with an intensity of feeling which men who have not associated
with them have not yet learned, that their sex has not had, and
has not now, its just and true position in the organization of
government and society. They may be wrong in their position, but
they will not be content until their arguments are fairly,
truthfully, and candidly answered.

In the most celebrated document which has been put forth on this
side of the Atlantic, our ancestors declared that "governments
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Blackstone says:

The lawfulness of punishing such criminals (_i.e._, persons
offending merely against the laws of society) is founded
upon this principle; that the law by which they suffer was
made by their own consent; it is a part of the original
contract into which they entered when first they engaged in
society; it was calculated for and has long contributed to
their own security.

Quotations, to an unlimited extent, containing similar doctrines
from eminent writers, both English and American, on government,
from the time of John Locke to the present day, might be made.
Without adopting this doctrine which bases the rightfulness of
government upon the consent of the governed, I claim that there
is implied in it the narrower and unassailable principle that all
citizens of a State, who are bound by its laws, are entitled to
an equal voice in the making and execution of such laws. The
doctrine is well stated by Godwin in his treatise on "Political
Justice." He says:

The first and most important principle that can be imagined
relative to the form and structure of government, seems to
be this: that as government is a transaction in the name and
for the benefit of the whole, every member of the community
ought to have some share in its administration. Again,
Government is a contrivance instituted for the security of
individuals; and it seems both reasonable that each man
should have a share in providing for his own security, and
probable, that partiality and cabal should by this means be
most effectually excluded. And again, To give each man a
voice in the public concerns comes nearest to that admirable
i