Elizabeth Cady Stanton Speeches & Writings File Article: "Educated Suffrage" The Independent, Feb. 14, 1895 with typescript 341 an "immigration" - I believe in an educational qualification for the suffrage. Bill[?] & Maggie & I have been having our photographs taken in a group, by Rukwood[?]. We had no end of fun, he is a jovial fellow He is now making some photographs of me when I was eighteen, from a little rough sketch taken by an amatuer. I take great pleasure in looking at a picture said to be like me when starting on the voyage of life Just had a letter from my neice Flora McMartin Wright. She says that they have had such intensely cold weather in Florida that all their oranges & orange trees are completely destroyed, in fact all their fruit - grapes, lemons, peaches & all their vegetable are frozen so the people have neither fruit nor vegetables to eat!! She says facetiously "The Lord loveth where he chasteneth" She hopes he will love them enough to feed them!! As it will take four years for the trees to grow & bear. The prospects of our Florida friends is not very bright. [*So much for 1895 & the summer of 1894.] With these droughts in the summer & frosts in the winter the people in some states are ruined . EDUCATED SUFFRAGE. BY ELIZABETH CADY STANTON. "Universal Suffrage is the first truth and only basis of a genuine republic." There may be certain restrictions, however, for the exercise of this right without denying the general principle. We have had, at different times, in the several States, eleven different classes disqualified for the suffrage, namely: idiots, lunatics, criminals, paupers, minors, men who bet on elections, clergymen (by custom not constitution), those not possessing $250, those who could 2 (198) THE INDEPENDENT. February 14, 1895. [342] neither read nor write, all black men, and all women black and white. Nine of these are surmountable qualifications, supposed to exist for the best interests of the State, but from which the citizen, with time and effort, may easily escape. By modern scientific appliances, the idiot may develop sufficient intelligence to provide for his own wants and protect his rights. The lunatic may become sane. The criminal may be pardoned and reformed. The pauper may become capable of self-support. The minor may become of age. The men who bet on elections may awake to the dishonor of violating the State Constitution, which every good citizen is bound to support. The penniless by thrift may acquire $250. The ignorant may learn to read and write. The clergy can change their profession, or convince the people (as they have done) that an interest in the State in no way conflicts with their holy mission to save the souls of their people. But for the remaining two classes the disqualifications are insurmountable. Neither time nor effort can change sex or color; hence such qualifications are indeed opposed to every principle of a true republic. Regulating the suffrage is one thing; denying it absolutely another. It seems to me the proposition for "educated suffrage," made and reiterated by many thoughtful people, is pre-eminently wise and timely. A law providing that after 1898 those who vote must be able to read and write the English language would be an immense advantage to the individual and the State. With the ignorant and impecunious from the Old World landing on our shores by hundreds every day we must have some restrictions of the suffrage for our own safety and for their education before they take part in the administration of the government. Every man of them should be compelled to read and write the English language before he is allowed to register himself as a voter. A knowledge merely of the elements of learning would give a man greater aptitude for his duties in all relations of life. What is learned in the primary department in school is the foundation for all that is achieved in the higher classes. If a foreigner can read and write the English language intelligently, he has taken the first step toward understanding the spirit of our institutions and the duties of citizenship. Instead of repealing the educational law in some States where the manner of ascertaining the qualification is a mere travesty, I would draw the line a little higher, at intelligent reading and writing. To acquire this would take the ignorant foreigner at least two years, so we could be sure that he did not go straight from the steerage to the polls. True, we cannot take the suffrage from the ignorant men who already exercise it, not because they prize it so highly, but because no political party dare make the experiment. To extend the suffrage to women on an educational qualification involves no injustice to women, while providing that all men prospectively shall vote on the same basis. Neither can this be called class legislation. A law that would affect alike men and women, black and white, rich and poor, foreign and native, can hardly be called "class legislation." A law that would compel all American citizens to acquire a knowledge of their own language before exercising the suffrage would surely be a stimulus in the right direction. A law compelling all our foreign citizens to read and write the English language would make our whole people more homogeneous and united. The greatest block in the way of woman's enfranchisement is the fear of the "ignorant vote" being doubled. Wise men see what a strain it is on our institutions to-day, and object to any further experiment in that direction. I do not see that the ignorant classes, as some say, need the suffrage more that the enlightened, but just the reverse. When a vessel is in danger on a stormy sea, we need skill and intelligence on the bridge and at the wheel, to protect those who are ignorant of the science of navigation Just so in the State: We need the highest intelligence and morality to govern a nation with justice and wisdom. The report of the New York State Superintendent of Immigration shows that during the fiscal year ended June 30th, 1894, 288,020 immigrants arrived in this country, of whom 285,631 were landed and 2,389 were debarred from landing because of being under contract to perform labor made previous to their arrival. Of the immigrants landed, 96,000 were destined for New York State, 42,000 for Pennsylvania, 25,000 for Massachusetts, and 22,000 for Illinois, the others being scattered throughout the United States, no