In November, 1877, the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation issued the following:
TO WOMAN SUFFRAGISTS.--We mail to every subscriber of the _Woman"s Journal_ a blank pet.i.tion to Congress for a XVI.
Amendment. Also, in the same envelope, a woman suffrage pet.i.tion to your own State Legislature--Please offer both pet.i.tions together for signature. Thus, with the same amount of labor, both objects will be accomplished.
Respectfully, LUCY STONE, _Chairman Ex. Com., Am. Woman Suffrage a.s.soc._
BOSTON, Nov. 24, 1877.
Later appeared in the _Woman"s Journal_ a paragraph to the effect:
Every subscriber has received from us, by mail, two forms of pet.i.tions; the one addressed to the State Legislature, the other to Congress. We consider State action the more important, but signatures to both pet.i.tions can be obtained at the same time.
These pet.i.tions should be circulated at once, and sent back to No. 4 Park St., Boston, by the middle of January. We hope for more signers than ever before. Friends of woman suffrage, circulate the pet.i.tions!
The result was a pet.i.tion, sent by the Executive Committee of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation into Congress, enrolling 6,000 names.
The Ninth Annual Meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation a.s.sembled in Masonic Hall at Indianapolis, in 1878.
There was a full attendance of delegates. The evening before the convention an informal reception was held at the residence of Mr.
and Mrs. M. H. McKay. Among those who called in the course of the evening to pay their respects, may be named: Judge Martindale, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Julian, Mr. and Mrs. Addison Harris, Mrs.
Henry Bowan, Governor and Mrs. Baker, Professor and Mrs. Benton, Professor Brown, and Professor Bell.
The convention was called to order by Mrs. Dr. Thomas, of Richmond, President of the State Suffrage a.s.sociation. The services of the day were formally opened with prayer by Dr. J. H.
Bayliss, of Roberts Park Church. The resolutions[203] were presented by the Business Committee.
Mrs. I. C. FALES, of Brooklyn: What is needed is an amelioration of the nature and conditions of man by a powerful moral influence brought to bear upon all cla.s.ses and conditions so that the conscience and the intellect may both be quickened to perceive and redress the wrongs, with their consequent sufferings, which inhere in the social structure. The moral sentiment must go into harness and be thoroughly trained in order to do its work effectually. The corruptions of to-day are the legitimate results of the want of woman"s influence in the formation of public opinion. That influence is comparatively ineffectual because it is narrowed to the small sphere of domestic life. No one can suppose that an opinion unsupported by authority can have weight enough to grapple with evils which have their root in the lawless part of man"s uneducated, undeveloped nature. The most that such a sentiment can do is to enlarge itself by discussion, and every other available method, until it is strong enough to incorporate itself into legislative enactments, from whence it may shape and modify daily life.
While much can be done in molding and directing public opinion, the consummating force of legislation must be brought into play.
If woman possessed the elective franchise, her influence would be greatly strengthened by her political power. The desire of reform would naturally express itself in the selection of candidates who would embody those ideas. Legislators chosen by men and women together, would represent a higher level of thought, and would tend to legislate more directly in favor of reform than if chosen by men alone, for woman represents the moral principle, even as man the intellectual, and knowing that the tone of legislation rarely, if ever, rises higher than the moral level of the people by whom the legislators are chosen, we insist upon the absolute necessity of that principle being allowed to officially express itself. Maudsley justly remarks "that great as is the intellect, the moral nature is greater still;" that "the impulses of evolution which move the world come not from the intellect, but from the heart."
Long and cordial letters were read from William Lloyd Garrison and Mrs. Frances D. Gage. At the first evening session addresses were made by Mr. Blackwell, Mrs. Stone, and Mrs. Campbell, of Maine. The reports from the different State societies were listened to the next morning. After the report from Ma.s.sachusetts had been given by Mr. Blackwell, Miss LELIA PATRIDGE, of Pennsylvania, spoke as follows: To one advocating this matter of equal suffrage, one of the noticeable things is the monotony of the objections brought against it, although each one is brought forward as if just evolved from the inner consciousness of the objector and never thought of before. One of these most commonly heard is that women do not want to vote. Suppose they do not, gentlemen; that is no excuse for you, for it is a matter out of their jurisdiction--a thing which you control, and as they have no power, they have no responsibility, and you can not shift it thus from your shoulders. But they do want it; the best, most intelligent, thoughtful women--those of whom we are proud--do want it, and it is only those who are either ignorant or selfish who say, "I have all the rights I want." This sounds hard, but it is true. Because a woman is so shut in, protected and happy that she does not feel the need of the ballot for herself, it is sadly selfish for her to fail to consider that all women are not so fortunate. But if she could once experience the great gain which woman suffrage would be to all the great questions of morals and reform which have seemed to belong particularly to those who are wives, mothers and sisters, she would hesitate no longer, but hasten to join that grand army of n.o.ble women who are pleading for equal political rights. There is hardly a large-brained, large-hearted woman either in this country or England who is not a p.r.o.nounced suffragist. How can women who are indifferent upon this subject, so keep back the coming of right and justice to their s.e.x, when such women as Lucy Stone and others are giving their lives to the cause? She is no more a woman than we. Some men say, with the one in Colorado: "Now, I"m agin suffrage. I believe that the Almighty made one spear for wimmin and one spear for men, and I b"l"eve that the wimmin orter keep to her"n, and the men ort to keep to his"n;" and I agree. But who shall decide as to "spears?" Are the men alone to say?
