The History of Woman Suffrage Volume II Part 116

Wilson, in a wide-awake lively speech, advised women to try a new method, and starve out the men who would not concede their rights. He said, "Give them no coffee for breakfast, nor steak for dinner, and nothing good for supper until they put the ballot in your hands." He gave deserved blame to women for not being more active in their own behalf. This breezy speech was often applauded, and good-natured criticism followed, putting the heaviest duty on the shoulders of men who have the power to free women, but still do not do it. The last speech of the evening was made by Lucy Stone, who showed the dreary helplessness implied in disfranchis.e.m.e.nt, and who sought to arouse women to a proper resentment against such degradation of position. Then was sung, "Praise G.o.d, from whom all blessings flow," and thus closed the tenth annual meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.

The Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation held its sessions in 1880 at Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

Delegates were present from Ma.s.sachusetts, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa. A large and intelligent audience nearly filled the body and galleries of the large hall. The meeting was called to order by the President, HENRY B. BLACKWELL, who said: Fellow-citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Annual Meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation is not a mere ma.s.s meeting of individuals. It is a body of delegates from State and local societies a.s.sembled in a representative capacity, and as such I welcome you to-night. We meet for the first time in this capital city of the republic, to promote a great social and political change. We propose to subst.i.tute for the existing political aristocracy of men alone, a government founded upon the united suffrages of men and women. We urge the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women, not in a spirit of antagonism between man and woman, but as the common interest of both. We urge the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of woman as an act of political justice, and also as a measure of the highest expediency. Women need the ballot for their own protection and self-respect. Men equally need the votes of women as an added power for order, temperance, purity, and peace.

Mr. BLACKWELL read a dispatch from Gov. Hoyt, of Wyoming Territory:

GREEN RIVER, W. T., Dec. 15, 1880.

_To the Committee on Woman Suffrage_:--Your kind invitation was delayed, so that my acceptance is impossible.

Understand, however, that I fully recognize the justice of the cause you represent, and wish you and your co-laborers G.o.d-speed in the great work of its furtherance.

JOHN W. HOYT.

Mrs. LUCY STONE was the last speaker. She spoke with a quiet earnestness that showed the depth of her convictions, and how greatly her heart was in her work. Her address was an entirely argumentative one, abundant ill.u.s.trations being used to clinch her statements. She said that she felt keenly the degradation of being disfranchised. To bring about a change in the present state of affairs, she would have every mother impress upon her children, when they were as young as nine years of age, that women have as much right to govern as their fathers; then the boys would grow up on the side of their mothers and the girls would become advocates of the cause. Personally she cared more for woman suffrage than anything else under the sun. In conclusion, she urged the people of Was.h.i.+ngton to help them in obtaining from Congress a XVI. Amendment to the Const.i.tution, giving women the right to vote, and for the enactment of a law giving women suffrage in the Territories.

The following letter was read:

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, Dec. 5, 1880.

MY DEAR MRS. HOWE:--My time is to be so crowded with occupations for the next ten days that I must decline your courteous invitation to speak at the annual meeting of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.

I shall be very glad to take some fitting opportunity publicly to reaffirm my conviction, which grows stronger with every year's experience, that the admission of woman to her full and equal share in the Government is essential to a perfect republic.

I am, yours very truly, GEO. F. h.o.a.r.

Letters were read from W. G. Elliot, President of the University of Missouri, Lorepiza Haynes, Frances D. Gage, Emma C. Bascom, Mrs. Mary F. Henderson, and George B. Loring.

Mrs. HELEN M. GOUGAR, of Lafayette, Ind., read a carefully prepared statement of objections, and answered them with force and spirit. Her address was happily conceived and gracefully delivered. Her voice is a clear soprano, distinct, well modulated, with not a little melody in its pure, soft tones.

Miss EASTMAN read a form of memorial which had been prepared to be presented to Congress to-day. It was adopted.

Miss GREW moved that the President of the a.s.sociation be requested to take steps to present it at once. Adopted.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress a.s.sembled:_--The American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation at its annual meeting of delegates, convened in Was.h.i.+ngton, Dec.

16, 1880, respectfully pray your honorable bodies to enact a law securing to women, citizens of the United States, resident in the Territories, the same political rights as are exercised by the male citizens of the United States resident therein.

(Signed) H. B. BLACKWELL, _President_.

LUCY STONE, _Chairman Ex. Com._ MATILDA HINDMAN, _Secretary_.

(The names of the Executive Committee, thirty in number, were also added).

Mrs. LUCY STONE, chairman of the Executive Committee, read the tenth annual report of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.

