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128. 12 May 1899: SBA to Rachel Foster Avery
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^ 291 being a southerner with strong antislavery views. Laura Clay was reported to have “warmly attacked the resolution as an insult to Southern white women.” Even while defending herself and protesting ECS’s statement, Clay repeated her view that the resolution “was an injudicious introduction of the race question into a woman suffrage convention.”She explained to the press further “that Mrs.Stanton and I have differed upon the propriety of introducing extraneous subjects in the woman suffrage conventions. I suppose it is my firm stand on such points that has offended her.” (ANB; Woman’s Journal, 20 May 1899; New York Tribune, 3, 9 May 1899. See also Papers 5.) ••••••••• 128 • SBA to Rachel Foster Avery Rochester, N.Y., May 12th, 1899. My dear Rachel: Here is a letter just received from London,from which you will see that it is a fixed fact that the great Woman Suffrage meeting has been abandoned, and that I am simply to speak in a sectional meeting, handed over to the Suffrage Societies to manage. 1 I have received no other notice about it; quite likely letters are on the way.It seems settled that I am desired to speak on the historical aspect of Woman Suffrage; can you not give me what you think would be the points for such a story, for it will simply be a story of our work from the beginning. Please return the letter. I have seen quite a number of the friends here about Mrs. Sewall’s 2 Woman’s Peace Meeting on Monday,and find it will be an impossible thing to accomplish the feat. 3 The time is too short and in addition to that all the Ministers of our city several weeks ago preached sermons upon the Czar’s Proclamation and took rising votes of their congregations in favor of Peace and the Arbitration Conference at the head, so that the job seems to have been pretty well executed here before hand. 4 Sister Mary went to New York yesterday so as to be ready to sail tomorrow morning. 5 Miss Shaw came home with me from Chicago; we arrived Wednesday morning at three o’clock, and she left yesterday afternoon to speak last night and to-night and return to Philadelphia to-morrow. 6 I have Harriet’s 7 letter to the members of the business committee. The one vital point of holding our Convention in Washington is not mentioned, 3 may 1899 292 & and that is the securing of Hearings before the Congressional Committees, and having before them in person women representing the several different States of the Union. If we did not desire to secure Congressional action in the adoption of a constitutional amendment resolution,we might consider, as she seems to do, nothing but the difference in the expenses of the delegates , of the halls, hotels, and the numbers attending our meetings. But I suppose it will be impossible to make any considerable number of our young women comprehend the far reaching importance of our Hearings before the committees, of the publication of the speeches by the Government , and the sending out of the speeches under the frank of the Members to the friends in the several States of the Union.I have always believed,and never more strongly than now, that the educational work done by those Hearings was farther reaching and did quite as much good work in the rural districts as the holding of meetings in each, and whatever is the value and extent of such education,it is vastly less expensive than paying the traveling expenses and salaries of 5th rate speakers to carry the word to the people there. At any rate I hope you will plan to make the convention of 1900 a splendid old time object lesson to the present generation of workers.Converting a few people in a given locality is good for a little circle, but when we can send out a hundred thousand copies of the Hearing Speeches,such as were made in 1898 and will be made in 1900 to hundreds of thousand people all over the United States, under the frank of Senators and Congressmen, in Governmental envelopes,and with the headings above the Speeches showing that they were made before Congressional Committees composed of the ablest men in the House and Senate they certainly carry with the good word the political weight of Governmental recognition. I know you appreciate this method of education and agitation, therefore...