Blackwell Family Lucy Stone Speech: "A Woman Suffrage Catechism"Woman Suffrage Leaflet. Vol. I. Published Fortnightly by the American Woman Suffrage Association at, 3 Park Street, Boston. No. 4 Subscription, 25 cents per annum. SEPTEMBER 15, 1888. Extra Copies, 15 cents per hundred. A WOMAN SUFFRAGE CATECHISM. BY LUCY STONE. At the woman suffrage hearing before the Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, on the 17th of February, 1885, Lucy Stone presented the following statement, with questions and answers which illustrate some phases of the movement for the equal legal and political rights of women that are not as visible now as they will be hereafter: Gentlemen of the Committee: We have come up to this room for many years, vainly asking for equal rights with yourselves. We have quoted the great principles on which our government is based : the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. We have found that those principles are not respected in their application to women. We have answered over and over all objections that have ever been offered against the ballot for woman. We have quoted the successful working of woman suffrage wherever it has been tried, in England, Scotland, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and in our own Western Territories, without avail. I propose now, to show the historic record the Massachusetts Legislature has made for itself, on this question by the following questions and answers : Question---Shall the men and women who are to obey the laws have a right to make them? Answer--No Only the men shall have that right. Q.---But there must be laws that especially concern women. Who shall make those laws? A.---Only men: shall make them. Q.--May not mothers help make the laws that settle their legal relation to their children? A.--They shall not. The men shall have the sole right to make such laws. Q.--May not married women help make the laws that decide what share of the property acquired by a husband and wife during marriage shall belong to the wife? A.--They shall not. Q.--May not a married woman help make the laws that decide how much of the property acquired before her marriage shall belong to her husband after her death? A.--No. The men shall decide it. Q.--Who shall make the laws that decide how much of the property of the husband shall go to the wife? A.--The men shall make them. Q. Who shall make the laws that decide how,and how much,a wife may will of her own property? A.--The men. Q.--Who shall make the laws that decide the rights of married partners in case of marriage and alimony? A.--The men. Q.--By the laws the men have made, do the father and the mother have equal legal righ to their children? A.-- No. The right of the father is supreme so long as he lives with his wife. Q.-- What share shall a husband have in the real estate of his wife? A.-- He shall have .the use of the whole of it as long as he lives, if his wife has ever had a living child. Q.-- What is his right to that property called? A.-- "The estate by the courtesy" Q.-- What share shall a wife have in the real estate of her husband? A.-- She shall have the use of one-third after her husband's death. Q.-- What is the right of that property called? A.-- It is commonly called "the widow's incumbrance," "dower," or "widow's thirds."Woman Suffrage Leaflet Q.-If the wife die before her husband, what share of the property earned by herself and by her husband jointly during their marriage may she have to will to her children, or to anybody? A.-Not a cent's worth Q.-Who made the law? A.-The men. Q.-Do married women now own their own clothes? A.-They do. Q.-How long did it take to secure that right? A.-Three years. Q.-May a widow now be buried in the family lot? A.-She may. Q.-How long did it take to secure that right? A.-Ten years. Q.-Shall the men and women who pay taxes have a right to say how much they shall pay, who shall spent the money, and how it shall be spent? A.-No. Only the men shall have that right. Q.-Shall all soldiers and sailors honorably discharged from service have a right to vote, whether they are paupers or not, or whether they have paid a poll-tax or not? A.-They shall. Q.-Shall male Indians, and people of color called Indians, have a right to vote for all officers of town, county, State and nation? A.-They shall. Q.-Shall female citizens have a right to vote as freely as the male Indians do and on the same questions? A.- They shall not. Q.- For what may they vote? A.- For members of the school committee. Some cannot vote until after they have *asked* to be taxed. Q.-May a wife will her personal property as freely as a husband may will his? A.-She may not, Q.-How much of it may she be free to will? A.-One-half. Q.-What must be done with the other half? A.-She must do with the other half just what her husband gives her permission to do by his consent written on the will. Q.-When a husband brutally assaults his wife, who shall have the sole right to make the law that will punish him? A.-The men. Q.-If women were milk-cans, would they be promptly protected? A.-They would. Q.-How long since Massachusetts women asked for the only power that will protect them, viz : the ballot? A.-Thirty-two years. Q.-When was the application first made to protect milk-cans? A.-Last year. Q.-What was done about it? A.-By House Bill No. 184, it was proposed that "Whoever, without the consent of the owner thereof, takes, uses, sells, disposes of, buys, or traffics in, any milk-can or cans, marked or stamped with the name, initial or device of any dealer or dealers in milk, or willfully mars, erases, or covers over said name, initial or device of any such dealer or dealers in milk, so marked or stamped on said can or cans, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail not exceeding one year." The final result is a fine on the misusers of milk-cans. Q.-Have the Legislature the same right and power to secure municipal suffrage for women that they have to secure protection and safety for milk-cans? A.-They have. Q.-What makes the difference in the legislative action about milk-cans and about women? A.-The owners of milk-cans have votes and can protect their interests. Women have no votes; hence their interests are not protected. Q.-Do men claim for themselves every right they deny to women? A.-They do. Q.-What sort of history of the old Bay State does this treatment of women make? A.-History itself will tell. "The Woman's Journal." A weekly paper devoted to woman suffrage. $2.50 a year. Specimen copies free. A dozen assorted tracts will be sent by mail, postpaid, for 10 cents. Address "Woman's Journal," Boston, Mass.