other State receiving a greater number than 10,000. Immigrants, destined for Southern States, all told, did not exceed 12,000. Of the immigrants over sixteen years of age, 41,000 could not read or write. Think of 41,000, chiefly men, who can neither read nor write, speedily crowned with all the rights, privileges and immunities of citizenship, while intelligent, educated women, the pillars of our schools and churches, the acknowledged great moral reserved force to promote "good government" are denied the representation accorded the most ignorant class of male foreigners! I am amazed that any woman who loves her country would consent to this risk of our free institutions, or that any woman, with a proper self respect, would tolerate[?] this degradation of sex, which practically places the best class of citizens in our Republic under a foreign yoke. Do those opposed to woman suffrage realize that this 41,000 is multiplied indefinitely every year, or that they exercise direct influence on our legislation? This is an ever-increasing class, to which our politicians must cater to be successful. Do those in favor or woman suffrage who demand "manhood suffrage," without any educational qualification, realize that while our question is pending, from year to year, these steadily increasing thousands are a sure and mighty force to join the enemy, already organized, to hold the women of this nation subject to a foreign yoke? So long as our fathers, husbands and sons hold party loyalty above their duties to us, women will have no protection or help from them in the battle we are now fighting for liberty, justice and equality. The defeat of the recent amendment in Kansas and New York shows how little we have to hope even from our own nationality; for in Kansas there are only 15,000 foreign voters, yet the majority against us was over 30,000. There is a growing feeling among thoughtful people that the thousands of uneducated foreigners landing every day on our shores should not so soon be admitted to the governing power of this country. The law says they must be naturalized first, and be here a certain length of time; but who keeps the record of their arrival and the prescribed time from the steerage to the polls? In a heated election, politicians care more for party success than for the welfare of the State, and then the "interested vote" buys up the "ignorant vote." There are many good reasons why we should have an educational qualification: 1. It would limit the foreign vote. 2. It would decrease the ignorant native vote by stimulating the rising generation to learning. Children in the street would say to each other: "You'd better go to school if you hope to vote when you are twenty-one." 3. It would dignify the right of suffrage in the eyes of our people to know that some preparation was necessary for the exercise of so important a duty. An attainable qualification in no way conflicts with our popular theory of "suffrage a natural right." On the same principle that we say a man must be twenty-one to be a legal voter, so we may say he must read and write the English language with ease and understanding. We cannot take the right from those who already exercise it; but we can say that, after 1898, no one shall be permitted to vote unless he can read and write the English language. One of the most patent objections to woman suffrage is the added ignorant and depraved vote that would still further corrupt and embarrass the administration of our Government. Thus we are deprived of the influence of educated, virtuous, law-abiding women in our public affairs for fear of the ignorance of the masses. Several of the women who enrolled themselves as remonstrants in our late campaign in New York said they would favor educated women suffrage; but they thought our ignorant vote was already far too large for the safety and stability of our Government. The intelligent, organized laboring men were hampered in the recent strikes by the violent, unreasoning, ignorant voters, whose folly they could not control. It is the interest of the educated workingmen, as it is of the women, that this ignorant, worthless class of voters should be speedily diminished. With free schools and compulsory education there is no excuse in this country for ignorance of the elements of learning. It is not the principle of universal suffrage that I oppose, but ignorant, impecunious, immoral, "manhood suffrage," while sex is made a disqualification for all women. I am opposed to the domination of one sex over the other. It cultivates arrogance in the one, and destroys self-respect in the other. I am opposed to the admission of another man, either foreign or native, to the polling booth, until women, the greatest factor in civilization are first enfranchised. An aristocracy of men, composed of all types, shades and degrees of intelligence and ignorance, is not the most desirable substratum for government. To subject intelligent, highly educated, virtuous, honorable women to the behests of such an aristocracy is the hight of cruelty and injustice. Our Government, religion, and social life are all on a masculine basis. Forces in man which, if complemented by the opposites in women, in moderation, are virtues, in excess are dangerous vices. His courage, his love for exploration and command, his violence, recklessness, love of money, display and strong drink, all unchecked, are responsible, in a measure, for our terrible accidents by land and sea, for our conflagrations and defalcations, for all the dishonor unearthed by investigating committees in every department of Government. The remedy for all this is education of the higher, more tender sentiments in humanity, the mother-thought omnipresent in every department of life. Her ideal must be represented in the State, the Church and the home. This must be done before we can take another step in civilization. The key to all this is the right of suffrage, the ballot in the hands of women. To this end we must cry "halt" on "male suffrage" for the present, especially on the immense, increasing foreign element, chiefly male, and all a dead weight against women. In the Western States, where amendments to constitutions in favor of woman suffrage have been submitted, the foreign vote has been uniformly in the opposition, and the measure defeated. Hence we must put up some barrier to hold this mighty multitude at bay. Time, naturalization