The undersigned, members of the Committee on Suffrage, Election and Representation, dissent from that part of the majority report of said committee, which limits the right of suffrage to male electors. We recommend that the question, "Shall woman exercise the right of suffrage," be submitted by the convention to the qualified electors of this commonwealth, and also upon the same day therewith, to those women of the commonwealth who upon the day of voting shall be of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, and have been residents of the State one year, and in the district where they offered to vote at least sixty days prior thereto; and that if the majority of all the votes cast at said election should be in the affirmative, then the word "male" as a qualification for an elector, contained in section ——, article —— on suffrage and election shall be stricken out, and women in this State shall thereafter exercise the right of suffrage, subject only to the restrictions placed upon the male voters.

John H. Campbell,
Lewis C. Cassidy,
Levi Rooke.

The amendment for full suffrage was lost by a vote of 75 to 25, with 33 absent, while the amendment making women eligible for school offices was carried by a vote of 60 to 32.[268] The debate by those in favor of the amendment was so ably and eloquently conducted that we would gladly reproduce it, had not all the salient points been so often and so exhaustively presented on the floor of congress, and by some of the members from Pennsylvania.

After the passage of the school law of 1873, it was immediately tested all over the State, rousing opposition and conflict everywhere, but the struggle resulted favorably to women, who now hold many offices to which they were once ineligible. At the first election of school directors in Philadelphia the nomination of two women was hotly contested. The Evening Telegraph of February 6, 1874, gives the following:

There is progressing in the Thirteenth ward a contest which involves so peculiar and important an issue as to merit the widest publicity. It illustrates how the rights guaranteed to women under the new constitution are to be denied them, if cunning and bold chicanery are to be tolerated, by a few ward politicians. At the Republican primary election, held January 20, Mrs. Harriet W. Paist and Mrs. George W. Woelpper were duly nominated as candidates for members of the board of school directors of the ward. Both of these ladies received their certificates, that given to Mrs. Paist reading as follows:

This is to certify that at a meeting of the judges of the different divisions of the Thirteenth ward, held in accordance with the rules of the Republican party, on the evening of January 20, 1874, Mrs. Harriet W. Paist was found to be elected as candidate upon the Republican ticket from the Thirteenth ward, for school director.

James M. Stewart,}Clerks.Charles M. Carpenter, President.
David J. Smith,}

No sooner was it ascertained that the ladies had actually become candidates on the Republican ticket than a movement was inaugurated to oust them, the old war tocsin of "Anything to beat Grant" being for this purpose amended thus: "Anything to beat the women." This antagonism to the fair candidates was based entirely upon the supposition that their names would so materially weaken the ticket as to place the election of the Republican common councilman, Henry C. Dunlap, in the greatest jeopardy. To save him, therefore, the managers of the movement must sacrifice Mesdames Woelpper and Paist. How was this to be accomplished? Each was fortified in her position by a genuine certificate of election, and had, furthermore, expressed her determination to run. What could not be done fairly must be accomplished by strategy. Mr. Ezra Lukens called upon Mrs. Paist, stating that if she did not withdraw the Republicans who were opposed to the lady candidates would unite with the "other party" and defeat the Republican ward ticket. Mrs. Paist inquired if she had not been regularly nominated, and his reply was that she had been, but that her opponents in the party would unite with the "other party" and defeat her. Mrs. Paist was firm, and Mr. Lukens retired foiled. A day or two after, the chairman of the Thirteenth ward Republican executive committee received somehow this letter:

Philadelphia, February 2, 1874.

Dear Sir: Please accept this as my declination as school director on the Thirteenth ward Republican ticket. Hoping it will please those opposed to a lady director.

Harriet W. Paist.

