A woman's vote,—a certain Miss or Mrs. Lily Maxwell's,—was tendered,
and (necessarily) accepted, for Mr. Jacob Bright at the poll. Her name had somehow been put on the register by mistake, probably for a man's, and the polling clerk had no choice but to accept her vote, as her name was on the register. Mr. Jacob Bright noticed this anomalous accession to the strength of his adherents with special satisfaction in his subsequent speech, and the lady herself was cheered as she left the poll, escorted by the Secretary of the Manchester Society for the Defence of Woman's Rights, after giving her vote. A scrutiny would strike the vote off, but as there will be no scrutiny, we suppose it will remain. We are afraid that the vote is rather typical of what the votes of all women-ratepayers would be if, according to Mr. Mill's pro- posal, they could be given at such elections,—a moral demon- stration, perhaps, but not a substantial political force. If women ever come to have substantial political' power at all, the rate- paying condition must disappear.
Previous page
