The woman's rights movement is the simple claim, that the same opportunity and liberty that a man has in civilized society shall be extended to the woman who stands at his side—equal or unequal in special powers, but an equal member of society. She must prove her power as he proves his.

And so when Joan of Arc follows God and leads the army; when the Maid of Saragossa loads and fires the cannon; when Mrs. Stowe makes her pen the heaven-appealing tongue of an outraged race; when Grace Darling and Ida Lewis, pulling their boats through the pitiless waves, save fellow-creatures from drowning; when Mrs. Patten, the captain's wife, at sea—her husband lying helplessly ill in his cabin—puts everybody aside, and herself steers the ship to port, do you ask me whether these are not exceptional women? I am a man and you are women; but Florence Nightingale, demanding supplies for the sick soldiers in the Crimea, and when they are delayed by red tape, ordering a file of soldiers to break down the doors and bring them, which they do—for the brave love bravery—seems to me quite as womanly as the loveliest girl in the land, dancing at the gayest ball in a dress of which the embroidery is the pinched lines of starvation in another girl's face. Jenny Lind enchanting the heart of a nation; Anna Dickinson pleading for the equal liberty of her sex; Lucretia Mott, publicly bearing her testimony against the sin of slavery, are doing what God, by His great gifts of eloquence and song, appointed them to do. And whatever generous and noble duty, either in a private or a public sphere, God gives any woman the will and the power to do, that, and that only, for her, is feminine.

But have women, then, no sphere as women? Undoubtedly they have, as men have a sphere as men. If a woman is a mother, God gives her certain affections, and cares springing from them, which we may be very sure she will not forget, and to which, just in the degree that she is a true woman, she will be fondly faithful. We need not think that it is necessary to fence her in, nor to suppose that she would try to evade these duties and responsibilities, if perfect liberty were given her. As Sydney Smith said of education, we need not fear that if girls study Greek and mathematics, mothers will desert their infants for quadratic equations, or verbs in mi.

But the sphere of the family is not the sole sphere either of men or women. They are not only parents, they are human beings, with genius, talents, aspirations, ambition. They are also members of the State, and from the very equality of the parental function which perpetuates the State, they are equally interested in its welfare.

Is it said that she influences the man now? Very well; do you object to that? And if not, is there any reason why she should not do directly what she does indirectly? If it is proper that her opinion should influence a man's vote, is there any good reason why it should not be independently expressed? Or is it said that she is represented by men? Excuse me; I belong to a country which said, with James Otis in the forum, and with George Washington in the field, that there is no such thing as virtual representation. The guarantee of equal opportunity in modern society is the ballot. It may be a clumsy contrivance, but it is the best we have yet found. In our system a man without a vote is but half a man. So long as women are forbidden political equality, the laws and feelings of society will be unjust to them.

I have no more superstitious notions about the ballot than about any other method of social improvement and progress. But all experience shows that my neighbor's ballot is no protection for me. We see that voters may be bribed, dazzled, coerced; and, where there is practically universal suffrage among men, we often see, indeed, corruption, waste, and bad laws. But we nowhere see that those who once have the ballot are willing to relinquish it, and many of those who most warmly oppose the voting of women also most earnestly advocate the unconditional restoration of political rights to the guiltiest of the late rebel leaders, because they know that to deprive them of the ballot places them at a terrible disadvantage. If then it is what I may call an American political instinct, that any class of men which monopolizes the political power will be unjust to other classes of men, how much truer is it that one sex as a class will be unjust to the other.

I know, as every man knows, many a woman of the noblest character, of the highest intelligence, of the purest purpose, the owner of property, the mother of children, devoted to her family and to all her duties, and for that reason profoundly interested in public affairs. And when this woman says to me, "You are one of the governing class. Your Government is founded upon the principle of expressed consent of all as the best security of all. I have as much stake in it as you—perhaps more than you, because I am a parent—and wish more than many of my neighbors to express my opinion and assert my influence by a ballot. I am a better judge than you or any man can be of my own responsibilities and powers. I am willing to bear my equal share of every burden of the Government in such manner as we shall all equally decide to be best. By what right, then, except that of mere force, do you deny me a voice in the laws which I am forced to obey?" What shall I say? What can I say? Shall I tell her that she is "owned" by some living man, or is some dead man's "relict," as the old phrase was? Shall I tell her that she ought to be ashamed of herself for wishing to be unsexed; that God has given her the nursery, the ball-room, the opera, and that, if these fail, He has graciously provided the kitchen, the wash-tub, and the needle? Or shall I tell her that she is a lute, a moonbeam, a rosebud; and touch my guitar, and weave flowers in her hair, and sing:

"Gay without toil and lovely without art, They spring to cheer the sense and glad the heart; Nor blush, my fair, to own you copy these, Your best, your sweetest empire is to please"?

No, no. At least, I will not insult her. I can say nothing. I hang my head before that woman, as when in foreign lands I was asked, "You are an American. That is the nation that forever boasts of the equal liberty of all its citizens, and is the only great nation in the world that traffics in human flesh!"

The very moment women passed out of the degradation of the Greek household and the contempt of the Roman law, they began their long and slow ascent through prejudice, sophistry, and passion to their perfect equality of choice and opportunity as human beings; and the assertion that when a majority of women ask for equal political rights they will be granted, is a confession that there is no conclusive reason against their sharing them. And if that be so, how can their admission rightfully depend upon the majority? Why should the woman who does not care to vote prevent the voting of her neighbor who does? Why should a hundred fools who are content to be dolls and do what Mrs. Grundy expects, prejudice the choice of a single one who wishes to be a woman and do what her conscience requires? You tell me that the great mass of women are uninterested, indifferent, and, upon the whole, hostile to the movement. You say what of course you can not know, but even if it were so, what then? There are some of the noblest and best of women, both in this country and in England, who are not indifferent. They are the women who have thought for themselves upon the subject. The others (the great multitude) are those who have not thought at all; who have acquiesced in the old order, and who have accepted the prejudices of men. Shall their unthinking acquiescence or the intelligent wish of their thoughtful sisters decide the question?

We can be patient. Our fathers won their independence of England by the logic of English ideas. We will persuade America by the eloquence of American principles. In one of the fierce Western battles among the mountains, General Thomas was watching a body of his troops painfully pushing their way up a steep hill against a withering fire. Victory seemed impossible, and the General—even he a rock of valor and patriotism—exclaimed, "They can't do it; they'll never reach the top!" His chief-of-staff, watching the struggle with equal earnestness, placed his hand on his commander's arm and said softly, "Time, time, General; give them time;" and presently the moist eyes of the brave leader saw his soldiers victorious upon the summit. They were American soldiers. So are we. They were fighting our American battle. So are we. They were climbing a precipice. So are we. The great heart of their General gave them time and they conquered. The great heart of our country will give us time and we shall triumph.

Mrs. LUCY STONE then introduced Hon. George W. Julian, member of Congress from Indiana. "His name," she said, "will always be held in grateful remembrance by good women as the author of the XVI. Amendment."

Mr. JULIAN said that, as a thorough-going radical in politics and a sincere believer in democracy as a principle, he could not see how he was to argue the question of woman suffrage, even if he had the time. Woman's rights, to his mind, rested upon precisely the same grounds upon which men's rights rest; and to argue the question of woman's rights is to argue the question of human rights. Subscribing as he did to the great primal truth of the sacredness of human rights, the same logic which held him to that compelled him—it is inexorable logic—to stand by the legitimate results to which it leads. The issue was between aristocracy and privilege on one side, and democracy and equality of inherent right on the other. Speaking of the XVI. Amendment, he said: "Believing as I do in democracy in the large and proper and full sense of the term, and being unwilling to write myself down a hypocrite or liar by refusing to women equal participation in rights which I insist upon for myself as a citizen of the United States, I thought it was my duty to introduce into the Congress of the United States a XVI. Amendment to the Constitution proposing to give to one half of our citizens who are to-day disfranchised a voice in the system of laws and government by which the other half of the citizens now govern them. Should it succeed, you will have a true and real democracy in this land; a Government emphatically of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Mrs. CELIA BURLEIGH was then introduced, and said: Ladies and gentlemen, I am not generally in favor of compromises, but I come before you to-night to propose a compromise. I had written a speech for the occasion, and—a—I assure you it was a very good speech. As I am compassionate, however, if you will take my word for it that it is a very good speech I will not inflict it upon you.