papers, are a mere travesty. Who keeps watch on the 300,000 every year landing on our shores? Are all these men so honest that they will not offer their votes until the legal time has expired? But when we say: "You must read and write the English language intelligently" we lengthen the road from the steerage to the polls many miles, and in the meantime women can press their claims without encountering their worst enemies. Other opponents say: "We are already struggling with the mass of ignorant voters; why ask us to enfranchise the vicious, ignorant women?" To deprive them of that excuse, we say again, apply the educational qualification. That will hold another class at bay, until the best women are enfranchised, and their efforts, united with the best men, have time to make new conditions. The imperative need of the time is woman's influence in public life. It is the hight of wisdom, as well as the best policy, to protest against any further male accessions. Our opponents of educated suffrage all underestimate the value of the elements of education. The honest laboring man who can read and write intelligently has an immense advantage over one who cannot. The lessons we get from life's experiences are gilded by those we get from the spelling book and school readers. Reading and writing are the tools with which the citizen can protect himself and dignify the State. That some people who are educated are vicious, and some who are uneducated are virtuous, is no argument against general education. We must take a broader view, and in national life see if the country where people are educated does not occupy a higher position that the one where the masses are ignorant. To get my standpoint clearly before our opponents, let us suppose that from the foundation of this Government the women had reigned supreme; that the men were not allowed in schools or colleges, the trades and professions; that they had no rights of property, wages or children, and no credit in the world of work; that they could not make contracts, nor sue or be sued; that, by constant petitioning for centuries, they had wrung a few civil rights from their oppressors, but that to all their prayers for political equality the women turned a deaf ear. Through all these years an untold number of ignorant foreign women had been landing on our shores to become a part of the governing power, while the men, of whom a majority were a highly educated, moral class, were mere pariahs, under this ignorant foreign class. These, wise, patriotic men not only suffered the humiliation of being under a foreign yoke, but they saw dangers to their country by the misgovernment of this ignorant aristocracy of sex, having absolute control in making laws and constitutions, and in administering every department of Government. Now what should we think of the common sense of these men, if, in the valley of defranchisement, they sat singing peans to "universal" womanhood suffrage, instead of blocking the way by an educational qualification that would be a real benefit to the voters, as well as to the State, and increase the chances of the men to secure political equality? "As self-preservation is the first law of nature," they would say, "we must stop this inflowing tide of foreign women, a dead weight against us. Some of our native-born women are in favor of our emancipation, but the foreigners always vote against us". A rapidly increasing class of educated women demand the right of suffrage for their own protection, as well as for the best interests of the State; and they have a right to call a halt on any further enfranchisement of the ignorant classes, until a better element in society is fully recognized in the Government. Our rulers have no excuse for their fears of the ignorant and vicious classes of women. They have it in their power to extend the suffrage to the best class, on an educational qualification. Begin with them until, in combination with the best class of men, the ignorance, poverty and vice of the remainder are reduced to a minimum. With compulsory education, and the same code of morals for man and woman in social life, there would be a gradual elevation of both sexes. Galton, in his work on Heredity, says: " The brain of man is already overweighted with the complicated problems of our present civilization, growing more and more complicated with every step in progress, and unless something be done to lift up the race a few degrees, the most hopeful statesman may well look anxiously into the future." And where can he look for this new, moral force, but in the education, elevation and emancipation of women --the mothers of the race? ----------------------------------------------------------- It is reported that the Prince of Naples, the heir to the throne of Italy, is to marry a daughter of the Prince of Wales, probably Princess Maud. ** for actual contextual reading order: Column 1, 4,2,5,3. *** =============================== 11 (ac. 3458-1) Educated Suffrage. (ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.) "Universal suffrage is the first truth and only basis of a genuine republic." There may be certain restrictions however, for the exercise of this right, without denying the general principle. We have had at different times, in the several states, eleven different classes disqualified for the suffrage, namely, idiots, lunatics, criminals, paupers, minors, men who bet on elections, clergymen (by custom not constitution), those not possessing $250, those who could neither read nor write, all black men, and all women black and white. Nine of these are surmountable qualifications, supposed to exist for the best interest of the state, but from which the citizen, with time and effort may easily escape. By modern scientific appliances, the idiot may develop sufficient intelligences to provide for his own wants and protect his rights. The lunatic may become sane. The criminal may be pardoned and reform. The pauper may become capable of self-support. The minor may become of age. The men who bet on elections may awake to the dishonor of violating the state constitution, which every good citizen is bound to support. The penniless by thrift may acquire $250. The ignorant may learn to read and write. The clergy may change their profession, or convince the people (as they have done) that an interest in the state in no way conflicts with their holy mission to save the souls