days,[432] and their homes so remote from each other, that there
was little chance for cooeperation, hence the history of the
movement in this State consists more of personal efforts than of
conventions, legislative hearings and judicial decisions. The
first name worthy of note is that of Harriet E. Bishop. She was
invited by Rev. Thomas Williamson, M. D., a missionary among the
Dakotas, to come to his mission home and share in his labors in
1847, where she was introduced to the leading citizens of St.
Paul. She was the first teacher of a public school in that
settlement. She lectured on temperance, wrote for the daily
papers, and preached as a regular pastor in a Baptist pulpit. She
published several books, was one of the organizers of the State
Suffrage Association in 1881, and in 1883 rested from her labors
on earth.
The first lecture in the State on the "Rights and Wrongs of
Woman," was by Mrs. Mary J. Colburn, in the village of Champlin,
in 1858, the same year that Minnesota was admitted to the Union.
In 1864, the State officers promised two prizes for the first and
second best essays on "Minnesota as a Home for Emigrants,"
reserving to the examining committee the right to reject all
manuscripts offered if found unworthy. The first prize was
accorded to Mrs. Colburn. Most of the other competitors were men,
some of them members of the learned professions. Mrs. Colburn
says, in writing to a friend, "I am doing but little now on the
suffrage question, for I will not stoop longer to ask of any
congress or legislature for that which I know to be mine by the
divine law of nature."
In 1857, Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm settled at St. Cloud, where she
lived until 1863, editing the St. Cloud _Democrat_, the organ of
the Republican party, and making a heroic fight for freedom and
equality. In 1860 she spoke in the Hall of Representatives, on
Anti-slavery; in 1862 she was invited to speak before the Senate
on woman's rights, and was listened to with great respect.[433]
In 1866, at a Fourth of July celebration, Mrs. Stearns accepted
an invitation to respond to the sentiment, "Our young and growing
State; may she ever be an honor to her citizens." This offered
her an opportunity for an off-hand woman suffrage speech, which
elicited hearty cheers, and gave, as an old gentleman present
said, "something fresh to think of and act upon." About this time
the friends of equality began petitioning the legislature for an
amendment to the constitution, striking out the word "male."
Through the efforts of Mr. A. G. Spaulding--the editor of the
_Anoka Star_--and others, these petitions were referred to a
special committee which granted a hearing to Mrs. Colburn and
Mrs. Stearns in 1867. Mrs. Colburn read a carefully prepared
argument, and Mrs. Stearns sent a letter, both of which were
ordered to be printed. In 1868 a bill was introduced proposing to
submit the desired amendment, but when brought to a vote it was
defeated by a majority of one.
In March, 1869, _The Revolution_ copied from the Martin County
_Atlas_ the following:
Show us the man who from the bottom of his heart, laying
aside his prejudices and speaking the unbiased truth, will
not say that women should have the same rights that he
himself enjoys, and we will show you a narrow-minded
sycophant, a cruel, selfish tyrant, or one that has not the
moral courage to battle for a principle he knows to be just.
Equal rights before the law is justice to all, and the more
education we give our children and ourselves, as a people,
the sooner shall we have equal rights. May the glorious
cause speed on.
In 1869, a suffrage society was organized in the city of
Rochester, with fifty members, and another at Champlin; the homes
of Mrs. Stearns and Mrs. Colburn. Petitions were again circulated
and presented to the legislature early in the session of 1870. It
had not then been demonstrated by Kansas, Michigan, Colorado,
Nebraska and Oregon, that the votes of the ignorant classes on
this question would greatly outnumber those of the intelligent.
The legislature granted the prayer of the petitioners and passed
a bill for the submission of an amendment, providing that the
women of the State, possessing the requisite qualifications,
should also be allowed to vote upon the proposition, and that
their votes should be counted as legal. The governor, Hon. Horace
Austin, vetoed the bill, saying it was not passed in good faith,
and that the submission of the question at that time would be
premature. In a private letter to Mrs. Stearns, the governor
said: "Had the bill provided for the voting of the women, simply
to get an expression of their wishes upon the question, without
requiring their votes to be counted as legal in the adoption or
rejection of it, the act would not have been vetoed,
notwithstanding my second objection that it was premature."
In 1871, petitions to congress were circulated in Minnesota,
asking a declaratory act to protect the women of the nation in
the exercise of "the citizen's right to vote" under the new
guarantees of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. During
that year the National Woman Suffrage Association appointed Mrs.
Addie Ballou its vice-president for Minnesota.
In 1872 a suffrage club was formed at Kasson. Its three
originators[434] entered into a solemn compact with each other
that while they lived in that city there should always be an
active suffrage society until the ballot for women should be
obtained. Their secretary, Mrs. H. M. White, writes:
Although our club was at first called a ladies' literary
society, the suspicion that its members wished to vote was
soon whispered about. Our working members were for some
years few in number, and our meetings far between. But our
zeal never abating, we tried in later years many plans for
making a weekly meeting interesting. The most successful
was, that every one should bring something that had come to
her notice during the week, which she should read aloud,
thus furnishing topics of conversation in which all could
join. This never failed to make an interesting and
profitable meeting. And still later we invited speakers from
other States. In our various courses of lectures, Kasson
audiences have enjoyed the brave utterances of Anna
Dickinson, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony, and others.
The pulpit of Kasson we have found about evenly balanced for
and against us; but those claiming to be friendly generally
maintained a "masterly inactivity." Our editors have always
shown us much kindness by gratuitously advertising our
meetings and publishing our articles. Our members were all
at the first meeting after school suffrage was granted to
women, and one lady was elected director for a term of three
years. The next year another lady was elected. While they
were members of the board, a new and beautiful school house
was erected, though some men said, "nothing in the line of
building could be safely done until after the women's term
of office had expired." Our co-workers have always treated
us with great courtesy. In this respect our labors were as
pleasant as in any church work.
At a temperance convention in 1874, a woman suffrage resolution
was ably defended by Mrs. Julia Ballard Nelson and Mrs. Harriet
A. Hobart; Mrs. Asa Hutchinson, of beloved memory, also spoke at
this meeting.
As the women in several of the States voted on educational
matters, the legislature of 1875 wished to confer the same
privilege upon the women of Minnesota. But instead of doing so by
direct legislation, as the other States had done, they passed a
resolution submitting a proposition for an amendment to the
constitution to the electors of the State, as follows:
An amendment to the State constitution giving the
legislature power to provide by law that any woman of the
age of twenty-one years and upwards, may vote at any
election held for the purpose of choosing any officers of
schools; or upon any measure relating to schools; and also
that any such woman shall be eligible to hold any office
pertaining solely to the management of schools.
No effort was made to agitate the question, lest more should be
effected in rousing the opposition than in educating the masses
in the few months intervening between the passage of the bill and
the election in November. Mrs. Stearns, however, as the day for
the decision of the question approached, wishing to make sure of
the votes of the intelligent men of the State, wrote to the
editor of the _Pioneer Press_, the leading paper of Minnesota,
begging him to urge his readers to do all in their power to
secure the adoption of the amendment. The request was complied
with, and the editor in a private letter, thanking Mrs. Stearns,
said he "had quite forgotten such an amendment had been
proposed."
At this last moment the question was, what could be done to
secure the largest favorable vote. Finding that it would be
legal, the friends throughout the State appealed to the
committees of both political parties to have "For the amendment
of Article VII. relating to electors--Yes," printed upon all
their tickets. This was very generally done, and thereby the most
ignorant men were led to vote as they should, with the
intelligent, in favor of giving women a voice in the education of
the children of the State, while all who were really opposed
could scratch the "yes," and substitute a "no." When election day
came, November 5, 1875, the amendment was carried by a vote of
24,340 for, to 19,468 against. The following legislature passed
the necessary law, and at the spring election of 1876, the women
of Minnesota voted for school officers, and in several cases
women were elected as directors.
I have given these details because the great wonder has been how
the combined forces of ignorance and vice failed to vote down
this amendment, as they always have done every other proposition
for the extension of suffrage to women in this and every other
State where the question has been submitted to a popular vote. I
believe our success was largely, if not wholly, attributable to
our studied failure to agitate the question, and the affirmative
wording of all the tickets of both parties, by which our
bitterest opponents forgot the question was to be voted upon, and
the ignorant classes who could not, or did not read their
ballots, voted unthinkingly for the measure.
In the cities the school officers are elected at the regular
municipal elections usually held in the spring, while in the
rural districts and smaller villages they are chosen at school
meetings in the autumn. In East Minneapolis, Hon. Richard Chute,
chairman of the Republican nominating convention, having, without
their knowledge, secured the nomination of Mrs. Charlotte O.
VanCleve[435] and Mrs. Charlotte S. Winchell[436] as school
directors, called a meeting of the women of the city to aid in
their election. It was a large and enthusiastic gathering. Mrs.
Mary C. Peckham presided, Mrs. Stearns of Duluth, and Mrs.
Pillsbury, wife of the governor, made stirring speeches, after
which the candidates were called upon, and responded most
acceptably. When election day came, the names of Mrs. VanCleve
and Mrs. Winchell received a handsome majority of the votes of
their districts. A correspondent in the _Ballot-Box_ said:
The women of Minnesota are rejoicing in the measure of
justice vouchsafed them,--the right to vote and hold office
in school matters. Two hundred and seventy women voted in
Minneapolis, the governor's wife among others. Although it
rained all day they went to the polls in great numbers.
Including both East and West Minneapolis, fully 1,000 women
voted; and while the numbers in other cities and villages were
not so great, they were composed of the more intelligent. In St.
Charles, where Dr. Adaline Williams was elected to the
school-board, some of the gentlemen requested her to resign, on
the ground that she had not been properly elected. Her reply was,
"If I have not been elected, I have no need to resign; and if I
have been elected, I do not choose to resign." But to satisfy
those who doubted, she proposed that another election should be
held, which resulted in an overwhelming majority for the Doctor.
As the law says women are "eligible to any office pertaining
solely to the management of schools," one might be elected as
State superintendent of public instruction. There have been many
women elected to the office of county superintendent, and in
several counties they have been twice reelected,[437] and
wherever women have held school offices, they have been reported
as doing efficient service. Although the law provided that women
might "vote at any election for the purpose of choosing any
officers of schools," the attorney-general gave an opinion that
it did not entitle them to vote for county superintendent; hence
"an act to entitle women to vote for county superintendent of
schools," was passed by the legislature of 1885.
The ladies' city school committee. Miss A. M. Henderson,
chairman, secured the appointment of a committee of seven women
in Minneapolis, to meet with a like number of men from each of
the political parties, to select such members of the school-board
as all could agree upon. Having thus aided in the nominations,
women were interested in their election. In 1881 Mrs. Merrill and
Miss Henderson stood at the polls all day and electioneered for
their candidates. It was said that their efforts not only decided
the choice of school officers, but elected a temperance alderman.
In many cities of the State the temperance women exert a great
influence at the polls in persuading men to vote for the best
town-officers. At the special election held in Duluth for
choosing school officers, one of the judges of election, and the
clerks at each of the polling places have for the last two years
been women who were teachers in our public schools.
The early homestead law of Minnesota illustrates how easily men
forget to bestow the same rights upon women that they carefully
secure to themselves. In 1869, the "protectors of women" enacted
a law which exempted a homestead from being sold for the payment
of debts so long as the man who held it might live, while it
allowed his widow and children to be turned out penniless and
homeless. It was not until 1875 that this law was so amended that
the exemption extended to the widow and fatherless children.
In 1877, a law was passed which gave the widow an absolute
title--or the same title her husband had--to one-third of all the
real estate, exclusive of the homestead, and of that, it gave her
the use, during her lifetime. So that now the widow has the
absolute ownership, instead of the life use of one-third of
whatever she and her husband may have together earned and saved.
That is, should there be any real estate left, over and above the
homestead, after paying all the husband's debts, she now has, not
merely the difference, as heretofore, between the amount of the
tax and the income on one-third, but she may avoid the tax and
other costs of keeping it, by selling her third, if she prefers,
and putting the money at interest. The law still puts whatever
may be left of the other two-thirds, after payment of debts, into
the hands of the probate judge and others, and the interest
thereof, or even the principal, may go to reward them for their
services, or, if falling into honest hands, it may be left for
the support and education of the children.
The legislature of 1877 submitted a constitutional amendment
giving women a vote on the temperance question. This seemed
likely to be carried by default of agitation, as was that of
school suffrage, until within a few weeks of the election, when
the liquor interest combined all its forces of men and money and
defeated it by a large majority. The next year the temperance
people made a strong effort to get the proposition re-submitted,
but to no purpose.