These remarks brought such thunders of applause, that in response to the manifest desire of the audience, Mrs. Burleigh again came forward, and delivered a highly interesting and eloquent address upon the general subject of woman's improvement, under the epigrammatic title of "Woman's Right to be a Woman." An extract or two will show the spirit with which she treats the question.

"I appeal to every true man before me if he has not looked into the faces of well-dressed men so sensual and brutal in their expression, that he would sooner a hundredfold see a sister or daughter laid in her grave than entrusted to the guardianship of such a man. Will you not give to every woman the power to maintain the integrity of her womanhood—the ownership of herself? What means the right of the drunkard's wife to be a woman? It means the power to protect herself from his drunken hate and his more frightful drunken love. It means that she be armed with a vote to repress the horrid traffic that has made her husband a brute, or, failing to save him, that she escape with untarnished honor from his polluting arms. What signifies the right to be a woman to her who must endure the daily contact of a social villain, if it be not to have all human virtue as her ally when she snaps the tie that binds her to him, and vindicates the Divine validity of marriage by breaking the fetters of the fatal sham? What is involved in the right of the Magdalen to be a woman redeemed and disenthralled from the bondage of sin? What but the entire reconstruction of society with purity for a law and charity for the executive; with more of the divine mother in man, more of manly courage and self-respecting dignity in woman; in both more reverence for humanity and a more abiding faith in the indestructible possibilities of good in every human soul."

The Convention then adjourned sine die.

THE FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION was held in Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 22 and 23, 1870.

Col. T. W. HIGGINSON, first Vice-President, called the meeting to order, and addressed the audience substantially as follows:

REMARKS OF COLONEL HIGGINSON.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I heartily congratulate you that you are again called together in this goodly city of Cleveland.

We stand to-day at the cradle of the Association, a child one year old, to celebrate its first birthday. There is nothing in the record of the past year that we have to blush for, or that we have to undo. If our work has been limited in its success, it has been because we have been limited in means. If we have not transformed the entire world it has been because the world has not poured its money into our coffers. But the great fact remains, as much as if we had accomplished a work ten times as large, that we have a great central organization, to which ten States have given a cordial and hearty support. Congress at Washington is but a small body. The amount it annually does and spends is nothing to that done and spent by the State governments. It is the keystone of our great national arch, the string upon which all State governments are strung. And so this Association is the keystone upon which all the auxiliary State organizations depend.

We meet here to-day, in a delegate meeting, for full and free discussion; none are proscribed, none prescribed. If there is anything new to be done, now is the time to do it; if anything wrong was done last year, now is the time to rectify it. This is the great, golden opportunity of this Association. It is especial cause for rejoicing that it is organized for a specific purpose, to secure the ballot to women, everything else being held for the time in abeyance. Early in the movement in behalf of women the broad platform of "woman's rights" was adopted. This was all proper and right then, but the progress of reform has developed the fact that suffrage for woman is the great key that will unlock to her the doors of social and political equality. This should be the first point of concentrated attack. Suffrage is not the only object, but it is the first, to be attained. When we gave our Association that name we escaped a vast deal of discussion and argument, for its object can not be misunderstood. But after that is gained there will be worlds yet to conquer. If the conservatives think that because it is called the Woman Suffrage Association it has no further object, they are greatly mistaken. Its purpose and aim are to equalize the sexes in all the relations of life; to reduce the inequalities that now exist in matters of education, in social life and in the professions—to make them equal in all respects, before the law, society, and the world. With this burden upon our shoulders we can not carry all the other ills of the world in addition, we must take one thing at a time. Suffrage for woman gained, and all else will speedily follow.

H. B. Blackwell, Chairman of the Committee on Credentials, presented the report of delegates present.[188]

On motion of Mrs. Dr. Ferguson, seconded by Judge Bradwell, each delegation was authorized to cast the full vote of the State it represents. The number of votes to which each State was entitled was declared to be that of its Congressional representation.

Mrs. LUCY STONE, Chairman of the Executive Committee, read the

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

Annual Report of the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the American Woman Suffrage Association:

The American Woman Suffrage Association was formed in this city one year ago under the most favorable auspices. Its one great object is to secure the ballot for woman. Through the power this will give, she may take her true place, free to use every gift and faculty she possesses, subject only to the law of benevolence. This organization has been vastly influential in securing public sympathy and respect for our ideas. The very names of its officers gave confidence, and through their confidence the cause has received large accessions of strength. We have already nine auxiliary State societies. Each of these has held conventions. Some have employed lecturers, some have organized county and local societies. All have circulated tracts and petitions. Ohio, Indiana, and Massachusetts have been especially abundant in labor. Ohio has thirty-one local societies, Indiana twenty-five, and Massachusetts five. These States have had a force of excellent speakers in the field, who, with rare self-forgetting, have worked as only those can who work with whole-hearted faith for immortal principles.

Under the auspices of this Association, a canvass was made in the State of Vermont. The sole reason which induced the Executive Committee to undertake this special work was that the Council of Censors had submitted a proposition that "henceforth women may vote, and with no other restrictions than are prescribed for men." A Vermont State Woman Suffrage Association was organized, auxiliary to the American Society.

The speech of Mr. Curtis at our May mass meeting, so admirable in style and substance we have published in a tract entitled "Fair Play for Women." Thousands of copies have been sent to all parts of the United States. It is doing its silent work by quiet firesides, where hard-working men and women, who can never attend a convention, can find time to read. We have published seven tracts, which had previously been sold at $5.00 a hundred, at the actual cost of $2.00 per hundred, and keep them constantly for sale at these low prices. They have been scattered broadcast, and the good seed thus sown will bear fruit in due season.

There has been steady progress in our ideas during the whole year. The Woman's Journal, established last January, and since consolidated with the Woman's Advocate, of Ohio, is constantly increasing its circulation, more than a thousand new subscribers having been added within a single month.

One of the most significant signs of progress is found in the recent action of the Republican party in Massachusetts. Their State Convention unanimously admitted Mary A. Livermore and Lucy Stone, who were regularly accredited delegates from the towns of Melrose and West Brookfield. A resolution in favor of making woman suffrage part of the platform was reported by the Committee on Resolutions. A change of only 29 votes out of 331 would have made woman suffrage this year a part of the Republican platform of Massachusetts. Thus women have been admitted to represent men in a political State Convention. The next step will be that women will represent themselves.

With all these cheering indications, we have only to keep our question of woman's right to the ballot clear and unmixed with other issues, and the growing public sympathy will soon carry our cause to a successful issue.

Judge Bradwell, of Chicago, presented the following letter to the Chair, which was read to the Association:

To the American Woman Suffrage Association;

FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS: We, the undersigned, a committee appointed by the Union Woman Suffrage Society in New York, May, 1870, to confer with you on the subject of merging the two organizations into one, respectfully announce:

1st. That in our judgment no difference exists between the objects and methods of the two societies, nor any good reason for keeping them apart.

2d. That the society we represent has invested us with full power to arrange with you a union of both under a single constitution and executive.

3d. That we ask you to appoint a committee of equal number and authority with our own, to consummate if possible this happy result.

Yours, in the common cause of woman's enfranchisement,

LAURA CURTIS BULLARD, ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER, GERRIT SMITH, SAMUEL J. MAY, SARAH PUGH, CHARLOTTE E. WILBOUR, FREDERICK DOUGLASS, JOSEPHINE S. GRIFFING, MATTIE GRIFFITH BROWN, THEODORE TILTON, ex officio. JAMES W. STILLMAN,

Judge BRADWELL made a few remarks on the subject of the letter, advocating the union of the two organizations, and proposing the following resolution:

Whereas, In Article II. of the Constitution of the American Woman Suffrage Association it is stated, "Its object shall be to concentrate the efforts of all the advocates of woman suffrage in the United States," and whereas the Union Woman Suffrage Association, of which Theodore Tilton is President, has appointed a committee of eleven persons with full power to agree upon a basis for the union of the two national associations, now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the convention for the purpose of carrying out the object of said association, as expressed in said Article II., and concentrating the efforts of all the friends of woman suffrage throughout the Union for national purposes, do hereby appoint.... who, with the eleven persons heretofore appointed by said Woman Suffrage Society, shall compose a joint committee with full power to form a union of the American Woman Suffrage Association and the Union Woman Suffrage Society under one constitution and one set of officers. It is further provided, after notice to all, that a majority of said joint committee shall have power to act.

