NAWSA GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Curtis, George W. Washington, D.C. Apr. 20, 1872 Dear Madame, Incessant occupation must be my excuse for leaving your kind note so long unanswered. Nor can I atone for my delay by promising to attend the meeting in New York. I must serve the causes in which I am interested as I can,- a guerrilla fighter, shouting when I may. So I must say thank you, "No." As for the great party conventions, I fear that you deceive yourself. You cannot pluck wisely a green fruit. Public opinion behind them must be very, very much more changed before a Convention or a Legislature will be ready to do what you wish. For instance, if I should be sent to the Convention I should know that those who sent me are no more in favor of woman suffrage than of Unitarianism, and their choice of me as a delegate would not prove the one more than the other. But the Convention is sent to represent the party. It has no weight otherwise. And if it should unanimously approve the proposition of woman suffrage it would be only the declaration of so many individuals, not in the least binding upon those who seek them. The object of such a Convention is to declare what the great mass of its constituents believe and to nominate candidates who are generally acceptable. It is not an arena for general discussion. Very truly yours, George William Curtis West New Brighton Staten Island N Y November 8 1872. Dear Mr. Blackwell I have yours of the 3d and I will try to write you a letter: but don't change the Presidency and never think of me for it, as I must not take any more tasks of any kind. I am sincerely obliged to you and the cause shall not miss my sympathy and word, in my own way Very faithfully Yours George William Curtis Geo. Wm. Curtis George William Curtis Letter from Hon. GeoWm. Curtis Ashfield, Mass. 8" October 1873 Dear Madame. I have seen no adequate answer to the question which it is the purpose of your Consention to reiterate, why half of the adult [population] who are legally property-holders, who pay taxes, and whose interest in the Commonwealth is not less than that of the other half, should be defined of an equal voice in the government. Those who propose to leave the determination of the claim to the majority of the disenfranchised class, fails to show [?] the practice of refusing the suffrage [?] to any member of the state who demands it upon reasonable grounds merely because other members decline it: and they do not seem to see that if women 2 [may] are competent to vote upon the fundamental political question of the enlargement of the suffrage, they should certainly be held capable of voting for the constable. Those again who think that women should not vote because they cannot fight, in other words, because they cannot help in the last extremity to enforce the laws, apparently forget that the same physical weakness exposes them helpless to unjust laws, and that the ballot is the same defence for them that it is for every man and every class in the community. I do not, as you know, anticipate any immediate result from the discussion of the question. It relies upon reason alone and has none of the accessories with which a demand for the ballot is usually armed. How little impression it has as yet really made upon public opinion is evident 3 from the utter contempt shown for it by one of the political parties and the polite indifference of the other. Yet these parties comprise those who have the final decision of the question. But the inexorable logic of common-sense and of experience which has constantly ameliorated the injustice of the laws in regard to women will at last invest them with an equal voice with men in [making] electing the lawgivers. I trust sincerely that the sagacity and eloquence of this Convention will hasten that day,-and I am very faithfully Yours George William Curtis. Mrs. Lucy Stone. The word Trinity is not in the Bible The direct statement that Christ is God is not in the Bible The claim for plenary & verbal inspir. not in Bible St Domingo The Unknown God [*George William Curtis*] 1 Object of the Free Religious Association Religion & Theology 2 Emphasize Essentials. 3 What is christianity 4 What is Sectarianism Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart & thy neighbor as thyself on these two command (why callest thou me good) The man who is without sin among you - let him Not unto him that sayeth Lord-Lord-but unto him that doest the will of our father that is in Heaven Science - Woman Aunt Mary Mrs Livermore I am a Christian Those who forbid are Antichrist - If I were in Pagan land I should have to investigate (Letter from George William Curtis to Lucy Stone) Ashfield, Mass. 8" October 1873 Dear Madame. I have seen no adequate answer to the question which it is the purpose of your convention to reiterate, why half of the adult population, who are legal property-holders, who pay taxes, and whose interest in the commonwealth is not less than that of the other half, should be deprived of an equal voice in the