Following is Catt's address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, as reported by The Woman's Journal on June 8, 1901.
The fifteen months which have elapsed since our last Annual Convention have formed a period of special importance in the history of our movement and in the history of the nation. During those months the old Century has departed, with its record of having achieved more in the progress of civilization than had been accomplished in five hundred years before; and the new Century has come, giving abundant promise of even greater rapidity and universality of progress than that of its marvellous predecessor. Historians have established the custom of classifying the events of history by centuries, and all seem agreed that the story of the progress of the world is most quickly and effectively told in the comparison of conditions which obtain in the first year and in the last year of each century. Historians have been making this comparison between the conditions of 1801 and 1901 for the past two years. One hundred years hence, other historians will draw the contrast between 1901 and 2001. It is for this reason that the present year assumes an unusual importance. It is destined to be mentioned oftener in written history than many of the years which have preceded it, and many of the years which will follow it. Every condition, therefore, assumes significant importance. Incidents, otherwise unworthy of notice, become fraught with meaning, and events of little consequence become prophets of that which is to come. A single incident is often sufficient to measure the state of public feeling at a given time.
In 1601, three centuries ago, the unhappy tale of Mistress Macalyane was fresh news. She was a Scottish lady of rank, virtuous, pious and respected by all the community; yet she had been burned alive at the stake. Scotland has burned hundreds of women in her day, but only one suffered for the crime (?) committed by Mistress Macalyane. She had purchased and used a charm, but this was no sin in public estimation, since she had done no more than every other man and woman did. There was probably no judge upon the bench who did not wear his bit of snake skin, or rabbit's foot, or amulet, to ward off evil. Her misdemeanor consisted in using her charm in the hope of alleviating pain at the birth of her two sons, the first effort of which we know to secure an anaesthetic; and this was accepted as an unmistakable attempt to overcome the curse pronounced by God upon all women as a punishment for the sin of Eve. The whole populace was enraged at the audacity of her sacrilege. Apparently, she had no defenders; and they burned her alive on the Castle Hill in Edinburgh. What an incomprehensible march of thought is there between that barbaric scene and the thousands of graduated women physicians of our own day, who, provided with up-to-date anaesthetics, are to be found in every civilized land, bringing peace and comfort to the suffering motherhood of the race! Yet the time recorded between these two conditions is only three centuries.
In 1701, two centuries ago, the sad fate of Elizabeth Gaunt was the talk of England. It is said that she was the last women to be burned alive in England. She was a woman of genuine piety, and her whole life was expended in charity. England, like Scotland, has burned alive hundreds of women, but only one for the crime (?) committed by Elizabeth Gaunt. She had fed and clothed a poor family, as she had done hundreds of times before; but the man of this family afterwards proved to be a traitor, and every person who had in any way been brought in contact with him was punished. What an immeasurable stretch of changed conditions lies between the burning alive of a noble, consecrated woman for having given charity to one unworthy, and the magnificent organized work of the Red Cross, the Relief Corps, the Daughters of the Confederacy, the King's Daughters, the Salvation Army, and the countless philanthropies of the age! Yet the time intervening is only two centuries.
In 1801, one century ago, for women to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by their husbands was no unusual occurrence in the cattle markets of England. The flogging of women in the public streets for slight misdemeanors was a common sight. Husbands in England and America had the right to whip their wives, and if this chastisement did not lead to the wife's unconditional surrender, she could be convicted of scolding, and the public ducking stool applied. The legal, social and educational status of women at that date is familiar to all. The changes in the conditions surrounding women which have been wrought in the past hundred years are so vast and sweeping as to be almost unthinkable.
Looking backward, we are amazed at the intolerance, the injustice and the inconsistencies of past centuries. Will the people of 2001 find nothing to astound them in the injustice and inconsistencies of 1901? Permit me to review the events of the past year which concern women, and which might be interesting to know one hundred years hence.