The above was referred to the Committee on Resolutions.

At the afternoon session Vice-President Higginson invited the Vice-Presidents of the associations of different States to seats upon the platform.

Mrs. LUCY STONE was introduced, and gave an interesting account of the course pursued by her and Mrs. Livermore in a Massachusetts convention. Here the two ladies were received as delegates, took their places among the regular delegates of the convention, and voted with them. After that they urged their lady friends to attend the ward meetings. The women of Massachusetts, she said, paid taxes on $100,000,000 of property, the women of Boston on $40,000,000. She thought it good policy to work inside the parties.

Mrs. Dr. FERGUSON, of Indiana, thought it necessary to begin by sowing the seeds of the doctrine. Meetings had been held in different parts of the State. One was held on the sidewalk, was well attended, and was followed by a large meeting. Soon after, conventions were held, and though many women were afraid to take hold of the subject, others advocated it with full force. We have organized fourteen local societies. Some of these are sending out their lecturers.

Col. T. W. HIGGINSON reported that the Rhode Island Society was endeavoring to obtain the appointment of women as superintendents of reform institutions. We should have matrons in all the prisons where women are confined. I would therefore urge upon all women in their respective cities to labor in this direction. Men will vote for placing women upon all these boards.

Judge BRADWELL, of Chicago, made a short report on the condition of the suffrage party in his State.

Dr. CHILD, of Pennsylvania, said: The suggestions of our President are very important. Woman should have a position by the side of man in all public institutions. I am happy to say that in the city of Philadelphia, founded by William Penn, and to a considerable extent still under the influence of Friends, women do participate largely in our benevolent institutions and prisons. Our State organization was formed on the 22d of December last, and is auxiliary to the American Association. Our principal labor has been to increase the circulation of the Woman's Journal and circulate tracts.

Rev. OSCAR CLUTE, of New Jersey, thought that his State had done more for the cause of woman suffrage than many others. Mary F. Davis and others had resided there.

Mrs. M. V. LONGLEY reported that in Ohio desirable progress was manifested, and that if the coming year was as successful as the past the cause would progress well. Societies, some thirty-two in number, had been organized, and everywhere the work went on well.

Mr. HENRY B. BLACKWELL made a report for New Hampshire, where he was assured by Mrs. White and Pipher, now present, that the cause had never been so strong before.

Owing to the exceedingly inclement weather, the attendance upon the evening session of the Convention was light.

All the States represented having reported except Missouri, Mrs. Hazard, one of the delegates from that State, spoke briefly, showing that the movement is making satisfactory advance.

Judge WHITEHEAD, New Jersey, regarded the woman suffrage question as the most important topic before the American people. The only question to be asked in connection with this movement is, is it right, is it just?—not, is it expedient? With regard to the legal and constitutional conditions of this question, he said that he believed that women had a right to vote without any change in the organic law of the Nation. The speaker proceeded to discuss this question at some length, with the purpose of demonstrating that in virtue of the principle and practice of the Government of the United States in securing the ballot to men, the right to vote equally belonged to women. The speaker continued at length in advocacy of the ballot for woman as a necessity for securing her rights and remedying her wrongs.

The PRESIDENT, with some prefatory remarks, introduced Miss Rice, of Antioch College. Miss Rice announced as the theme of her address, "Woman's Work," and said that the work proper for woman is whatever she has the ability and opportunity to do. Miss Rice embraced in the discussion of her topic, considerations as to the duty of parents in rearing and teaching their children, demanding that the same principle under which boys were reared should be applied to girls, and the duty of society, which must recognize the necessity of women being instructed and taught in all that man has access to. She deprecated as one of the worst evils of our civilization that men and women were being all the time more widely separated. They must be brought nearer together.

Mrs. M. M. COLE said: That we are still so far from enfranchisement is mainly the fault of women themselves. Home talks, not Mrs. Caudle's fault-finding lectures, will do more toward convincing men of the righteousness of their demand, than all the public harangues to which they can listen. Comparatively speaking, there are few men who do not listen and heed the counsels of a good wife, few who will not yield a willing or reluctant assent to her requests. For every exception, there may be found a wife who has never given evidence of candid, far-reaching thought; and when a man is in possession of such a one, he is not to be censured for wishing to keep the reins in his own hand.

When all women ask for the ballot, they shall have it, say many politicians. In all probability, the wives of these men have never asked it—indeed, they may have refused outright to use it, if granted. And so, blind to the interests of all, deaf to the entreaties of many, they refuse the request, making, in fact, their wives the arbiter of all women. That is not statesmanship, but partisanship, and a partisan is not one likely to comprehend a question in its broadest meaning. Husbands and wives who are not as far apart as the poles, are apt to think alike on all questions except religion and temperance, perhaps I ought to add finance. Social problems they solve by the same rule, public officers they weigh in the same balance, party measures criticise and pronounce wise or unwise with the same verdict. I know of a few advocates of woman suffrage whose husbands, fathers, brothers, or some one dearer, do not directly or indirectly aid them. So far from alienating the married pair, so far from creating domestic disturbance, the discussion of this question has called into activity faculties men never dreamed woman possessed. She has shown more fixedness of purpose, sagacity, and sound judgment, than have ever been attributed to her. Excepting the religion of Christ, which first broke the chains binding woman to a mere animal existence, and sent gleams of love and hope through the darkness in which she groped, there has been nothing which has given such an impetus to her life as the present one, set in motion by her demand for freedom. Never before in the history of the human race, have women stood so high in the estimation of men as they stand to-day.

There is but one answer to give to woman-worshipers, and that is, Take away all responsibility from me, shield me from the terrors of war, intemperance and licentiousness, and be my vicarious sacrifice in the world to come, and I'll be the thing you would have me—the echo—the reflection—the soulless divinity.

Is this an extreme view? What! can there be an extreme view, when one is considering individual freedom? Set bounds to the political, social, or religious liberty of a man, and what figures of speech would he employ? The advocates of the XV. Amendment put words into our mouths, and they must answer for them if they seem too extravagant. There is nothing under the sun that will so arouse man or woman as the fact that another, as needy, as finite as himself, sets stakes in the path of his progress, and says, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." It is this assumption of men, most grievous to be borne, that has compelled woman to ask that the stakes be removed, and she be permitted to go where she wills to go.

Mrs. HANNAH B. CLARKE spoke as follows: When I am satisfied that a majority of the women of this country desire the ballot, I shall be in favor of granting the same, says the man of to-day of average ability and culture. Oh! my friend, we shall not allow you to take out a patent for magnanimity on the strength of that confession. When all the women, or even the majority of the women, shall unite in one solemn, earnest appeal for a voice in the framing of the laws which they are compelled to obey, the turf will be green over that political statesmanship which supposes that a question of right, of principle, is a question of majorities. While I do not believe that the fewness of the women in any community who really desire the ballot furnishes any man good ground for throwing his influence in the opposite scale, I do believe that the most serious hindrance to the immediate success of our cause is the opposition of women themselves.

It is one of the saddest, the most discouraging, features of any reform to find its worst foes are they of its own household. But the woman movement is not unique in this particular. Other reforms have presented the self-same characteristic. He who is familiar with the history of labor-saving machinery in this country knows that its introduction was fought inch by inch by that very class whose condition it was especially designed to ameliorate. If the Jews were the first to crucify instead of receive their Messiah, we know that the bad precedent which they established has not been lost upon succeeding generations. My friends, every reform begets a vast amount of ignorant opposition before which its advocates must simply possess their souls in patience.

This opposition among women shows itself in two distinct ways. The first kind manifests itself in holding meetings, framing petitions, and soliciting signatures, asking Congress to withhold the right of suffrage from the women of the land. I make no quarrel with that kind of opposition, nay, more, I entertain for it a certain kind of regard, for two reasons: First, because any decision that is candid and the result of reflection, entitles the holder to respect, but secondly and mainly, because it is no opposition at all. These persons are our friends, doing just what we are, no more and no less. For, mind you, it is not the mere dropping of the ballot once or twice a year on the part of woman to which public opinion is such a dead set. It is that which follows the ballot, that which the ballot involves. It is the office holding, the introduction of woman into public life, this stepping outside of what has always been considered her particular sphere. And so these women, who are memorializing Legislatures to deny their sisters the ballot, are doing our work, in that they are breaking the crust of that bitter prejudice which says that a woman's business is to keep house and tend babies, utterly regardless of the fact that every community contains scores of women who have neither houses to keep, nor babies to tend; doing our work in their own way, to be sure, in a way that reflects little credit on their good sense, but we shall not be particular about that if they are not. My verdict for such women is, let them alone. We shall be the losers if they ever find out their mistake.

