Col. John M. Sandige, who had occupied prominent positions in the political affairs of the State, gave much encouragement and assistance. He did not hesitate to urge the importance of this movement, and the necessity that the women who were most interested should cheerfully assume their responsibility in relation to it. While Mrs. Saxon was known already as a fearless and able reformer, and Dr. Harriette C. Keating as a noble representative of woman in professional life, he thought it was desirable to have a voice from the home and from society, and Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick was solicited to come forward and endorse what her colleagues would say, in a few words at the close of the proceedings. Mrs. Merrick finally agreed that she should see her duty in the light in which it was presented if Judge Merrick, who constituted her court of last resort, should leave her entirely free to act in the case. After a consultation, to her great surprise and consternation the judge said, "You have always desired to help women—here is an opportunity; go forward and do your share in this work."

The surprise could hardly have been greater if a procession of slaves twenty-five years ago had come up in force to the lordly mansion of their master with several spokesmen chosen from their ranks, for the avowed purpose of asking for their freedom. The ladies were treated with a delicate courtesy and kindness on this unusual occasion, which they can never forget. Judge Poche, with the tact of a true gentleman, endeavored to smooth a difficult way, reassuring the failing courage of the ladies while assisting them to mount the platform. The Daily Picayune of June 17, 1879, said:

The usually prosaic and unimpressive appearance of the convention hall assumed for the occasion an entire change last evening. When the convention closed its forenoon's labors, it took a recess until half-past 7 o'clock for the purpose of affording the female suffragists an opportunity to plead their cause before a full meeting. The scene before the convention was called to order was interesting and amusing. As the minutes rolled on the crowd of ladies commenced to pour in, and by 8 o'clock the hall contained some fifty representatives of the gentler sex of the Crescent City. Every age of womanhood and every class of beauty found a representative upon the floor. About half a dozen "society girls" occupied a retired corner of the room, while a number of the notables, including Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines, took possession of the middle of the hall.

Promptly at 8 o'clock President Wiltz climbed to his seat and called the convention to order in a tone slightly husky from nervous excitement. Secretary Harris, having summoned up his spare courage, called the roll in a determined voice. Of the 134 members 106 responded to their names. After the usual preliminaries Mr. Poche announced that a committee of ladies were in attendance, prepared to address the convention upon the question of woman suffrage. He then introduced Mrs. Dr. Keating. The fair speaker had scarcely begun before it was seen that she possessed a clear, slow enunciation and perfect confidence in her ability to enforce the doctrines of the cause she was to advocate. She read from manuscript and showed no little knowledge of the rules of oratory.

Mrs. Saxon was greeted with a burst of applause, which was gracefully acknowledged by the recipient; her address was earnest and made a deep impression.

Mr. Robertson of St. Landry then offered the following resolution, which lies over under the rules:

Resolved, That the committee on elective franchises be directed to embody in the article upon suffrage reported in this convention, a provision giving the right of suffrage to women upon the same terms as to men.

After some talk the resolution was laid aside to allow another speech to be made. Mrs. E. T. Merrick was introduced by Mr. Poche, as the wife of ex-Chief-Justice Merrick, and a shower of applause followed the appearance of the lady. She said:

Mr. President and Delegates of the Convention:—We have met with such unexpected kindness in the reception which you have accorded us to-night, that we find it hard to give expression to anything but thanks. When we remember the persistent and aggressive efforts which our energetic sisters of the North put forth before they could obtain a hearing before any legislative assembly, we find ourselves lost in a pleasing astonishment at the graciousness which beams upon us here from all quarters. Should we even now be remanded to our places and have our petitions met with an utter refusal, we should be grieved to the heart, we should be sorely disappointed, but we never could cherish the least feeling of rebellious spite toward this convention of men, who have shown themselves so respectful and considerate toward the women of Louisiana.

Perhaps some of the gentlemen thought we did not possess the moral courage to venture even thus far from the retirement in which we prefer to dwell; perhaps they thought we would not dare to appear in person before this formidable body and speak for our own cause. Be assured that a resolute and conscientious woman can put aside her individual preferences at the call of duty, and act unselfishly for the good of others. You are our witnesses that we have not wearied you by our importunities, nor have we sought in any disingenuous manner to influence you in our favor. We are simply here in response to your own courteous invitation to explain our ideas and opinions on the great question of woman's enfranchisement. The ladies who have already addressed you have given you our arguments, and in eloquent language have made their appeal, to which you could not have been insensible. It only remains for me to give you some of my own individual views in the few words which are to conclude this interview.

We assure you we are not cherishing any ambitious ideas of political honors and emoluments for women. We do not wish to become governors or legislators, nor have we any inordinate desire to obtain seats in congress. I have seen but one woman who ever expressed even a wish to be president of these United States. But we do ask with most serious earnestness that you should give us the ballot, which has been truly called the expression of allegiance and responsibility to the government. All over the world this same movement is advancing. In many countries earnest, thoughtful, large-hearted women are working day and night to elevate their sex; to secure higher education; to open new avenues for their industrious hands; trying to make women helpers to man, instead of being millstones round his neck to sink him in his life struggle. Ah, if we could only infuse into your souls the courage which we, constitutionally timid as we are, now feel on this subject, you would hasten to perform this act of justice, and inaugurate the beginning of the end which all but the blind can see is surely and steadily approaching. We are willing to accept anything. We have always been in the position of beggars, as now, and cannot be choosers if we wished. We will gladly accept the franchise on any terms, provided they be wholly and entirely honorable. If you should see proper to subject us to an educational test, even of a high order, we should try to attain it; if you require a considerable property qualification, we would not complain. We would be only too grateful for any amelioration of our legal disabilities. Allow me to ask, are we less prepared for the intelligent exercise of the right of suffrage than were the freedmen when it was suddenly conferred upon them? Has not this right been to them a beneficial stimulant, inducing them to use exertions to promote their improvement, and has it not raised them to a superior place, above the disfranchised classes, such as the Chinese, Indians and women?

Perhaps you think only a few of us desire the ballot. If that were so, we think it would not be any sufficient reason for withholding it. In old times most of our slaves were happy and contented. Under the rule of good and humane masters, they gave themselves no trouble to grasp after a freedom which was beyond their reach. So it is with us to-day. We are happy and kindly treated (as witness our reception here to-night), and in the enjoyment of the numerous privileges which our chivalrous gentlemen are so ready to accord; many of us who feel a wish for freedom, do not venture even to whisper a single word about our rights. For the last twenty-five years I have occasionally expressed a desire to vote, and it was always received as a matter of surprise, but the sort of effect produced was as different as the characters of the individuals with whom I conversed. * * * *

Gentlemen of the convention, we now leave our cause in your hands, and commend it to your favorable consideration. We have pointed out to you the signs of the dawning of a better day for woman, which are so plain before our eyes, and implore you to reach out your hand and help us up, that we may catch the first glimpse of its glory before it floods the world with noon-day light.[518]

Col. John M. Sandidge read a letter from Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey:

JUNE 11, 1879.

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention:—Too weak from recent illness and suffering to appear personally before you by the side of the women of Louisiana who are asking for the privilege and responsibility of political suffrage, I am forced to use this mode of indorsing their movement.

Being left by the fiat of God entirely alone in the world, with no man to represent me, having large interests in the State and no voice either in representation or taxation while hundreds of my negro lessees vote and control my life and property, I feel that I ought to say one word that may perhaps aid many other women whom fate has left equally destitute. It is doubtful whether I shall rise from my couch of pain to profit by the gift should the men of Louisiana decide to give the women of the State the right which is the heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race—representation for taxation. But still I ask it for my sisters and for the future of the race. We women of Louisiana have always been treated before the law as civil partners of our husbands. In every respect our rights have been protected.

It needs but one more step to make us civilly free, and this we ask you to embody in your new constitution. Many men are not opposed to the fact of female suffrage, but to its mode at present; that could be corrected, and women need not be exposed to the coarseness and strife of the polls as they are now conducted. There is no man among you who does not believe his wife or his daughter intelligently capable of taking a voice in the government. If my lessees are capable of being citizens of Louisiana, it is because for thirty years of my life and for five generations of my ancestors we have interested ourselves in their civilization and in their instruction. Gentlemen, we ask nothing that would unsex ourselves. We do not expect to do man's work; we can never pass the limits which nature herself has set. But we ask for justice; we ask for removal of unnatural restrictions that are contrary to the elemental spirit of the civil law; we do not ask for rights, but for permission to assume our natural responsibilities.

Praying that the hearts and minds of the men of Louisiana may be moved toward this act of justice, I am, with profound respect, your obedient servant,

SARAH A. DORSEY.

The Webster Tribune, Mr. Scanland, editor, of June 25, 1879, shows the sensation created in the remotest parishes of Louisiana by this hearing before the convention:

The ladies, it seems, are about walking up and demanding enlarged liberties. We were under the impression that women generally had about as much latitude as they wanted, but if they desire more, the Tribune says, in the name of gallantry if not justice, let them have all they wish. There is an element throughout the Union agitating the proposition that they are entitled to vote because they are taxed. The Constitution of the United States provides that no one shall be taxed without representation. Representation is based on population, and, of course, the ladies are enumerated; and the "horrid men" claim that the ladies are represented through them. This a great many repudiate, and their heads are about level. When a man assumes to represent a woman, he undertakes a larger contract than he imagines—something we would not dream of attempting in a political or any other sense.

