The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-05-09

ne sea- oi hinfmhuon upon w hho NnNi'
,ertainiy eau pa no reason for the amend'
nent oi tho Constitution 10 settle q quos.
.ion within the jurisdiction Of she states,
mad which they should tlrat scttle Tor them.
ielyo5. Your Committee are mol unmindiM |
nf tue fact that on a submission Of me |
question of extended suffrage Ia severed OF
zoe states, AneRAtiye answer has been re-
turned by the people thereof. In the opin'
ion OF your committee, and In Wow OF mol
difficulties la repairing an ofror oneo n'li /
upon the tuno amental law, great cAntod
"a the highest wisdom IN amending me con-
afitu'ion. Such amendment should par
take tho character impaired 10 she insifu
menI Itself, which 10 thing OF growth, NOT
tho origin Of rights and principles, hut
sanctliying aud confirming great ana &C.
copied PRINCIPLES Of government OF prlr
existence 10 ITSELF
Your oommitteo do no, end tho principle
o, female suiifase 80 universally accepted
au that az amendment 10 tho constitution
il demanded 10 declare nnd confirm 10 es-
lstencc. We therefore recommend maj the
i1lnt resolution for tho submission OF n SIX
ieenth amendment 20 tho constitution, 40
propoied, be not adopted.
THE MIgoRITY REPORT.
NJ. Reed from the COMMITTEES GA the "a
dietary, aunmitied the following ~ tue
views OF tha minority: No ono who listens
t. the reasons given by tho superior class
m The continuanoe OF any system Oh SUP
lection, eau fail ~ DO impressed Wild lne
noble dislnteresledness Oi mankind. Nhtn
ihO su bisction Of persons OF African descent
was "a be maintained, the good OF those
perpons WAS always the main obltci. Wheo
il was the iashlcn to bea, children 90 re-
gard them as litile animals who hhn ~
Tighte, IL was always for thor so9u nat
tnev were treated with GeVeny, nnh ieFof
on account OF the bad temper 9. tLs' Pa-
rents. Hence, when IL 10 proposed ~ slYo
10 the women Of this country an oppp u.
| nifty 10 present thoir case % tho various
stsfo irgislsturaa TO demand Of ne people
oil the country equality OF political rlsnts,
IL 10 no. surprisingt TO nod thas tno srHs9ns
on which the continuance OF tue luiel ilty
Of women 10 urged, are drawn aluiost en-
own good The anxiety iolt lest they
should thereby deterior.te. would be IA
rhonor 10 human nature, were u nos an MS
torieal iscL that the sme sweet solioiluae
has been put up AS . barrier agalnst every
progiess which women nafs made ever once
ciyihzallon began. There rs no DOUBT 70
dNy. that II in turkey cr AlgierS, countries
Where women'e sphere 70 most thoroughly
confined to tho home circle, IL was proposed
~ admit them 10 social lie, TO remove The
veil from their iac.s and permit them 70
converse a. open day with the ffiendH Of
their husbands and brothers, tue coNservA-
i've aud iudioious Turk or Algerine OF the
period, It ne could be brought 10 even con,
sidar such horrible proposition, Would
point out that the sphere OF women WAS 70
mako homo happy by those gentle inHlploi-
ties which education would Destroy that
bv particiuation ia conversation with men,
they would learn cOar eness, uepAse tnslr
natures, and men would thereby 1850 thaS
amelioratiug influence which Still leaves
II a.. Uyft
would point ous that mature" had deter
mined thst women should DO secluded; that
their sphere was to raise and rducnte the
man child, and that any change would be =
violation OF the divine law, which, IN the
opinion OF ell conservative men, always Or
dainS the present but never the future.
So In civilized countries. when II was pro-
no,ed thst women should own their own
property, that they ehould have the earn
ings Of their Own labor, there we're not
wanting those who were sure thHt suoh q
proposition couid work only evil 10 women,
nnd that continually. IL would destroy tue
family, discordant interests would provoke
jdispate, aud the only real safety Tor woman
was In ths headship OF man, nos that man
wanted rupsriority for any selfish reason
hut 20 preserve intact the family relation
Tor woman's good. To-day woman's prop
erty belongs 10 herself her earnings ore
her own; she has been emancipated beyond
| the widest hOpsa OF any reiormer OF twen-
ty-fye years ago. Almost every vocation
| Is OMEN TO her. ehs 10 proving her useful
nesg ia spheres which .1e nature" wor.
sniyed by the conssry lca Of twenty-nyI
wears ago absolutely tornado her TO eptet
! Notwithstanding ell these csansee the Jam:
ily circle remsinY unbroken, the man enid
gets as well educated as before, and the
amelioratinR influence Of woman has be-
| come only tine more marked. Thirty years
ago hardly any political sssemblage OF the
people was graced by the presence OF women.
III adj IL needed law to enable them to be
present, what au argument could nave been
made against it. How easily ii could have
boen shown that the coarsenese, tho dubious
expressions. the general vuiRarity OF the
scene, could have no other effect than to
breSk down that purity OF word anu
thought watch women have, aud which
| cons ryhtiye and radical are alike
sedulous to preserve. And yet the
actual presence OF women at po'
Ntical meetings has not debased them,
but hes raised the other sex. Coarseness
has not become diHused through both sexes
hut has fled from both. TO put the whole
matter in "a short phrase: The association OF
the aexey Ia the family circle, ia society and
| in business, having proved improving TO
both, there 10 neither history, reason or
seuse TO Justify the assertion that a9toca-
ton ia politics will lower the one or de-
moralize the other.
Hence we would do better TO approach
The question without trepidetion. We can
batter leave the "apheren Of woman 70 the
future than confine il in the chains OF the
past. Words change nothing. Pfeludicea
are none thu less preiudicss because we
vaguely call them nature" aud pirate abonl
what nature has forbidden, when We only
mean that toe thlng W. are opp0slnk me-
| not been hitherto done. Mature IorOade
a steamship TO cross the Atlantic the very
moment Il WAC crossing, and yet 10 arrived
| int the same. What the majority call ma
turep has stood in the way OF every pro,
gress Of the past aud present, and will stand
Ia the way of all lure nrogress It has
also stood in the way OF many unwist
thinea II Is only another namo for con
ssryatism. With conservatism the minority
have no quarrel II is essential to the sta
bility OF mankind, OF government and o.
social life. To every new proposal IL right
fully calls o halt, demanding counterslgn
whether it be friend or foe. The eniran-
chisement OF women must psss the ordea
ike everything else. 1t must give goot
reason for it's demand to be or takeits plsc,
among the half.forgottsn fantasies which
have challenged the support OF mankind
and have not stood the test OF argument
asd discussion.
The committee claim that suffrage is no
a right, but privilege to BIO guarded by
Il those VINO nave III nnu W "" Wy thehi Wv w
out to those who ghsll become worthy
That every extension OF suffrage has beer
granted in some form or other by those al
ready holding it Is probably true. In som'
countries. however, II has been EXTENDED
upon the simple basis OF expectancy, ant
in others In obedience 10 o claim OF right
II suffrage be right, II 1t be true that M
man has claim to govern any other mar
except 10 the extent that tbs
other man has q right TO eoveir
him, then there can be no discus
aion of The anastion of woman anffrage