The Portland daily press., 1899-05-22
FOR SUFFRAGE.
Hearing Before Judiciary Com.
mittee at Augusta.
A Session Like of which Was Never
Seen.
nPEcIAI TO THE PnEssJ
(Speo al to the Times.)

State House, Augusta, Me-,
February 90, 1905.
Unique In the history of legislative ses-
sions was the hearing given this nfter-
noon by the committee on judiciary to
the petitioners for the amendment to the
constitution to grant 10 women the right
OF suffrage. 1t brought to Augusta the
chosen representatives Of that large body
of women who have been agitating for
years this constitutional amendment and
likewise brought out large delegation
of the women who demonstrate against
this petition being granted. When the
committee assembled In its chamber pre-
vious to the hour set apart for this hear
ing its members became so deeply inter-
ested In the discussion of the chances OF
Hon. Thomas b. Reed OF New York OBJ
tanning the Presiden tial nomination that
the hour named for the hearing came un-
noticed and 1t was some time before the
committee settled down to business and
threw open its doors for the admission OF
those who were interested IN this mat
ter. Every seat in the committee room
was occupied and standing room was at a
premium when the chairman called the
assem- 5lage to order and introduced Mrs.
E. 3. Osgood of Portland as the attorn.
ey for the petitioners. Heaped high on
the table around which the committee
were seated were the yards of petitions
with which the legislature has been in
undated durln the years in which this
question has been before the public but
as is tbs fate of most petitions the pom
derous documents were scarcely noticed
and were uncerem oniously thrown into a
waste basket before the hearing COM
menced.
Mrs. Osgood in introducing the argu-
ments Of the petitioners made very elo-
quent appeal for the careful consideration
of the prayer of the petitioners. She
said that for many years the women of
Maine had been appearing before this
committee and asking for equal rights
with men. "When these white locks
of mine were brown" said Mrs. Osgood,
1.-THE taste of legislative taffy was very
sweet to me. then hoped that women's
suffrage would be granted by the time
my daughter reached the age of twenty
one but that hope was doomed to disap-
poin.ment. Again come to you and ask
that this question of a constitutional
amendment be submitted to the people
at the next election. Many western states
have granted to women the right to vote
and it seems Ill fitting that the state with |
Dir1go for its motto should be SO tardy in |
acting upon this matter.
Mrs. Osgood then called upon Mrs. |
Burgess whom she said resided in Old
Orchard to speak upon this question.
Mrs. Burgess said in part that she could
but bring the oft repeated arguments in
favor of woman suffrage. Much of the
opposition to the granting of these rights
to women had come from men who were
unable to rise above the petty arguments
of prejudice. What would it mean to man
to BIZ deprived of the highest duty of
citizen? Put yourselves then in our
place for we too are citizens and think
what 1T means to the women, to be de.
prived the right to vote Mrs. Burgess
claimed that woman should not be
taxed without representation. She con-
tended that woman whose intellect Is
alive, whose Judgment issas good us many
of the mems who occupy pubic office,
whose will is as strong as the ordinary
voters would bring an influence for
good to the ballot box which would be of
lasting benefit to the state and nation.
v Without the ballot a woman can scarcely
feel herself to have an individuality.
Let U.S." she concluded, "feel ourselves
to ne an integral part OF the state In
which we live
At the conclusion Of her brief remarks
Mrs. Burgess WAS literally applauded.
= Mrs. Marcia Bradbury Jordan said that
she hau come to believe within the year
1899 that woman's suffrage was necessary
IN order to bring about better conditions
among the poor. She said that women
we're little too much inclined to look (
Onward to what they might be but she
advocated considering the question from
he standpoint of today's conditions.