National Republican., 1884-03-05

were at present living very uEretaDly WIN
their wives, and didn't care to have those
pleasant relations disturbed by the reading
of such books. Nevertheless, laws for the
relief Of women are now being considered by
the legislature, and articles upon the subject
are printed in the state newspapers Miss
Clay thought that il would be good thing IL
some of the rich women who could make wills
would leave some of their money to help
their own sex TO get their rights rather than
leave everything TO the eternal, poor, and
pious young man.
Mrs. Harrictte II. Shattuck, Of Boston,
made the report for Massachusetts,. The
fragment of suffrage upon school matters
allowed to women in Massachusetts,, has
resulted many times in the selection of bet
ter men for tho school committees. The
work done in Massachusetts, previous to this
year had been inside the state for local free
dom, but recently the national movement
had taken root, and then the idea of working
upon congress was growing. The idea
of the society in that state
was to have the legislatures of
the several states vote on the constitutional
amendment instead of having the masses Of
the people vote upon 1t. DIR. Saome Merritt,
OF Boston, had canvassed sections Of the state
to discover what proportion Of women in the
etate wanted tho right of suffrage. 1t was
found that of SID women, 405 were in favor
Of suffrage; only "a were opposed; 166 indifTcr-
eut, 100 refused to tell, and 80 were not seen
after repeated calls. In one country district
where convention had been held all the
women were in favor of woman suffrage.
The opposition had been aroused in Massa-
chusetts Remonstrances signed by women
against woman suffrage had been sent to the
Massachusetts, legislature. The speaker
thought this good thing. Two of those
most active III opposition were very much in
public life.
Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway, of Oregon,
reporter for the northwest, and told how
woman suffrage had been obtained in Wash
ington territory. The battle was begun
thirteen years ago by starting q newspaper
devoted to freedom in all things. The speaker
said she laid the foundation for the paper
years before, when she and her good hus.
band worked on farm, raising boys TO set
the type for it. The speaker was tho editor
of the paper, which met with much opposi.
tion. Miss Anthony came over and taught
her the duty Of platform work. and since
then she has spoken in public at least ], 100
times.
Mrs. Helen NJ. Cougar of Lafayette, made
tho report for Indiana. She began with the
constitutional convention of 1850, when 1Ou
women asked that women might be allowed
to own property after marriage. Robert Dale
Owen presented the petition and two minis
ters spoke against 1t. The petition wa,
denied, but since then the intelligence of the
state had increased and now the women have
nearly equal property rights with men. The
association In Indiana busies itself very much
with distributing woman suffrage tracts anu
in delivering parlor lectures. The grecnback
convention, held in indianapolis recently.
put woman suffrage plank in its platform
and the Indiana society proposed to send
delegates to the great conventions of the other |
parties to demand the same thing from them
Mrs. Cougar declared that the party which |
uaV ha tobf 70. .rnfa
which would live.
DIR. Clemence Lozier, of New York, al |
elderly lady with short gray curls and not
very strong voice, addressed the audience |
She said that in the practice of her profes- |
sion the had been greatly aided by the |
Woman's Suffrage association. The audience |
was impatient and restless. Many peop e |
left the hall after the reports were finished. |
and Mrs Lozier spoke very briefly.
Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell, of New York. |
who appeared to be much the youngest lady |
On the PLATFORM next addressed the conypn. |
tion Mrs. Howell wore a black silk dress
gold bracelets on her wrists, a blue ribbon
and white lace about her neck pink roses al |
her throat, and curly bangs over her fore.
head Mrs Howell was a slender and rather
pretty woman. She said she had voted and
that the men did not smoke about the polls.
but the air was filled with the perfume OF |
flowers, and when she cast her ballot the men |
all took of their hats. Thenudience clapped |
its hands vigorously when this announcement |
was made. Mrs. Howell voted in Albany. |
She described the sensation of voting as tha,
of opening heavy gates for the liberation o.
her sisters. She said 1t was the happiest day
Of her life. Mrs. Howell was somewhat
dramatic speaker and told some pathetic
stories which elected applause She CLOSED
her speech with eulogy upon Wendell Phil
lips.
Miss Anthony opened the evening service.
AZ which somewhat smaller audience wa |
present. by reading letter from Mrs. Nellie.
crut Garret Fawcett, Of England. and an |
extract from speech made by Mr.. Fawcctt |
at convention of English people brought |
together to urge the gift of suffrage to farm. |
eTB
Mrs, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert of Chi.
cago, vice president of the association, prcsi
dent of the Illinois State Auxiliary assccia
ton, and editor of the "Woman's Kingdom
in the Chicago inter Ocean, was then intro.
duced, and addressed the audience for thirty
minutes. Mrs. Harbert is n tall, graceful. |
rather slender lady, of middle age. She ha
delicate features, and a refined and intellect.
ual face. Her waving gray hair drawn low
over the temples ana coiled at the back
Of the neck formed fitting frame
for the delicate face, and made her dark
eyes more noticeable. She were u plain black
velvet dress, with white ruche at the neck,
white lace at the wrists and bunch OF red |
and yellow roses at the breast. Mrs. HARDER,
stood behind a small reading desk and read
A carefully prepared address from manuscript.
The reading was animated, and the reader |
eyes were upon the audience oftener than
upon the paper. She made no gestures. Hur
voice was pleasant and the enunciatiou clenI
and distinct, but the tones were too oven
and monotonous. The audience gave hor
the most ilattering attention. The subject OF
the lecture was THE iStatesmanship OF
and YVES almost entirely given M
10 brief and pointed sketches OF women
we'll known in history as rulers
and politicians. That no woman had painted
The greatest picture, or carved the most per-
ect statue, or written tho most beautiful
opera HTs. Harbert admitted, but as a ruler
she claimed that women in every nation had
been the peers Of mon. She denied any de-
sire to leave her own sphere, but demanded
that the hand which rock cd the cradle should
help to rule the nation. While Mrs. iIarbert
vas speaking Frederick Douglass and his new
white wife came in and took seat In the
gallery.
Mrs. Lsllie Devereaux Blake, vice president
If the association and president of the New
York Auxiliary society, was introduced and
spoke upon "The Unknown Quantity of Poll
les" Mrs. Blake has probably been seen by
nearly everybody in this country, and her
hin white face, acquilne nose, and large
'yes are tolerably familiar to many persons.
She wore a black silk dress, with black velvet
waist and overdress. She also wore q very
arge corsage bouquet of pink flowers. The
sleeves of her dress were largo at tho wrists
md fell back to her elbow whenever she