The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-03-20
FROM SAN FRANCISCO.

present at the annual meeting OF the
Oregon Woman Suffrage Association in
Portland, on the 1lth and 18th inst, and
very much regret my inability TO at
tend.
These annual gatherings are necessl-
rily productive Of great good, affording
as they DO to the representatives from
the various local ceniers an effective
aud efficient media for interchange Of
thought aud comparison Of views as to
the relative value Of the various plans Of
action employed by which a system for
more economical OF effective action, or
both, in the future may be iutelligeutfy
inaugurated and maintained.
Had I any particular suggestions to
offer to the friends Of woman's eman-
cipation and political enfranchisement
in Oregon, would urge upon them to
strengthen, protect and cherish their
State aud local Woman Suffrage organ
/ izations. They are the mechanisms
through which the few or many, in-
spired by common thoughts and feel
ings, can harmoniously and effectively
cooperate for the attainment of a COM
mon, definite and specific object. No
important movement requiring the en-
ployment Of mental, moral aud mate
rial forces, can reasonably hope TO be
successful without them.
/ Sufiragists have learned from personal
experience that this is no trifling un-
dertaking, no holiday work, but the
time, labor, money, self-denial and per-
sonaI sacrifice, equal to the production
Of the great result, are unknown guam
titles. They have further learned that
II is one thing to profess admiration for
the abstract principles Of natural right,
justice and equality, as set forth by the
fathers Of the republic, but quite an
other thing to secure the cooperation
Of those professors in the work Of subor-
dinating the American aud State govern
ment and institutions 10 the interests Of
natural justice and equality. For about
foUr-fifths Ofa century American slavery
that "sum Of all viliauies" - that
most barbarous and cruel despotlsm
known to the nations Of the earth, grew,
flourished aud became the dominating
power in church and State, right in the
blazing face OF the accepted doctrines
Of the declaration OF American indie
pendence, that call men have a natural
and inalienable right TO life, liberty and
the pursuit Of happiness" To create
and awaken into life and activity con-
science on the part Of the American
people against the traffic in human flesh
was the mission Of the abolitionist. To
quicken the minds Of one-fth Of the
American people against that unholy
traffic required the untIring, constant
and almost superhuman labors Of the
abolitionists for nearly two-lifths Of
century. But for that conscience there
would have been no Republican party;
no election Of Abraham Lincoln to the
presidency; no firing upon Sumter; no
war Of the rebellion, aud no emaucipa-
tion proclamation, but slavery would
have, in his own good time, embellished
Bunker's shaft with the emblems Of its
authority. 1t is time for the friends Of
universal suffrage to make up their
minds thereis no royal road TO human
freedom, justice aud equality; that the
emancipation Of women is not reform
but revolution; that it is an historical
fact that those possessing advantages and
privileges over others never volunta-
rily yield up those advantages aud priv
ileges, but yield only at the bidding Of
a superior force. Woman's emancipa-
tion must, from the intimate relation Of
the sexes, be brought about, not by vio-
lence, but by political action, produced
by moral influences. Hence the neces-
sity for thorough organization and the
employment Of means equal to the ne
cessities Of producing the revolution in
public sentiment.
! When the suffragists shall by their
labors and efforts develop a conscience
against sex oppression sufficiently ex-
tensive to jeopardize the success Of ma
chine politicians Of each and every polit-
ical party, politicians will then bid for
suffrage votes, and then woman's tri-
umph will be near at hand.
One State after another has been al
different times the theater Of unusual
activity, when their respective legisla-
lures bad submitted the question of
Woman Suffrage to the people Of their
respective Jurisdictions, and often great
hopes had been awakened which were
soon followed by disappointment. Kan
sas, Nevada, Vermont, Michigan and
Colorado, each in its turn, though IN
successful, has done good work, and the
labor and money expended have not
been lost TO the cause. Congress and
the federal courts have each had its
/ field day on the construction of the
fourteenth amendment to the federal
constitution, which invested the freed
man with citizenship.
But, with all these disappointments
aud drawbacks, the cause of woman is
making good progress. Numerous in
dustrial pursuits formerly monopolized
by man have quietly opened their doors
to women, who discharge their duty
faithfully aud well.
In the practice Of medicine the num-
Der Of women is comparatively large,
aud her influence is very considerable,
Notwithstanding the very strong preju-
dice that formerly existed against her
admission to practice medicine. and does