In 1879, acting upon the plan proposed to all the States by the
National Association, we petitioned for the adoption of a joint
resolution asking congress to submit to the several State
legislatures an amendment to the National constitution,
prohibiting the disfranchisement of woman. Mrs. Stearns and
others followed up the petitions with letters to the most
influential members, in which they argued that the legislatures
of the States, not the rank and file of the electors, ought to
decide this question; and further, that the same congress that
had granted woman the privilege of pleading a case before the
Supreme Court of the United States would doubtless pass a
resolution submitting to the legislatures the decision of the
question of her right to have her opinion on all questions
counted at the ballot-box. The result was a majority of six in
the Senate in favor of the resolution, while in the House there
was a majority of five against it.
Since 1879, our legislature has met biennially. In 1881 the
temperance women of the State again petitioned for the right to
vote on the question of licensing the sale of liquor. Failing to
get that, or a prohibitory law, they became more than ever
convinced of the necessity of full suffrage. The annual meetings
of the State Union[438] have ever since been spoken of by the
press as "suffrage conventions," because they always pass
resolutions making the demand.
Mr. L. Bixby, editor of the _State Temperance Review_, gives
several columns to the temperance and suffrage societies. Mrs.
Helen E. Gallinger, the editor of these departments, is a lady of
great ability and earnestness. Mr. Charles H. Dubois, editor of
_The Spectator_, gives ample space in his columns to notes of
women. Miss Mary C. Le Duc is connected with _The Spectator_.
Other journals have aided our cause, though not in so pronounced
a way. Mrs. C. F. Bancroft, editor of the _Mantorville Express_,
and Mrs. Bella French, of a county paper at Spring Valley, Mrs.
Annie Mitchell, the wife of one editor and the mother of another,
for many years their business associate, have all given valuable
services to our cause, while pecuniarily benefiting themselves.
The necessity of finding a voice when something needed to be
said, and of using a pen when something needed to be written, has
developed considerable talent for public speaking and writing
among the women of this State.[439]
All our State institutions are favorable to coeducation, and give
equal privileges to all. The Minnesota University has been open
to women since its foundation, and from 1875 to 1885 fifty-six
young women were graduated with high honor to themselves and
their sex.[440] Miss Maria L. Sanford has been professor of
rhetoric and elocution for many years. The faculties of the State
Normal Schools are largely composed of women. Hamline University
and Carlton College are conducted on principles of true equality.
At Carlton Miss Margaret Evans is preceptress and teacher of
modern languages. Of the Rochester High School, Miss Josephine
Hegeman is principal; of Wasioga, Miss C. T. Atwood; of Eyota
Union School, Miss Adell M'Kinley.[441]
For many years Mrs. M. R. Smith was employed as State Librarian.
Mrs. H. J. M'Caine for the past ten years has been librarian at
St. Paul, with Miss Grace A. Spaulding as assistant. Among the
engrossing and enrolling clerks of our legislature, Miss Alice
Weber is the only lady's name we find, though the men holding
those offices usually employ a half dozen women to assist them in
copying, allowing each two-thirds of the price paid by the State,
or ten cents per folio.
[Illustration: Sarah Burger Stearns]
In this State the suffrage cause has had the sympathy of not a
few noble women in the successful practice of the healing art;
thus lending their influence for the political emancipation of
their sex, while blessing the community with their medical skill.
To Doctors Hood and Whetstone is due the credit of establishing
the Northwestern Hospital for Women and Children, and training
school for nurses, of which they are now the attending
physicians; and Dr. Hood also attends the Bethany Home, founded
by the sisterhood of Bethany, for the benefit of friendless girls
and women. In the town of Detroit may be seen a drug store neatly
fitted up, with "Ogden's Pharmacy" over the door, and upon it, in
gilt letters, "Emma K. Ogden, M. D." While the doctor practices
her profession, she employs a young woman as prescription clerk.
The Minnesota State Medical Society has admitted nine women to
membership.[442]
Conspicuous among evangelists in this State are Mrs. Mary C.
Nind, Minneapolis, Mrs. Mary A. Shepardson, Wasioga, Mrs. Ruth
Cogswell Rowell, Winona, and Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, Rochester.
Thus far this chapter has been given mainly to individuals in the
State, and to the home influences that have aided in creating
sentiment in favor of full suffrage for woman. United with these
have been other influences coming like the rays of the morning
sun directly from the East where so many noble women are at work
for the freedom of their sex. Among them are some of the most
popular lecturers in the country.[443]
In September, 1881, representative women from various localities
met at Hastings and organized a State Woman Suffrage
Association[444] auxiliary to the National. During the first year
one hundred and twenty-four members were enrolled. During the
second the membership more than doubled. In October, 1882, the
association held its first annual meeting. The audiences were
large, and the speakers[445] most heartily applauded. Mrs. Nelson
presided. In her letter of greeting to this meeting, from which
ill-health obliged her to be absent, the president urged the
association to firmly adhere to the principles of the National
Association. Let us not ask for an amendment to the State
constitution, and thus put it in the power of ignorance and
prejudice to deny the boon we seek; while we are auxiliary to the
National let us work according to its plans. Mrs. Stearns was
unanimously reelected president, and her views heartily endorsed.
In the spring of '83, at the request of the State society, and
with the generous consent of Mr. Bixby, the editor of the _State
Temperance Review_, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger commenced editing a
woman suffrage column in that paper. This has been a very
convenient medium of communication between the State society and
the local auxiliaries which have since been organized by Mrs. L.
May Wheeler, who was employed as lecturer and organizer,[446] in
the summer and fall of 1883. Auxiliary societies had previously
been organized by Mrs. Stearns, in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The
Kasson society, formed in 1872, also became auxiliary to the
State.
During the Northwestern Industrial Exhibition, held in
Minneapolis August, 1883, a woman suffrage headquarters was
fitted up on the fair-grounds, in a fine large tent, made
attractive by flags, banners and mottoes. The State and local
societies were represented, officers and members being there to
receive all who were in sympathy, to talk suffrage to opposers,
to pass out good leaflets, and to exhibit copies of the Woman
Suffrage History. At the annual convention this year we were
honored by the presence of Julia Ward Howe and Mrs. Marianna
Folsom of Iowa, and many of the clergymen[447] of Minneapolis.
Rev. E. S. Williams gave the address of welcome, and paid a
beautiful tribute to the self-sacrificing leaders in this holy
crusade. Mrs. Howe not only encouraged us with her able words of
cheer, but she presided at the piano while her Battle Hymn of the
Republic was sung, and seemed to give it new inspiration. In the
course of her remarks the president said:
Should congress finally adopt that long-pending amendment in
the winter of 1883-4 enfranchising women, we should still
have work to do in 1885 to secure the ratification of this
amendment by our State legislature. But should congress
still refuse, let us be thankful that the way is opening for
women to secure their freedom by the power of the
legislature independent of all constitutional amendments, as
there is nothing in ordinary State constitutions to prevent
legislators from extending suffrage to women by legislative
enactment. The constitution of the State of Minnesota simply
enfranchises men, and does not even mention women; we have
clearly nothing to do but to convince our legislators that
they are free to give educated women full suffrage.
With this view the society adopted the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That we accept with joy the argument that comes
to us from the east and from the west declaring suffrage
amendments to State constitutions unnecessary, because the
word "male," occurring as it does in most State
constitutions, in no wise restrains legislatures from
extending full suffrage to women, should they feel inclined
to do so. Be it also
_Resolved_, That it therefore becomes our duty to talk with
all men and women who are friendly to our cause, and ask
them to examine the argument, and if it commends itself to
their judgment, to give us the benefit of their convictions.
Though passing the above resolutions at that time, the State
Association of course waits to see what may be done, in view of
this new idea, by older and stronger States whose constitutions
are similar to ours. Although failing health induced Mrs.
Stearns, in the fall of 1883, to resign her suffrage work into
other hands, and ask to be excused from any office whatever, she
has, with improving health lately accepted the presidency of an
Equal Rights League in Duluth. Dr. Ripley was not present
herself at the convention[448] which chose her for president for
the ensuing year, being then at the East, but immediately after
returning, she entered upon her new duties with enthusiasm. As
there was to be no legislature in 1884, there could be no
petitioning, except to continue the work commenced as long ago as
1871, of petitioning congress for a sixteenth amendment. The work
was carried on with vigor, and many hundreds of names obtained in
a short time. Early in 1884 Mrs. L. May Wheeler continued to
lecture in the interests of the suffrage cause. While so engaged
she issued her "Collection of Temperance and Suffrage Melodies."
In 1884 a woman suffrage headquarters was again fitted up in
Newspaper Row, on the grounds of the Northwestern Industrial
Exhibition. The large tent was shared by the State W. C. T. U.,
and appropriately decked within and without to represent both of
the State organizations and their auxiliaries. A large amount of
suffrage and temperance literature was distributed among the many
who were attracted by the novelty of the sight and sentiments
displayed on banners and flags.
As Minneapolis had already become headquarters for the suffrage
work of the State, it was thought best to again hold the annual
meeting in that city. This was in October, continuing two days,
and was both interesting and encouraging. Dr. Martha G. Ripley
presided. Many interesting letters were read, and cheering
telegrams received.[449] Miss Marion Lowell recited "The Legend,"
by Mary Agnes Ticknor, and "Was he Henpecked?" by Phebe Cary,
Mrs. A. M. Tyng of Austin, made a good speech, also recited a
poem entitled "Jane Conquest." Mr. Lars Oure of Norway, spoke
well upon the "Claims of Woman." Dr. L. W. Denton of Minneapolis,
gave a very good address. Dr. Martha G. Ripley spoke on suffrage
as a natural right, and in support of this view read extracts
from a pamphlet entitled, "Woman Suffrage a Right, and not a
Privilege," by Wm. I. Bowditch; Eliza Burt Gamble of St. Paul,
read a very able paper on "Woman and the Church"; Mrs. Stearns
spoke upon the new era to be inaugurated when women have the
ballot. Miss Emma Harriman read a bright and entertaining paper.
The fine address of the occasion was given by Rev. W. W.
Satterlee, showing the nation's need of woman's vote. Judge and
Mrs. Hemiup, of Minneapolis, just returned from a visit to
Wyoming Territory, were present. The judge made several speeches,
and was enthusiastic in his praise of the workings of woman
suffrage there. He and his wife are now active members of the
State and city (Minneapolis) suffrage societies. The judge is
also a member of the State executive committee.
Wishing to give honor to whom honor is due, we would mention the
brave young women who have formed the Christian Temperance
Unions, the leading spirits[450] in this grand movement in
Minneapolis, St. Paul, Winona and St. Cloud. Their names will be
usually found as delegates to the annual meetings of all the
State Unions. The small army of noble girls who have helped to
make the Good Templars' lodges attractive and worthy resorts for
their brothers and friends, have done an inestimable work in
elevating the moral tone of the community all over the State.
They have also done their full share in petitioning congress for
a sixteenth amendment, in which they have received most untiring
help from the young men of the lodges. In 1884 Miss Frances
Willard again visited the State, advocating the ballot as well as
the Bible as an aid to temperance work. Her eloquent voice here
as elsewhere woke many to serious thought on the danger of this
national vice to the safety and stability of our republican
institutions. It was through Miss Willard's influence, no doubt,
that the friends of temperance established a department of
franchise for the State, and made Mrs. E. L. Crockett its
superintendent.
The women of Minnesota seem thus far to have no special calling
to the legal profession. Mrs. Martha Angle Dorsett is the only
woman as yet admitted to the bar. She was graduated from the law
school at Des Moines, and admitted to practice before the Supreme
Court of Iowa in June, 1876. She was refused admission at first
in Minnesota, whereupon she appealed to the legislature, which in
1877 enacted a law securing the right to women by a vote of 63 to
30 in the House, and 26 to 6 in the Senate.
In some of the larger cities and towns the literary, musical and
dramatic taste of our women[451] is evidenced by societies and
clubs for mutual improvement. Many are attending classes for the
study of natural history, classic literature, social science,
etc. There is an art club in Minneapolis, composed wholly of
artists, both ladies and gentlemen, which meets every week, the
members making sketches from life. Miss Julie C. Gauthier had on
exhibition at the New Orleans Exposition, a full-length portrait,
true to life, of a colored man, "Pony," a veteran wood-sawer of
St. Paul, which received very complimentary notices from art
critics of that city, as well as from the press generally.
