I knew there wuz a hundred thousand of ’em, if there wuz one. And I sez, “Hain’t the condition of your poor whites here in the South about as bad as the negroes, mentally and morally and physically?” “Well, yes,” he admitted that it wuz. “But,” sez he, “that don’t alter the dangerous state of affairs. The interests of a community cannot be placed in the hands of an ignorant, vicious rabble without terrible peril and danger. And when it is too late the country will awake to this truth.” His axent wuz very skairful, and reproachful, and rebukin’, and despairin’, and everything. And so, thinkses I, I will ventilate some of them views that had gone through my mind when I first begin to muse on the Race Problem, before I had heard so much of Victor and Genieve’s talk and Cousin John Richards’es. Thinkses I, “It won’t do no hurt to promulgate ’em anyway,” for I truly felt that if they wouldn’t do no good, they wouldn’t be apt to do no hurt. And then, when there is a big conundrum gin out to a individual or a nation, it stands to reason that there must be more than one answer to it—or, that is, folks will try to answer it in more than fifty ways. And anyway, this wuz part of one answer to the conundrum, though folks might be dubersome of its bein’ the right one; anyway, I sez, sez I: “Hain’t your Southern wimmen of the higher classes high-minded and educated ladies?” “Yes, God bless them,” sez he, “they are as pure, and good, and high minded as angels; and to think of these lofty-souled, spiritual creatures being under the rule of these beasts of burden.” (Thinkses I, no thanks to him if they are good and pure, the mean, miserable snipe.) But I sez, “If these wimmen are so good and noble, of course you wouldn’t be afraid to trust ’em. Why not let ’em vote, why not have a educated, moral vote, that would take the power out of the hands of the low and vile, black and white, and place it in the hands of the educated and moral, and whether in this country or another” (sez I, as I thought to myself of Victor’s plan), “whether in this Republic or a new colony, it would be a right way, a safe way.” “I don’t believe in women voting,” sez Col. Seybert, with a strong, witherin’ emphasis. “I don’t believe in it—and they don’t; you couldn’t get our women to vote.” “How do you know they wouldn’t? You say they are high-minded and pure as angels. Now, an angel, if she see that the best good of the greatest number depended on her votin’, she would jest lift her wings right up and sail off to the pole and vote. I believe it as much as I believe I am alive. “If the wimmen of the South are as lofty principled as you say they are, and they wuz convinced that they could rescue their beloved land from danger by sacrificin’ their own feelin’s if necessary, to keep the balance of power in the educated classes, why, they would walk up and vote. I believe it jest as much as I believe I am standin’ here.