Respectfully yours,

A week previous to this the husband of Mrs. Woelpper was called upon by Mr. William B. Elliott, a member of this executive committee, and was informed by him that Mrs. Paist had withdrawn, and that it would be unpleasant, if not inexpedient, for Mrs. Woelpper to run alone. Mr. Woelpper expressed his belief that if such were the case his wife would withdraw. At a meeting of the executive committee a short time after, it was announced that both the ladies had withdrawn, and everything looked serene for victory, when the next day the members were individually informed that the letter of declination written above was a base forgery, and that neither of the ladies intended to withdraw from the contest. Another meeting of the executive committee was held on the 2d inst., at which Mr. Woelpper, jr., was present. He declared that the statement made to his father was false, and that he was present to say for his mother that she was still a candidate. This announcement fell like a bomb in a peaceful camp, causing great confusion. After order was restored, William B. Elliott, the collector, offered a resolution declaring it inexpedient to have any ladies on the ticket at this time. This resolution was opposed by F. Theodore Walton and a number of the members, who denied the power of the committee to change the ticket regularly chosen at the primary election. They favored the fair candidates, for whose election as school directors the constitution had made special provisions, and whose presence in the school-boards had been very favorably commented upon by all the papers of the city. Besides, the ladies were as legitimately entitled to their candidacy as Mr. Dunlap, and it would be a gross and unparalelled outrage to sacrifice them from mere prejudice, or in the belief that their presence would injure the chances of Mr. Dunlap. Then arose Collector Elliott, his face fairly glowing with honest indignation, and his voice sharp and stinging in his tirade against the newspapers. What did he care what the newspapers said? What are the newspapers but sheets sold out to the highest bidder? The newspapers, he cried, are all in the market, to be bought and sold the same as coal! That was their business, and they didn't want stability so long as there was cash to be got. Then he came down upon them in a perfect whirlwind of wrath for daring to favor the women candidates for school directors of the Thirteenth ward, and sat down as though he had accomplished a noble purpose.

The question on the resolution was pressed, and resulted in its adoption by a vote of 20 to 12.[269] A resolution was offered by David T. Smith that Mrs. Paist and Mrs. Woelpper be thrown off the ticket, and this resolution was carried by the same vote as the preceding one. The meeting then adjourned. In consequence of this action Mrs. Paist addressed to the citizens of the Thirteenth ward the following card, in which she declares that she does not intend to resign:

To the Citizens of the Thirteenth Ward.:

Unpleasant though it may be to thus appear before the public, I feel that I must, in justice to myself, expose the fraud and deception that have been practiced to defeat my election on the 17th of February next. I received the nomination and certificate of election signed by James M. Stewart, David T. Smith, clerks, and Charles M. Carpenter, president. Certainly they would not be guilty of deceiving, for are they not "all honorable men"? John B. Green, George M. Taylor and A. W. Lyman then (Ezra Lukens having been on a similar fruitless mission) called on the eve of January 30, 1874, wishing me to withdraw; stating that Mrs. Woelpper had done so (which was false), and they thought it would not be pleasant for me to serve. They also placed it on the ground of expediency, fearing that their candidate for council (Mr. Dunlap) was so weak that a woman on the ticket might jeopardize the election. I knew not before that woman held the balance of power. After sending their emissaries under the false garb of friendship to induce me to decline, without success, they were reduced to the desperate means of producing a letter, which was read by the secretary of the executive meeting, February 2, purporting to come from me, and withdrawing my name. I pronounce it publicly to be a forgery. I have not withdrawn, neither do I intend to withdraw. Would that I had the power of Brutus or a Patrick Henry, that I might put these designing, intriguing politicians in their true light! They deserve to be held up to the contumely and scorn of the community.

Harriet W. Paist.

February 3, 1874.

Despite the action of the committee, these talented ladies will be run as the regular candidates for school directors. A committee of citizens of the Republican party will prepare the tickets and see that they are properly distributed, and take all precautions against fraud at the election and against any effort that may be made to count out the fair candidates at the meeting of the ward return judges. It is of the greatest importance that all good citizens of the ward shall do all in their power to secure not only the fullest possible number of votes for the lady candidates, but a fair count when they have been received. It remains to be seen whether the Republican citizens of the ward will endorse the action of a committee which from mere prejudice can throw off regularly-elected candidates from a ticket.

