bullets must always be ready, in case the arguments and the ballots are
unheeded. The physical strength that was given to man to use, like every
other gift, for the good of the race, he is so using when he holds it as a
_dernier ressort_ for law and order.

Dr. Jacobi says, in her address, "capacity to bear arms, in fulfilment of
military duty, is not, in the State of New York, reckoned among the
necessary qualifications of voters." The statement is also made by other
Suffragists that "numerous classes of men who enjoy political rights are
exempt from military duty,--all men over forty-five, all who suffer mental
or physical disability, such as the loss of an eye or a forefinger;
clergymen, physicians, Quakers, school-teachers, professors, and
presidents of colleges, judges, legislators, congressmen, state-prison
officials, and all county, State, and National officers; fathers,
brothers, or sons having certain relatives dependent upon them for
support, all of these summed up in every State would make millions who may
be exempted, and therefore there is no force in the plea that if women
vote they must fight." It is not true that any class of voters is exempt.
The State, regulating that matter as it regulates the age and residence of
voters, as long as it has more defenders than it needs for immediate use,
makes demand upon the youngest or strongest, but if it needs them all,
then all must serve. Again, all, whether young or old, perfect or
imperfect, must be reckoned with as elements in making up the count.
Lawless men do not exempt themselves from riot and rebellion because they
are lame or over forty-five. In the South, during the Rebellion, there
were few indeed who did not serve in some capacity. If there were blind
and aged men enough to make a real difference in majorities, Americans
would quickly see the propriety of doing as some republics that have to
stand with arms more "at attention" have done, and exclude them from the
vote.