The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-25
THE CAUSE IN CONGRESS.
Meeting of the National WOman's Suf-
frage Association at Washington.
Pen Sketches Of the Leading Members
Presenting the Arguments to the House
Committee on the Judiciary.

ans Suffrage Association have just held their
eighteenth annual Washington convention.
Their public meetings were held in the Univer-
salist Church, which will accommodate about
fifteen hundred persons. and every meeting was
house full DR.. Kent, the pastor OF that
church, who is broad-spirited Christian, though
in the wrong pew according to your correspond
ents Methodist ideas. opened the convention
with prayer, closing with the following sentence,
which is remarkable for the large amount Of an
Gent history contained in few words: Purge
our minds of all prejudice all bigotry, and all
Harrowness
Miss Anthony, who seems to have been stereo-
typed in the last edition. since she grows no
older than ten or twenty years ago, delivered the
opening address. in the absence of Mrs. Stanton,
who is i'll. in which familiar talk she gave brief
resume of the movement. She stated that the
first suffrage meeting was called together by
Lucretia Mott and Mrs. Stanton in the year 1848
1t was little call, without a name attached in
little village newspaper, and q little meeting.
TOO, of some twenty or thirty persons in o little
upper room somewhere, Mrs Mott addressing
the meeting because she was the only woman in
the cause that dared speak in public. I'm view
of this fact said Miss Anthony, sour present
audience is the best evidence of the growth of
tie movement" 1--WE want the whole loaf" she
continued, "but can only receive it a slice at a
time, and we have already partaken of many
generous slices, viz: Women can now own their
own earnings; many vacations once closed are
open to women; they have suffrage in some form
in eleven States, and they can be elected to Office
school board register of deeds, and in many
States where they do not vote. Women. too, are
o pc1er in the land. True, they are not allowed
to do much to help in politics, but they
can do the next best thing. they can do some
shing to hinder sometimes. and the man who
will not favor woman suffrage often experiences
some earnest canvassing against him; and they
will grant our prayer after awhile. because of
our importantly, if not for the sake of justice.
A beautiful bouquet was sent up from the au-
dience to Miss Anthony. She took it with pleased
smile, looked it over, smelled it, and then hand
ed it to Mrs. Cougar. to share with her it's
beauty and perfume. Mrs. Cougar still had it
in her hand when she stepped forward to make a
few remarks and she prefaced them by saying
that she hoped the perfume of these flowers may
be more lasting than the time Of Miss Anthony g
DISTINGUISHED condition.
Mrs. Harriet Shattuck, of Boston, does not
care to have her personal appearance described,
which is certainly remarkable circumstance,
since sheis very pretty brunette. with a shape
ly head indicative of good sense as we'll
as feminine beauty, lovely dark
eyes, and an expression SO unusually sweet that
she is we'll worth describing and looking at too
As a speaker her delivery is easy and her argu-
ments logical. She proved that woman is a
person" because she is a living soul, self
conscious, reasoning being, just as man is, yet
when it comes to representing herself as per
son IN law the law says, mo- some other per-
son. Mrs. Shattuck gave statistics to prove
that 1.-THE other person" cannot represent her in
Massachusetts because there is not enough of
him to go round, since there Is an excess of over
AZ 600 female adults in that State.
Mrs. Clara B. Colby. of Nebraska. editor Of
the the Woman's Tribune, is lady with good,
sensible face and distinct articulation. Her
simplicity of costume is almost Quaker-like, and
altogether she is most pleasing parsonage. Her
paper is bright and newsy, with a dash of manly
independence init. She declared that there was no
hostility between the sexes; only the right of
every man to protect the woman from every man
but himself. volumes have been written, /"
said she, ito prove womans inferiority, and still
they advance" She considers 'all the rights l
want" contemplate argument because q
wrong to a woman anywhere is wrong to wom-
an everywhere. 1t was good, plain, sensible
speech, without notes or self-consciousness.
Mrs. Virginia L. Minor of Missouri, told the
convention that women voted in her native State
Virginia, for the first three Presidents. She
stated, also that she has in her possession let
ter from the mother of Col. Will Cumback, he
acting as her amanuensis, declaring the fact that
she voted for Thomas Jefferson in those early DAYS
when men were too full of thoughts of freedom
to be unjust to women AT the time the consti-
tutional convention was held Mrs. Hannah Cor
bin wrote to her brother, Richard Henry Lee
one of the members. and implored him to see that
women had the right to vote, and he replied:
"You already have that right" All of which
makes it look very much like the spirit of our
forefathers had been misinterpreted since then
Madame Clara Neyman is German lady,
petite and pretty, with a bright face. aud just
the ghost of break in her speech; with brown
hair frizzed, and eye glasses that make her look
even more piquant. She was born at Carlsrnhe,
near Baden Baden, and has just returned from a
visit to her mother. While there she lectured
in several large cities. In Berlin she spoke in
the most fashionable hall, the Hotel de Rome, at
which time the Crown Princess and suite were
present and expressed much pleasure with her
lecture on TYPES of American Women" She
has daughter, graduate OF Cornell University
who will graduate in the Philadelphia College of
Dentistry this week She has also
son, who has recently made some i'm
portanr discoveries in chemistry which
are in practical application in certain arts
Her speech. which was mastery one, was pub.
iished in the National Republican in FULL as it
we'll deserved to be- Some of Mrs. Neyman's
Indiana friends hope to secure her for lectures
there in April or May, and if they succeed, the
folks at home have something to live for
Miss Ada Sweet the ex-pension agent, of Chi
cago was introduced by Miss Anthony, and, not
being speech maker, merely said few words
The audience had treat, however in looking at
her. for she is pretty blonde, quite young, with
, sweet face and sweet voice. added to a
plump, graceful form.
Mrs. Sarah NJ Perkins. of Ohio made a telling
speech. worth more than passing mention; also
Mrs. Mary F. Eastman of Massachusetts,, an in
dependent, fearless woman of sound sense and
PRINCIPLES. Mrs. Elizabeth Avery Meriwether,
Of Missouri, Is a sparkling, witty speaker, and
kept her audience on the qui vive during quite
long discourse. Mrs. James Bennett. of Ken
lucky; Caroline a. Miller, of Maryland; Martha
r. Field. of Louisiana. and Rev. Rush R. Ship
pen, of All Souls Church, in this place, delivered
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