Within the past year there have been many signs of the changing sentiment of the times in favor of broader liberties for women; and there have been occasional events which have appeared like ghosts of prejudices and conditions long dead. The great Methodist General Conference has at last concluded to amend its constitution and admit women as delegates. It is one of the greatest gains yet won for women, since the General Conference is the largest body in any church to recognize the right of women to representation. And especially since the discussion which will lead to the final action is precisely the same as that which follows the submission of the question of woman suffrage to the State. Its action, however, has not silenced the opposition, and within a few weeks the Brooklyn Conference, under the leadership of Dr. Buckley, who has lost none of his vituperativeness, has refused to endorse the National Amendment. There are names in history which are there because of their fearless advocacy of great causes; and others which are there because of the intolerance of their opposition to truth. The name of this gentleman will unquestionably pass into history; time will decide in which class it shall go. The victory gained, however, will stand through all time.
The New York Herald recently published a supposedly correct list of the millionaires in the United States, and 378, or one-tenth of the total number, were women. What a march is this from the time when only five women in New York were willing to sign a petition asking for the right to own their own property!
Women have been elected or appointed in increased numbers to public office. They have held and are still holding responsible positions under the Census Bureau. More women are being graduated from our colleges and universities than in any previous year, and countless evidences point to the rapidly improved status of the sex. But, like Banquo, the ghosts of old customs will now down, and there have been some curious revivals of customs quite obsolete. Virginia has revived her Blue Laws, temporarily it is to be hoped, and has publicly flogged a woman within a few weeks. Within the year an ignorant man publicly auctioned his wife to the highest bidder in New York City, and it is difficult to say which of the parties concerned, husband, wife, or purchaser, was most astonished at the intervention of the police; for none of them knew it was an illegal proceeding. Within two years, two young men dragged an old woman over a mountain road in New Mexico at the heels of their horses, believing that she was a witch, and that their act was a righteous one. In contrast to these survivals of past conditions, the action of Delaware in abolishing its long-cherished whipping-post stands out in evidence of the real progress of our time.
If I were asked what are the great obstacles to the speedy enfranchisement of women, I should answer: There are three. The first is militarism, which once dominated the entire thought of the world and made its history. Although its old power is gone, and its influence upon public thought grows constantly less, it still moulds the opinions of millions of people, and holds them to the old ideals of force in government and headship in the family. The complete emancipation of women will never come until militarism is no more.
The second obstacle is the unconscious, unmeasured influence upon the estimate in which women as a whole are hold, which emanates from that most debasing of our evil institutions, prostitution. Its existence, apparently, is as old as the oldest record of history; and, unfortunately, the progress of individual rights for women has always been in inverse ratio to the strength of its influence. Bitter as the fact may seem, the history of the evolution of good women can never be correctly written without involving the evolution of prostitution.
The third great cause is the inertia in the growth of Democracy which has come as a reaction following the aggressive movements that, with possibly ill-advised haste, enfranchised the foreigner, the negro, and the Indian. Perilous conditions, seeming to follow from the introduction into the body politic of vast numbers of irresponsible citizens, have made the nation timid.
These three influences, born of centuries of tradition, shape every opinion of the opponents of woman suffrage. Not an objection, argument, or excuse can be urged against the movement which may not be readily traced to one of these great causes. They are responsible for the fierce and open antagonism to woman suffrage of the saloon, the gambling house, and the house of ill-repute. They are responsible for the covert but effective opposition of the politician, and for the curious antipathy of many worthy women who should be the allies of this great cause. The excuses, objections, and arguments which one hears from the individual opponent are all born of these causes. It is therefore important that we should study the status of these influences in this first year of the twentieth century.
Last year the great Peace Congress met at The Hague, with apparently small results, while wars and rumors of wars followed in its wake. A sudden but emphatic spirit of militarism has arisen, where a condition of peace had existed before, in which reform ideas were making rapid progress in all quarters of the globe. That the change has proved a great hindrance to the advance of reform no one can question. The new spirit has temporarily affected much of the thought and many of the customs of our period. Even the fashion-mongers insist upon making a concession to the military spirit of the day. The latest style of men's coats is á la militaire. Boys and girls wear soldier and sailor suits, and one of the most popular hats for children is a sailor proclaiming the name of a battleship. Military heels appear upon the latest shoes for men and women. The revival of the military spirit is regarded by many as a retrogression; but there is nothing alarming in its appearance. It is but the natural outcropping of the warring nature of the race, which will occur again and again until the higher attributes control the more animal qualities. Revenge, selfish ambition, and jealousy are the three great causes of war. When reason shall control, war will be no more. The nearer the ape a people is, the more frequent are its wars; the nearer the divine, the more permanent are its conditions of peace. Despite the fact that ward occupies the first place in the councils of many nations today, there never was a time when so much intelligent, earnest sentiment existed in favor of the abolition of war. The ancient romance which once invested every soldier with a halo of glory has departed, and the world is seriously questioning whether the results of war are commensurate with its cost. It is learning that many of those who die through war do not die the deaths of heroes. It is beginning to understand in a vague way that the chief miseries of war are not the increased taxation of a people, the widows and orphans who are left helpless, the maimed men whose lives are ruined, nor even the sanguinary battle-field with its dead and wounded. It is learning that the greatest sacrifice a nation offers is the false moral standards, the intemperance and immorality, which invariably warp the opinions of a country as a direct result of war, and like a voracious parasite sap the springs of moral progress. It is learning that war is the most active agency in spreading the contagion of insidious disease which corrupts both guilty and innocent, even unto the third and fourth generation.
