Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-10-10

OF ONO. II IL printed on new clear type, In ofls
IL steadily increasing.
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fluence? What gives infiuencef Ability.
Intelligence, honesty. Are these to be
excluded from the polls? Ii 10 only
stupidity, Ignorance and rascaiity which
ought to possess political power?
Or will it be said that women do not
want the ballot and ought to be asked
And upon what principle ought they to
be asked? When natural rights or their
means Of defence have been immemori-
ally denied to large class, does human
ity, or justice, or good sense require that
they should be registered and called to
vote upon their own restoration? Why,
Mr.. Chairman, it might rs well be said
that Jack the Giant Killer ought to have
gravely asked the captives in the ogre's
dungeon whether they wished to be re-
leased. 1t must be assumed that men and
women wish to enjoy their natural rights,
~ that the eyes wish light OF the lungs
an atmosphere. Did We wait for eman-
cipation until the slaves petitioned to be
free? No, sir, all our lives had been pass
ed in ingenious aud ignominious efforts
| 10 sophistic&te and stultify ourselves for
keeping them chained and when war
| gave US legal right 10 snap their bonds,
we did not ask them whether they pro-
ferred to remain slaves. We knew that
they were men, and that men by naturs
walk upright, and II we find them bent
and crswling, We know that the posture
| Ii unnatural whether they may think so
or not. In the case of women we ac-
/ knowledge that they have the same nat
ural rights a. oursalves-we see that
they hold property aud pay taxes, and
a hat
Yi.h to enjoy every security of those
Hights that ws possess. 30 when in this
ntats, every year, thousands of boys
sumo OF age, vo do not solemnly require
than to tell Us whether they wish to
vote. We assume, Of course, that they
do, and We say 70 them, go, and upon
the same terms with the rest Of US, vote
- you choose" But gentlemen say that
they know great many women who de
, not wish to vote. who think il is not
| ledylike, or whatever the proper term
| may 10. Well, sir. have known many
men who tabituGlly sbstained from poll
ities because they were so "ungentle-
manly" and who thought that no rnau
could touch pitch without deflement.-
Now " tat would the honorable gentle
men who know women who do not wish
30 vete, have thought ofa proposition
that l should not votv, because my neigh
tOrs did not wish to? There may have
been slav-s who preferred to remain
slsves-vas that an argument against
freedom? Suppose there are Q majority
Of the women of this State who do not
wish to vOte-is that q reason for depriv-
ing one woman whois taxed Of her equal
representation, or one innocent person
OF the equal protection OF his life and
| liberty?
Shall nothing ever be done by states
men until wrongs are so intolerable that
they take society by the throat? Did ID
show the wisdom Of British Conservatism
that it waited to grant the Reform bill Of
, 1882 until England hung upon the edps
Of civil war? When women and chill
| dren were worked sixteen hours day in
English factories, did it show practical
good sense to delay q "short time" bill
until hundreds Of thousands OF starving
workmen agreed to starYs yet more, if
need be, 10 relieve the overwsrk of their
families, and until the most pitiful pro-
cession the sun ever shone upon, that Of
the factory children, just as they left their
work, marched through the streets Of
Manchester, that burst into sobs and
tears at the sight? Yet if. in such in
stances, where there was so plausible an
adverse appeal founded upon vested in
terests and upon the very theory of the
government, il was unwise to wait until
general public outcry imperatively de-
manded the reform, how wholly needless
to delay In this State a measure which
Is the natural result Of our most cherish
ed principles, and which threatens to dis
turb or injure nothing whatever. The
amendment proposes no compulsion ike
the old New England law, which fined
every voter who did not vote. II there
are citizens Of the State who think it un-
ladylike or rungentlemanlike TO take their
part in the government, let them stay at
home, but do not, pray you, give them
authority to detain wiser and better citi-
zens from their duty.
But shall be told, in the language Of
the Report Of the Committee, that tho
proposition 10 openly at war with the dis
tributiOn of functions and duties between
the sexes. Translated into English, Mr..
Chairman, this means that II Is unwo-
manly to vote. Well. sir, / know that
at the very mention of the political rights
OF women, there arises in many minds .
dreadful vision OF mighty exodus Of
the whole female world, in bloomers and
spectacles, from the nursery and kitchen
TO the polls. II seems to be thought that
If women practically took part in politics,
the home would be left bowling Wild
ed stockings and buttonless shirts. But
how is IL with men? Do they desert
their workshops, their plows and Offices,
TO pass their time at the polls? Is il
credit to man to be called profession
al politician? The pursuits OF men in
the world, to which they are directed by
the natural aptitude Of sex, andto which
they must devote their lives, are rs
foreign from political functions as those
OF women. To take an extreme case:
there Is nothing more Incompatible with
political duties in cooking and taking
care Of children than there il In digging
bitches or making shoes, or In any ether
necessary employment, while in every
superior interest OF society growing out
Of the family, the stake Of women Is not
less than men, and their knowledge is
greater. In England, woman who
owns shares in the East India Company
may vote. In this country she may vote
As a stakeholder upon u railroad from ons
end Of the country to another. But II
she sells her stock and buys house with
the money, she has no voice in the lay
ing out of the load before her door which
her house is taxed to keep and pay for.
And why, in the name OF good sense If