convention, i, 815;
+      to _The Ballot Box_, iii, 64;
+      to Cooper Institute Convention, i, 860;
+      to Gerrit Smith, i, 839;
+      to Gen. Hawley, iii, 28;
+      to Horace Greeley, i, 735;
+      to the _National Citizen_, iii, 147;
+      to Omaha convention, iii, 244;
+      to Salem, O., convention, i, 810;
+      to Syracuse convention i, 848;
+      to Washington convention, iii, 261
+    --London visit, 1882-3, iii, 922
+    --"male" in the constitution, on the word, ii, 91
+    --manhood suffrage, on, iii, 566
+    --marriage and divorce, on, i, 716, 738
+    --Michigan campaign iii, 521
+    --"Negro's hour," ii, 94
+    --Newport Con., ii, 403
+    --Oregon, Mo., visit, iii, 609
+    --portrait, i, 721
+    --President Albany convention, i, 592
+    --President Loyal League, made, ii, 66
+    --press comments on Rochester and Seneca Falls conventions,
+        her reply to, i, 806
+    --reception, Sorosis, Chicago, iii, 571
+    --reconstruction, on, ii, 214
+    --Reminiscences: i, 456, 836; iii, 922;
+      of Angelina Grimke, i, 392;
+      of Paulina Wright Davis, i, 283
+    --resolutions before Congress affecting women, on, ii, 92
+    --resolutions, Washington convention, ii, 542
+    --sermon, St. Louis, iii, 148
+    --Sixteenth Amendment, urges a, ii, 350
+    --Smith, Gerrit, refusing to sign petition for woman suffrage, on,
+      ii, 317
+    --Speeches:
+      Cooper Institute, i, 716;
+      Congressional committee, before, ii, 411;
+      Furness' Church, in, iii, 35;
+      Legislature, claiming woman's rights, ii, 271;
+      Milwaukee, iii, 641;
+      National protection for National citizens, iii, 80;
+      New York Legislature, i, 679;
+      New York National convention, ii, 154;
+      Rochester Convention, iii, 117;
+      Rochester Temperance Convention, i, 481, 493;
+      Senate Judiciary Committee, before, ii, 506;
+      suffrage, question of, ii, 185;
+      Washington Convention, ii, 495;
+      Washington Nat. Convention, ii, 348;
+      Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 87
+    --testimonial ii, 533
+    --Train, G. F., and _The Revolution_, criticism, ii, 264
+    --tribute from _Leavenworth Commercial_ (Kansas), ii, 263
+    --view of, an objective, i, 456
+    --Wadleigh, Senator, on, iii, 93
+    --western trip, ii, 367
+    --Wyoming visit, iii, 734.
+
+  Stanton Harriot, letter to Nebraska voters, iii, 247, 933.
+
+  Stanton, Theodore, iii, 262, 895, 928.
+
+  Starrett, Helen Ekin, reminiscences Kansas campaign, ii, 250, 348.
+
+  Stearns, O. P., iii, 528.
+
+  Stearns, Sarah Burger, iii, 527, 649.
+
+  Stebbins, Catharine A. F., ii, 26, 514
+    --before House committee, iii, 162
+    --letter to Lucretia Mott, iii, 47
+    --vote, attempts to, iii, 523.
+
+  Steck, Amos, iii, 714.
+
+  Steele, William, iii, 319.
+
+  Stephens, Alexander H., reception, iii, 98, 830.
+
+  Stevens, Louisa B., iii, 633.
+
+  Stevens, Thaddeus, ii, 354, 632.
+
+  Stevenson, Emily Pitts, iii, 752.
+
+  Stevenson, Sarah Hackett, iii, 579.
+
+  Stewart's Home for Working Women, iii, 420.
+
+  Stewart, Senator, on the Pembina Territory bill, ii, 548, 558, 559,
+    564, 573, 579.
+
+  Stone, Dr. James A. B., address at St. Louis, ii, 821; iii, 525.
