Mr. Christie, from the Committee on Judiciary, to whom the petition
of Lucy Stone and Antoinette B. Blackwell was referred, made the following report:
The Committee on Judiciary, to whom the petition of Lucy Stone and
Antoinette B. Blackwell was referred, do respectfully report:
The gallant urging of the House as well as their own reverence for
woman, have induced the Committee to give the matter their earliest and most respectful
consideration.
The fair petitioners pray for such amendment of our State
Constitution as will give to women the right to vote, and for such amendment of our
statutes as will give to a married woman the full right of disposal of her property by
will, and to a widow the same rights in the property of her deceased husband that a man
now has in the property of his deceased wife.
In this day of agitation and experiment, it is natural, nay,
inevitable, that all parties and classes should seek to know and strive to attain their
just rights and relations in society and government. And it is neither right nor wise
summarily to condemn such a spirit simply because the particular privilege claimed may
seem at first absurd or wrong. But when woman is the party who agitates the question of
her rights, it becomes a matter of peculiar delicacy and difficulty. It hath been said.
"When women sue Men give like Gods."
And the Committee feel almost bound to apologize while they proceed,
in obedience to duty, to consider the propriety of the present petition.
The demand for suffrage is undoubtedly the chief concern of [the]
petitioners, and to this the Committee will confine the report.
Should women vote? Viewing this question in one light would seem to
be conclusively settled by this consideration. When legislation is claimed for any class
of citizens, it is always natural and fair to ask if the majority of that class favor the
claim. Now, the majority of the women of the State do not desire suffrage. If they did, it
would be easy for them unmistakably to manifest it. But the petitioners are only two,
while the women of the State are many thousands. And the Committee confidently assert that
the silence of the women who do not petition, is an indication, not so much of their
indifference as of their aversion to the claim made in their behalf. In other words, a
great majority of the women of the State would disclaim any desire to vote.
Viewing this question in another light, it does not seem any
question at all. If the women of the State either unanimously or by a majority, or even in
considerable numbers desire this right they will have it. There is an old couplet that
reads of woman,
"When she will she will, you may depend on't, When she won't
she won't, and there's an end on't."
And there is at least as much truth in it as this, even in politics,
that if these women in such numbers were to press their claim for suffrage with
earnestness, the ordinary considerations that control parties and legislatures would make
their claim successful. Besides, the women of the State are in an actual majority over the
men of several thousand, so that if there be of right no political distinction between
them, the simple determination of the women to assume the right of suffrage, should of
itself be effectual. Why not? But, granting what the petitioners seem to intimate, that
there is an actual desire for suffrage by the women of the State, who are yet willing to
abide by the determination of this Legislature, would it be wise for the Legislature to
gratify that desire? Would it elevate suffrage? Men and women differ in many important
respects, but under the same circumstances they are morally equal. If women were invested
with suffrage, though at first they might purify the ballot box, ultimately, when they
came to feel the full force of all the influences that bear upon [them], they would
manifest the same tendencies. Thus it would result in a simple increase of numbers in
those who exercise suffrage. It is of course a duty to protect suffrage in every way
from the
danger of degradation, but would mere numbers serve more to lessen or enhance this peril.
Would the extension of suffrage improve the condition of woman? It may be said that it
would enable her to enforce all her demands, and thus ultimately gain for her full
equality of rights with man. And evidently the right of suffrage is not sought for itself,
but for these general ends. But the same rights imply the same duties, responsibilities
and capacity. In other words, women would be entitled to no relief from the burdens now
exclusively borne by man, on the plea of any inferiority or peculiarity of organization or
character, while man would be relieved from all duties to her founded upon such
distinction. When it is remembered what many of those duties are, and the unquestionable
unfitness of woman to discharge them, and then that she already enjoys, with rare
exceptions, if any, all the rights essential to her happiness or consistent with the
marriage relation, it would seem that the burdens that would be imposed on her would more
than counterbalance the benefit gained. But would it consist with the same true share and
true mission of woman? Not if any regard be had to the teachings of the Bible, either as
to the original purpose of her creation, or as to the proper duties and character of a
model woman. There it is taught that woman was made to be a help-meet for man, that she is
properly subject to her husband, that her duty is to learn in silence (not to teach or
usurp authority over man), to love her husband and children; that her true ornaments are a
meek and quiet spirit, diligence, modesty, sobriety and virtue, and that her true sphere
is home. So the highest uninspired authorities accord with these sentiments. The great
poets of our own tongue have sung the praises of woman in the highest strains, and with
the intuition of genius have caught and fixed the true elements of her power and worth,
her grace and gentleness, her love and dignity--elements that have their origin and gain
their strength only in the domestic sphere, and are the peculiar property of woman. In her
true sphere of home, and in her highest charm, woman hath been thus most happily
portrayed:
"Here woman reigns; the mother, daughter, wife,
Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life;
In the clear heaven of her delightful eye
An angel guard of love and graces lie;
Around her knees domestic duties meet,
And fireside pleasures gamble at her feet."
Surely, woman never fulfills her true mission or
fills her true sphere if not when, as wife and mother, by her wise provision and rule she
brings happiness and honor to her husband and household, and shapes the character of her
children to the highest ends of life. Of such an one the wisest of men said: "Many
daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest [sic] them all." And another has
said: "In her a thousand claims to reverence close." But woman, mingling in the
angry strife of politics, and dragging her shining skirts in its polluting more, is not
consistent with such a conception as this. In view of all these considerations, the
Committee do report adversely to the prayer of the petitioners for suffrage. And if it be
proper for them to make any suggestion for the benefit of the petitioners and those who
sympathize with them, they would say, with all respect, with the stern old King of the
ambitious Princess--
"A lusty brace of twins may weed her of her folly. By
the
bearing and the training of a child Is woman's wisdom."
All of which is respectfully submitted.
C. CHRISTIE, Chairman
CHAS. E. HENDRICKSON
GEORGE GAGE
Mr. Whelan moved that five hundred copies of the report be ordered
printed for the use of the House of Assembly.