of their people. But for the remaining two classes the disqualifications are unsurmountable. Neither time nor effort can change sex or color; hence such qualifications are indeed opposed to every principle of a true republic. Regulating the suffrage is one thing, denying it absolutely another. It seems to me the proposition for "educated suffrage" made and reiterated by many thoughtful people is preeminently wise and timely. A law providing that after 1898 those who vote must be able to read and write the English language would be an immense advantage to the individual and the state. With the ignorant and impecunious from the old world landing on our shores by hundreds every day, we must have some restrictions of the suffrage for our own safety and for their education before they take part in the administration of the government. Every man of them should be compelled to read and write the English language before they are allowed to register themselves as voters. A knowledge merely of the elements of learning would give a man greater aptitude for his duties in all relations of life. What is learned in the primary department in school is the foundation for all that is achieved in the higher classes. If a foreigner can read and write the English language intelligently, he has taken the first step towards understanding the spirit of our institution and the duties of citizenship. * * * Instead of repealing the educational law in some states where the manner of ascertaining the qualification is a mere travesty, I would draw the line a little higher, at intelligent reading and writing. To acquire this would take the ignorant foreigner at least two years, so that we should be sure that he did not got straight from the steerage to the polls. True, we cannot take the suffrage from the ignorant men who already exercise it, not because they prize it so highly, but because no political party dare make the experiment. To extend the suffrage to women on a educational qualification involves no injuries to women, while providing that all men prospectively shall vote on the same basis. Neither can this be called class legislation. A law that would affect alike men and women, black and white, rich and poor, foreign and native, can hardly be called "class legislation". A law that would compel all American citizens to acquire a knowledge of their own language before exercising the suffrage would surely be a stimulus in the right direction. A law compelling all our foreign citizens to read and write the English language would make our whole people more homogeneous and united. The greatest block in the way of woman's enfranchisement is the fear of the "ignorant vote" being doubled. Wise me see what a strain it is on our institutions today, and object to any further experiment in that direction. {column 2} there are only 15,000 foreign voters, yet the majority against us was over 30,000. There is a growing feeling among thoughtful people that the thousands of educated foreigners landing every day on our shores should not so soon be admitted to the governing power of this country. The law says they must be naturalized first, and be here a certain length of time; but who keeps the record of their arrival and the prescribed time from the steerage to the polls. * * * In a heated election, politicians care more for party success than for the welfare of the state, and then the "interested vote" buys up the "ignorant vote." There are many good reasons why we should have an educational qualification: 1. It would limit the foreign vote. 2. It would decrease the ignorant native vote by stimulating the rising generation to learning. Children in the street would say to each other: "You'd better go to school if you hope to vote when you are twenty-one." 3. It would dignify the right of suffrage to the eyes of our people to know that some preparation was necessary for the exercise of so important a duty. An attainable qualification in no way conflicts with our popular theory of "suffrage a natural right.: On the same principle that we say a man must be twenty one for a legal voter, so we may say he must read and write the English language with ease and understanding. We cannot take the right from those who already exercise it, but we can say that, after 1898, no one shall be permitted to vote unless he can read and write the English language. One of the most patent objections to women suffrage is the added ignorant and depraved vote that would still further corrupt and embarrass the administration of our government. Thus we are deprived of the influence of educated, virtuous, law abiding women in our public affairs for fear of the ignorance of the masses. Several of the women who enrolled themselves as remonstrants on our late campaign in New York said they would favor educated woman suffrage, but they thought our ignorant vote was already far to large for the safety and stability of our government. The intelligent organized laboring men were hampered in the recent strikes by the violent, unreasoning ignorant voters whose folly they could not control. It is the interest of the educated workingmen as it is of the women, that this ignorant, worthless class of voter should be speedily dismissed. With free schools and compulsory education there is no excuse in this country for ignorance of the elements of learning. * * * It is not the principle of universal suffrage that I oppose, but ignorant, impecunious, immoral, "manhood suffrage," while sex is made a disqualification for all women. I am opposed to the domination of one sex over another. It cultivates arrogance in the one, and destroys self-respect in the other. I am opposed to the admission of another man, either foreign or native, to the polling booth, until women, the greatest factor in civilization, is first enfranchised. An aristocracy of men, composed of all types, shades and degrees of intelligence and ignorance, is not the most desirable substratum for government. To subject intelligent, highly educated, virtuous honorable women to the behests of such an aristocracy is the height of cruelty and injustice. Our government, religion and social life are all on a masculine basis. Forces in men which, if complemented by the opposite in women, in moderation, are virtues, in excess are dangerous vices. His courage, his love for exploration and command, his violence, recklessness, love of money, display and strong drink, all unchecked, are responsible, in a measure, for our terrible accidents by land and sea, for our conflagrations and defalcations, for all the dishonor unearthed by investigating committees in every department of government. The remedy for all this is the education of the higher, more tender sentiments in humanity, the mother thought omnipresent in every department of life. Her ideal must be represented in the state, the church and the home. This must be done before we can take another step in civilization. The key to all this is the right to suffrage, the ballot to the {column 3} had rung a few civil rights from {?