218 



DELAWARE. 



prominent in the movement in favor of wo- 

 man's rights. The objects and sentiments of 

 the convention were expressed in the follow- 

 ing resolutions, which were adopted : 



Believing that " governments derive their just 

 powers from the consent of the governed," that 

 ''all political power inheres in the people," men 

 and women, and that " taxation without representa- 

 tion is tyranny : " therefore 



1. Resolved, That we demand suffrage for the wo- 

 men of Delaware on equal terms with men, as their 

 natural right because women are human beings, 

 capable of rational choice, and tax-paying citizens of 

 a free country entitled to a voice in making the laws 

 they are required to obey. 



2. Resolved, That the women of Delaware need suf- 

 frage in order to reform the unjust laws which now 

 oppress them as wives, mothers, and widows, in 

 order to obtain equal educational and industrial ad- 

 vantages. 



3. Resolved, That society needs the votes of wo- 

 men, because, as a class, women possess peculiar 

 mental and moral characteristics which should be 

 represented in the Government, and because their 

 votes will promote peace, purity, temperance, econ- 

 omy, and public order. 



4. Resolved, That we will petition the Legislature 

 to give to the wives of Delaware the right to their own 

 earnings ; to the management, use, and enjoyment, of 

 their own property ; the right to make a will ; an 

 equal share with their husbands in the legal guardi- 

 anship and control of their children, and, as a secu- 

 rity of all rights, the right of suifrage for women. 



Believing the foregoing statements to be self-evi- 

 dent, founded in justice, truth, and the revelation of 

 the Divine will, concerning human rights and privi- 

 leges, 



Resolved, That we proceed to form a Delaware 

 State Woman's Suffrage Association, auxiliary to the 

 American Woman's Suffrage Association, under the 

 following rules and regulations : 



1. Believing in the natural equality of the two 

 sexes, and that women ought to enjoy the same legal 

 rights and privileges as men ; that as long as women 

 are denied the elective franchise they suffer a great 

 wrong, and society a deep and incalculable injury ; 

 the undersigned agree to unite in an Association to 

 be called " The Delaware Woman's Suffrage As- 

 sociation." 



2. The object of this Association shall be to pro- 

 cure the right of suffrage for women, and to effect 

 such changes in the law as shall place women in all 

 respects on an equal legal footing with men. 



8. The officers of the Society shall be a President, 

 Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, a Corresponding and 

 a Kecording Secretary, and an Executive Committee 

 of not exceeding fifteen persons, besides the Presi- 

 dent, Secretaries, and Treasurer, who shall be mem- 

 bers ex ojficio. All the officers shall be chosen at the 

 annual meeting, to continue in office for one year, 

 or until others are chosen in their places. 



4. Any person may he a member of the Association, 

 by the payment of an annual contribution to its funds 

 or a life member by the payment of twenty dollars. 



5. The President and other officers shall perform 

 the customary duties of their respective offices. 



6. The Executive Committee shall audit the ac- 

 counts of the Treasurer, and manage the business of 

 the Association ; they may elect honorary members, 

 call meetings of the Society, prepare petitions to the 

 Legislature, issue publications, and employ lecturers 

 and agents, and take any measures they think fit to 

 forward the objects of the Association, and may fill 



l va m ancies that- occur prior to the annual meetino- 



7. The annual meeting of the Association shall b~e 

 held at such time and place as the Executive Com- 

 mittee may appoint. 



The public schools of Delaware are not in 



DENMARK. 



a satisfactory condition, and the efforts which 

 have been made to secure a public-school 

 system adequate to, the wants of the State 

 have not been successful. At a general con- 

 vention of those interested in the cause of edu- 

 cation, held at Dover, in December, 1867, a 

 committee was appointed to prepare a report 

 upon the needed reforms in the school system. 

 This committee reported in the autumn of 

 1868, and, among the changes suggested, the 

 appointment of a State Superintendent was 

 urged, as well as that of a superintendent for 

 each county. The committee further recom- 

 mended a change in the mode of levying school- 

 taxes, which at present depends upon the vote 

 of each school at each spring meeting. The 

 committee were of opinion that this tax should 

 be levied by commissioners in each hundred 

 or town. 



It is to be hoped that these and other re- 

 forms will be made at an early day, that the 

 rising generation of Delaware may enjoy the 

 advantages of good common schools. 



Notwithstanding the influence of public 

 opinion against the pillory and whipping-post, 

 this mode of punishment still exists as one of 

 the institutions of Delaware. A public exhibi- 

 tion of this kind was witnessed at Newcastle, 

 in November of this year, when five colored 

 persons were punished by the lash and the 

 pillory, in presence of a large number of spec- 

 tators. This institution is condemned by an 

 enlightened public opinion, and it is to be 

 hoped that the day is not far distant when 

 it will be abolished in the only State where it 

 now exists. 



There has been a great improvement in the 

 railroad facilities of Delaware during the year, 

 and other important improvements are in con- 

 templation. The Maryland and Delaware Rail- 

 road has been completed to the thriving town 

 of Easton, in Talbot County ; the Dorchester 

 and Delaware Railroad has been extended from 

 Seaford to Cambridge, in Dorchester County ; 

 and a branch road has been constructed from 

 Townsend Station, on the Delaware River, to 

 Massey's Cross-roads, in Maryland. The Junc- 

 tion and Breakwater Railroad has been com- 

 pleted to Lewes, its terminus. 



But the most important event in the ex- 

 tension of railroads for the year has been the 

 completion of the Wilmington and Reading 

 Railroad to Coatesville, a point on the Penn- 

 sylvania Central Road, and about thirty miles 

 from Wilmington. The construction of this 

 railroad is to be pushed rapidly forward to its 

 terminus. 



DENMARK, a- kingdom in Europe. King, 

 Christian IX., born on April 8, 1808 ; succeeded 

 King Frederick VII. on November 15, 1863. 

 Heir, Prince Frederick, born June 3, 1843 ; 

 married to Princess Louisa of Sweden, on 

 July 28, 1869. Area of Denmark Proper, 

 14,698 English square miles; of the depen- 

 dencies, Faroe, Iceland, Danish settlements in 

 Greenland, the islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, 



