Volume III Part 117 (1/2)
I went to Southern Oregon in 1879, and while sojourning in Jacksonville was a.s.sailed with a shower of eggs (since known in that section as ”Jacksonville arguments”) and was also burned in effigy on a princ.i.p.al street after the sun went down.
Jacksonville is an old mining town, beautifully situated in the heart of the Southern Oregon mountains, and has no connection with the outside world except through the daily stagecoaches. Its would-be leading men are old miners or refugees from the bushwhacking district whence they were driven by the civil war.
The taint of slavery is yet upon them and the methods of border-ruffians are their hearts' delight. It is true that there are many good people among them, but they are often over-awed by the lawless crowd whose very instincts lead them to oppose a republican form of government. But that raid of the outlaws proved a good thing for the woman suffrage movement. It aroused the better cla.s.ses, and finally shamed the border ruffians by its own reaction. When I returned to Portland a perfect ovation awaited me. Hundreds of men and women who had not before allied themselves with the movement made haste to do so. The newspapers were filled with severe denunciations of the mob, and ”Jackson-villains,” as the perpetrators of the outrage were styled, grew heartily disgusted over their questionable glory.
When the legislature met in the autumn of 1880 it was decided by the Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation that we could ”raise the blockade”
and encourage agitation in the work by consenting to an attempt to amend the State const.i.tution. Pursuant to this decision a resolution was offered in the Senate by Hon. W. C. Fulton of Clatsop, and in the House by Hon. Lee Laughlin, which, after considerable discussion _pro_ and _con_ in which I was graciously invited to partic.i.p.ate on the floor of both Houses, was pa.s.sed by the requisite two-thirds majority. The result was considered a triumph for the cause. A grand ratification jubilee was held in the opera-house in honor of the event, and resolutions of thanks to the lawmakers were pa.s.sed, accompanied by many expressions of faith in the legislation of the future.
In the meantime the work was going steadily on in Was.h.i.+ngton territory, my own labors being distributed about equally between the two sections of the Pacific Northwest that had formerly been united under one territorial government. In the autumn of 1881 the legislature of Was.h.i.+ngton met one afternoon in joint convention to listen to arguments from Hon. William H. White and myself, on which occasion I held the floor for nearly three hours, in the midst of an auditory that was itself an inspiration. Mr. White, a Democrat of the old school, and now (1885) holding the office of United States marshal in the territory, under commission from President Cleveland, based his plea for woman suffrage upon the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the colored men, urging it strongly as a means of Democratic retaliation. The suffrage bill pa.s.sed in the House on the following day by a majority of two, but was defeated in the Council by a majority of two, showing that the vote would have been a tie if taken under the joint-ballot rule.
Returning to Oregon I renewed the contest, and in the autumn of 1882 we were all gratified by the pa.s.sage of the pending const.i.tutional amendment by a very nearly unanimous vote of each House. Then the Oregon campaign began in earnest. The question had a.s.sumed formidable proportions and was no longer an ignored issue. The work went on with accelerated speed, and as far as could be ascertained there was little or no opposition to it. The meetings were largely attended and affirmative speakers were ready to a.s.sist at all times, the help of this kind representing all grades of the professions, led by the best and most influential men of the State everywhere.
Another year went by, and the time for a.s.sembling the Was.h.i.+ngton territory legislature was again at hand. Immediately upon arriving at Olympia I learned that a coterie of politicians, finding open hostility no longer effectual, had combined to crush the woman suffrage bill, which had pa.s.sed the House triumphantly, by lobbying a ”subst.i.tute” through the Council. In pursuance of this seemingly plausible idea they talked with the ladies of Olympia and succeeded in convincing a few of them that all women, and especially all leaders of the movement, must be kept away from the capitol or the bill would certainly be defeated.
Several women who ought to have have known better were deceived by these specious pleaders, and but for some years of experience in legislative a.s.semblies that had brought me to comprehend the ”ways that are dark and tricks that are vain,” for which the average politician is ”peculiar,” the ruse would have succeeded.