In the Business Colleges of Mr. Curtis at St. Paul and
Minneapolis, many women are teachers, and many more are educated
as shorthand reporters, telegraphers, and book-keepers. These
have no difficulty in finding places after completing their
college course. Nearly fifty young women are employed in the
principal towns of the State as telegraphers alone. Miss Mary M.
Cary has been employed for seven years as operator and station
agent at Wayzata, for the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba R. R.
Her services are highly valued, as well they may be, for during
her absence from the station two men are required to do her work.
By her talents and industry she has acquired a thorough education
for herself, besides educating her two younger sisters. Mrs. Anna
B. Underwood of Lake City, has for many years been secretary of a
firm conducting a large nursery of fruit trees, plants and
flowers. Her husband being one of the partners, she has taken a
large share of the general management. The orchard yields a
profit of over $1,000 a year.
From the list of names to be found in the Appendix, we see that
Minnesota is remarkable for its galaxy of superior women actively
engaged as speakers and writers[452] in many reforms, as well as
in the trades and professions, and in varied employments. One of
the great advantages of pioneer life is the necessity to man of
woman's help in all the emergencies of these new conditions in
which their forces and capacities are called into requisition.
She thus acquires a degree of self-reliance, courage and
independence, that would never be called out in older
civilizations, and commands a degree of respect from the men at
her side that can only be learned in their mutual dependence.
FOOTNOTES:
[431] The names of the young women who applied for admission to the
classical course of the Michigan State University, in 1858, were
Sarah Burger, Clara Norton, Ellen F. Thompson, Ada A. Alvord, Rose
Anderson, Helen White, Amanda Kieff, Lizzie Baker, Nellie Baker,
Anna Lathrop, Carrie Felch, Mary Becker, Adeline Ladd and Harriet
Patton.
[432] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., note A.
[433] For further account of Mrs. Swisshelm's patriotic work in
Minnesota see her "Reminiscences of Half a Century": Janson,
McClurg & Co., Chicago, Ill.
[434] The three women were, Mrs. Almira W. Anthony (whose husband
was a cousin of Susan B. Anthony), Mrs. Mary Powell Wheeler and
Mrs. Hattie M. White.
[435] In a volume of Minnesota biography, Mrs. VanCleve is reported
as a woman of great force of character, strong in her convictions
of what is right, and fearless in following the dictates of her
conscience. She was one of the original founders of the Sisterhood
of Bethany, a society for the reformation of unfortunate women, and
has held the position of president since its formation. Through the
medium of lectures and social influence, she has enlisted the
sympathy of a large number of the community. She has served
faithfully as a member of the East Minneapolis board of education,
and has always improved every opportunity to advocate the right of
suffrage for women. She is a member of the State Suffrage Society,
and has been for many years honorary vice-president for this State,
of the National Suffrage Association. The following interesting
fact is told of her, on the authority of Major-General R. W.
Johnson. It was given in an address delivered by that gentleman
before the old settlers' association of Hennepin county, at a
reunion in the city of Minneapolis: Many years ago a soldier at
Fort Snelling received an injury to his feet, and mortification
ensued. Amputation became necessary and the case could not be
postponed until a surgeon could be sent for, because there was none
nearer than the post-surgeon at Prairie du Chien. No gentleman in
the garrison was willing to undertake so difficult an operation.
Equal to any emergency, Mrs. VanCleve, on hearing of the case,
resolved to make the attempt. She performed the operation
skillfully, and saved the soldier's life.
[436] Mrs. Charlotte S. Winchell was a graduate of Albion College,
Michigan, and came to this State in 1873, with her husband, Prof.
Newton H. Winchell, widely known as Minnesota's State geologist.
Mrs. Winchell has always been an advocate of suffrage for woman,
and cheerfully accepted the position on the school board, serving
as clerk. She took an active part in the nominations and elections
of school officers. She was chairman of the committee for
introducing temperance text books into the schools, secretary of
the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, a member of the State and
City Suffrage Societies, and of the Association for the Advancement
of Women.
[437] For names of women elected as school directors and county
superintendents, see Appendix to Minnesota, Chapter XLVII., Note B.
[438] The officers of the Minnesota State W. C. T. U. are:
_President_, Mrs. H. A. Hobart; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. Mary A.
Shepardson, Mrs. E. J. Holley, Mrs. R. C. C. Gale, Mrs. H. C. May,
Mrs. L. M. Wylie; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. D. S. Haywood;
_Corresponding Secretaries_, Mrs. E. S. Wright, Miss M. E.
Mclntyre; _Treasurer_, Miss A. M. Henderson. Editor W. C. T. U.
department of _Temperance Review_, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger.
[439] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note C.
[440] During the same decade 138 young men were graduated from the
different departments of the University.
[441] For names of graduates and professors, see Appendix, Chapter
XLVII., Note D.
[442] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note F.
[443] Miss Anna Dickinson, Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Howe, Miss Alice
Fletcher, Miss Frances Willard, Mrs. Wittenmeyer, Mrs. Sarah B.
Chase, M. D. In the years 1875-6, Mrs. Stanton favored our State
with a series of lectures that awakened much interest. In 1878-9,
Miss Anthony came, and spoke in the principal cities. From Iowa
came Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Matilda Fletcher, and Marianna Folsom,
and from Missouri, Miss Phoebe Couzins.
[444] _President_, Sarah Burger Stearns; _Vice-President_, Julia
Bullard Nelson; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. C. Smith; _Treasurer_,
Mrs. H. J. Moffit; _Executive Committee_, Mrs. Minnie Reed, Mrs. L.
H. Clark, Mrs. R. Coons; _Corresponding Sec'y_, Mrs. Laura Howe
Carpenter. The following were the charter members: Mrs. Harriet E.
Bishop, Mrs. Martha Luly, St. Paul; Mrs. A. T. Anderson, Mrs. H. J.
Moffit, Mrs. C. Smith, Minneapolis; Mrs. Harriet A. Hobart, Julia
Bullard Nelson, Mrs. R. Coons, Red Wing; Sarah Burger Stearns,
Duluth; Mrs. L. C. Clarke, Worthington; Mrs. L. G. Finen, Albert
Lea; Mrs. K. E. Webster, Mrs. Minnie Reed, Mrs. M. A. VanHoesen,
Hastings.
[445] Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Hobart, Mr. Satterlee, Mrs. Charlotte O.
Van Cleve, Mrs. Laura Howe Carpenter, Mrs. Viola Fuller Miner.
[446] The societies organized were at Wayzata, Farmington, Red
Wing, Mantorille, Excelsior, Rochford, Lake City, Shakopee, and
Jordan: committees for suffrage work were also formed in the
following places: Anoka, Armstrong, Blakely, Brooklyn Center,
Champlin, Frontenac, Long Prairie, Long Lake, and Wabashaw.
[447] Rev. W. W. Satterlee, Rev. H. M. Simmons, Rev. F. J. Wagner,
whose church we occupied, and others. The speakers at this
convention were Mr. and Mrs. Dubois, Mrs. Wheeler, Mrs. Elliott,
Mrs. Hobart, Mrs. Carpenter, Miss Harriman. Letters were received
from Mrs. Devereux Blake, Dr. Clemence Lozier, Rev. J. B. Tuttle,
H. B. Blackwell, Lucy Stone and Col. T. W. Higginson.
[448] The officers elected at this convention were: _President_,
Martha G. Ripley, M. D., Minneapolis; _Vice-President_, Mrs. Lizzie
Manson, Shakopee; _Recording Secretary_, Mary T. Emery, M. D., St.
Paul; _Corresponding Secretary_, Emma Harriman, Minneapolis;
_Treasurer_, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger, Minneapolis; _Executive
Committee_, Mrs. S. K. Crawford, Anoka; Mrs. M. A. Warner, Hamline;
Mrs. F. G. Gould, Excelsior; Rev. E. S. Williams, Prof. W. A.
Carpenter, Mrs. A. T. Anderson and Mrs. Laura Howe Carpenter,
Minneapolis.
[449] From John G. Whittier, Mrs. Julia B. Nelson (teaching school
in Tennessee) and Henry B. Blackwell.
[450] Miss Carrie Holbrook, Miss Eva McIntyre, Miss Harriman.
[451] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note F.
[452] See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note G.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
DAKOTA.
Influences of Climate and Scenery--Legislative Action, 1872--Mrs.
Marietta Bones--In February, 1879, School Suffrage Granted
Women--Constitutional Convention, 1883--Matilda Joslyn Gage
Addressed a Letter to the Convention and an Appeal to the Women
of the State--Mrs. Bones Addressed the Convention in Person--The
Effort to Get the Word "Male" Out of the Constitution
Failed--Legislature of 1885--Major Pickler Presents the
Bill--Carried Through Both Houses--Governor Pierce's Veto--Major
Pickler's Letter.
Philosophers have had much to say of the effect of climate and
scenery upon the human family--the inspiring influence of the grand
and the boundless in broadening the thought of the people and
stimulating them to generous action. Hence, one might naturally
look for liberal ideas among a people surrounded with such vast
possessions as are in the territory of Dakota. But alas! there
seems to be no correspondence in this republic between areas and
constitutions. Although Dakota comprises 96,595,840 acres, yet
one-half her citizens are defrauded of their rights precisely as
they are in the little States of Delaware and Rhode Island. The
inhabitants denied the right of suffrage by their territorial
constitution are, the Indians not taxed (a hint that those who pay
taxes vote), idiots, convicts and women. But from records sent us
by Mrs. Marietta Bones, to whom we are indebted for this chapter,
there seem to have been some spasmodic climatic influences at work,
though not sufficiently strong as yet to get that odious word
"male" out of the constitution. Our Dakota historian says:
The territorial legislature, in the year 1872, came within one
vote of enfranchising women. That vote was cast by Hon. W. W.
Moody, who, let it be said to his credit, most earnestly espoused
the cause in our constitutional convention in 1883, and said in
the course of his remarks: "Are not my wife and daughter as
competent to vote as I am to hold office?" which question caused
prolonged laughter among the most ignorant of the delegates, and
cries of, "You're right, Judge!" Although it is deeply to be
regretted that through one vote twelve years ago our women were
deprived of freedom, yet we must forgive Judge Moody on the
ground that "it is never too late to mend."
In February, 1879, the legislature revised the school law, and
provided that women should vote at school meetings. That law was
repealed in March, 1883, by the school township law, which
requires regular polls and a private ballot, so, of course,
excluding women from the small privilege given them in 1879. That
act, however, excepted fifteen counties[453]--the oldest and most
populous--which had districts fully established, and therein
women still vote at school meetings.
In townships which are large and have many schools under one
board and no districts, the people select which school they
desire their children to attend. The persons who may so select
are parents: first, the father; next, the mother, if there be no
father living; guardians (women or men), and "persons having in
charge children of school age." These persons hold a meeting
annually of their "school," and such women vote there, and one of
them may be chosen moderator for the school, to hold one year.
This office is a sort of responsible agency for the school, and
between it and the township board.
Since the legislation upon the subject of school suffrage there
has not been much work done for the promotion of the cause. The
wide distances between towns and the sparsely settled country
make our people comparative strangers to each other. We lack
organization; the country is too new; in fact, the most and only
work for woman suffrage has been done by Matilda Joslyn Gage and
myself, and, owing to disadvantages mentioned, that has been but
little. Mrs. Gage reached Dakota just at the close of the Huron
convention, held in June, 1883, to discuss the question of
territorial division. The resolutions of the convention declared
that just governments derived their powers from the consent of
the governed; that Dakota possessed a population of 200,000,
women included; that the people of a territory have the right, in
their sovereign capacity, to adopt a constitution and form a
State government. Accordingly, a convention was called for the
purpose of enabling those residing in that part of Dakota south
of the forty-sixth parallel to organize a State. Mrs. Gage at
once addressed a letter to the women of the territory and to the
constitutional convention assembled at Sioux Falls:
_To the Women of Dakota:_
A convention of men will assemble at Sioux Falls, September
4, for the purpose of framing a constitution and pressing
upon congress the formation of a State of the southern half
of the territory. This is the moment for women to act; it is
the decisive moment. There can never again come to the women
of Dakota an hour like the present. A constitution is the
fundamental law of the State; upon it all statute laws are
based, and upon the fact whether woman is inside or outside
the pale of the constitution, her rights in the State
depend.
