ion, it is not only the right but the
duty of every thoughtful woman to express her opinion on a
Sixteenth Amendment. While I hail the late discussions in
Congress and the various bills presented as so many signs of
progress, I am especially gratified with those of Messrs. Julian
and Pomeroy, which forbid any State to deny the right of suffrage
to any of its citizens on account of sex or color.

This fundamental principle of our government--the equality of all
the citizens of the republic--should be incorporated in the
Federal Constitution, there to remain forever. To leave this
question to the States and partial acts of Congress, is to defer
indefinitely its settlement, for what is done by this Congress
may be repealed by the next; and politics in the several States
differ so widely, that no harmonious action on any question can
ever be secured, except as a strict party measure. Hence, we
appeal to the party now in power, everywhere, to end this
protracted debate on suffrage, and declare it the inalienable
right of every citizen who is amenable to the laws of the land,
who pays taxes and the penalty of crime. We have a splendid
theory of a genuine republic, why not realize it and make our
government homogeneous, from Maine to California. The Republican
party has the power to do this, and now is its only opportunity.
Woman's Suffrage, in 1872, may be as good a card for the
Republicans as Gen. Grant was in the last election. It is said
that the Republican party made him President, not because they
thought him the most desirable man in the nation for that office,
but they were afraid the Democrats would take him if they did
not. We would suggest, there may be the same danger of Democrats
taking up Woman Suffrage if they do not. God, in his providence,
may have purified that party in the furnace of affliction. They
have had the opportunity, safe from the turmoil of political life
and the temptations of office, to study and apply the divine
principles of justice and equality to life; for minorities are
always in a position to carry principles to their logical
results, while majorities are governed only by votes. You see my
faith in Democrats is based on sound philosophy. In the next
Congress, the Democratic party will gain thirty-four new members,