History of Woman Suffrage Volume II Part 103

_First Judge._ Women are voters but they can't vote. Voting is a privilege and not a natural right, and must be conferred; it has clearly been conferred by the supreme law of the land, therefore women can not vote. A little voting is a good thing, but too much voting is injurious to public interests, as is instanced in our large cities. If women vote, there would be more voting than at present, consequently women are not ent.i.tled to vote. The Const.i.tution gives women the right to vote. The organic law of the district does not. The latter, of course, is void where it conflicts with the former, therefore can not women vote. Congress has clearly recognized woman's right to the ballot, wily or nily. But the ballot must come to the woman, not she to the ballot, or else the law is violated. Congress must go further, and point out to women how the ballot must come to her, or else will she not be given Christian reception at the polls who willfully seek to vote thereat. Therefore can not women vote.

_Second Judge._ Women are men, but men are not women. The former include the latter, but the latter won't be included. That is to say, the law regards men as women but not males as females. It is not every right which can be exercised, as society will not admit of it. The law, which is above society, says women shall vote, but society has not acceded, and hence this court can not interfere. Therefore, I concur that women can not vote.

_Third Judge._ I do not know but that the better way would have been for Congress to have done otherwise than it did. Why it did as it did is a question. But it did. It might have done more, or less, or both.

It might have done otherwise. In either case it would have done so.

And then it would have been. But as it is, it is perhaps as well as if it should have been. Therefore can not women vote.

_Plaintiffs' Attorneys._ But is this law?

_The Three Judges._ Verily is't the law of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

This parody was written by J. W. Knowlton, son-in-law of Mr. Riddle.

[167] A report of this trial will be found in the California chapter.

[168] WHEREAS, Complaint has this day been made by ---- on oath before me, William C. Storrs, commissioner, charging that Susan B. Anthony, on or about the fifth day of November, 1872, at the city of Rochester, N. Y., at an election held in the eighth ward of the city of Rochester aforesaid, for a representative in the Congress of the United States, did then and there vote for representative in Congress in the United States, without having a lawful right to vote and in violation of Section 19 of an act of Congress approved May 31, 1870, ent.i.tled "An act to enforce the right of citizens of the United States to vote in the several States of this Union and for other purposes."

[169] The following ladies voted: Mrs. Hannah Anthony Mosher, Mrs.

Mary S. Hebard, Mrs. Nancy M. Chapman, Mrs. Jane M. Cogswell, Mrs Martha N. French, Mrs. Margaret Leyden, Mrs. Lottie Bolles Anthony, Mrs. Hannah Chatfield, Mrs. Susan M. Hough, Mrs. Sarah Truesdale, Mrs.

Mary Pulver, Mrs. Rhoda De Garmo, Mrs. Guelma Anthony McLean, Miss Mary S. Anthony, Miss Ellen T. Baker. The following ladies registered but were not allowed to vote: Mrs. Amy Post, Mrs. Mary Fish Curtis, Mrs. Dr. Dutton, Mrs. Charlotte Wilbur Griffing, Mrs. Dr. Wheeler, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Lathrop.

[170] Ex-President Fillmore, Hon. Charles Sedgwick, Hon. E. G. Lapham, David Wright, Esq., of Auburn.