} oppressors, but that to all their prayers for political equality the woman turned a deaf ear. Through all these years an untold number of ignorant foreign women had been landing on our shores to become a part of the governing power, while the men, of whom the majority were a highly educated, moral class, were mere pariahs, under this ignorant foreign mass. These wise, patriotic men not only suffered the humiliation of being under a foreign yoke, but they saw dangers to their country by the misgovernment of this ignorant aristocracy of sex, having absolute control in making laws and constitutions, and in administering every department of government. Now what would we think of a common sense of these men, if, in the valley of disfranchisement they sat singing poems to "Universal" womanhood suffrage, instead of blocking the way by an educational qualification that would be a real benefit to the voters, as well as to the state and increase the chances of the men to secure political equality.? "As self preservation is the first laws of nature," they would say, "we much stop this inflowing tide of foreign women, a dead weight against us. Some of our native born women are in favor of our emancipation, but the foreigners always vote against us." A rapidly increasing class of educated women demand the right of suffrage for their own protection, as well as for the interest of the state, and they have a right to call a half on any further enfranchisement of the ignorant classes, until the better element in society is fully recognized in the government. Our rulers have no excuse for the fears of the ignorant classes of women. They have it in their power to extend the suffrage to the best class, on an educational qualification Begin with them until, in combination with the best class of men, the ignorance, poverty and vice of the remainder are reduced to a minimum. With compulsory education, and the same code of morals for men and women in social life, there would be a grand elevation of both sexes. Galton in his word on heredity, says, "the brain of man is already overweighted with the complicated problem of our present civilization, growing more complicated with every step in progress and unless something be done to lift up the race a few degrees, the most hopeful statesman may look anxiously into the future." And where can he look for this new moral force, but in the education, elevation and emancipation of women -- the mothers of the race. * * * (column 4) [?] not see that the ignorant classes, [?] may need the suffrage more than the enlightened, but just the reverse. When a vessel is in danger on a stormy sea, we need skill and intelligence on the bridge and at the wheel, to protect those who are ignorant of the science of navigation. Just so in this state. We need the highest intelligence and morality to govern a nation with justice and wisdom. * * * The report of the New York state superintendent of immigration, shows that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1894, 288,020 immigrants arrived in this country, of whom 285,631 were landed and 2,389 were debarred from landing because of being under contract to perform labor made previous to their arrival. Of the immigrants landed, 96,000 were destined for New York state, 42,000 for Pennsylvania, 25,000 for Massachusetts, and 22,000 for Illinois, the others being scattered throughout the United States, no other state receiving greater number than 10,000. Immigrants destined for southern states, all told did not exceed 12,000. Of the immigrants over sixteen years of age, 41,000 could not read or write. Think of 41,000 chiefly men, who can neither read nor write, speedily crowned with all the rights, privileges, and immunities of citizenship, while intelligent, educated women, the pillars of our schools and churches, the acknowledged great moral reserved force to promote "good government" are denied the representation accorded the most ignorant class of male foreigners. I am amazed that any woman who loves her country would consent to this risk of our free institutions, or that any women with a proper self respect, would tolerate this degradation of sex, which practically places the best class of citizens in our republic under a foreign yoke. Do those opposed to woman suffrage realize that this 41,000 is multiplied indefinitely every year, or that they exercise direct influence on our legislation? This is an ever increasing class, to which our politicians must cater to be successful. Do those in favor of woman suffrage who demand "manhood", without any educational qualifications, realize that while our question is pending, from year to year, these steadily increasing thousands are a sure and mighty force to join the enemy, already recognized to hold the women subject to this nation subject to a foreign yoke. So long as our fathers, husbands and sons hold party loyalty above their duties to us, women will have no help or protection from them in the battle we are now fighting for liberty, justice and equality. The defeat of the recent amendment in Kansas and New York shows how little we have to hope even from our own nationality. For in Kansas (column 5) hands of women. To this end we must cry "halt" on "male" suffrage" for the present, especially on the immense, increasing foreign element, chiefly male, and all a dead weight against women. In the western states, where amendments to constitutions in favor of women suffrage have been submitted, the foreign vote has been uniformly in the opposition, and the measure defeated. Hence we must put up some barrier to hold this mighty multitude at bay. Time, naturalizations, papers are a large travesty. Who keeps watch of the 300,000 every year landing on our shores? Are all these men so honest that