bring them to their senses, he said, "Come, let us reason together." For he knew if they would exercise their common sense they would no longer be rebellious as they had been. And it is true at the present time. I think if we can succeed in inducing those who differ from us to reason—I mean to exercise that regulating power which the common mind as well as the philosophic mind possesses, if they would exercise their common sense, the battle would be fought and the victory would be won. Sometimes circumstances unexpectedly bring men to their senses in these matters. We know there has been a great deal of discussion on the subject of slavery, and we needed a Dred Scott decision to bring men to their senses. When they contemplated that in all its bearings and ultimate results, common sense said: It can never be endured; we have had enough of this going on. Let us come directly to the point. Is a negro a man? Is he a rational, accountable man or not? If a beast has rights we are bound to respect, and if a man for abusing it may be thrown into the penitentiary, is it possible that he who is made in the image of God is without rights? Does not common sense teach that we have some rights, and if our laws contradict such a decision as this it is time we have better laws, and such as common sense will approve. We want some one to rise in the cause of suffrage to cut the Gordian knot that binds the community, that binds churches, that binds good men everywhere, as well as those who are willing to be mistaken. A single word from Gen. Butler, who, whatever may have been charged against him, is not lacking in common sense, the single word "contraband," wrought a revolution in the midst of our rebellion, and to that we owe to a great extent our success in the war. We want such a gleam of light to burst upon the minds of the community, upon the great American people who are interested in the subject. The field is ours for the next four years, and we will strive to impress the doctrines of common sense upon all men and all women everywhere, until the atmosphere shall be full of it and all shall take it in by absorption.
Mrs. Longley, of Cincinnati, said—Ladies and Gentlemen: In a country where "No taxation without representation" is a watchword, and where it is held that "all just governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed," it should be unnecessary to plead for the recognition of the right of half its people to participate in making the laws by which they are taxed and governed. The justice of woman's claim to the ballot is so self-evident, and so entirely in accord with the spirit of our institutions and the fundamental principles upon which they are based, that I often feel as though it were offering an insult to American men to undertake to argue the question. But, every election day reminds us that these fundamental principles which our forefathers fought to establish are outraged. "We, the people," they said, yet nearly a century finds half the people ignored, half the people taxed without being represented, and governed without their consent. I know it is held that the expression "the people" in the Constitution does not include women, and should not be interpreted literally; but it appears to me that if we engage in this method of interpretation of constitutions and laws we shall soon get things mixed. If the expression does not include women in the sense of voters it does not include them in the sense of tax-payers, nor in the sense of criminals, nor does it even include them as being entitled to