I remained at headquarters, enduring alike the open attacks of the venal press and the more covert opposition of the saloons and brothels, and, as vigilantly as I could, watched all legislative movements, taking much pains to keep the public mind excited through the columns of the _Daily Oregonian_ and the weekly issues of the _New Northwest_. The bill, which had been prepared by Professor William H. Roberts, pa.s.sed the House early in the session; but it tarried long in the Council, and those most interested were well-nigh worn out with work and watching before the measure reached a vote. It came up for final pa.s.sage November 15, 1883, when only three or four women were present. The Council had been thoroughly canva.s.sed before-hand and no member offered to make a speech for or against it. The deathly stillness of the chamber was broken only by the clerk's call of the names and the firm responses of the ”ayes” and ”noes.” I kept the tally with a nervous hand, and my heart fairly stood still as the fateful moment came that gave us the majority. Then I arose and without exchanging words with any one left the state-house and rushed toward the telegraph-office, half a mile distant, my feet seeming to tread the air. Judge J. W. Range of Cheney, president of a local woman suffrage society, overtook me on the way, bound on the same errand. He spoke, and I felt as if called back to earth with a painful reminder that I was yet mortal. A few minutes more and my message was on the way to the _New Northwest_. It was publication-day and the paper had gone to press, but my jubilant and faithful sons opened the forms and inserted the news, and in less than half an hour the newsboys were crying the fact through the streets of Portland, making the _New Northwest_, which had fought the fight and led the work to the point where legislation could give a victory, the very first paper in the nation to herald the news to the world. The rejoicing in Oregon, as well as in Was.h.i.+ngton territory, was most inspiriting. A bloodless battle had been fought and won, and the enemy, asleep in carnal security, had been surrendered unawares. The women of Oregon thanked G.o.d and took courage.
After pa.s.sing the Council the bill pa.s.sed leisurely, and some of us feared perilously, through the various stages of clerical progress till November 22, when it received the signature of Governor William A. Newell, who used a gold pen presented him for the purpose by women whom his act made free. And when at a given signal the church bells rang in glad acclaim, and the loud boom of minute-guns reverberated from the forest-clothed hills that border Puget Sound and lost itself at last in the faint echoes of the far-off hights, the scroll of the dead century unrolled before my inner vision and I beheld in spirit another scene on the further verge of the continent, when men in designing to ring the bell at Independence Hall in professed honor of the triumph of liberty, although not a woman in the land was free, had sought in vain to force the loyal metal into glad responses; for the old bell quivered in every nerve and broke its heart rather than tell a lie!
An immense ratification jubilee was held in the evening of the same day at the city hall in Olympia, with many distinguished speakers.[511] Similar meetings were subsequently held in all the princ.i.p.al towns of the Pacific Northwest. The freed women of Was.h.i.+ngton thankfully accepted their new prerogatives. They were appointed as jurors in many localities, and have ever since performed their duties with eminent satisfaction to judges, lawyers and all clients who are seeking to obey the laws. But their jurisdiction soon became decidedly uncomfortable for the law-breaking elements, which speedily escaped to Oregon, where, as the sequel proved, they began a secret and effective war upon the pending const.i.tutional amendment. We all knew we had a formidable foe to fight at the ballot-box. Our own hands were tied and our own guns spiked, while our foe was armed to the teeth with ballots, backed by money and controlled by vice, bigotry and tyranny. But the leading men of the State had long been known to favor the amendment; the respectable press had become mildly, and in a few cases earnestly acquiescent; no opposition could be raised at any of our public meetings, and we felt measurably sure of a victory until near election time, when we discovered to our dismay that most of the leading politicians upon whom we had relied for aid had suddenly been seized with an alarming reticence. They ceased to attend the public meetings and in every possible way ignored the amendment, lest by openly allying themselves with it they might lose votes; and as all of them were posing in some way for office, for themselves or friends, and women had no votes with which to repay their allegiance, it was not strange that they should thus desert us.
Our Republican senator in congress, Hon. J. N. Dolph, favored the Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation with an able and comprehensive letter, which was widely circulated, urging the adoption of the amendment as a measure of justice and right, and appealing to the voters to make Oregon the banner State of the great reform. Leading clergymen, especially of Portland, preached in favor of woman suffrage, prominent among them being Rev. T. L. Eliot, pastor of the Unitarian church; Chaplain R. S. Stubbs of the Church of Sea and Land, and Rev. Frederic R. Marvin of the First Congregational society. Appeals to voters were widely circulated from the pens and speeches of many able gentlemen.[512] Not one influential man made audible objection anywhere.
We had carefully districted and organized the State, sparing neither labor nor money in providing ”Yes” tickets for all parties and all candidates and putting them everywhere in the hands of friends for use at the polls. But the polls were no sooner open than it began to appear that the battle was one of great odds. Masked batteries were opened in almost every precinct, and mult.i.tudes of legal voters who are rarely seen in daylight except at a general election, many of whom were refugees from Was.h.i.+ngton territory, crowded forth from their hiding-places to strike the manacled women down. They accused the earnest ladies who had dared to ask for simple justice of every crime in the social catalogue. Railroad gangs were driven to the polls like sheep and voted against us in battalions. But, in spite of all this, nearly one-third of the vote was thrown in our favor, requiring a change of only about one-fourth of the opposing vote to have given us a victory, and proving to the amazement of our enemies that the strength of our cause was already formidable.[513] We were repulsed but not conquered. Before the smoke of the battle had cleared away we had called immense meetings and pa.s.sed vigorous resolutions, thanking the lovers of liberty who had favored us with their suffrages, and pledging ourselves anew to the conflict.
