The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-05-31
nnsn Letter to Ms. DaIghrsn.


Mrs. Madeline VintoH DdlghreR-
Madam We, the Toledo Woman Suf-
frage Association, earnestly protest
against your protest to the com mlttee
on privileges and elections, for con-
stitutiOnal amendment elevating the
adult women of the United States above
the legal and political position of the i'd
lot. the criminal and the lifelong
minor.
If YOU aud the "masses Of silent
womeH,U whom you claim to represent,
are content with a position so abject,
Won have no reason to fear "that polit-
ical life will be forced upon you" for,
as many men do not now appreciate the
advantages Of free-bOrn American ciu-
zens, and never vote, you and others OF
equal views will always nave hoerJy 10
follow their example.
We agree with you that this grave
question is not one of "expediency-" IL
is simply one of right and justice, and,
therefore, a most legitimate subject for
agitation. Your assertions that the
"higher law of Christian nations"
means the subsection of women, proves
its own falsity in the fact that the slav-
cry of women decreases in proportion as
Christianity in its purity advances.
We look in vain for one word from the
lips Of the Good Teacher implying
wOman's subsection or inferiOrity. And
if the Almighty had promulgated an
"immutable law" fOrbidding the pro-
gress and elevation of women you,
madam, would now be in the condition
of your "Indian sister" to whom you so
pathetieally allude, who cOntentedly
kneels to her lord and master, "while
he places upon her bended back the
heavy pack"
That nature has assigned ''distinct
dutiesn to women we do not cOntrovert,
and we believe that these will be better
performed, according as woman Is en-
lightened by the exercise of her rights.
FOrgetfulness and neglect of duty never
spring from liberty, but from ignorance
aud moral, legal and political de-
pendence.
In stigmatizing the oppression of
Oriental women as "equal right" you,
madam, insult the common sense Of en-
lightened wOmanhood. That the wOm-
en- of the United States enjoy advan-
tages Of higher culture and more kindly
treatment is due to national superiority
which educates thought, and hence de-
mands equality, representation as well
as taxation. The ignorant Zenana
woman of the Orient is content with her
harem life of abject slavery. she
'wOuld not without prayer and protest.
see her condition changed, and believes
that the Creator has promulgated a law
cOnsiguing her TO perpetual enslave-
ment.
But as soon as the dawn Of enlighten-
ment illumines her benighted mind,
she realizes her degraded condition. 80
fearfully, that last year in one district OF
India (Benares) one thousand Zenana
I D. 81 o. o.
death to life long slavery. You say, eff
suffrage is a natural right, why not con-
{ fer it on idiots, criminals, and adult
I boys thereby CHASING yourself with
these unfOTtunates. Now, we consider
| it our greatest grievance TO be placed
/ legally and politically in the category Of
/ fools and felOns, knowing that we are
neither, and capable of choosing our
| rulers, and that taxation without repre-
sentatiOn is now, as it ever was, tyr
amy. As for adult boys, is not the
vote theirs as soon as they reach the age
of twenty-One?
You say further, marriage is a sacred
unity and this unity will be destroyed
If woman enjoys the right of full citi-
Zenship. Where ''sacred unity" exists
|. in marriage it cannot be broken, when
husband and wife, the united head, Oc
cupy the same plane of existence, and
difference Of political opinion can create
no more discOrd than a difference of re-
ligiOus opinion. peace, concord, prop
er representation can only exist when the
necessary quality in the higher offices
of natural, legal, social and political life
If recognized. As a moral force, wOm-
an must have a voice in the government
or partial aud unjust legislation is the
result, from which arise the evils couse-
quent upon government, based on the
enslavement of half its citizens.
/ As the ''cOrner-stouep of our political
editice is founded on the rock Of liberty,
| it cannot be destroyed by freedom.
/ The eternal truths of evolution teach
that all that is is not all that can be. In
carrying forward the work of an ever
advancing civilization, we know that
we labor "fOr the greatest good of the
greatest number and fear no 'PandO-
ra's box" or other myth of a dead past.
While we deplore the mental enslave-
ment which clasps closer the chains, we
protest against condition Of political
serfdOm and inferiOrity, and will ever
labor, while life endures, Individually,
and unitedly, to secure to ourselves and
daughters the blessings of free American
citizenship, and equal legal and political
rights. Rosa l.. SEGUR, President.
EMMA BECKwITH, Secretary.
Toledo, Ohio, May >, 1873.