In 1874, the secretary of the treasury rendered a decision that when a woman owns a steamboat she may be named in the papers as the master of the same. This decision, despite the opposition of Solicitor Raynor, received confirmation in case of Mrs. Miller, in 1883, from Secretary Charles J. Folger.
II.—Texas.
In the adoption of the first constitution of Texas, woman had some representatives in the convention to remind the legislators of that State of her existence, and to demand that the constitution be so framed as to secure the right of suffrage alike to both sexes. On the resolution of Mr. Mundine, to extend suffrage to women, in the constitutional convention of Texas, January, 1869, Hon. L. D. Evans said:
I do not favor the adoption of this measure at the present time, because the country is not yet prepared, yet it is entitled to our respectful consideration—therefore I thank the convention for allowing me the opportunity to state the ground on which the friends of woman suffrage place their advocacy, so far as I may be able under the five-minute rule. It does not comport with the dignity of a representative body engaged in forming a constitution of government to thrust aside the claim of woman to the right of suffrage,—a claim that is advocated by some of the ablest statesmen and political philosophers of Europe and America, and is destined to a sure and speedy triumph.
Aristotle, the profoundest thinker of antiquity, in his treatise on politics, defines a citizen to be "one who enjoys a due share in the government of that country of which he is a member." If he does not enjoy this right, then he is no citizen, but a subject. Every citizen, therefore, is entitled to a voice—a vote—a due share in the government of his country. I am aware that the courts and politicians in democratic America have not so defined citizenship. The reason is that politics is not yet a positive science, and they have failed to analyze this question. Had they a clear conception of the constituent elements—the anatomy, so to speak, of the body politic, they would perceive that suffrage—a voice in the government—is an essential condition of citizenship. Aristotle, in his treatise, which is perhaps the ablest yet given to the world, pointed out that families, not individuals, are the constituent units of a State.
A family—a household—exists and is held together by natural laws, independent of the State, and an aggregation of these constitute the State. The head of the family, whoever that may be, according to its structure, is the representative in the State. All the constituent members of the family, consisting, in its most perfect form, of husband, wife, children and domestics, are subject to the authority of the head, and have no voice, no vote, no share in the government, except through their head or representative. In societies where the common law obtains, which in this respect is a transcript of the Bible, the wife, like the child, is subordinated to the authority of the husband, and on principle, has no voice, no vote. On the decease of the husband, the widow becomes the head of the family, and on principle is entitled to a voice, a vote. But in countries where the civil law governs, the wife is the partner, and not the subject of her husband, and on principle ought to have her due share in the government.
When the children in a family, whether male or female, attain the age fixed by law for the control of their own affairs, and do control them, they are free, independent, and on every principle are entitled to a due share in the government—to a vote. Every member of society who is free and independent—capable of managing his own affairs, or making his own living, and does make it, should have the same right of choice in the selection of his political agents that he has to select his legal or business agents. But all persons, no matter from what cause, who are unable to maintain themselves, and are dependent for their support upon others, are incapable of any share in the government, and should have no voice—no vote. As soon as the principle of citizenship comes to be thoroughly understood, woman suffrage must be adopted throughout the United States, in England, and in every country where representative government exists.
The Revolution of August 20, 1868, said:
We have received from Loring P. Haskins, esq., a delegate to the convention, the following excellent report and declaration made and signed by a majority of the committee to whom the subject of woman suffrage was referred. We need scarcely bespeak attentive reading:
Report of the Committee on State Affairs upon Female Suffrage, with accompanying Declaration:
July 30, 1868—Introduced and ordered to be printed.
Committee Room, Austin, Texas, July 10, 1868.
To the Hon. E. J. Davis, President of the Convention:
A majority of your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was referred the declaration introduced by the Hon. T. H. Mundine of the county of Burleson, to extend the right of suffrage to all citizens of the State over the age of twenty-one years, possessing the requisite qualifications for electors, have examined with much care said declaration and considered the object sought to be accomplished, and have arrived at the conclusion that said declaration ought to be a part of the organic law.
It was said by George Washington that the safety of republican government depends upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. This declaration is not a new theory of government for the first time proposed to be made a part of our republican institutions. The idea of extending the elective franchise to females has been discussed both in Great Britain and in the United States. Your committee are of the opinion that the true base of republican government must ever be the wisdom and virtue of the people.
In this State our system of jurisprudence is a combination of civil and Spanish law, intermixed with the common law of England; and this peculiar system, just in all its parts for the preservation of the rights of married and unmarried women, is likely to be continued. The time was when woman was regarded as the mere slave of man. It was believed, in order to perpetuate the pretended divine right of kings to rule, that the mass of the people should be kept in profound ignorance and that woman was not entitled to the benefits of learning at all. It is not remarkable that as the benign principles of Christianity have been promulgated, free government has steadily progressed and the divine rights of woman have been recognized.
The old constitution of the republic of Texas, the constitution of the State of Texas of 1845, the laws enacted for the protection of married women, the many learned decisions of the Supreme Courts of Texas and Louisiana, and other courts, clearly indicate that the march of intelligence is onward and that our advanced civilization has approximated to the period when other and more sacred rights are to be conceded. Is it just that woman, who bears her reasonable portion of the burdens of government, should be denied the right of aiding in the enactment of its laws?
The question of extending the freedom of the ballot to woman may well claim the attention of the law-maker, and in view of the importance of the subject a majority of your committee earnestly recommend the passage of the declaration.
