The Portland daily press., 1890-02-21
THE W0MANS CAUSE is MARCHING ON,
Something About the Suffrage Con.
vention In Session In Washington.
Ex-Governor Perham Looking Out
for the interests Of Maine.
Distinguished Women Who Differ
With the Teachings Of Paul.
Especial to the Press. ]

| lOpCCidl W bhO iCoo.l
| WASHINGTON, February 20-The Nation
al Woman's Suffrage convention, which is
now in session here, is attracting a large
share of attention in the city which has so
many great things to occupy the minds of
men and women. The Maine branch is not
taking the prominent part in the proceed.
ings that it will undoubtedly take in future
conventions after the Maine legislature shall
have been stoImed successfully, and the
stout opponents among the ladies of Port
land have been fconvinced of the error of
their ways. In the convention here ex-Gov
Perham has been acting as friend and agent
of the Maine association, though he has not
accepted credentials as a delegate
But If the Maine branch is not here in
force the causeis yet marching on, if any,
thing may be judged by the enthusiasm and
dash with which the speeches of the leaders
are delivered and received. President Eliza
beth Cady Stanton has been received by the
convention with unbounded enthusiasm, aud
ln return has made an address that sets lim-
Its for the aspirations of similar conventions
for many years to come. No half measures
were advocated in that address, and no ex-
ception was made to prejudices of any sort,
whether they exist in church or state. In
series of resolutions which Mrs. Stanton
presented, the concluding paragraph an
nounced that the time had come
for women to demand of the church
the same equal recognition which she
demands of the state; that she should as
sumo her right and duty to take part in the
revision of the Bibles whether that the IA
nous declaration Of st. Paul might have its
corners rounded or not is not specified).
prayer books and creeds; vote on all ques
tlons OF business; fill the offices of elder,
deacon, Sunday school superintendent, pas
tor and bishop, etc.; and otherwise influence
religious affairs so that sour religion may no
longer reflect only the masculine element of
humanity"
Mrs. Stanton's address referred to the re-
cent consolidation of the National and
American Woman Suffrage Associations as
an arrangement that would greatly further
the cause, and SO much faith has Mrs.
stanton in the potency of this con
solidati0n that she predicted that women
would be voting in every state of the Union
In less than ten years. Mrs: Stanton leaves
America to remain in England, where her
daughter has home, and her greeting by |
the delegates was in the nature of a farewell |
also. When the time came for Mrs. Stanton
to leave the hall, Phoebe Cousins put her arm |
around Mrs. Stanton's waist and kissed her |
affectionately in the name of ''eyerv man. |
woman and child" present, the audience |
cheering and waving handkerchiefs in the |
meantime.
The other leaders present are as enthusi- |
astic and radical as Mrs. Stanton. Mrs. Isa-
bella Beecher Hooker of Connecticut, takes |
ISSUE with st. Paups Injunction that women |
should consult their husbands, and says that |
she thinks many women would be in very |
bad way If their information came from no |
other source than their husbands. Mrs. |
Hooker thought that women should have a |
place on the board of management of the |
worlds fair, in order that an exhibition |
might be obtained that would reflect glory |
and honor upon the nation. Mrs. Mary Sew |
nour Howell OF New York claimed that the |
world OF today was for women, and that up- /
IN them and their efforts depended its pros
,erity and perpetuity.
Some very noted women are present, among |
hem Lucy Stone Blackwell, Susan B. An
hony, Julia Ward Howe, Rev. Olympia
'rowD, Phoebe Cousins. Lille Devereaux
'lake, Isabella Beecher Hooker, DIR. Susan
!. Edison, May Wright Sewall, Vi-s:--.--
Miss Ph96e w. cousins, who gave Mrs.
Stanton the farewell kiss, and who gave last
ight an address upon "Woman's influence
q official government" is an ex- United
ouri, having successfully discharged the du.
les of that Office after it was left vacant by |
he death of her father. She Is now spec
ialagent of the census bureau to report upon
ecorded indebtedness in the city of st.
louis,