they will not offer their votes until the legal time has expired? But when we say, "you must read and write the English language intelligently," we lengthen the road from the steerage to the polls, many miles, and in the meantime women can press their claims without encountering their worst enemies. * * * Other opponents say: "we are already struggling with the mass of ignorant voters: why ask us to enfranchise the vicious, ignorant woman?" To deprive them of the excuse, we say again, apply the educational qualification. That will hold another class at bay, until the best women are enfranchised, and their efforts united with the best men, have time to make new conditions. The imperative need of the time is woman's influence in public life. It is the heighth of wisdom, as well as the best policy, to protest against any further male accessions. Our opponents of educated suffrage all underestimate the value of the elements of education. The honest laboring man who can read and write intelligently has an immense advantage over one who can not. The lessons we get from life's experience are gilded by those we get from the spelling-book and school readers. Reading and writing are the tools with which the citizen can protect himself and the state. That some people who are educated are vicious, and some who are uneducated are virtuous, is no argument against general education. We must take a broader view, and in national life see if the country where people are educated does not occupy a higher position than the one where the masses are ignorant. * * * To get my standpoint clearly before our opponents, let us suppose that from the foundation of this government, the women had reigned supreme; that the men were not allowed in the schools and colleges, the trades and professions; that they had no rights of property, wages or children, and no credit in the world of work; that they could not make contracts, nor sue or be sued; that by constant petitioning for centuries, they And Charley tripping the light f And singing the songs of [hi?] on old theologies throwing Has been its us all a scenic Though stirring in time an [im?] __________________________________ What a mystery is this Her poets & novelists the threa In prose & rhyme, they gild And name of us tire of the be Annie P.S. Timothy Dexter, a Connecticut sage, But a queer thing in his old age, He inflicted on the American nation, A book without one punctuation, But at the end of the covered six pages, With stops for use at various stages Commas, colons; exclamations!!, Periods. & interrogations?? To place wherever the reader thought best, To give to his essays point & zest, Like Timothy I ask my friends, For all my faults to make amends Wherever my rhymes lack feet & measure, Put them in at your own good pleasure And sentimental too, If you've any to spare, For this occasion so charming & rare. Educated Suffrage "Universal suffrage is the first truth and only basis of a genuine republic." There may be certain restrictions, however, for the exercise of this right, without denying the general principle. We have had, at different times, in the several States, eleven different classes disqualified for the suffrage, namely, idiots, lunatics, criminals, paupers, minors, men who bet on elections, clergymen (by custom not constitutional), those not possessing $250, those who could neither read not write, all black men, and all women black and white. Nine of these are surmountable qualifications, supposed to exist for the best interests of the State, but from which the citizen, with time and effort, may easily escape. By modern scientific appliances, the idiot may develop sufficient intelligence to provide for his own wants and protect his rights. The lunatic may become sane. The criminal may be pardoned and reform. The pauper may become capable of self-support. The minor may become of age. The men who bet on elections may awake to the dishonor of violating the State Constitution, which every good citizen is bound to support. The penniless by thrift may acquire $250. The ignorant may learn to read and write. The clergy can change their profession, or convince the people (as -2- they have done) that an interest in the State in no way conflicts with their holy mission to save the souls of their people. But for the remaining two classes the disqualifications are insurmountable. Neither time not effort can change sex or color; hence such qualifications are indeed opposed to every principle of a true republic. Regulating the suffrage is one thing; denying it absolutely another. It seems to me the proposition for "educated suffrage", made and reiterated by many thoughtful people, is predominantly wise and timely. A law providing that after 1898 those who vote must be able to read and write the English language would be an immense advantage to the individual and the State. With the ignorant and impecunious from the Old World landing on our shores by hundreds every day, we must have some restrictions of the suffrage for our own safety and for their education before they take part in the administration of the government. Every man of them should be compelled to read and write the English language before they are allowed to register themselves as voters. A knowledge merely of the elements of learning would give a man greater aptitude for his duties in all relations of life. What is learned in the primary department in school is the foundation for all that is achieved in the higher classes. If a foreigner can read and write the English language intelligently, he has taken the first step towards understanding the spirit of -3- of our institutions and the duties of citizenship. Instead of repealing the educational law in some states where the manner of ascertaining the qualification is a mere travesty, I would draw the line a little higher, at intelligent reading and writing. To acquire this would take the ignorant foreigner at least two years, so we should be sure that he did not go straight from steerage to the polls. True, we cannot take the suffrage from the ignorant men who already exercise it, not because they prize it so highly, but because no political party dare make the experiment. To extend the suffrage to women on an educational qualification involves no injustice to women, while providing that all men prospectively shall vote on the same basis. Neither can this be called class legislation. A