property, from the
tyranny of taxation?

We propose no new theories. We simply ask that you secure to ALL
the practical application of the immutable principles of our
government, without distinction of race, color or sex. And we
urge our demand _now_, because you have the opportunity and the
power to take this onward step in legislation. The nations of the
earth stand watching and waiting to see if our Revolutionary
idea, "all men are created equal," can be realized in government.
Crush not, we pray you, the million hopes that hang on our
success. Peril not another bloody war. Men and parties must pass
away, but justice is eternal. And they only who work in harmony
with its laws are immortal. All who have carefully noted the
proceedings of this Congress, and contrasted your speeches with
those made under the old _regime_ of slavery, must have seen the
added power and eloquence that greater freedom gives. But still
you propose no action on your grand ideas. Your Joint
Resolutions, your Reconstruction Reports, do not reflect your
highest thought. The constitution, in basing representation on
"respective numbers," covers a broader ground than any you have
yet proposed. Is not the only amendment needed to Article 1st,
Section 3d, to strike out the exceptions which follow "respective
numbers?" And is it not your duty, by securing a republican form
of government to every State, to see that these "respective
numbers" are made up of enfranchised citizens? Thus bringing your
legislation up to the Constitution--not the Constitution down to
your party possibilities!! The only tenable ground of
representation is UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE, as it is only through
Universal Suffrage that the principle of "Equal Rights to All"
can be realized. All prohibitions based on race, color, sex,
property, or education, are violations of the republican idea;
and the various qualifications now proposed are but so many
plausible pretexts to debar new classes from the ballot-box. The
limitations of property and intelligence, though unfair, can be
met; as with freedom must come the repeal of statute-laws that
deny schools and wages to the negro. So time makes him a voter.
But color and sex! Neither time nor statutes can make black
white, or woman man! You assume to be the re