The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-06-28
From the New York World
Illiberal Liberals,

i, Two ladies', Well-knOWn advocates of /
the woman suffrage movement, feeling
that they were included in the broad .
and liberal invitation to 'all Republic |
cans who sympathize with the reforms I
proposed to meet at the said time and /
place, went there in good faith and ap-
piled for admission to the convention |
The illiberal action of the convention
i'm regard TO them is well known to the |
public, but the fiimsy pretext upon
which their rejection was based NAV
not be so well understood. Miss Susan
b. Anthony, of New York, made appIi-
cation to the chairman of the New York
delegation for admission, and was
kindly received, cOurteously treated.
&c, but assured that there were MANY
more delegates in attendance upon the
convention from New York than that
State was entitled to votes therein. and
that should she be admitted rs a mem
Der of the delegation it would i'm nowise
enable her to become q member of the
convention, or entitled to vote as such.
I This was sufficient to convince Miss An
thony that the New York delegation
had at least n reasonable objection to re-
ceiving her, and ended her efforts in
| that direction. Laura DeFOrce Gordon,
of California, however, was not met
] Will any HuNAA ItlEtllOll Oh Her
claim to a seat and vote i'm the cOnven-
/ ton, since there was found i'm all the
/ thousands in attendance but solitary
man from the Golden State of the Pa
cific. This man seemed to appreciate
his Importance as a delegate, entitled TO
| cast the entire vote of the State of Cali
4 foTnia, and determined to rule out all
other applicants. At this arbitrary re-
fusal on the part of the delegate to rec
ognize her claims, Mrs. Gordon an
pealed direct to the convention, and i'm
a brief and neatly worded letter stated
4 that she had responded TO the ''calri of
the Missouri Liberals and complied with
the requirements therein stated, I. C.,
being Republican and sympathizing
with the objects of the convention.
therefore asking to be received as a dele
gate from the State of which she is n
citizen. The matter was referred to the
Committee on Credentials, of which the
{ one man from California was a member.
None were allowed in the meeting of
the committee except its appointed
members, and none of the rejected dele
gates from California We're permitted to
present their claims. When the COM
mittee made their "repOrt" to the con-
ventiOn at its next subsequent session it
was resolved, "That in the absence of
: such credentials rs the committee deem
, necessary they cannot report Laura De-
Force Gordon rs entitled to q seat and n
, vote i'm the convention, but tender to
. her, as to other ladies present, the
courtesy OF the hail." &c Now, what
credentials had the committee or the
convention a rightto demand of MEM
ber of a mass convention? Mr.. TiltOn
l i'm the last Golden Age May Isl says:
"Ihe committee on credentials did not
admit her TO membership for the simple
reason that she was not a vOtern The
E committee did not intimate even in the
, faintest possible manner what creden-
tials were requisite to membership,
neither did the "calpi for the cOnven-
5 tiOn intimate that any credentials were
necessary, since it was for mass con-
vention and not a delegated one. Had
, the "call" invited only ''all votersn who
sympathized i'm the proposed reforms to
$ meet, SC, it would have debarred wom-
r Ell, as Il matter of course, from partici-
. pating i'm its deliberations; but, un-
QuestiOnably, under the invitation tC
''all Republicans who sympathized, p
&c, women were as eligible as men
notwithstanding Mr.. Tilton discourse.
so wisely upon the "ineligibility' of the
: ladies in question. He further says
/ "When one of the ladies rose and adj
r dressed the chair, she was as much out
\ of order as if she had arisen in the
House of Representatives at Washing
ton and addressed the Speaker Mr.
e Tilton fails TO inform his readers of tn,
+ fact that the "lady (AIrs. Gordon) whC
addressed the CHAIR did so when tn,
motion to adopt the report of the Com
mittee on Credentials was pending, an,
while the "repOrtn on the motion wa
open to discussion, and so decided b,
: the chair, rs will be seen in the report
n Of the convention. Mr.. TiltOn says tina
''she was not recognized "Neithe
would any man have beed recognized il
!. similar circumstances. OH Theodore
were you so intent upon your pc
scheme of foisting the potatO-raisin
philosopher upon the convention as
Z candidate as to be ignorant of the fac
y that man-Nickelson-ar rejected dele
# gate from California, had been address
p ing the chair and presenting his claim
to the convention as a protest againS
the action of the Committee on Creder
tials? Was not Mrs. Gordon as niue
: i'm order in attempting to press he
claims to the convention as Mr. Nicke
son was i'm his? Both were rejected
e the committee as entitled to seats an
votes in the convention, yet the impal
tial % chairman, Carl SchurZ, did ret
ognize a man, though Gin the same ell
cumstances," and allowed him to nc
# dress the convention in ten-minut
a speech; yet when Mrs. Gordon, follow
Il ing Immediately upon Mr.. NickelsOn'
! address, desired to be heard, accordin
to the reports of the convention, "Ml
= Schurz studiously paid no attention t
y her, carefully avoiding, when practica
v bic, to look i'm her direction" This con
. tinued until she secured mOmentary at
. tentiOn through the courtesy of dele
). gate (oue could well guess il was no
!. Mr.. Tilton) who attracted the president
; eye and waving his hand towards Mrs
n Gordon said: "Here is a delegate from
: California waiting to be heard" Sena
: tor SchuZ then recognizing her said
: he would state with very great regret
:, that the committee had decided she wa
!, not delegate. so had it decided tha
4 Mr.. Nicholson "was not Il delegate
!. and vet the chair had recognized him
!, "a man i'm similar circumstances an
q listened to what he had to say, and tn
next moment "studiOusly paid no at
/, tentiOn to her, and carefully avoide,
= when practicable to look in her direc
I ton" We should judge, by the sensi
: bic action Of the women at their reeen
e convention at Steinway Hall in passinl
4 resolutions denunciatory of the Cincin
@ natl Convention and its nominees, tha
{ Mr. Iilton will have TO give some othe
4 reason, rather more credible than tn
g iimsy pretext that the ladies were no
p; voters, since that was not stipulated il
: the ''call' rs the cause Of their rejection
., by the great liberal convention at Gin
/. cinnati.
A y