government. Those who propose to leave the determination of the claim to the majority of the disfranchised class, fail to show the justice of refusing the suffrage to any member of the state who demands it upon reasonable grounds merely because other numbers despise it; and they do not seem to see that if women are competent to vote upon the fundamental political question of the enlargement of the suffrage, they should certainly be held capable of voting for the constable. Those again who think that women should not vote because they cannot fight, in other words, because they cannot help in the last extremity to enforce the laws, apparently forget that the same physical weakness exposes them helpless to unjust laws, and that the ballot is the same defence for them that it is for every man and every class in the community. I do not, as you know, anticipate any immediate result from the discussion of the question. It relies upon reason alone and has none of the accessories with which a demand for the ballot is usually armed. How little impression it has as yet really made upon public opinion is evident from the utter contempt shown for it by one of the political parties and the polite indifference of the other. Yet these parties comprise those who have final decision of the question. But the inexorable logic of commonsense and of experience which has constantly ameliorated the injustice of the laws in regard to women will at last invest them with an equal voice with men in electing the lawgivers. I trust sincerely that the sagacity and eloquence of the Convention will hasten that day, - and I am very faithfully yours George William Curtis [*Geo. Wm. Curtis*] Ashfield Mass. July 30. 1872. Dear Sir. I have yours of the 27th. I confess that I have no profound respect for platforms, and I value the plank in that of P. [*Philadelphia] of which you speak, only because it shows the truth, namely, that the Rep. party contains the real friends of equal suffrage. But it is not, nor will it soon be, "a Republican issue" in the sense of your use of the words. You know it is an appeal surely to reason, and the situation is such that the movement will proceed by equalizing all the laws, as they have been in so many cases equalized, until the complaint of actual unjust & unequal legislation is removed. Then if there be found a tendency to retrograde the governing class, to guard itself against itself, will perhaps equalize the suffrage. Yet there is no doubt that those of the governing class who really sympathize with the movement will be in sympathy with what we know as Republican ideas. Therefore to help Republicanism is to help the cause. There are two ways practicable, now. One is that women should speak for Grant & Wilson, as Mrs. Livermore spoke for the Rep. ticket in New Hampshire & very effectively in the spring; and the other is an address such as you mention, signed only by those whose names have a real moral weight & gravity putting the question upon lofty and general grounds. I like very much what Mr. Higginson says upon the subject in the last journal, and I am sure his advice would be most valuable in the preparation of such an address. Faithfully Yours, George William Curtis Geo. Wm. Curtis Washington, D.C. Apr. 20, 1872 Dear Madame, Incessant occupation must be my excuse for leaving your kind note so long unanswered. Nor can I atone for my delay by promising to attend the meeting in New York. I must serve the causes in which I am interested as I can - a guerrilla fighter, shouting when I may. So I must say Thank you, No - As for the great party Conventions, I fear that you deceive yourself. You cannot pluck wisely a green fruit. Public opinion behind them must be very, very much more changed [because] before a Convention or a Legislature will be ready to do what you wish. For instance, if I should be sent to the Convention I should know that those who sent me are no more in favor of woman suffrage than of Unitarianism, & their choice of me as a delegate would not prove the one more than the other. But the Convention is sent to represent the party. It has no weight otherwise. And if it should unanimously approve the proposition of woman suffrage it would be only the declaration of so many individuals, not in the least binding upon those who sent them. The object of such a Convention is to declare what the great mass of its constituents believe and to nominate candidates who are generally acceptable. It is not an arena for general discussion. Very truly yours, George William Curtis Geo. Wm. Curtis Ashfield, Mass. August 30 1872 Dear Madame, I had seen with great satisfaction the resolution which you sent to me and of which I shall certainly make mention in H. W. Meanwhile I am Mrs. Lucy Stone that the peril of losing or baffling much that has been gained at the South begins to disappear. It was only necessary that the country should fairly understand the situation to do what I sincerely hope will be done. Very truly yours George William Curtis. Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.