oppose it. Every great moral movement must stand by itself. Napoleon said that the next worse thing to a bad general was two good generals. I do not oppose it as an intemperate man, nor as a war man, for I served too long in the army not to wish for peace. I simply want my wife to vote, and how she votes can be dictated by her conscience. I don't believe in hitching the woman question to anything. Emerson said if you want to succeed you must hitch your wagon to a star, but two stars will only cause confusion.
Mr. Edward M. Davis opposed the temperance, etc., resolutions. We had better not, he said, pass anything but suffrage on this platform.
Mrs. Gough said the resolution did not indorse the peace and temperance movements. It simply opens up a channel of education. Woman needs the growth and development coming from the exercise of higher powers than she now possesses. The resolutions were then unanimously adopted.
At the afternoon session the officers for the next year were elected. The presidency was accorded to Mrs. Lucy Stone. The speakers at this meeting were Dr. Stone, of Michigan; Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, of New York; John Cameron, of Delaware; John Ritchie, of Kansas; Mrs. Margaret V. Longley, Mrs. M. W. Coggins, Miss Matilda Hindman, Mrs. Cutler, Miss Mary Grew, Mrs. Lucas, sister of John Bright, and others.
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, at the evening session offered resolutions of thanks for the hospitality extended to the members of the Association by the citizens of Philadelphia, and also for the able and impartial manner in which the proceedings of the Association had been reported by the press of the city. In a brief address, Mrs. Howe then summed up the proceedings of the Association, saying that she had never attended a convention where such entire harmony had prevailed, and where such an amount of good work had been accomplished. Every one, she was sure, would go away happy and contented.
The President, Mrs. Cutler, then made the valedictory address, complimenting the audience for the attention they had shown and the interest they had manifested in the proceedings. She alluded to the fight for freedom in the days gone by—a fight in which nearly all present had taken a part, and prophesied that as they had won that fight they would win the fight in which they were now engaged. In conclusion she said that in the name of justice, in the name of humanity, in the name of love, she demanded that the rights which woman desired should be accorded to her. The Convention then adjourned.
The following extract is from an editorial in the Woman's Journal:
The Convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association in Washington [1871] was in every sense a success.
It made a calm, deliberate statement of the reasons that make the exercise of suffrage woman's right and duty. It made a strong and earnest appeal to the intellect and conscience of the country in behalf of equal rights for all. The speakers were selected beforehand, and came prepared to do justice to their subject. Accordingly the proceedings were orderly, harmonious, and effective, and the influence exerted was serious and impressive. The resolution adopted at the annual meeting in Philadelphia, a fortnight before, affirming that woman suffrage, which means equality in the home, means also greater purity, constancy, and permanence in marriage, was reaffirmed.
Hon. Geo. F. Hoar made an admirable argument in behalf of suffrage at the closing