The code of Dakota, under the head of "Personal Relations,"
says: "The husband is the head of the family. He may choose
any reasonable place, or mode of living, and the wife must
conform thereto." Under this class legislation, which was
framed by man entirely in his own interests, the husband
may, and in many cases does, file a preemption claim, build
a shanty, and place his wife upon the ground as "a
reasonable place and mode of living," while he remains in
town in pursuit of business or pleasure.
Let us examine this condition of affairs a little closer. If
the wife is not pleased with this "place and mode of
living," but should leave it, she is, under this law of
class legislation, liable to be advertised as having left
the husband's bed and board, wherefore he will pay no debts
of her contracting. And how is it if she remains on this
until her continued residence upon it has enabled her
husband to prove up? Does she then share in its benefits? Is
she then half owner of the land? By no means. Chapter 3,
section 83, article V. of the Code, says: "No estate is
allowed the husband or tenant by courtesy upon the death of
his wife, nor is any estate in dower allowed to the wife
upon the death of the husband."
This article carries a specious fairness on its face, but it
is a bundle of wrongs to woman. By the United States law,
only "the head of the family" is allowed to enter
lands--either a preemption, homestead or tree claim. In
unison with the United States, the law of Dakota (see
chapter 3, section 76) recognizes the husband as the head of
the family, and then declares that no estate in dower is
allowed to the wife upon the death of her husband. Neither
has she any claim upon any portion of this land the husband,
as head of the family, may take, except the homestead, in
which she is recognized as joint owner. The preemption claim
upon which, in a comfortless claim-shanty, she may have
lived for six months, or longer, if upon unsurveyed land, as
"the reasonable place and mode of living" her husband has
selected for her, does not belong to her at all. She has no
part nor share in it. Upon proving, her husband may at once
sell, or deed it away as a gift, and she has no redress. It
was not hers. The law so declares; but she is her husband's,
to the extent that she can be thus used to secure 160 acres
of land for him, over which she has no right, title, claim
or interest. I have not space to pursue this subject
farther, but will assure the women of Dakota that reading
the code, and the session laws of the territory will be more
interesting to them than any novel. If they wish to still
farther know their wrongs, let them look in the code under
the heads of "Parent and Child," "Crimes Defined," "Probate
Court," etc., etc.
Every woman in Dakota should be immediately at work.
Inasmuch as the constitution is the fundamental law of the
State, it should be the effort of the women of Dakota to
prevent the introduction of the restrictive word "male." The
delegates to the Sioux Falls convention have now largely
been elected. Address letters of protest to them against
making the constitution an organ of class legislation. In as
far as possible have personal interviews with these
delegates, and by speech make known your wishes on this
point. These are your only methods of representation. You
have in no way signified your desire for a constitution. You
have not been permitted to help make these laws which rob
you of property, and many other things more valuable. Many
women are settling in Dakota. Unmarried women and widows in
large numbers are taking up claims here, and their property
is taxed to help support the government and the men who make
these iniquitous laws.
I have not mentioned a thousandth part of the wrongs done
woman by her being deprived of the right of self-government.
Every injustice under which she suffers, as wife, mother,
woman, child, in property and person, is due to the fact
that she is not recognized as man's political equal--and her
only power is that of protest. Lose not a moment, then,
women of Dakota, in objecting to the introduction of the
word "male" into the proposed new constitution. Besides
seeing and writing to delegates, make effort to be present
at Sioux Falls during the time of the convention, to labor
with delegates from distant points, and to go before
committees, and the convention itself, with your protests.
Above all, remember that _now_ is the decisive hour.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, _Vice-President-at-Large_,
_National Woman Suffrage Association_.
Mrs. Gage also addressed the following to the constitutional
convention:
_Gentlemen of the Convention_: The work upon which you are
now engaged is an important one in the interests of liberty,
that of framing a constitution for a proposed new State. As
a constitution is the fundamental law, its provisions should
be general in their character, equally recognizing the
rights of all its citizens by its protective powers. Our
National principle, that governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the governed, is becoming more
and more widely recognized.
At an early day suffrage was restricted by qualifications of
property and education in many of the States, and the
removal of such restrictions has been left entirely to the
States, except in the one instance of color. Within the last
two decades, by amendments to the national constitution, all
States are forbidden to exclude citizens from the ballot
upon that account.
As "sex" is now the only remaining disqualification, on
behalf of the National Woman Suffrage Association I ask you
to omit the word "male" from your proposed constitution, and
leave the women of Dakota free to exercise the right of
suffrage. We simply ask you to make your State a true
republic, in which all your citizens may stand equal before
the law. While foreign men of every nation are welcomed to
your magnificent prairies as equals, it is humiliating to
the women of the territory, who are helping you to develop
its resources, who have endured with you all the hardships
of pioneer life, to be treated as inferiors, outside the
pale of political consideration. It should be the pride of
Dakota to take the initiative step in the legislation of the
period, now steadily growing more liberal, and by one
generous and graceful act accord to the women of this
territory all the rights, privileges and immunities that men
claim for themselves.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
_Vice-President-at-Large, N. W. S. A._
_Aberdeen, Dakota, Sept. 3, 1883._
It is to be regretted that the argument presented by Mrs. Gage
could not convince that honorable body of the injustice of laws
towards woman. To me was given the privilege of addressing the
convention. I said:
_Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention_: The honor
conferred on me, of being allowed to address you on this
important occasion is fully appreciated. I am here in behalf
of the women of our territory, who are opposed to being left
in the State organization with no more authority in the
government than paupers, lunatics and idiots. We are willing
to do one-half of the manual labor in this country, and will
promptly pay our portion of the taxes. As sober and peaceful
citizens, we compare favorably with the other sex. I have
the honor to present to you a petition signed by hundreds of
Day county voters, praying your honorable body not to allow
the word "male" to be incorporated within our State
constitution. There is no doubt that this petition speaks
the honest sentiment of the people throughout the territory.
In but a single instance was I refused a name, and in a
second case a man hesitated, saying, "Well, now, if it's as
many rights you're wantin' es I hev got fur meself, you'll
be after signin' my name fur me--fur I niver do any writin'
at all fur meself." And yet that man whose name I had to
write has more rights in this, his adopted country, than I
and all other women have in this our native land. The right
of franchise, which has heretofore been regarded as a
privilege, should more properly be considered a right--a
right to be exercised by every citizen for the public good.
If there is not another woman in Dakota who wants to vote, I
do! There is no doubt that many women are indifferent upon
this subject, but when once given the ballot you will see
that their progress will equal, if not exceed, that of the
emancipated slaves in the South. Look at Wyoming Territory,
where woman suffrage has a fair test; no one will deny it
has proved a marked success. Elections there now are quiet
and more orderly than they are elsewhere. Before the
enfranchisement of the women of Wyoming, election days were
a terror generally, being both boisterous and riotous. It is
really true that Dakota men are the most energetic and
enterprising anywhere to be found, and in number they
largely exceed our women. Gentlemen, make this the most
advantageous State for women, and they will soon be wending
their way hither. Women have been granted select committees
in both Houses of congress, and better still, each of those
committees has given us a majority report in favor of a
sixteenth amendment to the constitution of the United
States, prohibiting the disfranchisement of citizens on
account of sex. Gentlemen, delegates of this State
constitutional convention, I now appeal to your highest
sense of honor and justice to give us the right to
vote--give it to us, not because we possess any particular
merit, but give it to us because it is our right! Then
Dakota will in fact be "a home of the free"--honored by all
nations, and the Banner State of the Union [applause].
But, after all our work and pleading, they turned a deaf
ear--infinitely worse, they were dishonest; at least this was
true of the committee on elections. I was present at every
meeting of that committee. At their last, I was with them three
hours (the entire session) to answer objections. One member made
the motion, "that the word 'male' be not incorporated within our
State constitution." The vote on the motion was a tie, when the
chairman cast his vote in the affirmative. After weeks of hard
work I had reached the goal! and with eyes brim full of tears,
thanked that committee. They then adjourned, to report in open
convention the next morning to my utter surprise, that "Women may
vote at school elections and for school officers." No words of
mine can express the disappointment and humiliation this defeat
of justice caused me.
Among the hundreds of questions asked me by that committee were
these: "Do you want a prohibitory plank in our State
constitution?" Answer: "No; prohibition should be settled by the
people; it cannot be with one-half our citizens disfranchised,
and that half its most earnest advocates." "Do you think
prohibition prohibits?" "No; man's prohibitory laws are good
enough, but he does not enforce them; women have not the
authority to do so; but if you will give us the power, we will
soon have prohibition that _will_ prohibit." A voice: "I believe
it!" "Do you think the majority of women want to vote?" "I do
not; but is that any reason why you should deprive the one who
does? You do not force men to vote; women, as a rule, have not
given this subject the attention they should; many of them are as
ignorant of the advantages the ballot would secure as were the
negroes when John Brown raised the insurrection at Harper's
Ferry."
There is a trite saying: "The darkest hour is just before the
dawn." The day cannot be far distant when Dakota's women will be
free; for the most intelligent men, and those occupying the most
prominent positions in our territory, are avowed friends of
suffrage. Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court for Dakota, Hon. A.
J. Edgerton, said in his Fourth of July oration here: "How
necessary it is for us to elect only good and honest men to
office! To do this, woman likewise must act her part in the labor
of arresting the advance of crime and corruption, although
through timidity the politician is slow to invest her with the
higher duties and obligations of American citizenship."
This same just judge has appointed a woman (Mrs. Washburn of
Chamberlain) stenographer of his judicial district--the best
salaried office in his gift.[454] With the assistance of this
grand man (occupying the highest position in our territory), and
many others equally efficient, it is not to be supposed that our
most intelligent women will be obliged to wait for the education
of the most ignorant men to consent to their enfranchisement.
In the last legislature (1885) Major John A. Pickler introduced a
bill enfranchising the women of the territory, which, after full
discussion, passed the House by 29 to 18,[455] and the Council by
14 to 10. The hopes of the friends were soon disappointed by the
governor's veto:
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, BISMARK, D. T., March 13, 1885.
_To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:_
I herewith return House file No. 71, with my objections to
its becoming a law. A measure of this kind demands careful
and candid consideration, both because of its importance and
because of the acknowledged sincerity and high character of
those who favor it. There are certain reasons, however, why
I cannot approve such a measure at this time, and other
reasons why I cannot approve this particular bill. It is
desirable, in my judgment, that we act, so far as possible,
as if we were governed, restrained and guided by a
constitution adopted by ourselves. If we had a constitution
modeled after those of the States, an extraordinary
proposition like this would be submitted to the people. If
congress thinks woman suffrage wise, it has the power to
establish it. It is unfair to shift the responsibility on
the territory and then hold it responsible for alleged
imprudent legislation. I am assured the enactment of this
law will delay our claims to statehood, and in so critical a
period it is better that no pretext whatever be given for
such postponement. It is doubted by many if a majority of
the women of Dakota want the franchise. The point is made,
and a very good one, that the fact that one woman does not
want a right is not a justifiable reason for refusing it to
another who does, yet it must not be forgotten that the
enfranchisement of women confers not only a privilege but a
grave burden and responsibility. We condemn the man who
neglects to vote as recreant to his duty. If women are
enfranchised, the right conferred becomes an obligation as
imperious to them as to men; on those opposed as on those
who favor the act. I think the women of Dakota should have a
voice in determining whether they should assume this burden
or not. So much for the general proposition. There are two
other features of this bill which I can scarcely think
satisfactory to the advocates of woman suffrage themselves.
I am satisfied that they should appear in a measure claiming
to advance the rights of women. If the vote of a woman is
needed anywhere, it is in our cities. In many existing city
charters a distinct clause appears, providing that males
alone shall possess the qualifications of electors. In this
bill the word "male" is only stricken out of one chapter of
the code, leaving the disability still standing against
hundreds of women equally entitled to recognition. The women
of Sioux Falls, the women of Mitchell, the women of
Brookings, the women of Chamberlain, of Watertown and a
great many of the more important cities in southern Dakota,
would be disqualified from voting under these special
enactments, even though this bill became a law at this very
session. Charters have been created with that provision
retained, and they would make this bill abortive and largely
inoperative. A still more objectionable feature, and one
deliberately inserted, is the clause debarring women from
the right to hold office. If the word "male" had been
stricken out of the code, and no other action taken, they
would have been eligible, and I believe there is a wide
feeling that many offices, particularly those connected with
penal and benevolent institutions, could be most
appropriately filled with women, but this clause practically
forbids their appointment. If women are good enough to vote
they are good enough to be voted for. If they are qualified
to choose officials, they are qualified to be chosen. I
don't say that I would approve this measure were it
otherwise worded, but I certainly would not indorse a bill
which thus keeps the word of promise to the ear and breaks
it to the hope, which deliberately and avowedly debars and
disqualifies women while assuming to exalt and honor them.