But that kind of opposition which we dread the most, which takes the courage out of the most courageous, and the heart out of the most earnest, is the opposition of utter insensibility, of stolid indifference, which the mass of women exhibit, not only to this question, but to any question that does not touch their immediate personal interests. If I had a cause, of whatever kind, to advocate on its merits alone, one argument to make that appealed to a reasonable intellect, a discriminating judgment, I should want an audience not of women. It is a sad, a humiliating fact that the great mass of women are not thinkers.

* * * * *

At the morning session Colonel HIGGINSON read a letter from Henry Ward Beecher.

BROOKLYN, N. Y., Nov. 18, 1870.

MRS. LUCY STONE:—My Dear Madam—You were kind enough to ask me to allow my name to be used again in connection with the presidency of the American Woman Suffrage Association. But, after reflection, I am persuaded that it will be better to put in nomination some one who can give more time to the affairs of the society than I can and who can at least attend its meetings, which I find it impossible to do. But, while I detach myself from the mere machinery of the society, I do not withdraw from the cause, nor abate my hopes of its success and my conviction of the justice of its aims. On the contrary, with every year I feel increasing confidence that the ultimate forms of civilized society will surely include women in its political management. I am not so sanguine of the nearness of the day when a woman's vote must be calculated by political assemblies as many are, but little by little the cause will gain and ultimately the result is certain. I wish you an enthusiastic meeting, a harmonious adjustment of all affairs, and a prosperous future.

I am very truly yours, HENRY WARD BEECHER.

The Committee on Resolutions[189] reported later. The first four resolutions were unanimously adopted, the fifth, after full discussion, was rejected by a vote of 112 1-3 to 47 2-3.

MR. HENRY B. BLACKWELL offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the American Woman Suffrage Association heartily invites the cooperation of all individuals and all State societies who feel the need of a truly National Association on a delegated basis, which shall avoid side issues, and devote itself to the main question of suffrage. Adopted unanimously.

The American Woman Suffrage Association held its semi-annual meeting in Steinway Hall, New York, May 10, 1871. A large audience had already gathered when the Convention was called to order, which was constantly increased during the morning session, until between 800 and 1,000 persons were in attendance. In the absence of the President of the Association, Mrs. H. M. Tracy Cutler, Mrs. M. A. Livermore was called to the chair. She read the following letter from Mrs. Cutler:

To the American Woman Suffrage Association, Steinway Hall New York:

With much self-denial on my part, I remain far from your semi-annual gathering. But in heart I am with you, partaking in your deliberations, and recounting the advances since our meeting one year ago. Mrs. Dr. Patten, wife of the editor of the Advance, who believes and does far better than he would make us believe through his paper, is president of a society for sending women as missionaries to India for the express purpose of educating Brahman women. They will deny any belief in the woman suffrage movement, but they are teaching women the alphabet, and that is the first step toward the fullest possession of self, which will yet claim and vindicate all human rights. Among the most significant signs of the influence of this agitation, is the change in the laws of the different States in regard to the rights of women. Conversing with a member of the committee charged with the revision of the laws of California, he said to me: "The most important part of my work is the revisions of the statutes concerning marriage and divorce and the rights of property and of guardianship for married women."

The action of Congress shows us clearly, that as soon as there is sufficient pressure from without, it will give a light by which to read the XIV. and XV. Amendments, or it will inspire the passage of a XVI., so that our cause will be won. Knowing that your deliberations will be wise, and that the inspiring spirit will be purity and harmony, I shall the less regret that I am compelled to be absent in person, though present in spirit.

H. M. T. CUTLER.

The Rev. Dr. EDWARD EGGLESTON, of the Independent, said: One can not show one's interest in the cause better than by speaking in this opening moment of the Convention. I think every individual in the country should have a voice in the making of the laws. Here is a large and increasing class of women in the country who need the suffrage, and men feel that they need women in politics. A great many people never think of the effect of suffrage on woman without a shudder. I am not one who believes that women are adapted to every kind of work to which a man is. I do not believe that a woman's mind is just like a man's, but the most shameful proscription of all is that which prevents women from doing the work for which they are adapted. It is not necessary for a woman to be a man in order to vote. We want a woman's vote to be a woman's vote, and not a man's vote. It is a singular old heresy that to be able to vote you must be able to be a soldier. The purpose of the ballot-box is not to be bolstered by bullets. It is intended that public sentiment shall make law; and I think women can make public sentiment faster than men. I would back a New England sewing society against any town meeting. If women can not make war, they can at least do something to stop war. There is nothing in the world so absurd as regarding womanhood as some delicate flower that should be shut up in some glass jar for fear it may be injured by contact with the air. The ballot opens the door for every true and needed reform for women, because the ballot is the great educating power. A true, right-feeling woman does not want to be dependent, and the ballot will educate them to independence, because it brings duties and responsibilities to them.

Resolutions[190] were presented by H. B. Blackwell, chairman of the Committee on Resolutions.

Mrs. LUCY STONE then addressed the Convention as follows: The ideas which underlie the question of woman suffrage have reached the last stage of discussion before their final acceptance. They have grown up first through the period of indifference, then that of scorn, and then that of moral agitation; and now they are ushered into politics. In nearly every Northern and Western State, such discussions have been had, and action has been taken upon the subject in some form. Even in South Carolina it has voted itself, with the Governor of the State for its ally. Under the XIV. and XV. Amendments, several women in Washington attempted to vote, but were refused. They are now trying the question in the United States Courts. In Congress 55 votes were cast in our favor at the last session. Politicians know perfectly well that our success is a foregone conclusion. No coming event ever cast its shadow before it more clearly than does this—that women will vote. It is only a question of time, say all. It is important for us, then, to-day, to suggest such measures as shall win us sympathy, co-operation, and success; and for the first time give to the world an example of true republicanism—a government of the people, by the people, and for the people—man and woman.

If neither of the existing parties takes up our cause, then the best men from both will form a new party, which will win for itself sympathy, support, power, and supremacy, because it gave itself to the service of those who needed justice. I care for any party only as it serves principles, and secures great National needs. But the Republican party made itself a power by doing justice to the negro. When the war was over and the reconstruction of the South became necessary, the Republican party was in the full tide of power, and had its choice of methods and means. It was the golden hour that statesmanship should have seized to reconstruct the Government on the basis of the consent of the governed, without distinction of sex, race, or color.

Mr. BLACKWELL addressed the Convention as follows:

He enumerated the different methods which have been proposed in order to secure the suffrage for women, as follows: By a XVI. Amendment to the Constitution, as suggested by the Hon. George W. Julian; by an Act of Congress enfranchising women in the District of Columbia, as advised by Hon. Henry Wilson; by Amendments to the various State Constitutions, and by litigation for a broader construction of the XIV. and XV. Amendments to the Constitution. Mr. Blackwell said that all these methods are worth trying, but thought there was a swifter and easier method, viz: to induce the State Legislatures to direct that the votes of all adult native and naturalized citizens shall be received and counted in the Presidential election of 1872. This can be done, in Mr. Blackwell's opinion, under the first section of the second article of the Constitution, which says:

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.

The great underlying mass of ignorance is always conservative. Hence the difficulty of making constitutional amendments, and the importance of employing an easier method. Let every man or woman who believes in woman suffrage organize within their respective States and endeavor to obtain such an act from their respective Legislatures next winter, and let it be understood that the votes of the woman suffrage party, both men and women, will be cast as a unit within each State for the party which does this great act of political justice.

GILES B. STEBBINS said: It has been stated that women don't want the ballot. Well, suppose they don't. That is the very strongest argument why they should be taught that they do. Fred. Douglass said, "Show me a contented slave, and I will show you a depraved man." We want duties and responsibilities shared equally by all, that man may be more manly and woman more womanly.

