Year: 1879

! few certain immutable truths which
! exist and must continue to exist, inde-


pendent of all prejudice and clamor ON
either side.


Whatever the oppressed condition Of
the female sex may have been in the
early ages OF the world, when brute
force was dominant and man himself


was only one remove from the wild


beasts, AGAINST which he Warred, we


can vet see in the clear light Of the


nineteenth century that her wrongs
were but the natural sequence OF bar
barism, or imperfect civilization. Chris
tiaDity hand in hand with civilization,
has removed one by one, the impedl-


mcnts which checked the deveIopemcnt
of her highest moral and mental capacl-
ties. We hear no longer sounding down


the centuries the brutal dlstlch Which
once awakened such wild mirth:


ptid cnlon,o leciuS !-p"iris I"'d p"''f"r :
reHt3fS. w
,Jpid rcnto ?-uuiisy.. QHid muliere ?-"hN.


To-day, in educational progress, Ill
the arts and sciences, in literature, iii
all philanthropic works, we see some
exceptional women moving side by side
with men. That only a few have as
yet gained this marked pre-emincnce, is
no argument against the freedom OF the
masses to attain the same honorable
distinction. What one can accomplish,
lies in the power Of all gifted will, the
same ability and progressive capacity,


The manner and measure OF Il WOman's
work and its success is like a mans


guaged by her special adoption to it.,


and if with her opportunities she does


not reach any great results, it is simply


because she is incapable Of doing it,,
though want OF capacity or some op-


posing and paramount duty, which has


grown out of the laws OF her nature.


am at a loss to conceive what larger


sphere a woman covets than the one


which lies before her. The arts and


sciences, literature in all its protcan


forms, even the learned professions


have opened their doors to her. 1t is


not the elective franchise which has


won this recognition, but her own


mental progress which, has kept pace


with progressive age. The ballot box


will not advantageousIy enlarge her


sphere. She will have q voice in the


body polite, she will he qualified as a


witness of wills, in short she will cease


to be an infant in the eyes of the law,
but may not this right Of ballot for


which she contends be the nucleus Of
serious wrongs which will materially
affect the Vell-being of society? Many
of the disadvantages, under which she
labors can be redressed outside Of the


ballot and they will be in time. Nor is


it at all clear to my mind that the cause


Of temperance for which she has already
done such noble and effective work, will


be advanced by her vote at the polls.


[ contend that though in few special
cases and grievances, the right Of the
ballot might benefit a few women, for
the majority in Louisiana the evil would
be incalculabie. | contend that the
happiness Of home and domestic life az
We understand it here, would be seriously
impaired, if not destroyed by the as
sumption of new duties, which would
oppose themselves to the older, the
more natural and God ordained order
of things.


My Louisiana sisters are opposed to
woman's suffrage" en- masse, whatever
may be the opinions of a few agitators
Or dupes to the specious arguments Of
" woman's rights" They may do as a
point dappui for the female majorities
in Massachusetts and other New England
States, where not one woman in ten can
hope to assume the duties Of wife and
mother, but to the Southern women
happy in her husbands love, llonored in
her sons reverence, the sanctity and
purity of the domestic hearth is surely
more than the possible publication of
the ballot box. Besides the question
arises will she purify it? Her domestic
peace will be Jared by the dscords of
contested election. Her important du-
ties will be neglected or take a secon-
dairy place during the excitement of
political campaign. She will seldom,
if ever be an independent voter, for
voting on the part of a wife
or mother is one of those myths which
will not bear close investigation. In
the right of suffrage upon
women you merely strengthen the vote
of each man, white or colored, in pro-
portion to the numerical strength of the
female part OF his family. There is not
one woman in ten whose political opin-
ions are not the reflex Of those of the
men of her family. You certainly will
not add to the happiness of the tenth
whose wife or daughter
happens to disagree with him, nor to
the general ell-being of Southern do
mestic life, by exposing women to the
of the polls. She will
no more purify it than She eau change
the laws of the elements, but her fexile
and sympathetic nature may on the
contrary contract prejudices and grow
bitter, and unwomanly from contact
with evil things.


believe the women Of Louisiana
would rise up en- neasse againstShis pro-
posed infringement of their most cher
islled rights. Have not all courteous
and gentle abservances from Southern