The History of Woman Suffrage Volume II Part 54

MY DEAR MRS. DAVIS AND MRS. STANTON:--Will you kindly let me answer both your notes together, and a.s.sure you how much I value the feeling which prompted you to write them. I shall not easily part with either of those letters, although pressure of work drives me to answer them in one, and say that I am utterly unable to respond to your wish that I should attend your Decade Meeting. Few things would give me such satisfaction as to find myself in America, especially after your n.o.ble invitations and promises of a cordial reception everywhere. But--and how many buts there are in life--I dare not leave my work at present in England. There are several very important movements just now resting almost entirely upon me, and having put my hand to the plow, I dare not look back. I am at present the only regular lecturer here on this subject, and I am full of engagements up to April next--north, south, east, and west--and the discussion society I have started in London is still too young to run alone, and yet promises such good things for the future, that I feel it ought to be carefully tended.

I can only add that I shall watch with great interest for the accounts of your meeting on the 19th. I long for the day when I can see you in the flesh--those with whose spirits I now ever hold communion. Excuse haste. I have just returned from the North, and find my table overwhelmed with invitations to lecture and appeals for help. The learned meetings and social discussions of the British a.s.sociations at Liverpool, and the Social Science Congress at Newcastle, have all been crowded into the last fortnight. Wis.h.i.+ng you and your n.o.ble workers G.o.d-speed, believe me,

Yours, most truly, EMILY FAITHFUL.

DEAR LADIES:--It would give me great pleasure to accept your kind invitation to be present at your meeting to-day, if it were possible, but it is not.

Go on with your great work; it is arduous, but it is sublime! You are doing good that you know not of in old Europe. You have taken the initiative, and she is following hard after. I wish to recommend to you the appeal of Mme.

Gasparin to the American women to join in her heart-cry for peace. Coming so recently as I have, from the seat of war--from Paris and from Rome--I can testify to the earnest, the beseeching appeal of European women to their sisters in America to give them help in this their hour of calamity and need--the help of sympathy, the succor of love!

The day before I left France, one of the n.o.blest of French women, Mademoiselle Daubie (the distinguished author of that remarkable work, "The Poor Women of the Nineteenth Century,"

which every woman and legislator ought to read,) said to me: "We are looking wistfully every whither for some hand stretched out through the darkness, but, alas! there is none. But you are going to America. Oh! tell the women there to help us in this struggle with ignorance, corruption, and war." Let us heed this cry.

France lies prostrate in the dust! But Rome is free! So in all human sorrow there is some hope. Let us, then, lift up the one by all possible help, remembering her greatness, and pity her misfortunes; having faith in her capabilities, and praying for her liberty--for that liberty that can only be practicable when built upon intelligence and virtue, and only real when woman is not the slave, but the helpmate of man; and let us rejoice with that other sister--Italia--who is now lifting up her face toward heaven, and after these long years of anguish and waiting the mother is restored to her children!

The rule of the Caesars is gone, and the reign of absolutism is pa.s.sing away! And while the science of men goes flas.h.i.+ng round the earth--over sea and land--uniting the nations in treaties of commerce and compacts of liberty, the warm, generous heart of woman shall keep pace, uniting humanity in sympathy and love.

I am, dear ladies, yours most respectfully, EMELIA J. MERIMAN.[136]

The speakers during the day gave many delightful reminiscences of the n.o.ble men and women who had given their earnest efforts to promote this great reform, and dwelt with hope on the many encouraging steps of progress that had marked the years since the initiative steps were taken. The day before the Convention an elegant reception was held at the St. James Hotel. Nearly two hundred persons called during the afternoon, and about forty sat down to a sumptuous dinner.[137]

The Was.h.i.+ngton Convention of 1871[138] was thus described by _The Republican_ of that city:

The third Annual National Woman's Suffrage Convention, held at Lincoln Hall, was an unprecedented success. Its leading spirit was Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, who, together with Josephine S.

Griffing, Paulina Wright Davis, and Susan B. Anthony, made all the preliminary arrangements, and managed the meeting. Mrs.

Hooker's zeal, activity, and amiability gave her the power to make an easy conquest wherever she carries the banner of the good cause. Her generals.h.i.+p in Was.h.i.+ngton marshalled hosts of new and ardent friends into the movement. Five sessions were held, during each of which the Convention was presided over by some member of the Senate or House of Representatives; and it was a novel feature to see such men as Senators Nye, Warren, and Wilson sitting successively in the president's chair, apparently half unconscious that it was one of greater honor than their familiar seats in the Senate. Speeches were made by Adelle Hazlett, Olympia Brown, Lilie Peckham, Isabella B. Hooker, Lillie Devereux Blake, Cora Hatch Tappan, Susan B. Anthony, Kate Stanton, Victoria C. Woodhull, Hon. A. G. Riddle (of the Was.h.i.+ngton bar), Frederick Dougla.s.s, Senators Nye and Wilson, and Mara E. Post, who made a journey all the way from Wyoming to attend the Convention. A good deal was said by the speakers concerning the proposed interpretation of the existing const.i.tutional amendments. It was thus a convention with a new idea. The reporters could not say that only the old, stock arguments were used. There was an air of novelty about the proceedings, indicating healthy life in the movement. The consequence was that the cause of woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt made a new, sudden, and profound impression at Was.h.i.+ngton.