James M. Stewart,}Clerks.Charles M. Carpenter, President.
David J. Smith,}

The ladies were elected, and Mrs. Paist served her term. Mrs. Woelpper died immediately after the election.

Anna McDowell, in the Sunday Republic of April 8, 1877, in a long article shows the necessity of some legal knowledge for women, enough at least to look after their own interests, and not be compelled through their ignorance to trust absolutely to the protection of others. They should be trained to understand that all pecuniary affairs should be placed on a business basis as strictly between themselves and their fathers and brothers as men require in their contracts with each other. After giving many instances in which women have been grossly defrauded by their relatives, she points to the will of the great railroad king of Pennsylvania:

Let us glance for a moment at the will of the late J. Edgar Thomson, than which no more unjust testament was ever offered for probate. This gentleman, the sole object of affection of two most worthy and self-sacrificing sisters, married late in life without making any adequate settlement upon the relatives to whom, in a great measure, he owed his success. He always promised to provide for them amply, saying, repeatedly, in effect, in letters which we have seen, "As my fortune advances so also shall yours; my prosperity will be your prosperity," etc. Oblivious to the ties of nature and affection, however, when he came to make his will he, out of a fortune of two millions, bequeathed to these sisters, during life, an annuity of $1,200 per annum only, leaving the rest of the income of his estate to his wife and her niece, the latter a young lady whom he had previously made independent by his skilful investment of a few thousand dollars left her by her father. Not content with the will which gave her also a large income for life out of Mr. Thomson's estate, this niece of his wife brought suit against the executors to recover bonds found after the death of the testator in an envelope on which her name was written, and through the ruling of Judge Thayer, a relation by marriage to the husband of the lady, the case was decided in her favor, and $100,000 was thus absolutely and permanently taken from the fund designed for the asylum which it was Mr. Thomson's long-cherished desire to found for the benefit and education of orphan girls whose fathers had been or might be killed by accident on the Pennsylvania and other railroads. The injustice of this decision is made manifest when we reflect that the Misses Anna and Adeline Thomson, who worked side by side with their brother as civil engineers in their father's office, and labored, without pay, therein, that he might be educated and sent abroad further to perfect himself in his profession, were cut off with a comparatively paltry stipend for life, this being still further reduced by the collateral-inheritance tax. As high an authority as Dr. William A. Hammond says that, "for a man to cut off his natural heirs in his will is prima facie evidence of abberation of mind," and we believe this to be true.

Had these sisters[270] been brothers they would have been recognized as partners and had their legal proportion of the accumulations of the business in which they labored in early years with equal faithfulness, side by side. This is but another instance of women's blind faith in the men of their families and of the danger in allowing business matters to adjust themselves on the basis of honor, courtesy and protection.

Among the literary women of the State are Sarah C. Hallowell, on the editorial staff of the Public Ledger; the daughters of John W. Forney, for many years in charge of the woman's department of Forney's Progress; Anne McDowell, editor of the woman's department in The Sunday Republic; Mrs. E. A. Wade; "Bessie Bramble" of Pittsburg has for many years ably edited a woman's department in the Sunday Leader; Matilda Hindman, an excellent column in the Pittsburg Commercial Gazette. In science Grace Anna Lewis stands foremost. Her paper read before the Woman's Congress in Philadelphia in 1876, attracted much attention. These ladies with others organized "The Century Club"[271] in 1876, for preëminently practical and benevolent work. Its objects are various: looking after working girls, sending children into the country for fresh air during summer, and improving the houses of the poor and needy. The Club has a large house to which is attached a cooking-school and lodgings for unfortunates in great emergencies.