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COMJKKSS, r.\ITKI) STATIX 



135 



In- aiinninf of Intelligence and virtno should lie told by one of the men, 'We r.-j.rv- 



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any individual iJOBsesses, wo ooiiio as near 

 :ii to it by imperfect conditions. It 



irly will not be n.ntendcd that tin- I'.-ni- 

 inlne part of mankind aiv so much below the 



.line in iMiint of inteUiircncc as to dis- 

 qualify tln'in from exerciMii;: the ritrht. of suf- 

 .coiint. If il I ami 



led that tin- feminine intellect is less vig- 

 orous, it must al-o ho allowed that it is more 



: if it is not so strong to strike, it ia 

 quicker to perceive. But at all events it will 

 in >t he contended that there is such a differ- 



m the intellectual capacity of the sexes 

 as that that alone should boa disqualification 

 from the exercise of the right of suffrage. Still 

 '.ill it bo contended that the female part 

 of creation is less virtuous than the masculine. 

 On the contrary, it will be conceded by every 

 one that morality and good order, religion, 

 charity, and all good works appertain rather 

 more to the feminine than to the masculine 



" The argument that women do not want to 

 vote is no argument at all, because if the right 

 to vote is conferred upon them they can exer- 

 cise it or not as they choose. It is not a com- 

 pnlsory exercise of power on their part. 



" Nor is it a fair statement of the case to say 

 that the man represents the woman in the ex- 

 ercise of suffrage, because it is an assumption on 

 the part of the man ; it is an involuntary repre- 

 sentation so far as the woman is concerned. 

 Representation implies a certain delegated pow- 

 er and a certain responsibility on the part of the 

 representative toward the party represented. A 

 representation to which the represented party 

 does not assent is no representation at all, but 

 is adding insult to injury. When the American 

 colonies complained that they ought not to be 

 taxed unless they were represented in the Brit- 

 ish Parliament, it would have been rather a 

 singular answer to tell them that they were 

 represented by Lord North, or even by the Earl 

 of Chatham. The gentlemen on the other side 

 of the Chamber who say that the States lately 

 in rebellion are entitled to immediate repre- 

 sentation in this Chamber would hardly be sat- 

 isfied if we should tell them that my friend from 

 Massachusetts represented South Carolina and 

 my friend from Michigan represented Alabama. 

 They would hardly be satisfied, I think, with 

 that kind of representation. 



" Nor have we any more right to assume that 

 the women are satisfied with the representa- 

 tion of the men. Where has been the assem- 

 bly at which this right of representation was 

 conferred? Where was the compact made? 

 What were the conditions? It is wholly an 

 assumption. A woman is a member of a man- 

 ufacturing corporation; she is a stockholder 

 in a bank ; she is a shareholder in a railroad 

 company; she attends all those meetings in 

 person or by proxy, and she votes, and her 

 vote is received. Suppose a woman offering 

 to vote at a meeting of a railroad corporation 



you, \ou cannot vote,' it would be pre- 

 cNely the argument, that is now used ; that rm-n 

 represent the women in the exercise of tin- 

 elective franchise. A woman pays a lar^e 

 tax, and the man who drives her coach, tin- 

 man who waits upon her table, goes to the 

 polls and decides how much of her property shall 

 go to support the public expenses, and what 

 shall bo done with it. She has no voice in the 

 matter whatever ; she is taxed without repre- 

 sentation. 



" The exercise of political power by women 

 is by no means an experiment. There is hardly 

 a country in Europe I do not thirk there is 

 any one that has not at some time of its his- 

 tory been governed by a woman, and many of 

 them very well governed, too. There have 

 been at least three empresses of Russia since 

 Peter the Great, and two of them were very 

 wise rulers. Elizabeth raised England to the 

 very height of greatness, and the reign of 

 Anne was illustrious in arms and not less illus- 

 trious in letters. A female sovereign supplied 

 to Columbus the means of discovering this 

 country. He wandered footsore and weary 

 from court to court, from convent to convent, 

 from one potentate to another, but no man on 

 a throne listened to him until a female sover- 

 eign pledged her jewels to fit out the expedi- 

 tion which 'gave a new world to the kingdoms 

 of Castile and Leon.' Nor need we cite Anne 

 of Austria, who governed France for ten years, 

 nor Maria Theresa, whose reign was so great and 

 glorious. We have two modern instances. A 

 woman is now on the throne of Spain, and a 

 woman sits upon the throne of the mightiest 

 empire in the world. A woman is the high 

 admiral of the most powerful fleet that rests 

 upon the seas. Princes and nobles bow to her, 

 not in the mere homage of gallantry, but as 

 the representative of a sovereignty which has 

 descended to her from a long line of sovereigns, 

 some of the most illustrious of them of her 

 own sex. And shall we say that a woman may 

 properly command an army, and yet cannot 

 vote for a common-councilman in the city of 

 Washington ? " 



Mr. ^illiams. of Oregon, said : " Negroes 

 are a distinct class of people; they are dis- 

 tinguished from others by their color, and that 

 color is generally regarded as a badge of infe- 

 riority, and that idea of inferiority subjects 

 them to injustice. Suppose, sir, they are al- 

 lowed to vote, who will be harmed? Suppose 

 a white man goes to the polls and is followed 

 there by a negro, what injury or harm results 

 from that brief and conventional association ? 

 Sir, that same white man can go to the polls 

 and be followed by a traitor, a thief, or a drunk- 

 ard, without any supposed degradation ; but if 

 he is followed by a man whose complexion is 

 black, though he may be as honest and upright 

 a being as God ever made, then some imagi- 

 nary disgrace is made to be the consequence. 

 . u I am satisfied, Mr. President, that much of 