At the afternoon session LUCY STONE presented to the audience Prof. R. T. BROWN, who has never failed to lift his voice in favor of the recognition of woman"s equal right to a collegiate education, and who received the public thanks of many ladies of this city recently, as a testimonial of their appreciation of the step taken by him in resigning his chair in the Medical College Faculty, because women were to be henceforth debarred entrance thereto.
Dr. BROWN said: I have been engaged in this work for forty years.
When I began, I stood absolutely alone. I worked ten years and made only one proselyte, and that was my wife. All mathematicians know that if they can establish one or two points in a curve, they can project that curve to its completion. In this way we have established several points in our great work of suffrage, and now we can see how to complete it. The work must go on. Truth is immortal and will prevail. From the boasted civilization of ancient Greece and Rome, which was nothing but an aristocracy, we trace the gradual development of woman up to the present time.
During all that time the right of suffrage has been extended, and now we have a male oligarchy. And we call this a republic! This is not a popular government, as it has been called. Only one half its citizens have a voice in its management. Now, we are trying to make this a strictly popular government, and, to do this, the right of suffrage must be extended to woman. The great object of all government is the higher development of its citizens. The government can not be an entire success until women have the same rights as men.
Mrs. Dr. MARY F. THOMAS, of Indiana, said: In behalf of the woman doctors of the State, I will say that Prof. Brown has stood up for their advancement for the last twenty-five years. A few years ago the women of Indiana pet.i.tioned for a local-option temperance law. To-day I believe that they demand a prohibitory law, and nothing short of that will satisfy them. I am in favor of woman suffrage. To secure to us this right we must work for it. What women can do when they try, was shown by the women"s exhibit at the late State Fair. Public sentiment is increasing on our side, and we intend to show our power at the next Legislature.
Mrs. H. M. TRACY CUTLER said: Many of us have grown old in this work, and yet some people say, "Why do you still work in a hopeless cause?" The cause is not hopeless. Great reforms develop slowly, but truth will prevail, and the work that we have been doing for thirty years has paid as well as any work that has ever been done for humanity. The only hope of a nation"s salvation from miserable demagogy lies in woman suffrage. With the advancement in education and civilization, I say to myself--the glory of the Lord is shining on women. With the advance in womanhood there will be an advance in manhood, and this will be one of the grand results of equal suffrage.
A long argument was then made by Hon. George W. Julian. After the Convention was called to order at the evening session, the Committee on Nominations[204] reported.
Miss MARY F. EASTMAN, of Ma.s.sachusetts, spoke as follows: It has been said that the greatest study of mankind is man. I do not know but we shall all believe, before we get through the three days" session of this congress, that the greatest study of womankind is woman! Indeed, from being a good deal overlooked in various ways, she has come to be almost the topic of the age, and strangely enough is she considered. According to the standpoint of the observer, woman is a riddle to be solved, a conundrum to be guessed, a puzzle to be interpreted, a mystery to be explained, a problem to be studied, a paradox to be reconciled.
She is a toy or a drudge, a mistress or a servant, a queen or a slave, as circ.u.mstances may decide. She is at once an irresponsible being, who must accept the destiny which comes to her with as little power of resistance as the thistle-down upon the wind, or the sea-weed which the tide leaves to bleach on the rocks or sucks back to engulf in its own unfathomed depth--or she is responsible for everything, from Adam"s eating of the apple in Paradise to the financial confusion which agitates us to-day; the first because she coveted so much knowledge, the second because she wants so many clothes. I wish we could, as speedily as possible without a general crash, lay aside this nonsense (regardless of the great loss of sirens and angels, which really never seemed to me exactly adapted to earthly conditions), and learn to regard woman as simply a human being, plus the powers and gifts peculiar to her s.e.x, just as man is a human being, plus the powers and gifts peculiar to his s.e.x. Here is a common basis of likeness sufficient to give community of interests and pursuits, with a variation which makes them mutually attractive and serviceable, each recognizing in the other the complement of himself and herself....
