Yours respectfully,
_Westerly, R. I._ ELIZA C. WEEDEN.
Early in the year 1880 the State a.s.sociation issued the following address:
_To the friends of Woman Suffrage throughout the State of Rhode Island:_
In behalf of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, 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 a.s.sembly with pet.i.tions for suffrage for women on all subjects, and also with pet.i.tions 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 const.i.tution of the State is hereby proposed: Article ----. Women otherwise qualified are ent.i.tled 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 cooperation.
If our work is to be effective, it must not only continue as heretofore--one of pet.i.tioning--but must include also a constant vigilance in securing senators and representatives in the General a.s.sembly, favorable to woman suffrage. We propose the coming year:
_First_--To pet.i.tion congress in behalf of the following amendment to our national const.i.tution, 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 s.e.x. Section 2--Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
_Second_--To secure a hearing and action upon the pet.i.tions referred from the last a.s.sembly, for such amendment to our State const.i.tution as shall extend general suffrage to women.
_Third_--To pet.i.tion the General a.s.sembly 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 n.o.blest 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 cooperative 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 n.o.ble man must always give to woman.
Though Mrs. Channing has not been an active partic.i.p.ant 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, const.i.tuting 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 bl.u.s.tering days ever known in this lat.i.tude, yet a girl but 25 years old, impelled by the n.o.blest spirit of humanity, ventured to the a.s.sistance 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 sh.o.r.e. 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 t.i.tle 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 a.s.sociation, in summing up the steps of progress, says:
On December 4, 1884, by unanimous consent of our General a.s.sembly 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 const.i.tution was proposed giving the franchise to women, on equal terms with men. It pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 n.o.ble 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 acc.u.mulations 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 inst.i.tutions 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 Ma.s.sachusetts 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 pet.i.tioning 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 a.s.sociation, 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 a.s.sociated 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 att.i.tude 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 pa.s.sed 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 f.a.n.n.y 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 a.s.sociation, 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 a.s.sociation 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 enfranchis.e.m.e.nt 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 s.e.xes. 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 Ma.s.sachusetts 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 emanc.i.p.ation 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 Dougla.s.s, Mrs. O. Shepard, Rev. John Boyden, Dr. Mercy B. Jackson, Stephen S. and Abbey Kelly Foster. The officers of the a.s.sociation 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 a.s.sociated 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, c.u.mberland; 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. Mitch.e.l.l, jr., New Sh.o.r.eham; 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, c.u.mberland; T. Mumford Seabury, Newport; Lewis B. Smith, Barrington; John F. Tobey, Providence--13.