The Washington critic., 1888-06-23
THE woMEN's APPEAL.
The Address Placed In the Hands OF
Ever Delegate.

The Address Placed In the Hands of
Ever Delegate.
CHICAGO, June. "A copy of an address
signed by Susan b. Anthony and Isabella
Beecher Hooker to the Republican Ma
tional Convention was placed in the
hands of every delegate upon entering
the hall this morning. The address
declares
"From the foundation of our Govern.
ment such women as Mrs. Otis Warren
and Mrs. John Adams of Massachusetts,
and Mrs Corbin of Virginia protested
against the exclusion of women from the
rights and duties of citizenship, declared
to be of universal obligation, and when
John Quincy Adams made his great battle
for the right of petition on the floor of
Congress, women furnished his ammuni-
ton in the shape of the largest petition
ever presented to Congress, and, 1t is safe
to say, any deliberate body in the
"The Republican party owes its exist
ence to the, patriotic enthusiasm of the
women of these United States. y - #'
The address then traces woman's influ-
ence in politics from 1856 to 1880, and
says;
needs no recountlng, but their self-abne-
CATION in working for the freedom and
enfranchisement of black men, while
they themselves were disfranchised, is a
partof history that never has been writ
ten. 1t was the leaders of the
woman suffrage movement, who in 1868
sent to Charles Sumner petition 100000
strong for the emancipation of slaves as a
war measure"
The attempts of the party leaders to OBJ
tain recognition in 1S68.72-76 and 1880 are
reviewed and also the efforts of the party:
In 1884, 100000 women, under the official
Endorsement Of the w. O. Il. u, asked the
Republican National Convention for q
temperance plank in their platform, and
their memorial was treated with scorn
and contempt. And now, in the year of
our Lord, 1888, after being courteously
received by the National Committee Gnu Gnu
the Platform Committee of the con-
| vention now assembled, and listened
to for the space of ten minutes
by the former and twenty minutes by the
latter, the platform is again silent as to
the rights of half the citizens of the United
States, who are disfranchised by the sew
eral States in defiance of the National
Constitution, which declares that the peo-
pie are the only source of power of the
Declaration of independence, which as
serts that a just government can only be
founded upon the consent of the gov
erned.'n
"And now, while recognizing that the
majority of the men who speak and vote
for women's political equality on the floor
of Congress are members of the Republic
can party, and some have done admira-
BILE service there, yet, as there always
comes time when forbearance
ceases to be a virtue, we are deeply
impressed that possibly the time
has arrived when we must cease
to hope for any justice from Repub-
licans as a party, but must look for ulti-
mate success in the new and growing Pro-
hibition party, which has always recog-
nized the political equality of women and
| in its latest platform declares that the
| right of suffrage rests on no mere circum-
p, stance of color, sex or nationality
"Yet, mindful of our past labors to-
| gether for the freedom of the black man
| and the permapence of the Union, we ask
| you, gentlemen, to consider whether you
| will not so construe your platform
| (Which we have only this moment been
able to ready so as to include women in
| the term citizens to whose personal
| rights and liberties you affirm 'un-
swerving devotion, Especially to
the supreme and sovereign right
| of every lawful citizen to cast one free
| ballot in every election, and to have that
ballot duly counted and will you not
| have such resolution brought before the
convention and permit us to speak on its
| behalf?
| Respectfully, your fellow-citizens,
"SUsAN u. ANTHONY,
| isabella BEECHER HOOKER