We at once decided that we would never again permit the legislature to remand us to the rabble in a vain appeal for justice. We had demonstrated the impossibility of receiving a fair, impartial vote at the hands of the ignorant, lawless and unthinking mult.i.tude whose ballots outweigh all reason and overpower all sense. In pursuance of this purpose I went to the legislature of 1885 and found no difficulty in securing the aid of friendly members of both Houses who kindly championed the following bill:
_Be it enacted by the Legislative a.s.sembly of Oregon:_
That the elective franchise shall not hereafter be denied to any person in this State on account of s.e.x.
This act to be in force from and after its approval by the governor.
After much parliamentary fillibustering the vote of both Houses was recorded upon this bill and stood conjointly 34 to 54. This vote, coming so soon after our defeat at the polls, is regarded as the greatest victory we have yet won. The ablest lawyers of the State and of Was.h.i.+ngton territory are preparing elaborate opinions showing the const.i.tutionality of our present plan, and these are to be published in the form of a standard work, with appropriate references for convenient use. The movement exhibits a healthy, steady and encouraging growth, and is much accelerated by its success in Was.h.i.+ngton territory.
On the Fourth of July of this year a grand celebration was held at Vancouver, on Was.h.i.+ngton soil, the women of Oregon having resolved in large numbers that they would never again unite in celebrating men's independence-day in a State where they are denied their liberty. The celebration was a success from first to last. Boys and girls in equal numbers rode in the liberty-car and represented the age of the government. The military post at Vancouver joined heartily in the festivities, headed by the gallant soldier, General Nelson A. Miles, commander-in-chief of the department of the Columbia. The fine Fourteenth Infantry Band furnished the instrumental music, and a local choir rendered spirited choruses. The New Declaration of Independence was read by Josie De Vore Johnson, the oration was delivered by Mattie A.
Bridge, and Louise Lester, the famous _prima donna_, electrified the delighted crowd by her triumphant rendition of the ”Star-Spangled Banner.” The exercises closed with the announcement by the writer, who had officiated as president of the day, that the Executive Committee of the Oregon Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation had, during the noon recess, adopted the following resolutions:
_Resolved_, That our thanks are due to General Nelson A.
Miles of the department of the Columbia for his valuable cooperation in the exercises and entertainments of this historic day.
_Resolved_, That we thank the citizens of Clarke County, and especially of Vancouver, for their hospitality and kindness, so graciously bestowed upon their less fortunate Oregon neighbors, who have not yet achieved their full independence, and we shall ever cherish their fraternal recognition in grateful remembrance.
_Resolved_, That while we deplore the injustice that still deprives the women of Oregon of the liberty to exercise their right to the elective franchise, we rejoice in the record the women of Was.h.i.+ngton are making as citizens, as voters and as jurors. We congratulate them upon their newly-acquired liberties, and especially upon the intelligent and conscientious manner in which they are discharging the important public duties that in no wise interfere with their home affairs. And we are further
_Resolved_, That if our own fathers, husbands, sons and brothers do not at the next session of the Oregon legislature bestow upon us the same electoral privileges which the women of Was.h.i.+ngton already enjoy, we will prepare to cross the Columbia River and take up our permanent abode in this ”land of the free and home of the brave.”
The resolutions evoked cheers that waked the echoes, and the celebration, reported by the Oregon press, contributed largely to the growth of the equal-rights sentiment among the people of the State. Two stanzas of a spirited poem are subjoined, written for the Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation just after our defeat at the polls, by a young man from Southern Oregon who has withheld his own name but included the names of all the counties in his glorious prophecy:
From Clatsop and from Clackamas, from Linn and Tillamook; From Grant, Multnomah, Lane and Coos, and Benton, Lake and Crook; From Josephine, Columbia, and loyal Was.h.i.+ngton, And Union, Baker and Yamhill, and proud old Marion; From where the Cascade mountain-streams their foaming waters pour, We're coming, mothers, sisters, dear, ”ten times ten thousand more.”
From Klamath's lakes and Wasco's plains, and Jackson's rolling hills; From Douglas with her mines of gold, and Curry with her mills; From Umatilla's burdened fields, and hills and dales of Polk, We're coming with our votes and songs to break the tyrant's yoke, And in the ears of Liberty this song of joy we'll pour, We're coming, mothers, sisters, dear, ”ten times ten thousand more.”
Mrs. Mary Olney Brown gives an amusing account of her attempts to vote in Was.h.i.+ngton territory. The incidents related occurred several years before the pa.s.sage of the act specifically enfranchising women. She says: