women would be an unsettling element in the government of the State,
forasmuch as they would, by reason of a general lack of interest in
public affairs, only very; seldom come to the poll: would, in fact,
come to the poll in full strength only when some special appeal had
come home to their emotions.

Now an electorate which includes a very large proportion of quite
uninterested voters would be in the same case as a legislature which
included a very large proportion of members who made a practice of
staying away. It would be in the same case, because the absentees, who
would not have acquired the training which comes from consecutive
attention to public affairs, might at any moment step in and upset the
stability of State by voting for some quite unconsidered measure.

Coming back in conclusion to our main issue, I would re-emphasise an
aspect of the question upon which I have already elsewhere insisted.[1]
I have in view the fact that woman does, and should, stand to physical
violence in a fundamentally different relation to man. Nothing can
alter the fact that, the very moment woman resorts to violence, she
places herself within the jurisdiction of an ethical law, which is as
old as civilisation, and which was framed in its interests.

[1] _Vide_ Appendix, pp. 176-179.


II

WOMAN'S DISABILITY IN THE MATTER OF INTELLECT

Characteristics of the Feminine Mind--Suffragist Illusions with Regard