There was a time when men and women were proud to offer their sons to war, believing the act of a patriotic sacrifice upon the altar of their country, but the view is changed; and while quite a willing as heretofore to sacrifice life to serve public needs, intelligent men and women are not willing to offer war the honor and manhood of their beloved.
Despite the fact that our army is larger than it has been for years, and that we are maintaining soldiers in half a dozen fields beyond our borders, a conviction is growing silently, but surely, which is destined one day to eliminated militarism from the policies of the civilized world. The new thought gives all honor to the military heroes of past days, whose acts were in accord with the best understanding of truth in their time, but it refuses to recognize the military hero as the type of hero worthy of the future. The new conviction declares the true arbiter of differences to be the ballot-box, not the battle-field. It believes, with President Jordan, of Stanford University, that "the test of civilization is the substitution of law for war, statues for brute strength"; and that "more than the blood of heroes, our country needs the intelligence of men." The new thought would not impose taxes to buy shot and shell, but to build schools where brains may be taught to think and hands to do; to establish libraries, to educate, develop, and uplift the masses of the people. It would still demand the public service of every man, and woman, too, and it would demand heroism as well; but it would be moral heroism, which would be defended by mind and character, instead of brawn and muscle. Militarism is the oldest and has been the most unyielding enemy of woman. Speed the new thought upon its way, and let us hope a hundred years hence it may find it an established fact!
That prostitution still influences the status of women as a whole, no one can question. That there is work to do in the United States in this direction is apparent. Upon authority we do not dare to question, we are forced to believe that the Stars and Stripes, the flag we have loved as the emblem of liberty and justice, is floating today above houses of infamy in the Philippines, which are under regulation by the military authorities; the women, as Judge Taft affirms and General McArthur admits, being subjected regularly to certified examinations. We learn that the local authorities of Honolulu, as well, have established that system of regulation of the social evil which has made France infamous for a hundred years. While reputed statesmen are extolling the sacrifices of our nation in extending political liberty to the men of the new possessions, the military authorities are secretly conniving at the sacrifice of health and life of young girls that the bestiality of the army may be satisfied. If these women gave themselves voluntarily, the condition would be black enough to horrify our senses; but we are forced to believe that many of them, ignorant and unsuspecting, have been decoyed, entrapped, and enslaved.
Terrible as these conditions are, there are as serious problems within the United States itself. In every city in our land where there are Chinese quarters, there are Chinese women slaves. There are upwards of 2,000 in San Francisco. These women are bought for money, and a bill of sale given the purchases, and they are then held for immoral purposes. This fact, well known for years, offends the moral sense and violates the national constitution; yet in this land of Christian liberty no serious effort has been made to eradicate this institution.
Again, in the metropolis of the nation, within the past few month, the fact has come to light, by authority which no one questions, that a group of young men found a paying business in seeking acquaintance with ignorant girls, making love to them, seducing them, and turning them over to procurers for money. Think you we would be proud to hear the comments of the 21st century upon these conditions? Yet it must be recorded that in 1901 there are vast numbers of people who believe that such facts should go unmentioned, and that the social evil is a necessary evil. But let the progressive womanhood of our nation declare now and henceforth, in words unmistakable, that no evil is a necessity, and not institution shall be tolerated which demands the sacrifice of human souls to its perpetuity. Prostitution was the first degradation which came to women; and so long as it exists in any civilized nation, it will cheapen the whole womanhood of that nation.