This Convention was remarkable for the absence of the usual long series of resolutions covering every point of our demands.

Another peculiarity was the unusual amount of money that flowed into the treasury, as the following letter, among many others of the same character, shows:

MISS ANTHONY--I have this morning deposited $500 for the use of the N. W. S. A., and I will give a check for the amount as you desire it.

Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. Mrs. M. M. CARTTER.

Letters were read from Mrs. Esther Morris,[139] Justice of the Peace in Wyoming Territory, and from Mrs. Jane Graham Jones, of Chicago.

Senator Nye, who presided at the evening session, said, "He had not given much thought to the question of Woman Suffrage, but it was his opinion that in proportion as we elevated the mothers of voters, so were the voters themselves elevated." The audiences during this convention were large, and the press not only respectful but highly complimentary.

It was just before this enthusiastic convention that Victoria Woodhull presented her memorial to Congress and secured a hearing[140] before the Judiciary Committee of the House, which called out the able Minority Report, by William Loughridge, of Iowa, and Benjamin F.

Butler, of Ma.s.sachusetts. The following is from the Congressional _Globe_ of Dec. 21, 1870.

In the Senate: Mr. HARRIS presented the memorial of Victoria C.

Woodhull, praying for the pa.s.sage of such laws as may be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the right vested by the Const.i.tution in the citizens of the United States to vote without regard to s.e.x; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.

In the House: Mr. JULIAN--I ask unanimous consent to present at this time and have printed in the _Globe_ the memorial of Victoria C. Woodhull, claiming the right of suffrage under the XIV. and XV. Articles of Amendments to the Const.i.tution of the United States, and asking for the enactment of the necessary and appropriate legislation to guarantee the exercise of that right to the women of the United States. I also ask that the pet.i.tion be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

No objection was made, and it was ordered accordingly.

THE MEMORIAL OF VICTORIA C. WOODHULL.

_To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress a.s.sembled, respectfully showeth:_

That she was born in the State of Ohio, and is above the age of twenty-one years; that she has resided in the State of New York during the past three years; that she is still a resident thereof, and that she is a citizen of the United States, as declared by the XIV. Article of the Amendments to the Const.i.tution of the United States.

That since the adoption of the XV. Article of the Amendments to the Const.i.tution, neither the State of New York nor any other State, nor any Territory, has pa.s.sed any law to abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote, as established by said article, neither on account of s.e.x or otherwise. That, nevertheless, the right to vote is denied to women citizens of the United States by the operation of Election Laws in the several States and Territories, which laws were enacted prior to the adoption of the said XV. Article, and which are inconsistent with the Const.i.tution as amended, and, therefore, are void and of no effect; but which, being still enforced by the said States and Territories, render the Const.i.tution inoperative as regards the right of women citizens to vote:

And whereas, Article VI., Section 2, declares "That this Const.i.tution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and all judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Const.i.tution and laws of any State to the contrary, notwithstanding."

And whereas, no distinction between citizens is made in the Const.i.tution of the United States on account of s.e.x; but the XV.

Article of Amendments to it provides that "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

And whereas, Congress has power to make laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution all powers vested by the Const.i.tution in the Government of the United States; and to make or alter all regulations in relation to holding elections for senators or representatives, and especially to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of the said XIV. Article:

And whereas, the continuance of the enforcement of said local election laws, denying and abridging the right of citizens to vote on account of s.e.x, is a grievance to your memorialist and to various other persons, citizens of the United States,

Therefore, your memorialist would most respectfully pet.i.tion your honorable bodies to make such laws as in the wisdom of Congress shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the right vested by the Const.i.tution in the citizens of the United States to vote, without regard to s.e.x.

And your memorialist will ever pray. VICTORIA C. WOODHULL.

New York City, Dec. 19, 1870.

ADDRESS OF VICTORIA C. WOODHULL JANUARY 11, 1871.

_To the Honorable the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States:_

Having most respectfully memorialized Congress for the pa.s.sage of such laws as in its wisdom shall seem necessary and proper to carry into effect the rights vested by the Const.i.tution of the United States in the citizens to vote, without regard to s.e.x, I beg leave to submit to your honorable body the following in favor of my prayer in said memorial which has been referred to your Committee.

The public law of the world is founded upon the conceded fact that sovereignty can not be forfeited or renounced. The sovereign power of this country is perpetually in the politically organized people of the United States, and can neither be relinquished nor abandoned by any portion of them. The people in this republic who confer sovereignty are its citizens: in a monarchy the people are the subjects of sovereignty. All citizens of a republic by rightful act or implication confer sovereign power. All people of a monarchy are subjects who exist under its supreme s.h.i.+eld and enjoy its immunities. The subject of a monarch takes munic.i.p.al immunities from the sovereign as a gracious favor; but the woman citizen of this country has the inalienable "sovereign" right of self-government in her own proper person.

