The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-04-05

is said that il women vote society vii
be demOralized. Women and men cal
mingle everywhere bat at the ballot
box. Ii is absurd, gentlemen. In Wy
Oming, where women have voted 70
eight or nine years, there is not a prom
inent man in the Territory who wOul,
go back to the old state Of things. An,
there is not an intelligent man in Eng
land who would deprive women Of thu
vote they have there. You trust wOmeT
in the most serious passages in you
lives. Would your mother demOralizC
the state by voting? Oh, no; you dom
think your mother would demOralizt
lanybody, but you can't trust that Othel
I fellows mother. Again, il is said thai
/ women are so emotional and such crea-
/ lures of feeling that they couldn't gov
ern by the stern dictates Of intelligence
and conscience. But where are the vic
I tins of a want of conscience In Out
State prison, many Of them, where not
one in ten is a woman. They are fore
most in churches, and in every good
word and work, aud it is a scandal, gen.
tlemen, that they are not allowed TO
vote, especially tax-paying women.
You don't dare tax the negro without
letting him vote, but if Dinah votes, and
Bridget votes, things will 60 to ever
lasting smash. To my mind, the need
OF Woman Suffrage was never more ap-
parent. The thieves are upon us. What
is the remedy2 Bring in the reserve
pOwer-the vote Of women. / see no
continuation Of free government with
out the intelligent, conscientious vote
Of women, and the moral power that
will Sring. / am glad these women
come up from Glastonbury ever year. ]
think the time will come when GIastOn-
bury will erect a monument to their
memory, as Canterbury has done to the
memory OF Prudence Craudall. Thirty
years ago it undertook to put her i'm Jail
for teaching little children to read the
Bible. But Canterbury has no such il
lustriOus name now as that of Prudence
Crandall; aud Glastonbury will see the
day when il will point with pride To the
names Of Julia aud Abby Smith. Tax
alton without representation is tyranny
to-day the same as in the days of John
Adams. We are here arguing this ques-
tiOn to-day; and it will come up next
year, and the next, and will never cease
coming up till justice is done.
Miss Abby Smith, of Glastonbury,
was the next speaker. She said
We, your petitioners, need no intro
duotiOn to our judges. Everything has
been published concerning US, not only
in our own State, but in every other,
and also in foreign countries. We have
correspondents from the most learned
in the world, and our tables are loaded
with letters from perfect strangers.
Every mail brings Us increasing num-
bers. They all sympathize with US, but
are as unable to help US as we are to
help ourselves. The officers who came
into our house for our property claim TO
be members Of the general assembly,
and say they can take all we have, and
shall do so unless we buy them of as
we would those getting power over us
by personal strength. We had always
supposed our general assembly intended
to be guided by principle-that founda-
tion principle that requires the consent
of the governed" But these men who
have taken our property from Us go di-
Tectly contrary to law. We have never
given our consent to be governed as we
are. We have paid thousands Of dol
lars to support laws which have been
no benefit TO US. The money has been
taken from us by men whose only claim
was that they were born men and we
were born women. They make US pay
the expenses OF their meetings and
turn Us out Of houses that they have
taken our money to build. Were we
born to serve, and half the community
born to ruleOver US g? Did God so order ?
Why then did he give Us the same in
teilect and the same keen sense of suf-
fering wrong? Granted they have
stronger hands; but what use are strong
hands without strong heads to guide
them without strong intellect, which
women possess, as we'll as men? They
say the Bible sanctions their rule over
Us. But if you hold to the outward
meaning Of the book, why not "sell all
you have and give it to the poor ?" No
command Is stronger. But can you be
literally crucified with Christ? But
there are two meanings there always
the flesh, the outward, and the spirit,
the inward. "The letter kills, but the
spirit gives life.n The flesh passes away,
but the spirit never. But our petition
concerns this life only. We pray to be
relieved from the odium Of birth. Moth
/ ing on earth would make men give up
/ the advantage their birth gives them
and stand in a lower place like a wom-
an. The very name of woman gives an
I idea Of a lower grade at once. Every
I boy feels that he occupies higher po-
sitiOn than a woman; he feels that she
/ has no power 10 help herself in any way,
and that no one cares for what she may
say or do. God has placed the whole
earth and sea under the dominion OF
I two classes-the animal and the human;
and given to the human-man and
woman alike, for male and female he
I created hem-dOminiOn over the fish OF
the sea, over the fowl Of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth.
God has created only these two classes;
the one to rule by superior reason, and
the other to obey always. To which Ol
these two classes do my sister and
now standing before our judges, belong
We claim to be human beings, with al
the faculties of human beings; and we
pray to be governed like human beings.
I Human nature is the same all over the
world, and there needs surely but one
code Of laws TO govern humanity. The
law Of force prevails in the animal king
dom, and by this law we have been gov
erned all our days, never having been
allowed to choose our rulers. Animal
rule-the rule Of force-is a hard one
there is no reason in the case. We pray
therefore, to be put under the same laws
by which men are governed, that we
may reap the same benefit, paying, as
we do, the same money for their sup
port. And we pray that our property
may not be taken from US by physica
strength, as it has been. We pray 70
immediate relief. Nothing can b,
stronger than our case is, in all reason
justice, and common sense.
Julia Smith spoke next, saying ther
could be no more self-evident trutl
than if a man can have control Of hi
property, woman can Of hers. But W
said the speaker have been treate,
. xrarr- "a f,u.-.