Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-07-09
Woman Suffrage JudiciaIIy recog-


Ine question Wnclner women are en-
titled TO vote under the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth amendments has now been pass
ed upon judicially in three different cases,
and in all three II has been decided against
the claim. This Is as ii should be. If wo-
men are ever TO vote in those parts of the
country where they are now excluded
from the polls, II must be by fair and open
admission, not by trickery. Every candid
person, of whatever opinion as TO the
propriety of admtting women to the polls,
knows that these amendments were not
adopted by the country for any such pur-
pose or with any such intention. To say
that the country adopted them without
knowing its own mind, and without fore
seeing their effect, Is, after the exhaustive
discussion that preceded their passage,
simply silly; and 10 say that after adoption
they can be twisted 10 new and unheard-
of meaning and effect, is as fair as 10 say
that after a man has signed a note for
one thousand dollars the Zone" can he
read "ten," and he be held TO pay accord
ingly. II is difllcult TO see how an honest
judge could decide the question otherwise;
and those who first opposed the amend
ments on the express ground that they did
not enfranchise women, and aflerward
turned round and claimed that they did,
have-very properly--had their labor for
their pains. In fact, no one would be so
sure TO rue the results of a favorable &C.
cision as these very persons. Woman
Suffrage can only come 10 stay when pub
lie opinion is prepared for it and II the
courts should to-day admit women to the
polls, within two years laws would be
passed excluding them again, and also, If
need be, reconstructing the courts.
The first case in which the question came
up was that Of the United States against
Susan B. Anthony but as the court I'M
lawfully and tyrannically prevented the
jury from deciding the guilt or innocence
of the defendant, the case has little weight.
In Minor US Hoppersatt, Mrs. Minor of st.
Louis, sued the judges of election for re-
fusing her vote, and the Supreme Court of
the United States denied her claim. The
third case, that of Mrs. Sara j. Spencer,
against the judges Of election, was elabo-
rately examined by the Supreme Court OF
the District ofColumbia-one of the ablest
of United States Courts, consisting of five
judges instead of one or two-and the full
bench rendered a unanimous opinion that,
while the Constitution recoguizei the right
of Suffrage as existing in women, it does
not repeal State constitutions or existing
laws excluding them from the exercise of
the right. While this case has gone up on
appeal, the appeal does not question the
constitutional recognition. 1t is judicially
established, therefore, that the Constitution
recognizes that women have right 10
vote.
These facts place the Suffrage question
in new light before the public. Women,
finding their right to Suffrage judicially
conceded, will largely ask why they
should be debarred its exercise. Other
facts, too, show that the question is one of
the issues of the near future. Eight years
ago John Stuart Mill moved in the British
House of Commons 10 strike out the word
imam" and insert the word "person" in
the description of persons entitled 10 vote
The motion was rejected by about two to
one; but five years later a bill TO allow
women 10 vote in town and city elections
passed the same House unanimously, and
women have since voted at such polls with
out any dreadful consequences. The mo-
ton TO admit th EN- as voters for members
of Parliament was again made within a
few weeks past, and more votes were Civ
en- for the measure than eight years ago
were given against II, while the adverse
majority this time instead of over seventy,
was but thirty-ive. In Michigan, last fall,
despite encouragement and laundering,
forty thousand men went to the polls and
voted to open the ballot-box for their
mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.
The organization OF u "Young Mems Wo-
man Suffrage League" in New York, its
persistent activity and rapid growth, are
also signs of the times and another is
furnished by the fact that when a deputa-
tion from this League appeared before the
Assembly Of Judiciary Committee, they
found no serious opposition to their views,
and feeling favorable to the movement
among most Of the politicians who yearly
gathered at Albany. The time has passed
when jests or sneers can dispose Of the sub
ject. Thoughtful people must address
themselves to its earnest consideration for
IT Women's enfranchisem ent is TO be pre-
vented, it will have to be by an earnestness
and persistence opposition at least equal
to those wherewith it is urged.-NeU York
Mercantile Journal.