A part of the work was to collect statistics showing the amount of property on which taxes were paid by women. It was impossible to obtain these in New York City, but in three-fifths of the towns and cities outside it was found to be $348,177,107. In Brooklyn women paid one-fourth of all the taxes. The drudgery of preparing these tax lists and recounting and labeling all the petitions was done chiefly by Miss Isabel Howland.
During the convention an office and a reception room in the Capitol were granted for the use of the women. On May 24 Miss Anthony and Mrs. Greenleaf addressed the Suffrage Committee of the Constitutional Convention in the Assembly Chamber of the Capitol at Albany. A large crowd was present, including the committee and most of the delegates. Mrs. Greenleaf's remarks were brief but forcible, and Miss Anthony spoke earnestly for three-quarters of an hour, seeming to have the full sympathy of her audience.
The women of New York City were accorded a hearing on May 31, and strong arguments were made by Dr. Jacobi, Miss Margaret Livingstone Chanler, Mrs. Blake and Miss Harriette A. Keyser. On June 7 the Suffrage Committee was addressed by representative women, in five-minute speeches, from all of the Senatorial districts outside of New York City.[1] Mrs. Greenleaf presided at all these meetings.[2]
The final hearing was accorded June 28, when U. S. Senator Joseph M. Carey, who had come from Wyoming by invitation for this purpose, made a most convincing argument based on the practical experience of his own State for twenty-five years. He was followed by Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Mary T. Burt, president of the State W. C. T. U.
All of these addresses in favor of recognizing woman's right to the franchise were valueless except for the creation of public
- ↑ Mesdames Cornelia K. Hood, Cornelia H. Cary, Mariana W. Chapman, Mary E. Craigie, Cora Sebury, Martha R. Almy, A. E. P. Searing, Elinor Ecob Morse, Marcia C. Powell, Helen G. Ecob, Susie M. Bain, Carrie E. S. Twing, Clara Neymann, Selina S. Merchant, Henrietta M. Banker, Maude S. Humphrey, Mary Lewis Gannett; Dr. Sarah HL. Morris; Misses Arria S. Huntington, Emily Howland, Elizabeth Burrill Curtis.
- ↑ A hearing, on June 14, was given to the "Antis," as the press dubbed the remonstrants. Their petition against being allowed the suffrage was presented by the Hon. Elikn Root, and the speeches were made by Francis M. Scott, the Rev. Clarence A. Walworth, the Hon. Matthew Hale and J. Newton Fiero. Letters were read from the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt and Austin Abbott.