Speeches were also delivered by Mrs. S. E. Franklin, Rev. Fred.
A. Hinckley, and Mrs. J. Ellen Foster. The Rev. John Snyder, of St. Louis, the last speaker of the evening, although the hour was late, highly entertained the audience with an address on the rights of all humanity.
The Tenth Annual Meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation was held at Cincinnati, November 4th and 5th, 1879.
The hall had been tastefully decorated. Over the platform in large letters were inscribed, "Equal Work;" "Equal Wages;"
"Welcome;" while around the entire hall ran evergreens in loops and circles. Elias Longley, the constant and true friend of suffrage for women, had taken charge of the advertising, and it was most effectively done. The newspapers showed good will in advance by pleasant local notices. Mrs. Margeret V. Longley, who has been a member of the American a.s.sociation from the time it was organized, who is clear-eyed and true-hearted, took charge of arrangements for entertainment and hospitality. She was aided in this by Mrs. E. A. Latta, who has come later to the work, but who has brought her heart and conscience to it, and in her church and out of it she remembers the rights of women; Mrs. Morse, of Walnut Hills, and other ladies co-operated, so that as delegates arrived they were a.s.signed to pleasant homes. At the appointed hour on Tuesday evening a full hall greeted the speakers. The Cincinnati _Gazette_ said:
The first meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation at the Melodeon Hall last evening, was one that would do credit to any cause. The large hall was nearly filled with people who would rank high in intelligence and good standing in this cultured community. And the fact that the larger portion were women meets the objection often made to this movement, that the women themselves are not in favor of suffrage for themselves.
Rev. W. C. WENDTE, the first speaker of the evening, said: Woman should not only be allowed a fair chance so far as business and the administration of an estate is concerned; every woman ought to have the ballot. Many will say, I believe woman ought to have the right to equal education, wages, carry on business, and choose any vocation she wants, but doubt after all whether it is best to put upon her the responsibility of the ballot. We have not a very exalted opinion of our right to vote, and this objection is often made with a kindly, honest, and earnest fear that she will drag herself down to the low filth of politics.
Leave out the ballot, and woman"s rights is like a pyramid without the apex, or, better still, like building a temple without the corner stone. I have no Utopian notions concerning the immediate effect of woman"s voting. I do not think the millennium is coming when she can vote. But if women could vote it would not be possible for those disreputable shows on Vine street, the foulest and filthiest that ever disgraced a Christian city, to continue one day longer. They would be put down by the overwhelming power of moral sentiment of the mothers, sisters, wives, and sweethearts, expressed at the ballot-box; and the men who are now so derelict, careless and indolent, will be wakened up to some earnestness against those exhibitions.
I will say, in conclusion, that I most heartily welcome these women among us, some of whom, like Mrs. Lucy Stone, have labored long and faithfully. I would say that you may come up like Moses of old, and see the promised land, and unlike him, unless all signs fail, you shall enter and receive the just reward of all your toil. The time is coming when women will have the ballot.
State after State is wheeling into the line. In Ma.s.sachusetts they have the right of the ballot for school committee. Step by step they are climbing up, and soon the time will come when the American people will rise up in new-found manhood and say: "My sister, we will not ask you to receive the ballot from our hands as a condescending privilege, but will ask you to go forward and take it as your inalienable right."
Mrs. REBECCA N. HAZARD, of St. Louis, President of the a.s.sociation, spoke as follows: As one after another the milestones are reached which mark the progress of our cause, we pause to examine the ground upon which we stand. If to our impatient vision in looking forward the journey seems long, we have only to look back to see how much of the way has been left behind. To those who have borne the burdens of this undertaking the work may appear to move slowly. But this is always the case where enduring principles are to be planted. "What the ancients said of the avenging G.o.ds, that they are shod with wool," says Lieber, "is true of great ideas in history. They approach softly.
Great truths always dwell a long time in small minorities."
Growing in un.o.bserved places, they take root and become strong before their spreading branches attract the public gaze.
