ch was
passed in a moment of confusion, and when many of our friends were
absent. Following is the opinion elicited:

STATE OF NEW YORK. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL,}
ALBANY, May 10, 1882.}

_To the Assembly:_

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the resolution of
the Assembly requesting the attorney-general to report his
opinion as to the constitutionality of Assembly bill No. 637,
which provides that "every woman shall be free to vote under the
qualifications required of men, or to refrain from voting, as she
may choose; and no person shall be debarred by reason of sex from
voting at any election, or at any town meeting, school meeting,
or other choice of government functionaries whatsoever," and
whether, without an amendment to the constitution, suffrage can
be granted to any class of persons not named in the constitution.
I reply:

_First_--It has been decided so often by the judicial tribunals
of the various States of the Union, and by the Supreme Court of
the United States, that suffrage is not a natural inherent right,
but one governed by the law-making power and regulated by
questions of availability and expediency, instead of absolute,
inalienable right (1, 3), that the question is no longer open for
discussion, either by the judicial forum or legislative
assemblies (_Burnham vs. Laning, 1 Legal Gazette Rep., 411,
Supreme Court Penn.; Minor vs. Happersett, 21 Wallace, 162; Day
vs. Jones, 31 California, 261; Anderson vs. Baker, 23 Maryland,
531; Abbott vs. Bayley, 6 Pickering, 92; 2 Dallas, 471-2; In re
Susan B. Anthony, 11 Blatchford, 200_). At the common law women
had no right to vote and no political status (2, 4) (_Maine's
Ancient Law, 140; Cooley's Const. Lim., 599; Blackstone's Comm.,
171_).

_Second_--Therefore the constitution of the State of New York,
providing that every male citizen of the age of 21 years who
shall have certain other qualifications, may vote, the
determination of the organic law specifying who shall have the
privilege of voting, excludes all other classes (5), such as
women, persons under 21 years of age and aliens. The argument
that, because women are not expressly prohibited, they may vote,
fails to give the slightest force