+
+  STONE, Lucy, i, 473, 619, 626; ii, 56; iii, 268, 279, 513, 722, 724,
+    818
+    --Constitutional Convention at Albany, ii, 284
+    --husband, and her, i, 164
+    --husband's name, refusing to take her, i, 261
+    --Kansas, in, i, 200
+    --Kansas campaign, in, ii, 232
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 237, 919
+    --letter to Salem, O., Convention, i, 813
+    --letters to E. Cady Stanton, ii, 234
+    --letter to _The Una_, i, 501
+    --marriage of, under protest, i, 260
+    --meetings held in New Jersey, iii, 479
+    --petitions, iii, 104
+    --National Convention, Broadway Tabernacle, i, 631
+    --Philadelphia National Convention, at, i, 375
+    --portrait, ii, 761
+    --report, American Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 803
+    --scripture, on, i, 650
+    --speeches:
+      Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i, 554, 565, 632;
+      American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in Cooper Institute,
+        ii, 829;
+      in Steinway Hall, ii, 811;
+      in Detroit, ii, 837;
+      in St. Louis, ii, 823, 827;
+      in Washington, ii, 858;
+      Cincinnati, i, 165;
+      Cleveland, i, 163;
+      Concord, iii, 271;
+      Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 64;
+      Worcester, i, 233
+    --suffrage, negro, first, on, ii, 383
+    --Syracuse National Convention, i, 524
+    --taxes, refused to pay, i, 450.
+
+  Story, Judge, on the Constitution, ii, 477, 478, 588.
+
+  Strahan, Robert H., iii, 417.
+
+  Strong, Rev. A. H., iii, 155
+    --on subordination of women, i, 787.
+
+  Stuart, Abby H. H., iii, 787.
+
+  Stuart, Mary A., iii, 158, 817.
+
+  Studwell, Edwin A., ii, 398.
+
+  SUFFRAGE GAINED:
+    _Full_ suffrage, Isle of Man, iii, 870, 982;
+    Utah Territory, ii, 426, 432;
+    Washington Territory, iii, 777;
+    Wyoming Territory, ii, 426, 432; iii, 730.
+
+  SUFFRAGE GAINED:
+    _Municipal_ suffrage:
+      Canada, iii, 832,
+      England, iii, 845;
+      Madras, iii, 983;
+      Scotland, iii, 871, 983.
+
+  SUFFRAGE GAINED:
+    _School_ suffrage: Canada, iii, 831;
+      Colorado, iii, 718;
+      Dakota, iii, 633;
+      England, iii, 850;
+      Kansas, i, 185, iii, 701, 710;
+      Kentucky, i, 869, iii, 821;
+      Massachusetts, iii, 288;
+      Michigan, iii, 515, 530;
+      Minnesota, iii, 652, 653, 654;
+      Nebraska, iii, 675;
+      New Hampshire, iii, 375, 376;
+      New York, iii, 424;
+      Oregon, iii, 775;
+      Scotland, iii, 851;
+      Vermont, i, 171, iii, 304.
+
+  Suits (see Trials).
+
+  SUMNER, Charles, ii, 35, 81, 168, 169
+    --ballot, on the, ii, 95
+    --equal rights to all, ii, 322
+    --Fourteenth Amendment, opposed, ii, 323
+    --voted for, ii, 324
+    --letter, Woman's National Loyal League anniversary, ii, 86
+    --"male," and the word, ii, 91
+    --petition, presents, under protest, ii, 96
+    --petitions, asks for, ii, 93
+    --rebuked by Senator Cowan, ii, 113
+    --speech in U. S. Senate on presentation of petition of the Woman's
+      Nat. League, ii, 78
+    --Taxation without Representation, on, ii, 114.
+
+  Sunday-school teachings, i, 786.
+
+  Sunderland-Gage controversy, i, 543.
+
+  Sunderland, Mrs. H. E., iii, 564.
+
+  Sutherland, Julia K., iii, 6.
+
+  Swank, Emma B., i, 307
+    --sketch of, i, 313
+
+  Sweet, Ada, pension agent, iii, 6.
+
+  Swisshelm, Jane Grey, i, 386; iii, 650, 813
+    --_Saturday Visitor_, i, 46
+    --letter, "Borders of Monkeydom," i, 807
+    --speech, Washington Convention, iii, 61.
+
+  SWITZERLAND, iii, 909, 911.
+
+
+  T.
+
+  Taney, Justice, ii, 639.
+
+  Tax, society, anti, iii, 413
+    --Susan A. King, iii, 420
+    --protest, Harriet K. Hunt's, i, 259
+    --Report of N. Y. State Assessors, iii, 412
+    --representation, without, ii, 114, 169, 274, 475; iii, 289, 397
+    --Lucy Stone refused to pay, i, 450.
+
+  Taylor, Helen, ii, 425; iii, 852, 923, 940.
+
+  Taylor, Mrs. Mentia, letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438
+    --Mrs. P. A., iii, 848.
