Litchfield enquirer., 1867-08-01
Horace Greedy, Conservative

| NSS ~ASSAJs SoAoSAS SoGSO The queerest political phenomenon of
 the summer of 1867 is the Conservatism of } Horace Greedy. It takes the form of op- position to Wonlan's suffrage, which, as chairman of the Suffrage Committee in l the New York Constitutional Convention,
 he bitterly opposes. His Conservatism,
 however, IS as different from anybody else's Conservatism as his Radicalism is different from anybody else's Radicalism He is too l clear sighted not to perceive that to deny representation entirely to one half of our in- tellgent, sound-minded adults, merely be- cause of their sex, is an indefensible aban- donment of the great principles he has so long advocated. He does notj hold. there fore, that woman should never legislate but that F'she shall speak and be heard dlstlnctlvely as Woman, not commingled and confused with Man. This is his plan:
 Let the Women of our State, after due discus slon and consultation hold Convention compos- ed of delegates from the several Counties, equal III number to the Members of Assembly, To this Convention, let none but women be admitted, Wnether as officers or spectators. Let this Con- Ventlon, keeping it's debates wholly private, de- | eide what departments of legislation and govern ment may be safely assigned and set apart to Wo- man.: We would suggest all that relates to the Famly-Marriagc, Divorce, separation from bed and board, the control and maintenance of chil- dren, education, the property rights of married women, inheritance, dover, &c., Re-, az subjects that could wisely and safely be set apart to be leg
 slated upon by Woman alone And we believe that a hl1f fbo boI ever suggest or require such apportionment of
 Legislative powers and duties, Man will cheerfully cOncede it.''
 Suppose some Southern Conservative were to propose the establishment, in every Southern State of two Legislatures, one black and one white; the former to pass upon Eight Hour Laws, questions relating to ''the Shovel and the Hoe," and kindred matters Tn which the negro is supposed to be specially interested. It is not difficult to imagine the merciless slashing the un- fortunate who advocated so ridiculous a plan would receive in the columns of the Tribune. Yet, how does it differ from the one proposed for women by MT. Greedy? In the first place his convention is to hold secret sessions-the most odious way of avoiding responsibility moral cowardice even suggested. At these secret sessions, are to be decided questions of most momen- tous interest to man as we'll as to woman. From these decisions we are to have no ap- |peal by the usual modes of political agitation, because, on the Tribune theory, political agitation is fatal to that reserve and fragile delicacy MT. Greedy so much admires-in woman. Nor, on the other hand, are wo- men to be allowed any voice in the decision of most momentous interest to them, by the male Legislature, or to agitate for thcir
 reversal if unjust. In short, it is simply
 an absurd attempt to put asunder interests that are indissolubly joined together, in manner as contrary to all democratic pre- cedent, as it is contrary to all democratic principles.
 We cannot say, perhaps, that the Separ- ate Assembly system for women is altogeth- CT new idea of MT. Greely's. That ad- mirable young sovereign who paid Queen Victoria a visit. few weeks since, the Sul- tan of Turkey, assembled early in his reign a female Convention, which has been in session with closed doors ever since, where in, no doubt, the Tribune type of woman is to be found in the highest perfection One Young also, is, we believe, making simi- lar experiment in one of our Western terri tories, from which we look for glowing ac- counts in the Tribune.
 The ''Philosopher" is said to have been considerably ''taken aback" lately, just af- ter delivering speech in which he declar- ed that women did not desire the suffrage, by the introduction of petition for the ballot signed by an immense number of women, with the name of Mrs. Horace Greedy at the head of the list We think this interposition comes none too early, and that the sooner constitutional provision is made for neutralizing the ballot cast by 8 s'lord and master" possessed of such crude and inadequate political notions, by that sensible woman's vote, the better it will be for the Commonwealth of New York. and perhaps for the Greely family