These objections are apart from the abstract right of women
to the ballot, but they show how necessary it is to approach
such a subject with deliberation. If women are to be
enfranchised, let it be done, not as a thirty days' wonder,
but as a merited reform resulting from mature reflection,
approved by the public conscience and sanctioned by the
enlightened judgment of the people.
[Signed:] GILBERT A. PIERCE, _Governor_.
An effort was promptly made to carry the measure over the
governor's veto, which failed by a vote of 18 to 26.
During the last session of the legislature a large public meeting
was held in Bismarck, at which many of the members spoke strongly
in favor of the woman suffrage amendment, the chief-justice and a
majority of his associates advocating the measure. Mrs. Gage, in
a letter from Dakota, said:
An acquaintance of mine, the owner of a green-house, sent
each of the members voting "aye" a buttonhole bouquet, a
badge of honor which marked our friends for a few hours at
least. It is a pertinent fact that, while the opposition
insist that women do not want to vote, in a single county of
this sparsely settled territory 222 women did vote in the
midst of a severe storm. In a series of articles signed
"Justice," published in the Bismarck _Tribune_, we find the
following:
The women of Dakota do desire the power to vote. One year
ago a majority of the commissioners of Kingsbury county
signed a request that at an election to be held March 4,
1884, the women should, with the men, express their wishes
by vote upon a specified question of local policy. The women
immediately responded, prepared their separate ballot-boxes,
placed them in charge of the election officers by the side
of the men's boxes upon the same table at De Smet and other
towns, and voted all day side by side with the men, casting
throughout the county 222 votes. A more orderly election was
never known. No self-respect was lost and no woman was
lowered in public esteem. Clergymen, lawyers, merchants,
farmers, all voted with their wives, the ballots going into
different boxes. One thousand men voted in the county. The
day was stormy and snow deep on the ground. If 222 women in
one county would without previous experience spring forward
to vote on a week's notice, is it to be supposed they do not
appreciate the right?
JUSTICE.
Mr. Pickler, who had taken an active part in the discussion on
the amendment, received many letters of thanks from the friends
of woman suffrage throughout the nation, and made his
acknowledgments in the following cordial letter to Mrs. Matilda
Joslyn Gage:
FAULKTON, D. T., April 20, 1885.
_Matilda Joslyn Gage, Syracuse, N. Y._:
DEAR MADAM: Your kind letter addressed to me on the Woman
Suffrage bill, at Bismarck, would have been earlier
acknowledged had it not been that I suffered quite a severe
illness upon my return from the legislature. I beg to assure
you that words of encouragement from such able and
distinguished personages as yourself have been highly
appreciated in my effort to secure suffrage for women in
Dakota. I am half inclined to think that your indication as
to a coming political party, with woman suffrage as one
plank in its platform, may not be without foundation.
I introduced the bill in the Dakota legislature, having
previously supported a like measure in the Iowa legislature,
really without consultation with any one, or without
knowledge as to the sentiment of the members upon the
question. I have had my convictions since my college days
that simple justice demands that woman should have the
ballot, and in this opinion I am warmly seconded by my wife,
who desires to vote, as I think all sensible women should. I
was pleased with the favor the bill received, and after a
week or two believed it possible to have it pass the House,
with constant exertion and watchfulness. Those who at first
laughed at the idea, learning I was very much in earnest,
stopped to consider and to discuss, and finally came to vote
for it.
It passed the House, and after considerable difficulty in
getting it out of the hands of an adverse committee in the
Council, who insisted on having it referred to them, it
passed with an amendment "to submit to a vote of the
people." I managed to have the House refuse to concur in
this amendment, which resulted in a conference committee,
five out of six of whom reported in favor of the Council
receding from their amendment, which they did, and yet,
after all, and when we thought it safe, it was vetoed. Few,
if any, supposed that Governor Pierce, a governor only
appointed over us less than six months, would place himself
a barrier in the way of the will of the people, and opposed
to the advancement of human rights. I deeply regret that he
did not rise to the grandest opportunity of his life, but he
failed to do so.
Your words were particularly encouraging, being personally
interested in Dakota as you are, and I dare say you will
bear witness that we have an intelligent people, and a great
many good women, land-owners and property-holders, who
should have a voice in the taxation of their property, real
and personal. We shall not give it up; we shall continue in
the work, not doubting that success will finally crown our
efforts. Our constitution is not yet formed, and if ever the
political parties cease to exercise their tyranny over us,
by allowing us to be admitted as a State, we shall endeavor
at least to secure it so the legislature may grant or
prescribe the qualifications of voters without requiring a
change in the constitution.
Will you visit Dakota again? In another contest we would be
much aided by your presence and assistance, confidently
believing that "Heaven will one day free us from this
slavery." If your children[456] reside in this section of
the territory, I should be pleased to form their
acquaintance. Again thanking you for your kind words, I am,
Yours truly, J. A. PICKLER.
As Dakota has thus deliberately trampled upon the rights of
one-half her people, it is to be hoped that congress will not admit
her into the Union until that odious word "male" is stricken from
her constitution.
FOOTNOTES:
[453] These counties are Union, Lincoln, Clay, Minnehaha, Moody,
Deuel, Codington, Cass, Walsh, Grand Forks, Pembina, Barnes,
Lawrence and Hutchinson.
[454] Since 1882 Mrs. Bones has held the office of deputy-clerk of
the District Court of Day county; Mrs. Washburn was appointed to
her office in 1884; Miss Elizabeth M. Cochrane, appointed by Judge
Seward Smith, is clerk of the District Court of Falk county; Mrs.
Virginia A. Wilkins is deputy-clerk of the District Court of Hand
county; Mrs. Dutton, deputy county-clerk, and Mrs. Hanson
deputy-sheriff of Day county; and Mrs. Pease is deputy-receiver of
the Watertown Land-office.
[455] _Yeas_--Barnes, Blackmore, Coe, Bayard, Clark, Dermody,
Gregg, Hutson, Johnson, Miller, McCall, Parshall, Pierce, Roach,
Southwick, Smith, Stebbins, J. P. Ward, Huntington, Hutchinson,
Langan, Martin, Morgan, Pickler, Riddell, Steele, Stevens, Sprague,
Stewart--29. _Nays_--Davison, Hobart, Larson, McCumber, Oliver,
Pugh, Ruger, Strong, Eldridge, Helvig, Myron, McHugh, Runkle,
Swanton, Van Osdell, Williams, Mark Ward, Mr. Speaker--18.
[456] Mrs. Gage has a son and daughter residing in Dakota, both
well educated, superior young people, whose influence will, no
doubt, be felt in every progressive movement in that State. Mrs.
Gage's children sympathize with their mother in her broad, liberal
views on all questions.--[E. C. S.
CHAPTER XLIX.
NEBRASKA.
Clara Bewick Colby--Nebraska Came into the Possession of the
United States, 1803--The Home of the Dakotas--Organized as a
Territory, 1854--Territorial Legislature--Mrs. Amelia Bloomer
Addresses the House--Gen. Wm. Larimer, 1856--A Bill to Confer
Suffrage on Woman--Passed the House--Lost in the
Senate--Constitution Harmonized with the Fourteenth
Amendment--Admitted as a State March 1, 1867--Mrs. Stanton, Miss
Anthony Lecture in the State, 1867--Mrs. Tracy Cutler, 1870--Mrs.
Esther L. Warner's Letter--Constitutional Convention, 1871--Woman
Suffrage Amendment Submitted--Lost by 12,676 against, 3,502
for--Prolonged Discussion--Constitutional Convention,
1875--Grasshoppers Devastate the Country--_Inter-Ocean_, Mrs.
Harbert--Omaha _Republican_, 1876--Woman's Column Edited by Mrs.
Harriet S. Brooks--"Woman's Kingdom"--State Society formed,
January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks President--Mrs. Dinsmoore, Mrs.
Colby, Mrs. Brooks, before the Legislature--Amendment again
Submitted--Active Canvass of the State, 1882--First Convention of
the State Association--Charles F. Manderson--Unreliable
Petitions--An Unfair Count of Votes for Woman Suffrage--Amendment
Defeated--Conventions in Omaha--Notable Women in the
State--Conventions--_Woman's Tribune_ Established in 1883.
Clara Bewick Colby, the historian for Nebraska, is of English
parentage, and came to Wisconsin when eight years of age. In her
country home, as one of a large family, she had but scant
opportunities for attending the district school, but her father
encouraged and assisted his children to study in the winter
evenings, and in this way she fitted herself to teach in country
schools. After a few terms she entered, the State University at
Madison, and while there made a constant effort to secure equal
privileges and opportunities for the students of her sex. She was
graduated with honors in 1869, and at once became a teacher of
history and Latin in the institution. She was married to Leonard W.
Colby, a graduate of the same university, and moved to Beatrice,
Nebraska, in 1872. Amidst the hardships of pioneer life in a new
country, the young wife for a season found her family cares
all-absorbing, but her taste for study, her love of literature and
her natural desire to improve the conditions about her, soon led
her to work up an interest in the establishment of a library and
course of lectures. She afterwards edited a department in the
Beatrice _Express_ called "Woman's Work," and in 1883 she started
_The Woman's Tribune_, a paper whose columns show that Mrs. Colby
has the true editorial instinct. For several years she has been
deeply interested in the movement for woman's enfranchisement,
devoting her journal to the advocacy of this great reform. In
addition to her cares as housekeeper[457] and editor, Mrs. Colby
has also lectured extensively in many States, east and west, not
only to popular audiences, but before legislative and congressional
committees.
In her description of Nebraska and the steps of progress in woman's
civil and political rights, Mrs. Colby says:
Nebraska makes its first appearance in history as part of
Louisiana and belonging to Spain. Seized by France in 1683, ceded
to Spain in 1762; again the property of France in 1800, and sold
to the United States in 1803; the shifting ownership yet left no
trace on that interior and inaccessible portion of Louisiana now
known as Nebraska. It was the home of the Dakotas, who had come
down from the north pushing the earlier Indian races before them.
Every autumn when _Heyokah_, the Spirit of the North, puffed from
his huge pipe the purpling smoke "enwrapping all the land in
mellow haze," the Dakotas gathered at the Great Red Pipestone
Quarry for their annual feast and council. These yearly
excursions brought them in contact with the fur traders, who in
turn roamed the wild and beautiful country of the Niobrara,
returning thence to Quebec laden with pelts. With the exception
of a few military posts, the first established in 1820 where the
town of Fort Calhoun now stands, Nebraska was uninhabited by
white people until the gold hunters of 1849 passed through what
seemed to them an arid desert, as they sought their Eldorado in
the mountains beyond. Disappointed and homesick, many of the
emigrants retraced their steps, and found their former trail
through Nebraska marked by sunflowers, the luxuriance of which
evidenced the fertility of the soil, and encouraged the travelers
to settle within its borders.
Nebraska became an organized territory by the Kansas-Nebraska
bill in 1854, including at first Dakota, Idaho and Colorado, from
which it was separated in 1863. The early settlers were
courageous, keeping heart amid attacks of savages, and
devastations of the fire-demon and the locust. Published history
is silent concerning the part that women took in this frontier
life, but the tales told by the fireside are full of the
endurance and heroism of wives whose very isolation kept them
hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, and thought to thought with
their husbands. It is not strange then that the men of those
early days inclined readily to the idea of sharing the rights of
self-government with women who had with them left home and
kindred and the comforts of the older States. But it is
remarkable, and proof that the thought belongs to the age, that,
thirty years ago, when the discussion of woman's status was still
new in Massachusetts and New York, and only seven years after the
first woman-suffrage convention ever held, here--half way across
a continent, in a country almost unheard of, and with but scant
communication with the older parts of the Republic--this
instinctive justice should have crystalized into legislative
action.
In December, 1855, an invitation was extended by the territorial
legislature to Mrs. Amelia Bloomer of Council Bluffs, to deliver
an address on woman's rights, in the Hall of the House of
Representatives. This invitation was signed by twenty-five
members of the legislature and was accepted by Mrs. Bloomer for
January 8. The following pleasing account of this address and its
reception was written by an Omaha correspondent of the Council
Bluffs _Chronotype_ of that date:
Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, who had been formally invited by
members of the legislature and others, arrived at the door
of the state-house at 7 o'clock, P. M., and by the gallantry
of Gen. Larimer, a passage was made for her to the platform.
