The _Picayune_ thus described the occasion: "In the presence of a magnificent audience that packed the Athenaeum to its utmost capacity, the thirty-fifth annual convention of the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation was formally opened last night, with the president, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, in the chair. Seldom perhaps in its history has the a.s.sociation received such a greeting, for the audience was not only deeply interested and sympathetic but it was representative of the finest culture in the city and State.
Distinguished jurists, physicians and teachers, staid men of business and leaders in many lines united with women of the highest social standing in giving the convention a hearty and earnest welcome. Many were no doubt attracted by the memory of the former visits of Miss Susan B. Anthony and Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt and the remarkable personality of the pioneer suffrage workers, but whether they came from pure interest in these famous leaders or deep sympathy with the cause, all were generous in giving to both the credit and applause they justly deserved....
Mayor Paul Capdeville, who was to welcome the convention, was ill and this was very acceptably done by "Tom" Richardson, secretary of the Progressive Union, an important commercial body of 1,600 members that had joined in the invitation for it to come to New Orleans and contributed the rent of the Athenaeum. He expressed his pleasure at being a.s.sociated with the suffragists of the city, "who had never neglected any opportunity to promote its best interests," and said: "No other cla.s.s of our citizens have done it so much good." He was followed by the Hon. Edgar H. Farrar, an eminent lawyer, author of the Drainage and Sewerage plan, who told of the valuable a.s.sistance of women in the strenuous fight against the State lottery ten years before and described the splendid work of the women since the const.i.tutional convention of 1898 had given them taxpayers" suffrage.
Miss Gordon read a poem of welcome by Mrs. Grace G. Watts and gave the Era Club"s welcome and then Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, who was presiding, introduced Miss Anthony to respond. The _Picayune_ said in its report:
Seated upon the platform was Miss Susan B. Anthony, the woman who for two-score years stood the brunt of ridicule, sarcasm and cartooning and never once was deterred from the course that she fully believed to be the just and true one. Of the great leaders in this movement she alone remains.... Spanning a distance of forty years stood at her side Mrs. Catt, the younger woman who has taken up the battle, and grouped around were earnest young girls and middle-aged women fired with her enthusiasm and looking up to her with a reverence that was very beautiful and a most gracious tribute from youth to old age. When Miss Jean Gordon advanced to present her with a great cl.u.s.ter of Marechal Neil roses and took her so sweetly by the hand and in the name of the young women of today and of the Era Club thanked her for the battles she had fought, the scene was most touching, representing as it did the two extremes of the suffrage workers, those of half-a-century ago and those of today.
There was another there, a woman who has been very near to the hearts of New Orleans people, who has never been aggressive in her advocacy of the cause but whose quiet approval, whose earnest sympathy, whose expenditure of time and money and whose high social standing gave to it a strength even in those early days that one of less ability and social position and more p.r.o.nounced opposition could not have secured. Mrs. Caroline E.
Merrick, the pioneer suffragist of Louisiana and the lifelong friend of Miss Anthony, came in for her share of the honors of the evening. With equal grace and tenderness Miss Gordon advanced to her and offered her too the fragrant expressions of more youthful workers. For a moment Miss Anthony and Mrs. Merrick stood together, and the audience, rising to its feet in a great wave of enthusiasm, waved handkerchiefs and fans in greeting.
Perhaps that precious hour of triumph, away down here in this old southern State, as she stands nearing the border land of another world, recompensed the great pioneer for much that she had borne when life was young and audiences, as she said, less sympathetic.
Mrs. Merrick"s remarks, also, touched a deep chord and roused the audience to a state of earnest sympathy.
