FOOTNOTES:
[14] Part of Call: An International Woman Suffrage Conference will be held in connection with this annual convention, to which suffrage associations of fourteen countries have been invited to send delegates.
The principles which for a century have stood as the guarantee of political liberty to American men, "Taxation without representation is tyranny," and "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," can no longer be claimed as belonging to the United States alone for they have been adopted by all civilized nations. The steadily increasing acceptance of the belief that self-government is the highest form of government has revolutionized the popular thought of the world within the last fifty years. During that period all newly established governments have been fashioned after the model of a Republic; while in most European nations and their colonies the suffrage has been so largely extended that the mere skeleton of a monarchy remains.
Logical thinkers the world over have been led in consequence to ask: Are not women equally capable with men of self-government? What necessary qualification fits men for the exercise of this sacred right which is not likewise possessed by women? Are they less intelligent? The statistics of schools, colleges and educational bureaus answer "No." Are they less moral, peaceful and law-abiding than men? The statistics of churches, police courts and penitentiaries answer "No." Are they less public spirited and patriotic than men? The labors of millions of organized women in noble reforms, in helpful charities and wise philanthropies answer "No." ...
An International Woman Suffrage Conference for the exchange of greetings, reports and methods forms a natural milestone on the march of progress. All persons believing that the fundamental principles of self-government contained in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States apply to women as well as to men, are invited to visit the convention and to unite in welcome to our foreign guests.
| Elizabeth Cady Stanton, | } | Honorary Presidents. |
| Susan B. Anthony, | ||
| Carrie Chapman Catt, President. | ||
| Anna Howard Shaw, Vice-president-at-Large. | ||
| Kate M. Gordon, Corresponding Secretary. | ||
| Alice Stone Blackwell, Recording Secretary. | ||
| Harriet Taylor Upton, Treasurer. | ||
| Laura Clay, | } | Auditors. |
| Cora Smith Eaton, | ||
[15] [History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I, page 543].
[16] "February could be appropriately marked on the calendar as woman's month at the national capital. For many years one or more national bodies of women have met in Washington some time in February. This year an unusually large number are assembling. On February 17, the day before the National Suffrage Convention ends, the Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution will open to continue five days. The fourth triennial of the National Council of Women of the United States will begin on February 19 and extend over the 25th. The National Congress of Mothers will convene February 25 and be in session until the 28th."
[17] The following pioneer workers for woman suffrage were seated on the platform, their ages averaging more than 75 years: Mrs. Virginia Clay Clopton, Ala.; A. E. Gridley, the Hon. Simon Wolf, Mrs. S. E. Wall, Mrs. Olive Logan, Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood, Dr. A. D. Mayo, Miss Eliza Titus Ward, D. C.; Mrs. Mary B. Trimble, Ky.; Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick, La.; Mrs. Helen Coffin Beedy, Dr. Abbie M. Fulton, Mrs. Charlotte Thomas, Me.; Mrs. Harriet Jackson, Md.; Mrs. William Lloyd Garrison, Mass.; Mrs. Helen P. Jenkins, Mrs. Emily B. Ketcham, Mich.; Mrs. Phœbe Wright, N. J.; Mrs. H. E. Burger, Miss Mary Anthony, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller, N. Y.; Mrs. Harriet B. Stanton, O.; Dr. Jane V. Meyers, Mrs. G. M. S. P. Jones, Dr. Agnes Kemp, John K. Wildman, Dr. and Mrs. C. Newlin Pierce, Penn.; Mrs. Virginia D. Young, S. C.; Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, Utah; Miss Laura Moore, Vt.; Mrs. M. H. Grove, W. Va.
[18] Miss Anthony had objected strongly to Mrs. Stanton's letter to the convention of 1901 criticising the church, and she did not approve of demanding an educational requirement for the suffrage when women would have to obtain it by consent of men of all classes. Mrs. Stanton's letter, therefore, was sent for Mrs. Colby to read, who was in sympathy with its sentiment.
[19] The Charleston conference was held in the Assembly Room of the Woman's Building, welcomed by Mayor Smyth, Mrs. S. C. Simons, president of the women's department, and Mrs. Virginia D. Young in behalf of the State Press Association. Mrs. Catt responded and later Mr. Blackwell made an address. Among the speakers here and in German Artillery Hall was the Hon. R. R. Hemphill (S. C.), always a staunch advocate of woman suffrage. An afternoon reception was given by the Woman's Board. The News and Courier and other papers had long and excellent reports.
The Baltimore conference was held a few days later in the main auditorium of the Central Y. M. C. A. Hall, with the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw presiding. It was welcomed by Dr. E. O. Janney of Johns Hopkins Medical School, and the national speakers were Miss Laura Clay, president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association; Dr. Cora Smith Eaton, Judge J. G. Flenner of Idaho; the Rev. Olympia Brown, Mrs. Colby, Miss Gordon and Mr. and Miss Blackwell.
[20] A Washington paper said: "There were a good many men in the audience and they did not look much as they do in the comic papers. The suffragists' husbands in caricature are consumptive, cadaverous, insignificant mortals, trailing around in the wake of rambunctious and overwhelming wives; but most of the men who mixed themselves up with this convention looked as if they could not very easily have been dragged there if they had not wanted to come. Some of them were six feet tall and broad in proportion and none of them looked as if they had been in the habit of asking their wives for permission to think. They did not act like cats in a strange garret either but as if they were having the time of their lives. No wonder; when a man does make up his mind to come out for woman suffrage he can depend upon it he is going to be appreciated."
[21] Besides the women ministers mentioned in this chapter sessions were opened by the Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, the Rev. John Van Schaick, Jr., the Rev. Alexander Kent and the Rev. Donald C. McLeod, all of Washington.
The excellent musical program was in charge of Miss Etta Maddox of Baltimore. She was a graduated lawyer but the courts of Maryland had refused her permission to practice, as contrary to law. After the convention she was accompanied to Baltimore by Miss Laura Clay, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, an attorney of Iowa; Miss Gail Laughlin, a New York lawyer; Dr. Cora Smith Eaton and Mr. Blackwell. The Judiciary Committee of the State Senate granted a hearing conducted by Miss Maddox. By the end of March both Senate and House had passed a bill giving women the right to practice law.
[22] Miss Anthony, Mrs. Catt, Mrs. Upton and Miss Blackwell were made a committee to present the matter to President Roosevelt. Protests arose from all parts of the country and before they had time to call on him he declared himself opposed to "regulated vice." The dispatches of March 22 announced that a general order signed by Secretary Root had gone from the War Department to Manila that no more "certificates" would be issued but that soldiers as well as women would be inspected and cases of disease would be sent to the hospital.