y
upon woman--those which rob her of her name, her earnings, her
property, her children, her person; also, the legal papers in the
case of Susan B. Anthony, who was tried and fined for seeking to
give consent to the laws which governed her; and the decision of
Mr. Justice Miller (Chief-Justice Chase dissenting) in the case of
Myra Bradwell, denying national protection for woman's civil
rights; and the later decision of Chief-Justice Waite of the
Supreme Court against Virginia L. Minor, denying to women national
protection for their political rights, decisions in favor of
state-rights which imperil the liberties not only of all women, but
of every white man in the nation.

Woman's most fitting contributions to the centennial exposition
would have been these protests, laws and decisions which show her
political slavery. But all this was left for rooms outside of the
centennial grounds, upon Chestnut street, where the National Woman
Suffrage Association hoisted its flag, made its protests, and wrote
the Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States.

To many thoughtful people it seemed captious and unreasonable for
women to complain of injustice in this free land, amidst such
universal rejoicings. When the majority of women are seemingly
happy, it is natural to suppose that the discontent of the minority
is the result of their unfortunate individual idiosyncrasies, and
not of adverse influences in their established conditions.

But the history of the world shows that the vast majority in every
generation passively accept the conditions into which they are
born, while those who demand larger liberties are ever a small,
ostracised minority whose claims are ridiculed and ignored. From
our stand-point we honor the Chinese women who claim the right to
their feet and powers of locomotion, the Hindoo widows who refuse
to ascend the funeral pyre of their husbands, the Turkish women who
throw off their masks and veils and leave the harem, the Mormon
women who abjure their faith and demand monogamic relations; why
not equally honor the intelligent minority of American women who
protest against the artificial disabilities by which their freedom
is limited and their development arrested? That only a few under
any circumstances protest against the injustice of long established
laws and customs does not disprove the fact of the oppressions,
while the satisfaction of the many, if real, only proves their
apathy and deeper d