The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-13
FIGHTING FOR
THEIR CAUSE
Addresses Before the Won
ans Suffrage Conference.
A Speaker Ailudes 10 the Beautiful
incident of the Gar of Russia
Crowning His Wife.

/ Triton Hail. Cincinnati, is spoken of as
/ a decided success. Two sessions were
/ held on Monday and there was an abun-
dance of enthusiasm and eloquence. The
conference was opened at 2:3o that af-
ternoon with prayer by Daniel H. Moore
editor of the Western Christian Advo-
cate He also spoke briefly, heartily IN
dorsing woman suffrage. and stating that
l he was i'm sympathy with the movement
Miss Mary G. Hay, of New York, who
presided. made an address OF welcome,
! and introduced Rev.Anna III. Shaw, of
/ Philadelphia, who congratulated the wo-
men of Ohio upon the vote recently cast
! for members of school boards. she
thought Ohio women had scored great
success and bade them godspeed in the
| good work. She alluded TO the fact that
Mrs. Upton. the treasurer of the Ma
/ tional womans Suffrage Association III
being elected a member of the schooi
\ board at Warren, Ohio, few days ago.
received the largest vote ever given any
/ one i'm that town. Miss Shaw gave Valu-
able hints on voting, such as not to vote
for a woman merely because she was a
woman, but to take into consideration
her ability for the position. If woman
/ cannot be nominated on the regular
tickets of a party she should not permit
her name to be placed in nomination, as
an independent candidate has defeat in
prospect. and defeat would be blow at
progress.
Does the Tax-Paying Woman Need
the BalIot?' was the subject of schol-
arly paper by Mrs. Mcclellan Brown.
| This was followed by a paper by Dr.
! Henrietta Buchanan, on Does the Pro-
! fessional Woman Need the Ballots?
/ The meeting in the evening at the con-
ference opened with the singing OF
America" after which Rev. George \.
Thayer led in prayer. Mrs. Won Seggern
executed a charming violin solo. Miss
/ Hay introduced Mrs. Carrie Chapman
/ Gait, one of the most eloquent OF Amer
! lean women. She is a woman of charm
ing personality. and presented the cause
1 of Equal Suffrage in a most pleasing
light She was frequently applauded,
and had a great ovation at the close.
Mrs. Gait argued that woman's suffrage
! is surely coming; that ii is only ques-
tion of time, After four States are prov
ing that suffrage is a great success she
declared that there is no ground for OPP
position. She alluded to the rumors
! mat are dical as 10 the NlSuDm OF lne
/ form of government under which we
live. some people thinking that there are
1 too many voters. universal suffrage noc
! being a successful form of government
| etc. She said: What is the test of man.
| hood suffrage2 That test is the CON-
/ parison of the men of this country with
/ those of foreign Countries. and she also
made a comparison of civilization i'm
/ this country with that Of foreign lands.
. ha sal Men \ nd a no
/ Elements of each other. We must have
+ the voices of both. If a woman is re-
/ spOnsible to a government, she should
have voice in the affairs of the nation"
Four-fifths Of the teachers in the pub
lie schools. and three-fifths of the per-
sons educated in the schools are women,
I then why should not women have a voice
in school affairs?" Mrs. Gait stated that
seven out Of eleven of the immigrants
were men. hence the illiteracy of many of
/ tn voters. She added that If women could
be enfranchised there would be more wo-
men who could read their ballots than
men. She wondered if her audience was
aware that two-thirds Of the church MEM
bers in this country were women, and
that only one-hundredth part of the popu-
lation in the penitentiaries are women,
adding that with keener perception of
what is right. why should we hesitate,
as woman's suffrage means more intelli-
gence and more morality.
Mrs. Gait said that if one wants view
Of the state of affairs where women have
never had their rights. glance for a few
4 moments at China. the country where wo-
men are said to have mo souls" There
/ they are sold in slavery, which means an
/ early death. Again. she said: ''Glance at
India. where ii is believed that she must
be born again and be born man to en-
| Joy the prospects of entering Heaven.
| over the mosques in the land of Moham-
| med are the words: Women and dogs
| are not admitted here"
| In refuting the argument that all wo-
| men do not care to vote she stated that
| when some women wanted to become ply
| sicians they did not wait until all the
| women in the country had consented that
| they might study medicine. She asked
| that if persons had endeavored to secure
| the consent Of every woman in the world
| to the opening of colleges to women, how
! many women by this time would have re-
ceived their diplomas? She said: En-
! franchise women and you will find them
voting In Colorado 81 per cent of the
total vote was cast by the women" She
| added: "Womans suffrage is just and
I right 1t is eXpedient, and the interests
! of the country demand that We give scope
/ to the hopes and the aspirations of those
in whose head and heart lies the power
to think" In closing she alluded to the
beautiful incident that when the Car of
all the Russians crowned himself some lit
tie time ago (as others had not the au-
thority), then he lifted the crown from
his head and placed it lightly upon the
head of his wife for a few seconds, show
ing in the presence of thousands of his
subjects that he was willing to share
the honor duties and responsibilities with
| the czarina. Mrs. Cat made a strong
plea that American citizens wp'!d draw
the inference and would lift the crown
for a moment from their heads and place
| il. too. on the heads of their wives that
they may willingly share the duties and
responsibilities Of this great American
Republic.