Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/925

 and continuing her appeals for the various rights of women during twenty-five years, after which her addresses were given usually before the committees of the United States Congress. Miss Anthony made her first appearance in Albany in 1853, and her last one before a committee there in 1897. She devoted her strongest efforts to the Legislature of her own State until the demands of national work became so great as to absorb most of her time, and then she, too, transferred her appeals to the legislative body of the United States, although assisting always the work in New York.

Meanwhile other competent laborers had come into the field. In 1873 Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake began her legislative work, and for twenty-five years there were few bills in the interests of women under consideration at Albany which were not managed by her, with an able corps of assistants, chief among whom was Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell.

For fifty years there is an almost unbroken record of the efforts of women to secure equality of rights from the Legislature of New York, and they have succeeded to the extent that now, with the exception of the statute providing for dower and curtesy, but few serious discriminations exist against women in the laws, although the injustice of disfranchisement has been mitigated in only a slight degree.

When the Legislature assembled on Jan. 1, 1884, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Howell were at hand to further the interests of the pending bill "to prohibit disfranchisement on account of sex." On March 13 a hearing was held in the Assembly Chamber before the Judiciary Committee and a large audience. The speakers were Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert of Illinois and Mrs. Helen M. Gougar of Indiana, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Caroline Gilkey Rogers. On May 8, after an exciting debate, the bill was defeated — 57 ayes, 62 noes.

The bill of 1885 was drawn by Mrs. Blake and was accompanied by a strong written argument, with many court decisions to show that it was within the power of the Legislature itself to protect all citizens from disfranchisement. This was presented by Gen. James W. Husted, speaker of the House. Two hearings