nough to
show that you need not hesitate to give the ballot to the women
of New York, on the ground that it is a new thing; for, as you
see, the right has long ago been exercised by certain classes of
women in many countries. And if it were a new thing, and had
never been heard of before, that would be no argument against the
experiment. Had the world never done a new thing, Columbus would
not have discovered this country, nor the ocean telegraph brought
our old enemy--Great Britain--within friendly speaking distance.
When it was proposed to end slavery in this country, croakers and
conservatives protested because it was a new thing, and must of
necessity produce a social convulsion. When it was proposed to
give woman her rights of property in this State, the same classes
opposed that on the same ground; but the spirit of the age
carried both measures over their heads and "nobody was hurt."

You Republicans can not oppose our demand on that ground, for
your present party-cry "negro suffrage" is a new thing, and
startling too, in the ears of the Southern States, and a very
inconsistent thing, so long as the $250 qualification remains in
your Constitution. "If you would know your faults," says Cicero,
"ask your enemies." Hear his Excellency Andrew Johnson, in his
veto on the District of Columbia Bill; he says: "It hardly seems
consistent with the principles of right and justice, that
representatives of States where suffrage is either denied the
colored man or granted to him on qualifications requiring
intelligence or property, should compel the people of the
District of Columbia to try an experiment which their
constituents have thus far shown an unwillingness to try for
themselves." Senator Sumner, a leading radical, expresses the
same opinion. In the debate on the admission of Nebraska, he
says: "When we demand equal rights of the Southern States, we
must not be so inconsistent as to admit any new State with a
constitution disfranchising citizens on account of color.
Congress must be itself just, if it would recommend it to others.
Reconstruction must begin at home." Consistency is a jewel. Every
thoughtful person must see that Northern representatives are in
no condition to reconstruct the South until their own State
Constitutions are p