After which reports from the different States were given. At the afternoon session, after a statement by Mrs. STONE, in regard to the finances of the meeting, an invitation was extended to become members of the a.s.sociation by the payment of $1. Mrs. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, of Somerville, N. J., made an address upon the right and necessity of granting woman suffrage. Mrs. Blackwell read from her ma.n.u.script, and made a quiet but effective appeal for the cause.

Miss MARY GREW, of Pennsylvania, was the next speaker. She maintained that the chief reason women were disfranchised was that men did not think about it, and the women did not either.

She urged her hearers hereafter to think about it. This right should be conferred on women in accordance with the principles of this Government. But it is asked: What do you want of the ballot?

And the speaker said that she wanted it to do with it the same as men did, and for the protection of her rights and those of other women. She could not say how women would vote if they got the ballot, but she supposed they would use it much as other citizens had done.

At the evening session, before the regular programme of speeches was begun, the resolutions[206] were read and adopted.

As the last resolution was put, Mrs. Lucy Stone arose and paid very graceful and eloquent tributes to the memories of Lucretia Mott, Mrs. Child, and Mr. Nathaniel White.

Marshal DOUGLa.s.s was then introduced, and said he was not there to make a speech, but to show his sympathy with the cause. He was so entirely in love with it that he thought it deserved the highest eloquence and the profoundest earnestness it could command to advance it. He knew of no reason why a man should vote and a woman not. The republic needed the good qualities of its citizens to help it, and recognizing the intelligence and heart of women he was in favor of opening every avenue by which their moral worth could be utilized for the benefit of the country. It was an injury to keep any person in this country from the ballot when suffrage was universal. It was a degradation. If you want to keep a man out of the mud, black his boots. If you want to develop woman's best qualities, give her the ballot.

Mrs. MARY E. HAGGART, of Indiana, followed with a bold and brilliant argument, presenting the claims of her s.e.x to the ballot.

Mrs. MARY A. LIVERMORE asked how it was that women to-day are exposed to a hotter fire than ever before. Women are not as much toasted at banquets or flattered with extravagant compliments as a few years ago. She warned her hearers that if woman continued to make of herself a peg to hang millinery goods on, she would be riddled with the shafts of ridicule. If she entered the sphere of man, and sought, by the cultivation of her intellect, to elevate both herself and man, she would equally expose herself to satire.

The times were different now from the past. The question of woman suffrage in one form or another was constantly coming up everywhere.

Officers[207] were elected for the ensuing year.

Mrs. LIVERMORE said, as this was a political meeting of men and women, she hoped it would be closed after the usual fas.h.i.+on, by singing the doxology. The whole audience rose and sang it, and the Convention adjourned.

A memorial, signed by the officers of the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, asking Congress to establish suffrage for women in the Territories, was presented to the Senate by Hon. George F.

h.o.a.r, and referred to the Committee on Territories, which was to give a hearing to a committee from the Suffrage a.s.sociation. But no quorum of the Senate Committee came together, and the opportunity was lost.

On Friday afternoon Mrs. Hayes received the members of the Suffrage a.s.sociation with a cordiality and grace most becoming to her, and most delightful to us; our hearty sympathy with her good stand for temperance opened the way for conversation, and a very pleasant two hours were spent at the White House. Mrs. Hayes took us through the large conservatories, which, she said, had few flowers, as she "had most of them cut off for the Children's Hospital Fair." But there were a great many rare and beautiful flowers remaining. She cut and distributed some among us, and showed us the private family rooms, the new china ordered for the White House, and the writing desk made from the wreck of the s.h.i.+p that went in search of Sir John Franklin, which was presented by Queen Victoria to the President of the United States. In numberless ways she showed herself a fine hostess, as well as an accomplished lady. When at last we separated it was to carry away the memory of this pleasant visit, and of an excellent meeting.

Nothing could have been finer than the reception given by Louisville to the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, which met in that city October, 1881. The need of extending the outposts, and of winning new friends to the cause, had decided the executive committee of the a.s.sociation to hold its Twelfth Annual Meeting in Louisville. It was an experiment which the result more than justified. Success was due in a great degree to the fairness and friendliness of the press. Mr. Watterson, of the _Courier-Journal_, said in advance that his paper would give full and accurate reports. Mr. Clark, of the _Commercial_, personally expressed his purpose to deal justly by the proceedings of the meetings. This was all that was needed. Any true statement of the claim of suffragists is sure to command the respect of right minded people.

The first session was for business. It was thinly attended by the citizens of Louisville, there being not more than a hundred and fifty or two hundred people present. But each succeeding session increased in numbers until on the last evening, the Grand Opera House had not seats to hold the great and sympathetic audience, which completely filled the body and galleries of the house, and left rows of men and women standing all around against the walls.

