The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-05-03
Woman Suffrage Organization.
BY ELIZABETH cADY STANTON.

am frequently asked by correspond
ents about the number and differences
of the woman suffrage organizations,
and, as / have not time to answer all
separately, will make brief statement
of facts in the Golden Age.
At present, there are four so-called
national organizations; one on the Pa
cific Slope, of which Mrs. Emily Pitts
Stevens is President; the Northwestern,
of which Mrs. Addie Hazlett is Presi-
dent; the Boston wing, called the
american" of which Mrs. Lucy Stone
is President; and the National Suffrage
Committee, of which / am President.
These are all working for the same grand
end. Their differences it might be diff
ficult to state, as they are based more on
| personalities than principles.
The National Suffrage Committee
made its "new departure in the "NNood-
hull memorial assuming that women
are already "citiZensn by the Federal
] Constitution, specifically declared so by
/ the fourteenth and fifteenth amend
ments, in which, for the first time, a
'citizen" is clearly defined, and his or
| her fundamental right TO vote as such
plainly declared.
With this view, our manner of agita-
tion is radically changed. Instead of
forming county societies, rolling up pc
titiOns against unjust laws, or in favor
of further amendments to State and ma
tiOnal constitutions, we demand our
rights at the ballot-bOX, in the courts,
before Judiciary committees of Congress,
and in annual conventions at the Fed
eral capital. For three years in success
sion we have held conventions in Wash
ingtOn, which, in numbers and enthusi-
have nna.l-al n IN, I, -.
form.
With lawyers, judges, statesmen and
publicists, all discussing the cOnstitu-
. tional right of woman to the suffrage,
we may congratulate ourselves that this
question has passed the court of moral
discussion, and is now fairly ushered
into the arena of politics, where sooner
or later it will be the interest of some
party to inscribe wOman's suffrage on
its banner. There are some leading
minds, in the Northwestern" and
American and "Paeific SIope1 socie-
ties, who agree with the NATIONAL on
this point, bnt they have taken no Off
cial action in this direction, the major
ity inclining rather TO a demaud for a
Sixteenth Amendment. This, then, is
the distinguished feature of the 'eNa-
. tiOnap' association.
We have our Office in Washington,
where tracts and reports can be obtained
from Mrs. Josephine :. Griffing, Secre-
tary. We have scattered during the
year thousands of Benjamin F. Buffers
able reports on the Woodruff memorial,
Mr.. Riddles able argument, Mrs Wood
hulPs speeches on constitutional
Equality" Labor and Capital" and
"Finance,n and Theodore Tilton's later
tracts.
] Sor,o ,,oo,,Io oo-,, - A. gCNr,Y:..,.1f-
organization because it endorses Mrs.
/ Woodruff. When our representatives
at Washington granted to Victoria c.
/ Woodruff a hearing before the Judiciary
Committee of both HOuses-an honor
conferred on no other woman in the ma
ton before-they recognized Mrs. Wood
hull as the leader of the woman suffrage
movement in this country. And those
of us who were convinced by her unan-
swerable arguments that her position
were sound, had no choice but to follow.
Mrs. WOOdhulPs speeches and writ
ings on all the great questions of ma
tiOnal life are beyond anything yet pro-
duced by man or woman on our plat
form. What if foul-mouthed Scandal,
with its many tongues, seeks to defile
her? Shall we ignore champion like
this? Admit, for the sake of argument,
{ AAAetb tNlA AtANI Vi AGl 10 lIuG-lllOuHl
it is false-that she had been or is a
courtezan in sentiment and practice
When a woman of this class shall sud-
denly devote herself to the study of the
grave problems of life, brought there by
profound thought or sad experience,
and, with new faith and hope, struggles
to redeem the errors of the past by a
grand life in the future, shall we not
welcome her to the better place she de-
/ sires to hold? There is to me q sacred
ness in individual experience that il
seems like PROCLAMATION to search into
. and expose. Victoria C. Woodruff
stands before us to-day a grand, brave
woman, radical alike in political, relig-
lous and social principles. Her face and
form Indicate the complete triumph in
her nature of the spiritual over the SEN
suous. The processes of her education
are little to us; the grand result is every
thlng. Are our brilliant flowers less
= fragrant, our luscious fruits less palata-
bic, because the debris of sewers and
barnyards have enriched them ? The
: nature that can pass through all phases
} of social degradation-viee, crime, pow
erty, and temptation in all its forms
and yet maintain purity and dignity
OF character through all, gives unnilsha-
5 bic proof of its high origin, its dlvlnlty'
The LiLil,n1 LaHdidltna, that magnifi-
5 cent lily, so white and pure that 1t looks
> as if it ne'er could battle with the Wihu
and storm, that queen of flowers, nouI1
r ishes in all soils, braves all winds ana
5 weathers, sunshine and rain, heat ana
g cold, and, with its feet in frozen clodsi
stlu lifts its pure, white face forever To-
Q ward the stars.
I When think of the mereiless and
p. continued persecution of that htti'
e woman by the entire press of this nation
[ blush for humanity. In the name o.
q woman, let me thank you for so gener
t ously defending her. In reading the re
: ports of her Steinway speech, could SEE
T nothing so monstrously immoral OF
which TO base the severe editorial com
$ ments of our journals. 1t seems 10 m'
: that the Legislatures of our severa
: States, in granting eighteen causes 10
!, divorce, and in their bills TO Ieens'
e prostitution by the State, are more le