Miss Anthony told of her visit to New Orleans in 1884 during the Centennial Exposition, when she was the guest of Mrs. Merrick, and spoke of Mrs. Eliza J. Nicholson, owner and editor of the _Picayune_, paying a tribute to her and to the gifted writer, "Catharine Cole," of its editorial staff, both now pa.s.sed from earth. In Dr. Shaw"s eloquent response to the greetings she said: "Nothing has given me greater hope for women and has made me prouder of women than the splendid reserve power shown by southern womanhood for the last twenty-five years. When your hearthstones were left desolate and your bravest and strongest had gone forth never to come back, your women, who had been cared for as no other women ever were cared for, who were uneducated to toil, unacquainted with business requirements, averse to them by instinct and tradition--when they had to face the world they went out uncomplaining and worked with sublime heroism.... I am glad to come among you southern women and to say that you have been an inspiration to the women of the North and to whole world. The daughters of those women of twenty-five years ago are the ones who have made this splendid convention possible. Over our country now there floats only one flag but that is a flag for women as well as men. If there are any men who ought to have faith in women and in their power to dare and do it is southern men, who owe so much to southern women."
Mrs. Catt then gave her president"s address of which an extended press notice said: "Never was there a more masterly exposition of a theme, never a more earnest or cogent argument. A distinguished Justice of the Supreme Court who was present remarked to the writer: "I have heard many men but not one who can compare with Mrs. Catt in eloquence and logical power." So the entire audience felt and at the close of her magnificent discourse she was the recipient of an ovation that came spontaneously from their hearts. The scene presented in the Athenaeum was indeed a remarkable one." The address was not written and no essential part of it can be reproduced from fragmentary newspaper reports.
A discordant note in the harmony was struck by the _Times-Democrat_, which, in a long editorial, Woman Suffrage and the South, a.s.sailed the a.s.sociation because of its att.i.tude on the race question. The board of officers immediately prepared a signed statement which said in part:
The a.s.sociation as such has no view on this subject. Like every other national a.s.sociation it is made up of persons of all shades of opinion on the race question and on all other questions except those relating to its particular object. The northern and western members hold the views on the race question that are customary in their sections; the southern members hold the views that are customary in the South. The doctrine of State"s rights is recognized in the national body and each auxiliary State a.s.sociation arranges its own affairs in accordance with its own ideas and in harmony with the customs of its own section.
Individual members in addresses made outside of the National a.s.sociation are of course free to express their views on all sorts of extraneous questions but they speak for themselves as individuals and not for the a.s.sociation....
The National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation is seeking to do away with the requirement of a s.e.x qualification for suffrage.
What other qualifications shall be asked for it leaves to each State. The southern women most active in it have always in their own State emphasized the fact that granting suffrage to women who can read and write and who pay taxes would insure white supremacy without resorting to any methods of doubtful const.i.tutionality.
The Louisiana a.s.sociation asks for the ballot for educated and taxpaying women only and its officers believe that in this lies "the only permanent and honorable solution of the race question."
The suffrage a.s.sociations of the northern and western States ask for the ballot for all women, though Maine and several other States have lately asked for it with an educational or tax qualification. To advise southern women to beware of lending "sympathy or support" to the National a.s.sociation because its auxiliary societies in the northern States hold the usual views of northerners on the color question is as irrelevant as to advise them to beware of the National Woman"s Christian Temperance Union because in the northern and western States it draws no color line; or to beware of the General Federation of Women"s Clubs because the State Federations of the North and West do not draw it; or to beware of Christianity because the churches in the North and West do not draw it....
The _Times-Democrat_ published this letter in full and endeavored by its press reports afterwards to atone for its blunder. It had been feared that trouble over this question would arise but no other paper referred to it. The _Picayune_, _Item_ and _States_ were most generous with s.p.a.ce and complimentary in expression throughout the convention.[24]
The reports at the executive sessions were possibly of more interest to the delegates than the public addresses. Miss Gordon in her secretary"s report spoke of the 12,000 or 13,000 letters which had been sent out since the last convention, many of them made necessary by the International Conference of the preceding year, and of the ending of its proceedings. To the 14,000 newspapers on the list to receive the quarterly _Progress_ the names of legislators in various States had been added, and to the latter leaflets attractively prepared by Miss Blackwell also were sent. She described the new suffrage postage stamp, a college girl in cap and gown holding a tablet inscribed: "In Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho women vote on the same terms as men," to offset the prevailing ignorance of this fact. Resolutions endorsing woman suffrage had been secured from the National Grange, the American Federation of Labor and a number of large labor unions. For the first time in the history of the National Education a.s.sociation, three-fourths of whose members are women, a woman had been invited to address their annual convention and the one selected was the president of the National American Suffrage a.s.sociation. Mrs. Catt was cordially received by them in July at Minneapolis.
