. Julia Smith Parker, of
Glastonbury, Conn.; Mrs. Nancy R. Allen, of Iowa; Miss Susan
B. Anthony, of New York; Mrs. Sara A. Spencer, of the city of
Washington, and others, delegates to the twelfth Washington
convention of the National Woman-Suffrage Association, held
January 2l and 22, 1880.

The CHAIRMAN. Several members of the committee are unable to
be here. Mr. Lamar is detained at his home in Mississippi by
sickness; Mr. Carpenter is confined to his room by sickness; Mr.
Conkling has been unwell; I do not know how he is this morning;
and Mr. Garland is chairman of the Committee on Territories, which
has a meeting this morning that he could not omit to attend. I do
not think we are likely to have any more members of the committee
than are here now, and we will hear you, ladies.

REMARKS BY MRS. ZERELDA G. WALLACE, OF INDIANA.

Mrs. WALLACE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, it is
scarcely necessary to recite that there is not an effect without a
cause. Therefore it would be well for the statesmen of this nation
to ask themselves the question, what has brought the women from
all parts of this nation to the capital at this time: the wives
and mothers, and sisters; the home-loving, law-abiding women? What
has been the strong motive that has taken us away from the quiet
and comfort of our own homes and brought us before you to-day? As
an answer partly to that question, I will read an extract from a
speech made by one of Indiana's statesmen, and probably if I tell
you his name his sentiments may have some weight with you. He
found out by experience and gave us the benefit of his experience,
and it is what we are rapidly learning:

"You can go to meetings; you can vote resolutions; you can attend
great demonstrations on the street; but, after all, the only
occasion where the American citizen expresses his acts, his
opinion, and his power is at the ballot-box; and that little
ballot that he drops in there is the written sentiment of the
times, and it is the power that he has as a citizen of this great
Republic."

That is the reason why we are here; that is the reason why we want
to vote. We are no seditious women, clamoring for any peculiar
rights, but we are patient women. It is not the woman question
that brings us before you to-day; it is the human q