law that would affect alike men and women, black and white, rich and poor, foreign and native, can hardly be called "class legislation." A law that would compel all American citizens to acquire a knowledge of their own language before exercising the suffrage, would surely be a stimulus in the right direction. A law compelling all our foreign citizens to read and write the English language would make our whole people more homogeneous and united. The greatest block in the way of woman's enfranchisement is the fear of the "ignorant vote" being doubled. Wise men see what a strain it is on our institutions to-day, and object to any -4- further experiment in that direction. I do not see that the ignorant classes, as some say, need the suffrage more than the enlightened, but just the reverse. When a vessel is in danger on a stormy sea, we need skill and intelligence on the bridge and at the wheel, to protect those who are ignorant of the science of navigation. Just so in the State: We need the highest intelligence and morality to govern a nation with justice and wisdom. The report of the New York State Superintendent of immigration, shows that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1894, 288,020 immigrants arrived in this country, of whom 285,631 were landed and 2,389 were debarred from landing because of being under contract to perform labor made previous to their arrival. Of the immigrants landed, 96,000 were destined for New York State, 42,000 for Pennsylvania, 25,000 for Massachusetts, and 22,000 for Illinois, the others being scattered throughout the United States, no other State receiving a greater number than 10,000. Immigrants destined for Southern states, all told, did not exceed 12,000. Of the immigrants over sixteen years of age, 41,000 could not read or write. Think of 41,000, chiefly men, who can neither read nor write, speedily crowned with all the rights, privilege, and immunities of citizenship, while intelligent, educated women, the pillars of our schools and churches, the acknowledged great moral reserved force to promote "good government" are denied the representation -5- accorded the most ignorant class of male foreigners! I am amazed that any woman who loves her country would consent to this risk of our free institutions, or that any woman, with a proper self-respect, would tolerate this degradation of sex, which practically places the best class of citizens in our republic under a foreign yoke. Do those opposed to woman suffrage realize that this 41,000 is multiplied indefinitely every year, or that they exercise direct influence on our legislation? This is an ever-increasing class, to which our politicians must cater to be successful. Do those in favor of woman suffrage who demand "manhood suffrage", without any educational qualification, realize that while our question is pending, from year to year, these steadily increasing thousands are a sure and mighty force to join the enemy, already organized, to hold the women of this nation subject to a foreign yoke? So long as our fathers, husbands and sons hold party loyalty above their duties to us, women will have no protection or help from them in the battle we are now fighting for liberty, justice and equality. The defeat of the recent amendment in Kansas and New York shows how little we have to hope even from our own nationality. For in Kansas there are only 15,000 foreign voters, yet the majority against us was over 30,000. There is a growing feeling among thoughtful people that 2/23 -6- the thousands of uneducated foreigners landing every day on our shores should not so soon be admitted to the governing power of this country. The law says they must be naturalized first, and be here a certain length of time; but who keeps the record of their arrival and the prescribed time from the steerage to the polls? In a heated election, politicians care more for party success than for the welfare of the State, and then the "interest vote" buys up the "ignorant vote." There are many good reasons why we should have an educational qualification: 1. It would limit the foreign vote. 2. It would decrease the ignorant native vote by stimulating the rising generation to learning. Children in the street would say to each other: "You better go to school if you hope to vote when you are twenty-one." 3. It would dignify the right of suffrage in the eyes of our people to know that some preparation was necessary for the exercise of so important a duty. An attainable qualification in no way conflicts with our popular theory of "suffrage a national right." On the same principle that we say a man must be twenty-one for a legal voter, so we may say he must read and write the English language with ease and understanding. We cannot take the right from those who already exercise 2/24 -7- it; but we can say that, after 1898, no one shall be permitted to vote unless he can read and write the English language. One of the most patent objections to woman suffrage is the added ignorant and depraved vote that would still further corrupt and embarrass the administration of our government. Thus we are deprived of the influence of educated, virtuous, law-abiding women in our public affairs for fear of the ignorance of the masses. Several of the women who enrolled themselves as remonstrants in our late campaign in New York said they would favor educated woman suffrage, but they thought our ignorant vote was already far too large for the safety and stability of our government. The intelligent, organized laboring men were hampered in the recent strikes by the violent, unreasoning, ignorant voters, whose folly they could not control. It is the interest of the educated working-men, as it is of the women, that this ignorant, worthless class of voters should be speedily diminished. With free schools and compulsory education, there is no excuse in this country for ignorance of the elements of learning. It is not the principle of universal suffrage that I oppose, but ignorant, impecunious, immoral, "manhood suffrage," while sex is made a disqualification for all women. I am opposed to the domination of one sex over the other. It cultivates arrogance in the one, and destroys self-respect in the other. I am opposed to 2/25 -8- the admission of another man, either foreign of native, to the polling-booth, until woman, the greatest factor in civilization, is first enfranchised. An aristocracy