Democracy has been the boast of our country for a hundred years, but at present there is little enthusiasm over it. Men believe in the theory, but do not like its apparent results. In consequence, there is a hesitancy to extend the suffrage to any class, no matter how well qualified.
There is no question but that there is much jobbery in our legislation. In order to appeal to popular prejudice, the two sides of every political controversy invariably cry bribery at each other with such force as completely to confuse the public mind, and the matter usually ends in a common opinion that both sides are dishonest. There is, in consequence, a very wide-spread belief in the dishonesty of legislation and elections. President McKinley said in a speech a few days ago that "there is no imperialism in the United States except the sovereign will of the American people," but there are many of our citizens who have a vague idea that the sovereign of this nation is not the people, but the politicians. No one seems clearly to understand the cause of the difficulty, but an inertia has arisen in consequence of political conditions, and a very general opinion prevails, as a result, that until the cause of present evils can be discovered and a remedy applied, there must be no further extension of suffrage. We can safely classify this skepticism of the benefits of man suffrage as the greatest obstacle in the way of woman suffrage.
However crucial may be the present trial of Democracy, there can never be a higher theory of government than that immortal principle of the Declaration of Independence: "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed;" and sooner or later governments must come up to this principle.
Yet the cause of woman suffrage is marching bravely on; and is slowly but surely overcoming the prejudices of society. During the last legislative year more suffrage bills were considered than in any previous year. They included bills for school suffrage, municipal suffrage, presidential suffrage, and submission of suffrage amendments. The vote taken upon nearly all was adverse. Anti-suffragists have already drawn the conclusion that woman suffrage is a dying cause and will soon be heard of no more. To the superficial observer there may seem discouragement to the cause in this record, but to those who know the conditions, the last legislative year has given unmistakable evidence of progress. There was a time not long ago when there were few men willing to introduce suffrage bills into Legislatures, and when they did, the bills were laughed out of sight. In only one Legislature during the past year was the suffrage bill made light of. That was a school suffrage bill in New Mexico, where the per cent of illiteracy exceeds that of any State in the Union, and where the majority of the population is Mexican. It was the first suffrage bill introduced in New Mexico, and although ably championed by Mrs. Catharine P. Wallace, one of God's noblest women, the speaker of the House was forced to rebuke the members for their undignified treatment of it. But from every other State, the report was sent to Headquarters that the suffrage bill had attracted more public interest than any other in the whole session. From twelve of the fifteen States were bills were pending at one time the report came with curious unanimity that no bill had met such strenuous opposition. Party leaders had gone into the lobbies and worked like Trojans to defeat the measure. Well known representatives of gambling and saloon interests were conspicuous in the opposition. Men who had agreed to support the suffrage bill would record their votes in opposition, then slink out of sight like whipped dogs when the suffrage women came near. There was every evidence of political anxiety, of party pressure, threats and promises, and in several instances the dark suspicion of the use of money. Dying causes do not receive this kind of attention; men do not give time and energy to defeat hopeless measures. In fact our bills called forth a clearly drawn battle between the best and the worst elements in every legislature where they were introduced. I do not mean to say that no good mean were found voting with the opposition. Good men in all ages have frequently been found on the wrong side of great questions, and it would be strange indeed if it were not true of woman suffrage. Nevertheless, the majority of those found in favor of woman suffrage have been good, honest, progressive, fearless men, and the majority of those in opposition have borne the repute of being self-seeking, designing politicians, whose only aim in politics is selfish gain.
Our suffrage bills have been lost, but there has been no defeat; every bill introduced and every vote taken is a milestone on our march toward final victory; and each one indicates that we are nearer the goal than we were one year ago.
The legislative year has recorded positive victories as well as negative ones. The summary dismissal of the Butler Bill, which designed to take from the women of Kansas the municipal suffrage they had enjoyed since 1887 was significant, and may be classed with the victories of the year. The astonishing anxiety manifested by prominent men, both within and without the Legislature, to put themselves on public record as vigorously opposed to taking away municipal suffrage, indicates the thorough establishment of the measure in the public estimation of that State. Yet the same Legislature which so fearlessly refused to consider a repeal of municipal suffrage, refused to extend the suffrage further, and defeated a presidential suffrage bill.
