The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-04

upon. am satisfied the cause of sui
frege has been greatly advanced b!
the convention and am more thar
pleased at the way we were treated
after the convention we were &C
corded a reception by Mrs. Cleveland
She is a very ioveable woman anC
grows more beautiful in form and minC
every day She treated us. oh. 81
kindly. Every one of US fell in low
with her at once. She is q woman t,
be loved"
I'VE were also given a reception b!
Mrs. John r. Mclean, the wife of tn
great newspaper man. There we me
Mrs. General Grant, the occasion being
her seventy-f1fth birthday. She tolC
me of the time when she visited thi
city with the general and how sh
knelt in the great tabernacle to pray
How, when asked what she prayed TO
she replied she was praying this PEG
pie might see the light and be a
others. She remembered the grea
organ and said she was very much i'm
pressed with the tone and volume"
Mrs. Richards speech which she de
hvered at the convention was report
ed in the Mail and Express of New
York at some length. Among othe
things she said:
"Our woman's memorial to the Leg
islature was prepared and signed by
the official representatives of the stuff
rage associations and relief societies
general and local, and by a large num-
Der of the leading women of the terri
tory. The menorialists went in a body
to the convention chamber and pre-
scented their petition, which was read
with due courtesy and elaboration, and
n he tae oil
and rights of suffrage. On a subsequent
day, set for the purpose. a large com
pany of women met at the capitol
building, and, by number of chosen
speakers, presented their cause to the
committee with the final result that
the committee embodied al that was
asked in their report to the conven-
ton, this being worded in the language
of the Wyoming constitution, as fol-
lows:
The right of citizens of the state
of Utah to vote and hold office shall
not be denied or abridged on account
of sex. Both male and female citizens
of this state shall equally enjoy all
civil, political and religious rights and
privileges
"A minority of the members of the
committee reported in opposition to
equal suffrage. The report was shrewd-
ly conceived in a way that enlisted a
large share of sympathy from the for
mer Liberal element in Utah politics.
1t represented that the woman mind
was largely actuated by sentiment and
sympathy, and that women in politics
would greatly augment the sphere of
church influence, and thus become a
menace to public welfare and indepen-
dent government, although it was the
women OF the church who were said to
oppose polygamy. Such an issue would
not be otherwise than a vital might
say lnf1ammable-one in Utah.
A HAND-TO-HAND CONFLICT.
When the subject was taken up in
the convention the debate was ex-
tremely animated. and the interest
was greatly enhanced by the presence
OF many women. who felt a profound
interest IN the discussions wherein
their own civil and political status was
to be determined. and wherein also
the progress of the cause in the world
was to be promoted or retarded. The
contest was an earnest hand-to-hand
conflict for time and the hopes of
the opposition were buoyant on occa-
SONS. But when the anti-woman stuff
rage cause had gained its last possible
recruit, and a majority though a slim
one. still stood for the pledges of the
platform and the cause of women
when this state of things became
clearly evident. as is usual in DELHI
erative bodies. the opposition crumbled
away, and the final roll call showed
only a trace of antagonism, so that it
will be difficult for the future historian
to show from the records how deeply
the WOmen'S cause was imperiled
THE cOrUar finally ted
the equal rights clause in the constitu-
ton with comparative unanimity and
it was held by many judges and law
yerS. that under the provisions of the
and enabling act the wo-
men were entitled to an immediate
exercise of the franchise. In this view
the women began to organize in both
parties. The Republican party favored
a separate organization of women
throughout. while the Democratic
party encouraged, as fully as conven-
lent, a cooperation of men and wo-
men in the same meetings and or
A TEMPORARY SETBACK.
AT the beginning of the canvass the
Republicans had nominated three women
for their state ticket, and the Democrats
who met week later in convention in
tended to nominate three women on
their state ticket; but in the meantime
there was a decision from the supreme
court that deprived women of the fran
chise until the constitution should first
be adopted. Notwithstanding this tenn
porary setback the women of Utah
continued to manifest lively interest
in the campaign until the problem was
solved in the November election and the
ratified by more than twenty
thousand majority.
Equal suffrage having been incor-
porated in the organic law of the state
it cannot be revoked without the women
vote for their own Observation-Disclosures
AS they constitute nearly half the vot-
ing population it is not likely that the
present order of things will be reversed.
Thanks to the giver of all GOOD
women have q. chance given them in the
Utah constitution to show their capacity
for government, and can help mold the
institutions OF society," Of course, the
work is but begun; the cause is in its
mereSt infancy. That which remains to
be done opens up before us in an almost
endless vista. In the far away promised
land we behold perfected state wherein
the heart and hand and intelligence of
contribute their full share to the
welfare of the race.
BY MANS SELFIsHNEss
Thus far the progress of man has
been deeply embittered and highly col
bred by the selfishness he has inherited
from the dark ages, but now that edu-
cation is more widely diffused, now that
religion is taking ON the hues of love and
nelpfulness. now that the spirit and in
spiration of altruism are brooding more
and more in the hearts of men, we find
hat an era of philanthropy and anchor
alton is setting in, that social life is ris-
ng into region of reason, truth and
so that the gentler and nobler
soul of woman can cooperate with man
n achieving the higher ends of govern
nent-the attainment of true brother
lood. the Inauguration of the Kingdom
Of God on earth. OF course. we must ed
Icate and emulate. We must not grow
weary in Well-doing; but, above ali, we
must learn to wait and spread our sails
% the breezes of heaven. that in the