The ladies who advocate female suffrage claim that as they are governed by the laws they have a right to a voice in making them. Many of the ablest women of this country hold that belief, and of all our noble statesmen, not one has advanced an answer to this demand—reasonable, if it does come from women. A French essayist held that as women are a part of society, they have a right to be judges of its members, assist in making its laws, and condemn and punish transgressors. They have their influence, but that is not so effective as power. * * * * Some of the brightest intellects that adorn the social circles throughout this country and State hold these views and ably advance them. Among them in this State are Mrs. E. L. Saxon, Mrs. Merrick, wife of ex-Chief-Justice Merrick, and Mrs. Dr. Harriette Keating. When our convention was discussing the suffrage question, these ladies petitioned to be heard. Of course the request was allowed. Last Tuesday evening the above-mentioned ladies addressed the congress at length. Their speeches were able, and the ideas they advanced were sound logic; but if carried into effect may prove beneficial, and may not. Woman suffrage is an experiment. Like everything else, we will never know its effects until after it is tried. We only wish that there were a few more men in that convention who could make as able speeches as did these ladies—notwithstanding the Utopian ideas advanced.

When the new constitution finally went forth, it contained, as the result of all our arguments and appeals, but one little concession:

ARTICLE 232. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards, shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the school laws of the State.

Judge I. F. Marshall of Catahoula parish, an accomplished gentleman and able lawyer, suggested this article, and it was presented and championed by Hon. F. L. Claiborne[519] of Pointe Coupee. The women of Louisiana have never realized any advantage from this law. All school offices are filled by appointment of the governor, and there was no serious agitation for the enforcement of this clause in the new constitution until the autumn of 1885, when, in response to the demand that women should be appointed on the school-board of New Orleans, Gov. McEnery, through a correspondent of the Times-Democrat, gave his opinion as follows:

If a married woman occupied an office under the school laws, in which it was necessary to bring a suit to enforce some right connected with it, she would have to get the consent of her husband to bring the suit and join him with her. There are only a few exceptional cases where the married woman can legally act independently of her husband. Our code so recognizes the paramount control of the husband that when a widow, who is the tutor of her minor children, wishes to marry, and gets the consent of a family meeting to be retained in the tutorship, the code, article 255, says: Her second husband becomes of necessity the co-tutor, and, for the administration of the property subsequently to his marriage, becomes bound in solido with his wife. And so it would be in the appointment of a married woman to a public office. Her husband, of necessity, would share it with her; would, in fact, be the officer. And as to unmarried women, Article 232 does not repeal any of their disabilities. It does not repeal the laws creating the essential differences between men and women. It, as I stated, simply asserts a right, and is inoperative until there is legislation to enforce it.

The Daily Picayune of November 16, under the head lines of "Women as Members of School Boards," "The Law and the Facts in the Case Presented by Mrs. Merrick," gives the following:

Last Thursday evening, November 12, a special meeting or reception was held by the women's club at their rooms on Baronne street. On this occasion the club was addressed by Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick, a good and practical-minded friend of the cause of woman. The 12th was the seventieth birthday of Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and a decorated picture of the famous woman hung in the rooms. Mrs. Merrick read a sketch of the life of Mrs. Stanton, but devoted the first part of the evening to reading the following paper, the matter of which is, of the keenest interest to all thinking men and women in the State:

More than eighty thousand children attend the public schools in Louisiana, and of this number one-half are girls, and of the 389 teachers employed in the public schools of New Orleans, 368 are women. It cannot be denied that these are of equal concern and importance to the State with any like number of boys and men, nor does it require any argument to prove that mothers are best qualified to superintend and look after the welfare of their own children. In view of this fact the convention of 1879 embodied the following article in the constitution of the State:

ARTICLE 232. Women 21 years of age and upward shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the school laws of this State.

Notwithstanding the absolute right conferred by this article on women over twenty-one years of age, the chief executive of the State, with his present views, is apparently unwilling to make any appointment of women to such management without further legislation. The views of the Governor on all questions are always entitled to great respect. The question is one of interpretation, and many of the best lawyers in Louisiana do not hesitate to hold and declare a different view.

I am told that there are in the various constitutions of the States and general government two classes of provisions, the one self-executing and absolute, and the other requiring legislative action before they can be exercised. For example of the first class, article 59 of the constitution declares that "the supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of Louisiana." Nobody would ever undertake to say that the governor was dependent on any more legislation to carry this into effect so as to enable him to fill his office. If he were, it would then become necessary to legislate about every other article, and so the constitution would be worthless, everything being required to be done over by the legislature before the constitution could have any effect.

Article 232 of the constitution is imperative. It declares that women over twenty-one years of age shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the school laws of the State. Can the legislature repeal or modify this mandate? Of course not. Could the absoluteness of this right be expressed in plainer or more energetic terms? No, indeed. We are told and have been made to understand that it is a right conferred by the constitution of the State, which cannot be defeated or enlarged, or even abridged in any way by the legislature; neither by modification, repeal, or inaction. That this article being paramount law, itself repeals all legislation inconsistent with it. The constitution, I am told, prescribes the legal and other qualifications for our judges of the courts. Nobody ever thought legislative action was needed when their qualifications are according to that instrument, to enable them to take their places on the bench.

Article 185 of the constitution prescribes the qualifications of voters or electors, and we are instructed that all conflicting laws on that point are annulled by the sovereign will of the people in convention assembled. In fact, good lawyers have given us innumerable examples, illustrations and decisions to this effect; and even women, who are for the most part ignorant of the laws of their State, begin to understand that they have a right to a place on the school-board for some one of their own sex here in Louisiana. True, it has been said that there are other articles which are in conflict with article 232, but we are told the other provisions of the constitution relate to other and more general subjects, and on this very subject the framers of the constitution have in very positive and unmistakable terms declared its precise will, and it is wasting time to try to explain it away. These wise jurists do not fear to tell us further, that special laws or provisions in a constitution or statute abrogate or limit the general provisions in the same instrument.

We are sorry that our governor apprehends any difficulty would arise in regard to married women being school directors. He says the husband might change his domicile and the wife would be obliged to follow him, and if bond were required she could not sign it without his consent, and finally the fact was she could not do anything without the husband's consent. Then "the husband would share the office with her." I have heard that it was difficult to prevent outside influences from operating upon the minds of men in office. We have certainly heard some complaints of this sort, but it seems that there would be no great danger encountered from this source. The duties which this article of the constitution permits women to perform are not generally remunerative, and would be probably more a labor of love than of reward. As to the other objections, perhaps the husband would sign his wife's bond, and perhaps he would not move away while she held the office. I have heard that sheriffs sometimes run away after giving bond, and people are sometimes elected to office and unable to qualify, and others disappoint the public by resigning. Moreover we have ascertained the fact that a tutrix may subsequently marry, and that act does not prevent her from filling the office of tutrix, neither does the fact of being already married prevent her from discharging the duties of tutrix. But I see no harm done if the husband should become the assistant of his wife in this office. Is it not manifest that the two together would have a superior official knowledge of the needs and exigencies of the girls sent to the public schools and the women who teach them daily, than the husband could possibly attain by himself? But the whole difficulty, it seems to us, might be obviated. Let the governor appoint unmarried women. A woman who has been so unfortunate as to be a widow would not be objectionable.

The article says: "Women over twenty-one years shall be eligible" to these offices. It does not say the legislature may make them "eligible." By its own inherent force it declares them eligible. If they are really eligible, then why not have them selected and appointed? They have every requisite for the office, and as the dictionary says, are "proper to be chosen." They are "qualified to be elected." They are "legally qualified." They are eligible. It is not at all likely that the legislature will ever do the vain thing of affirming a constitutional right so explicitly given.

The opposition of the executive, therefore, seems to be a bar not only to this provision being carried out, but also to the raising of any question under it for the consideration of the judiciary. It is confidently hoped and expected that he will consent to reconsider the whole question. We feel sure the governor will not intentionally be guilty of any injustice to the women of Louisiana, and will not desire to withhold any benefit from them which has already been conferred by the State constitution. Women all over the Union rejoiced when this generous concession was granted here in Louisiana. In many other States they enjoy the same, and greater privileges, and letters and inquiries have come from distant States, asking why this law has not gone into effect. We are aware that any reform changing existing conditions must move slowly, and is apt to be unpopular with men in authority; then it also antagonizes the inertia of women, who are too modest to thrust themselves forward, saying, "I am ready to serve the State"; yet they know all the time they can do good service in relation to the schools. Only give them a kindly helping hand, and we feel sure that a valuable cooeperating influence will be felt, of which no one has ever dreamed in the past. We leave this matter to the governor, to the citizens of Louisiana, and to the fathers who take a deep interest in the welfare of their daughters as well as of their sons.

Our legislature passed a law requiring physiology to be taught in the public schools, while the vast majority of the teachers of the State are women, and no college in which that science is taught is open to them. In 1885, Dr. Chaille gave a course of free lectures on physiology and anatomy for the benefit of the New Orleans teachers, who, while they are doing the most important-public work in training the rising generation in the rudiments of learning, are denied the advantages of the higher education that would fit them for the duties of their profession. A fitting precedent for the action of our rulers may be found in Shakespeare's, "Titus Andronicus," in which rude men seize the king's daughter, cut out her tongue and cut off her hands, and then bid her go call for water and wash her hands.

The State Pharmaceutical Association, formed in 1882 with 110 members, unanimously elected Miss Eliza Rudolph a member. Miss Rudolph was then the only woman in the drug business. Having been refused admission to the medical college of the State University, she perfected herself in pharmacy by a course of private lectures. In 1884 she was elected corresponding secretary of the association.

The Daily Picayune, in closing its half-century, gives the following of Mrs. E. J. Nicholson, its chief owner and manager since January, 1876:

"Pearl Rivers," the lady's nom de plume, was already well known in the republic of letters before she became, as she now is, the most eminent female journalist in the world, largely owning and successfully directing for years a great daily political journal. The fact is unique. The fame of Mrs. Nicholson belongs to the world of letters and her biography may be found in any dictionary of Southern authors, nevertheless a history of the Picayune would not be complete without some notice of one who has had so much to do with its destiny. Miss Eliza J. Poltevent is a native of Hancock county, Mississippi. She was born on the banks of one of the most beautiful streams in the South, Pearl river. She wrote over the name of "Pearl Rivers," and her poems made her a conspicuous niche in the temple of Southern letters. She wrote much for the Picayune and wrote herself into love as well as fame. She was married to Col. Holbrook, the proprietor of the paper, and after his death in 1876, she succeeded to the ownership. This was a trying position for a woman. The South had not recovered from the devastation of the war, and the Picayune was involved in embarrassments. Friends even advised her to dispose of the property and not to undertake so formidable a task as the conduct of a daily paper under existing complications. Brave and true-hearted, with a profound and abiding conviction of her duty in the matter, she assumed the control of the paper. She wisely surrounded herself with able and devoted assistants, and with their help has gallantly and successfully surmounted many formidable obstacles, until she has seen the Picayune reestablished on a sound and prosperous basis. Mr. George Nicholson had acquired a proprietorship in it, and when Mrs. Holbrook assumed control the firm name was E. J. Holbrook & Co. On June 28, 1878, the interests of the two copartners were further consolidated by marriage. Since then the Picayune has been published under the firm name of Nicholson & Co., and the columns daily attest the energy, enterprise and ability with which it is conducted, while its advertising patronage speaks for itself.

Mrs. Martha R. Field is a member of the editorial staff of the Picayune. She has charge of the Sunday woman's column, besides her regular column over the nom de plume of Catherine Cole.

The Times-Democrat is owned by Mrs. Burke, who however leaves its management to her husband, Col. Burke. Miss Bessie Bisland, under the name of B. L. R. Dane, contributes to the Sunday paper, and edits the "Bric-a-Brac column" which consists of criticisms and reviews of the leading magazines. This paper boasts the most clever "Society column" in the country; it is edited by Mrs. Jennie Coldwell Nixon who is now, 1886, superintendent of the Woman's Department of the Exposition.

Mrs. J. Pinkney Smith edits the "Social Melange" of the States. Among the regular Sunday contributors are Miss Corrinne Castillanos, who buzzes as the Society Bee, and Mrs. Mollie Moore Davis, known as the "Texas Song Bird." Mrs. Ada Hilderbrand, editor of the Courier at Gretna, did the printing for the Woman's Exposition.

New Orleans has a Woman's National Press Association of which Mrs. E. J. Nicholson is president; a Christian Woman's Exchange, Mrs. R. M. Wamsley, president, doing a business of $45,000 a year,[520] a Southern Art Union and Woman's Industrial Association, with Mrs. J. H. Stauffer and others on the auxiliary executive committee, and a Woman's Club,[521] originated by Miss Bessie Bisland who was the president of the club for the first year, 1885.

The laws of Louisiana relating to women have been given by Judge E. T. Merrick, a well-known legal authority and for ten years the chief-justice of the Supreme Court of the State:

The rights of married women to their estates are probably better secured in Louisiana than in any other of these United States. The laws on this subject are derived from Spain. Certain provinces of that kingdom were conquered and for centuries held by the Visigoths, among whom, as among the Franks at Paris, the institution called the community of aquets and gains between husband and wife, prevailed. In Spain, as in France, there were certain provinces in which the ancient Roman law continued in force, and they were called the provinces of the written law. In these (called also the countries of the dotal regime) there was no community between the spouses of their acquisitions. Both of these systems are recognized by the Louisiana civil code, but if the parties marry without any marriage settlement the law implies that they have married under the regime of the community. To prevent error it is proper to observe that there have been three civil codes adopted in Louisiana, viz., in 1808, 1825 and 1870. The marriage laws are substantially the same in all, but bear different numbers in each code. The following references are to the code of 1870. Except in a very limited number of cases the husband and wife are incapable of making binding contracts with each other during the marriage. Hence all settlements of property, to be binding, must be executed before marriage and in solemn form, that is, before a notary and two male witnesses having the proper qualifications. The betrothed are granted considerable liberty over the provisions of their marriage contract, as the following quotations show:

ART. 2,325. In relation to property, the law only regulates the conjugal association in default of particular agreements, which the parties are at liberty to stipulate as they please, provided they be not contrary to good morals and under the modifications hereafter prescribed.

ART. 2,326. Husband and wife can in no case enter into any agreement or make any renunciation the object of which would be to alter the legal order of descents, either with respect to themselves, in what concerns the inheritance of their children, posterity, or with respect to their children between themselves, without prejudice to the donations inter vivas or mortis causa, which may take place according to the formalities and in the cases determined by this code.

The parties are also "prohibited from derogating from the power of the husband over the person of his wife and children which belongs to the husband as the head of the family, or from the rights guaranteed to the surviving husband or wife" (C. C., Art. 2,327).

If the parties adopt the dotal regime in their marriage contract the dotal effects are (except under some circumstances) inalienable during marriage; and at the dissolution of the marriage, they are to be replaced or returned to the wife, or her heirs, and to secure this, the wife has a mortgage on her husband's lands, and a privilege on his movables, including those of the community (C. C., Art. 2376; Art. 2347). "The dower is given to the husband, for him to enjoy the same as long as the marriage shall last." Strong as is this language, the dowry is given by the wife or her father or mother or other relations or friends, simply to support the marriage.

Under the regime of the community, the individual property of the husband or wife, and all property either may acquire afterwards by inheritance or donations re-remain separate property. The conjugal partnership is defined by C. C., Art. 2402. "This partnership, or community, consists of the profits of all the effects of which the husband has the administration and enjoyment, either of right or in fact, of the produce of the reciprocal industry and labor of both husband and wife, and the estates which they may acquire during marriage, either by donations made jointly to them both, or by purchase, or in any other similar way, even should the purchase be in the name of one of the two, and not of both, because in that case the period of time when the purchase is made is alone attended to, and not the person who made the purchase."

During the marriage the husband has the management of the community, and he can sell or exchange the same, but he cannot give away the real estate without binding his estate to recompense the wife or her heirs, for the one-half so given away. All the income of his estate must enter into the community. On the other hand the wife may at her pleasure take her own estate from the management of the husband into her own control and discretion (C. C. 2384). But in this contingency she must contribute to the family expenses (C. C. 2389 and 2435).

If the affairs of the husband become embarrassed, the wife can sue the husband for a separation of property, and get a judgment against him for all indebtedness, on account of money or property used or disposed of by him, and sell him out under execution, and buy in the property herself if she sees fit. Thus she stands in a more favorable position toward the community than the husband, who is bound for all its debts, for she can stand by and choose. If the community becomes prosperous, she has the absolute right, as owner, to one-half of it after payment of debts, and a right to the income of the other half until she dies, or marries a second time.

By causing her claims on account of her separate or paraphernal estate to be recorded, she secures a mortgage against her husband's lands and the lands of the community. If a husband or wife dies affluent, leaving the survivor in necessitous circumstances, the latter can claim one-fourth of the estate of the deceased. This is called "the marital fourth." The wife, also, if she or the children do not possess one thousand dollars in their own right, can claim as a privilege and against the creditors, one thousand dollars, or a sum which, with her own estate, shall equal that amount.

The wife cannot appear in court, or dispose of, or mortgage, or acquire real estate, without the consent of the husband, but the judge of the court of the domicil may authorize the wife to sue, or be sued. If the husband refuses to empower the wife to contract, she may cite him into court and have the property of the proposed contract settled by an order of the judge. The wife has full power to make a will without any authorization from her husband or the court.

ART. 2,398. The wife, whether separated in property, by contract, or by judgment, or not separated, cannot bind herself for her husband, nor conjointly with him, for debts contracted by him before or during the marriage.

ART. 119. The husband and wife owe to each other mutual fidelity, support and assistance.

ART. 120. The wife is bound to live with her husband, and follow him wherever he chooses to reside; the husband is obliged to receive her, and furnish her with whatever is required for the convenience of life in proportion to his means and condition.

It is provided that the domicil for granting divorces of such marriages as have been solemnized in Louisiana, shall be in that State so that the courts of Louisiana may grant divorces for causes and faults committed in foreign countries. For abandonment and other causes, a final divorce cannot be granted until one year after a decree of separation from bed and board has elapsed without a reconciliation. In other particulars the law is similar to that of the other States.



One day in 1842, the New Orleans Delta had this item: "Myra Clark Gaines argued her own case in court in this city; the only instance of a lady appearing as counsel in the courts." Mrs. Gaines was a remarkable woman. She carried on a suit for many years against the city of New Orleans to recover property that belonged to her, and, through untold difficulties and delays, triumphed at last. She preserved her youth, beauty and vivacity until late in life. All who knew her can readily recall her bright, sparkling face, and wonderful powers of conversation. In her long experience in litigation, she became well versed in the laws regarding real estate and the right of descent. Mrs. Gaines was a generous woman and did not desire to rob the poor; to many such she gave a quit-claim title to the property which she had secured under her suits.

In 1869, the New Orleans Republican had an excellent editorial fully endorsing the demand for woman's enfranchisement. In 1870 the Livingston Herald, published in Ponchatoula parish, by J. O. and J. E. Spencer, advocated suffrage for women.

In 1874, the secretary of the treasury rendered a decision that when a woman owns a steamboat she may be named in the papers as the master of the same. This decision, despite the opposition of Solicitor Raynor, received confirmation in case of Mrs. Miller, in 1883, from Secretary Charles J. Folger.

II.—TEXAS.

In the adoption of the first constitution of Texas, woman had some representatives in the convention to remind the legislators of that State of her existence, and to demand that the constitution be so framed as to secure the right of suffrage alike to both sexes. On the resolution of Mr. Mundine, to extend suffrage to women, in the constitutional convention of Texas, January, 1869, Hon. L. D. Evans said:

I do not favor the adoption of this measure at the present time, because the country is not yet prepared, yet it is entitled to our respectful consideration—therefore I thank the convention for allowing me the opportunity to state the ground on which the friends of woman suffrage place their advocacy, so far as I may be able under the five-minute rule. It does not comport with the dignity of a representative body engaged in forming a constitution of government to thrust aside the claim of woman to the right of suffrage,—a claim that is advocated by some of the ablest statesmen and political philosophers of Europe and America, and is destined to a sure and speedy triumph.

Aristotle, the profoundest thinker of antiquity, in his treatise on politics, defines a citizen to be "one who enjoys a due share in the government of that country of which he is a member." If he does not enjoy this right, then he is no citizen, but a subject. Every citizen, therefore, is entitled to a voice—a vote—a due share in the government of his country. I am aware that the courts and politicians in democratic America have not so defined citizenship. The reason is that politics is not yet a positive science, and they have failed to analyze this question. Had they a clear conception of the constituent elements—the anatomy, so to speak, of the body politic, they would perceive that suffrage—a voice in the government—is an essential condition of citizenship. Aristotle, in his treatise, which is perhaps the ablest yet given to the world, pointed out that families, not individuals, are the constituent units of a State.

A family—a household—exists and is held together by natural laws, independent of the State, and an aggregation of these constitute the State. The head of the family, whoever that may be, according to its structure, is the representative in the State. All the constituent members of the family, consisting, in its most perfect form, of husband, wife, children and domestics, are subject to the authority of the head, and have no voice, no vote, no share in the government, except through their head or representative. In societies where the common law obtains, which in this respect is a transcript of the Bible, the wife, like the child, is subordinated to the authority of the husband, and on principle, has no voice, no vote. On the decease of the husband, the widow becomes the head of the family, and on principle is entitled to a voice, a vote. But in countries where the civil law governs, the wife is the partner, and not the subject of her husband, and on principle ought to have her due share in the government.

When the children in a family, whether male or female, attain the age fixed by law for the control of their own affairs, and do control them, they are free, independent, and on every principle are entitled to a due share in the government—to a vote. Every member of society who is free and independent—capable of managing his own affairs, or making his own living, and does make it, should have the same right of choice in the selection of his political agents that he has to select his legal or business agents. But all persons, no matter from what cause, who are unable to maintain themselves, and are dependent for their support upon others, are incapable of any share in the government, and should have no voice—no vote. As soon as the principle of citizenship comes to be thoroughly understood, woman suffrage must be adopted throughout the United States, in England, and in every country where representative government exists.

The Revolution of August 20, 1868, said:

We have received from Loring P. Haskins, esq., a delegate to the convention, the following excellent report and declaration made and signed by a majority of the committee to whom the subject of woman suffrage was referred. We need scarcely bespeak attentive reading:

Report of the Committee on State Affairs upon Female Suffrage, with accompanying Declaration:

July 30, 1868—Introduced and ordered to be printed.

COMMITTEE ROOM, AUSTIN, Texas, July 10, 1868.

To the Hon. E. J. Davis, President of the Convention:

A majority of your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was referred the declaration introduced by the Hon. T. H. Mundine of the county of Burleson, to extend the right of suffrage to all citizens of the State over the age of twenty-one years, possessing the requisite qualifications for electors, have examined with much care said declaration and considered the object sought to be accomplished, and have arrived at the conclusion that said declaration ought to be a part of the organic law.

It was said by George Washington that the safety of republican government depends upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. This declaration is not a new theory of government for the first time proposed to be made a part of our republican institutions. The idea of extending the elective franchise to females has been discussed both in Great Britain and in the United States. Your committee are of the opinion that the true base of republican government must ever be the wisdom and virtue of the people.

In this State our system of jurisprudence is a combination of civil and Spanish law, intermixed with the common law of England; and this peculiar system, just in all its parts for the preservation of the rights of married and unmarried women, is likely to be continued. The time was when woman was regarded as the mere slave of man. It was believed, in order to perpetuate the pretended divine right of kings to rule, that the mass of the people should be kept in profound ignorance and that woman was not entitled to the benefits of learning at all. It is not remarkable that as the benign principles of Christianity have been promulgated, free government has steadily progressed and the divine rights of woman have been recognized.

The old constitution of the republic of Texas, the constitution of the State of Texas of 1845, the laws enacted for the protection of married women, the many learned decisions of the Supreme Courts of Texas and Louisiana, and other courts, clearly indicate that the march of intelligence is onward and that our advanced civilization has approximated to the period when other and more sacred rights are to be conceded. Is it just that woman, who bears her reasonable portion of the burdens of government, should be denied the right of aiding in the enactment of its laws?

The question of extending the freedom of the ballot to woman may well claim the attention of the law-maker, and in view of the importance of the subject a majority of your committee earnestly recommend the passage of the declaration.

H. C. HUNT, Chairman,

T. H. MUNDINE, BENJ. WATROUS, WM. H. FLEMING, L. P. HARRIS.

A DECLARATION.

Be it declared by the people of Texas in convention assembled, that the following shall be a section of the constitution of the State of Texas, known as section —— of article ——: Every person, without distinction of sex, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, or is at the time of the adoption of this constitution by the congress of the United States a citizen of the State of Texas, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an election, and the last six months within the district, county, city or town in which he or she offers to vote, shall be an elector.

The Woman's Journal of December 4, 1875, contains a letter from Mrs. Sarah W. Hiatt, who presented a memorial to the constitutional convention. The memorial was referred to the Committee on Suffrage. In regard to the effect, she says:

Since the presentation of the memorial I have had some very interesting letters on the subject from a few of our leading men; some for, others against woman suffrage, but all treating the subject respectfully. I copy below a portion of one just received. I should like to give it entire with the writer's name, but have not his permission to do so:

As you apprehended, the question of suffrage had been definitely settled in the convention before the reception of your letter. It remains as heretofore, unrestricted manhood suffrage. That all the rabble, the very debris of society, should be allowed a voice in government, and yet intelligent, highly-cultivated women who are amenable to the laws of the State and who own and pay taxes on property, should be debarred from a voice in making the laws which are to affect their persons and property equally with that of the men, is to my mind simply an outrage on reason and justice. * * * The fear of ignoring the right of petition, and gallantry towards your sex on the part of a few, prevented the memorial from being summarily rejected. Outside of —— and —— I know of no member of the convention who openly favors woman suffrage in any form. It is true there are a number of gentlemen who, in private conversation, will admit the justice of your plea, but avoid it by saying that ladies generally neither demand nor desire the right to vote. The truth is, these men (and society is full of them) have not the moral courage to do simple justice.

Thus you see that, so far as the action of this convention is concerned, our cause is defeated. Yet I do not feel discouraged. I think there is hardly a State in the Union that has such just and excellent laws concerning the property rights of women as Texas. There is also great liberality of sentiment here concerning the avocations of women. But the right of women to the ballot seems to be almost a new idea to our people. I have never lived in a community where the women are more nearly abreast of the men in all the activities of life than here in this frontier settlement. In our State a woman's property, real or personal, is her own, to keep, to convey, or to bequeath. The unusual number of widows here, due to the incursions of the Indians during and since the war, has made the management as well as the ownership of property by women so common a thing as to attract no notice. I might give interesting instances, but that would take time, and my point is this, that the laws which have enabled, and the circumstances which have driven women to rely upon and to exert themselves, have been educational, not only to them, but also to the community. The importance of this education to the future—who can measure it? It is true that many of them can neither read nor write, but in this the men are not in advance of them. It as often happens that the woman can read while the man cannot, as the reverse. And they are almost universally resolved that their children shall not grow up in the ignorance that has been their portion. If the women could vote, our convention would not think of submitting a constitution that did not secure to the State a liberal free school system.

