woman were unsuccessful it would be her own fault, and the majority of
the population of this country could no longer complain that they live
under a different law to the minority, and that they are held down in
poverty and serfdom, with every road to independence sealed to them."

"What would you propose to do, ma'am?"

"To set the more obvious injustices right, and so to pave the way for a
reform. Now look at that man digging in the field. I know him. He can
neither read nor write, he is steeped in whisky, and he has as much
intelligence as the potatoes that he is digging. Yet the man has a
vote, can possibly turn the scale of an election, and may help to decide
the policy of this empire. Now, to take the nearest example, here am I,
a woman who have had some education, who have traveled, and who have
seen and studied the institutions of many countries. I hold
considerable property, and I pay more in imperial taxes than that man
spends in whisky, which is saying a great deal, and yet I have no more
direct influence upon the disposal of the money which I pay than that
fly which creeps along the wall. Is that right? Is it fair?"

The Admiral moved uneasily in his chair. "Yours is an exceptional
case," said he.

"But no woman has a voice. Consider that the women are a majority in
the nation. Yet if there was a question of legislation upon which all
women were agreed upon one side and all the men upon the other, it would
appear that the matter was settled unanimously when more than half the
population were opposed to it. Is that right?"

Again the Admiral wriggled. It was very awkward for the gallant seaman