of the orphan children that fill our pauper homes are the children
of drunken parents; when we find that after a certain age the
daughters of those fathers who were made paupers and drunkards by
the approbation and sanction and under the seal of the Government,
go to supply our houses of prostitution, and when we find that
the sons of these fathers go to fill up our jails and our
penitentiaries, and that the sober, law-abiding men, the
pains-taking, economical, and many of them widowed wives of this
nation have to pay taxes and bear the expenses incurred by such
legislation, do you wonder, gentlemen, that we at least want to
try our hand and see what we can do?
We may not be able to bring about that Utopian form of government
which we all desire, but we can at least make an effort. Under our
form of government the ballot is our right; it is just and proper.
When you debate about the expediency of any matter you have no
right to say that it is inexpedient to do right. Do right and
leave the result to God. You will have to decide between one
of two things: either you have no claim under our form of
Constitution for the privileges which you enjoy, or you will have
to say that we are neither citizens nor persons.
Realizing this fact, and the deep interest that we take in the
successful issue of this experiment that humanity is making for
self-government, and realizing the fact that the ballot never can
be given to us under more favorable circumstances, and believing
that here on this continent is to be wrought out the great problem
of man's ability to govern himself--and when I say man I use the
word in the generic sense--that humanity here is to work out
the great problems of self-government and development, and
recognizing, as I said a few minutes ago, that we are one-half of
the great whole, we feel that we ought to be heard when we come
before you and make the plea that we make to-day.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191