The legislature of 1885, after a hard struggle, enacted a law making it compulsory on the heads of all departments to give at least one-half of the clerical positions in their respective offices to women. The action has extraordinary interest, and is regarded as a victory for the woman's rights party. Mrs. Jenny Bland Beauchamp of Dennison writes:

Texas claims to be a woman's State, in that her laws are unusually just and lenient to women. A woman who has property at marriage can keep it. She can even claim any property that she can prove was bought with that money. The wife is entitled to half the community whether she owned any of the original stock or not. She has a life interest in the homestead; no deed of trust can be put upon it, nor can it be mortgaged. It can only be conveyed from her by actual sale with her written consent. Under our latest revised statutes women have the right of suffrage, but have never exercised it; nor is the subject agitated to any great extent.

Three years ago, when the State University was built, it was decided that it should be coeducational, and young women are now being educated there side by side with young men. Texas has many liberal men and women. It is generally remarked that the women of the State are better educated than the men.

Miss Julia Pease, a Vassar graduate and daughter of the late ex-Governor Pease, has charge of 6,000 acres of land. She lives in the family mansion at Austin with her mother, and in addition to her other duties superintends the education of the three children of her deceased sisters.

Mrs. Rogers, the "cattle queen" of Texas, inherited from her first husband a herd of 40,000 cattle. The widow managed the business, and in due time married a preacher twenty years younger than herself, who had seven children. She attends to her estate herself, rides among her cowboys on horseback, and can tell just what a steer or cow is worth at any size or age.

The largest individual sheep-owner is a woman, known all over the State as the "Widow Cullahan." Her sheep, more than 50,000 in number, wander over the ranges of Uvalda and Bandern counties, in the southwestern part of the State. Their grade is a cross between the hardy Mexican sheep and the Vermont merino. They are divided into flocks of 2,000 head each, with a "bossero" and two "pastoras" in charge of each flock. At the spring and fall shearings long trains of wagons transport the "widow's" wool to the market at San Antonio.

Texas has two female dentists. Mrs. Stocking is one of the most successful dental surgeons in the State. The other, Miss Emma Tibler, went from Kentucky to Texas for the purpose of teaching. Finding this profession full, she studied dentistry and is now a successful practitioner of Cleburne.

The youngest telegrapher in the world is probably Hattie Hutchinson, in charge of an office in Texas. She is only ten years old.

III.—ARKANSAS.

Under date of March, 1868, Miles L. Langley writes from Arkadelphia, Arkansas, in regard to the efforts for equality in the constitutional convention:

ARKADELPHIA, Ark., March 5, 1868.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY—Dear Friend: With a sad heart but an approving conscience, I will give you some information relative to the action of our constitutional convention on the franchise question.

The new constitution—a copy of which I send you—makes no difference between men, on account of race or color and contains other excellences; but alas! it fails to guarantee to woman her God-given and well-earned rights of civil and political equality.

I made a motion to insert in the constitution a section to read thus: "All citizens twenty-one years of age, who can read and write the English language, shall be eligible to the elective franchise, and be entitled to equal political and legal rights and privileges." The motion was seconded and I had the floor, but the House became so clamorous that the president could not restore order, and the meeting adjourned with the understanding that I was to occupy the floor next morning. But next morning, just as I was about to commence my speech, some of the members tried to "bully" me out of the right to speak on that question. I replied that I had been robbed, shot, and imprisoned for advocating the rights of the slaves, and that I would then and there speak in favor of the rights of women if I had to fight for the right! I then proceeded to present arguments of which I am not ashamed. I was met with ridicule, sarcasm and insult. My ablest opponent, a lawyer, acknowledged in his reply that he could not meet my argument. The motion was laid on the table.

The Democrats are my enemies because I assisted in emancipating the slaves. The Republicans have now become my opponents, because I have made an effort to confer on the women their rights. And even the women themselves fail to sympathize with me.

Very respectfully, MILES L. LANGLEY.

The Arkansas Ladies' Journal says:

They tell us that women are not fit for politics. This may be true; and as it is next to impossible to change the nature of a woman, why wouldn't it be a good idea to so change politics that it shall be fit for women?

In 1885, Arkansas formed its first woman suffrage society at Eureka Springs through the efforts of Miss Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. Lizzie D. Fyler, president. The association numbers some fine speakers. The press is not in opposition, one or two papers favor the cause.

Misses Pettigrew and Sims have been elected clerks of the legislature. Several other ladies were candidates for the positions, and the contest was quite exciting. Mrs. Simonson and Miss Emily Thomas are members of the board of directors of a lumber company at Batesville, and Miss Thomas is also bookkeeper of the firm.

A very able report[522] of what has been done in Arkansas for the elevation of woman was presented by Mrs. Lizzie D. Fyler at the annual Washington convention in March, 1884.

IV.—MISSISSIPPI.

Mississippi secures to a married woman her own separate estate, and enables her to contract with her husband, or others, and carry on business in her own name. She may sue her husband, or others, and be sued, and has practically most of her civil rights; but her political rights are denied as in all other States.

In 1877 a law was passed by which henceforth no one can legally sell liquor in Mississippi unless he can obtain the written consent of a majority of the adult citizens of both sexes resident in the township.

The Mississippi Industrial College for Women held its formal opening October 22, 1885, at Columbus. Students had come from all parts of the State. More than 300 had already entered. The occasion was a brilliant one. Speeches were made by Senator E. T. Sykes, Senator J. McMcartin of Claiborne county, Col. J. L. Power of Jackson, Hon. James T. Harrison, Governor Lowry, and Dr. Jones. Mrs. E. G. Peyton of Hazelhurst, to whose efforts the founding of the Industrial College is largely due, was called upon, and in a few well-chosen remarks expressed the pride she felt in the State and in the college, feeling sure, she said, that Mississippi's daughters were now in safe hands.

Miss Lilian Light, the eight-year-old daughter of Mr. Jere Light of Hayneville, when only five or six years old began to make figures in clay, and now (1885) has a large collection of mud cats, hogs, dogs, cows, horses, and men. The figures are declared to be not childish imitations, but remarkably acute likenesses. Her best piece represents a negro praying, and is said to be very clever.

Miss C. F. Boardman of Elmore's Point, two miles from Biloxi, on the Bock Bay, has received the chief premiums awarded for oranges grown on the Gulf coast outside of Florida. This lady has 1,000 bearing orange trees of the choicest varieties, and has devoted her attention to the production of these and other tropical fruits, with great success. She came to the South for health a few years ago, and has not only found that, but has established for herself a pleasing and profitable industry in fruit culture. Her oranges were exhibited among numerous fine competing specimens, and were chosen for high excellence.

Miss Eliza A. Dupuy for many years contributed copiously to Mr. Bonner's Ledger. Miss Dupuy, who was descended from prominent Virginia families, was in her youth a teacher. The first story written by her was produced when she was only fourteen years old. More fortunate than the majority of authors, she leaves behind her a considerable sum earned by her ever-busy pen.

Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey was perhaps the most remarkable woman that Mississippi can boast. She was the niece of Mrs. Warfield, the author of the "Household of Bouverie," who had great influence in forming her literary tastes. The New Orleans Monthly Review contains many able articles on abstruse questions from her pen. One, in the February number for 1876, on the "Origin of the Species," is exceptionally able and interesting. It was read in October, 1875, before the New Orleans Academy of Sciences by Mrs. Dorsey herself. This article shows extensive reading in scientific questions. She was made corresponding member of the Academy, an honor she appreciated more highly for her sex than for herself. She was a large-souled, noble woman, devoted to what she considered Southern interests. She bequeathed to Jefferson Davis the estate, called Beauvoir, on which he now resides.

FOOTNOTES:

[516] Emily P. Collins of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, wrote Miss Anthony: "Our State is to form a new constitution this spring. I feel that now if ever is the time to strike for woman's emancipation. 'We, the people' includes women as well as men, and regardless of former legislative enactments we should be allowed to vote and be voted for as delegates to the constitutional convention. If I only had some one to aid me, or had your moral courage, I would proclaim myself a candidate for the constitutional convention. The colored people ought to sustain me for I have ever been their steadfast friend, and they themselves owe their emancipation chiefly to women. They cannot elect a colored man here, but could I have their support I have personal friends enough to secure my election. The parish ought to be stumped in support of some candidate whose efforts should be pledged to the insertion of a clause in the new constitution to prohibit future legislatures making sex a qualification for voting."

