ded knees, I plead at the throne of God for the
salvation of souls.

I know too well the suffering that might be alleviated, the
terrible wrongs that might be righted, the sins that might be
punished, could the moral power of the women of our land be
utilized--could it be brought to bear on those great questions
which affect so vitally the welfare of society. The gigantic evil
of intemperance is prostrating the finest powers of our country
and threatening the life of social purity; it is in truth the
fell destroyer of peace, virtue and domestic and national safety,
and upon the unoffending the blow falls with the greatest weight.
Why should not they who suffer the most deeply through this evil,
be authorized before the law of the land to protect themselves
and their loved ones from its fearful ravages? Is it other than
simple justice which I ask for them? I have listened to too many
sad stories from heart-broken wives and mothers not to know that
the demand which the women of the land make in this matter comes
not from love of power, is not prompted by false ambition,
springs not from unwomanly aspirations, but does come from a
direful need of self-protection and an earnest desire to protect
those dearer than life itself.

Gentlemen of the Judiciary Committee, in the same spirit in which
I seek the aid of Heaven in my endeavor to promote the spiritual
welfare of mankind, I now and here seek your aid in promoting the
highest moral welfare of every man, woman and child. This you
will do in giving your vote and influence for the equality of
women before the law, and as you thus confer this new power upon
the women of our land, like the bread cast upon the waters, it
shall come to you in a higher, nobler type of womanhood, in
sweeter homes, in purer social life, in all that contributes to
the welfare of the individual and the state.

MRS. MARY B. CLAY (Ky.): We do not come here to plead as
individual women with individual men, but as a subject class with
a ruling class; nor do we come as suffering individuals--though
God knows some of us might do that with propriety--but as the
suffering millions whom we represent....

We are born of the same parents as men and raised in the same
family. We are possessed of the same loves and animosities