The Lord Chief Justice decided on Monday, in the Queen's
Bench, against the claims of women to be admitted as voters under the new Act of Parliament, on the very obvious principle that it was entirely contrary to the intention of the Legislature, and that women are assumed to be " legally incapacitated " for this purpose under the present constitution. Mr. Justice Willes, Mr. -Justice Byles, and Mr. Justice Keating concurred. Mr. Coleridge argued the case for the women with great ability, and after the judgment it was rather foolish in Dr. Pankhurst, his junior, to try to argue it all over again, in relation to a different case of appeal, -on the ground that in that case the woman was " a freeholder." Enthusiastic Dr. Pankhurst was,—with much difficulty,—put down. He said the judgment of the Court was " inchoate, and might be altered during the term." The Chief Justice did not see it.
Previous page