Mrs. ELIZABETH K. CHURCHILL, of Providence, said: Can there be an aristocracy meaner and more tyrannical than that of sex, by which a wise, cultured, intelligent woman is made the inferior (for that is what the denial of the ballot implies), the inferior of a base, brutal, degraded man? The divine right of kings is an exploded notion; it is time for the divine right of sex to follow it. The chief value of the ballot is the educational power. He who feels an interest in men and measures will soon feel a responsibility. Everybody knows that women are no better than men. They are no angels floating in an ethereal atmosphere. It is the fashion sometimes to call them "angels," but I observe they are no longer angels when they get aged. I don't know a more unpleasant role to play than that of an aged angel. If it is said that woman can't know enough to vote, I can only reply that God made them to match men. But no standard of education was ever fixed for the ballot; and if there had been one, it never could exclude woman, any more than it could negroes.

Mrs. LIVERMORE left the chair for a short time to read a note from a lady inquiring whether, if she thought the woman suffrage movement was condemned in the New Testament, she would abandon the movement. I think she said, that it is not the proper way to put the question. If the question were put to me, If I thought the woman's reform contrary to Christianity, would I throw it overboard? I should answer, Yes, unhesitatingly; I should desire, for one, to stop it; I should renounce it forever. What is it that the woman's reform asks for woman? We ask for the ballot, and we ask it simply because it is the symbol of equality. There is no other recognized symbol of equality in this country. We ask for the ballot that we may be equal to men before the law. The very moment we obtain it the work of this association is done, and it must get out of the way. Then new associations must be formed to take the new work that will come before us, for when the ballot is given to woman then the great work will begin. Then comes the tug of war. For the obtaining of the ballot by woman is but stepping up the first round of the ladder, whose topmost round takes hold of perfection.

OLIVER JOHNSON moved that the resolutions reported in the morning be voted on. The motion was carried, and the resolutions having been separately read, passed unanimously with little discussion till the last two were reached.

Mr. KILGORE, of Philadelphia, objected to the seventh resolution, and said, if you don't want to cover this purpose with doubt and uncertainty, which is always an evidence of weakness, claim your right to vote under the XIV. and XV. Amendments to the Constitution.

Mrs. LUCY STONE replied that we all believed we had a right to vote under the original Constitution, as well as under these amendments, but since there was great doubt whether woman suffrage should be reached through these, she thought it best to seek also for a XVI. Amendment.

OLIVER JOHNSON said he didn't want to be included in Mrs. Blackwell's remark that the Constitution gives women the ballot. He thought it not wise to agitate this question. The right to vote under the Constitution can be reached only under a decision of the courts, and while waiting for that you are diverting the public mind from the true point at issue. Slavery had been put down in such a way that it can never be reconstructed; but if it had been put aside by a decision of the Supreme Court, a triumph of the Democratic party might change the character of the Supreme Court and reinstate it. He thought it wise to have the resolutions as they were, so that persons of all shades of opinions may vote for them.

Dr. MARY WALKER said that the fact of women attempting to vote in Washington had done more for woman suffrage than all the Conventions ever held. We want a declaratory law, she said, passed by the Congress of the United States, giving women the right to vote. This was the only way to save an immense amount of labor in the different States.

DAVID PLUMB, of New York, advocated the seventh resolution. We need a XVI. Amendment to settle woman suffrage on a firm basis. After considerable debate the resolution was unanimously adopted.

The eighth resolution was then discussed, to which Mr. KILGORE also objected, offering a motion that all the resolution coming after the words "special social theories," be stricken out. He was opposed, especially, to the introduction of the words "free love." What was meant by them?

Mr. BLACKWELL said the Convention meant by the use of that phrase exactly what the New York Tribune of that morning meant, in its statement that the woman suffrage movement was one for free love.

The PRESIDENT said this great movement was not responsible for the freaks and follies of individuals. The resolutions simply denied that this association indorsed free love, which certain papers charged them with. After considerable discussion, the resolution was adopted by the strong, decided and united voices of nearly a thousand people, voting in the affirmative. At the evening session of the Convention the great hall was filled completely, not a seat on the lower floor being unoccupied, and all the desirable seats in the gallery being taken.

MOSES COIT TYLER, Professor in the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, was the first speaker: The seaboard is the natural seat of liberty. Coming to you from the inland, where the salt breath of the Atlantic is exchanged for the sweet vapors of the lakes, I say to you, look well to your laurels! What are you seaboard people doing to vindicate your honor? We, in the interior, have at least one National university which opens its gates to the sex which has the misfortune to be that of Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Howe, and others. One of the keenest and brightest minds of the law in the West animates the head of a woman. In my own State of Michigan, at least two women have succeeded in getting their votes into the ballot-box. These are strifes in which good people may engage, and of the trophies won in such a contest every modest man may boast. This deep, national, resolute demand for a great right withheld, means that woman is really a person, and not merely a lovely shadow. If you can convince the majority of American men, and what is more, the majority of American women, that woman is a person, you will have the ballot to-morrow. We call woman an angel, and it is very easy to do that, because the Constitution of the United States don't take any account of angels. If all citizens who are masculine have the right to vote, it is not because they are males, but because they are persons who are members of the Nation. Therefore women should likewise be given this right because they are also members of the nation, and it is the right of every member to vote. But, after all, we men are rather bashful, you know, and the business is new to us. We have a sort of "Barkis is willin'" feeling, and don't want to be the first to speak. We are like the rustic young man who escorted a young lady home for the first time. Says she, as they reached the garden-gate: "Now, Jake, don't tell any one you beau'd me home." "No," he replied, "I am as much ashamed of it as you be!" [Laughter.] Now, it would have been much better if the young lady had said something more exhilarating, more encouraging. So we are new to the business of escorting women to the ballot, and they must come forward, and, overcoming their natural timidity, meet us half way and speak for themselves.

MARY GREW, of Philadelphia, was the next speaker: When I am asked to give arguments for the cause of woman suffrage, it seems like the old times when we were asked to give arguments for the freedom of the slave. It is enough for me to know that the charter of our Nation states that "taxation without representation is tyranny," and that "all just government is founded on the consent of the governed." No woman wrote those words. They were written by men. I stood recently at a woman suffrage meeting in Boston, and I heard a gentleman say, "I am willing, on certain conditions, that women shall vote. When women shall suppress intemperance, I am willing they shall have the ballot." I don't know how he was going to ascertain whether they would suppress it or not. I know that men who have held the ballot all their lives have not suppressed it; and I don't think there is any one here who would say that women would suppress it. What is woman going to do with the ballot? I don't know; I don't care; and it is of no consequence. Their right to the ballot does not rest on the way in which they vote. This, however, must be admitted, and that is, that there are women in this country who will vote much more wisely than some men in New York and Philadelphia. You, my brothers, claim the right to vote because you are taxed, because you are one of the governed; and you know if an attempt was made to touch your right to vote, you would sacrifice everything to defend it. What would money be worth to you without it? You call it the symbol of your citizenship; and without it you would be slaves—not free. Listen, then, when a woman tells you that her freedom is but nominal without it. And when you ask what women are going to do with it, ask yourselves what you want it for and what you are going to do with it. There never was a class of people able to take care of the rights of another class....

Mrs. LUCY STONE next addressed the meeting briefly: If you have a man, said she, who is a fool or a felon, you put him over the line alongside of your mother. Every man of you before he sleeps should go on his knees to his mother, and beg her pardon, and you should tell her you are ashamed of yourselves.

The Rev. WASHINGTON GLADDEN, one of the editors of the Independent, rose to answer Mrs. Grew's question—why the Tribune does not inquire about these ignorant men who are abusing the franchise? He could inform her. It is because they can not afford to. They are all politicians there. They want votes. They can not afford to tell the truth about these ignorant and vicious voters. He proceeded to give a sad picture of the political world at present and to show how little conscience, culture, or common honesty finds its way to the ballot-box. He didn't think the ballot had done anything for the education of the ignorant foreigner who had come to this country; he doubted whether it would do anything for the education of woman. He didn't wish to be classed with the opposers to woman suffrage, and yet he didn't see his way clear to espouse it as others on the platform did. He believed in impartial suffrage—impartial for men and women, but not universal. He would have men and women fitted for the suffrage before they exercised it.

GRACE GREENWOOD gave a sketch of society in Washington.

