Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-09-09
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE.
Extract from an address dehVereo pS
Hon. Henry c. Hervey at BellyieW As
sembly August q, 1901.

Ss.422,sS1

question. is the instruction which Paul
gave to the church at Corinth: Let
! your women keep silence in the churcn-
es, for it is not permitted unto them to
speak; and IL they will learn anything
! let them ask their husbands at home"
Now the Bible is not a book to be gar
bled. We cannot pick out one passage
and dehne It's meaning without knowing
whether there are other passages quail
flying its meaning. Paul before this had
said: "a woman praying or prophecy
ing with her head uncovered dishonor-
eth her head" passage does not
prohibit women from preaching.
Again, when the 100 disciples returned
from Olivet after witnessing the ascen-
sion of the Saviour, as they were COM
manded. they tarried at Jerusalem for
the descent of the Holy Ghost.
And the record is that these all con-
tinued with one accord in prayer and sup
plication, with the women, and Mary the
mother of Jesus. and with his brethren"
and suddenly there came a sound from
Heaven. as of a rushing, mighty wind,
and 1t filled all the house where they
were sitting: and there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as OF fire. and
II sat upon each of them: and they We're
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and be-
gan to speak with other tongues as the
spirit gave them utterance." This record
shows that the 100 disciples were in that
house; that the tongues of fire sat up
on each of them. male and female; that
they all received the gifts Of tongues,
male and female; that they all began TO
speak with tongues. male and female,
and the people in Jerusalem assembled
there from all nations to observe the
feast of Pentecost. were amazed, and
some of theme said these people are
d, But Peter got up to explain, and
preached that great sermon which re-
suited In the conversion of three thous-
and. Peter said: These are not drunk
en-, as We suppose seeing it is but the
third hour of the day: but this is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
and 1t shall come to pass in the last
days; saith God, 1 will pour out of my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and
your daughters shall p%rophesy, and your
young men shall see visions. and your
old men shall dream dreams; and on my
! servants and on my hand maidens / will
pour out in these days of my spirit; and
they shall proohesy.
Here we see that at the organization
of the Christian church the women pro-
phesied Just the same as the men. Pc
ter did not forbid it. And we are told
that Philip, the evangelist, had four
daughters which did phophesy. Why
Paul denied his to the church at Cor
NTH no one knows; but that the decis-
ion is not regarded as binding on the
/ ,h,rohar IF toiov. ap1 vUnrap iS raOord-
ed today as having the same right to
preach the gospel and speak in the
churches as man has. And from the
scriptures we learn that all ages and
sexes, the old and the young, male and
female, under the gospel dispensation
would be most wonderfully inspired to
proclaim the truth, and they are doing
it. There are over one thousand female
preachers in the United States at this
time.
And If woman is counted worthy to
be a worker in building I'D Christ's
kingdom, and to fill the highest office in
that kingdom, and which IL of far more
Importance han earthly kingdoms. is 1t
not strange that she should be denied
a voice In the affairs of state, or be de-
MED the right to hold the highest Of
flee In the state. If we should say no
more than we nave now already said,
the fact remains established under the
ethics Of the Bible that woman stands
Upon an equality with man, and has the
same authority. in church and state. If
this vas understood by the people we
would not hear the objections that are
now offered to woman suffrage.
1t Is said that woman has not asked
for the ballot and does not want it. We
answer that the ballot has never been
exetended in that way. 1t has always
been extended to those who did not ask
for 1t. The colored man did not ask for
1t, and yet it was given to him. The
constitutional convention of Virginia in
1929 adopted a constitution requiring a
property qualification and certain other
qualifications by which thousands OF our
citizens of that time, and previous to
that time, were deprived of the right
of suffrage. South Carolina had a pro-
perty qualification and other states, and
there is no record showing that the dis
fanchised asked for the ballot, but they
got 1t.
The statement thought that woman has
not asked for the ballot is not true. Wo-
man Ids dSheb u Tie All III otHeT
states, and she is asking for it in this
state. Clubs have been organized and
there is a state organization known as
the West Virginia Woman Suffrage As
ISOLATION, and this organization, by let
ter and by their representatives, have
asked the legislature of West Virginia to
submit an amendment to the constitu-
ton striking out the word male and CIV
ing women the right to vote. This OBJ
lection and the objection that woman
does not want the ballot is not the ques-
ton for us to consider. The question is:
Is 1t right; woman has that right, and
will exercise it when man SO Wills.
Another objection is that the ballot
would degrade woman. Those race
classes that are deprived OF the ballot are
degraded politically. Woman would be
elevated politically by giving her the bal
lot. AS to romans moral degradation,
the result in those states where woman
are voting does not prove 1t. Think you
that the women of the. state of wyoming,
where they have been voting for 80 years.
that they wear boomers, and COW boy
hats, and go stalking up and down the
street, shooting revolvers, smoking and
splitting. We could bring an affidavit
from the governor of Wyoming to show
hat the women there were lust like the