The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-06-26
The Petition of the Misses smith.


: Miss Abby Smith and her sister have
bscome famous within the last wear
I They were the first to force upon the
male authorities of the town of Glas-
I toubury the issue of taxation without
representation, and by doing this they
are the real pioneers in the cause OF
| Woman Suffrage, for in no other town
or State was this practical test applied
previous To lis Introduction by the
Misses Smith. In resisting the paw
ment of their taxes-upon what NAV.
or may not be, just gFounds-they not
only attracted the attention of the pub
lie, but they forced on the governing
power the necessity of using arbitrary
means to assert its authority, and thus
gained in large degree the sympathy
Of what would under ordinary circum-
stances be an Indifferent community
That the Misses Smith feel keenIy the
degradation OF their condition is evident
from the pertinacity with which they
follow the path they struck. out for
themselves. It cannot be said that
they are striving after nOtOriety. Both
Ofthe ladies are past middle eage, are mod
est, and have lived all their lives in the
seclusiOn of country town, looking af-
ter their estates, and devoting them
selves to quiet literary pasti,nes. If
they had Sought notoriety, their social
position and wealth would have opened
the way for them long since, and their
accomplishments would have secured
them what they desired. With intel
lects of a finer quality than is generally
found among women or men, and with
a knowledge of language not commonly
possessed, they set about the task of
translating the Bible from the original
. L Il IL
OF their own. This, If il had been
hinted about, would have given them a
wonderful notoriety, but they quietly
cOntented themselves with what they
had done merely for amusement aud
pleasure, and not until they fired the
hearts of all liberal-minded people by
their bold stand for equal and exact
Justice did their many sterling qualities
and accomplishments become generally
known.
The Misses Smith are engaged in
fight for principle. Prominence is not
what they seek. IL they obtain this
IN their struggle for the great principle
Of WOman's Rights, it is because they
are the first to iuaugurate a practical
crusade against the unjUstness OF our
laws. We ask, in the name OfcommOn
sense, why women, capable of presenting
lAltlI ElAlAAi- uEtOiE a lEkl5ldllFE EOlll-
mittee in such an able manner as was
done by these two ladies yesterday,
should be debarred the privilege of
the franchise. There is not lawyer
in the Assembly, no matter how great
may be his ability, who can overthrow
the logic of their appeal. The very fact
that two such intelligent human beings
are placed on par with the beasts of
the field, by our One-sided laws, is dis
grace to the State, To Christianity, aud to
civilization. Merely because they are
females the State brands them as incom-
petents, and yet they hurl back the i'm
putation in the face OF our lawmakers,
by personally appearing before them and
demonstrating that they have higher
order of intellect that many of the men,
bers Of the Assembly.
The1ime has arrived when such ap-
peals as those OF yesterday cannot be.
ignored. III the State is not willing to
go the whole length, it should go as far
as the British Parliament, and allow
women who own property to vote upon
all matters in which they are directly
interested, such rs the selection Of
school boards and the levying and dis
position of taxes. The Smith sisters
suffer a manifest injustice at the hands
of the State every day they are excluded
from participating, as voters, in the
town OF Glastonbury. They pay taxes
to support the town, and they should be
permitted to have voice in the dispo-
sitiOn of the town revenue.
Mr.. Sheldon, in introducing the ladies,
made q felicitous allusinn to the words
OF John Adams, in the year 1865, repre-
senting, doubtless, therein, as he said,
the sentiments of his wife, Abby Smith,
to whom he had been recently married.
His exact words, as recorded in his life,
were as follows: 1--WE have always un-
derstood it to be grand and fundamental
principle of the Constitution, that no
freeman should be subject to any tax, to
which he has not given his own con-
sent, in person or by proxy. And the
maxims OF the law, as we have con-
stantly received them, are to the same
effect, that no freeman can be separated
from his property but by his own act or
fault. We take it clearly therefore to
be inconsistent with the spirit of the
common law, and OF the essential funda-
mental principles of the British eonsti-
| tuition, that we should be subject to any
tax imposed by the British Parliament
/ because we are not represented in that
/ assembly i'm any sense, unless it be by n
I fiction Of LdiC, as alseRsi6ie in theory as
I % ttOdtA VI ttslNf foNH tAt lSfttlttle . Hte-ft
I q taxation should be grounded on it,
| Abby Smith and her sister are bat
tling to-day for this old principle. They
are not, any more than the great
body of our female population, repre-
sented in our system Of Government in
any sense, "unless 1t be by a fiction of
lawn as insensible in theory as it is in
furious and unjust in practice. We
hope the committee, before whom the
hearing is being held, will report some
bill favorably which will place such
women as Abby Smith and her sister on
a perfect equality with their more for
tunate, because male, neighbors. They
ask this rs right and their petition
should not be denied.-Ne,c Hdeel
EUeHing Union.
A blushing maiden Of forty summers
entered the town clerks office in W heeI-
ing, West Virginia, recently and askeu,