Those who look upon woman's status by the dim light of the common law, which unfolded itself under the feudal and military inst.i.tutions that establish right upon physical power, can not find any a.n.a.logy in the status of the woman citizen of this country, where the broad suns.h.i.+ne of our Const.i.tution has enfranchised all.

As sovereignty can not be forfeited, relinquished, or abandoned, those from whom it flows--the citizens--are equal in conferring the power, and should be equal in the enjoyment of its benefits and in the exercise of its rights and privileges. One portion of citizens have no power to deprive another portion of rights and privileges such as are possessed and exercised by themselves. The male citizen has no more right to deprive the female citizen of the free, public, political, expression of opinion than the female citizen has to deprive the male citizen thereof.

The sovereign will of the people is expressed in our written Const.i.tution, which is the supreme law of the land. The Const.i.tution makes no distinction of s.e.x. The Const.i.tution defines a woman born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, to be a citizen. It recognizes the right of citizens to vote. It declares that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Women, white and black, belong to races, although to different races. A race of people comprises all the people, male and female. The right to vote can not be denied on account of race.

All people included in the term race have the right to vote, unless otherwise prohibited. Women of all races are white, black, or some intermediate color. Color comprises all people, of all races and both s.e.xes. The right to vote can not be denied on account of color. All people included in the term color have the right to vote unless otherwise prohibited.

With the right to vote s.e.x has nothing to do. Race and color include all people of both s.e.xes. All people of both s.e.xes have the right to vote, unless prohibited by special limiting terms less comprehensive than race or color. No such limiting terms exist in the Const.i.tution. Women, white and black, have from time immemorial groaned under what is properly termed in the Const.i.tution "previous condition of servitude." Women are the equals of men before the law, and are equal in all their rights as citizens. Women are debarred from voting in some parts of the United States, although they are allowed to exercise that right elsewhere. Women were formerly permitted to vote in places where they are now debarred therefrom. The naturalization laws of the United States expressly provide for the naturalization of women.

But the right to vote has only lately been definitely declared by the Const.i.tution to be inalienable, under three distinct conditions--in all of which woman is clearly embraced.

The citizen who is taxed should also have a voice in the subject matter of taxation. "No taxation without representation" is a right which was fundamentally established at the very birth of our country's independence; and by what ethics does any free government impose taxes on women without giving them a voice upon the subject or a partic.i.p.ation in the public declaration as to how and by whom these taxes shall be applied for common public use? Women are free to own and to control property, separate and free from males, and they are held responsible in their own proper persons, in every particular, as well as men, in and out of court. Women have the same inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that men have. Why have they not this right politically, as well as men?

Women const.i.tute a majority of the people of this country--they hold vast portions of the nation's wealth and pay a proportionate share of the taxes. They are intrusted with the most vital responsibilities of society; they bear, rear, and educate men; they train and mould their characters; they inspire the n.o.blest impulses in men; they often hold the acc.u.mulated fortunes of a man's life for the safety of the family and as guardians of the infants, and yet they are debarred from uttering any opinion by public vote, as to the management by public servants of these interests; they are the secret counselors, the best advisers, the most devoted aids in the most trying periods of men's lives, and yet men shrink from trusting them in the common questions of ordinary politics. Men trust women in the market, in the shop, on the highway and railroad, and in all other public places and a.s.semblies, but when they propose to carry a slip of paper with a name upon it to the polls, they fear them. Nevertheless, as citizens, women have the right to vote; they are part and parcel of that great element in which the sovereign power of the land had birth; and it is by usurpation only that men debar them from this right. The American nation, in its march onward and upward, can not publicly choke the intellectual and political activity of half its citizens by narrow statutes. The will of the entire people is the true basis of republican government, and a free expression of that will by the public vote of all citizens, without distinctions of race, color, occupation, or s.e.x, is the only means by which that will can be ascertained. As the world has advanced into civilization and culture; as mind has risen in its dominion over matter; as the principle of justice and moral right has gained sway, and merely physical organized power has yielded thereto; as the might of right has supplanted the right of might, so have the rights of women become more fully recognized, and that recognition is the result of the development of the minds of men, which through the ages she has polished, and thereby heightened the l.u.s.tre of civilization.

It was reserved for our great country to recognize by const.i.tutional enactment that political equality of all citizens which religion, affection, and common sense should have long since accorded; it was reserved for America to sweep away the mist of prejudice and ignorance, and that chivalric condescension of a darker age, for in the language of Holy Writ, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the work of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day." It may be argued against the proposition that there still remains upon the statute books of some States the word "male" to an exclusion; but as the Const.i.tution, in its paramount character, can only be read by the light of the established principle, _ita lex Scripta est_, and as the subject of s.e.x is not mentioned, and the Const.i.tution is not limited either in terms or by necessary implication in the general rights of citizens to vote, this right can not be limited on account of anything in the spirit of inferior or previous enactments upon a subject which is not mentioned in the supreme law. A different construction would destroy a vested right in a portion of the citizens, and this no legislature has a right to do without compensation, and nothing can compensate a citizen for the loss of his or her suffrage--its value is equal to the value of life.

Neither can it be presumed that women are to be kept from the polls as a mere police regulation: it is to be hoped, at least, that police regulations in their case need not be very active.