Now,  then,  one  word  about  the  effect  of  the  ballot  upon  the
female  sex.  (I  am  trying  as  much  as  possible  to  avoid  the  subjects
that  have  been  already  fully  treated  here;  this  is  one  which  I
believe  has  not  been  touched.)  It  is  apprehended  that  if  women  are
allowed  to  vote,  they  may  be  candidates  for  office,  and  they  may
make  bad  officers,  and  there  will  be  confusion  in  politics.  In  fact
I  have  never  heard  it  stated  exactly  what  they  would  do,  but  it  was
something  very  bad  according  to  the  general  description.
Xow,  I  would  imagine  the  case  of  a  woman  who  is  a  candidate
for  office.  Would  not  the  very  fact  that  she  wished  to  hold  an
office  constitute  a  guarantee  that  does  not  exist  to-day  that  she
would  be  loyal  to  all  her  duties  as  a  wife  and  a  mother?  For  she
would  know  that  she  was  liable,  if  exposed  to  any  suspicion,  to
have  that  brought  into  the  canvass,  and  prove  fatal  to  her  interests.
Though  I  should  be  very  far  from  desiring  to  encourage  or  recom-
mend it,  and  far  from  apprehending  that  women  would  generally
want  offices  of  any  particular  importance,  still  I  am  satisfied  that
if  they  did,  the  responsibility  resting  upon  them,  the  possibility  of
exposure  to  criticism,  would  operate  to  make  them  infinitely  more
careful  and  circumspect  than  they  are  at  present.  Therefore,
instead  of  being  an  objection,  I  think  it  is  a  very  desirable  restraint.
On  the  other  hand  —  and  this  is  itself  of  some  importance  —  were
any  aspersions  cast  upon  woman's  character,  the  resentment  that
would  follow,  if  the  criticism  were  unjust,  would  in  itself  be  a  great
protection  for  her.
