Valley Spirit

The last annual message of President Johnson, which we publish to-day, will of course receive an attentive perusal from all our readers. The first part of it gave so much offence to the dignified statesmen who compose the Radical majority in the United States Senate, that one of them moved to dispense with the further reading of it, and pending this motion the Senate adjourned. In the House a bitter discussion followed its reading, the Radicals denouncing it savagely. Its offence is that it shows up in strong colors the iniquities of Radical legislation. It insults the wise men in Congress by telling them the most unpalatable truths. The language is strong--unusually so for a President's message--but it ill becomes the Radicals in Congress to complain of it, or to pretend that it is offensive to their dignity since every one of them has often used language far more insulting to the President.

That portion of the message which is devoted to the public debt will be read with the greatest interest. All will agree with the President that "the idea that such a debt is to become permanent should be at all times discarded," but all will not agree to the mode he suggests for getting rid of it.

We do not think it worth while to go over the message in detail. Every man will read it for himself, and approve or condemn as his judgment may dictate. Upon such points of it as may give rise to controversy, we may hereafter have occasion to express our views.

A lady of our acquaintance remarked to us a few days ago, "whenever a majority of the women of this country wish to vote, they will vote." We imagine that there is a great deal of truth in this remark. Since the day when Eve tempted Adam and prevailed upon him to eat of the forbidden fruit, women's influence over the sterner sex has been wonderful. She has ruled him, either with a rod of iron or with the voice of tender entreaty. And she has always been conscious of her power. She has measured her strength and is perfectly acquainted with the extent of her influence. What she wills to do, she does. What she wills to have done, is done. Boast as the lord of creation may and does, of his superior wisdom and sounder judgment, still he finds himself ruled by a woman. Delilah wrung from a reluctant Samson the secret of his great strength and he soon awoke to find himself shorn of his power. Antony gave up a kingdom on account of his fatal attachment to Cleopatra.

The strong-minded women of our day have mistaken the way to advance the cause of woman's rights.

They are all, or nearly all, old maids. They claim great credit for themselves because they have never yielded to the emotion which, they allege, makes woman a slave. Those of them who have been joined in the hands of matrimony are the wives of hen-pecked husbands who have never dared to assert their marital rights. These women mount the rostrum and loudly and eloquently attempt to persuade men of the right of women to take part in the administration of government.

A more efficient mode of proceeding would be for them all to get married and each one undertake to convince her own husband or, if they will not do that, they ought to spend their time in convincing those of their own sex of the justice and propriety of their proposition, and whenever they secure a majority there, then "advance the whole line" upon their pliable partners of the masculine gender. An effort of this kind would be sure to result in victory because there is scarcely any woman who does not have her own way. Imagine a devoted wife throwing her arms around her admiring husband's neck and exclaiming "dear husband, won't you vote to allow me to vote"? Why, it would be irresistible. Female suffrage would soon be an accomplished fact.

Let the New England strongminded woman, therefore, change their base and begin to fight on another line. They have made no progress, and will make none as long as they only use weapons drawn from the armory of the intellect. They must have recourse to those more effective weapons by which hearts are stirred. They must enlist in their behalf the sympathies of all womankind and then arrange for a united attack.

The Democrats would very quickly come to the conclusion that if the negroes must vote, it would be better by far to have women vote also, for the reason that the good influence of the latter might counteract the evil influence of the former. They would vote therefore for female suffrage at once.--The wives of Radical husbands would be expected to make a vigorous effort to control their votes. They could say to them with striking effect, "my dear, you have just sided in giving the negro the right of suffrage. Don't you consider me as capable and as much entitled to vote as he is"? They could point to Kansas and say, "your party is a disgrace to the nation. It has shown to the world that it places a higher estimate upon the negro than upon woman. Whilst the majority there against negro suffrage was 8938, the majority against female suffrage was 10,787." How could their Radical husbands hold out against such an argument as this?

If women wish to vote, that is the majority of them, let them fix the time when they desire to begin and they can easily secure the right. If the husbands are mulish and will not be convinced, let the dear creatures hint at a dissolution of the bonds of matrimony, and they will soon see the enemy's flag hauled down in token of surrender.