Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1865-12-31
Female suffrage.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer
Several Abolitionist ladies are petitiGning
Congress to extend the right of suffrage to
females, upon the ground that women have
as good a title to vote as negroes. That
Congress has Just as much authority to con-
fer the elective franchise upon women every
where as it has to confer il upon negroes any
where is proposition which we presume no
one would venture to dispute Nor if there
is good reason to allow the negroes to vote,
would it be easy to find good reason for with
holding the same luxury from women. The
argument as an appeal to the party in power
is unanswerable; for it would be an over
whelming proof of perverted perception for
body Of men, who can see no difference be-
tween black and white to pretend to discover
any between male and female.
Philosophers have disagreed as to the dis
tinctiye attributes of humanity some hav-
ing posted them in the physical and some in
the metaphysical elements; some in the ma
teriai and some in the phenomenal. Al
though there may be, in other countries, ex-
ceptions to the rule, we believe that here,
in philanthronic contemplation, the pos
session of Bnllet head and two legs con-
stitutes human being, or at least lays a
foundation upon which every other essential
is presumed. Upon the broad plans of uni
versal justice, of which our philanthropic
brethren are the sole opponents, the possess
sion of bullet head and two legs entities the
proprietor to all the rights, privileges, fran
chises and immunities, domestic, social, civil
and political that can attach TO any other.
Such being the case they can only consist
entity carry out their principles by making
suffrage as broad as humanity; giving it to
every body and every thing, from white
man to q negro baby.
We would not object to placing the claims
OF the Northern women to political rights
| upon the same level with those of the North
| ern negroes, nor to allowing the fate Of the
one to depend upon that of the other. But
| if our Northern philanthropic sisterine wait
until our Northern philanthropic brethren
| confer the elective franchise upon the ne
groes hereabout, they will need to be made
| of considerably more durable stuff than Lots
wife, or they will dissolve before the. day OF
redemption shall arrive. More, if the phi
lanthropists of the North were able to pur-
| chase the reimbursement of the negroes of
| the South, at no greater expense than that of
consenting to the REIMBURSEMENT of their
own wives, not one in twenty of them would
consent. Your philanthropist, as the Allan
TIC Monthly once delicately said is not in
general pleasant in his domestic relations
and perhaps the worst thing that could hap
pen to woman or negro would be to fall
into the hands of one of them.
We are not comparing the white women
of the North to negroes, male or female-if
they do it themselves it is not our affair
but there are some points in which their
cases are alike. The average woman, like
the average negro, has no political aspira-
tons; and in general they who are most
anxious for political privileges are they who
are least capable to use them properly
Politics belongs to men, naturally. A
woman may unsex herself, and yet not be-
come a man. She may cast off the diff
dence which adorns one sex, without attain
ing to the dignity which embelishes the
other.