The house had been crowded for some time with eager
expectants to see the lady and listen to the arguments which
were to be adduced as the fruitage of female thought and
research. When all had been packed into the house who could
possibly find a place for the sole of the foot, Mrs. Bloomer
arose, amid cheers. We watched her closely, and saw that she
was perfectly self-possessed--not a nerve seemed to be moved
by excitement, and the voice did not tremble. She arose in
the dignity of a true woman, as if the importance of her
mission so absorbed her thoughts that timidity or
bashfulness were too mean to entangle the mental powers. She
delivered her lecture in a pleasing, able, and I may say,
eloquent manner that enchained the attention of her audience
for an hour and a half. A _man_ could not have beaten it.
In mingling with the people next day, we found that her
argument had met with much favor. As far as property rights
are concerned, all seemed to agree with the lady that the
laws of our country are wrong, and that woman should receive
the same protection as man. All we have time to say now is,
that Mrs. Bloomer's arguments on woman's rights are
unanswerable. We may doubt it is policy for women to vote,
but who can draw the line and say that naturally she has not
a right to do so? Mrs. Bloomer, though a little body, is
among the great women of the United States; and her keen,
intellectual eye seems to flash fire from a fountain that
will consume the stubble of old theories until woman is
placed in her true position in the enjoyment of equal rights
and privileges. Her only danger is in asking too much.
ONEIDA.
Eight days after Mrs. Bloomer's address, Hon. Jerome Hoover,
member for the counties of Nemaha and Richardson, introduced in
the House a bill to confer suffrage equally upon women. The bill
was put upon its third reading, January 25, and was earnestly
championed by General William Larimer of Douglas county, formerly
of Pittsburgh, Pa. It passed by a vote of 14 to 11.[458] The
result of the passage of the bill by the House was graphically
described by the _Chronotype_ of January 30:
On Friday afternoon and evening quite an excitement took
place, which resulted in offering an insult to one of the
ablest members of the legislature, but which, while it
reflected no dishonor upon the person against whom it was
aimed, should cover the perpetrators with lasting shame. We
will state briefly the facts as we have heard them.
The bill giving woman the right to vote came up at 11
o'clock, by a special order of the House. A number of ladies
entered the hall to listen to the proceedings. General
Larimer spoke eloquently and ably in favor of the bill,
making, perhaps, the best speech that could be made on that
side of the question. On the vote being taken, it
stood--ayes 14, nays 11. The bill was then sent to the
Council, where it was referred to the Committee on
Elections. Its passage by the House of Representatives
created a great deal of talk, and several members threatened
to resign. At the evening session J. S. Morton, W. E. Moore,
A. F. Salisbury and L. L. Bowen came into the House and
proposed to present General Larimer with a petticoat, which
did not tend much to allay the excitement. The General, of
course, was justly indignant at such treatment, as were also
the other members. The proposal was characteristic of the
prime mover in it, and we are astonished that the other
gentlemen named should have been willing to associate
themselves with him in offering this indignity to the oldest
and most respected member of the body--a man who was elected
to the station he has so ably filled by the unanimous vote
of the people of Douglas county. General Larimer had a
perfect right to advocate or oppose the bill according to
his own sense of duty, and any man, or set of men, who would
attempt to cast insult or ridicule upon him for so doing, is
worthy only of the contempt of decent people. In saying this
we, of course, express no opinion on the merits of the bill
itself.
The bill was taken up in the Council, read twice, and referred to
the Committee on Elections, whose chairman, Mr. Cowles, reported
it back without amendment, and recommended its passage. This
being the last day of the session, the bill could not come up
again. The _Chronotype_, after the adjournment, commented as
follows:
The bill granting women the right to vote, which had passed
the House, was read the first and second time in the Council
and referred to the Committee on Elections, where it now
remains for want of time to bring it up again. A gentleman
who was opposed to the passage of a bill to locate the seat
of justice of Washington county, obtained the floor, and
delivered a speech of many hours on some unimportant bill
then under consideration, in order to "kill time" and
prevent the Washington county bill from coming up. The hour
for adjournment _sine die_ arrived before he concluded, and
the Woman Suffrage bill, and many others of great
importance, remained upon the clerk's table without being
acted upon. It is admitted by every one that want of time
only defeated the passage of the bill through the Council.
The citizens of Nebraska are ready to make a trial of its
provisions, which speaks volumes for the intelligence of the
free and independent squatters of this beautiful territory.
Mrs. Bloomer says that assurance was given by members of the
Council that the bill would have passed that body triumphantly
had more time been allowed, or had it been introduced earlier in
the session. The general sentiment was in favor of it, and the
gentlemen who talked the last hours away to kill other bills were
alone responsible for its defeat. Mrs. Bloomer followed up her
work by lectures in Omaha and Nebraska City two years later.
The exigencies attending the settlement of the territory and the
absorbing interests of the civil war occupied the next decade.
The character of the settlers may be inferred from the fact that,
with only about 5,000 voters, Nebraska gave over 3,000 soldiers
for the defense of the Union and of their home borders, where the
Indians had seized the occasion to break out into active
hostilities. The war over, Nebraska sought to be admitted as a
State, and a constitution was prepared on the old basis of white
male suffrage. Congress admitted Nebraska, but provided that the
act should not take effect until the constitution should be
changed to harmonize with the fourteenth amendment. After some
discussion the condition was accepted, and Nebraska was thus the
first State to recognize in its constitution the sovereignty of
all male persons. Some of the debates of this time indicate that
the appreciation of human rights was growing, nor were allusions
wanting making a direct application of the principle to women.
The debates and resolutions connected with the ratification of
the fourteenth amendment are historically and logically connected
with the growth of the idea of woman's political equality. The
man who, from regard for justice and civil liberties, advocates
the right of franchise for additional classes of men, easily
extends the thought until it embraces woman. On the other hand
the man who sees men enfranchised whom he deems unworthy to use
the ballot, thinks it a disgrace to withhold it from intelligent
women. Gov. Alvin Saunders,[459] in his message urging the
ratification of the fourteenth amendment said:
The day, in my opinion, is not far distant when property
qualifications, educational qualifications, and color
qualifications, as precedent to the privilege of voting,
will be known no more by the American people, but that
intelligence and manhood will be the only qualifications
necessary to entitle an American citizen to the privilege of
an elector.
Later, Acting-governor A. S. Paddock[459] in his message said:
I should hail with joy a radical change in the rule of
suffrage which would give the franchise to intelligence and
patriotism wherever found, regardless of the color of the
possessor.
The majority report of the committee to whom was referred that
portion of the governor's message which related to rights of
suffrage, was as follows:
We hold that the dogma of partial suffrage is a dangerous
doctrine, and contrary to the laws of nature and the letter
and spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
[Signed:] ISAAC WILES, WILLIAM DAILEY, GEORGE CROW.
A minority report was brought in by S. M. Curran and Aug. F.
Harvey. On its rejection Mr. Harvey introduced this
resolution:
_Resolved_, That we, the members of the House of
Representatives, of the legislature of Nebraska, are in
favor of impartial and universal suffrage, and believe fully
in the equality of all races, colors and sexes at the
ballot-box.
This was not intended to advance the rights of women, but simply
to slay the advocates of the enlargement of the franchise with
their own weapons. A. B. Fuller moved to amend by striking out
the word "universal," and all after the word "suffrage," which
was carried by a vote of 22 to 9. The Committee on Federal
Relations reported:
The constitution recognizes all persons born within the
United States, or naturalized in pursuance of the law, to be
citizens, and entitled to the rights of citizenship; and a
recent act of congress amends the organization acts of the
several territories so as to confer the rights of suffrage
upon all citizens except such as are disqualified by reason
of crime. Consequently, when congress decrees that we shall
not, as a State, deprive citizens of rights already
guaranteed to them, it does not transcend its powers, or
impose upon us conditions from which we are now exempt.
With these discussions of fundamental principles which, although
couched in the most comprehensive terms, strangely enough
conserved the rights of only half the citizens, the fourteenth
amendment was ratified, and Nebraska became a State on March 1,
1867.
The early legislation of Nebraska was favorable to woman, and
much ahead of that passed in the same period by most of the older
States, The records show that a few legislators treated any
matter that referred to the rights of woman as a jest, but the
majority were liberal or respectful, and the honored names of
Dailey, Reavis, Majors, Porter, Kelley, and others, constantly
recur in the records of the earlier sessions as pushing favorable
legislation for women. At almost every session, too, the actual
question of the ballot for woman was broached. The legislature of
1869 bestowed school suffrage on women;[460] and a joint
resolution and a memorial to congress relative to female suffrage
were introduced. The journals show that:
Hon. Isham Reavis of Falls City, introduced in the Senate
January 30, a memorial and joint resolution to congress, on
the subject of female suffrage. After the second reading, on
motion of Mr. Majors, it was referred to a select committee
of bachelors, consisting of Senators Gere, Majors, Porter,
and Goodwill, who reported it back without recommendation.
It was afterwards considered in committee of the whole, then
taken up by the Senate. Reavis moved it be taken up for
third reading on the following day. The yeas and nays being
demanded the motion was lost by a vote of 6 to 7. On motion
of Mr. Stevenson the matter was referred to the Judiciary
Committee, with the usual result of neglect and oblivion.
In the autumn of 1867 Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony lectured in
Omaha and sowed seed which bore fruit in the large number of
petitions sent later from that city. In December 1870, Mrs. Tracy
Cutler gave several addresses in Lincoln. Miss Anthony lectured
January 28, 1871, on "The False Theory," and before leaving the
city looked in on the legislature, which promptly extended to her
the privilege of the floor. A number of ladies met Miss Anthony
for consultation, and took the initiatory steps for forming a
State association. A meeting was appointed for the following
Friday, when it was decided to memorialize the legislature. The
memorial was headed by Mrs. Lydia Butler, wife of the governor of
the State, who spent some days in securing signatures. A lively
pen-picture of those times is furnished by private correspondence
of Mrs. Esther L. Warner of Roca:
The first work done for woman suffrage in Lincoln was in
December, 1870. Mrs. Tracy Cutler stopped when on her way to
California, and gave several addresses in Lincoln. Her
womanliness and logic won and convinced her hearers, and had
a marked effect upon public sentiment. There are men and
women to-day in Nebraska who date their conversion to the
cause of equal rights from those lectures. Some steps were
taken towards organization, but the matter was dropped in
its incipient stages. During the same winter Miss Susan B.
Anthony lectured in Lincoln, and presented a petition to be
signed by women, asking to be allowed to vote under the
fourteenth amendment. She also called a meeting of ladies in
a hotel parlor and aided in organizing a State suffrage
society. Her rare executive ability accomplished what other
hands would have failed to do, for the difficulties in the
way of such a movement at that early day were great. Lydia
Butler, wife of Governor Butler, was elected president, and
other representative women filled the various offices, but
after a short time it was deemed wise to disband, as
circumstances made it impossible to keep up an efficient
organization. Time and money were not plentiful with western
women, but we did what we could, and sent a petition to the
legislature that winter asking a resolution recommending to
the coming State convention to omit the word "male" from the
constitution. The petition was signed by about 1,000 women,
and received respectful attention from the legislature, and
speeches were made in its favor by several members. Among
others the speaker of the House, F. M. McDougal, favored the
resolution. Governor Butler sent a special message with the
petition, recommending the passage of the resolution, for
which Nebraska women will always honor him.
Next it was thought best to call a convention in the
interest of woman suffrage, to be held while the
constitutional convention should be in session the coming
summer. Two women were commissioned to prepare the call and
present it for the signatures of members of the legislature
who favored the measure. It was thought this course would
give dignity and importance to the call which would secure
attention throughout the State. The session of the
legislature was very exciting. Intrigue accomplished the
impeachment of a high State official, and others were being
dragged down. As it neared its close the political cauldron
boiled and bubbled with redoubled violence. It was more than
any woman dared do to approach it. Were not the political
fortunes and the sacred honor (?) of men in jeopardy?
Woman's rights sunk into insignificance. We subsided. Our
hour had not yet come.
Mrs. Butler says of the part she took at this time: "I
entertained the speakers because requested to, and found them so
pleasant and persuasive that I soon became a convert to their
views. The active and intelligent leaders at that time were
Mesdames Cropsey, Galey, Warner, Monell, Coda, and many others
whose names I cannot recall." As the result of the effort thus
made the legislature of 1871 memorialized the constitutional
convention relative to submitting the question to the electors.