+
+  Taylor, R. B., in Kansas campaign, ii, 231.
+
+  Tea, Anti, Leagues, i, 202.
+
+  Telegrapher, Hattie Hutchinson, age ten years, iii, 805.
+
+  Teller, Willard, iii, 715.
+
+  TEMPERANCE conventions:
+    --Albany, i, 489
+    --Dayton, Ohio, i, 118
+    --Half World's, i, 506
+    --Lawrence, Kansas, ii, 231
+    --Pennsylvania, i, 348
+    --World's, i, 152
+    --press comments, i, 854
+    --daughters of, i, 474
+    --New York, Brick Church meeting, i, 499
+    --New York, Metropolitan Hall meeting, i, 490
+    --New York Woman's State Society, i, 484
+    --Woman Suffrage, and, ii, 819.
+
+  TENNESSEE, iii, 822.
+
+  Tennessee campaign, Miss Carroll, ii, 3-9.
+
+  Tenney, Mrs. R. S., letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 257.
+
+  TEXAS, iii, 801
+    --Constitutional Convention, iii, 801
+    --Legislative action, iii, 802
+    --women in government offices, iii, 804.
+
+  Theological discussion, i, 647.
+
+  Thirteenth Amendment, ii, 77, 313, 663.
+
+  Thomas', Mrs. Abel C., farm, iii, 469.
+
+  Thomas, Julia J., and Greek prize, iii, 6.
+
+  Thomas, Mary F., ii, 860
+    --reminiscences of, i, 306
+    --sketch of, i, 314
+    --speech, Winchester, Ind., convention, i, 308.
+
+  Thompson, Geo., speech, i, 56.
+
+  Thompson, Mary A., iii, 97, 775.
+
+  Thomson, J. Edgar, will of, iii, 468.
+
+  Thornton, J. Quinn, iii, 773.
+
+  Tilden, Samuel J., i, 473; iii, 417.
+
+  Tillotson, Mary A., iii, 103.
+
+  TILTON, Theodore, ii, 117, 376
+    --Beecher colloquy, ii, 167
+    --Fifteenth Amendment, and the, ii, 327
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 230
+    --letter to American Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 770
+    --speech at Nat. Convention in New York, ii, 154.
+
+  Tod, Isabella M., iii, 866, 888, 938.
+
+  Toucey, Sinclair, ii, 419.
+
+  Train, Geo. Francis, ii, 381, 431
+    --Constitutional Convention at Albany, before, ii, 284
+    --Kansas campaign, in, ii, 243, 254, 264.
+
+  Tracts, prize, i, 379.
+
+  TRIALS and Decisions, ii, 586, 934
+    --Allen, Jane, case of, ii, 592
+    --Anthony, Susan B. (see Anthony)
+    --Bly, Mrs., ii, 671
+    --Bradwell, Myra (see Bradwell)
+    --Burnham, Carrie, suit, ii, 600
+    --Gardner, Nannette B., ii, 587
+    --Huntington, Sarah M. T., ii, 628
+    --Inspectors of election, ii, 691
+    --jury convicts, ii, 696
+    --pardoned by President Grant, ii, 715
+    --sentenced, ii, 698
+    --trial, motion for new, ii, 696
+    --Mansfield, Arabella A., case of, ii, 606
+    --Minor, Virginia L., ii, 715
+    --Chief-Justice Waite's opinion, ii, 734
+    --opinion reviewed by Mrs. Gage, ii, 742
+    --reviewed by _Central Law Journal_, ii, 748
+    --parody, ii, 599
+    --Ricker, Mrs. M. M., ii, 586
+    --Spencer, Sarah Andrews, suit, ii, 587
+    --Chief-Justice Cartter's opinion, ii, 597
+    --Van Valkenburg, Ellen Rand, suit, ii, 600
+    --Waite, Catharine V., suit, ii, 601; iii, 571
+    --Webster, Sarah E., ii, 587; iii, 571
+    --5,000 women householders and Lord Coleridge, iii, 884.
+
+  Truman, James, on Women in dentistry, iii, 452.
+
+  Trumbull, Lyman, ii, 498.
+
+  Tudor, Mrs. Fenno, reception, iii, 197.
+
+  TURKEY, iii, 919.
+
+  Turner, Eliza Sproat, iii, 451.
+
+  Turner, Jennie, iii, 407.
+
+  Tyler, Moses Coit, ii, 813.
