OGDEN CITY, March 13, 1895.

To the Hon. President and Members of the Constitutional Convention of Utah:

GENTLEMEN: We, the undersigned delegates in behalf of the women of Ogden City, and Weber County, beg most respectfully to memorialize your honorable body and ask that the action of your committee on election and suffrage in reporting favorably on the right of suffrage and equal rights being

granted to the women of Utah, be sustained, and that the article adopted by said committee be incorporated in the Constitution by the unanimous vote of the Convention.

Both political parties, in their declaration of principles last fall pledged themselves to grant full suffrage to women, and we feel assured that you will honor the pledge thus made.

Our great Creator has endowed women with the same attributes and power of mind possessed by man, hence, her right to equal privileges and opportunities under the laws and in the governments of the nation of which she is a member. Woman has been denied her rights in the past, but toward the close of the nineteenth century, her rights, her merits and worth are being better understood and appreciated, which is evidenced by the fact of the suffrage being granted her in many states of the Union as well as in many parts of Europe. And it will, beyond all question, reflect credit and honor {143} upon the framers of the Constitution to provide that the mother, wife and sister shall have a voice in the conduct of the affairs of the State of Utah, equal to father, husband and brother.

We claim we are loyal to the government and our country; we love and honor its flag and its Constitution. Give us an extended opportunity to demonstrate and furnish proof that our professions are sincere and true.

We claim a share and an interest in all the greatness and glory our country represents.

A few men argue, but their numbers are diminishing every year, that politics are corrupt and that women will be defiled and injured by engaging in them. Experience in Wyoming and other states does not sustain this view, but, on the contrary it is claimed that there is less drunkenness, immorality, less vice and crime, and that there are fewer criminals according to prison records, through the presence and influence of women in politics, than formerly, and that her efforts and example in the paths of sobriety and honor, tend to purify the political atmosphere, to elevate man and not to lower woman.

With these facts briefly referred to, before you, gentlemen, we feel that the most careful and scrupulous, and even the somewhat credulous, will do no violence to their feelings or any harm, but good to their state and country to grant our prayer, while we are thoroughly satisfied that the great majority of your honorable body will gladly and cheerfully do honor to the women of Utah by keeping inviolate the pledges of your respective parties.

Yours most sincerely and respectfully,

MRS. JENNIE E. NELSON,

MRS. KATE R. HILLIARD,

MRS. WM. DRIVER,

MRS. L. R. RHODES,

MRS. E. G. STANFORD.

• Memorial: Weber County Ladies (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - CREATE - e692051) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]
  • Suspend the Rules (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - PROCEDURE - e692052) [view current proposal at this moment]
    • None (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - DEBATE_MOTION - e692053) [view current proposal at this moment]
    • None (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - REJECT_PROPOSAL - e692067) [view current proposal at this moment]
  • None (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - DEBATE_PROPOSAL - e692065) [view current proposal at this moment]
  • Evans' renewed motion (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - PROCEDURE - e692066) [view current proposal at this moment]
    • None (introduced on 1895-03-14 14:00:00 - ADOPT_PROPOSAL - e692068) [view current proposal at this moment]