he State or of the Nation, which in terms or by words confers
the ballot upon him. The XV. Amendment does not confer it, but
treats it as a right already existing, and forbids its
deprivation. Likewise the State law assumes its existence, and
makes no change, except to conform to the new condition of the
negro's citizenship. There is no change in the State laws, except
the omission of a word--the word "white"--from the clause "white
male citizens," in the State Constitution. But who ever heard of
a right being conferred by omission? And yet this change of a
single word by the State was an acknowledgment by it of the
supremacy of Federal law touching this subject; and was designed
to make the State law conform to the Federal law, which declares
(XIV. Amendment) that "no State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States." This conformity extends, however, only so far
as to embrace the negro citizen of the United States, leaving the
far larger class of women citizens of the United States still
under ban of disfranchisement, in plain violation of the
amendment. Under these circumstances, in the case under
consideration, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked
to interpose its authority, and effect by its decree that which
the State should have done, and declare that the word "male" must
be dropped, as well as the word "white."

Had this been done, the State law in its entirety would have
conformed to the paramount law of the United States, while as it
is, it conforms only in part. We are told that slavery was
abolished in Massachusetts, not by an enactment expressly adopted
for the purpose, but by a decision of the Supreme Court in 1781,
that its existence was inconsistent with the declaration in the
Bill of Rights that "all men are born free and equal."
(Bradford's History of Mass., 11, 227; Draper's Civil War, 1,
318; Story on Const., 11, p. 634, note.) So far, however, from
interfering, as it was its plain duty to have done, to protect
this class of United States citizens, the court has gone further
than perhaps it intended, and possibly destroyed the rights of
another class, for the decision, by declaring that the United
States has no voters, virtually renders the XV.