[517] The following letter from Mrs. Saxon to Mrs. Minor gives the reason why she could not be present at the National Convention held in St. Louis:

"Almost entirely unaided I have gained 300 names in five weeks. Among them two Presbyterian ministers, wives of three others, seven of the most prominent physicians, all of the city administrators, two distinguished judges, several lawyers and many leading business men. I have begged Mrs. Emily P. Collins to urge upon the Association to meet here next year. I feel that now and before this convention is our most important work, so I must stay and try and influence the members all in my power. I was unaware of the action I was to take here, and if I get before the convention it will not be before the morning of the 7th, or I would come anyway as I have been offered a free passage by both rail and river. Mrs. Collins was with me for a few days and will assure you of my untiring efforts in the cause here. God knows I would be willing to buy fifteen minutes before the whole convention, the day they vote on that bill, by the sacrifice of my life; for remembering the grand women I have seen sacrificed along life's path, I think from their memory a power and eloquence would spring that might win hearts of steel and force justice to women from them. I will write again in a few days and report progress.

"Very sincerely your friend, E. L. SAXON."

"May 5, 1879."

[518] Of her speech Mrs. Merrick writes: "Fearing that I could not be heard, I proposed to my son-in law, Mr. Guthrie, that he should read it for me, but Mrs. Saxon objected, saying, 'No matter if they do not hear a word you say! You do not wish a man to represent you at the polls; represent yourself now, if you only stand up and move your lips.' 'I will,' said I, 'you are right.'—[EDITORS.

[519] The Claibornes are a distinguished Virginia family, but belong to the history of Mississippi and Louisiana since territorial times. Mr. Claiborne now regrets that he did not go farther, for he is satisfied that women may be trusted with powers that have long been withheld. He says he was led to reflect seriously on the subject by the able addresses of Mrs. Keating, Mrs. Saxon and Mrs. Merrick, who made a profound impression on the convention.

[520] The officers of the Christian Woman's Exchange for 1885, were: President, Mrs. R. M. Walmsley; Vice-Presidents, Mesdames T. G. Richardson, M. W. Bartlett, Albert Baldwin, John R. Juden, J. H. Allen; Recording Secretary, Mrs. Theo. Auze; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. E. J. Wharton; Treasurer, Mrs. S. H. Davis; Acting Treasurer, Mrs. F. N. Griswold; Board of Managers, Mesdames S. Landrum, M. C. Jennings, B. D. Wood, A. Brittin, Percy Roberts, S. Delgado, F. N. Griswold, E. L. Wood, Wm. Muller, E. Ranlett, G. W. Pritchard, L. P. Wayne, T. H. Holmes, J. B. Wallace, Albert Baldwin, P. N. Strong, K. Fuhri, S. H. Kennedy, H. J. Leovy, John Parker, R. M. Walmsley, T. G. Richardson, Theo. Auze, E. J. Wharton, S. H. Davis. M. W. Bartlett, D. A. Given, John R. Juden, J. H. Allen, Fred. Wing.

[521] The original members of the Woman's Club were: Miss Bessie Bisland, Mrs. Elizabeth W. Baker, Miss C. Farrar, Mrs. J. M. Ferguson, Miss M. E. Hagan, Miss J. E. Linsler, Miss H. D. Pickens, Miss M. Siebold, Mrs. M. J. C. Swayze, Miss E. Schrieves, Miss M. Manning, Miss P. Teiltebaum.

[522] See Report Washington Convention, 1884.



CHAPTER LV. (CONTINUED).

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA—MARYLAND—DELAWARE—KENTUCKY—TENNESSEE— VIRGINIA—WEST VIRGINIA—NORTH CAROLINA—SOUTH CAROLINA—FLORIDA— ALABAMA—GEORGIA.

Secretary Chase—Women in the Government Departments—Myrtilla Miner—Mrs. O'Connor's Tribute—District of Columbia Suffrage Bill—The Universal Franchise Association, 1867—Bill for a Prohibitory Law Presented by Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, 1869—A Bill for Equal Wages for the Women in the Departments, Introduced by Hon. S. M. Arnell, 1870—In 1871 Congress Passed the Organic Act for the District Confining the Right of Suffrage to Males—In 1875 it Withdrew all Legislative Power from the People—Women in Law, Medicine, Journalism and the Charities—Dental College Opened to Women—Mary A. Stuart—The Clay Sisters—The School of Pharmacy—Elizabeth Avery Meriwether—Judge Underwood—Mary Bayard Clarke—Dr. Susan Dimock—Governor Chamberlain—Coffee-Growing—Priscilla Holmes Drake—Alexander H. Stephens.

I.—DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

The District covers an area of 64 square miles, and contains a population of 200,000. It was originally a portion of Maryland, and was ceded to congress by that State for the exclusive use of the Federal government. Hon. Salmon P. Chase, secretary of the treasury under Abraham Lincoln, seeing that most of the gifted young men had been drafted or had enlisted in the army, introduced young women as clerks in the government departments. The experiment proved successful, and now there are about six thousand women in the various departments. Mr. Chase often alluded to this afterwards as one of the most important acts of his life. The war brought many bright, earnest women to Washington, led thither by patriotism, ambition, or the necessity of finding some new employment. This new vital force, this purer element, infused into the society at the capitol, has been slowly introducing more liberal ideas into that community.

The first specific work for woman in the District of Columbia of which we find any record was that of Myrtilla Miner of New York, who opened a Normal School for colored girls, December 3, 1851. She began with six pupils in a small room in a private house, but soon had more offered than could be accommodated. Through much ridicule and untold difficulties she struggled alone, but successfully, for ten years, when Miss Emily Howland came to her aid. The heroism of this noble woman has been told by Mrs. Ellen O. Connor in a little volume[523] which is a beautiful tribute to the memory of Miss Miner. The Miner Normal School of Washington is now a thorough and popular school for colored girls.

For a brief report of what has been accomplished in the District of Columbia, we are indebted to Belva A. Lockwood:

In 1866, the women of Washington were first aroused to the consideration of the suffrage question, by the discussion of "The District of Columbia suffrage bill" proposing to strike out the word "white" in order to extend the franchise to colored men. Mr. Cowan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, offered an amendment to strike out the word "male" also, and thus enfranchise the women of the District. It was said his proposition was not made in good faith, but simply to embarrass Republican legislation. However it served a good purpose for all disfranchised classes, as the amendment called out a notable debate,[524] lasting three days, and received the votes of nine influential senators in its favor. The voting of the newly enfranchised negroes at the May election, 1867, brought out in strong color the beauties of masculine legislation, and immediately after there was a movement among the friends of woman's enfranchisement. A meeting was called by James and Julia Holmes at their residence, where the "Universal Franchise Association" was organized.[525] As soon as their meetings, regularly held, took on a serious air, the combined power of the press was brought to bear upon them with the determination to break them up. But the meetings were continued, notwithstanding the opposition; and although most of the speeches were good, they were often interrupted with hisses and yells, and the police, when appealed to, failed to keep order, seeming rather to join hands with the mob. In order to put a check on the rabble, contrary to the spirit of the society, a fee was charged at the door. Strangely enough, so great had the interest become, the crowd increased instead of lessening, and night after night Union League Hall was crowded, until the coffers of the association contained nearly $1,000. The press of the city in the meantime had kept up a fusilade of ludicrous reports, in which the women were caricatured and misrepresented, all of which they bore with fortitude, and without any attempt at reply. The meetings continued through the year notwithstanding the cry of the timid that the cause was being injured and fair reputations blighted.

June 25, 1868, a deputation from the District Franchise Association appeared, by appointment, before the House Committee of the District, to urge the passage of the bill presented in the House of Representatives by Hon. Henry D. Washburn, accompanied by a petition signed by eighty women of the District:

"Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of this act, no person shall be debarred from voting or holding office in the District of Columbia by reason of sex."

Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing began by saying that the friends of equal freedom for women in the District had thought the revision of the local government a fit time to present their claims and submit a memorial, setting forth the justice of passing the bill before the committee to remove the restrictions that forbid women to vote in the District. The movement was not wholly new, and was known by those active in the work to be approved by a large mass of women who were not prepared to express themselves openly. The enfranchisement of woman is needful to a real reconstruction.

Mr. Wilcox read a memorial, signed by a committee of residents of the district, consisting of eleven ladies and eleven gentlemen, including Mrs. Griffing, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, Miss Lydia S. Hall (formerly of Kansas), Mrs. Annie Denton Cridge, Judge A. B. Olin and Mrs. Olin, recalling the fact that congress had freed 3,000 slaves, and enfranchised the 8,000 colored men of the district, both of which experiments had worked well, notwithstanding conservative predictions to the contrary; and showing that, while the former experiments, on a small scale comparatively, had yielded rich results, so the enfranchisement of half the adult population would produce vast good. He incidentally answered the usual arguments against suffrage, and affirmed that those who possess neither the power of wealth nor of knowledge wherewith to protect themselves, most need political power for that purpose. He remarked that the competition for votes among politicians was a tremendous educating force, and that laws would not be certain of enforcement unless those for whose benefit they were made were clothed with power to compel such enforcement.