+
+  Tyler, W. S., iii, 497.
+
+  Tyndale, Sarah, tribute, i, 218.
+
+  Tyndale, Sharon, ii, 371.
+
+
+  U.
+
+  UNA, Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, i, 46, 246.
+
+  Uncle Tom's Cabin, i, 102.
+
+  Underhill, Sarah E., i, 308
+    --sketch of, i, 313
+
+  United States a nation? Is the, ii, 529.
+
+  Updegraff, W. W., Kansas campaign, ii, 250.
+
+  Upham, Hon. Charles W., i, 210.
+
+  Underwood, John C., iii, 823
+    --tribute, ii, 538, 640.
+
+  UTAH, ii, 325.
+
+
+  V.
+
+  Van Cleve, Charlotte O., iii, 653.
+
+  Van Lew, Elizabeth, postmaster at Richmond, iii, 824.
+
+  Van Pelt, Maggie, journalist, iii, 629.
+
+  Van Valkenburg, Ellen Rand, ii, 600.
+
+  Van Voorhis, John, ii, 692-697.
+
+  Vassar College, iii, 398.
+
+  Vaughan, Mary C., speech on temperance, i, 476.
+
+  VERMONT, i, 171; iii, 383
+    --homestead law, i, 172
+    --St. Andrew's letter, iii, 384, 389
+    --school suffrage, iii, 393
+    --University opens to women, iii, 389
+    --woman suffrage amendment, Reed's report, iii, 385
+    --_Vermont Watchman_, iii, 386.
+
+  Vest, Senator, on woman suffrage, iii, 199, 203.
+
+  Vice, legalization of, i, 795, 796; iii, 145, 397.
+
+  Vicksburg, naval attack on, ii, 11.
+
+  VIRGINIA, iii, 823
+    --Woman Suffrage Association, iii, 823.
+
+  Voltaire, i, 658.
+
+  Voris, A. C., ii, 837.
+
+  Vote, first woman to cast a, ii, 586
+    --first woman to claim the right, iii, 815
+    --Mrs. Gage attempted to, iii, 406
+    --woman earned her right to, ii, 89
+    --in Scotland, iii, 871
+    --reports of voting in New York, iii, 429
+    --voted with Miss Anthony, list of, ii, 647
+    --voted in New Jersey, i, 448; iii, 476
+    --voting in 1776, i, 33
+    --persons entitled to, ii, 272.
+
+  Voted, 1867, Lily Maxwell, iii, 981.
+
+  Voters, qualification of, T. W. Higginson's speech, i, 249.
+
+
+  W.
+
+  Wade, Benjamin, F., ii, 9
+    --letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 117;
+      J. S. Griffing, ii, 34
+    --speech, ii, 123
+    --remarks to Anna Ella Carroll, ii, 9
+    --letters to Miss Carroll, ii, 866, 867.
+
+  Wadsworth, L. A., iii, 352.
+
+  Wait, Anna C., iii, 696, 709.
+
+  Waite, Catharine V., ii, 601; iii, 571.
+
+  Waite, Chas. B., iii, 569.
+
+  Waite, Jessie T., argument before House committee, iii, 161
+    --report of National Convention, iii, 254-260.
+
+  Waite, M. R., iii, 505
+    --Supreme Court opinion, ii, 734-742.
+
+  Waldo, Peter, ii, 27.
+
+  Walker, Dr. Mary, ii, 20, 813; iii, 103.
+
+  Wall, Sarah E., ii, 636; iii, 310.
+
+  Wallace, W. D., iii, 540, 966.
+
+  Wallace, Zerelda G., iii, 536-7, 539-40, 551
+    --argument before Senate com., iii, 155
+    --letter to S. B. Anthony, iii, 257.
+
+  Walling, Mrs. M. C., speech in U. S. Senate, ii, 327.
+
+  Walter, Cornelia, iii, 303.
+
+  War, woman's patriotism in, ii, 1, 863; iii, 596, 631.
+
+  Warn Kate, iii, 398.
+
+  Warner, Esther L., iii, 693.
+
+  Warren, Mercy, Otis, i, 31; ii, 201.
+
+  Washington Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --(see also District of Columbia).
+
+  _Washington Evening Star_, iii, 97.
+
+  _Washington Sunday Chronicle_, ii, 599.
+
+  Washington, George, letter to ladies of Trenton, N. J., i, 447.
+
+  WASHINGTON Territory, iii, 786
+    --women enfranchised, iii, 776.
