The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-03-04
LETTER FROM HON. ]. A. COLLINS.
READ BEFORE THE oREGOS WOMAN SUFFRAGE
coNVENTIoN.
SAN FRANCISCO. February 6, lssO.

To the President, officers and Member,
Of The oregon State Woman Suffrage
association - Dear Friends: Were il
practically possible, gladly would I ac-
cept your invitation to be present and
address your annual gathering on the
18th aud 18Th insts.
This grand movement, which has heen
championed in the very teeth Of indif-
ference, ridicule and opposition by the
courageous, heroic and selfdenying
labors Of some Of Freedoms uobiest
representatives, has now gained such a
strong hold on the public mind that DO
human power can materially check its
progress or defeat its ultimate triumph.
The year past has witnessed few ex-
citing or extraordinary triumphs in any
particular locality, but it has beeu, as a
whole, one Of unusual growth aud de-
cided progress throughout the country.
The central idea of this suffrage reform,
that it is usurpation and tyranny on the
part of men, who dominate the govern
ment, to deny women the possession
and exercise Of the same political rights
they claim for themselves, has by the
more thoughtful, humane and progress
sive wing Of society been more boldly
and vigorously set forth and advocated
in pulpits, ecclesiastical conferences,
associations and synods, in lectures, po-
litical conventions, legislatures and the
press, and received less Of Tidicule and
distinct opposition. than in any former
year since its origin, in 1851. This prog
ress may be noted in part by the numer-
Gus political concessions to women, OF
more or less importance, by our Ma
tiOnal, State and Territorial Legislatures
and executive departments, but more
particularly by her Increased aud sue
cessful efforts to win an independent
livelihood by her own personal exer-
tiOns by crowding herself into those in
dustrial, commercial, mechanical, edu-
cational, literary, scientific, artistic and
professional callings, from which she
has been excluded, from time i'm memo
rial, on the assumed ground Of naturally
physical aud mental iuferiority. The
care, promptness, industry, order, neat
ness, skill aud endurance she invariably
brings to bear directly upon her task in
any and every department she enters,
challenges not only the astonishment,
but the admiration also, Of those who
witness her achievements, and which
demonstrate her capacity 20 become the
equal aud peer OF her more ponderous
brother in the numerous civil depart
ments Of society into which she enters.
Women clerks in the United States
Treasury Department have demon
strated their capacity and skill in the
numerous and varied duties assigned
them. L. 5. Treasurer Spinner gave
much credit for his own success in the
Treasury Bureau TO the industry and
faith fulness Of the hundreds Of women
clerks under his direction. In the Cen
eral Post Office Department at Wash
ington, General Burt states that not one
dollar has ever been embezzled by
women clerks. In all the various cler-
ical and executive departments under
the Government, local, Territorial, State
and National, in which she has off,
ciated, she has been invariably awarded
unstinted praise for the precision and
artistic character OF her work.
For more than three-fourths Of a CEN
tury, with the strong pressure of hered-
itary public sentiment against her,
woman, from the teacher of infants
during the planting aud harvesting
months Of the year, has been quietly
but continuously working her way in
the confidence of the public as an edu-
Gator, until she has nearly monopOlized
the teaching Of the public school de-
partments of the country, aud during
that period she has nearly wrought out
one Of the graudest moral revolutions
OF this or any other age in school dis
eipliue, in the banishment of the rod as
an indispensable auxiliary in school
government; aud but for the influence
OF the few high-salaried teachers of the
voting sex, the rod as a school diseipIi-
marian would exist to-day only in his
tory. AS mechanics, merchants, farm
ers, artists, authors. journalists, and in
numerous other minor callings, women
have invariably exhibited their ready
versatility and fitness for varied pur-
suits.
California is by no means an Indifferent
Spectator Of or inactive worker in this
great reformatory enterprise. know
Of no State ia the Federal Union ia
which women are subjected to less po-
litIcal disabilities than those I'm this
State, aud here they are sufficiently nu-
merous to produce great hardships and
to awaken and keep alive a widespread
spirit of discomfort and ilI-feeIing, and,
in the minds Of the enlightened aud
sensitive, envy aud jealousy. You may
not approve OF or share these feelings.
but 1t must be remembered that times
have greatly changed within the p:rst
nan -SS"tuiJt III WINCH woman Is
greater sufferer than her brother. The
rapid introduction Of labor-saving ma
cbinery, in the various industrial de-
partments Of the country, has banished
from the house the score or more Of in-
dustries operated by women. affording
constantemploymentandcom comparatively
an independent living. Now, each of
these is a specially, requiring large fac
tories and great outlay of money to