Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1873-06-18
MUSIC AND PRAYER.

MUSIC AND PRAYER.
Oration-The Orators Intluence-G. w.
Cross, (Chi Delta Scarboro' Tenn.
Declamation-The Polish Boy-E. =.
Moses, lPhilomathesiau,) Knoxville, Ten
nessee.
Oration-The Power and Influence of
Young Menu. b. Kelley, (Philomathe-
san,) Columbia, Tennessee.
clamation-Nlississipp Contested Elec-
tion-D. II. Mcmillan, (Chi-Delta,) Cam
den, Alabama.
DISCUSSION.
RESOLVED, That as matter of policy and
right, Woman should be allowed to vote.
Affirmative. w. Caldwell (Chi-Del-
ia Knoxville, Tennessee, II. j. Jackson
(Philomathesian,) Goodlettsville, Tenn.
Negatve-J. II. Goodpasture (Chi-Del-
ta,) Livingston, Tennessee, Otto Fisher,
(Philomathesian,) Chattanooga, Tenn.
The orations of Messrs. Cross and Kelly
were particularly good, well delivered and
won loud applause,
Owing to the death of his uncle, h. =.
Moses did not appear, so the Philos were
short strong oar.
The defamation of ID. Il. Mcmillan was
forcibly and deliberately delivered. Bou-
quets were plentifully showered on all the
young gentlemen.
THE DEBATE.
The dicussion of the question, as it right
and polite that women should vote,n was
spirited, interesting and, all things consid-
cred, very creditable to the debaters
The affirmative was opened by j. w.
Caldwell, of Knoxville. The gist of his
argument was substantially as follows:
Why should not women as a rational be-
ing vote Is she fit to vote? Has she the
mental qualifications Looking over the
country, we see men just liberated from
serfdom, no better than savages voting
| The scum of Europe are brought over and
given the right to vote. Are the polls fit
for women to go to? If men cannot act
as gentlemen let them keep from the polls.
No scenes enacted at the polls in Knox
vile unfit for ladies. No decent men
should go where ladies could not go. The
Declaration of Independence declares that
all governments derived their powers from
! the consent of the qOUeTncd.. More women
without the right to vote in Massachusetts
| than there were men in the colonies in
| l776.
The negative was opened by Otto Fisher
| of Chattanooga. He wanted to know
| lotto Fisher what class of men and women
are raising this question ? Demagogues or
| women unfortunate in their marriage
VOWS! The average woman's brain is 43
| ounces average ofman's brain is 6S ounces
| When 43 gets to be more than 6S then
| women will get to be higher than men.
The law of God could not have erred in
giving woman the position it did. The
purer the woman the more elevated So
ciety the more elevated society the bet
ter the condition of mankind. He referred
to Cleopatra and Mary, Queen of Scots,
to show how women had abused power
given to them. What class of women
would go to the polls J.? Women suffrage
would divide the country into two great
| parties, the party of Christianity and that
| of infidelity. He appealed to hen-pecked
| husbands as to whether the woman had
their rights noaO He answered the taxa
ton and representation arguments by
| showing that men were often taxed on
their property where they could not vote
The affirmative was closed by Il. j.
| Jackson, of Goodlettsville, Tenn. He
said after long study and patient research,
he appeared through honest convictions
| for right, for woman's right. Prejudice
against the right. of woman was the off
spring of custom-a custom established
when men lived without government
when brute force governed. When gov
| eminent was organized woman took the
place before assigned to her by brute force
This was no novel claim put forth. 1t has
not been many years since man had not
the right to vote. Custom denied it to
him. Kings did not accord such right.
Woman has now the right to refuse matri-
mony, but no telling how soon man may
by law, deny this right. The women help
to support the government, They are
amenable to laws they have no voice in
making. They are even sent to the peni-
Tertiary by jurors of men, by laws they
| could not influence. He looked for better
governments when young men went to
the polls with handsome young lady on
his arm to cost their ballots together.
The negative was concluded by j. r.
| Goodpasture, of Livingston He said they
did not concede the right to women to vote.
The affirmative have presumed that right
but we do not admit it. We deny the pol
! icy. Women do not all want to vote.
Their voting would not necessarily purify
| the ballot That presumption rests upon
her incorruptibility. This we can not
cOncede. II woman enters the political
arena, she valves her womanly prerOga-
! tives. When she comes in conflict with
man, she must expect to make the contest
! in the ways of the world. POlygamy
would be the offspring of woman suffrage.
| He then very handsomely referred to wo-
mans proper sphere, which was to pre-
pare man for his noble part in the world.
Thought Martha Washington a nObler
! figure in history than Woodruff or Clafin.
CLOSING EXERCISES.
Hon. Horace Maynard then presented
| the Society Diplomas to the Senior Glass,
Messrs. Crawford Armstrong, Nelson,
| Of fha Il leo