+
+  Watterson, Henry, ii, 861, 862; iii, 182.
+
+  Wattles, John O., i, 189.
+
+  Wattles, Susan E., ii, 255; iii, 697.
+
+  Way, Amanda M., iii, 533
+    --legislative hearing, iii, 539
+    --reminiscences, i, 306
+    --sketch of, i, 311.
+
+  Weber, Helene Marie, i, 41
+    --letter to M. A. Spofford, i, 825.
+
+  Webster, Rev. D. L., i, 114.
+
+  Webster, Sarah E., suit, ii, 587
+    --Chief-Justice Cartter's opinion, ii, 597.
+
+  Weed, Thurlow, i, 720.
+
+  Weld, Angelina Grimke, on organizations, i, 540
+    --speech, Loyal Women's Convention, ii, 54
+    --speech, Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 60; iii, 282.
+
+  Weld, Theodore, i, 392.
+
+  Wells, Charlotte Fowler, i, 45; ii, 435.
+
+  Wendt, Mathilda F., iii, 405.
+
+  Wendte, W. C., ii, 855.
+
+  Wenthworth, Elizabeth R., iii, 643.
+
+  Wesley, John, on witchcraft, i, 765.
+
+  Wesley, Susannah, i, 790.
+
+  Weston, Hannah and Rebecca, i, 203.
+
+  WEST VIRGINIA, iii, 824.
+
+  Wheatly, Phillis, colored, i, 205.
+
+  Wheeler, L. May, iii, 659.
+
+  Whipple, E. P., views of George Eliot, i, 791.
+
+  White, Andrew D., iii, 398, 528.
+
+  White, Bessie Heagen, pharmacy, iii, 820.
+
+  White, Laura R., architect, iii, 820.
+
+  White, Richard Grant, on the word "citizen," ii, 567.
+
+  Whitehead, Wm. A., paper on woman suffrage, i, 447.
+
+  Whiting, Lilian, iii, 303.
+
+  Whiting, N. H., i, 861.
+
+  Whitman, Sarah Helen, ii, 433.
+
+  Whittier, John G., i, 83; iii, 520.
+
+  Wife ownership, i, 772.
+
+  Wigham, Eliza, iii, 852.
+
+  WILBOUR, Charlotte B., iii, 396
+    --organized Sorosis, iii, 403
+    --President New York City Society, iii, 405
+    --remarks at Washington Convention, ii, 421, 424
+    --Corresponding Secretary Loyal League, ii, 80.
+
+  Wilbur, Hervey Backus, iii, 421.
+
+  Wilcox, Hamilton, ii, 346; iii, 441, 959.
+
+  Wildman, John R., iii, 457.
+
+  Willard, Emma, i, 36.
+
+  Willard, Frances E., iii, 104, 578, 587, 660.
+
+  Willard, Judge John, i, 750.
+
+  Will of Bridget Smith, i, 563.
+
+  Williams, George, iii, 774.
+
+  Williams, Nellie, i, 48.
+
+  Williams, Sarah Langdon, iii, 503
+    --_The Ballot-Box_, iii, 51.
+
+  Williams, Senator, ii, 108.
+
+  Willing, Mrs. J. F., ii, 368.
+
+  Willis (see Olympia Brown).
+
+  Wilson, Elizabeth, i, 103.
+
+  Wilson, Hannah, iii, 697.
+
+  Wilson, Henry, ii, 113, 128, 322, 390; iii, 267.
+
+  Winchell, Charlotte, S., career of, iii, 653.
+
+  WISCONSIN, i, 178, 290; iii, 638
+    --Conventions (see Conventions)
+    --legislation, iii, 638
+    --Shole's report, i, 315
+    --report of David Noggle, i, 867
+    --married women, rights of, iii, 638
+    --Milwaukee Female College, iii, 643
+    --State Association, iii, 645
+    --State University, iii, 643
+    --statutes, modification of, iii, 639
+    --suffrage amendment, iii, 644
+    --temperance question, iii, 645
+    --women as lawyers, iii, 648
+    --voters, iii, 640.
+
+  Wise, Mary E., ii, 869.
+
+  Witchcraft, i, 759, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769.
+
+  Wives in Russia, i, 773.
+
+  Wives, sale of, i, 792.
+
+  Wizards, i, 766.
+
+  Wolcott, Laura Ross, graduated medical college i, 389
+    --organized Wisconsin State Society, ii, 374
+    --sketch of, iii, 638
+    --National Convention, Milwaukee, iii, 184.