Mrs. LIVERMORE, referring to Mr. Gladden's remarks, said there was nothing so painful to her as the lack of faith in republicanism among cultivated American gentlemen. Political atheism seemed to be rife among them. What wonder that political corruption exists to such an extent, when the clergymen, the doctors, professors of colleges, members of churches, the educated and cultivated, refuse to exercise the rights of citizenship by going to the polls to vote—when intelligence and morality are to so great a degree eliminated from public affairs? At a late Presidential election in Massachusetts it was ascertained that but 54 per cent. of the legal voters actually went to the polls. Among the 46 per cent. who staid away were the clergymen, the physicians, and the professional men. There was a fearful political apathy among the educated classes in reference to the discharge of their political duties. If educated and good men, as a body, would interest themselves in the primary meetings and the caucuses, politics would be improved, even before women got the suffrage.

It was proposed that the Convention should adjourn by singing the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." The great audience rose and joined as with one voice in singing the grand centuries-old doxology, and then adjourned, many urging that the Convention should hold over another day.

In the autumn of 1871 the American Woman Suffrage Association held conventions at Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. The annual meeting in Philadelphia was held in National Hall, and presided over by Mrs. Tracy Cutler, who made the opening address. The number of the delegates to this Convention was sixty-two, representing fourteen States.

Mrs. LUCY STONE, Chairman of the Executive Committee, read her report, in which, among other things, she said—Petitions from each of our auxiliary State societies, asking for the ballot, were sent to their respective State Legislatures, and a hearing granted whenever it was asked. This is a great gain upon some previous years, when, as once in Rhode Island, our petitions were referred to "a committee on burial grounds."

The following letter was read from WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON:

BOSTON, November 18, 1871.

DEAR MR. BLACKWELL—Lest some persons might be disappointed at my non-attendance, I regretted to see myself positively announced among the speakers at the annual meeting of the American Woman Suffrage Association, to be held at Philadelphia next week. I certainly desired and hoped to be present, even to the last moment; but circumstances oblige me to remain at home, and I can do no more (and assuredly no less) than to send a word of cheer by letter. Though I was careful not to commit myself as to my personal presence at the meeting, I am willing to be everywhere known as committed to the cause of Woman Suffrage, with all my understanding, heart, and soul. I regard its claims to be as reasonable, just, and valid as any ever presented in behalf of any portion of the human race, suffering from the exercise of usurped powers. Until it can be shown that women have not, by nature and destiny, the same common rights and interests as men—have not as much at stake in all matters pertaining to an impartial administration of government as men—are not held to the same allegiance as men—and are not made amenable to the same penal laws, even to the extent of being hanged, as men—their right to the ballot, and to an equal participation in all municipal, judicial, and legislative proceedings can not be sensibly denied. The mere statement of the case is its strongest argument, furnishing as it does a self-evident proposition. It is a disgrace to our democratic professions that there is yet a portion—ay, one half of our population, legally discrowned and outraged on account of a natural and necessary distinction of sex, which alters nothing in regard to moral obligations and duties, or to political rights and privileges, in the courts of justice and common sense.

It is amazing to see what insulting flings are made, what ridiculous things are uttered, in derogation of the claim of women to an equal voice in making and administering the laws of the land, in quarters where we had a right to look for perfect courtesy, fair treatment, and an intelligent understanding; to say nothing of the nonsense and ribaldry proceeding from haunts of vice and "lewd fellows of the baser sort." But what great reformatory movement was ever treated any better at the outset? Still, it requires a large stock of patience to be calm under such trying provocations; and the consideration that, after all, they are indispensable to the success of the righteous object sought, can alone impart serenity.

What is the question? Not whether many or few women are demanding political enfranchisement; not whether the marriage institution, as now regulated, is right or wrong; not whether this woman, or that, advocates "free love," so called, or anything else; not whether a wife will continue to be true to her marriage vows, or a mother faithful to her maternal instincts; not whether the cradle will be rocked, the pot boiled, and household affairs dutifully looked after; not whether women are better or worse than men; not whether they will vote wisely or foolishly, if allowed the ballot. These and a thousand similarly absurd issues are but mockeries. The one question to be settled is, shall the principles and doctrines of the Declaration of Independence be reduced to practice, so that taxation and representation shall go hand in hand, and the grand truth be made practically, as well as theoretically valid, that all are equally endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed?

Yours for equal rights, WM. LLOYD GARRISON.

Letters were also read from George W. Julian, Frances D. Gage, and Oliver Johnson. The Committee on Business then reported the resolutions,[191] which were unanimously adopted, after a short speech by Col. T. W. Higginson.

Mrs. JULIA WARD HOWE referred to the organization of the association and the necessity for it. We had felt that existing associations had failed to represent the methods and convictions which belonged to our way of thinking. No right of a free society is more valuable than the right of free association, in virtue of which those who are able and willing to work can choose their own fellow-workers and adopt the center of activity which best corresponds with their feeling and with their homes. The experience of two years has confirmed our opinion of the propriety of the measures then adopted. We made no attempt to cajole or allure those who did not belong to us.

I am sure that as our work in common has gone on we have grown in good-will. We are fighting our battle still, but do not see our victory yet. We are not opposing men and women, but the enemies of men and women—ignorance, prejudice, and injustice. Many people bring into a new movement the whole intensity and unreason of their personal desires and discontents, and the train of progress must carry all this luggage along with it. Woman suffrage means equality in and out of marriage.

Mrs. Howe referred to the fact that women had been educated not to depend upon themselves, and drew a graphic picture of their condition should the tide of prosperity ebb from under them. Remember, too, I pray you, that power to do ill can not be denied without including the power to do good. The question as to whether men, in case that women should vote, would be less polite to women, was touched upon. The speaker said, "that if ladies wish to retain this deference, they certainly pay a dear price for it." The speaker was opposed to arguing that the right of woman suffrage was guaranteed in the XIV. and XV. Amendments. I go further back and find the spirit of all liberality in every liberal clause, and the spirit of all freedom.

ROBERT DALE OWEN followed, and said woman suffrage was the only means of rectifying the injustice of the laws. His attention was first called to the value of suffrage when he endeavored to get a modification of the property laws for married women in 1836. As a member of the Indiana Legislature, he tried three successive years in vain to obtain for wives a right to their own earnings. He was fifteen years in effecting it. When the law was passed securing married women in their earnings, one of his fellow-members solemnly warned him that homes would be broken up and family happiness ruined, and that for all this unmeasured misery he would hereafter be held responsible. But the law still stood upon the statute book of Indiana, and homes were not destroyed.

The Rev. Mrs. CELIA BURLEIGH was the next speaker. She pictured, in a witty, epigrammatic manner, the progress of freedom in womankind. The picture drawn was of an Asiatic seraglio, where the spirit of revolution crept in, and the ladies commenced their incendiarism by walking abroad, and then followed up the direful unsexing of themselves by gradually removing the inviolable veil first from one eye and then the other—and last and most horrible of all—from the nose. But it made her none the less lovely.

Mr. EDWARD M. DAVIS then spoke briefly, and was followed by Mrs. LUCRETIA MOTT, who gave some interesting reminiscences of the contempt for women manifested by the World's Convention in 1840, from which women delegates were excluded, and of which William Lloyd Garrison, in consequence, refused to become a member.

The President, Mrs. CUTLER, said: It seems clear to me that the XIV. and XV. Amendments recognize our rights. The XIV. Amendment was passed in the interest of a special class, but we must not forget that the passage of a general law for a particular class also guarantees whatever rights can be found to come under that same general idea. [Applause.] First, we have the definition of citizenship, which applies to us fairly and squarely under the phrase all "persons." Then comes the right to vote. Some say it is not a right but a privilege. I maintain the contrary. I say it is an inalienable right. You can not maintain a republican form of government and deny to half the population its right to vote. This may not be settled to-day or to-morrow, but the truth, like a mighty rock, stands there impregnable against all assault. We do not need to be in too much haste. Let the matter be sifted thoroughly. I do not object, therefore, to the phraseology of the resolution.

Mr. CHARLES BURLEIGH said: I have never yet been able to see that the right of voting is secured legally to women under any instrument which is recognized as having the force of law. A republican form of government does not mean universal suffrage. We know that the framers of the Constitution never dreamed that the idea of a republic would include even all the males of the country. If this is not a correct idea I answer that when you make an affirmation you must accept that affirmation as the makers of it understood it. I hold we have no right to go to any use of legal quibbling in the matter. If we stand on simple right, let us stand there; if on constitutional authority, we have no right to warp that authority. So with the question of citizenship. It does not imply a voice in the government, by any means, to be a citizen.