A United States Senator, who is reputed to have more influence in American politics than any other one man, announced himself in opposition to woman suffrage a few weeks ago in a newspaper interview, and in conclusion declared, in a prophetic tone of finality: "Woman suffrage will never come east of the Mississippi River." The positiveness of his assertion reminds one of a churchman who lived a little earlier. His name was known throughout Europe. He was a gentleman of erudition, and quite as intelligent for his time as is the United States Senator in his day. It was more than a hundred years after Magellan had circumnavigated the globe and proved the earth round, and more than a hundred years after the theory had been advanced that the earth revolved on its axis. In a public document he declared: "The opinion of the earth's motion is all heresies the most abominable, the most pernicious, the most scandalous; the immovability of the earth is thrice sacred; argument against the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and the incarnation should be tolerated sooner than an argument to prove that the earth moves." That is a strong expression for a churchman, and one could almost suppose that the earth would stop on its axis to accommodate the gentleman's ardent opinion. Instead, it continued to move, and Father Inchofer went on record as a great man on the wrong side of a great question. History repeats itself, and scarce were the words uttered by the United States Senator than the brave Governor of New York signed a bill giving suffrage to taxpaying women of the towns and villages of his state. When it is remembered that New York is the most populous State in the Union, that politics is an unceasing combat, owing to the even number of party members, and that the most active branch of the Remonstrants live and work there, the importance of this gain becomes apparent.
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, in writing me about it, says it reminds her of a tale told her by an officer during the Civil War. Said he: "We had been pounding away with our great guns and solid shot on Fort Pulaski for weeks, and could not see that we had made the slightest impression on its massive masonry. But one day a block of granite came tumbling down, when we renewed our vigor and activity, for we knew the beginning of the end had come; and ere long it was honeycombed with holes, and the garrison surrendered." "I believe," said Mrs. Livermore, "that the action of the New York Legislature has made a hole in the wall of obstruction that confronts us, and that the forces of conservatism will soon surrender."
The victory was followed by the published opinion in the daily press of a large number of prominent women. Practically all announced their hearty approval of the measure, but a number, like the citizens of Kansas, expressed themselves in favor of the bill passed, but opposed any further extension of suffrage. Verily, we may paraphrase and say: "Whatsoever ye have, ye may keep; and whatsoever ye have not, ye may not have." One regret tinges the pleasure in the victory. The bill does not include cities of the class to which Rochester belongs, and in consequence our honored leader, Susan B. Anthony, is not included in the number of women endowed with this modicum of suffrage.
The brave young State of Utah also passed a strong resolution memorializing Congress to submit a 16th Amendment for the enfranchisement of women. This is the first state to take this action, although it has been the dream of our leaders for many years. It would require brave men to pass such a resolution in any State, but especially in Utah, where relations between State and nation have not been the most harmonious in years past. All honor to gallant Utah! May other States follow her example until their numbers compel Congress to listen to their plea!
During the interim since our last annual meeting, the work of the Association has kept steady pace with the rapidly increasing sentiment of the nation. In December last, we resorted to that most womanly methods of raising funds—a Bazar. It was a matter of regret to many of our workers that such a plan had been adopted, since it practically compelled the cessation for several months of the regular work. Its object was to secure "sinews of war," and to this end it was successful, since it placed in our treasury upwards of $8,000. There were also indirect and unlooked-for results, that may be safely balanced against the loss of work which would have been performed had there been no Bazar. Reports have been returned of many converts to woman suffrage as a result of the Exhibition in New York. These persons evidently belong to that great class who swim with the tide, and their conversion, wrought as it was by the knowledge of the costly gifts made to the Bazar, the exhibit made by every State in the Union, or the successful outcome, is a concession to the growing popularity of our movement. An unmeasured educational work was accomplished through the generous advertisement of the Bazar in the press of many States, and through the post-offices, express companies, and railroad freight offices of the whole country. It is not an exaggeration to say that thousands of persons learned of the existence of our Association and its work through the Bazar who had never heard of it before. The success of the Bazar was largely due to the untiring and devoted energy of our corresponding secretary, Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery.