+
+  Wollstonecraft, Mary, eulogy of, i, 126-7
+    --"Rights of Women," i, 34.
+
+  Wollstenholme, Mrs. Almy, with Mrs. Jacob Bright, iii, 893.
+
+  WOMAN, advice of men, warned against, ii, 268
+    --Anglo-Saxon laws, i, 863
+    --army, in the, i, 290
+    --bar, admissions to, iii, 307, 355
+    --British Parliament, in, i, 30
+    --census enumerators, first appointments, iii, 174
+    --church poll, at the, i, 781
+    --civil service, in, iii, 306
+    --clinical instruction, Pennsylvania University, iii, 448
+    --coeducation, statistics, iii, 496
+    --colleges, and the, ii, 541
+    --colleges, in, i, 144, iii, 6
+    --college in Evanston, Illinois, iii, 578
+    --congress organized in New York, iii, 411
+    --degradation of, i, 791, 794
+    --emancipation, i, 29
+    --employment of, in insane asylums, iii, 421
+    --employments, varied capacity for, iii, 406, 572
+    --excluded as delegates, Anti-slavery Convention, London, i, 60
+    --chronological table of successive steps in England, iii, 980
+    --history of, in three pictures;
+      under Hindoo laws, i, 863;
+      under Anglo-Saxon laws, i, 863, 864;
+      under Signs of the Times, i, 865, 866
+    --illiteracy of, iii, 372
+    --inventions by, iii, 632
+    --jury, on, iii, 731;
+      list of the first grand, iii, 738
+    --Kansas, of, i, 642
+    --labor performed in Christian countries, i, 792
+    --laborer, unpaid, i, 28
+    --legal disabilities, removed of, iii, 893
+    --legal rights, i, 107
+    --list of names of friends in California, iii, 977-80;
+      list of names of friends in Minnesota, iii, 973-80
+    --Loyal League, ii, 3;
+      address to Abraham Lincoln, ii, 67;
+      anniversary of, ii, 80;
+      letters in response to a call for a meeting, ii, 875;
+      petition, ii, 78;
+      platform, ii, 891;
+      press comments, ii, 893;
+      resolutions, ii, 84;
+      secretary's report, ii, 80
+    --married, act relative to rights of, i, 618
+    --married, laws regarding, iii, 291
+    --married, and their legal status, ii, 642
+    --married, property rights of, iii, 325
+    --marry, will the coming, iii, 723
+    --national protection, claim, ii, 531
+    --naval heroines, ii, 21
+    --official position, first appointed to, in New York, iii, 417
+    --Ohio, protest against enfranchisement, iii, 494
+    --outrages, 1880, in Ireland, i, 794
+    --pharmacy, 379, 820, 980
+    --physician, first, i, 260
+    --physicians in insane asylums, as, iii, 473
+    --politics, in, ii, 277, 304
+    --preachers, as, i, 784
+    --professions, in the, iii, 706
+    --property rights, i, 38, 64, 146, 256, 296, 770
+    --property rights granted, iii, 438
+    --public affairs, why meddle in, i, 109
+    --revolution, in the, i, 31, 201, 321, 444
+    --Roman law, under i, 754
+    --school of design, Philadelphia, i, 390
+    --school boards, on, iii, 892, 981
+    --school officers, bill passed New York Legislature, iii, 417;
+      vetoed by Gov. Robinson, iii, 418
+    --school officers, made so in Illinois, iii, 575
+    --science and literature, degraded in, i, 790
+    --sermon to, Rev. Knox Little's, i, 782
+    --Sin, Original, i, 756
+    --slaves, legislated for as, i, 772
+    --social evolution of, iii, 226
+    --social relations, i, 233
+    --sold with cattle in Pennsylvania, iii, 445
+    --soldiers, as, ii, 18, 889
+    --sphere, i, 76, 93, 148, 265, 317, 522, 660, 662, 694, 713, 716;
+      ii, 62, 163, 779
+    --spy, anecdote, i, 323
+    --subordination, i, 780;
+      Evarts in the Beecher-Tilton trial upon, i, 789;
+      sermon by Rev. A. H. Strong, i, 787
+    --Supreme Court opened to, iii, 138;
+      Senator Hoar's speech, iii, 139
+    --torture of, i, 26, 766, 768
+    --type-setters, i, 585
+    --wardens, iii, 893
+    --work, statistics, i, 267
+    --work done by, iii, 54
+    --work and wages, i, 78, 589
+    --working, of Boston, ii, 389
+    --working, seats in shops, iii, 433.
