Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-08-03
WOman'S Right to the Ballot.
ED. STANDARDS:

which to stand. | will first refer to
your quotation of Blackstone that
"every man, when he enters society,
gives up a part of his Natural liberty"
in consideration of the benefits emu
merated, etc Now, It must he noted
! that Blackstone refers to previous
condition Of society, that had grown
up out of the long-continued rule ol
privileged classes-feudalism landed
aristocracy and monarchy. On the
contrary, our government was created
by the spontaneous uprising Of the
lpeople, new sort, so to speak, affirm
ling the sovereignty of the people. No
iantecedent customs, hostile to liberty,
were to be regarded. OF course, We
laccept Blackstone's definition of law
"a rule Of action enforcing what is
right, and prohibiting what is wrong"
la rule that sounds the death-knell to
all slavery and deprivation of natural
! rights, as applied to men or women.
The fact that women voted in England
in Blackstone's day shows clearly that
he cannot be quoted us opposed to
woman suffrage. According to the
STANDARD, the sovereign people must
first set up a government and then de-
rive their rights and privileges from
some subsequent legislation, to be en-
acted by their servants in Congress or
elsewhere. In other words. the master
looks to the servant for his liberties,
for the privilege OF casting free bal
lot! But our framework of free gov
ernment is no such disjointed concern
To quote the recent Democratic plat
form, our "plan of government, regu-
lated by IA written Constitution, strictly
specifying every granted power, and
expressly reserving to the States and
people the ungranted residue of power"
clearly maintains my position, SO far
as it goes. That ungranted residue of
power was the citizens right to the
ballot, both men and women. Women
voted lii many OF the States. Our lib
critics could never have been secured |
| without their aid. Woman's help in
government is needed. Constituting
half the population, they better under |
stand their wants and needs than men
possibly can.
wish now to cite some authorities
bearing out the points at issue, and
which select from Volume III of Wo-
man Suffrage History, page 632 and
onward. First, Luther Martin. Attor-
ney-General of Maryland, in his report
OF the convention that framed the
United States Constitution, said |
"Those who advocated the equality of !
suffrage took the matter up on the
original principles Of government, that
the reason why each man, in forming
State government, should have an
equal vote is because each individual,
before he enters into government, is
equally free and independent" Note
here that equal suffrage is based on
original principles, as well as .condi-
tion Of absolute freedom, and not upon
any after regulations made by legisla- !
tive or judicial authority; also that
each individual" includes women as |
we'll as men, and who at that time
voted in many of the States. James |
Madison said: "Under every view of |
the subject it seems indispensable that
the mass of the citizens should not be |
without voice in making the laws
which they are to obey" Chief JUS
tice Daniels, of the U. S. Supreme
Court, said: "There is not, it is be-
lieved, to be found in the theories of |
writer's Oh government an exposition
of the term citizen which has not been |
considered as comforting the actual
possession and enjoyment of the per-
feet right of an entire equality of priv
ileges, civil and political" This opin-
ion was given in the famous Dred
Scott case, in his dissenting opinion"
Let me now quote the first sentence
of the Fourteenth Amendment defin-
ing citizenship. "All persons born or
naturalized in the United States, and |
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
citizens of the United States and of the |
State wherein they reside" BY this
definition are not women citizens in !
cluded, with all the rights pertaining
both civil and political, and are not
the States in the next sentence forbid |
den to restrict the ballot? "No State
shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immu-
mites OF citizens" could quote Ben
jamin franklin and Thomas Paine,
that they who have no vote are en-
slaved to those who have. Also, Act
ing Chief Justice Story, in his Com
mentaries on the Constitution, Vol. /,
section SIS, holds that there is no good
reason for excluding females from the
ballot.
1t is amusing to note the contradic-
tory decisions of the Supreme Court
OH the suffrage question. In the case
of Virginia L. Minor, who sued the
judges of election at st. Louis for re-
jecting her vote, Chief Justice Waite,
admitting her being a citizen, decided
she could not vote because the State
law only gave men the right to vote,
He denied the power of the General
Government to confer it. In the case
of the people of color the Government
confers it. So far as the women are
concerned, they are turned-over to- the
cold comfort OF State regulations. But
the people of color are protected by
the broad @gis of the Constitution. In
the suit OF Sarah A. Spencer and sew
enty other women Of the District Of
IColumbis (who marched to the p0lls)