[171] INDICTMENT AGAINST SUSAN B. ANTHONY--DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN AND FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK.--At a stated session of the District Court of the United States of America, held in and for the Northern District of New York, at the City Hall, in the city of Albany, in the said Northern District of New York, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, before the Honorable Nathan K. Hall, Judge of the said Court, a.s.signed to keep the peace of the said United States of America, in and for the said District, and also to hear and determine divers Felonies, Misdemeanors and other offenses against the said United States of America, in the said District committed. Brace Millerd, James D. Wa.s.son, Peter H. Bradt, James McGinty, Henry A. Davis, Loring W. Osborn, Thomas Whitbeck, John Mullen, Samuel G. Harris, Ralph Davis, Matthew Fanning, Abram Kimmey, Derrick B. Van Schoonhoven, Wilhelmus Van Natten, James Kenney, Adam Winne, James Goold, Samuel S. Fowler, Peter D. R. Johnson, Patrick Carroll, good and lawful men of the said District, then and there sworn and charged to inquire for the said United States of America, and the body of said District, do, upon their oaths, present, that Susan B. Anthony now or late of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, with force and arms, etc., to wit: at and in the first election district of the eighth ward of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, in said Northern District of New York, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, heretofore, to wit: on the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, at an election duly held at and in the first election district of the said eighth ward of the city of Rochester, in said county and in said Northern District of New York, which said election was for Representatives in the Congress of the United States, to wit: a Representative in the Congress of the United States for the State of New York at large, and a Representative in the Congress of the United States for the twenty-ninth Congressional District of the State of New York, said first election district of said eighth ward of said city of Rochester, being then and there a part of said twenty-ninth Congressional District of the State of New York, did knowingly, wrongfully, and unlawfully vote for a Representative in the Congress of the United States for the State of New York at large, and for a Representative in the Congress of the United States for said twenty-ninth Congressional District, without a lawful right to vote in said election district (the said Susan B. Anthony being then and there a person of the female s.e.x), as she, the said Susan B. Anthony then and there well knew, contrary to the form of the statute of the United States of America in such case made and provided, and against the peace of the United States of America and their dignity.

_Second Count_--And the jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do further present that said Susan B. Anthony, now or late of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, with force and arms, etc., to wit: at and in the first election district of the eighth ward of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, in said Northern District of New York, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, heretofore, to wit: on the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, at an election duly held at and in the first election district of the said eighth ward, of said city of Rochester, in said county, and in said Northern District of New York, which said election was for Representatives in the Congress of the United States, to wit: a Representative in the Congress of the United States for the State of New York at large, and a Representative in the Congress of the United States for the twenty-ninth Congressional District of the State of New York, said first election district of said eighth ward, of said city of Rochester, being then and there a part of said twenty-ninth Congressional District of the State of New York, did knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully vote for a candidate for Representative in the Congress of the United States for the State of New York at large, and for Representative in the Congress of the United States for said twenty-ninth Congressional District, without having a lawful right to vote in said election district (the said Susan B. Anthony being then and there a person of the female s.e.x), as she, the said Susan B. Anthony then and there well knew, contrary to the form of the statute of the United States of America in such case made and provided, and against the peace of the United States of America and their dignity.

RICHARD CROWLEY, _Attorney of the United States for the Northern District of New York._

(Endorsed). Jan. 24, 1873. RICHARD CROWLEY, Pleads not guilty. _U. S. Attorney_.

[172] See Appendix.

[173] See Appendix.

[174] Thousands of copies were published in pamphlet form, with the Court report of the trial, and circulated throughout the country.

[175] See Appendix.

[176] To the same effect see former decisions in Ma.s.sachusetts: Coffin _vs._ Coffin, 4 Ma.s.s., 25; Com. _vs._ Knapp, 10 Pic., 496; and see also State _vs._ Snow, 18 Maine, 346; Doss _vs._ Com., 1 Grattan, 557; Peo. _vs._ McFall, 1 Wheeler Crim. Rec., 108, note; Holder _vs._ The State, 5 Georgia, 443; State _vs._ Allen, 1 McCord, 525; State _vs._ Jones, 5 Alabama, 666; Armstrong _vs._ The State, 4 Blackford, 247; Patterson _vs._ The State, 2 English, 59.

[177] Gibbons _vs._ Ogden, 9th Wheaton, 221, Ch. J. Marshall. Ogden _vs._ Saunder, 12 Wheaton, 332, Ch. J. Marshall.

[178] More recent investigation shows that this clause was originated by Mr. Jefferson in 1784. See _The Nation_ for May 4, 1882, _and authorities there referred to_. See Bancroft's "History of the United States." Vol. II, p. 115.

CHAPTER XXVI.

AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE a.s.sOCIATION.

