Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-10-05


1t is needless, now, to argue that taxation and
representation are inseparable, for that fact was
at least nominaly established, when the corner
stone of this republic was laid The question
now to be settled is, who are the people, and who
are the represented. Art. % of the Consultation
of Massachusetts says mo subsidy, charge,
tax, impost, or duty, ought to be established,
liked, laid, or levied, under any pretext whatso.
ever, without the consent Of the people. or their
representatives in the Legislature" That wo.
men constitute part Of the people is a self evil
dent truth, that admits of no argument The as
sertion, that they represented by their hus.
bands and brothers, remains improved so long
as the reverse is not admitted that a man can be
represented by his wife and sister. Another Art
of the Constitution provides, that every male cit
lzen, with the attending qualifications, shall have
a right to vote by the use of the word 'male,
as a distinction, it is implied that woman is a cit
izen, and therefore she is one of the people The
chief value Of arguments consists in spreading in
formation in the community. When a crisis
comes, 1t is not by argument but by combined
individual acts OF protest and resistance, either
physical or moral that a measure finally tri
umphs When our fathers protested against the
injustice Of the Stamp Act, because they were
unrepresented, they were answered by the inso.
lence Of the British Court, that they were repre-
scented. The only efectual reply the coloaists
could make, was to raise a stampede of the off.
GERS sent to execute it.
In the face Of the long list of precedents we
have TO contend with, and that never ceasing ar.
gument, for want of any other, the acquescence
of woman, the injustice of taxing her will never
be acknowled, until she proves, by her own acts,
that she recognizes the injustice of it, This DO.
stlon brings us directly to another ISSUE that all
true governments must derive their lust powers
from the consent OF the governed, which involves
political rights, the right of suffrage Even here
there is no room for argument. Set custom aside,
ana 1t would be no more improper to go to the bal
fhnuf IN N m
OF decorum to make speech in the United States
Senate than to win the applause of wise men and
tools on the stage, and in the concert room.
Custom, however, is not to be trhed with
though wanting in substance. it is a gigantic
shadow, eclipsing everything that comes within
its reach Embedded il one OF its cobweb mesh.
es, is the assumption that the refined, sensitive
nature of woman would become rude and unpol.
ished by rough contact with the world. 1t does
not hesitate to send her missionarylto heather
lands where, if the influences are not more de.
moTaizing than among u.s. it is certainly very dis.
paraging to us.
Charles Sumner goes to Washington and
makes speech that nearly costs him his life, but
it would puzzle the most fastidious critic to point
out single paragraph of that speech, bordering
on coarseness or vulgarty. 1t is the character of
the individual, not the nature of the circumstan.
ces, that controls and elevates thought and ac-
ton If politics are so degrading and woman so
angelic that the two cannot be brought in contact,
it is presumption to legisa1e for her at ALL tits
far more degrading to submit to unrighteous laws
imam TO nave voice in framing them, because the
latter implies the power to amend them.
Another of its sophistries is, the assertion that
disorder and dissension would result to the fami.
ly relation To advance such en- idea is to bias.
pheme the Creator of the universe, and sink wo
man below the brute creation. 1t is baaphemy
because 1t is trifing with natures holiest laws.
Affection, the choicest boon of heaven whose
- n,raa . 49, fAL
world, none too degraded TO feel its power, none
too exalted to do il reverence, which, to the wea
Ty, oppressed heart, is worth more than all that
wealth or fame can give, needs not the nterven-
tion OF law to protect it, for it is divine it is
immortal Let US close its sacred portals never
again to be opened by sacrigeous hands
We have passed from the reign of brute force
to the reign of ideas. This transi tion has been
marked by the recognition of a new prinsiple in
the political world. the sovereignty of the people
The age OF morality is yet to come, when intel
lect shall be controlled by conscience. This epoch
Is also waiting for the admission of new ele.
ment in society, the political equality of woman
Inns assertion will be treated as absurd and ia
natleal. So was Robert Fulton's idea of the
steamboat. 1t is absurd to urge the corruption
OF politics as reason for excluding from them all
refining influences. Because the Capitol of the
nation has become the lurking place of the assas-
sin, is it becoming the Christianity of the nine.
teenth century to wink at the great organized
crimes OF the land, to take cognizanee only of in.
dividual lawlessness Certainly not, if it is the
worthy representative of its founder who when
the sinful woman was brought before him, did not
condemn her, but poured forth his scathing de,
nuneiations upon those, who, under the pretend.
ed garb of law and religion, devoured widows
houses, and trampled on the attributes Of justice
and mercy
Who will say it was not a touch of inspiration,
that guided the pen Of Harriet Beecher Stowe
when. Aotf ui,a ~
struggle of Uncle Tom, as bereft of every earth.
ly friend and comfort, in the last extremity of
human agony, was revealed unto him the pres
enee OF the invisible One, ever after to be his
companion and friend Or, wnen she sketehed
that lovely picture, which combines the simplici.
~ OF childhood with the maturity of age, in ethe
person of little Eva, who seems like guardian
angel, sent from Heaven TO earth, to dIhuse
tint OF Its celestial glory, and, as its rainbow
hues radated through the heather mind of poor
Iopsy, glided noiselessly back to the arms of her
Heavenly Father
Who has the right to say whether it shall take
that particular form. or break forth in the burn
ing anathemas of Cheever, or scale the ram
parts of the high places of iniQuity, by attacking
corruption at its fountain head, in the machinery
OF government Has the mother no interest at
stake, when, above the innocent babe sleening
on her BOSOM hangs the gallows, ready to clutch
him IN its CHASTITY embrace, when, leaving the
protecting shield of her ever watchful love, en-
counteTing those multitudinous influences over
which she can have no control, because she is
woman, he lalls victim to temptation too pow
eriul ior hs'youth and inexperience to withstand
1t IS said that she cannot be spared from her
home, to attend to legislative duties, and that
she does not wish to vote. If she cannot be
spared, she will be very likely not to go but it
is her province, and not her husbands to decide
that point. II woman does not wish to vote,
then wherefore your laws to exclude her? Why
clause Of he -.
she is nobody. contradicted by another clause, ad
uniting that she is somebody? There is no need
oil constructing dam to prevent water from
running up hill.
1t is true that women, as a class, deride this
movement more than men, and for very good rea.
sons. VI course, the class to be elevated is new
er SO enlightened as the one above it; il it we're,
1t could not be oppressed. Give the slave edu.
cation, aud he never rests until he has gained his
freedom-a point which his master understands
perfectly we'll. Possessed Of limited advantages,
oppressed by disabilities, dwarfed bv custom. wo
man does not realize her true position, or under
stand the laws that will raise her to a Just level
in society. Man is educated into political rights
from his earliest school days, comprehends them
In all their relations, and no argument is neces-
sary to prove to him the benefits flowing from
the right Of suffrage, to any class sharing its
privileges His opposition is based on his own
love OF arbitrary power, or which is scarcely less
excusa0e, on the mists OF ignorance and preiu-
dice, which the weakness Of his mental and moral
vision have gathered from the charnel- house of
the past. Hence, 1t was the hight Of arrogance
for the committee OF the last Legislature, who
had the subject under consideration, to report
that it had not been satisfactorily explained to
them how the right of suffrage would furnish to
woman any higher aims or an eglarged theatre Of
action. Their own natural perceptions and range
OF observation should have rendered all explana
ton needless.
One of the most eminent lawyers Of this city,