ed the force of law; and

_Whereas_, many citizens object to this practice as a violation
of the spirit and purpose of the constitution, as well as against
justice and public policy; and

_Whereas_, the legislature has corrected this practice in
repeated instances, its power to do so being in such instances
fully recognized and exercised; therefore

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Every woman shall be free to vote, under the
qualifications required of men, or to refrain from voting, as she
may choose; and no person shall be debarred, by reason of sex,
from voting at any election, or at any town meeting, school
meeting, or other choice of government functionaries whatsoever.

SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act,
are hereby repealed.

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

Various memorials were sent to the legislature in behalf of this
bill, and a hearing was granted to its advocates.[241] The
Assembly chamber in the beautiful new capitol was crowded as it
had never been before. A large proportion of the senators and
assemblymen were present, many of the judges from the various
courts, while the governor and lieutenant-governor occupied
prominent places, and large crowds of fashionable ladies and
leading gentlemen filled the seats and galleries. The chairman of
the committee, Hon. George L. Ferry, presided. The ladies were
graciously received by the governor, who, at their request, gave
them the pen with which he signed the bill providing "school
suffrage for women," and in return they presented him a handsome
gold-mounted pen, a gift from the City Society.

The first voting by women after the passage of the new law, was at
Syracuse, February 17, only five days after the bill received the
governor's signature, but the great body of women had not the
opportunity until October. At that time in Fayetteville, the home
of Matilda Joslyn Gage, women voted in large numbers; the three who
had been placed upon the ticket, trustee, clerk and librarian were
all elected. It was an hour of triumph for Mrs. Gage who was
heartily congratulated upon the result. It was remarked that so
quiet an election had seldom been known. At Middletown, Orange
county, Dr. Lydia Sayre Hasbrook urged the women to take advantage
of their new privilege, and