Circular Letter--Cleveland Convention--a.s.sociation Completed--Henry Ward Beecher, President--Convention in Steinway Hall, New York--George William Curtis Speaks--The First Annual Meeting held in Cleveland--Mrs. Tracy Cutler, President--Ma.s.s meeting in Steinway Hall, New York, 1871--State Action Recommended--Moses Coit Tyler Speaks--Ma.s.s Meetings in 1871 in Philadelphia, Was.h.i.+ngton, Baltimore, Pittsburgh--Memorial to Congress--Letters from William Lloyd Garrison and others--Hon. G.

F. h.o.a.r Advocates Woman Suffrage--Anniversary celebrated at St.

Louis--Dr. Stone, of Michigan--Thomas Wentworth Higginson, President, 1872--Convention in Cooper Inst.i.tute, New York--Two Hundred Young Women march in. Meeting in Plymouth Church--Letters from Louise May Alcott and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps--The Annual Meeting in Detroit--Julia Ward Howe, President--Letter from James T. Field--Mary F. Eastman Addresses the Convention. Bishop Gilbert Haven President for 1875--Convention Steinway Hall, New York--Hon. Charles Bradlaugh Speaks--Centennial Celebration, July 3d--Pet.i.tion to Congress for a XVI. Amendment--Conventions in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Was.h.i.+ngton, and Louisville.

It was during the summer of 1869 that the initiative steps in the formation of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation[179] were taken, and the following letter circulated:

BOSTON, August 5, 1869.

Many friends of the cause of woman suffrage desire that its interests may be promoted by the a.s.sembling and action of a convention devised on a truly National and representative basis for the organization of an American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.

Without depreciating the value of a.s.sociations already existing, it is yet deemed that an organization at once more comprehensive and more widely representative than any of these is urgently called for. In this view, the Executive Committee of the New England Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation has appointed the undersigned a Committee of Correspondence to confer by letter with the friends of woman suffrage throughout the country on the subject of the proposed convention.

We ask to hear from you in reply, at your earliest convenience.

Our present plan is that the authority of the convention shall be vested in delegates, to be chosen and accredited by the Woman Suffrage a.s.sociations existing, or about to be formed, in the several States of the Union. The number of delegates to be sent by each a.s.sociation and the precise time of the meeting of the convention can be determined as soon as we shall have received such answers to our present application as shall a.s.sure us of an active and generous co-operation in the measure proposed, on the part of the addressed.

LUCY STONE, CAROLINE M. SEVERANCE, T. W. HIGGINSON, JULIA WARD HOWE, GEO. H. VIBBERT.

Soon after, the following call was issued:

The undersigned, being convinced of the necessity for an American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, which shall embody the deliberate action of the State organizations, and shall carry with it their united weight, do hereby respectfully invite such organizations to be represented in a Delegate Convention, to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, November 24th and 25th, A.D., 1869.

The proposed basis of this Convention is as follows:

The delegates appointed by existing State organizations shall be admitted, provided their number does not exceed, in each case, that of the Congressional delegation of the State. Should it fall short of that number, additional delegates may be admitted from local organizations, or from no organization whatever, provided the applicants be actual residents of the States they represent.

But no votes shall be counted in the Convention except of those actually admitted as delegates. (Signed)

John Neal, Maine; Nathaniel White, Armenia S. White, William T. Savage, New Hamps.h.i.+re; James Hutchinson, Jr., Vermont; William Lloyd Garrison, Lydia Maria Child, David Lee Child, George F. h.o.a.r, Julia Ward Howe, Gilbert Haven, Caroline M.

Severance, James Freeman Clarke, Abby Kelly Foster, Stephen S. Foster, Frank B. Sanborn, Phebe A. Hanaford, Ma.s.sachusetts; Elizabeth B. Chase, T. W. Higginson, Rowland G. Hazard, Rhode Island; H. M. Rogers, Seth Rogers, Marianna Stanton, Connecticut; George William Curtis, Lydia Mott, Henry Ward Beecher, Frances D. Gage, Samuel J. May, Celia Burleigh, W. H. Burleigh, Aaron M. Powell, Anna C. Field, Gerrit Smith, E. S. Bunker, New York; Lucy Stone, Henry B.