H. C. Hunt, Chairman, T. H. Mundine, Benj. Watrous, Wm. H. Fleming, L. P. Harris. A Declaration.
Be it declared by the people of Texas in convention assembled, that the following shall be a section of the constitution of the State of Texas, known as section —— of article ——: Every person, without distinction of sex, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, or is at the time of the adoption of this constitution by the congress of the United States a citizen of the State of Texas, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an election, and the last six months within the district, county, city or town in which he or she offers to vote, shall be an elector.
Report of the Committee on State Affairs upon Female Suffrage, with accompanying Declaration:
July 30, 1868—Introduced and ordered to be printed.
Committee Room, Austin, Texas, July 10, 1868.
To the Hon. E. J. Davis, President of the Convention:
A majority of your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was referred the declaration introduced by the Hon. T. H. Mundine of the county of Burleson, to extend the right of suffrage to all citizens of the State over the age of twenty-one years, possessing the requisite qualifications for electors, have examined with much care said declaration and considered the object sought to be accomplished, and have arrived at the conclusion that said declaration ought to be a part of the organic law.
It was said by George Washington that the safety of republican government depends upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. This declaration is not a new theory of government for the first time proposed to be made a part of our republican institutions. The idea of extending the elective franchise to females has been discussed both in Great Britain and in the United States. Your committee are of the opinion that the true base of republican government must ever be the wisdom and virtue of the people.
In this State our system of jurisprudence is a combination of civil and Spanish law, intermixed with the common law of England; and this peculiar system, just in all its parts for the preservation of the rights of married and unmarried women, is likely to be continued. The time was when woman was regarded as the mere slave of man. It was believed, in order to perpetuate the pretended divine right of kings to rule, that the mass of the people should be kept in profound ignorance and that woman was not entitled to the benefits of learning at all. It is not remarkable that as the benign principles of Christianity have been promulgated, free government has steadily progressed and the divine rights of woman have been recognized.
The old constitution of the republic of Texas, the constitution of the State of Texas of 1845, the laws enacted for the protection of married women, the many learned decisions of the Supreme Courts of Texas and Louisiana, and other courts, clearly indicate that the march of intelligence is onward and that our advanced civilization has approximated to the period when other and more sacred rights are to be conceded. Is it just that woman, who bears her reasonable portion of the burdens of government, should be denied the right of aiding in the enactment of its laws?
The question of extending the freedom of the ballot to woman may well claim the attention of the law-maker, and in view of the importance of the subject a majority of your committee earnestly recommend the passage of the declaration.
H. C. Hunt, Chairman, T. H. Mundine, Benj. Watrous, Wm. H. Fleming, L. P. Harris. A Declaration.
Be it declared by the people of Texas in convention assembled, that the following shall be a section of the constitution of the State of Texas, known as section —— of article ——: Every person, without distinction of sex, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, or is at the time of the adoption of this constitution by the congress of the United States a citizen of the State of Texas, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an election, and the last six months within the district, county, city or town in which he or she offers to vote, shall be an elector.
| H. C. Hunt, Chairman, | |
| T. H. Mundine, | Benj. Watrous, |
| Wm. H. Fleming, | L. P. Harris. |
The Woman's Journal of December 4, 1875, contains a letter from Mrs. Sarah W. Hiatt, who presented a memorial to the constitutional convention. The memorial was referred to the Committee on Suffrage. In regard to the effect, she says:
Since the presentation of the memorial I have had some very interesting letters on the subject from a few of our leading men; some for, others against woman suffrage, but all treating the subject respectfully. I copy below a portion of one just received. I should like to give it entire with the writer's name, but have not his permission to do so:
As you apprehended, the question of suffrage had been definitely settled in the convention before the reception of your letter. It remains as heretofore, unrestricted manhood suffrage. That all the rabble, the very débris of society, should be allowed a voice in government, and yet intelligent, highly-cultivated women who are amenable to the laws of the State and who own and pay taxes on property, should be debarred from a voice in making the laws which are to affect their persons and property equally with that of the men, is to my mind simply an outrage on reason and justice. * * * The fear of ignoring the right of petition, and gallantry towards your sex on the part of a few, prevented the memorial from being summarily rejected. Outside of —— and —— I know of no member of the convention who openly favors woman suffrage in any form. It is true there are a number of gentlemen who, in private conversation, will admit the justice of your plea, but avoid it by saying that ladies generally neither demand nor desire the right to vote. The truth is, these men (and society is full of them) have not the moral courage to do simple justice.
Thus you see that, so far as the action of this convention is concerned, our cause is defeated. Yet I do not feel discouraged. I think there is hardly a State in the Union that has such just and excellent laws concerning the property rights of women as Texas. There is also great liberality of sentiment here concerning the avocations of women. But the right of women to the ballot seems to be almost a new idea to our people. I have never lived in a community where the women are more nearly abreast of the men in all the activities of life than here in this frontier settlement. In our State a woman's property, real or personal, is her own, to keep, to convey, or to bequeath. The unusual number of widows here, due to the incursions of the Indians during and since the war, has made the management as well as the ownership of property by women so common a thing as to attract no notice. I might give interesting instances, but that would take time, and my point is this, that the laws which have enabled, and the circumstances which have driven women to rely upon and to exert themselves, have been educational, not only to them, but also to the community. The importance of this education to the future—who can measure it? It is true that many of them can neither read nor write, but in this the men are not in advance of them. It as often happens that the woman can read while the man cannot, as the reverse. And they are almost universally resolved that their children shall not grow up in the ignorance that has been their portion. If the women could vote, our convention would not think of submitting a constitution that did not secure to the State a liberal free school system.