| Show LADY DELEGATE the woman suffrage convention was held in the congregational church in this city on monday tuesday and wednesday and during the rest of the week business meetings and executive committee meetings have been held and some work has been put in by the ladies before the congressional committees it is not the purpose of your correspondent to give a detailed report of the proceedings as they will appear in the homans womans triune which is ably edited by mrs colby and no doubt the utah comans womans exponent in which mrs emmeline B wells displays so much talent as a writer in poetry and prose as well as editor will dish up to its readers the most delectable morsels of the great feast enjoyed by the suffragists at the convention but as utah was present in the person of mrs emily 8 richards Bic hards who delivered a speech that ought to be produced it is here presented as delivered on wednesday afternoon to an audience that appeared to appreciate the effort mrs richards was received re with applause and much was excited when it was announced that the lady came all the way from V utah she said better to have voted and then been dis franchised than never to have voted at all this is a very prosaic paraphrase of a very poetical sentiment but it 1 is true and behind it lies a great political wrong 1 I am a native born citizen of the united states and for fifteen years enjoyed all the rights and privileges privilege of the elective franchise I 1 voted for every kind of elective officer in the territory of utah from delegate in congress to school trustee I 1 never once sold my vote nor was I 1 influenced in casting it by either fear or favor I 1 never attempted to repeat crepea t no man for whom I 1 ever col a ballot was ever charged with malfeasance fea in office or WJ with ith any other violation of his official oath yet ye today I 1 am dis franchised and on the same political plane as you my sisters and the rest of our sex I 1 in this laud land of liberty I 1 think I 1 may safely challenge any male voter of the united states to show a better use of the rights of american citizenship I 1 do make that challenge for myself Y and on behalf of the thousands of women in utah whom I 1 represent and whose political record is above reproach and on their behalf with all possible respect to the distinguished r gentlemen who sit in con gressional majesty on capitol C pitol hill I 1 protest against the wresting from us 12 gy by the right of might of that franchise which we had never abused and which was our vested right in 1870 women wa were are gi given ven the tae elective franchise in utah subsequently an act was passed by the legislature striking the word mate mahe from the law prescribing for holding office so that women might be equi equally UY eligible with men to any office in the territory er this act never became law because it was disapproved by the governor who to is ampol appointed buted without the consent of the people aud and his hig veto is ia absolute even when opposed to the unanimous vote of the he entire legislature and so the will ill of the people was defeated by this Us one man political power just as one who has loved and lost is always deemed the best authority th arity upon affairs of the heart so I 1 venture to claim a particular knowledge of the use the power of alle the franchise in womans comans hands and the experience which I 1 gained with the women of utah should not be concealed from this convention it t belongs to you it is essentially a part art of womanly history to in this great republic it is lathe te best beat practical illustration of the he problem which has yet been given and it is likely to retain that preeminence eminence pre for years to come because in all the seventeen years ears during which the women of atah utah exercised their right to vote they held the balance of of power between the two parties and no man was elected to office without their approval durin during all these years we voted without disturbance list disturbance and without injury to the manners morals or domestic comfort of the men we were able to determine whom we wished to sustain by our votes and no one had the right the power an and I 1 w will say for our husbands b brothers he and fathers the wish or d desire e to prevent intimidate or coerce us in the least degree we were citizens of the united states armed with that all potent yet peaceful political weapon the ballot and we challenge the world to show where in a single instance we wielded it wrongfully and let me say right here that we have not had to contend against the male opposition common in other places for the majority of men in utah believe that woman was designed by the creator to be mans ma Is com companion n on in n all things whether in the hurch church or in w the state in time and in eternity and to share dominion with him over au all created things while we eni joyed the franchise we took part in the primaries and nominating conventions acted as delegates and did our share of the political business two years ago congress abrogated the right 0 of afo womans comans suffrage kage au Q utah and thousands of us were to marily a H deprived of our political rense power we had committed no of fensk against the sacred franchise and had violated no law of our country but we had refused to vote for our opponents and therefore in their estimation we were not lot worthy to vote at all the same agic would have franchised disfranchised dis men as 48 well as women but their ballots were preserved it has been intimated that the women of utah were compelled to voto ote as required by the men this enot is abt true no coercion was ever ottem attempted ted and if it had been the accomplish it would have led d because under the law we bad ad a perfectly secret ballot which perfectly y I 1 end ut it beyond e y 0 nd all human power to ad out how voted any person un les ss the elector chose to tell it is also an to suppose that women voters of utah used the ballot to uphold or perpetuate any system or practice in opposition to the laws or the will or common custom of this country no such question was ever voted on at the polls in that territory votes of men and women alike were merely cast for local officers and we chose to elect such men as we believed would act honestly fairly and for the public good in the interests of temperance order morality and economy and not for private ends or personal greed that was the head of our offending the deprivation which we have sustained is not more cruel to us than to you the continuance