Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1877-01-18
NJ. htor:

NJ. Elitor:
Last week it was my privilege TO circulate
a petition 20 obtain signatures asking for 4
10th Amendment to the Constitution which
shall provide that no State shall deny the
right of suffrage on account Of sex With
but three exceptions every person TO whom
we presented the Petition signed It willing
", bat many asked why do you want the
right OF suffrage: What advantage will
il be 10 Woman TO vote:-And it i. to an
swer these questions that We al space
in your columns this week.
To the question, why do We want to vote,
we anSwer-Because the Constitution OF
our country guarantees that taxation and
representation shall go together, and
Franklin declared that they who are tax
ed for the support of laws they have no
voice in making, are in abject Slavery
Any persons living under Republican form
of Government. and not allowed 10 vote
are in a degraded condition and the franz
ers OF our Constitution SO understood when
they declared that all Citizens with the ex-
ception of Criminals, Idiots aud Indians
nat taxed shall be allowed to vote. Webster
tell. u that any person Nutire or N1tHrH-
iz.l is a cutzen--if then we are offensive
object to being SO classed.
When we read OF the terrible corrupt con
ditlOn OF the politics of our country. We
learn how incapable you are OF governing
yourselves-are you better qualified to
govern others and without their coHssntf
You have invited TO onr country and made
them our political superiors. not only the
intelligent and good men OF foreign coun-
tries. but the vicious, the ignorant aud the
criminal classes, and in Jour own country
you have let loose the ignorant and degra
ded colored population of the South and
by giving them the ballot for their yrotec-
ton, in their rights as Citizens, you Baake
them eligible to office, our law makers
the assessors of our property and our mas
tiers,
In most Of our towns and cities you have
licensed the manufacture and sale OF bev-
- A. N'N'~ - i4tA' fip'NNAihI ~ ttri
tion TO yourselves, and misery TO us than
all other agencies combined. ADD in many
of our large cities you have legalized those
Hels Of corruption. Houses of i'll fame,
Zation, aud degrading to the name of wo-
man. TO protect ourselves from these
dangers we ask the ballot for WON en-the
only weapon for free citizen in a Repub-
lie.
In answer TO the question what shall we
gain by having the right of suffrage? We
answer,-we shall be raised above the lev.
el OF Indians, Idiots and Criminals, we
shall secure for ourselves trial by jury
of our peers. right recognized in all CIV
| ilized countries for men, but denied to wo
men We shall gain fer women equal
compensation with men for the same SER
vices rendered and thereby give the work.
ing women in our large cities an alterna-
tive between death by starvation or a life
OF infamy-it would give the women em.
ployed by Government in Washington, a
compensation for their labor that would
enable them to live respectfully even if the
supply ofliquor and cigars for our =. Con.
gressmen were sacrificed to do it, II
would have prevented the AID Congress
raising their salaries from five thousand "a
seven thousand fye hundred dollars, and
reject an appointments % the same bill to
raise the saiasies of the female employees
of the Government from nine hundred to
twelve hundred dollars. They dared TO
do this because woman have no votes, for
there is nothing that oer politicians dread
like The ballot in the hands'of the citizen.
A F. q.
mn