598 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



be apportioned upon property." The act also 

 provides that there shall be no division of the 

 poll-tax unless the person assessed shall make 

 application for such division. 



Attempts were also made to modify the gen- 

 eral system of taxation, among which the ques- 

 tion of the taxation of mortgaged property was 

 conspicuous. A bill relative to this matter was 

 passed in the House, but rejected in the Sen- 

 ate. Some of the features of the bill were, 

 that loans on mortgage of real estate should be 

 exempt from taxation as personal property; 

 that the mortgagee's interest shall be assessed 

 in the city or town where the land lies ; that 

 the mortgageor shall be assessed only for the 

 value of the real estate over and above the 

 amount of the mortgage. Mortgageors and 

 mortgagees are treated as joint owners until 

 the mortgagee takes possession. All taxes as- 

 sessed constitute a lien upon the property, and 

 in case either party fails of payment within a 

 specified time, the other party may pay both 

 taxes; but it is provided that if the mortgagee 

 pays the tax assessed on the mortgageor, such 

 tax, with interest and costs, shall be added to 

 the principal of the mortgage ; also that if the 

 mortgageor pays the tax assessed on the mort- 

 gagee, he shall have the right to deduct the 

 amount so paid, with interest and costs, from 

 the principal of the mortgage. Finally, it is 

 provided that "loans on mortgage of real es- 

 tate within the Commonwealth, and assessed 

 as real estate as hereinbefore provided, shall 

 be exempt from taxation as personal property 

 to the amount they are assessed as real estate, 

 and any excess above such amount shall be 

 taxed as now provided by law." A bill was 

 also passed which reduces the maximum rate 

 of interest on unpaid taxes from twelve to 

 seven per cent. 



The place of women in political affairs was 

 extensively discussed at this session. Four dis- 

 tinct propositions were considered. The first 

 was that a constitutional amendment should 

 be submitted to the people, giving to women 

 equal political rights with men. On this propo- 

 sition the Committee of the Senate held a ses- 

 sion to hear the petitioners. Mr. T. W. Hig- 

 giuson attempted to refute the argument that 

 w.omen should not be allowed to vote because 

 they were not able to fight. He showed that 

 if that ability were to be made the test, a large 

 proportion of men, especially of professional 

 men, would be disfranchised. The report of the 

 Surgeon-General of the United States showed 

 that of the thousand clergymen who volun- 

 teered or were drafted during the war, 945 

 were declared to be physically unfit for service. 

 Of the lawyers who volunteered or were draft- 

 ed, 650 were rejected, and of the physicians, 

 745. You must go down to the mechanics and 

 laborers before you can find a class of men a 

 majority of whom will fulfill this requirement. 

 Of the clergymen who preach that woman suf- 

 frage is wrong because women can not do mili- 

 tary duty, only one twentieth would themselves 



be accepted for such service. There is but one 

 class of men better fitted than mechanics for 

 military service, and that is the prize-fighting 

 class, and therefore the constituency which sent 

 John Morrissey to Congress was the only con- 

 stituency which ever carried out this idea to 

 the end. Mrs. Margaret "W. Campbell insisted 

 that under existing laws women were oppressed 

 and classed with men who were weak-minded 

 or criminal. She said that men were allowed 

 to vote when they reached the age of twenty- 

 one, and she asked that some age might be fixed 

 when women could vote thirty-one, fifty-one, 

 one hundred and one and some of them would 

 try to reach that age. Mr. William Lloyd Gar- 

 rison expressed his sorrow that women should 

 be disfranchised and classed with paupers, idi- 

 ots, and criminals. Senator Hayes asked him 

 if there were not some difference between a 

 person who was disfranchised and one who had 

 never had the franchise. Mr. Garrison replied 

 that the difference was slight. Senator Hayes 

 then said that he could see no argument for 

 woman suffrage in the proposition that pau- 

 pers, idiots, and criminals could not vote. Mr. 

 Garrison then showed the improvement which 

 forty years had made in the condition of women 

 in this country how in that period they had 

 been admitted to the pulpit, the bar, the plat- 

 form, the practice of medicine, and the public 

 service. He declared that until women were 

 given their rights this country would be divided 

 and corrupt. Mrs. Lucy Stone closed the case 

 for the petitioners by asking that the commit- 

 tee might decide that not a part, but all of the 

 people of mature age, sound mind, and uncon- 

 victed of crime, might have the right to vote. 

 In answer to a question from a member of the 

 committee as to whether or not the granting 

 of the franchise would give too much power 

 to ministers of religion because of their great- 

 er influence over women than over men, she 

 said that undoubtedly there were more women 

 church members than men, but that as women 

 got into the pulpit the number of male church 

 members increased, just as the female member- 

 ship of churches increased under male preach- 

 ing. A resolve providing for a constitutional 

 amendment was reported by the committee, 

 and rejected. 



The second proposition considered in the 

 Legislature was that women should be al- 

 lowed by statute to vote in all municipal elec- 

 tions. A bill to secure this right to women 

 was reported in the House. When it came up 

 in the orders of the day, it was rejected with- 

 out discussion or a count. 



The third proposition was that women should 

 be allowed to vote for members of school com- 

 mittees. A bill giving this suffrage to women 

 was reported in the Senate, and on the ques- 

 tion of ordering it to a third reading Mr. Gard- 

 ner of Hampden County advocated the bill as 

 a measure of expediency, and as an experiment 

 which will demonstrate the wisdom or unwis- 

 dom of conferring the broader right of general 