of our political power meant that you could have pointed to our work as a proof that the general cause was worthy of success but congress in the almost infinite wisdom of legislative man decreed to dig up the new budding tree before it could bear fruit and give seed it was not within the male purpose that this little acorn acom planted nineteen yeas yeara ago should grow into the sturdy oak but while we have lost our franchise chise in utah we still retain our property t rights unmarried women properly nave have al all the legal rights of men so far as the acquisition and disposition of property are concerned whether real or personal married women have entire control of all the property the they gr held at the time of marriage an and can acquire hold and sell or otherwise dispose of real and personal property after ma marriage r without the consent of their husbands but the husband must have the consent of the wife in addition to this they have the right of dower by which they inherit one third of the husbands estate at his death the law of inheritance is the same from the wife to the husband as from the husband to t the wife ach each inherits from the other under similar conditions for many years the women of utah have been organized into re be R B e lief societies and mutual improvement associations their sympathies have always been with we the woman suffrage movement after the visit 60 to utah last summer of mrs colby and mrs saxon officers of this association who lectured on woman suffrage the international council of women and the relation of womans comans ballot to all reforms a womans comans suffrage association was organized as an auxiliary to the batio national naJ its members number about two hundred and are rapidly increasing in this movement we did not receive the aid or sanction of our vice president because she did not think woman suffrage good for utah the organization was effected by the chairman of the executive committee it is complete in every particular and the bylaws by laws declare the object of the association to be to work for the enfranchisement of women without regail to party sect or creed and to take such steps from time to time as shau shall seem to be wise and expedient for the political advancement van cement of the women of utah the ame association tation has sent two dele gates to this convention the very large majority of people in utah are in favor of woman suffrage As an evidence of this we secured signatures to the national enrollment roll ment in three weeks of them being the names of men and we have but just begun our work all trades professions and occupations ons in utah are open to women we have behave editors doctors who have graduated in the best beat colleges of the e country lawyers lawyer school teachers artists poets musicians lecturers merchants clerks cashiers photographers printers book bind ers telegraph and telephone operators silk workers weavers factory hands and artisans in every kind of work that women are able to do as well as in those domestic labors which some narrow minded people think comprise the sphere of woman we have no superfluous superfluous women in the territory and none who need remain without employment it is often impossible to hire women for domestic service women in the male estimation are not asuit as fit as men to perform jury service because it is said they would be governed by sentiment if the premises be true the arg argument u ment is still false the sentiment which would most often actuate women is pity it 1 Y with men it is too often business fu ess avarice or social cowardice women might favor the poor and friendless men certainly do show illegal leniency to the rich and powerful we are told that suffrage means turmoil of mind which women should avoid I 1 do not concede that this is necessarily so but I 1 do say that it if it were so my sentiment would be e that of the heroic roman who said better a disturbed liberty than a quiet slavery J for one in a general sense I 1 object to the cruel withholding of suffrage from women in I 1 n a land consecrated by blood to universal liberty in a special sense I 1 object to the arbitrary edict by which thousands of intelligent voters were deprived of a sacred right simply because they were women the mightiest human problem vexing the world today is the relation of the rich and the poor the profit eaters and the profit makers man alone will never solve it there are cases of wounds and illness where womans comans nursing is absolutely necessary this Is fe a desperate case of social disorder where woman must minister with all her skill and tenderness to bring the patient through the crisis the cry which we now offer up is the cry of the ages it is the protest of the few against the many the argument of thought against bigotry today the world is correcting he e active wrongs of last century arid and is making recompense to the demon of intolerance by being blind and deaf to the oppressed of today the wonder which men feel now that their ancestors could have been so intolerant will be felt a generation hence by their sons regarding these same men the federation of the world will not be accomplished while the most advanced nation on earth is buthals but half redeemed but the cause of woman comans Is enfranchisement is gaining irresistible momentum its triumph must soon come when it is victorious but not till then will might cease to be arbiter of right when a cause is irrevocably y lost it is then too late for words to discuss inevitable sorrow is only to give intensity to grief but the women of utah do not regard their own franchise as aa being forever lost we hope and expect to see this great struggle terminate speedily and triumphantly for the cause of woman and to see political liberty enjoyed without regard to sex when that sublime hour comes it will mark the beginning of the end of goya f tyranny m anny oppression and misrule tod speed the day several bursts of applause marked the most telling points in the speech and the speaker received many cordial congratulations from distinguished ladies present mrs richards has had the entree into the most select social circles and has made calls upon ladles of national celebrity who have received and conversed with her on utah affairs with respectful attention utah and her people have only to be better known to be better appreciated I 1 tae ignorance norance and prejudice melt before the light and j power ower of truth particularly ticul arly when it flows from the lips of fair and earnest women X washington D C jan 26 1889 |
