e on the subject, held in the parlors of the New England
Women's Club.[136]

But the petitions of the suffragists had always been for general
and unrestricted suffrage, and they opposed any scheme for securing
the ballot on a class or a restricted basis, holding that the true
ground of principle is equality of rights with man. The practical
result, so far, of voting for school committees has justified this
position; for, as shown by the recent elections, the women of the
State have not availed themselves to any extent of their new right
to vote, and, therefore, the measure has not forwarded the cause of
general suffrage. In fact, the school-committee question is not a
vital one with either male or female voters, and it is impossible
to get up any enthusiasm on the subject. As a test question upon
which to try the desire of the women of the State to become voters,
it is a palpable sham. Our Revolutionary fathers would not have
fought, bled and died for such a figment of a right as this; and
their daughters, or grand-daughters, inherit the same spirit, and
if they vote at all, want something worth voting for. The result
is, that the voting has been largely done by those women who have
long been in favor of suffrage, and who have gone to the polls on
election day from pure principle and a sense of duty.[137]

The law allowing women to vote for school committees was very
elastic and capable of many interpretations. It reminded one of the
old school exercise in transposing the famous line in Gray's Elegy,

"The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,"

which has been found to be capable of over twenty different
transpositions. The collectors and registrars in some towns and
cities took advantage of this obscurity of expression, and
interpreted the law according to their individual opinion on the
woman suffrage question. In places where these officials were in
sympathy, a broad construction was put upon the provisions of the
law, the poll-tax payers were allowed to vote upon the payment of
one dollar (under the divided tax law of 1879), and the women
voters generally were given all necessary information, and treated
courteously both by the assessors and registrars and at the polls.
In places where leading officials were opposed to women's voting,
the case was far different. Without regarding the clause in the law
which said that a woman may vote upon paying either State or county
poll-tax, such officials have threat