Four of the five morning sessions were given over completely to Work Conferences. The usual ones on Organization and Press were held with Miss Mary Garrett Hay and Mrs. Elnora Babc.o.c.k respectively presiding.
The conference on Enrollment gave way to one on Literature, Dr. Mary D. Hussey presiding, and a new one on Legislation was added. A president"s and a delegates" conference completed the list. The Plan of Work again presented by the Executive Committee emphasized the line of action adopted in the first year of Mrs. Catt"s presidency and urged that the States endeavor to secure recommendations of their Legislatures asking the submission of a 16th Amendment; that special efforts be made to secure the appointment of a Commission to investigate the working of full suffrage in States where it now exists; that correspondence be taken up vigorously with all members of Congress giving them the arguments in favor of a Federal Amendment and of a Commission on Investigation; that the a.s.sociation aim to double its membership the coming year and that a catalogue of woman suffrage literature be prepared for libraries.
Only $3,000 in pledges were called for and $3,200 were quickly subscribed.[25] The treasurer, Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, announced receipts during the year of $18,310 with a balance of $6,183 now in the treasury. "New York has always been the largest contributor and paid the largest auxiliary fee," she said, "and it never has any aid from the national treasury. Its temper is always sweet and its methods always business-like but to be sure it has always been blessed by having one of its citizens as national president. This year, however, Ma.s.sachusetts has won the place at the head of the list."
Mrs. Catt reported for the Congressional Committee that Congress had entirely ignored the urgent appeals of last year for a committee to investigate the effects of woman suffrage in the equal franchise States. Mrs. Sallie Clay Bennett (Ky.) made her usual strong plea for an effort to secure from Congress Federal suffrage or the right to vote for members of Senate and House Representatives. For many years Mrs. Bennett, as chairman of the committee, had appealed to the a.s.sociation for action but while it considered that the measure would be perfectly valid it believed it to be hopeless of attainment.
[History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV, page 6.] Mrs. Elnora M. Babc.o.c.k (N. Y.), chairman of the Press Committee, made a comprehensive report of the constantly increasing favorable comment of the newspapers. Mrs.
Boyer, chairman for Pennsylvania, had placed 5,700 suffrage articles and the chairmen of various other States had a proportionate record.
Miss Blackwell gave as a recipe for finding favor with editors: "Make your articles short; make them newsy; don"t denounce the men." Mrs.
Priscilla D. Hackstaff (N. Y.), chairman of the Enrollment Committee, reported a good start on the nation-wide enrollment of men and women who believe in woman suffrage.
Henry B. Blackwell, chairman of the Presidential Suffrage Committee, urged the southern women to pet.i.tion their Legislatures, seven of which would meet during the year, to give women the right to vote for presidential electors. "The choice of President and Vice-president of the United States," he said, "is the most important form of suffrage exercised by an American citizen.... The King of England and the Emperor of Germany are practically possessed of no greater political power than our President during his official term," and he continued:
Here then is an open door to equal suffrage. Once let the women of any State take their equal part in this great national election and their complete equality is a.s.sured. Without change of State or Federal Const.i.tution, without ratification by the individual voters, a simple majority of both houses of any Legislature at any time in any State can confer upon women citizens this magnificent privilege, which will carry with it a certainty of speedy future concessions of all minor rights and privileges. It is amazing that no concerted effort has been made until recently to secure this right, so easily obtained and of so much transcendent importance. Especially is it strange that in States where iron-bound const.i.tutional restrictions forbid any exercise whatever of local or munic.i.p.al woman suffrage and where the social conditions make an amendment of State const.i.tution almost impossible, suffragists allow year after year to elapse without any effort to get the only practical thing possible, action by the State Legislature conferring Presidential suffrage on women. Suffrage in school or munic.i.p.al elections cannot give us a full and fair test of the value of equal suffrage or of woman"s willingness to partic.i.p.ate. Suffrage in State elections cannot be had without amendment of State const.i.tutions, always difficult and usually impossible of attainment in the face of organized opposition. Why not then avail ourselves of this unique, this providential opportunity?
