statutory, which confers any _discretionary_ power, is always confined
in its operation to persons who are _compos mentis_. It is wholly
unnecessary to except idiots and lunatics out of any such statute. They
are excluded from the very nature of the case. The contrary supposition
would be simply absurd. And, in respect to every such law, infants,
during their minority, are in the same class. But are women, _who are
not infants_, ever included in this category? Does any such principle
of exclusion apply to them? Not at all. On the contrary, they stand, in
this respect, upon the same footing as men, with the sole exception of
the right to vote and the right to hold office. In every other respect,
whatever rights and powers are conferred upon persons by law may be
exercised by women as well as by men. They may transact any kind of
business for themselves, or as agents or trustees for others; may be
executors or administrators, with the same powers and responsibilities
as men; and it ought not to be a matter of surprise or regret that they
are now placed, by the fourteenth amendment, in other respects upon a
footing of perfect equality.

Although not directly connected with the argument as to the right
secured to women by the Constitution, I deem it not improper to allude
briefly to some of the popular objections against the propriety of
allowing females the privilege of voting. I do this because I know from
past experience that these popular objections, having no logical bearing
upon the subject, are yet, practically, among the most potent arguments
against the interpretation of the fourteenth amendment, which I consider
the only one that its language fairly admits of.

It is said that women do not desire to vote. Certainly many women do
not, but that furnishes no reason for denying the right to those who do
desire to vote. Many men decline to vote. Is that a reason for denying