Blackwell, John Gage, Portia Gage, Antoinette B. Blackwell, A. J. Davis, Mary F. Davis, New Jersey; Mary Grew, Pennsylvania; Thomas Garret, Fielder Israel, Delaware; Hannah M. Tracy Cutler, A. J. Boyer, Margaret V. Longley, J.

J. Belleville, Miriam M. Cole, S. Bolton, Ohio; Amanda Way, George W. Julian, Laura Giddings Julian, Lizzie M. Boynton, Indiana; Mary A. Livermore, C. B. Waite, Myra Bradwell, James B. Bradwell, Sharon Tyndale, J. P. Weston, Robert Collyer, Joseph Haven, Illinois; Moses Coit Tyler, James A.

B. Stone, Mrs. H. L. Stone, Michigan; Lilie Peckham, Augusta J. Chapin, Wisconsin; Amelia Bloomer, Iowa; Mrs. S. B.

Stearns, Minnesota; Charles Robinson, Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols, John Ekin, D.D., J. P. Root, Kansas; Mrs. W. T. Hazard, Isaac H. Sturgeon, Mrs. Beverly Allen, James E. Yeatman, Mary E. Beede, J. C. Orrick, Mrs. George D. Hall, Missouri; Guy W. Wines, Charles J. Woodbury, Tennessee; Mary Atkins Lynch, Louisiana; Elizabeth C. Wright, Texas; Grace Greenwood, Dist. Columbia; A. K. Safford, Arizona; J. A.

Brewster, California: Hon. G. C. Jones, Dowagiac, Hon.

William S. Farmer, Eau Claire, Hon. T. W. Ferry, of Grand Haven; Hon. S. H. Blackman, Paw Paw, Rev. J. Straub, Lansing, and S. H. Brigham, editor of the Lansing _Republican_, Michigan; Mrs. Austin Adams, and Edna T.

Snell, of Dubuque, Miss Mattie E. Griffiths, Prof. and Mrs.

Belle Mansfield, Mt. Pleasant, T. M. Mills, Ed. Des Moines _State Register_, Ex-Gov. and Mrs. B. F. Gue, and Hon. Mr.

and Mrs. Pomeroy, Ft. Dodge, Iowa; Mrs. J. C. Burbank, Mrs.

Smith (State Librarian), Rev. J. Marvin, and Capt. Russell Blakely, of St. Paul, Mrs. Elliott, of Minneapolis, Mr. and Mrs. A. Knight, of St. Peter, Minnesota; Rev. H. Eddy, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Mrs. E. O. G. Willard, of Chicago, Illinois.

The first American Woman Suffrage Convention a.s.sembled at Case Hall, Cleveland, O., on Wednesday morning, November 24th. The attendance from the city was very large; the vast hall being well filled, both floor and balcony. The Convention was called to order by Mrs. Lucy Stone. Twenty-one States were represented--eighteen by regularly accredited delegates; thus making it truly National. Great harmony pervaded all the deliberations of the Committees and the discussions of the Convention.

On motion of F. B. Sanborn, of Ma.s.sachusetts, Judge J. B.

Bradwell, of Chicago, was chosen temporary Chairman, and on motion of Mrs. Lucy Stone, Mrs. Mary F. Davis, of New Jersey, was elected temporary Secretary. Upon taking the chair, Judge Bradwell returned his thanks for the honor conferred upon him. It was unnecessary for him to speak at length in regard to the object of the meeting; it had been stated in the call read by Mrs. Stone. He said they were met for the formation of an American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, which shall be represented in every State of this great Nation; and not only every State, but every city, town, and county from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. On motion of Mr.

Sanborn a Committee on Credentials[180] was appointed by the President. All State delegations were requested to report their names to the Committee, and also to fill any vacancies which might exist, if persons were present from their respective States.