Among other committees reporting was that on Church work, Miss Laura De Merritte (Me.) chairman, and her recommendations were adopted that the committee on National Sunday School lessons be asked to prepare one each year on the rights and duties of women citizens; that ministers of all denominations be urged to preach one sermon each year on this topic; that all women"s missionary societies be requested to make it a part of their regular program at their annual conventions and that a place be sought on the program of national conventions of the Epworth League and Christian Endeavor Societies to present the question of woman"s enfranchis.e.m.e.nt. The valuable report of the Committee on Industrial Problems Relating to Women and Children by the chairman, Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby (D. C.) said: "Everyone can recall instances of discrimination against women by factories, business firms, school boards and munic.i.p.alities, making it plain that women are at a disadvantage as non-voting members of the community. As a recent fact in regard to the government I would cite the order by Postmaster-General Payne that a woman employee must give up her position if she marries." The report continued:
Nearly all the appointments in the departments obtained last year by women were as printers" a.s.sistants at a small salary. Not a woman has been selected by the Pension Office in six years. In 1902 twenty-seven women were chosen as typewriters and stenographers and 114 men. The Civil Service Commissioners are compelled by law to keep separate lists of men and women who have pa.s.sed examinations and must certify to the appointing officers from either list as specified by the heads of the bureaus, so that it is quite possible for these to keep women out and fill the places with voters. Commissioner W. D. Foulke not long ago called the attention of the chiefs of bureaus to the fact that by taking from the men"s list down to the lowest point of eligibility, while women who pa.s.sed with a rank of 90 and over were not chosen, the Government was not getting the skilled labor to which it was ent.i.tled.
The continued defeat of child labor protection laws in some of the southern States and the conditions of children working in the mines of Pennsylvania, as shown in testimony before the Coal Strike Commission, show the need of woman"s help in shaping social economics and her powerlessness without the ballot.... How can we get hold of the wage-earning women in ma.s.s and convince them that from their own selfish and personal standpoint, if from no other, they should join the ranks of those that are working for the ballot? Talented speakers from the ranks of wage-earners have thrilled audiences with their impetuous oratory but there has been no general rally of working women to secure the ballot for themselves....
How can we stimulate in women of wealth and opportunity, whose influence would be invaluable and whose support might give the movement the financial backing it needs, a consciousness of the solidarity of human interests, so they will see that from an impersonal, unselfish standpoint, if they have no personal need, they are under the most commanding obligation to add their strength to ours to make better conditions for working women? We might despair of reaching either the overworked, underpaid and unresponsive wage-earner, or the indifferent, irresponsible and almost inaccessible woman of fortune, were it not that all along the social line we are linked by one common possession, our womanhood, which, when awakened, is the Divine Motherhood and it is to this we must appeal.
Miss Anthony presided at the Friday evening public meeting, which was opened with prayer by the Rev. Gilbert Dobbs, who said: "We invoke Thy divine blessing, O G.o.d, upon this a.s.sembly and we rejoice that Thou hast always opened the way for Thy consecrated servants--women--to do well from the time of Miriam and of Deborah to the present. While not often has the call been to women to don armor and press on to battle, yet it may be that Thou hast reserved them for the battle of ballots, in which they can secure victory for all moral good and aid in the overthrow of every organized vice and infamy, so that there shall be a higher type of public morals and n.o.bler methods of government."
Mrs. Bennett spoke in her humorous and inimitable way on The Authority of Women to Preach the Gospel of Christ in Public Places. Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery (Penn.) under the t.i.tle What"s in a Name? told of the efforts that were being made by the conservative women of Philadelphia to reform munic.i.p.al conditions through Civic Betterment Clubs, not by the ballot in the hands of women but through the men voters. "Yet, after all," she said, "are not these clubs doing good work for woman suffrage under another name? For as these earnest but conservative women find themselves in contact with life at so many new points they are getting so used to all the things which go to make up that awful bugaboo, "politics," that they will soon begin to realize that politics affects for good or evil all the things which touch the daily lives of every one of them. After awhile, perhaps sooner than most of us think, they will join the ranks of the wiser women who are now suffragists and who know that they want the vote and why they want it."
