upon the National Legislature. I believe that one object of this
Convention to-day should be to concentrate its voice in an
emphatic resolution, asking that Mr. Julian's amendment be not
allowed to slumber into the hot weather of July, and then be
passed over entirely. I think we should make the voice of this
Association felt as a power for immediate effective work in the
direction I have indicated; and, if we speak earnestly, we shall
be felt and heard. Let us concentrate first upon the XVI.
Amendment and the proposition to enfranchise the women of the
District of Columbia. I hold that that District should be the
first battle-ground for the women of America to a national
precedent, as it was in the prior struggle for the abolition of
slavery. The District is immediately under the supervision of
your Representatives and mine, and members of Congress are to be
held personally responsible for the government which prevails
there. Let us then demand of Congress--demand, I say, because
that is the language of earnest reform--that it give us
forthwith, before the adjournment of the present session, a law
of equal suffrage for the women of the District of Columbia. In
the light of the recent action of the British Parliament, is this
asking too much? Should not we Americans be up to the level of a
test vote on this question--which has never yet been reached
either in the Senate or House of Representatives?

The President introduced GRACE GREENWOOD, who said: "I rise to a
personal explanation," as we say in Washington. When Colonel
Higginson yesterday overwhelmed me with his compliment, by the
proposition that I should belong to the Congress of the United
States, I wanted to say--had I not been so overwhelmed--in order
to set myself "right before the country," that there had been no
previous understanding between Colonel Higginson and myself; and
that as I didn't want to encourage any false hopes, and in fact
didn't want to go, I should decline the nomination. I prefer the
position he referred to--absolutely prefer my place in the
reporters' gallery. I know that a white reporter is as good as a
colored Senator, if he or she behaves himself or herself. I like
to look down upon that scene of legislation and feel that I am
out of it; though sometim