ady had been
enfranchised, I briefly submitted my views on this subject, which
I now ask the Secretary to read.

The Secretary read as follows: " ... I do not believe the
proposition so often asserted that suffrage is a political
privilege only, and not a natural right. It is regulated by the
constitution and laws of a State, I grant, but it needs no
argument to show that a constitution and laws adopted and enacted
by a fragment only of the whole body of the people, but binding
alike on all, are a usurpation of the powers of government.

"Government is but organized society. Whatever its form, it has
its origin in the necessities of mankind and is indispensable for
the maintenance of civilized society. It is essential to every
government that it should represent the supreme power of the
State, and be capable of subjecting the will of its individual
citizens to its authority. Such a government can derive its just
powers only from the consent of the governed, and can be
established only under a fundamental law which is self-imposed.
Every person of suitable age and discretion who is to be subject
to such a government has, in my judgment, a natural right to
participate in its formation. It is a significant fact that,
should Congress pass this bill and authorize the people of
Washington Territory to frame a State constitution and organize a
State government, the fundamental law of the State would be made
by all the citizens who were to be subject to it, and not by
one-half of them. And we shall witness the spectacle of a State
government founded in accordance with the principles of equality,
and have a State at last with a truly republican form of
government.[51]

"The fathers of the republic enunciated the doctrine 'that all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' It is strange that any one
in this enlightened age should be found to contend that this
declaration is true only of men, and that a man is endowed by his
Creator with inalienable rights not possessed by a woman. The
lamented Lincoln immortalized the expression that ours is a
government 'of the people, by the people and for the people,' and
yet it is far