Miss Frances Griffin (Ala.) kept the audience in a gale of laughter from the first to the last of her speech, which began: "My address is put down on the program as "A Song or a Sermon." It is going to be neither, I have changed my mind. Mrs. Catt"s address last night furnished argument enough to lie three feet deep all over Louisiana for three years."
The talented young lawyer, Miss Gail Laughlin (Me.), gave an address ent.i.tled The Open Door, during which she said:
Suffrage is not the ultimate end but it is the golden door of opportunity. Through the open door of suffrage the mother may follow her child and still guard him after he pa.s.ses the threshold of home, and through it she can extend a helping hand to mothers whose children toil in the mills of Alabama, the factories of the eastern States and the sweat-shops of New York.
Through this door the protected women of the world may go out to bind up the wounds of those who have fallen in the battle of life.... The old-fashioned Chinese man thought his wife was not beautiful unless she had little feet on which she could not walk.
Some of the young Chinese are learning that it is pleasanter for a man to have a wife who can walk by his side. Formerly men thought it desirable that a woman"s mind should be cramped. The modern man is beginning to find that it is more satisfactory to have for a wife a woman whose mind can keep pace with his.... It is more womanly and dignified for women to sit in legislative halls than to stand around the lobbies.... This exclusion of woman from the government today is a relic of the dark ages when they were regarded as appendages to men and it was even doubted if they had a soul. Men and women must rise or fall together and travel the pathway of life side by side. We shall not attain to the heights of freedom unless we have free mothers as well as free fathers, free daughters as well as free sons.
One of the notable addresses of the convention was that of the eminent physician, Dr. Henry Dixon Bruns--a lifelong advocate of woman suffrage--on Liberty, Male and Female, a part of which was as follows:
I can conceive of but one watchword for a free people. It is written between the lines of our own const.i.tution and underlies the inst.i.tutions of every liberal government: "Equal rights and opportunities for all; special privileges to none," understanding by this that the Government shall protect all in the enjoyment of their natural rights--life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--and that all who measure up to a certain standard shall have a voice in shaping the policy and choosing the agents of the government under which they live. I can imagine none better than that now accepted by a majority, I believe, of the American people, namely, evidence of intelligence and the possession of a certain degree of education and of character evidenced by the acquirement of a modic.u.m of property and the payment of a minimum tax. It was for regulation of the full suffrage in this manner that I contended in our const.i.tutional convention of 1898, to wit: the admission to the franchise of all women possessing these qualifications. I still believe that this would have afforded the best solution of our peculiar difficulties and have spared us the un-American subterfuge of "mother tongue" and "grandfather" clause. If a vote could have been taken immediately after the notable address made by your distinguished president before the convention, I feel confident that women would have been admitted to the suffrage in this State....
Keep ever in your mind that the professional politician is your implacable enemy. To him an election is not a process for ascertaining the will of the majority but a battle to be won by any strategy whose maneuvers do not end within the walls of a penitentiary. He knows that yours would be an uninfluenceable vote, that you do not loaf on street corners or spend your time in barrooms and he could not "get at" you; therefore he will never consent to your enfranchis.e.m.e.nt until compelled by the gathering force of public opinion; then, as usual, he will probably undergo a sudden change of heart and be found in the forefront of your line of battle.... Do not rely upon wise and eloquent appeals to Legislatures and conventions. It is in the campaigns for the election of the legislative bodies that you should marshal your forces and use to the full the all-sufficient influence with which your antagonists credit you. Secure the election of men who do not give up to party all that was meant for mankind and your pleas are not so likely to be heard in vain.
The nomination and election of officers, both by secret ballot, were almost unanimous and no change was made. A cordial letter was received from Miss Clara Barton. Fraternal greetings from the Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) were given by Mrs. Mary Bentley Thomas (Md.); from the Supreme Hive of the Ladies of the Maccabees, the largest business organization of women in the world, by Mrs. Emma S.
