xtended
to women. There is, therefore, a strong presumption that the
exclusion of women from the parliamentary suffrage was an
infringement on their ancient constitutional rights, rendered
possible in a barbarous age by the comparative weakness and
smallness of the number of persons affected by it, and continued
until the exclusion had become customary. The franchise of women
in local elections has been from time to time under judicial
consideration, and their right to take part in such elections has
been repeatedly confirmed by the judges. During the arguments in
these cases, the question of their right to vote in the election
of members of parliament was frequently mooted and conflicting
opinions thereon incidently expressed by various judges, but the
matter was never judicially decided, and no authoritative
judgment was ever given against the right until the year 1868,
after the passing of two modern acts of parliament in 1832 and
1867, the former of which for the first time in English history,
in terms, limited the franchise created by it to every "male
person," and the latter to every "man" qualified under its
provisions. Your memorialists submit that had the question of the
right of women to vote in the election of members of parliament
been raised in the law courts under the old statutes which
contain no reference to sex, and before the passing of the
limiting acts of 1832 and 1867, that the precedents which had
determined the right in their favor in the construction of the
law as to local government must have been held to apply to the
case of qualified freeholders or others who claimed the right as
regards parliamentary government.

They submit also, that even after these limiting acts, women had
reasonable grounds for claiming the suffrage under the existing
law. There is an act of parliament which declares that "in all
acts, words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and
taken to include females, ... unless the contrary is _expressly
provided_." The act of 1867 contained clauses imposing personal
liabilities and pecuniary burdens on certain classes of
ratepayers. In these clauses, as in the enfranchising clauses,
and throughout the act, words importing the masculine gender were
alone used. No provision was made that t