zing the selling of these people. To have traveled in six years
from the auction-block to the ballot with these people is an immense
stride, and if we can carry this measure alone, of itself, we should
be contented for the present."

The vote being taken on Mr. Cowan's amendment conferring the elective
franchise upon women, the result was yeas, nine; nays, thirty-seven.
The following are the names of those who voted in the affirmative:

Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Buckalew, Cowan, Foster, Nesmith,
Patterson, Riddle, and Wade.

Mr. Dixon then moved to amend the bill by adding a proviso:

"That no person who has not heretofore voted in this
District shall be permitted to vote unless he shall be able,
at the time of offering to vote, to read and also write his
own name."

"I would deny to no man," said Mr. Dixon, "the right of voting solely
on account of his color; but I doubt the propriety of permitting any
man to vote, whatever his race or color, who has not at least that
proof of intelligence which the ability to read and write furnishes."

"What is the test?" asked Mr. Saulsbury. "A person who can read and
write. Is it his name, or only read and write?"

"His name," said one.

"Read and write his name!" continued Mr. Saulsbury. "A wonderful
amount of education to qualify a man for the discharge of the high
office and trust of voting! Great knowledge of the system of
government under which we live does this impart to the voter!"

"If this were really an intelligence qualification," said Mr. Cowan,
"I do not know what I might say; but of the fact that the ability of a
man merely to write his own name and read it, is intelligence, I am
not informed. To write a man's name is simply a mechanical operation.
It may be taught to any body, even people of the most limited
capacity, in twenty minutes; and to read it afterward certainly would
not be very difficult."

"I understand the amendment to include," said Mr. Willey, "the
qualification of reading generally, and also of writing his name; two
tests, one the reading generally, and the other the writing his own
name."

"Where is its precision?" asked Mr. Cowan; "where is it to end, and
who shall determine its limits? I will put the case of a board
belonging to the dominant party, and suppose they have the statute
amended by my honorable friend from Connecticut before them, and a
colored man comes forward and proposes to vote. They put to