al. With
his financial backing, they not only had the opportunity of spreading
their message in all the principal cities on their way back to New
York, but had the promise of a paper, now so desperately needed when
other news channels were closed to them. That Train was eccentric they
agreed, and they also admitted that possibly some of his financial
theories were unsound. They believed he was ahead of his time when he
advocated the eight-hour day and the abolition of standing armies; but
at least he looked forward, not backward. Susan had found him to be a
man of high principles. She had heard him "make speeches on woman's
suffrage that could be equalled only by John B. Gough,"[204] the
well-known temperance crusader. Train's radical ideas did not disturb
her. Her association with antislavery extremists prior to the Civil
War had made her impervious to the criticism and accusations of
conservatives. She was aware that on this proposed lecture tour Train
probably wanted to make use of her executive ability and of Mrs.
Stanton's popularity as a speaker; but on the other hand, his
generosity to them was beyond anything they had ever experienced.

For Susan there was only one choice--to work for woman suffrage with
the financial backing of Train. Mrs. Stanton agreed, and as she
expressed it, "I have always found that when we see eye to eye, we are
sure to be right, and when we pull together we are strong.... I take
my beloved Susan's judgment against the world."[205]

* * * * *

Traveling homeward with George Francis Train, Susan and Mrs. Stanton
spoke in Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Buffalo, Rochester, Boston, Hartford, and other important cities where
they drew large crowds, which had never before listened to a
discussion of woman suffrage. Most of their old friends among the
suffragists and abolitionists shunned them, for they had been warned
against this folly by their colleagues in the East. The lively
meetings rated plenty of publicity, complimentary in the Democratic
papers but sarcastic and hostile in the Republican press. Usually
"Woman Suffrage" got the headlines, but sometimes it was "Woman
Suffrage and Greenbacks" or "Train for President." Handbills, the
printing of which Susan supervised, scattered Train's rhymes and
epigrams far and wide and carried a notice that the proceeds of all
meetings would be turned over to the woman's rights cause. Susan als