We have often been advised to adopt as a motto of our Association the words: "Educate, Agitate, Organize." Whether the motto is our written guide or not, it represents the kind of work we do. During the past year the work of public education has been greatly augmented by an experiment of the judicious distribution of free literature from the National Headquarters. One half million pages of free literature were in consequence sent forth upon their mission, and every State and Territory received some of its benefits.
The work of public education has also been greatly assisted by the wise activity of our Press Department. Under the able management of our National superintendent, Mrs. Elnora Babcock, nearly 50,000 articles bearing on woman suffrage have been sent to the newspapers of the various states.
The work of organization has not been forgotten. During the year the National Association has rendered assistance to the organization work of fifteen States, by means of field work or support of headquarters. These States are Nebraska, Iowa, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas, Ohio, Michigan, and New York. We also rendered assistance to the amendment campaign in Oregon by a considerable contribution of literature and the expenses of two speakers, who were suggested by the Oregon Association.
The usual quadrennial appeal was made to the nominating conventions of the national political parties, with the usual result. This time-honored custom of our Association involves much work and some expense. Although the conservatism of political parties does not offer much encouragement to its continuance, yet the confidence in the ultimate triumph of our cause, which possesses every thorough believer in woman suffrage, gives us the prophetic knowledge that the time will come when some great, successful political party will be proud to write the enfranchisement of women in its platform.
Although political parties are not yet ready to admit women's right to the ballot, there was never a campaign in which women were more active, and that, too, by the encouragement of party leaders, than in the presidential campaign of 1900. No objection against woman suffrage has been held more stubbornly than the one that it would effect nothing, since women would all vote as their husbands or other men dictated. Yet, with no comprehension of the inconsistency, women were urged to organize, and did organize, for the express purpose of persuading their husbands and other men to vote their way. Party speakers very generally complained of inability to place their arguments before voters, as women invariably crowded the halls and took the best seats. Women delegates sat in the great party conventions, and their opinions were given generous notice in the press. In countless similar ways the question of the American woman in politics was forced upon the attention of party leaders. The first step toward conversion to a new idea is consideration, and this point was gained.
Judging from reports of the various States which have been received from time to time, the membership of the Association increased in the year 1900 more than in any previous year. This is an especially significant fact when it is remembered that the work for the Bazar, and the presidential campaign, prevented the usual field activities. The result may be regarded as an evidence of normal growth, and adjures us to push the work of organization.
The Association is in a prosperous condition. For several years past its receipts for each year have exceeded those of the year previous, a fact which affords the healthiest possible sign of growth. The year 1900 was no exception to this progress, and its receipts, exclusive of the Bazar fund, were larger than those of any previous year in the history of the Association.
A review of the year reveals nothing but hopeful signs for the great cause of equality for women. Were we permitted to view its record through the telescope of a hundred years, we should see abundant indications of dying prejudices and crumbling conservatism. We should find signs in plenty of the coming of woman suffrage. We should discover that the great world-forces which have held women in a position of degradation in centuries past, are fast being civilized out of existence. We should find that the old objections hurled with such bitter antagonism at the early leaders of the movement, have lost their force even with those who still repeat them.
We should observe that intelligent and honest opponents are not so much governed by the convictions of reason as they are possessed by undefined fear. The imagination of a child in the dark creates all sorts of impossible bogies to terrify it: so the enfranchisement of women has become a veil of darkness before the eyes of the timid which conceals unthinkable calamities. It behooves us to meet this condition with calm, persistent education. We must meet ignorance with careful instruction; timidity with assurances based upon the actual operation of woman suffrage; and everywhere we must teach women that we do not strive so much for the grant of a right withheld as for an opportunity to perform duty.
With whatever financial ability we are able to command, we should prosecute our education work as never before, and through the dissemination of literature, the press and the public meeting, leave conviction where doubt now abides. To strengthen the timid, we need the enrollment of suffragists, and to extend our work, we need more members.
Let us go forth from this convention assured that the signs of 1901 point to continued progress until the last State in the Union shall have enfranchised its women. Let us go forth determined to educate, agitate and organize with greater vigor than ever before. The date which will record all women enfranchised will depend upon the tact and vigor of our work. As we go on, let us not forget to be forbearing to those who disagree with us, and patient with those who criticise us, remembering the words of Bacon: "Truth is the daughter of Time."