Mrs. Mary T. Corner presented a number of points as to the laws of the district relating to women, of some of which Judge Welker took notes with a view to their speedy investigation by the committee. As to suffrage, she pointed out that women do not come under the head of paupers, minors, felons, rebels, idiots or aliens, and that the reasons existing for the disfranchisement of such persons do not apply to native-born, loyal women. She showed that women are not represented in the government of the district, though taxed by it, and by law cannot properly protect themselves, their children, or their property, nor hold municipal office, however fit. A wife cannot hold property in the district except by proxy. Women understand their needs and condition better than men, and should be free to regulate them. The swarms of foreigners who are freely admitted to the polls know less of our institutions than the masses of our women. Women have voted and held the highest offices in other countries with great success. Are our women less capable than these? At the conclusion Mrs. Corner returned thanks to the committee for their attention; and the latter, without expressing an opinion on the matter, complimented the speakers on the ability and eloquence with which their views had been presented. It was also stated that a large number of petitions would be presented in support of the bill. The committee expressed themselves as unable, by reason of the lateness of the session and the pressure of other business, to promise an early report. The interview lasted about an hour, and was very cordial and pleasant on both sides.

September 25, 1868, the Universal Franchise Association held its first annual meeting[526] at Union League Hall, Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing presiding. A letter was read from Senator Pomeroy, stating that he was willing to act as president of the society. In closing he said:

I trust the friends will unite in one association. We have but one object in view, and should all labor together to accomplish this end, viz.: the enfranchisement of every citizen, with no partiality for race or sex. The American citizen is the only safe depository for the ballot, and the only safeguard for individual and national liberty. Let us labor to realize, even in our day and time, this true type of republican government. The rights and safety of individuals and of the nation demand it.

In 1869, the executive committee passed a resolution to expend the money that had been accumulated at the meetings of the association in a series of lectures for the purpose of enlightening the public mind upon the question of equal political rights for women. Among the speakers engaged were Anna Dickinson, Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, D. R. Locke (Nasby), Theodore Tilton. From that time the women of the district were permitted to speak their minds freely.

In the House of Representatives, March 21, 1870, Mr. Arnell, on leave, introduced the following bill:

A bill to do justice to the female employees of the Government, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter all clerks and other employes in the civil service of the United States shall be paid, irrespective of sex, with reference to the character and amount of services performed by them.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, in the employment of labor, clerical or other, in any branch of the civil service of the United States, no discrimination shall be made in favor of either sex.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That where examinations of candidates for positions in the civil service of the United States are prescribed by law, or by the heads of departments, bureaus, or offices, said examinations shall be of the same character for persons of both sexes.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the designations, chief clerk, chief or head of division, chief or head of section, clerk of the fourth class, clerk of the third class, clerk of the second class, clerk of the first class, copyist, messenger, laborer, and all other designations of employes, in existing acts of Congress, or in use in any branch of the civil service of the United States, shall be held, hereafter to apply to women as well as to men; and that women shall be regarded equally eligible with men to perform the duties of the afore-designated clerks and employes, and shall receive the compensation therefor prescribed by law.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That this act shall not be so construed as to require the displacement of any person now employed, but shall apply to all vacancies hereafter occurring, for any cause.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts, in conflict with any of the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, expressly repealed.

Thousands of petitions for this bill were circulated. Mrs. Lockwood went to New York, and secured seven hundred signatures, visiting both of the suffrage conventions then in session in that city, the National and the American. The bill was shortly afterward passed in a modified form, and has ever since been in force in all of the government departments.

In February, 1871, congress passed the organic act for the district, making of it a territory and granting suffrage to the male members of the commonwealth. There was also granted under this bill a right to a delegate in congress. In the meetings which followed for the nomination of delegates a number of women took part. Mrs. Lockwood often broke the monotony with a short speech, and on one occasion only lacked one vote of an election to the general convention for the nomination of a delegate to congress.

The women of the district were not permitted to vote under the organic act, but soon after the organization of its legislature, bills to provide for this were introduced into both Houses. Mrs. Lockwood prepared an exhaustive address upon these pending bills, and was granted a hearing before both Houses of the legislature, but they were finally lost. In 1875 congress withdrew the legislative power from the people of the District of Columbia.

It was also in 1871 that the National University Law School, then principally under the control of Prof. Wm. B. Wedgewood, organized a law class for women, in which fifteen matriculated. Mrs. Lockwood had been denied admission the previous year to the law class of Columbia College for the reason, as given by the trustees, "that it would distract the attention of the young men." About this time a young colored woman, Charlotte Ray of New York, was graduated from the law class of Howard University and admitted to the bar with the class. Of the fifteen women who entered the National University only two completed the course, viz., Lydia S. Hall, and Belva A. Lockwood. The former never received her diploma. The latter, after an appeal to President Grant, received her diploma, and was admitted to the district bar, September 23, 1873. Since that period Emma M. Gillett, Marilla M. Ricker, and Laura DeForce Gordon have been admitted to the district bar, and there seems to be no longer any hindrance to such admissions. The above-named have all appeared in court, and a number of other ladies have been graduated in the district. Women have also been appointed notaries public, and examiners in chancery.

In the profession of medicine there has been more liberality. Dr. Susan A. Edson and Dr. Caroline B. Winslow have been in full practice here since the close of the war. Dr. Mary Parsons and Dr. Cora M. Bland and others, are practicing with marked success. Last year there were fourteen women duly registered with the health department, and they all seem to be in good standing. Howard University has admitted women to its medical classes for some years, and both white and colored women have availed themselves of the privilege. Last year Columbia College opened its doors in the medical department, with a suggestion that the classes in law and theology may soon be opened also.

Many women in the district within the last few years have entered into business for themselves, as they are now permitted to do under the law of 1869, and are milliners, merchants, market-women, hucksters. In the art of nursing, which has been reduced to a science, they have free course.

In 1871, a large number of ladies tried to register in the city of Washington. They marched in solid phalanx some seventy[527] strong to the registrar's office, but were repulsed. They tried afterwards to vote, but were refused, whereupon Mrs. Spencer sued the inspectors, and Mrs. Webster sued the registrars, so testing their rights in two suits in the Supreme Court of the District.[528]

In 1866 Jane G. Swisshelm commenced the publication of a liberal sheet in the District of Columbia, known as The Wasp. This was the continuation of a paper formerly published by her in Pittsburg, Pa., and in St. Cloud, Minn., called The Visitor. Many other papers by women have been since published in the District. Perhaps the most voluminous author in this country is Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, who has written a volume for each year of her life, and is now sixty-five years of age. Her authorship has been confined to romances, which have been very popular. A large proportion of the teachers of the public schools in the District are women, some of them of very marked culture. Many of the most noted and successful private schools, some with collegiate courses, are conducted by women. Among these, Mrs. Margaret Harover who taught in the District during the war, is worthy of mention, also Mrs. Ellen M. O'Connor, president of the Miner school. Mrs. Sarah J. Spencer, as associate principal of the Spencerian business college whence large classes of young women have been graduated for many years past, is deservedly popular. She was at one time prominent in the woman suffrage movement, acting as corresponding secretary of the National Association. She is now engaged in one of the large charity organizations of the city. Many colored women who have been graduated from Howard University, have become quite successful as teachers, and some have studied medicine. All of the copyists in the office of registrar of deeds are women. A goodly number are short-hand reporters for the courts, among whom Miss Camp, daughter of the assistant clerk, is notably skillful.

The number of women who hold property in the District is large and rapidly increasing. A woman may now enter into almost any honorable profession that she chooses, and maintain her respectability. All of the professions are open to her, and the sphere of trades is rapidly widening. The progress made in this regard in the last quarter of a century amounts almost to a revolution. The first women ever admitted to the reporter's gallery of the Senate and House were Abigail Dodge (Gail Hamilton), and Helen M. Barnard, both political writers of great power; the former as a reporter for the New York Times, and the latter for the New York Herald. Mrs. Barnard, during Grant's administration, was sent as commissioner of immigration to Liverpool, visiting England, Ireland and Scotland. Returning in the steerage of an ocean steamer, she gave one of the finest reports ever made upon this question. This resulted in the passage by the legislature of New York of a bill for the better protection of emigrants on shipboard, and the appointment by the United States government of an inspector of immigration for every out-going steamer.

Women were first appointed as clerks in the government departments in 1861 by Secretary Chase, at the earnest solicitation of Treasurer Spinner. They were employed at temporary work at $50 a month—one-half the lowest price paid to any male clerk—until they were recognized by an act of congress in which their salary was fixed at $900 a year, in the general appropriation bill of July 23, 1866. The men doing the same work were of four classes, receiving, respectively, $1,000, $1,400, $1,600, $1,800. Treasurer Spinner, in his report of October, 1866, said:

The experiment of employing females as clerks has been, so far as this office is concerned, a success. For many kinds of office-work, like the manipulation and counting of fractional currency, they excel, and in my opinion are to be preferred to males. There is, however, quite as much difference in point of ability between female clerks as there is between the several classes of male clerks, whose equals some of them are. Some are able to accomplish twice as much as others, and with greater accuracy. So, too, some of them incur great risks, being responsible for making mistakes in count, and for counterfeits overlooked. Such should, by every consideration of justice and fair dealing, be paid according to their merits, and the risks and liabilities they incur.

And in 1868, Mr. Spinner urged the committee of which Mr. Fessenden of Maine was the chairman, to so amend the bill providing for the reorganization of the treasury department as to increase the salary of the female clerks who have the handling of money, stating that cases had occurred in which women had lost more than half their monthly pay by reason of being short in count, or of allowing counterfeit notes to pass their hands.

