Volume III Part 102 (1/2)

JUSTICE.

Mr. Pickler, who had taken an active part in the discussion on the amendment, received many letters of thanks from the friends of woman suffrage throughout the nation, and made his acknowledgments in the following cordial letter to Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage:

FAULKTON, D. T., April 20, 1885.

_Matilda Joslyn Gage, Syracuse, N. Y._:

DEAR MADAM: Your kind letter addressed to me on the Woman Suffrage bill, at Bismarck, would have been earlier acknowledged had it not been that I suffered quite a severe illness upon my return from the legislature. I beg to a.s.sure you that words of encouragement from such able and distinguished personages as yourself have been highly appreciated in my effort to secure suffrage for women in Dakota. I am half inclined to think that your indication as to a coming political party, with woman suffrage as one plank in its platform, may not be without foundation.

I introduced the bill in the Dakota legislature, having previously supported a like measure in the Iowa legislature, really without consultation with any one, or without knowledge as to the sentiment of the members upon the question. I have had my convictions since my college days that simple justice demands that woman should have the ballot, and in this opinion I am warmly seconded by my wife, who desires to vote, as I think all sensible women should. I was pleased with the favor the bill received, and after a week or two believed it possible to have it pa.s.s the House, with constant exertion and watchfulness. Those who at first laughed at the idea, learning I was very much in earnest, stopped to consider and to discuss, and finally came to vote for it.

It pa.s.sed the House, and after considerable difficulty in getting it out of the hands of an adverse committee in the Council, who insisted on having it referred to them, it pa.s.sed with an amendment ”to submit to a vote of the people.” I managed to have the House refuse to concur in this amendment, which resulted in a conference committee, five out of six of whom reported in favor of the Council receding from their amendment, which they did, and yet, after all, and when we thought it safe, it was vetoed. Few, if any, supposed that Governor Pierce, a governor only appointed over us less than six months, would place himself a barrier in the way of the will of the people, and opposed to the advancement of human rights. I deeply regret that he did not rise to the grandest opportunity of his life, but he failed to do so.

Your words were particularly encouraging, being personally interested in Dakota as you are, and I dare say you will bear witness that we have an intelligent people, and a great many good women, land-owners and property-holders, who should have a voice in the taxation of their property, real and personal. We shall not give it up; we shall continue in the work, not doubting that success will finally crown our efforts. Our const.i.tution is not yet formed, and if ever the political parties cease to exercise their tyranny over us, by allowing us to be admitted as a State, we shall endeavor at least to secure it so the legislature may grant or prescribe the qualifications of voters without requiring a change in the const.i.tution.

Will you visit Dakota again? In another contest we would be much aided by your presence and a.s.sistance, confidently believing that ”Heaven will one day free us from this slavery.” If your children[456] reside in this section of the territory, I should be pleased to form their acquaintance. Again thanking you for your kind words, I am,

Yours truly, J. A. PICKLER.

As Dakota has thus deliberately trampled upon the rights of one-half her people, it is to be hoped that congress will not admit her into the Union until that odious word ”male” is stricken from her const.i.tution.

FOOTNOTES:

[453] These counties are Union, Lincoln, Clay, Minnehaha, Moody, Deuel, Codington, Ca.s.s, Walsh, Grand Forks, Pembina, Barnes, Lawrence and Hutchinson.

[454] Since 1882 Mrs. Bones has held the office of deputy-clerk of the District Court of Day county; Mrs. Washburn was appointed to her office in 1884; Miss Elizabeth M. Cochrane, appointed by Judge Seward Smith, is clerk of the District Court of Falk county; Mrs.

Virginia A. Wilkins is deputy-clerk of the District Court of Hand county; Mrs. Dutton, deputy county-clerk, and Mrs. Hanson deputy-sheriff of Day county; and Mrs. Pease is deputy-receiver of the Watertown Land-office.

[455] _Yeas_--Barnes, Blackmore, Coe, Bayard, Clark, Dermody, Gregg, Hutson, Johnson, Miller, McCall, Parshall, Pierce, Roach, Southwick, Smith, Stebbins, J. P. Ward, Huntington, Hutchinson, Langan, Martin, Morgan, Pickler, Riddell, Steele, Stevens, Sprague, Stewart--29. _Nays_--Davison, Hobart, Larson, Mcc.u.mber, Oliver, Pugh, Ruger, Strong, Eldridge, Helvig, Myron, McHugh, Runkle, Swanton, Van Osdell, Williams, Mark Ward, Mr. Speaker--18.

[456] Mrs. Gage has a son and daughter residing in Dakota, both well educated, superior young people, whose influence will, no doubt, be felt in every progressive movement in that State. Mrs.

Gage's children sympathize with their mother in her broad, liberal views on all questions.--[E. C. S.

CHAPTER XLIX.

NEBRASKA.

Clara Bewick Colby--Nebraska Came into the Possession of the United States, 1803--The Home of the Dakotas--Organized as a Territory, 1854--Territorial Legislature--Mrs. Amelia Bloomer Addresses the House--Gen. Wm. Larimer, 1856--A Bill to Confer Suffrage on Woman--Pa.s.sed the House--Lost in the Senate--Const.i.tution Harmonized with the Fourteenth Amendment--Admitted as a State March 1, 1867--Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony Lecture in the State, 1867--Mrs. Tracy Cutler, 1870--Mrs.

Esther L. Warner's Letter--Const.i.tutional Convention, 1871--Woman Suffrage Amendment Submitted--Lost by 12,676 against, 3,502 for--Prolonged Discussion--Const.i.tutional Convention, 1875--Gra.s.shoppers Devastate the Country--_Inter-Ocean_, Mrs.

Harbert--Omaha _Republican_, 1876--Woman's Column Edited by Mrs.

Harriet S. Brooks--”Woman's Kingdom”--State Society formed, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks President--Mrs. Dinsmoore, Mrs.

Colby, Mrs. Brooks, before the Legislature--Amendment again Submitted--Active Canva.s.s of the State, 1882--First Convention of the State a.s.sociation--Charles F. Manderson--Unreliable Pet.i.tions--An Unfair Count of Votes for Woman Suffrage--Amendment Defeated--Conventions in Omaha--Notable Women in the State--Conventions--_Woman's Tribune_ Established in 1883.

Clara Bewick Colby, the historian for Nebraska, is of English parentage, and came to Wisconsin when eight years of age. In her country home, as one of a large family, she had but scant opportunities for attending the district school, but her father encouraged and a.s.sisted his children to study in the winter evenings, and in this way she fitted herself to teach in country schools. After a few terms she entered, the State University at Madison, and while there made a constant effort to secure equal privileges and opportunities for the students of her s.e.x. She was graduated with honors in 1869, and at once became a teacher of history and Latin in the inst.i.tution. She was married to Leonard W.

Colby, a graduate of the same university, and moved to Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1872. Amidst the hards.h.i.+ps of pioneer life in a new country, the young wife for a season found her family cares all-absorbing, but her taste for study, her love of literature and her natural desire to improve the conditions about her, soon led her to work up an interest in the establishment of a library and course of lectures. She afterwards edited a department in the Beatrice _Express_ called ”Woman's Work,” and in 1883 she started _The Woman's Tribune_, a paper whose columns show that Mrs. Colby has the true editorial instinct. For several years she has been deeply interested in the movement for woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt, devoting her journal to the advocacy of this great reform. In addition to her cares as housekeeper[457] and editor, Mrs. Colby has also lectured extensively in many States, east and west, not only to popular audiences, but before legislative and congressional committees.

In her description of Nebraska and the steps of progress in woman's civil and political rights, Mrs. Colby says: