at work of government. The reason why people
think politics is a low and vulgar pursuit is that woman has
never been in politics. Where man goes alone he is easily
corrupted. Soldiers in the army are degraded, despite the
patriotic nobleness of their motive, by the absence of woman,
and men are degraded at the polls, as well as everywhere else,
through not having women by their side.

I believe in this movement, not only because it is in the
direction of all modern civilization, but because it is in
accordance with the idea of American government, and the policy
of American institutions. A State is saved by being faithful to
its own idea, or lost by faithlessness to that idea. Now the
American idea is faith in the people. We know perfectly well
there are evils connected with republicanism, as there are with
everything; but we have chosen the good of a republic with this
great, broad basis of universal suffrage. People say, "Well, but
there is no natural right to vote." We knew that very well
before, because there is no voting in a state of nature. Voting
is a social contrivance. Because it is not a natural right, is it
any less unjust to deprive a large part of the people of it?
There are no roads in a state of nature. For that reason, shall
we say to a woman, "You shall not walk in the road?" Wherever the
male and female qualities go together, we are better for it, and
therefore it is our business to put them together in the
government. Put away all the absurd restrictions on woman, and
let her do what God intended her to do. Let us trust nature and
God, and give to woman the opportunity to do whatever she is able
to accomplish.

I have another reason for woman suffrage, and that is, that
nothing can be said against it. Our good friend, Dr. Bushnell,
has written a book in which he says that if woman is allowed to
vote she must be allowed to govern; and, being a subject nature,
she can not govern. In other words, as she is a subject nature,
let her stay at home and govern her household all the time!
People say she ought to influence gently and quietly, and not to
govern by force. Now if there is anything which means influence
and not force, except indirectly and secondarily, it is the
ballot-box! We had an administration two years ago w