Mr. BLACKWELL, on behalf of the Business Committee, offered some resolutions.[192]

Dr. H. T. CHILD spoke upon the second resolution. As a peace man and as a temperance man he was in favor of the resolution.

Colonel HIGGINSON said: If the resolution that has just been read commits this body to the peace, temperance, or any other movement, I would oppose it. Every great moral movement must stand by itself. Napoleon said that the next worse thing to a bad general was two good generals. I do not oppose it as an intemperate man, nor as a war man, for I served too long in the army not to wish for peace. I simply want my wife to vote, and how she votes can be dictated by her conscience. I don't believe in hitching the woman question to anything. Emerson said if you want to succeed you must hitch your wagon to a star, but two stars will only cause confusion.

Mr. EDWARD M. DAVIS opposed the temperance, etc., resolutions. We had better not, he said, pass anything but suffrage on this platform.

Mrs. GOUGH said the resolution did not indorse the peace and temperance movements. It simply opens up a channel of education. Woman needs the growth and development coming from the exercise of higher powers than she now possesses. The resolutions were then unanimously adopted.

At the afternoon session the officers for the next year were elected. The presidency was accorded to Mrs. Lucy Stone. The speakers at this meeting were Dr. Stone, of Michigan; Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, of New York; John Cameron, of Delaware; John Ritchie, of Kansas; Mrs. Margaret V. Longley, Mrs. M. W. Coggins, Miss Matilda Hindman, Mrs. Cutler, Miss Mary Grew, Mrs. Lucas, sister of John Bright, and others.

Mrs. JULIA WARD HOWE, at the evening session offered resolutions of thanks for the hospitality extended to the members of the Association by the citizens of Philadelphia, and also for the able and impartial manner in which the proceedings of the Association had been reported by the press of the city. In a brief address, Mrs. HOWE then summed up the proceedings of the Association, saying that she had never attended a convention where such entire harmony had prevailed, and where such an amount of good work had been accomplished. Every one, she was sure, would go away happy and contented.

The President, Mrs. CUTLER, then made the valedictory address, complimenting the audience for the attention they had shown and the interest they had manifested in the proceedings. She alluded to the fight for freedom in the days gone by—a fight in which nearly all present had taken a part, and prophesied that as they had won that fight they would win the fight in which they were now engaged. In conclusion she said that in the name of justice, in the name of humanity, in the name of love, she demanded that the rights which woman desired should be accorded to her. The Convention then adjourned.

The following extract is from an editorial in the Woman's Journal:

The Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association in Washington [1871] was in every sense a success.

It made a calm, deliberate statement of the reasons that make the exercise of suffrage woman's right and duty. It made a strong and earnest appeal to the intellect and conscience of the country in behalf of equal rights for all. The speakers were selected beforehand, and came prepared to do justice to their subject. Accordingly the proceedings were orderly, harmonious, and effective, and the influence exerted was serious and impressive. The resolution adopted at the annual meeting in Philadelphia, a fortnight before, affirming that woman suffrage, which means equality in the home, means also greater purity, constancy, and permanence in marriage, was reaffirmed.

Hon. Geo. F. Hoar made an admirable argument in behalf of suffrage at the closing session. A large number of Senators and Representatives attended the meetings. Many of these, among others Senators Morton and Wilson, assured us of their hearty sympathy with our movement. The most kindly and genial hospitality was extended to the speakers by the citizens of Washington, and nothing occurred to mar the pleasure or diminish the influence of the meetings, which were very largely attended, the audiences averaging one thousand.

We have just reason to complain of the spirit of the Washington press, as manifested in their reports of the Convention. The sole exception was the Daily Chronicle, which was fair and friendly. The other reports amounted to little more than a burlesque, and the editorial comments consisted chiefly of denunciation and ridicule. The N.Y. Tribune, finding nothing to ridicule in our proceedings, suppressed all mention of the Convention, not publishing even the brief notices of the Associated Press. Having charged woman suffrage with hostility to marriage, the Tribune has carefully refrained from informing its readers that the American Woman Suffrage Association, representing thirteen organized State societies, has held for the first time a Convention in Washington, solely to urge the claim of woman to legal and political equality. We wait to see whether the Tribune will be equally reticent, hereafter. But neither the silence nor the misrepresentations of our opponents will check the steady growth and progress of the woman suffrage movement.

H. B. B.

The following is a short extract from the able address of Hon. G. F. Hoar, Representative from Massachusetts, who said:

He would prefer the subject left to the leaders on the platform and only be a follower in the ranks, but on command of those having the matter in hand he had come to show his colors. As he understood the subject, it was to assure the American people that it was right to admit women to participate in the affairs of government. They were using the best minds and brains to draw out the arguments on this subject, and some of our wisest fellow-citizens have been unable to see any favorable argument for granting this privilege. He then proceeded to give the ideas entertained by citizens of the different foreign countries as to what was the object of the republic, and said that this country was made up of the aggregate personal worth of the people. There could not be in a State a man having the right to compel another to be subject to him without being unjust. Therefore it is said that all men are created equal. Is it right and safe that the women of this country should have a voice in its administration? The only way to find out would be by having the understanding of those persons who are to accomplish it and carry it into effect. If there was anything in which woman excelled man it was her penetration and correct judgment of persons at first sight. It by no means follows that because woman has the right to vote, that entitles her to hold office. That right is vested in the judgment of our fellow-citizens, who, if they regard us as worthy and capable, will elect us to the offices.

Upon the Convention held in Baltimore, the following editorial appeared in the Woman's Journal:

In no one State of the Union has there been a more rapid advance in public sentiment, during the last ten years, upon all public questions, than in the State of Maryland. In 1861 a woman suffrage meeting in Baltimore would have been a failure. In 1871 the Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association has proved the very reverse. Two evening sessions and two intermediate day sessions were well attended. The speakers were Lucy Stone, Margaret W. Campbell, Elizabeth K. Churchill, and Henry B. Blackwell.

Notwithstanding the disappointment felt by the audience at the unexpected absence of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe and Rev. James Freeman Clarke, great interest was manifested, and the newspapers of the city gave the meetings candid and respectful notices. We were more than gratified by the unusual fairness and courtesy displayed by the press of Baltimore. Indeed, to this and especially to the generous aid of that admirable paper, the Baltimore American, are largely due the success of our meetings. We feel all the more bound to notice this frank and generous treatment of a new and unpopular movement by the press of Maryland because we have felt it our duty to condemn the striking contrast exhibited in other quarters. In Baltimore competent reporters made a conscientious abstract of the speeches they professed to report. When this is done in New York and Washington, the woman suffrage cause will have less difficulty in enlisting public attention.

We were also exceedingly gratified to find that the laws of Maryland for wives, mothers, and widows, though still far from equitable, are greatly in advance of those of Massachusetts and of most Northern States. We are promised by one of the most eminent lawyers of Baltimore a full statement of the legal status of married women in Maryland. We shall publish it in the Woman's Journal, as an evidence that equity and liberality are not bounded by "Mason and Dixon" or any other geographical line.

H. B. B.

A mass convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association at Apollo Hall, New York, on the 9th of May, 1872, was an interesting and successful meeting. Mrs. LUCY STONE presided, and made the opening address. Rev. James Freeman Clarke, Charlotte B. Wilbour, Mary F. Eastman, Rev. Edward Eggleston, Helen M. Jenkins, Henry B. Blackwell, Amanda Deyo, and others addressed the Convention.

Some disappointment was felt at the unavoidable absence of Mr. Garrison, Mrs. Bowles, and Mrs. Livermore, the two former being detained by severe indisposition. In consequence of an error of dates on the part of the proprietors of Steinway Hall, the meeting was held at an unusual place; nevertheless, the number of persons in attendance at the three sessions averaged seven hundred, and was composed, for the most part, of substantial, reliable friends of the movement. The notices of the Press were brief, but respectful. The Convention declined to take any separate political action, arraigned the so-called "Liberal Republicans" for their illiberal exclusion of women, and appealed to the approaching National Conventions at Philadelphia and Baltimore for a recognition of the rightful claims of woman to legal and political equality.

The American Woman Suffrage Association held in 1872 its fourth annual meeting, and celebrated its third anniversary at St. Louis.

