The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-03-13
ESSAY.


READ BY SARAH y. A'cowN, AT THE ASSUAL
MEETING OF o. 5. W. 5. A., FEH. II, 1874.
The seed of Liberty which was cast
out of the Old World as thing of evil,
was borne across the ocean, in the May
flower, and planted on the rocky soil of
Massachusetts,. There it gerninated
and grew into a tree, and bore as its first
fruits, that grand Declaration "that all
men are created equal" which resulted
in the American Revolution. 1t was
nourished by the blood OF patriots, and
watered by the tears of widows and
orphans, made such to opreserye it. The
efforts of Monarchy to uproot it at last
ceased, and it grew and fourished,
spreading its branches across the conti-
nent, from the Atlantic on the East to
the Pacific on the West, from the great
Lakes on the North, TO the Mexican
Gulf on the South.
But poisonous vine had taken root
beside it, and it grew with the growth
of the tree twining aroundits branches,
ever tightening around its trunk, poison
ing the atmosphere, and making what
had been our pride and boast, "that the
oppressed of every land might come
and rest beneath its branches in peace
and safety" an empty lie. Human be-
ings were bought and sold, wives were
separated from husbands, children from
parents, and the slave pen existed in
the very shadow of the National Capt.
tol. t.tt
But when the life of Liberty was
threatened, then the children of free
dom, who had been nurtured beneath
its protecting branches, sprung to arms.
You all remember how bitter the strug-
gle; how freely the treasures of the Ma
ton were offered for its preservation
how blood was poured out like water
how young boys, middle-aged and gray
haired men, alike, eagerly offered them
selves for its defense, cheerfully endure'
the privations of camp life, prisons
starvation and death. And woman
who might not battle for her country
ministered to the wounded on fields {
devastation, and in hopitals nursed theI
back to health and strength, then bad
them offer themselves anew on the alta
of their country.
At last freedom triumphed and Afr
can slavery was dead yet oppression di
not cease. My friend, YOU who stand Il
in the pride of your manhood and ca
no man master, you have a sister who
as fine born as yourself, of the blood of Il
same father, nourished by the sam
mother, whose skin is as fair, whose in
teIlect is as clear, whose heart is as tel
! der, whose pride is as sensitive as yoJ
own; and yet you place her under tn
most degrading restriction; you ella
her with idiots and lunatics; you wi
not allow her to control her own proI
erty; and, when she is q widow, sin,
she is the weaker vessel, you graeiousl
allow herone-third of the property to SUI
port herself and children, when if ST
dies first, her husband is allowed
. keep it all during his life, thus putin
three times the amount of labor on h,
; weak shoulders that you do on his.
But you say: ''NIy wife does not con
} plain; l always treat her with consider;
tion; and as to money, she has as niue
to spend as l do" Doubtless that
,, true; gentlemen do not exercise all I'll
authority which the laws, that the
: themselves have made, confer upo
them. But that drunken sot, too, has
> wife, perhaps rs tenderly nurtured /:
your own. He can spend his none
! in riotous living, and neglect and abus
her, so rs to make death far preferab
to such life to her, yet break no Law
3 be liable to no punishment. Why wi
you legislate to support him in an inju
, tice which you would scorn?
Your wife is of gentle, affeetionat
trusting nature; she "has all the righ
she wants." she does not know the la,
: : its iron has never entered her soul. B
you die suddenly; you have lived at Il
u extent of your means, and have but Ii
: tie property except what you have gatl
: cred about your home. Let the apprai
!. ers come and make an inventory of b
II household goods-"what is this tai
worth-that sofa-those chairs?"-al
!. even the books and pictures are value
q and beyond the value of three hundr
IS dollars, if she wishes to keep anythin
u she must pay for it, out of her pitiful Oh
h third. There are some articles of b
v little value in themselves, but
3 the memories which cluster arou
y y them, to her, they are beyond all Pri,
v Think you she would not prefer to ha
n them sunk to the bottom of the st
rather than sacreligious hands should
laid upon them Then she finds tn
"a the rights that she felt so secure we
l. privileges, dependent upon your Id
1t and were swept away in momer
70 But, you ask, how will voting help Z
- matter? In this way: voters may no
s, offices. Offices generally pay large s;
IN aries for light work; voters ask for
'e road to be built, and it is paid for out
the public funds; voters fix the rate
p taxes; voters say whether saloons Al
" gambling houses shall exist in o
~ midst to lure our sons aud brothC
~ down to destruction. Voters are en-
z tied to, and receive respectful considt
ID alton" "But," said lady to me n
~ longsinee ifwomen vote, the gentlem
will not pay them the attention th
now do. When woman goes into