tax; and are still subject
to laws _made by men_, which subject them to fine and imprisonment for
the same acts which men do with honor and reward--and when brought to
trial no woman is allowed a place on the bench or in the jury box, or a
voice in her behalf at the bar. They are bound to suffer the penalty of
such laws, made and administered solely by men, and to be silent under
the infliction. Give them the ballot, and, although I do not suppose
that any great revolution will be produced, or that all political evils
will be removed, (I am not a believer in political panaceas,) but if I
mistake not, valuable reforms will be introduced which are not now
thought of. Schools, almshouses, hospitals, drinking saloons, and those
worse dens which are destroying the morals and the constitutions of so
many of the young of both sexes, will feel their influence to an extent
now little dreamed of. At all events women will not be taxed without an
opportunity to be heard, and will not be subject to fine and
imprisonment by laws made exclusively by men for doing what it is lawful
and honorable for men to do.

It may be said in answer to the argument in favor of female suffrage
derived from the cases to which I have referred, that men, not
individually, but collectively, are the natural and appropriate
representatives of women, and that, notwithstanding cases of individual
wrong, the rights of women are, on the whole, best protected by being
left to their care. It must be observed, however, that the cases which I
have stated, and which are only types of thousands like them, in their
cruelty and injustice, are the result of ages of legislation by these
assumed protectors of women. The wrongs were less in the men than in the
laws which sustained them, and which contained nothing for the
protection of the women.

But passing this view, let us look at the matter historically and on a
broader field.

If Chinese women were allowed an equal share with men in shaping the
laws of that great empire, would they subject their female children to
torture with bandaged feet, through the whole period of childhood and
growth, in order that they might be cripples for the residue of their
lives?

If Hindoo women could have shaped the laws of India, would widows for
ages have been burned on the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands?

If Jewish women had had a voice in framing Jewish laws, would the
husband, at his own pleasure, have been allowed