be able to vote you must be able to
be a soldier. The purpose of the ballot-box is not to be
bolstered by bullets. It is intended that public sentiment shall
make law; and I think women can make public sentiment faster than
men. I would back a New England sewing society against any town
meeting. If women can not make war, they can at least do
something to stop war. There is nothing in the world so absurd as
regarding womanhood as some delicate flower that should be shut
up in some glass jar for fear it may be injured by contact with
the air. The ballot opens the door for every true and needed
reform for women, because the ballot is the great educating
power. A true, right-feeling woman does not want to be dependent,
and the ballot will educate them to independence, because it
brings duties and responsibilities to them.

Resolutions[190] were presented by H. B. Blackwell, chairman of
the Committee on Resolutions.

Mrs. LUCY STONE then addressed the Convention as follows: The
ideas which underlie the question of woman suffrage have reached
the last stage of discussion before their final acceptance. They
have grown up first through the period of indifference, then that
of scorn, and then that of moral agitation; and now they are
ushered into politics. In nearly every Northern and Western
State, such discussions have been had, and action has been taken
upon the subject in some form. Even in South Carolina it has
voted itself, with the Governor of the State for its ally. Under
the XIV. and XV. Amendments, several women in Washington
attempted to vote, but were refused. They are now trying the
question in the United States Courts. In Congress 55 votes were
cast in our favor at the last session. Politicians know perfectly
well that our success is a foregone conclusion. No coming event
ever cast its shadow before it more clearly than does this--that
women will vote. It is only a question of time, say all. It is
important for us, then, to-day, to suggest such measures as shall
win us sympathy, co-operation, and success; and for the first
time give to the world an example of true republicanism--a
government of the people, by the people, and for the people--man
and woman.

If neither of the existing parties takes up our cause, then the
best