The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-06-19
The Pembina Bill Under Debate in the
Senate.

Senate.
Mr.. Boreman, of West Virginia, called
I'D the Senate bill to establish the Ter
ritory of Pembina, and provide a tenn
porary government therefor.
Mr.. Sargent moved to amend the bill !
so that the right to vote or hold Office in !
the Territory should not be restricted on
account of race, color, or sex. He said /
he believed the amendment was not
only justified, but required by the or
ganic law OF the United States. Nu-
merous petitions had been presented i'm /
Congress for this right to females, and
the only notice taken Of them was TO re-
port them adversely. In the other House |
the Republican party was, to certain |
extent, pledged to extend suffrage to fe- /
males in the Territories. To confer |
upon woman the right of suffrage would /
be TO open wide the avenue for them, I
and the advancement of society Give
them an opportunity through the ballot,
and they viii break up the nefarious |
practices now existing and purify soci- /
ETY.. The spirit of the Constitution !
should be carried out, and women be !
allowed to vote.
Mr.. Stewart (Rep.), of Nevada, said
the question of female suffrage was be-
/ ing considered seriously by large por-
ton of the people of the United States.
Here was an opportunity TO experiment
with Woman Suffrage in this new Ter
ritory, and if it worked we'll there, he
/ hoped it would spread all over the eOun-
| try. The experiment OF negro suffrage
was tried in the District of Columbia,
and it became catching, and spread all
over the South. Ii Woman Suffrage in
the new Territory should work badly
the act could be repealed at the next ses-
sion of Congress.
Mr.. Morton (Rep.), of Indiana, said
he was in favor of the amendment upon
what he regarded as the fundamental
principles of our Government. The
| Declaration of Independence said all
men are created free and equal. The
word men did not mean males; it meant
the whole human family. The women
of this country had never given their
consent to this Government within the
theory of the Declaration of Independ-
ence. The old commOn-law argument
was that the husband took care of the
interests of his wife; the father those of
his daughter; or the son those of his I
mother, but under the common-law the
husband was tyIant and despot. This
old doctrine had been overcome, and
woman could hold property now. He
/ believed that woman had the same nat
ural right to voice in the Government
| that man had. To give woman the
right of suffrage would elevate suffrage
/ in this country. Fifty years ago it was
/ thought to be beyond all reason for
women to attend political meetings, and
now they went to such places, and the
result was to greatly improve the char
acter of those assemblages. Their pres
enee insured peace, because in this
country men had to be very low TO be
guilty of rowdyism in the presence of
females.
Mr.. Flanagan (Rep.), of Texas, said
he was new convert to the cause of
Woman Suffrage, and was made a con-
vert by the glorious efforts of the wom-
ans crusade against intemperance.
Women, and women only, through AL
mighty God, could save this country
from the worst of all evils-intemper-
ance. Women could control the coun-
try, and men could not. They were
more decidedly interested in all ques-
tions of morality than men, and from
this time henceforth he intended to be
woman's man. Laughter.
Mr.. AlerrimOn Dem. j of North Caro-
lima, said he did not yield in his aGmi-
ration of woman to any man, and byno
act or word of his would he detraet
from her dignity, but he claimed the
right to be the judge together with her
as to what means were best calculated
TO promote her interest. He did not be-
lieve woman herself thought her hap
piness or dignity would be advanced by
having all the political rights of man
conferred upon her, and the strongest
evidence of this fact was that neither in
this country or England had woman de-
manded such rights. The number which
had demanded them was but drop in the
ocean. He dissented, with all respect,
to the revolutionary construction
which the Senator from Indiana T Mr.
Mortonl had put upon the Declaration
Of Independence, and denied that it
meant females as we'll as males. The
women had consented to this Govern
ment, because they had never raised
their voice in opposition to it, and they
had always had the right to memorial
: ize Congress, as well as State Govern
I ments, if they thought their rights re-
stricted.
Mr.. Stewart said that in ten years
from now there would not be a man in
the Senate opposed to female suffrage.
Mr.. Merrimon asked, Why not try
the experimentint in the District Of Column
bia?
Mr.. Ferry, of Michigan, favored the
amendment and said he would vote for
it.
! Mr.. Anthony said he had no doubt
female suffrage would came in time
He did not believe that suffrage was a
woman's right or mans right. Itwas
not natural right, buta political right,
regulated by the body polite.
Mr.. Morton argued that as women
. had the same natural rights as men they
had the right to the means TO maintain
them, and among these means was the
right of suffrage.
After further discussion, Mr.. Edmunds
+, moved to lay the bill on the table.