+
+  WOMAN SUFFRAGE, (see Suffrage Gained);
+    --appeals, i, 588, 856, 858; ii, 168, 247, 364
+    --arguments in favor of, ii, 349
+    --Bible argument, ii, 374;
+      Bible, and the, i, 380, 535
+    --complaints, 1869, the, ii, 323
+    --debate between Anna Dickinson and R. L. Collier, iii, 567
+    --Democratic National Convention, letters and delegates, iii, 22
+    --discussion at Woman's National Loyal League, ii, 59
+    --England, Gen. Butler's report in, ii, 465, 466, 467
+    --essay, in _Westminster Review_, i, 225
+    --Equal Rights Association organized, ii, 173
+    --Fifth Avenue conference, ii, 427
+    --Kansas, report of Judiciary Franchise Committee, i, 194
+    --_National Association_ organized, ii, 400;
+      address to President Hayes, iii, 129;
+      appeal, Mrs. Hooker's, to women of the United States, ii, 485;
+      appeal to women, Grant and Wilson Presidential campaign, ii, 517;
+      Congressional Committee grant hearings, iii, 75;
+      constitution and officers, ii, 401, iii, 955-6;
+      letter to Berlin Congress, ii, 404;
+      delegates to Berlin, ii,  406
+    --New York and Boston wings, ii, 406
+    --New York City society, iii, 405
+    --opponents, iii, 570
+    --organ, need of an, i, 378
+    --periods, most trying, ii, 319
+    --petitions in many States, one year's work, i, 869
+    --power of legislature to extend suffrage, iii, 959-6
+    --presidential suffrage iii, 966
+    --principles, mode of disseminating, i, 379
+    --progress made, ii, 905
+    --"Fair Play," from Rev. Wm. H. Channing, i, 611
+    --Second Decade celebration, ii, 427
+    --Third Decade Celebration, iii, 117
+    --subscriptions, ii, 923
+    --sympathizers, celebrated, iii, 233.
+
+  _Woman's Journal_, Lucy Stone editor, ii, 819, 820; iii, 268, 274,
+    297, 388.
+
+  "Woman's Kingdom," _Chicago Inter-Ocean_, Mrs. Harbert, editor,
+    iii, 583.
+
+  _Woman's Review, English_, Caroline Ashurst Biggs, editor, iii, 120,
+    970.
+
+  _Women's Suffrage Journal_, Lydia E. Becker, editor, iii, 850, 852,
+    880, 981.
+
+  _Woman's Tribune_, Mrs. Colby, editor, iii, 695.
+
+  Wood, Bradford R., i, 500.
+
+  Wood, Rev. Jeremiah, i, 690.
+
+  Wood, S. N., i, 200
+    --Kansas campaign, ii, 230, 232, 233, 234, 236, 250, 251, 252, 254.
+
+  Woodall, William, iii, 877.
+
+  Woodhull, Victoria C., memorial to Congress, ii, 443
+    --memorial supported in a speech by A. G. Riddle, ii, 448
+    --memorial, House majority report, iii, 461
+    --memorial, House minority report, ii, 464
+    --speech before Judiciary Committee, House of Representatives,
+      ii, 444.
+
+  Woolson, Abba G., ii, 832.
+
+  Wooster, Wilder M., iii, 691.
+
+  Worden, Mrs., i, 462.
+
+  Wright, Elizur, letter to Paulina W. Davis, i, 217.
+
+  WRIGHT, Frances, i, 44, 52
+    --editor, _Free Enquirer_, i, 296
+    --Owen, Robert Dale, and, i, 293
+    --portrait, i, 1
+    --sketch of, i, 35
+    --tribute, ii, 429;
+      tribute, Mrs. Rose's, i, 692.
+
+  Wright, Henry C., letter to Garrison, i, 310.
+
+  WRIGHT, Martha C., i, 67, 69, 376, 429, 462, 519, 522, 535, 744
+    --May Anniversary, ii, 545
+    --President Cincinnati Convention, made, i, 163
+    --President N. Y. State Society, i, 623; presided, 628-31
+    --thanks Rev. Sam'l Longfellow, i, 716
+    --portrait, i, 640
+    --Equal Rights Association, on the, ii, 175
+    --letter to Pillsbury, ii, 240
+    --speech at Cooper Institute Convention, i, 689
+    --tribute, ii, 582-3.