The _Courier-Journal_ gave nine columns of verbatim report of the first day and evening, together with philosophic and friendly editorials. The _Commercial_, not so large in size, and hence with less s.p.a.ce to use, yet did editorially and by its reports excellent service, by giving to its readers a true idea of the work which was sought to be done.

Delegates had come with encouraging reports in most cases, of the work in twelve States by auxiliary societies. Local societies in towns sent letters, and letters from individuals--a very large number--came to hand, all showing how widely woman suffrage ideas are spreading, and how earnestly its advocates strive to advance their cause. All these reports the Louisville _Courier-Journal_ published entire, together with the letters of Gov. Long, Gov.

St. John, John G. Whittier, Wendell Phillips, President Bascom, President Eliot, and others, along with full reports of each session to the last, and crowned the whole by friendly editorials the morning after the close of the meetings.

Col. J. W. Ward, of Louisville, had kindly attended to preliminary arrangements, seconded by Mrs. Sylvia G.o.ddard and Mrs. Col. Carr. At the opening session, Col. Ward called the meeting to order, and introduced Dr. Mary F. Thomas, of Indiana, the President of the a.s.sociation. Rev. Mr. Jones opened the meeting with prayer. The speaking was excellent; the tone of the meeting just what we should desire. Col. Ward, Mrs. Mary B. Clay, and Miss Laura Clay, daughters of Ca.s.sius M. Clay, took part. The two first-named arraigned the laws of Kentucky for their injustice to women. The old Common Law to a great extent prevails there still. Dr. T. S. Bell, one of the oldest and most justly celebrated physicians of Louisville, sat on the platform, supporting the cause by his presence. People from New Albany and Evansville, Indiana, crossed the river to attend the sessions.

Lawyers, physicians, clergymen, the educated, the wealthy and the plain people made up the audiences which crowded the Opera House, where the earlier and the later advocates of this sacred cause united to forward it in this new field. At the last of the six sessions, Rev. Mr. As.h.i.+ll, in a brief speech, indorsed our principles, and after prayer by Rev. Mr. Fyler, and the singing of the doxology, the meeting, which had been one of the most successful ever held, adjourned, having elected for its president next year, Hon. Erasmus M. Correll, of Nebraska, who so n.o.bly championed the suffrage amendment in the State Legislature last winter, and who now, by speech and pen, devotes himself to secure its final success.

The seed sown had fallen on good ground--as appears in the fact that at the last session an invitation was given to all who desired to form a woman suffrage society to meet in adjoining rooms the next morning at nine o'clock. At the appointed time, a fine group of men and women came together, who proceeded at once to the organization of a "Kentucky Woman Suffrage Society." A const.i.tution was adopted, which was subscribed to by every person present, with a dollar members.h.i.+p. Miss Mary B. Clay was chosen president, and the society made auxiliary to the American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation. The formation of this strong and live society is of great value, as the organized beginning of the movement at the South.

The citizens and public inst.i.tutions of Louisville extended unsolicited courtesy to the members of the a.s.sociation, who were officially invited to the Home for the Widows and Orphans of Masons, the only home of the kind in the United States; to the House of Refuge; to the Hospital for Women and Children; and to the High School. Not the least pleasant thing was an interview with Henry Watterson, the morning after the close of the meetings. His friendly att.i.tude, his comprehensive view of the whole situation and question, with his position of large influence as editor of the _Courier-Journal_, made even those who have grown old in the service of this cause hopeful of living to see it victorious. Another mile stone is pa.s.sed, and the end of this long bloodless strife comes daily nearer. Let us thank G.o.d and take courage.

FOOTNOTES:

[179] The history of this a.s.sociation from its formation is compiled by Harriot E. Stanton, from reports in _The Agitator_ and _Woman's Journal._

[180] Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, of Chicago; Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, of Boston; A. J. Boyer, of Dayton; Mrs. H. T. Hazard, of Missouri; Mrs. C. G. Ames, of California; and H. B. Blackwell, of New Jersey.

[181] Mrs. Frances D. Gage, of N. J.; George W. Curtis, of N. Y.; George F. Downing, of the District of Columbia; Rev. Henry Blanchard, of Indianapolis; William Lloyd Garrison, of Boston; Mattie M.

Griffith, of Iowa; Rev. R. Fisk, Canton, N. Y.; A. N. Fretz, of Virginia; Rev. Edward Eggleston, of Chicago; Hon. Sharon Tyndale, and Hon. George Fisher, of Illinois.

[182] New Hamps.h.i.+re--Nathaniel White, Armenia S. White, Miss Dr. Hunt, of Concord; Miss H. A. Simons, of Manchester. Ma.s.sachusetts--Julia Ward Howe, Rev. Rowland Connor, Boston; Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, T.