Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/98

 was opened with prayer by the Rev. R. Wilkinson, in which he said: "Almighty God, Thou hast always been pleased with consecration. We pray Thee to look down upon these people gathered here—the women whose lives have been devoted to a great cause. Send forth Thy light so that they may achieve still more for Thee. In this work, men and women, animated with a noble purpose, are combining their forces to bring about the reign of righteousness and when that comes it will take all that both can do to eradicate the great evils which men have already wrought.God bless this organization and may the realization of its hopes be not far off! God bless the women engaged in this work! God knows that if this city has in any way been lifted up, it has been through the efforts of noble women. God bless them! We want to feel that men and women are actuated by righteousness and are working together to bring about its social and political regeneration."

Dr. Cora Smith Eaton (Minn.) thus began her address, Westward Ho: "The geologists tell us that Louisiana and her sister State Mississippi are built up of the particles of earth brought down by the great river through the Mississippi valley," and after a picturesque description she said: "Coming from the source of this river, travelling 1,500 miles to its mouth, I find myself still on my native soil and I feel at home; so all who have joined me on the way down the valley claim kinship with you of New Orleans." She then paid tribute to the State and its people and closed: "O, men of the South, your saviour is the southern woman! Put into her hand the ballot of full enfranchisement, like that you carry in your own hand on election day. Her interests are identical with your own and she will hold your ideals sacred even more loyally than you do yourselves." Mr. Blackwell gave one of his customary logical and carefully reasoned addresses on Domestic Imperialism.

The Rev. Marie Jenney (Iowa) discussed the question Why Women do Not Vote. She compared them to some wild ducks that were born in a farmyard and as they were stepping timidly about the farmer said: "Them ducks can fly, they can fly miles, but they don't know it." "One reason why women do not vote," she said, '"is the entire self-effacement of many, and another is