+
+  WYOMING, iii, 726
+    --act to protect property rights of married women, iii, 728
+    --election, first, iii, 729
+    --election under woman suffrage, first, iii, 738
+    --jury, women on, iii, 731;
+      list of the first grand, iii, 738
+    --press, iii, 745
+    --school law, iii, 728
+    --Sunday laws enforced, iii, 734
+    --suffrage bill signed by Gov. Campbell, iii, 731
+    --territory organized, iii, 729
+    --women granted citizenship, iii, 726
+    --woman suffrage act, Legislature votes to repeal, iii, 741;
+      bill vetoed, iii, 741
+    --woman suffrage respected, iii, 744.
+
+
+  Y.
+
+  Yocum, A. P., iii, 691.
+
+  Yount, A. K., iii, 718.
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Notes:
+
+The transcriber made changes as below indicated to the text to
+correct obvious errors:
+
+   1. p.  23 forgotton --> forgotten
+   2. p.  83 petioned --> petitioned
+   3. p. 136 neccessarily --> necessarily
+   4. p. 143 Universiy --> University
+   5. p. 146 engergertic --> energetic
+   6. p. 151 presidental --> presidential
+   7. p. 170 in ever --> in every
+   8. p. 217 committe --> committee
+   9. p. 218 therefere --> therefore
+  10. p. 274 nnd --> and  (Footnote #120)
+  11. p. 291 certan --> certain  (Footnote #141)
+  12. p. 298 their is no need (left as published)
+  13. p. 347 Footnote marker for #177 missing in original text
+  14. p. 351 iniative --> initiative
+  15. p. 369 suffers form --> suffers from
+  16. p. 384 iniative --> initiative
+  17. p. 399 mora --> more (Footnote #209)
+  18. p. 429 enconnter --> encounter
+  19. p. 444 thorougly --> thoroughly
+  20. p. 445 enfrancisement --> enfranchisement
+  21. p. 447 Text for footnote #259 missing
+  22. p. 449 Hopsital --> Hospital
+  23. p. 450 neccessarily --> necessarily
+  24. p. 465 elegible --> eligible
+  25. p. 479 Historcal --> Historical (Footnote #276)
+  26. p. 496 Table header text in footnote #291 replaced with legends
+             to shorten table width
+  27. p. 509 auxilary --> auxiliary
+  28. p. 509 disappoinments --> disappointments
+  29. p. 510 Footnote marker missing; placement assumed
+  30. p. 517 Februay --> February
+  31. p. 533 iniative --> initiative
+  32. p. 571 handsomly --> handsomely
+  33. p. 606 Sufirage --> Suffrage (Footnote #386)
+  34. p. 621 Yonrs --> Yours
+  35. p. 629 ef --> of (Footnote #420)
+  36. p. 631 hnndred --> hundred
+  37. p. 633 minature --> miniature
+  38. p. 644 introducd --> introduced
+  39. p. 660 St. Panl --> St. Paul
+  40. p. 674 Footnote #459 points to two places
+  41. p. 697 dilligent --> diligent
+  42. p. 724 benificent --> beneficent
+  43. p. 727 universites --> universities
+  44. p. 740 transcient --> transient
+  45. p. 743 connot --> cannot
+  46. p. 751 Feburary --> February
+  47. p. 769 seige --> siege
+  48. p. 770 jonrnalist --> journalist
+  49. p. 780 npon --> upon
+  50. p. 797 objectionabie --> objectionable
+  51. p. 808 origininally --> originally
+  52. p. 809 Josophine --> Josephine (Footnote #525)
+  53. p. 827 distinguised --> distinguished
+  54. p. 887 uuhappily --> unhappily
+  55. p. 943 bycicles --> bicycles
+  56. p. 967 at al. --> et al.
+  57. p. 978 biennial --> biennial
+  58. p. 978 legislatuere --> legislature
+  59. p. 985 and following, Index punctuation standardized
+  60. p. 988 Snpreme --> Supreme
+  61. p. 994 pseeches --> speeches
+  62. p. 1000 Stan-  --> Stanton
+  63. p. 1005 (Convention)s --> (Conventions)
+  64. p. 1007 Covention --> Convention
+  65. p. 1007 Scatcherd..629... --> Scatcherd..929..
+  66. p. 1009 Suffbage --> Suffrage
+
+End of Transcriber's Notes]
+
+
+
+
+
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