The herald., 1895-05-12

W0NAN'S MILLENNIUM HERE
Suffragists Think the Long Fight
Is at an End
WAR LASTED FORTY YEARS
New York Leaders of the Crusade Are
Preparing for the Campaign
WAR LASTED FORTY YEARS
Interesting Facts About the Notable Women
Whose Lives Have Been Identified
With the Movement

In the words of Mrs. Lille Devcreux
Blake, the crusade for women S suffrage
has now reached its must critical stage,
and from now on the champions of the
cause III this state Will know no rest un-
Til the cause has become an assured fact.
Both branches of the New York legisla-
ture have passed bill submitting to the
vote OF the people thesquestion OF suffrage
TO women. According to the revised con-
stitution OF the state the same bill will
have to be passed upon by the next leg
islaturc before the question can be an.
swercd at the polls.
1t is hot and long campaign that the
women are going to faee. First they must
win over the members of the next lcgis.
ature, and then comes the broader task
OF campaigning for the votes of the null
titude. AT the earliest the question can.
not come UP at the polls until November
of 1896. and that being a presidential
year the women leaders may deem it ad.
visable 10 postpone it until the fall OF
1897, when the voter will have less to
think of and can be moie easily persuade
ed TO take up the question seriously.
The women who will manage this CAM
paign, which is fraught with so much
interest to sufiragists the world over
form an interesting group. They appre-
ciate the gravity of he work. knowing
that if it is successful in New York state
it will have greater weight in influencing
legislation favorable to the cause in other
states.
1t will be of interest to suffragists
throughout the land to know something
Of the women who will general the fight IN
this state. The most unique figure in
the group Is Mrs. Blake. WHO has, per-
haps, done more to propagate the doc
trine of equal suffrage than any other
woman enlisted in the cause in New
York. OF course, Susan b. Anthony is
more widely known as a suffrasist, but
her work Is distributed over the whole
country. while Mrs. Blake concentrates
her efforts upon more limited area. In
brief Mrs. Blake is laboring for suffrage
first in her own state, while Miss Anthony
labors for the whole country.
The Plan OF Campaign
Speaking of the nature of the campaign
before them, Mrs. Blake said: I'VE shall
take a most active part in the wor.l OF
the next election. We affiliate with no
party, but shall work for or against the
individual candidate, according TO the
stand he takes on the suffrage question.
We must see to it that no man is elected
TO the next Legislature who is antagonstic
10 our cause. In every district throughout
the state we shall have committees who
long before the nominations have been
made by the rival parties, will keep track
of all possible candidates and sound them
on the suffrage question. Ii candidate
is unfavorable We shall do everything pos
sihe to prevent his nomination. should
he be nominated. then we shall devute
our energies to defeat him at the polls.
In this way we hope to make sure o. the
next Legislature. and then will come he
harde. task OF getting the votes of TIE
people
Mrs. BiaIe's Wo-k
Mrs. Blake has been a worker for sIf-
frage since 1869. Today she is a hand
some woman or 80 odd years with white
hair and plenty of activity. From ls73
until 1890 she was president of the state
association, and for the last nine wears
has been president Of the city association.
Her first work of consequence in behalf OF
women was in 1878, when she began
opened to women. Mrs. Blake has an
hereditary interest in the college, and
she has two daughters to whom she
wanted to give its educational advant-
ages. Mrs Blake's great-great-gr grand
father, the Rev. DR.. Samuel Johnston.
rector of old Trinity church, was the first
president of the college, which was then
called Kings college. DIR. Johnston
went to England and obtained its charter.
This was prior to the Revolution. After
the long war the name was changed TO
Columbia college. and upon the death OF
DR.. Johnston his son, William Samuel
Johnston, became its president. Mrs.
Blake was successful in having the college
opened to women.
rrs. AImy's Success
Mrs. Martha r. Almy is woman who
! lust at this time is of great interest to
the friends of suffrage. 1t was Mrs. Almy
who conducted the work Of getting the
bill through both houses of the legisla-
ture. a work which is regarded as the
| cause in New York state. MIS-. Almy
| spent three months in Albany working
among the legislators, and although 4
novice in campaigning did the work
singularly well.
| Her home is in jamestown Chautau.
qua county. where she has a husband and
| several children. it was the fact that
she was typical home-woman, wife
! and q mother that induced her associates
to send her to Albany to impress upon
| the legislators the fact that even the home
class of women were in favor of suffrage.
Mrs. GreenIeafs Important Post
Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf is destined
to figure prominently in suffrage affairs
when the campaign begins. She is the
president OF the state association having
| succeeded Mrs. Blake in that position.
Mrs. Greenleaf's husband is an ex-con-
| gressman and their home in Rochester is
one of the finest in the city. Mrs.
| Greenleaf is wealthy woman and is an
ardent worker in the cause She is q tai,
massive woman. with fine presence and
i possessed of rare executive ability. She
is not much of an orator. but makes u
good presiding officer. Her husband is
| interested in the movement, and his
political experience has proven beneti-
| clal more than once.
The First Suffragist
Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. who can
almost be called the grandmother of the
woman's suffrage movement, is now in
her eightieth year and although she
maintains lively interest in all that is
said and DONE her age prevents her from
active participation in the work. Mrs.
| Sta-'on presented the first appeal for
su. IA q ever made on behalf OF women
in MS country. 1t was at an equal rights
convention held at Seneca Falls in 1S4s
that Mrs. Stanton introduced the morton
which started the great crusade. This
convention was really for the purpose oil
lized the attention os reform in those
times. but Mrs. Stanton took advantage
of the occasion to open up the question
for discussion. and four years later. IN
1852, Miss Susan b. Anthony, who was
then Il school teacher became infatuated
with the idea and began series OF ora
tions favoring it. which have been kept
up for more than forty years.
Mrs. Math!lda Johnson Gage announcer
of the pioneers in the fight. is II W living