of men, composed of all types, shades and degrees of intelligence and ignorance, is not the most desirable substratum for government. To subject intelligent, highly educated, virtuous, honorable women to the behests of such an aristocracy is the height of cruelty and injustice. Our government, religion, and social life are all on a masculine basis. Forces in man which, if complimented by the opposites in women, in moderation, are virtues, in excess are dangerous vices. His courage, his love for exploration and command, his violence, recklessness, love of money, display and strong drink, all unchecked, are responsible, in a measure, for our terrible accidents by land and sea, for our conflagration and defalcations, for all the dishonor unearthed by investigating committees in every department of Government. The remedy for all this is education of the higher, more tender, sentiments in humanity, the mother thought omnipresent in every department of life. Her ideal must be represented in the State, the Church, and the home. This must be done before we can take another step in civilization. The key to all this is the right of suffrage, the ballot in the hands of woman. To this end we must cry "halt" on "male suffrage" for the present, especially on the immense, increasing foreign element, chiefly male, and all a dead weight against women. In the Western 2/26 -9- States, where amendments to constitutions in favor of woman suffrage have been submitted, the foreign vote has been uniformly in the opposition, and the measure defeated. Hence, we must put up some barrier to hold this mighty multitude at bay. Time, naturalization papers, are a mere travesty. Who keeps watch of the 300,000 every year landing on our shores? Are all these men so honest that they will not offer votes until the legal time has expired? But when we say, “You must read and write the English language intelligently, “ we lengthen the road from the steerage to the pools many miles, and in the meantime women can press their claims without encountering their worst enemies. Other opponents say: “We are already struggling with the mass of ignorant voters; why ask us to enfranchise the vicious, ignorant women?” To deprive them of that excuse, we say again, apply the educational qualification. That will hold another class at bay, until the best women are enfranchised, and their efforts, united with the best men, have time to make new conditions. The imperative need of the time is woman’s influence in public life. It is the height of wisdom, as well as the best policy, to protest against any further male accessions. Our opponents of educated suffrage all underestimate the value of the elements of education. The honest laboring man who can read and write intelligently has an immense advantage over one [*2/27*] -10- who cannot. The lessons we get from life’s experiences are gilded by those we get from the spelling-book and school readers. Reading and writing are the tools with which the citizen can protect himself and dignify the State. That some people who are educated are vicious, and some who are uneducated are virtuous, is no argument against general education. We must take a broader view, and in national life see if the country where people are educated does not occupy a higher position than the one where the masses are ignorant. To get my standpoint clearly before our opponents, let us suppose that from the foundation of this government the women had reigned supreme; that the men were not allowed in the schools and colleges, the trades and professions; that they had no rights of property, wages or children, and no credit in the world of work; that they could not make contracts , nor sue or be sued; that, by constant petitioning for centuries, they had rung a few civil rights from their oppressors, but that to all their prayers for political equality the women turned a deaf ear. Through all these years an untold number of ignorant foreign women had been landing on our shores to become a part of the governing power, while the men, of whom a majority were a highly educated, moral class, were mere pariahs, under this ignorant foreign mass. These, wise, patriotic men not only suffered the humiliation of being under a foreign yoke, but they saw dancers to their country by the misgovernment [*2/28*] -11- misgovernment of this ignorant aristocracy of sex, having absolute control in making laws and constitutions, and in administering every department of government. Now what should we think o the common sense of these men, if, in the valley of disenfranchisement, they sat singing paeans to "universal" womanhood suffrage, instead of blocking the way by an educational qualification that would be a real benefit to the voters, as well as to the State, and increase the chances of the men to secure political equality? "As self-preservation is the first law of nature", they would say, "we must stop this inflowing tide of foreign women, a dead weight against us. Some of our native- born women are in favor of our emancipation, but the foreigners always vote against us." A rapidly increasing class of educated women demand the right of suffrage for their own protection, as well as for the best interests of the State, and they have a right to call a halt on any further enfranchisement of the ignorant classes, until the better element in society is fully recognized in the government. Our rulers have no excuse for their fears of the ignorant and vicious classes of women. They have it in their power to extend the suffrage to the best class, on an educational qualification. Begin with them until, in combination with the best class of men, the ignorance, poverty and vice of the remainder are reduced to a minimum. With compulsory education, and the same code of morals for [*2/29*] -12- men and women in social life, there would be a gradual elevation of both sexes. Galton, in his work on Heredity, says: "The brain of man is already over-weighted with the complicated problems of our present civilizations, growing more and more complicated with every step in progress, and unless something be done to lift up the race a few degrees, the most hopeful statesman may well look anxiously into the future." And where can he look for this new, moral force, but in the education, elevation and emancipation of women - the mothers of the race? [*2/30*] Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.