The proceedings given in the journals are as follows:
February 4, 1871, Mr. J. C. Myers announced that ladies were
in the gallery, and desired to present a petition. A
committee was appointed to wait on them. D. J. Quimby
introduced a resolution asking an opinion of the
attorney-general as to whether in accepting the fourteenth
and fifteenth amendments we grant the right of suffrage to
women. It was carried, and the memorial, the opinion, and
the governor's message were referred to the judiciary
committee, which reported through Mr. Galey as follows:
_Whereas_, The constitution of the State of Nebraska
prohibits the women of said State from exercising the right
of the elective franchise; and
_Whereas_, Taxation without representation is repugnant to a
republican form of government, and applies to women as well
as all other citizens of this State; and
_Whereas_, All laws which make any distinction between the
political rights and privileges of males and females are
unbecoming to the people of this State in the year 1871 of
the world's progress, and tend only to deprive the latter of
the means necessary for their own protection in the various
pursuits and callings of life. Therefore be it
_Resolved_, By the House of Representatives of the State of
Nebraska, that the constitutional convention to be begun and
holden on the--day of May, 1871, for the purpose of
revising and amending the constitution of said State, is
hereby most respectfully and earnestly requested to draft
such amendment to the constitution of this State as will
allow the women thereof to exercise the right of the
elective franchise and afford to them such other and further
relief as to that honorable body may be deemed wise,
expedient and proper; and be it further
_Resolved_, That said convention is hereby most respectfully
and earnestly requested to make such provision (when said
amendment shall be submitted to a vote of the people of said
State) as will enable the women of Nebraska to vote at said
election for the adoption or rejection of the same.
_Resolved_, Further, that the Secretary of State is hereby
instructed to present a copy of this resolution to said
convention as soon as the same shall be convened.
Mr. Porter moved the adoption of the report, which was
carried by a vote of 19 to 16.[461] In the Senate, March 22,
E. C. Cunningham offered the following amendment to the bill
providing for calling a constitutional convention:
That the electors of the State be and are hereby authorized
and recommended to vote for and against female suffrage at
the election for members of the constitutional convention.
Provided, That at such election all women above the age of
21 years, possessing the qualifications required of male
electors are hereby authorized and requested to vote upon
said proposition, and for the purpose of receiving their
votes a separate polling place shall be provided.
The amendment was lost by a vote of 6 to 6.[462]
In accordance with the memorial of the legislature, the
constitutional convention that met in the following summer by a
vote of 30 to 13[463] submitted a clause relative to the right of
suffrage. The constitution itself was rejected by the voters; and
on this clause the ballot stood, for, 3,502; against, 12,676. Had
it been carried at the polls, it would only have conferred upon
the legislature the right to submit amendments, and it was
therefore no special object to the adherents of impartial
suffrage to make efforts for its adoption, while the fact that it
was the outgrowth of the discussion of that principle brought
upon it all the opposition that a clause actually conferring the
ballot would have insured. The right of woman to the elective
franchise was championed by the ablest men in the convention.
Night after night the question was argued _pro_ and _con_.
Petitions from Lincoln and Omaha were numerously presented. The
galleries were filled with women eagerly watching the result. The
proposition finally adopted did not touch the point at issue, but
was accepted as all that could be obtained on that occasion. As
the constitution was not adopted, the succeeding legislature felt
no interest in the proceedings of the convention, and the
journals were not printed; and the records of this battle for
justice and civil liberty were hidden in the dusty archives of
the state-house until brought out to tell their story for these
pages. As this is the only discussion of the question by Nebraska
statesmen which has been officially preserved, and as the
debaters were among the most prominent men of the State, and
many of them retain that position to-day, a few extracts will be
of interest:
The discussion began with the motion of Mr. I. S. Hascall to
strike out "men" and insert "persons" in the clause "All men
are by nature free and independent." The motion was lost.
General E. Estabrook moved to add "Every human being of full
age, and resident for a proper length of time on the soil of
the Nation and State, who is required to obey the law, is
entitled to a voice in its enactment; and every such person
whose property is taxed for the support of the government is
entitled to a direct representation in such government." Mr.
Hascall moved that "man" be inserted in place of "human
being." Mr. E. S. Towle desired to put "male" in the place
of "man." General Estabrook, on being asked if his amendment
was intended to cover "woman's rights," replied:
I take pleasure in making the amendment because it is a step
in the right direction. Justice to woman is the keystone in
the arch of the temple of liberty we are now building. That
no citizen should be taxed without representation is an
underlying principle of a republic and no free government
can exist without it.
General Estabrook seems to have stood alone in considering
that the principle of impartial suffrage properly belonged
to the Bill of Rights. The amendments were lost. When the
article on extension of suffrage was under discussion,
General Estabrook opened the subject in a comprehensive
speech, lasting all one evening and part of the next. He
proved that women were citizens, citing the petitions to
congress relative to woman's right to vote under the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, and the reports of the
committee thereupon--one in favor and one opposed, but both
agreeing that women are citizens. Then he showed what rights
they were entitled to as citizens, quoting the Federal
Constitution, Bouvier's Institutes and Law Dictionary, James
Madison, Paine's Dissertation on the Principles of
Government, Otis' Rights of the Colonies, Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, and others. Commenting upon these, he set
forth that women vote in corporations, administer estates,
manage hospitals and rule empires without harm to themselves
and with benefit to everybody else. He made a special
argument to the Democrats, reviewing the position of some of
their leading men, and closed with saying, "This is the most
important measure yet considered, because it contains a
fundamental principle."
General Strickland then introduced a resolution that an
article for woman suffrage should be submitted to the
people, that the women should vote separately, and that if a
majority of both men and women should be in favor, it should
become a law. The member did not move this because he
favored the principle, but because he felt sure the women
would not vote for it. He could not understand what a woman
could possibly want more than she had, having the privileges
while man has the drudgery. He closed with the prophecy that
in two years not a woman would vote in Wyoming.
General Charles F. Manderson followed. Taking the ground
that the members were not in convention to look after the
rights of the males only, he said: "Did we recognize the
right of all the people to be represented, we should have
to-day on this floor some persons sent here to represent the
women of our State. Men do not represent women because they
are not and cannot be held responsible by them. We have no
more right to represent the women here than a man in Iowa
has to go to congress and presume to represent Nebraska
there." To illustrate the principle General Manderson
instanced that in the New York Constitutional Conventions of
1801 and 1821, persons voted for delegates who had not the
property qualifications to vote at ordinary elections. Even
the black man was represented by delegates for whom he had
voted. In presenting a petition from Lincoln with seventy
names of women who desired to vote, General Manderson said
he had made inquiries, and these were the names of the
respectable, influential ladies of Lincoln, sixty-three of
whom were married. He then reviewed the history and workings
of woman suffrage in Wyoming, furnishing the highest
testimony in its favor, and closed as follows:
Mr. Chairman, I envy not the heart or the head of the man,
let him occupy what place he may, let him sit in a
legislative body or wield the editorial pen, who is so base
as to denounce the advocates of this measure as demagogues,
and to say that if the right is extended to woman, the low,
the miserable, will outnumber at the polls the thousands of
virtuous wives throughout this land who advocate this
measure; the lie is thrown in his teeth by that noble woman,
Mrs. Livermore, who did more service in time of war as a
soldier battling for the right than did even my gallant
friend, and did far more than myself. She inaugurated and
carried in her mighty hand and guided by her mighty brain
that Western Ladies' Aid Society, and helped by some means
the Western Sanitary Association that did more than 10,000
armed men to suppress the late rebellion. The lie is hurled
in the teeth of the vile slanderer by this petition from the
honest, virtuous ladies of the city of Lincoln. If we have
planted one seed, that will bring forth good fruit, God be
thanked for that result.
Mr. Kenaston spoke in favor of the measure, and Judge Moore
opposed it in a very witty speech, of which the principal
points were that the members were to decide according to
expediency, not right; that women had always consented to
the government--never trampled the flag in the dust, but
always rallied to its support. Judge O. P. Mason followed in
opposition, also J. C. Myers, the latter claiming that for
twenty years the advocates of woman suffrage have made
little, if any, impression on the public mind. E. F. Gray
had begun speaking in favor when Victor Vifquain moved the
previous question. A lively debate followed this, but it did
not prevail. Mr. Mason said: "If we hold the right on this
question let us challenge discussion and meet the
opposition. It is not a wasted time that sows the seed of
truth in the brain." Mr. Manderson urged the number of
petitions that had been sent in as a reason for full
discussion. R. F. Stevenson said he was opposed to it in
every form. A. L. Sprague was against submitting this
question at any time, that neither by the laws of God nor of
man were women entitled to vote. Seth Robinson would like to
hear the social aspects of the question discussed. He said:
"I would like, gentlemen, to show whether it would not have
a tendency to regenerate our social system and make women as
a class more efficient than they are." The motion for the
previous question being lost a motion was made to strike out
this section. While this was pending General Estabrook
insisted that it should be re-committed, saying: "It is the
only political question that has essential principle in it.
There are not brains enough in this convention to show the
justice of taxation without representation. Judge George B.
Lake warmly seconded Mr. Estabrook's motion. O. P. Mason
wanted the proposition to be submitted to both sexes
separately. J. E. Philpott advocated woman suffrage in a
comprehensive argument. In closing, he said:
I demand that suffrage shall be extended to females for the
reason that they have not adequate representation in the
electoral department. As evidence of this I cite the
undeniable facts that in this State woman has not fair wages
for her work--has not a fair field to work in. The law, with
all its freedom, does not place her on the same footing as
to property that it does males. She has no voice as an
elector in the making of the laws which regulate her marital
union, no voice in the laws which sever those ties. The
motto of the State is "Equality Before the Law." This can no
more be among us with women disfranchised than in our nation
all men could be free and equal while there were more than
3,000,000 slaves.
A. J. Weaver spoke in opposition and was followed by Hon. I.
S. Hascall, who based his advocacy of the principle on the
rights that woman has as an individual:
Because we have started upon the wrong track, because women
in the dark ages were in bondage, is no reason, when we have
advanced to a higher civilization, that we should continue
this barbarous practice. There is a higher point to reach
and I want to see the people reach that point. I think that
the American people are old enough in experience to bring
order out of disorder, and that when the question arises
they will meet it in such a way as will be satisfactory to
all.
Mr. Stevenson spoke in opposition basing his argument on
man's superiority to woman and closed with this remarkable
prediction which has probably never been surpassed as a
specimen of "spread eagle":
Finally, Mr. President, I really think that if the ballot
were placed in the hands of woman the old American eagle
that stands with one foot upon the Alleghanies and the other
upon the Rockies, whetting his beak upon the ice-capped
mountains of Alaska, and covering half the Southern gulf
with his tail, will cease to scream and sink into the pits
of blackness of darkness amidst the shrieks of lost spirits
that will forever echo and reecho through cavernous depths
unknown.
S. P. Majors advocated the measure, and in the course of the
discussion, B. I. Hinman offered a burlesque resolution,
proposing to change the duties and functions of the sexes by
law, and John D. Neligh said:
The gentleman from Otoe (Mr. Mason) will get the commission
of the Christian mothers, not _against_ the right of female
suffrage, but _for_ universal suffrage. That will be a happy
day--a day when we shall shine out as a nation more brightly
than any other nation under the sun.[464]
The constitution of 1871 not having been adopted, it became
necessary to present another to the people. Accordingly in the
summer of 1875 delegates of the male citizens met in the capital
city. No outside pressure was brought to bear upon them to
influence their consideration of this subject. The grasshoppers
had ravaged the State the previous year, cutting off entirely the
principal crop of the country. Again in the spring of 1875, in
some of the river counties, the young had hatched in myriads, and
devoured the growing crops ere winging their way to their
mountain home. Gloom overspread the people at the prospect of
renewed disaster, and the dismal forebodings were realized even
as the delegates sat in council, for at this time occurred the
final appearance of the locust. As the people gazed into the sky
and watched the silver cloud floating in the sunshine resolve
itself into a miniature army clad in burnished steel, women
forgot to be concerned for their rights, and the delegates
thought only of completing their work with the utmost economy and
speed.
The new constitution, however, was formed on a more liberal
basis. Hon. R. B. Harrington, of Beatrice, in the Committee on
Bill of Rights, substituted the word "people" for "men," and it
passed without comment. An article on amendments was embodied in
the constitution, the same in substance as the one defeated in
1871, under which, as was actually done in 1881, the legislature
could present amendments relating to suffrage.