Secretary M'Cullough asserted that women performed their clerical duties as creditably as men, and stated that he had three ladies who performed as much labor, and did it as well as any three male clerks receiving $1,800 a year. It is now a quarter of a century that women have served the government in these responsible positions, and still, with but few exceptions, they receive only the allotted $900. Mrs. Fitzgerald, the expert in the redemption bureau of the treasury, who has for fifteen years deciphered defaced currency, in which no man has ever yet proved her equal, receives $1,400. In 1886 she subjected herself to an examination for an increase to $1,600, but, failing to answer some questions foreign to her art, she was compelled to content herself with the former salary.

II.—MARYLAND.

The Revolution of February 26, 1868, shows an effort in the direction of progress on this question in Maryland. A correspondent says:

Notwithstanding the present ascendancy of conservatism in Maryland, the progressive element is not wholly annihilated; in proof of which, we send information of the working of this leaven, as developed in an association lately organized in the city of Baltimore, under the name of the "Maryland Equal Rights Society." For nearly a year past it has been in contemplation to form a society based upon the principle of equal chance to all human kind, irrespective of sex or color, through the mediumship of the elective franchise. The first public meeting of the friends of the movement was held on the afternoon of November 12, 1867, at the Douglass Institute, at which twelve persons, white and colored, were present. Some steps were taken towards organization in the framing and adopting of a constitution based upon the principle afore-mentioned; but further business was deferred in hope of securing a larger attendance at a subsequent meeting. Two weeks later a second meeting was called, when the constitution was signed by fourteen persons, ten of whom were white and four colored. Officers were chosen, consisting of a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a treasurer, together with eight other members to act as an executive committee. The last meeting, held January 29, was attended by Alfred H. Love and Rachel Love of Philadelphia. To Mr. Love the society is indebted for many valuable suggestions as to the best means of becoming an effective co-worker in the cause of human progress.

Our colored friends, who have control of the Douglass Institute, have testified their good will toward the movement in giving the society the use of an apartment in the building, free of charge. This is the one instance in which we have met with encouragement in our own community. We have sought it in high places, among those we supposed to be friends, and found it not. It appears to be the nature of fine linen to dread the mud splashes of the pioneer's spade and pick-ax, and for silk and broadcloth to shrink from contact with the briers of an uncleared thicket; hence our sole recourse is to appeal to those only who are dressed for the service. We are conscious that we have entered upon no easy task; but, ashamed of having so long left our Northern sisters to toil and endure alone in a cause which is not one of section but of humanity, we come forward at last to assume our share of the hardship, trusting that what we have lost in our tardiness may be made up in earnestness and activity.

From various papers we clip the following items:

At the election in Baltimore, January 20, 1870, there were three women who applied to be registered as voters at the third-ward registry office. Their names were Mrs. L. C. Dundore, Mrs. A. M. Gardner and Miss E. M. Harris. Their cases were held under advisement by the register.——In 1871, a Maryland young lady, Miss Middlebrook, raised over 5,000 heads of cabbage. On Christmas, she sold in the Baltimore market 500 pounds of turkey at 20 cents per pound.——Mrs. H. B. Conway of Frederick county, has established a reputation as a contractor for "fills" and "cuts." She has filled several contracts in Pennsylvania, been awarded a $100,000 job on the Western Maryland railroad, and now, 1885, is engaged in the work of excavating a tract in Baltimore for building-sites.

Miss R. Muller has for several years been engaged as subscription and general correspondence clerk for the Baltimore Daily American. She was the first woman to be employed in that city on newspaper work during the present century. In the chapter on newspapers it will be seen that Anna R. Green established the first newspaper in the Maryland colony one hundred and nineteen years ago, doing the colony printing; and that Mary R. Goddard not only published a paper, writing able editorials, but was also the first postmaster after the revolution. And from the following item it would seem that the first woman to claim her right to vote must be credited to Maryland:

At the regular meeting of the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore, December, 1885, Hon. J. L. Thomas read a paper on "Margaret Brent, the first woman in America to claim the right to vote." She lived at St. Mary's city on the river of the same name two hundred and forty years ago, and was related to Lord Baltimore. She was the heir of Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's brother and agent, and as such she claimed not only control of all rents, etc., of Lord Baltimore, but also the right to two votes in the assembly as the representative of both Calvert and Baltimore. The first claim the courts upheld, but the second was rejected.

On March 20, 1872, Hon. Stevenson Archer made an exhaustive speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, entitled, "Woman Suffrage not to be tolerated, although advocated by the Republican candidate for vice-presidency." The speech was against Senator Wilson's bill to enfranchise the women of the territories. The honorable representative from Maryland may have been moved to enter his protest against woman's enfranchisement by the fact that the women of his State had in convention assembled early in the same month made a public demand for their political rights:

The Havre de Grace Republican says that the convention of the Maryland Equal Rights Association, held in Raine's Hall, Baltimore, last week, was a grand success. Mrs. Lavina C. Dundore, president of the association, presided over the convention with dignity and grace. Many prominent and able champions of the cause were present and delivered eloquent and telling addresses in favor of woman's enfranchisement, which were listened to with marked attention by the large audiences in attendance. The friends of the cause in Maryland feel much gratified at this exhibition of the rapidly increasing interest in the movement.

Meetings had been held in Baltimore during the years of 1870-71, and lectures given by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony, and others.

Charlotte Richmond of Baltimore writes the Woman's Journal, April 22, 1873:

The American Journal of Dental Science makes the following statement: "The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, having had the honor of conferring the first degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in the world, has also graduated the first woman who ever received a diploma in medicine or dentistry in Baltimore, in the person of Miss Emilie Foeking of Prussia, who, after attending two full courses of lectures and demonstrations, passed a very creditable final examination. Miss Foeking conformed to all the rules and regulations of the college during the two sessions that she was a student; no favor whatever as to requirement being asked for on her part, or extended to her by the faculty, on account of sex. She has fairly earned her degree by proficiency and earnest application. After a short time Miss Foeking will return to Berlin, where she intends to locate. That she will succeed in establishing a large and lucrative practice, there is no doubt, as she is well qualified professionally, and is in manner so perfect a lady as to command the respect of all who know her."

You will see by this extract from one of our medical journals, that a lady has been graduated from our dental college. I hope she has left the doors open, so that some of our own countrywomen may enter and acquit themselves as honorably, but without the difficulties which she has been compelled to encounter. You are aware of the proceedings of the Philadelphia college in regard to female students. Our Baltimore dentist, for we feel proud to claim her as ours, although admitted in the college, still had all the prejudices to meet in the minds of the people, but they were too courteous and hospitable to act upon those feelings so far as to turn her from their doors. She was brave and did not surrender; not even when her sensitive woman's heart was wounded and humiliated by the little acts done heedlessly under the impression that a woman had stepped out of her sphere and was taking upon herself a vocation belonging exclusively to men. She is naturally sincere, modest and dignified. With these lady-like qualifications, together with ability and perseverance, she has won the honor and esteem of the faculty and the students.

I wish that Prussia could have witnessed the success of her daughter on the night of commencement—the wreaths of laurel, and the incessant applause while she was on the stage. I, for one, felt quite proud to see my city acknowledge the foreign lady-student so gracefully. She is already practicing to some extent, and in every case gives the most entire satisfaction. I trust there will be no more college doors closed against our sex, for the reason that the male students do not want us. Let the professors and trustees be just. We have proved that a true lady is no disadvantage in a college with male students. I think the way is now clear for women to enter upon the dental profession. Miss Foeking has proved that a woman can be successful when she undertakes an honorable profession.



For the facts in regard to the Baltimore Dental College we are indebted to the dean of the faculty:

BALTIMORE COLLEGE OF DENTAL SURGERY, Jan. 2, 1886.

MISS SUSAN B. ANTHONY—Dear Miss: Your letter of 27th of last month came safely to hand. In reply I will say that only two members of the fair sex have been graduated with us. Miss Emilie Foeking of Prussia, whose present address I do not know, and Miss Pauline Boeck of Germany, who has since died. Miss Foeking was graduated in 1873, and Miss Boeck in 1877. I have learned that both of these young ladies were attentive and energetic in the pursuit of their studies, and were graduated with credit to themselves. We have the "Woman's Medical College," from which quite a number of young women have been graduated. For information in regard to this institution I would refer you to its dean, Prof. Wm. D. Booker, 157 Park avenue.

Very truly yours, R. B. WINDER.

III.—DELAWARE.

Mary A. Stuart is the active representative of the movement for woman suffrage in Delaware. From year to year she has written and contributed to our National conventions in Washington, and has been among the delegates on several occasions to address congressional committees. In her report she says:

My father was the first man in the State Senate to propose the repeal of some of our oppressive laws, and succeeded in having the law giving all real estate to the eldest male heir repealed. The law of 1871 gave a married woman the right to make a will, provided her husband gave his written consent, with the names of two respectable witnesses thereunto attached. In 1873 the law was repealed, and another act passed giving married women the right to make a will, buy property and hold it exempt from the husband's debts, but this law does not affect his tenancy by courtesy.