Dr. STONE, of Michigan, said: Friends of the cause of universal suffrage—We live in an era of common sense. Sir William Hamilton, who was a great philosopher, and who investigated all the systems of philosophy from Aristotle down to Descartes and Kant, who went to the lowest depths of philosophy, dived deep for pearls, sometimes bringing up also mud and clams, declared after all his survey of the various schools of philosophy, that the great regulating power of the human mind was common sense; that of all the faculties, that which controlled all others was common sense. That was the basis of his system of philosophy. Now it is just as appropriate as friends of social and political reform, that we should rely upon common sense, as it was for this great philosopher, and it is this on which we purpose to rely. Wherever there is a battle to be fought, they who make the best use and most continued exercise of common sense are sure to win. This is not only true in moral contests, in the strife of mind with mind, but it is true in those material contests such as we have recently had. It was true in the great contest between Germany and France. It was this the crusaders lacked, and the reason why they spent so many ages in doing nothing was that they did not exercise their common sense. When the Jews, by their follies, by their obduracy, had destroyed themselves, and the Almighty wished to bring them to their senses, he said, "Come, let us reason together." For he knew if they would exercise their common sense they would no longer be rebellious as they had been. And it is true at the present time. I think if we can succeed in inducing those who differ from us to reason—I mean to exercise that regulating power which the common mind as well as the philosophic mind possesses, if they would exercise their common sense, the battle would be fought and the victory would be won. Sometimes circumstances unexpectedly bring men to their senses in these matters. We know there has been a great deal of discussion on the subject of slavery, and we needed a Dred Scott decision to bring men to their senses. When they contemplated that in all its bearings and ultimate results, common sense said: It can never be endured; we have had enough of this going on. Let us come directly to the point. Is a negro a man? Is he a rational, accountable man or not? If a beast has rights we are bound to respect, and if a man for abusing it may be thrown into the penitentiary, is it possible that he who is made in the image of God is without rights? Does not common sense teach that we have some rights, and if our laws contradict such a decision as this it is time we have better laws, and such as common sense will approve. We want some one to rise in the cause of suffrage to cut the Gordian knot that binds the community, that binds churches, that binds good men everywhere, as well as those who are willing to be mistaken. A single word from Gen. Butler, who, whatever may have been charged against him, is not lacking in common sense, the single word "contraband," wrought a revolution in the midst of our rebellion, and to that we owe to a great extent our success in the war. We want such a gleam of light to burst upon the minds of the community, upon the great American people who are interested in the subject. The field is ours for the next four years, and we will strive to impress the doctrines of common sense upon all men and all women everywhere, until the atmosphere shall be full of it and all shall take it in by absorption.

Mrs. LONGLEY, of Cincinnati, said—Ladies and Gentlemen: In a country where "No taxation without representation" is a watchword, and where it is held that "all just governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed," it should be unnecessary to plead for the recognition of the right of half its people to participate in making the laws by which they are taxed and governed. The justice of woman's claim to the ballot is so self-evident, and so entirely in accord with the spirit of our institutions and the fundamental principles upon which they are based, that I often feel as though it were offering an insult to American men to undertake to argue the question. But, every election day reminds us that these fundamental principles which our forefathers fought to establish are outraged. "We, the people," they said, yet nearly a century finds half the people ignored, half the people taxed without being represented, and governed without their consent. I know it is held that the expression "the people" in the Constitution does not include women, and should not be interpreted literally; but it appears to me that if we engage in this method of interpretation of constitutions and laws we shall soon get things mixed. If the expression does not include women in the sense of voters it does not include them in the sense of tax-payers, nor in the sense of criminals, nor does it even include them as being entitled to the enjoyment of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"—as the Declaration of Independence declares "a people" to be entitled to these.

Surely it will not be said that the rights of half the people of the United States were ignored by the men who framed the Constitution of the United States. It was evidently the object of the Constitution to secure equal rights to all. The Constitution of the United States recognizes the great principle of human equality, and the rights of women can not be delegated to or represented by their husbands. Women who believe that they are responsible to God only, are not willing to be circumscribed by men.

Mrs. HANNAH M. TRACY CUTLER said that this was a progressive, a growing, and a glorious country. All people came here and found protection under its generous shelter, more or less. We had been digging away at this suffrage question until, in her opinion, we are getting pretty near the foundation of government. We are pulling up the old ideas and throwing them out of the way and making room for the grand tree of liberty to grow. That tree has already grown to considerable size, and flourished more or less under the generous protection of our institutions—less a good deal, the negro said a few years ago, though now he begins to realize that it is more.

We women are quite well protected. Sometimes we are protected a great deal more than we want to be. [Several ladies in the audience, "That's so!" and laughter.] The American men are the best men under the sun. Each one of them is a prince of the blood royal. That's a reasonably good compliment. Now, gentlemen, turn round and say to the women of America, "You are each and every one of you a princess by divine right, and we will give you even the half of our kingdom." That is all we ask. But they say, "Show us the precedent. The thing never has been done before. The women have been ignored in government from the earliest days until now," etc. Why, gentlemen, away back in the remote ages of history—so far that the memory of man runneth not distinctly thereto—we find that women not only lived and gave men to the world, but that they lived and gave laws to the world.

Mrs. STONE, the President, said she would like to speak to the delegates and friends, because she knew those who were here had been working in this cause for years. They are short of time, but all give it that deep, earnest baptism of work for the principles that underlie republican institutions. They would work until that end is achieved, or until death relieved them from their labor. She felt cheered on seeing the progress they had made. It was about twenty years since the speaker came to this city to deliver a course of lectures for woman's rights. They called it woman's rights in those days. They did not use the word suffrage at all; and, as she stood there now, her mind ran back over a score of years. When she counted the gains they had made, it seemed as if she had been in some fairy palace, and by charms the old wrongs had dropped away and new good had sprung up. They had fought for woman's rights, and had taken hold of the hands of little girls growing out of girlhood into womanhood—girls who must stand on their own feet and earn a living for themselves. When there was no father's hand or brother's arm to help, what could woman do? She looked out into the great thoroughfares of industry open to all men, and almost all were shut against her. Woman was a teacher at a dollar a day, and had to board round. She was a seamstress with still smaller pay, or she was a housekeeper at her own house or somebody's else, where, so far as material gains were concerned, the results were small. Other industries were shut to her. The world is as full of women as men. They have to eat, drink, and be clothed, and, until other opportunities are obtained, their supplies are infinitely smaller than those offered to men. Why should women, whose supple fingers can set type—why should not they be type-setters? The printers joined together in bands and swore by all the gods they knew that women should not be printers. They joined together in a body and printed in a book that they would not work for any man who employed women as printers. They thought it would degrade the labor of man. The reformers asked for what was honest, good, and true, and found a response in the business interest of men, and the way was opened for women printers. Instead of brothers talking of supporting their sisters and making themselves poor they now worked side by side. A paper which they would have here for subscription—the Woman's Journal—came from an office where all the printers, with two exceptions, were girls; and the man who managed the office said it was an advantage, because the girls are always sober and never go on a spree. He could always be sure of having the paper out at the right time. The steady, honest, little women printers are always there. They asked why the women could not go into the stores and sell shoes, cloth, and dry goods, and why should not men build cities and sail ships and do what larger muscles fit them for? and they quoted the words of King Solomon, who spoke of a good wife sending out ships and dealing in merchandise. Women entered stores and became not only clerks but merchants, and some of the best stores she knew to-day were owned by women, who do not look to the time when they are to go to the workhouse or some worse place even, but were laying by some means to give them comfortable maintenance in their old age. Fathers who had daughters looked forward with more courage, because there were more avenues for woman's industry and better pay to reward it.

When Chicago was burned, the telegraphic dispatches most promptly forwarded and accurately worded were sent by women, and a generous public appreciated the fact. In medical matters they said, "Here is a department—here is a field for which women are peculiarly adapted, and to which they would be welcomed in the hour of peril." They were laughed at and called "she doctors" by those who thought women would be scared by their vulgarity; and some young doctors threw stones and mud, literally, and tried to prevent women being physicians. But gentlemen who had wives and daughters looked in the faces of those half-bearded boys mocking at women wishing to study medicine, and asked, "Are these the fellows who wish to come to our homes and practice?" And when those boys knew they would not be welcome to those houses, they smoothed down their anger, went back to their studies, and have behaved better ever since. The speaker mentioned the case of a sister of the Fowlers who kept a horse and carriage, and a man to drive. She has a large practice, with $15,000 a year. They next asked that there should be women lawyers. She believed the day was not far off when women would as worthily fill that as any other profession. What they asked was, that woman should have a wider sphere of activity.