l nothing ever be done by statesmen until wrongs are so
intolerable that they take society by the throat? Did it show the
wisdom of British Conservatism that it waited to grant the Reform
bill of 1832 until England hung upon the edge of civil war? When
women and children were worked sixteen hours a day in English
factories, did it show practical good sense to delay a "short
time" bill until hundreds of thousands of starving workmen agreed
to starve yet more, if need be, to relieve the overwork of their
families, and until the most pitiful procession the sun ever
shone upon, that of the factory children, just as they left their
work, marched through the streets of Manchester, that burst into
sobs and tears at the sight? Yet if, in such instances, where
there was so plausible an adverse appeal founded upon vested
interests and upon the very theory of the government, it was
unwise to wait until a general public outcry imperatively
demanded the reform, how wholly needless to delay in this State a
measure which is the natural result of our most cherished
principles, and which threatens to disturb or injure nothing
whatever. The amendment proposes no compulsion like the old New
England law, which fined every voter who did not vote. If there
are citizens of the State who think it unladylike or
ungentlemanlike to take their part in the government, let them
stay at home. But do not, I pray you, give them authority to
detain wiser and better citizens from their duty.

But I shall be told, in the language of the Report of the
Committee, that the proposition is openly at war with the
distribution of functions and duties between the sexes.
Translated into English, Mr. Chairman, this means that it is
unwomanly to vote. Well, sir, I know that at the very mention of
the political rights of women, there arises in many minds a
dreadful vision of a mighty exodus of the whole female world, in
bloomers and spectacles, from the nursery and kitchen to the
polls. It seems to be thought that if women practically took part
in politics, the home would be left a howling wilderness of
cradles, and a chaos of undarned stockings and buttonless shirts.
But how is it with men? Do they desert their workshops, their
plows, and offices, to pass their time at the polls? Is it a