MR. HINCKLEY then extended the following words of welcome to those present:

I salute the little company gathered here with the kind of a greeting this hour always brings. With what feelings of pathos, veneration and love we always gather here. To an unsympathetic observer there is here only a few feet of ground, and a few stones in yonder cemetery. But to us who have had such fond associations here, the atmosphere has the high moral tone of a sacred shrine to which we return year after year. This spot is always associated with many dear ones whom we have met here, and whom we can never again see in the body.

Words, therefore, cannot do justice to the feelings which the time and place suggest. Then, too, the discussions which we have had here make the place one to which we are always glad to think of returning. We gather this year to exchange again our greetings and opinions. Let us ever keep Longwood sacred for what it has been, what it is, and what it may yet be.

The business of the morning was then taken up.

On motion from the floor the chair appointed a committee of three to nominate officers for the ensuing year, and to audit the treasurer's account. This committee consisted of BENJ. KIRK, ANNA Cox and SALLIE C. TAYLOR.

A business committee was appointed as follows: HENRY S. KENT, MARY F. EASTMAN, LUNDY KENT, SALLIE P. WILSON, JONATHAN TRAVILLA. It was also understood that the clerks should be ex-officio members of this committee. A motion from H. S. KENT that this committee be empowered to add to its number as it saw fit, was carried.

HENRY S. KENT said: A custom existed here years ago which I should again like to introduce. It was that of offering, at the opening of each session, a brief resolution on the subject to be considered at that session. For instance we are this morning to consider "Suffrage Reform" and when the time arrives I have a resolution which I should like to offer on the subject.

SAMUEL PENNOCK said: Of late years it has been our cus

tom to have the business' committee formulate such resolutions. As the persons who come here to address us usually have clear minds on their respective subjects we usually look to them for clear explanations.

On motion of HENRY S. KENT the 10 minute rule for speakers other than invited guests was adopted.

A motion was carried that the sessions of the meeting extend from 10 to 12 in the morning and from 2 until 4 in the afternoon.

HENRY S. KENT: Not as chairman of the committee but as an individual I offer the following resolution on Suffrage, the question before us this morning.

RESOLUTION ON SUFFRAGE.

It is the sense of this meeting that whereas the exercise of the elective franchise is a grant of the State to the properly qualified citizen and of necessity subject to limitations which should be fixed in accord with reason and justice, which must exclude the accident of sex, color or nationality from the account, and consider only virtue and intelligence as the essential requisites to maintain good popular government; therefore our demand should be the exclusion of crime and ignorance from the exercise of the franchise and every citizen be required to give evidence that he or she understands at least the rudiments of free government before the responsibility of the franchise can be safely entrusted to him.

MARY F. EASTMAN, of Lowell, Mass., opening the discussion said: "My friends, I am so thoroughly ingrained with suffrage that it is hard for me to single out any particular line of thought in that direction. It is far easier to talk to sinners than to saints, or in other words, if no one here believed in suffrage, I should have a great deal to say, but as I am sure you are all as earnest as I in this cause, I can tell you little that is new.

People are prone to accept laws, no matter how obnoxious, simply because they have been formally written down. As the State is simply a creature of the people I cannot help

thinking there is something more fundamental than the State. Let us revert to the beginning of government. People exist before any government is needed. It is a necessity of the people for their mutual protection, and they should not lose sight of the fact that government was created by them and is subject to their will. Now in the formation of government there have been many of us left out first and last, and we should see to it that we get in, for we too are people and should have a voice in the laws which govern us. Looking back we see the dominance of one ruling power over all the rest, this power being gained by physical prowess. Finally we see the people disputing this right and then came the limited monarchy.

When our ancestors declared that "all men are created free and equal," I believe they honestly thought they were including all the people, but we women were left out entirely. When Sara Bernhardt, the noted actress, was here she was so fragile that the papers all had jokes about it. A story told about her said that once in New York two friends walked along the street when one turned to the other and asked if he would like to see Sara Bernhardt. Upon answering in the affirmative he was told that she was in a certain carriage standing near by. He looked but turning to his friend said "Why I see nothing," "Oh well that is she." So now, or at least a very few centuries ago, when you saw absolutely nothing you could assure yourself that it was we.

We see that our Puritan ancestors wished justice and virtue to rule the country, but they forgot us women entirely. When they said "the world belongs to saints and we are they” they meant "the churchmen" and unless you belonged to the church you should do but little. Those outside the church complained when the worthless churchmen were thrown out among them and said it could not be. Indians were left out because they had been conquered, but the negroes got in. Finally women began to realize their own importance and asked if they too could not have a voice in the laws by which they were governed.

Back of all developed intelligence and all virtue lies an

inherent right of self expression. Primarily we are creatures far from a high state of development. It is this imperfection and selfishness which naturally causes us to trample on other people's rights, and renders government necessary. I think, however, that we have a sense of personal rights, and it reaches higher development by cultivation. In our highest civilization, we do not think of intruding on each other. If I come to your community you allow me to come under your laws, which of course I must obey. Government is built up by our saying what each shall do. Suppose there are six of us living together and we form all the society of which we have any knowledge. Two of us have differences and we agree to let Mr. Jones, a cool headed man, settle the matter for us. Now this was the start of the government which has grown into the complicated affair by which we are ruled.

When the Pilgrim Fathers, that honorable band which stood for liberty and justice, most of them being graduates of colleges of the Old World, came to this country they actually did not recognize the wives they brought with them. For centuries afterward too it was almost impossible for girls to obtain any learning. Finally some old woman who happened to know how to read and write established a day school where girls were taught the ancient catechism and proper inodes of behavior. The men wanted the souls of the women to be saved, but further than this they seemed to care very little for them except for their services. The products of the labor of women were taken to support Harvard where the men were taught classics, ancient language, etc.

Newburyport and Northampton had discussions in their town meetings as to whether girls should be admitted with the boys to the town schools. In the former town it was decided that the girls should be allowed the use of the school house in the mornings for one hour before the boys came, and also in the evenings after the boys had gone home. Even this however was abolished after a time.

I show you this that you may see how easy it is for one class to entirely forget another. Presumably I am a free indi

vidual and if laws to govern me are to be made, I want a voice in those laws.

When men now say that they are the controlling power we women are challenging them for we have been slowly climbing upward into colleges and are becoming quite as well educated as they. Along the money making lines too we are challenging you, having been admitted to the professions.

It has just been my privilege to come from Chicago; my first interest there was not the fair but to attend the women's meeting being held there. These meetings were for the consideration of the interests of women, and, notwithstanding the counter attractions of the fair, people flocked to these meetings in such numbers that it was well nigh impossible to gain admittance to the spacious halls, but what you heard when admission was obtained much more than repaid the slight inconvenience.

I once knew in this country a lady from Finland. She told me that when on a visit to her native country she had received a call from one of the peasants. He came into her presence with bowed head and every humility of attitude, but gaining courage told her that he had learned she had been to America. "And is it true" he asked, "that every man there has a say in the making of the laws?" Receiving an affirmative answer, with bowed head he exclaimed, "Thank God I have seen the woman who has seen the country where every person has a voice in the government!" "I stood humiliated," she told me, but did not tell him that one-half of the most virtuous people were left out. Can anything be more humiliating? Suppose my father and mother start out in life just married. They struggle for each other's protection and happiness, and although she may be just as hard working and earn just as much as he, yet law says all shall belong to him and with it he can do whatsoever he chooses regardless of her wishes.

I have no great admiration for a man who gives his money after his death. I want to know what he does with it while living.