Olds, (O.); and from the Central Socialist Club of Indiana. The report from the Friends" Equal Rights a.s.sociation, an affiliated society, was made by its president, Mrs. Mariana W. Chapman (N. Y.). In the report for New York by its president, Mrs. Ella Hawley Crosset, she called attention to the completion of the Fourth Volume of the History of Woman Suffrage by Miss Anthony and Mrs. Ida Husted Harper. During the convention word was received that the Territorial Legislature of Arizona had given full suffrage to women but before they had time to rejoice a second telegram announced that the Governor had vetoed it!
The resolutions presented by Mr. Blackwell, chairman of the committee, and adopted, rejoiced over the extension of national suffrage to all the women of the newly federated Australian States; noted the granting to Kansas women of the right to vote on issuing bonds for public improvement and of an equal guardianship law in Ma.s.sachusetts; protested against "the recent action of the Cincinnati board of health in introducing without legal warrant the European system of sanctioning the social evil ... the object of a strong and growing opposition wherever it prevails and favored the settlement of all national and international controversies by arbitration and disapproved of war as a relic of barbarism." Mrs. May Wright Sewall (Ind.), president of the International Council of Women, who had come to New Orleans to attend the executive meeting of the National Council of the United States, as chairman of the International Committee on Peace and Arbitration, spoke earnestly in favor of this resolution.
Miss Nettie Lovisa White (D. C.) was appointed a delegate to represent the a.s.sociation at the Council meeting.
The Sat.u.r.day evening public session, with Mrs. Catt presiding, was opened with prayer by the Rev. R. Wilkinson, in which he said: "Almighty G.o.d, Thou hast always been pleased with consecration. We pray Thee to look down upon these people gathered here--the women whose lives have been devoted to a great cause. Send forth Thy light so that they may achieve still more for Thee. In this work, men and women, animated with a n.o.ble purpose, are combining their forces to bring about the reign of righteousness and when that comes it will take all that both can do to eradicate the great evils which men have already wrought.... G.o.d bless this organization and may the realization of its hopes be not far off! G.o.d bless the women engaged in this work! G.o.d knows that if this city has in any way been lifted up, it has been through the efforts of n.o.ble women. G.o.d bless them! We want to feel that men and women are actuated by righteousness and are working together to bring about its social and political regeneration."
Dr. Cora Smith Eaton (Minn.) thus began her address, Westward Ho: "The geologists tell us that Louisiana and her sister State Mississippi are built up of the particles of earth brought down by the great river through the Mississippi valley," and after a picturesque description she said: "Coming from the source of this river, travelling 1,500 miles to its mouth, I find myself still on my native soil and I feel at home; so all who have joined me on the way down the valley claim kinship with you of New Orleans." She then paid tribute to the State and its people and closed: "O, men of the South, your saviour is the southern woman! Put into her hand the ballot of full enfranchis.e.m.e.nt, like that you carry in your own hand on election day. Her interests are identical with your own and she will hold your ideals sacred even more loyally than you do yourselves." Mr. Blackwell gave one of his customary logical and carefully reasoned addresses on Domestic Imperialism.
The Rev. Marie Jenney (Iowa) discussed the question Why Women do Not Vote. She compared them to some wild ducks that were born in a farmyard and as they were stepping timidly about the farmer said: "Them ducks can fly, they can fly miles, but they don"t know it." "One reason why women do not vote," she said, "is the entire self-effacement of many, and another is the kindness of many men.
These are lovely traits but they may be misapplied. Women sometimes efface themselves to an extent that is bad for their men as well as themselves, and men out of mistaken kindness shield their women from responsibilities that it would be better for them to have." Mrs.
Virginia D. Young (S. C.), owner, manager and editor of a weekly paper in Fairfax, announced her speech From the Most Conservative State, but she did not say, as she might have done, that she had leavened the State with woman suffrage sentiment. Her address was bubbling over with the humor which seems inherent with Southern women.
The Sunday services were held at 4 o"clock in the Athenaeum, which was crowded. The Rev. Anna Howard Shaw gave the sermon from the text: "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." The Rev.
