_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 s.e.xes 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 const.i.tution recognizes all persons born within the United States, or naturalized in pursuance of the law, to be citizens, and ent.i.tled 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 pa.s.sed 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 pet.i.tions 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 a.s.sociation. 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 pet.i.tion 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 circ.u.mstances 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 pet.i.tion to the legislature that winter asking a resolution recommending to the coming State convention to omit the word "male" from the const.i.tution. The pet.i.tion 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 pet.i.tion, recommending the pa.s.sage 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 const.i.tutional 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 const.i.tutional 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 pet.i.tion. 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 const.i.tution 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 const.i.tutional convention to be begun and holden on the--day of May, 1871, for the purpose of revising and amending the const.i.tution of said State, is hereby most respectfully and earnestly requested to draft such amendment to the const.i.tution 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 const.i.tutional 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 const.i.tutional 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 const.i.tutional 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 const.i.tution 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_.
Pet.i.tions 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 const.i.tution 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 ent.i.tled to a voice in its enactment; and every such person whose property is taxed for the support of the government is ent.i.tled 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 pet.i.tions 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 ent.i.tled to as citizens, quoting the Federal Const.i.tution, Bouvier"s Inst.i.tutes 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 ill.u.s.trate the principle General Manderson instanced that in the New York Const.i.tutional 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 pet.i.tion 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 n.o.ble 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 a.s.sociation 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 pet.i.tion from the honest, virtuous ladies of the city of Lincoln. If we have planted one seed, that will bring forth good fruit, G.o.d 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 princ.i.p.al 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 pet.i.tions 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 G.o.d nor of man were women ent.i.tled 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 cla.s.s 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 s.e.xes 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 surpa.s.sed 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 s.e.xes 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 const.i.tution 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 gra.s.shoppers had ravaged the State the previous year, cutting off entirely the princ.i.p.al 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 const.i.tution, however, was formed on a more liberal basis. Hon. R. B. Harrington, of Beatrice, in the Committee on Bill of Rights, subst.i.tuted the word "people" for "men," and it pa.s.sed without comment. An article on amendments was embodied in the const.i.tution, 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 cla.s.s 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. Sloc.u.mb of Fairbury. The former offered a pet.i.tion from Thos. Harbine and 160 others, asking a const.i.tutional amendment prohibiting the disfranchising of citizens on account of s.e.x. 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 pet.i.tioners be granted. In the House, at the same session, C. B. Sloc.u.mb presented the pet.i.tion of Calvin F. Steele and others, with a resolution asking that the committee on const.i.tutional 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, Mitch.e.l.l, Sparks and g.a.y.l.o.r.d. 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 Wilc.o.x, and although this organization lived but a short time, it secured pet.i.tions and drew the attention of legislators elect--Senator McMeans and C. B. Sloc.u.mb--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 a.s.sociation, 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. Wilc.o.x, 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 a.s.sociation won a deserved triumph in being primarily connected with the origin and successful pa.s.sage of the joint resolution of 1881. The legislators elected in 1880 were Senator C. B. c.o.o.n, and Representative E. M. Correll. Both these gentlemen were active members of the Thayer County a.s.sociation, and after their election a committee waited on them, pledging them to special effort during the coming session.