OCR Text |
Show The sltheme court of tho United States in iLs recent decision on tho imietien 01 the right of female suffrage suff-rage under the constitution of the United States, exploded the doctrine that suffrage a an individual right is derived from tho constitution of the United States. It is solely derived from the stato constitutions, and no one can vote for federal without being competent to vote lor state officers. Nor in the states is the right of suflrage co-extensive with citizenship. When the federal constitution was adopted all the states but Rhode Island had constitutions of their own, in not one of which wr-i nil citizens recognized as entitled to this right. The court arc unanimous in the opinion that ths constitution of the United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one, and that the constitutions of the several states which commit that trust to men alone are not necessarily void. j |