Litchfield enquirer., 1868-05-07
FAMALE SUFFRAGE.

FAMALE. E.SUFFRAGE q 2 :" l We extract the following excellent ant as it seems 10 us unanswerable defence O
 womans rights from discourse delivered
 by Dr. Chapin on the 16th of February last: Az. -t1 5ai ias,.f a3s,aU la..s
 ''Iho condition of obligation and the cond nditsax rights are inseparable. Wo,
 man l$nd to develope her nature to the 1 ntMasA sslble capacity; but in order to fdo ia1ssshe must have room and opportu. nlsg Here IS the tsns force of all the ar- gHAlshts in our day behalf of women.
 Her taghts, simply her obligations; her ob- legations compel her to demand her rights.
 But, in fact, her claim is not for women's rights but for human rights. As human
 oelng, she has right to .develope herself
 to the utmost possibla capacity. She
 claims the human right to be and to do the
 best she is capable of being and doing
 No artificial restraint should be put upon
 the exercise of that right. There is such Q thing as mans sphere and such thing as
 woman's sphere; but we are to deter mine these respective spheres not by preconceived notions but by practical experiments Man has no business to de- clare what is or what is not the sphere of woman. True the qualities of her nature are different from the qualities of man. But let the results and not the preconcep- tons, determine of what she is capable. A peach-tree can never become pear-tree. The peach-tree has it's rights the inherent rights of it's nature and of Gods design ot develope all the fulness ofits life But it would be 8 very absurd thing to enact | O QyYrf hot aI,. c1,@ pear tree and afterwards, fearing that it would to deny it "a certain amount of light and air and moisture. Yet that is intrin si- cally no more absurd than some present customs. Woman has simply the right that man has, to be and to do the best she is capable of being and doing. The full lest freedom of man. 8 rights would never result in his becoming any thing else than 8 man. Woman if allowed the same free dom would become nothing else than wo- man. There IS divine right to rule in so- ciety not by the authority of kingship but by the authority of nature. There are men who are made to be rulers There are men who are made prophets and poets. So wo- man possessing the rights woman-hood will act out her nature, and develope the true woman. As to the matter of suffrage so far as know the argument, 1t is all on the side of woman land the sharpest edge of sarcasm too. But the subject must be de- cided by practical demonstration. It is said that the women are not fit to vote. l think they are justified in claiming that they are as fit as the mass of men. Again 1t would be unwomanly to vote. It is no more unwomanly to vote than it is unman- ly. Further it is said that women do not wish to vote. The majority of them at the present day, do not, but they have the right Y and if they desire. should be permit full scope to follow out her nature, she would develope a Etruer woman--hood. The essen tial differences of her mind and moral qualities would become clearly de- fined. The way after all to settle great social questions is not by restriction but by freedom. Whatever we may think with regard to womans suffrage woman requires more freedom than she has now, for though there has been great improvement she is very much limited and oppressed. It is said that woman can't do mans work We'll if she can't do it she won't do it. But where she takes the same kind of work that man does and does it better than he her wages are much less. Some of our best teachers are women, and their remunera- tion is far below mans. Prejudice and in- justice prevail with regard to woman's work. She suffers indignities and tyran- nies in her labor. She has a right to be and to do"what she can. Old restrictions upon hef honorable employment should be abolished" ..'...