Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-03-20

IS a bar to any person who comes un-
der the immense class that were COW
cred by President Johnsons procla-
nation. That Mr.. Chairman, is the
nut in the shell of that bill.
An ANri-suFFRAcE WOMAN.
What Mrs. Dahlgren Has to Say to
the Senate.
Mrs. NJ. V. Dahlgren seems to have
an aversion to the notion of female
suffrage As great as the determination
Of Mrs. Hooker and the rest to press
the question on the Lawmakers of the
country. Mrs. Dahlgren a few DAYS
ago submitted the following paper to
the Senate Committee on Judiciary.
1t will be found to contain plausible
arguments on the other side of the
yexcd question of woman suffrage:
GENTLEMEN ALLOW me in courte-
sy, rs q petitioner, to present ono or
two considerations regarding q six
teenth amendment, by which it is
proposed to confer the right Of suf-
frage upon the women Of the United
States. I ask this favor also in the
interests Of the masses of silent wo-
men, whose silence does not give con-
sent, but who in modesty earnestly
deprecate having political life thrust
upon them. This grave question is
not one of simple expediency, or the
reverse. 1t might properly DO held,
were this the case, as q legitimate sub
ject for agitation. Our reasons for
dissent to this dangerous inroad up
on all precedent lie deeper, and
strike higher. They are based upon
that, which in all Christian natures,
must be recognized as the "higher
law"-that fundamental law upon
which Christian society in its very
construction must rest-and this law,
Is defined by the Almighty. il immu-
table. Through it the women of this
Christian land, rs mother, wives, sis
tere, daughters, have distinct duties
to perform of the most complex order,
yet Of the very highest and most sa-
cred nature. If, in addition to all
these responsibilities, others pertain
ing to that domain assigned to men
are allotted to us, we shall be made
the victims of an oppression not in
tended by kind and wise Provi-
dcnce, and from which the refining
influences of Christian civilization
have emancipated us. We have but
to look at the condition of our Indian
sister, upon whose Bonded back the
heavy pack is laid by her lord and
master, who treads in subsection the
beaten path of equal rights, and COM
pare her situation with our own, to
thank the God of Christian nations,
who has placed us above that plat
form whore right is might and might
is tyranny. We cannot, without
prayer and protest, see our cherished
privileges endangered, and have
granted us only in exchange the So
called equal rights. We need more,
and we claim, through our physical
weakness and your courtesy as Chris.
tan gentlemen, that protection which
we need for the proper discharge OF
those sacred and inalienable func.
tions-and rights conferred upon uf
| by God. To these the vote, which il
not natural right (else why not con.
fer it upon idiots, lunatics, and boys),
would be adverse. When women ask
for distinct political life, a separate
vote, they forget or they ignore the
higher law whose logic may be thus
condensed: Marriage is unity. The
family through it is the foundation OF
the State. Each family is represented
by its head, just as the State ultimate.
~ finds the same unit through q SO.
ries of representations. Out of thii
comes peace, order, o proper repre-.
sentation and Observation-Disclosures
The new doctrine, which is Elusive
may be thus defined: Marriage is q
mere compact and means diversity
Each family, therefore, must have q
separate individual representation
out of which rises diversity or divis.
ions, and discord is the corner stone
Of the State.
Gentlemen, we cannot displace the
cornerstone without destruction tc
the edifice itself. The subject is sc
vast, has so many side issues, that q
volume might as readily be laid before
your honorable committee az these
few words hastily written with an
aching woman's heart. Personally
If any woman in this vast land has a
grievance by not having = vote,
may claim that grievance as mine
With father, brother, husband, SON
taken away by death, stand utterly
alone, with minor children to educate
and considerable property interests
to guard. But would deem ii un.
patriotic to ask for a general law
which must prove disastrous to my
country, to meet that exceptional pc.
sition in which by the adorable will
of God, am placed. prefer indeed
to trust to that moral influence over
men which intelligence never fails to
exercise, anG which is really more 20.
tent in the management of business
affairs than the direct vote. In this
am doubtless as old-fashioned az
were our grandmothers, who assisted
to mold this vast Republic. They
knew that the greatest good for the
greatest number was the only safe
Legislative law, and that to it all ex.
ceptional cases must submit.
Gentlemen, in conclusion: A soph-
ism in legislation is not mere alb
straction. 1t must speedily bear fruit
in material results of the most disas-
trous nature, and / implore your hon
Orable committee, in behalf Of our
common country, not to open Pando-
ra's box, by way of experiment, from
whence SO much evil must issue, and
which once opened may never again
be closed. Very respectfully,
MADELEINE VINToN DAHLGREN.