d for by a
majority of the citizens of the place.

Mr. SHERMAN moved a suspension of the rules to admit of the
presentation of the petition.

Mr. MERRITT objected, but, by a decided vote, the rules were
suspended, and the petition was received and read.

Mr. SHERMAN moved that Mrs. Prof. S. M. D. Fry of Wesleyan
University of Bloomington, be invited to address the House
upon the subject of the petition.

Mr. HERRINGTON objected to the obtrusion of such trifling
matter upon the House, which had business to do. It was well
enough to let the petition be received, but he wanted nobody
to be allowed to interfere with the business of the House.
Referring to some forty or fifty ladies of the Union who had
been admitted to the floor of the House, he wanted to know
by what authority persons not entitled to the privilege of
the floor had been admitted. He insisted on his prerogative
as a member, and asked that the floor and lobbies be cleared
of all persons not entitled to the privilege of the House.

According to the Chicago _Tribune_, this speech of
Herrington created a slight sensation, among the ladies
especially, but Mr. Herrington's demand was ignored, and a
recess of thirty minutes was taken to allow Mrs. Fry to
address the House in support of the petition, which she did
in a speech put in very telling phrases. At its conclusion,
some of the members opposed to temperance legislation,
signalized their ill-breeding, to say the least, by derisive
yells for Mr. Herrington and others to answer Mrs. Fry.
Presently the hall was resonant with yells and cheers,
converting it into a a very babel, and the hubbub was kept
up until, at the expiration of the half-hour recess, Speaker
Shaw called "order" and the House immediately adjourned.

If any body of men bearing a petition of 7,000 voting men,
had gone to the same legislature, and by courtesy been
admitted to speak for their petition, no member would have
dared to insult them. It is because they had no recognized
political rights that these women were insulted. Claim your
right, ladies, to be equal members of the