To many the pursuit of an abstract principle under so many difficulties seems an absurdity. They therefore impute motives more or less unworthy to those who are willing to immolate themselves for an idea. There are always at least two ways of looking at any question, and I have sometimes placed myself in the position of those who take an unfavorable view of woman suffrage, and who reason in this wise: "These women are discontented. They must have been unfortunate. They seek to overstep the limits which nature and circ.u.mstance have placed about them. Not content with the round of domestic duties which has. .h.i.therto const.i.tuted the sum total of woman"s life, they seek to perform the functions which custom has allotted to man. They desire to be independent, self-sustaining--strong, while the more attractive ideal woman is fragile, clinging, dependent. Why should they desire to overturn the existing order of things? The world gets on pleasantly enough, why introduce these disquieting questions, when by patient acquiescence we might have tranquillity, and, perhaps, more of the pleasant things of life?"
or as I once heard it formulated by a lady: "Why should Mrs. A.
want to vote when she has such an indulgent husband." This is one view of the subject and there are times in the life of every woman when such reasoning has more or less weight.
But there is another side to this question, and how changed the picture. The whole scope and meaning of this wonderful woman"s movement here dawns upon us. We find a new order of things indeed. We behold amid the changing dynasties of the world a new government arise--a republic based, not upon the will of the strongest, not upon property, but upon the rights of the individual. With a code of political ethics more perfect than any the world has yet seen, we find it still hesitating to put these principles to the test. As a consequence it struggles in the waves of political disorder like a ship without ballast.
Recognizing as vital doctrines the equality of the race, and the value of the family as the political unit, we find the woman principle, the mother element, subdued, subjected, deprived of any fair expression in the conduct of the government. As a result we have corruption in high places, fraud, public distrust, and their host of accompanying evils. We find forces at work which threaten the security of our homes, the manhood of our sons, the purity of our daughters; in a word, the whole social structure of society. Reflecting on these things we begin to understand the meaning of the ballot for woman. Scrutinizing closely, we find that it means justice, integrity, peace, purity, temperance, sweeter manners, wiser laws.
Lucy Stone made the next and last speech of the evening, on "The Meaning of the Woman Suffrage Movement, the What and the How."
The session of Wednesday morning was devoted to business, the election of officers,[205] and hearing of reports of the auxiliary societies. At the afternoon session, Dr. Mary F.
Thomas, of Indiana, Dr. Hannah Tracy Cutler, of Illinois, Rev.
Thomas J. Vater, of Ohio, and Rev. Sarah M. Perkins, of Vermont, made earnest and able addresses. Mrs. Perkins had come fresh from the Women"s Christian Temperance Union in Indianapolis, baptized with its earnest spirit of work. Rev. T. J. Vater appealed to the women to strive for solid excellence, leaving forever the tinsel and the show which have been held as appropriate to woman. His speech excited discussion, and added much interest to the afternoon session. The Business Committee reported the following resolutions:
_Resolved_, That in the death of Wm. Lloyd Garrison, who signed the "Call" for the meeting which formed this a.s.sociation, who was an officer in it from the beginning, and its President last year, the cause of equal rights has suffered an irreparable loss.
_Resolved_, That suffragists everywhere owe a debt of grat.i.tude to the memory of Angelina Grimke Weld, lately deceased, who as one of the first women speakers, prepared the way and opened wide the door for all other women to be heard in their own defense.
Dr. Mary F. Thomas and Lucy Stone spoke feelingly to these resolutions, which were adopted by a standing vote of the meeting. At the last evening, Mrs. Cutler read a letter from Mrs.
Frances D. Gage.
_Friends of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, of my dear native State, Ohio:_
WITH what joy and gladness I would lift my heart to the All-good, All-true, and All-beautiful, if I could be with you to-day, and speak my emphatic yes and amen in the behalf of all true efforts for woman suffrage. But what word can I speak that will not be better spoken? What argument is not already familiar to the reading and thinking mind? Are not "the truths as self-evident" to-day to the intelligent public as they were a century ago? That all people, "not men only," are born equal and endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights, among which are those to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Has the human race ever been made more miserable for one progressive step toward liberty since the days when Christ was hung upon the cross for daring to say, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye the same unto them." What else does woman suffrage mean?
What else is needed but this principle to settle the vexed question of "Solid North" or "Solid South"? What else but its recognition to drive every liquor-saloon from the land, making temperance universal? What but this to bring about the great system of social morality--making it as heinous a crime for man to do wrong as for woman....
FRANCIS D. GAGE.
_Bunker Hill, McCoupin Co., Ill., Oct. 23, 1879._
Mrs. Cutler continued in a pertinent speech. Miss Hindman followed with an able argument to show why and where women need the ballot. Mrs. E. d.i.c.kerson, of St. Louis, Dr. Wilson, of Cincinnati, and Lucy Stone followed. Each of these in their special way showed how to secure justice to women. Mrs. d.i.c.kerson answered objections, and put phases of the law as applied to women in fine contrast with the law as applied to men. Dr.