Personal rights : A presidential address delivered to the forty-first annual meeting of the Personal Rights Association on 6th June 1913

Delivered in June 1913 to the Personal Rights Association, this presidential address captures a moment when a determined voice rose to challenge the complacency of early‑twentieth‑century society. The speaker, a woman rarely seen on the public podium, opens with candid humor before turning to a serious appraisal of how liberty is eroded when the majority assumes the right to sacrifice the few. Her observations on the lingering effects of “arithmetical morality”—the belief that numbers alone justify coercion—paint a vivid picture of the social climate that still echoes today.

The speech moves from abstract principle to concrete warning, arguing that the more liberty is stripped away, the less people will cherish it, and the easier it becomes for well‑meaning individuals to impose their own moral vision on others. By exposing the paradox of benevolent tyranny and urging continual vigilance, the address remains a compelling invitation to reconsider how personal rights are defended and why the fight for genuine freedom must include every gender.