Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-01-05

exclusively were the destinfes OF the,reL
public committed. Among the rights
which they enjoyed were the jes sg0TGgii,
the right of voting in the public assem-
blies of the people, and the Jus hOn0ran,, the
right Of holding public Office III the State.
! No one was ciUiSy a Roman citizen, un-
less he enjoyed the elective franchise and
was eligible to positions of public trust.
These were their chief characteristics and
occasioned the pride With which in those
ancient days men boasted that they were
Roman citizens. tEncyclopBdia Britannica,
Vol vi, page 735; Title Citizen. When
the Roman republic was oVerthrowr and
the empire established uponits ruins, men
gradually ceased to be citizens and became
subjects. Afterwards, when. the empire
was subYerted and civilization began to
progress, the cities in every part OF EnI
rope, either because of their own power.
or from concessions of their sovereigns, OBJ
tanned extraordinary privileges, Among
them the chiefest always were. the right TO
hold the city offices and to vote at the cleo
tions for the officers to fill them. Persons
who could exercise these privileges, wheth-
er they had been born in the city or ad-
mitted to it by certain forms, and only they,
were termed citizens. In England, after
the conquest, the bnrghers or citizens were
treated with great hardship by the con-
querors. But gradually charters were
granted them; they were formed into bod
les corporate, franchises were conferred
upon them, and finally in the great charter
their full liberties were guaranteed.-
Among these liberties and privileges was
the right of electing and being elected to
Parliament, privilege which did not be-
long to every class of subjects. Com. Dig.
Parliament ID. 6, 4 Inst. G. Those who en-
Joyed those privileges were the citizens of
the English law. ..| '' ..' "aI H.'
This view OF the Specification OF the term
is fully justified by the doctrines of the
ablest writers upon the law of nations.
Vattel in his learned treatise, says that
"the citizens are the members of the civil
society; bound to this society by certain
duties, and subject to It's authority, they
equally participate in its advantages
Vattel, page 1862. as' ,l q. s.| o., f..-
Puffendorf, IN Book VII, chap. III. section
XIX, of his Law of Nature and Nations,
says that it may not be improper TO re-
mark, on this occasion, that there Is some
disagreement amongst learned men about
the true notion of CiUis, a member or an
civil State. Mr.. Hobbies seems to make
Girls an equivalent term with Sobditus, a
subject. According to which way OF speak
ing women, children and servants will be
made proper deniZens. Our Judgment on
the point is that, since every State is con-
stituted by mems submitting their will to
a single person, or to an assembly, theylI
principally have title to the names of
members, by whose covenants the society
was first incorporated, and they who regu-
larly succeed into the place of these primi-
tive founders; and since these acts belong
to the masters of families, they should
seem to merit this name by a special right,
But women, children and servants, whose,
wills were before included in the wills
of their dOmestical governors aud directors.
can challenge it only by way of conse-,
quence, and by virtue of their dependence,
on him, inaSmuch as they likewise enjoy
the common protection of the State, and
hold several rights and privileges on the
score of that relation" In the same sec
tion he cites AristOtes definition of mem
Der of State, which is, tone who holds a
share in the magistracy and in the judicial
proceedings" and remarks that it applies
chiefly to "A "DemOcratical Government
This word citizen may be taken to have,
receivedup to the time of the formation of
our Government settled meaning, which
was that of a person who could participate
in the administration of public affairs.
When it is found in the Constitution. iG
in its ordinary Specification. unless from
the context or judicial construction it can
be proyenFto have been employed in its
more limited sense. vr ...r-
There is nothing in the context to indi-
cate that its meaning is other than its
settled one; but, on the contrary, it will
appear, upon examination, that the signifi- |
cation cOntended for is the only one that |
could have been intended by the trainers of
the Constitution. % V''t .a.ug |
The phrase "citizen of the United States" |
occurs three times in the Constitution; but |
only in those sections in which the qualiti |
cations of public officers are established |
Section III, AIticle /, provides that no per-
son shall be q representative in Congress |
who shall not have been seven years a citi- |
zen of the United States. Section III, Ar |
ticle ], requires citizenship of the United |
States for nine years as a qualification of a |
Senator; and Section /, Art Gle Ill, pro- |
yides that no person eX epta natural horn |
citizen, or q citizen of the United States at |
the time the Constitution was formed, shall |
be eligible to the Office of President. 1t is |
manifest, therefore, that eligibility to, pub |
lie Office is one of the rights Incident to |
citizenship in the United States. This is |
too plain for argument, for the language is |
States can hold the positions Of Senator
Representative or President,s. ,,,i-..,..,.'
Further, would inquire what has been |
the universal construction given these sec |
tions as to the necessity Of the officers |
above named being electors9 Every per- |
son who has ever held either Of these Off |
ces has enjoyed the elective franchise. / |
apprehend that no one has ever doubted |
that to be President, Senator or Represen-
tative, person must be avoter. Who has /
ever seriously maintained that a woman /
possessed the requisite qualifications for |
either of these positions? Yet if citizen |
of the United States is not necessarily an /
elector, it might be that a woman could be /
President. Iappeal, therefore, to the uni /
versal Judgment Of the American people to
sustain me when | declare that the trainers /
of the Constitution never intended that 1
others than those who were electors should i
hold these high ofllces,a and so declared when /
they required eitizenship9o of ,thej United
States as a Qualifications ilsCs Do ra0s |.
b This view is sstrengthenedb considers
alton of the other qualifications required
by the Constitution. In addition TO citia
and specified age. it provides
that no one can be a Representative or
4 Senator who is not an iuhabitaut0of
the State in which he shall be chosen.
Aud Article XII of nCtlie amendment
provides that the electors shall meet
In their respective States and votenBy
ballot for President aud Vice President,
Dne of whom at least shall not be an ihidb-
tdRt of the same State with themselves
Thus inhabitancy Of State at the time df
election is required as a qualification as
we'll as citizenship of the United States.
The Implication, therefore, is clear thar
here are inhabitants of aIState who laNe