alty. "This fact seems to me," said Mrs. Miller,
"to settle the whole question."

Miss Anthony read the following letter from Hon. Benjamin F.
Butler, who, she said, had the honor of being an advocate of this
cause, in addition to being governor of Massachusetts:

WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 23, 1883.

MY DEAR MISS ANTHONY: I received your kind note asking me to
attend the National Convention of the friends of woman
suffrage at Washington, for which courtesy I am obliged. My
engagements, which have taken me out of the commonwealth,
cover all, and more than all, of my time, and I find I am to
hurry back, leaving some of them undisposed of. It will
therefore be impossible for me to attend the convention.

As I have already declared my conviction that the fourteenth
amendment fully covers the right of all persons to vote, and
as I assume that the women of the country are persons, and
very important persons to its happiness and prosperity, I
never have been able to see any reason why women do not come
within its provisions. I think such will be the decision of
the court, perhaps quite as early as you may be able to get
through congress and the legislatures of the several States
another amendment. But both lines of action may well be
followed, as they do not conflict with each other. This
course was taken in the case of the fifteenth amendment,
which was supposed to be necessary to cover the case of the
negro, although many of the friends of the colored man
looked coldly upon that amendment, because it seemed to be
an admission that the fourteenth amendment was not
sufficient. Therefore I can without inconsistency, I think,
bid you "God speed" in your agitation for the sixteenth
amendment. It will have the effect to enlighten the public
mind as to the scope of the fourteenth amendment. I am very
truly, your friend and servant,

BENJ. F. BUTLER.

Mrs. Blake presented a series of resolutions, which were laid on
the table for consideration:

WHEREAS, In larger numbers than ever before the women of the
United States are demanding the