Kate Hughes and the Rev. Marie Jenney a.s.sisted in the services. That morning the latter had preached in the Unitarian church and Mr. and Miss Blackwell had spoken in the handsome Temple Sinai to a cultured Jewish audience by invitation of Rabbi Max h.e.l.ler. A fine musical service was arranged by Cantor Julius Braunfels. The next day they received from the Council of Jewish Women a large bouquet of bride roses and red carnations. Miss Blackwell spoke on A Righteous Reform and Mr. Blackwell on A Modern Deborah. He paid a splendid tribute to the Jewish race and declared that "the Hebrew history as recorded in the Old Testament has been the princ.i.p.al source of our n.o.bler conception of woman"s nature and destiny." He spoke of the prophetess Miriam, of the daughters of Zelophehad, described the great work of Deborah and said: "If, therefore, Divine Providence, for the guidance of mankind, selected a married woman to be the supreme judge, the supreme executive, the commander-in-chief of the army; to lead the chosen people in war and peace, to rescue the nation from enslavement and to rule over it in peace and prosperity for forty years, may we not hope that He will raise up in your race modern Deborahs to cooperate with the men of their race in the redemption of American democracy from political corruption and misrule?"
The interest did not diminish during the eight evening sessions. In his invocation Monday night the Rev. Wallace T. Palmer said: "O Lord, we account it a high honor and privilege to take part in this grand work.... May those who are to speak tonight speak for Thy glory and honor."[26] Dr. Shaw presided Monday and thus introduced the first speaker: "Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch of Chicago is an attorney and the wife of an attorney. The sign on the door is "McCulloch and McCulloch." My interest in the firm dates from the time when I performed the ceremony that united them for life." Mrs. McCulloch began her address on Woman"s Privileges by saying: "One of the princ.i.p.al reasons why women do not obtain the ballot is because there is rooted in the popular mind the notion that now the laws in all respects are so favorable to women and grant them such great privileges that they would gain nothing more by a vote but instead might lose these privileges. A careful investigation of laws relating to women"s property, earnings, rights of action, eligibility to paying positions, selection of family home, guardianship of children and many others where women"s interests are involved shows that these so-called privileges usually give women less than men enjoy in the same States and that the vote in their own hands is the only a.s.surance of equal privilege." After referring to the laws in other States Mrs. McCulloch made a thorough a.n.a.lysis of those relating to women in Louisiana, showing them to be archaic and unjust and wholly without special privileges.
The address of M. J. Sanders, president of the Progressive Union, was enthusiastically received as representing the best thought of advanced Southern men. He said in beginning: "I believe my own state of mind on the woman suffrage question when I attended your first public meeting last Thursday evening represented fairly the average male opinion in this city--one of moderate ignorance and considerable indifference.
Since listening to the addresses here I have had my ignorance largely dispelled and my indifference dissipated, I hope forever. It has been my lot to attend meetings all over the country but never in my life have I heard such eloquence, such logic and such glorious oratory as in this hall during this convention. A cause that can bring forth such talent and devotion must have in it a great truth.... I have come now to see that the franchise is not an end but a means to an end; that the object of these women is not merely to escape injustice done to themselves but to be able to take part in the great work of reform which is calling for the best energies of the nation. I have seen sufficient of the women who are working in this fight for suffrage to believe that hand-in-hand with earnest men, as co-workers and equals, in no way subordinate, they can furnish brains and power to remove a vast load of the iniquities and inequalities of life and even in our generation lift this country to a plane of civilization wherein the ma.s.ses shall have a chance for happiness and freedom."
In explaining the absence of Dr. Julia Holmes Smith of Chicago Dr.
Shaw said: "She is detained because of illness of her husband and like a good wife she puts him first and the convention second." Mrs.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (N. Y.) spoke on the Duties of Today, outlining her address by saying: "The strongest feeling of most women is the sense of duty. The reason they do not see the practicability and immediate need of suffrage is because they do not see the duty of it. There is a gradual development of the sense of duty. The first duty that we recognize is that of self-preservation--our duty to ourselves. Then comes duty to our own, to our family, to those dear to us, before which duty to self must and does go down unfailingly. These two duties to one"s self and to one"s family are the foundation but they are the beginning of life, not the end of it. Next comes social duty.... In America we rank high in personal and family virtues but not in public virtues. Our great need is for the deep and broad civic virtues...."