The question of adopting the article relating to qualifications
of electors being before the convention. Judge Clinton Briggs of
Omaha sat during the reading of the first clause, "every male,"
etc., meditating, as he related to a friend, on how many lives
had been sacrificed and how many millions of money had been spent
in getting rid of the word "white," which had made such an unjust
restriction, and how easy it would be, by one dash of the pen,
to blot out the word "male," and thus abolish this other unjust
restriction. On the inspiration of the moment, he moved to strike
out the word "male," R. B. Harrington relates that the motion of
Judge Briggs, who had not before expressed his sentiments, and
who had not consulted with the known advocates of the measure, so
astonished the convention that it was some time before they could
realize that he was in earnest. The friends rallied to Judge
Briggs' support. Gen. Chas. F. Manderson--a member of this, as of
the preceding convention--seconded the motion, and sustained it
with a forcible speech. Mr. Harrington made a speech in its
favor, and after a short and vigorous discussion it came to a
vote, which showed fifteen for the motion and fifty-two
against.[465]
About this time Nebraska was again visited by lecturers on woman
suffrage, who found an intelligent class of people, who, with
growing material prosperity, were kindly disposed toward
progressive ideas. Mrs. Margaret Campbell lectured in Nebraska in
1875, at about fifteen places between Kearney and the Missouri.
In 1877-8 and 9, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony lectured at many
points. These, with some local lectures aroused an intelligent
interest in equal rights for women. It was attempted to give this
expression in the legislature of 1879. Resolutions were
introduced, favorable reports made and the subject treated with
kindly consideration, but for lack of time, or some one deeply
interested, nothing was accomplished.
The legislation of 1879 on the subject of equal suffrage
originated with Senator McMeans and C. B. Slocumb of
Fairbury. The former offered a petition from Thos. Harbine
and 160 others, asking a constitutional amendment
prohibiting the disfranchising of citizens on account of
sex. Referred to a committee of whom a majority recommended
that its consideration be indefinitely postponed. A minority
report was brought in by Orlando Tefft and Chas. H. Brown
recommending that the prayers of petitioners be granted. In
the House, at the same session, C. B. Slocumb presented the
petition of Calvin F. Steele and others, with a resolution
asking that the committee on constitutional amendments be
instructed to provide for the submission of an amendment
conferring the franchise upon woman. The resolution was
adopted, referred, and reported back with draft of an
amendment. The committee were Messrs. True, Windham, Batty,
Simonton, Mitchell, Sparks and Gaylord. On motion of Mr.
True the joint resolution was ordered to first reading; no
further mention appears of it.
The first suffrage society of the State was formed at Fairbury by
Mrs. H. Tyler Wilcox, and although this organization lived but a
short time, it secured petitions and drew the attention of
legislators elect--Senator McMeans and C. B. Slocumb--to the
general interest felt in Jefferson county. The second society was
formed in Thayer county. The sisters, Mrs. Davis and Mrs.
Cornell, of Alexandria, called a meeting, which resulted in
organizing the Alexandria Free Suffrage Association, Sept. 27,
1878. Prof. W. D. Vermilion and E. M. Correll of Hebron, lectured
before this society, but, most of the members living in the
country, the meetings were given up when the cold weather set
in.
The first working society was that of Hebron, which was organized
by Mrs. Stanton, April 15, 1879. The citizens were prepared for
the undertaking. E. M. Correll, editor of the Hebron _Journal_,
in editorials, in lectures by himself and others, had urged on
women the dignity and importance of interesting themselves in
their own behalf. The society had been encouraged by lectures
from Miss Couzins and Mrs. H. T. Wilcox, the latter taking the
ground then comparatively new, that woman's ballot is necessary
for successful temperance effort. Meetings were kept up regularly
and with increasing membership, and the Thayer County Woman
Suffrage Association won a deserved triumph in being primarily
connected with the origin and successful passage of the joint
resolution of 1881. The legislators elected in 1880 were Senator
C. B. Coon, and Representative E. M. Correll. Both these
gentlemen were active members of the Thayer County Association,
and after their election a committee waited on them, pledging
them to special effort during the coming session.
Meanwhile a general favorable sentiment was growing. In noting
this it would not be right to omit mention of Mrs. Harbert's
"Woman's Kingdom," in the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_, which circulated
largely among country readers. The Omaha _Republican_ passed, in
1876, under the editorial management of D. C. Brooks, who, with
his wife, had been prominent in the suffrage work of Michigan and
Illinois. The favorable attitude of this paper, and the articles
which Mrs. Brooks from time to time contributed to it, exerted a
wide influence. In the winter of 1881, Mrs. Brooks established a
woman's department in the _Republican_ which crystallized the
growing interest around the leadership of its editor. Letters
were addressed to her from various sections of the State, urging
immediate action. The following from Mrs. Lucinda Russell will
show the interest felt:
TECUMSEH, Neb., December 4, 1880.
MRS. HARRIET S. BROOKS--_Dear Madam_: I have been shown a
form of petition for the suffrage which you enclosed to Rev.
Mary J. DeLong, of this place. Will you please inform me if
this is to be the form of petition to be presented during
the present session of the legislature? We wish the exact
words in order that we may have it published in our local
paper.
We think it best to call a meeting, even now at this
somewhat late day, and send women to Lincoln who will attend
personally to this matter. We have left these things
neglected too long. Will you call on all women of the State
who can do so to assemble at Lincoln during the session of
the legislature, appointing the day, etc.? I think we would
be surprised at the result. This town contains scarcely a
woman who is opposed to woman suffrage. We know we are a
power here; and we do not know but the same hearty support
which Tecumseh would afford may exist in many towns
throughout the State. All we need for good earnest work and
mighty results is organization.
L. R.
In accordance with these requests a meeting for conference was
called at Lincoln, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks presiding. A
second meeting was held at the M. E. Church, January 22, and a
Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association was formed. A mass convention
was held January 26, and a State Association was formed next
day:[466]
The meeting of January 26 was held in the opera-house and
was presided over by Mrs. Franc E. Finch. The speakers were
John B. Finch, Rev. Mary J. DeLong, Judge O. P. Mason and
Mrs. Esther L. Warner. Reading and music filled the
programme. Mrs. DeLong's address was in behalf of the
prohibitory and suffrage amendments. Judge Mason's address
was afterwards printed for distribution. It showed how
forcible and eloquent the Judge could be when on the right
side. It will be remembered that Judge Mason opposed woman
suffrage in the constitutional convention of 1871. His
closing sentences were:
The more intelligent and exalted the character of the
electors in a government whose foundation rests upon the
franchise, the more safe and secure are the liberties of the
people and the property of that government. The higher the
social and moral standard of the electors, the better will
be the type of manhood that is chosen to make laws and
administer the government. As you elevate the standard of
intelligence, and increase the ability and intensify the
power to recognize the right and a sense of obligation to
follow it, you make sure the foundations of civil and
religious liberty. You do more, you elevate the character of
the laws, and better the administration in every department
of government. It has been wisely said that government is
best which is best administered.
Do as we will, however, forget the rights of others, treat
them with contempt, summon to our aid the united efforts of
great political parties, invoke statutory and constitutional
law to aid us in the mad career, yet, let no one forget that
God's balances, watched by his angels, are hung across the
sky to weigh the conduct of individuals and nations, and
that in the end divine wisdom will pronounce the inexorable
judgment of compensatory justice.
Previous to all of these meetings Hon. E. M. Correll had
introduced on January 13, H. R. 59, a bill for an amendment to
the constitution striking the word "male" from qualifications of
electors. This had given impetus to the friends of the measure
and inspiration to the meetings. A vote of thanks was tendered
Mr. Correll by both the State and Thayer County Associations. The
bill not being technically correct, Mr. Correll introduced on
February 3, a joint resolution of the same purport, H. R. 162.
The committees of Senate and House on constitutional amendments
gave a hearing that evening to the advocates of the measure:
Of the fourteen members of the committees, ten were present;
the full number from the House and three from the Senate.
Mr. Correll pressed the claims of the resolution in the
first speech, and then introduced the different speakers
representing the State association. Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks
reviewed the progress of sentiment elsewhere and said that
her acquaintance and correspondence in this State led her to
think the time ripe for action of this kind. Mrs. Orpha
Clement Dinsmoor argued the abstract right of it, saying:
It has now come to the question of absolute right--whether
one class of people shall say to another: "You can come only
thus far in the direction of liberty." We realize that woman
must be educated to this new privilege, just as man has been
educated to it, and just as this nation is now educating
millions of the newly enfranchised to it. Feeling that in
intellectual and moral capacity woman is the peer of man, I
think that her actual steps forward in needful preparation
have given her the right to say who shall rule over her.
Mrs. Jennie F. Holmes based her remarks on the added
influence it would give women in securing wise legislation
in matters of welfare to the home. Clara B. Colby answered
questions of the committee. It was a most encouraging fact
that every member of the committee, after the speakers had
finished presenting the case, spoke in favor of the
amendment, except one, a Bohemian, who was suffering from
hoarseness and induced his colleague to express favorable
sentiments for him. These gentlemen all remained friendly to
the bill until its passage.
Headquarters were established in Lincoln. Mrs. Brooks remained
during the session, and Mesdames Holmes, Russell, Dinsmoor and
Colby all, or most of the time, until the act was passed,
interviewing the members and securing the promise of their votes
for the measure:
The joint resolution went through all the preliminary stages
in the House without opposition on account of the discretion
of its advocates, the watchfulness of its zealous friends
among the members, and the carefulness of Mr. Correll with
regard to all pending measures. The bill was made a special
order for February 18, 10:45 A. M., and Mrs. Brooks, Mrs.
Dinsmoor and Mrs. Colby addressed the House by invitation.
At the close of their remarks Mr. Roberts offered the
following:
_Resolved_, That, as the sense of this House, we extend our
thanks to the ladies who have so ably addressed us in behalf
of female suffrage, and we wish them God-speed in their good
work.
On motion of Mr. Howe the resolution was unanimously
adopted. Mr. Correll moved that H. R. 162 be ordered
engrossed for third reading. The motion prevailed. The final
vote in the House, February 21, stood 51 for the amendment;
22 against.[467]
The passage of the bill had its dramatic features. Intense
interest was felt by the crowds which daily gathered in the
capitol to watch its progress, while the officers of the State
association were extended the courtesies of the floor, and came
and went, watching every opportunity and giving counsel and
assistance at every step. On this eventful Monday afternoon but
one of these was present, and she watched with anxiety the rapid
passage of the bills preceding, which made it evident that H. R.
162 would soon be reached. Six more than the needed number of
votes had been promised, but three of these were absent from the
city. There were barely enough members present to do business, as
important bills claimed attention in committee-rooms and lobbies.
The last bill ahead of this was reached, and the friends hurried
out in every direction to inform the members, who responded
quickly to the call. One man pledged to the amendment went out
and did not return, the only one to betray the measure.
The roll was called amid breathless interest and every one kept
the tally. Church Howe, in voting, said: "I thank God that my
life has been spared to this moment, when I can vote to extend
the right of suffrage to the women of my adopted State." And C.
B. Slocumb responded to his name, "Believing that my wife is
entitled to all the rights that I enjoy, I vote aye." The last
name had been called, and all knew that only fifty votes had been
cast for the amendment, lacking one of the required three-fifths
of all members elect. The chief clerk of the House, B. D.
Slaughter, usually so glib, slowly repeated the names of those
who had voted and more slowly footed up the result. Two
favorable members were outside; if only one could be reached! The
speaker, who had just voted against the amendment, but was kindly
disposed towards those interested in it, held the announcement
back for a moment which gave Church Howe time to move the
recommitment of the resolution. His motion was seconded all over
the House, but just at this juncture one of the absent friends,
P. O. Heacock, a German member from Richardson county, came in,
and, being told what was going on, called out, "I desire to vote
on this bill." He walked quickly to his place and, in answer to
his name, voted "aye." The speaker asked Mr. Howe if he wished to
withdraw his motion, which he did, and the vote was announced.
The galleries cheered, and the House was in a hubbub, unrebuked
by the speaker, who looked as happy as if he had voted for the
bill. The members gathered around the woman who sat in their
midst, shook hands and extended congratulations, many even who
had voted against the amendment expressing their personal
sympathy with its advocates.
The joint resolution was immediately sent to the Senate, where,
after its second reading, it was referred to the Committee on
Constitutional Amendments, who returned it with two reports: