me probably now) aliens could not
inherit or transmit inheritance. There are a multitude of cases
to be found in which the question has been presented whether a
woman was or was not an alien, and as such capable or incapable
of inheritance, but in no one has it been insisted that she was
not a citizen because she was a woman. On the contrary, her right
to citizenship has been in all cases assumed. The only question
has been whether, in the particular ease under consideration, she
had availed herself of the right.

In the legislative department of the Government similar proof
will be found. Thus, in the pre-emption laws (5 Stat., 455, sec.
10), a widow, "being a citizen of the United States," is allowed
to make settlement on the public lands and purchase upon the
terms specified, and women, "being citizens of the United
States," are permitted to avail themselves of the benefit of the
homestead law (12 Stat., 392).

Other proof of like character might be found, but certainly more
can not be necessary to establish the fact that sex has never
been made one of the elements of citizenship in the United
States. In this respect men have never had an advantage over
women. The same laws precisely apply to both. The XIV. Amendment
did not affect the citizenship of women any more than it did of
men. In this particular, therefore, the rights of Mrs. Minor do
not depend upon the Amendment. She has always been a citizen
from her birth, and entitled to all the privileges and immunities
of citizenship. The Amendment prohibited the State, of which she
is a citizen, from abridging any of her privileges and immunities
as a citizen of the United States, but it did not confer
citizenship on her; that she had before its adoption.

If the right of suffrage is one of the necessary privileges of a
citizen of the United States, then the Constitution and laws of
Missouri confining it to men are in violation of the Constitution
of the United States as amended, and consequently void. The
direct question is, therefore, presented whether all citizens are
necessarily voters (p. 170, Wallace).

The Constitution does not define the privileges and immunities of
citizens. For that definition we must look elsewhere. In this
case we need not determine what they are, but on