Page:Outlines of the women's franchise movement in New Zealand.djvu/70

 was that every resident adult had the right to a voice in making the laws by which he was governed. Mr Gladstone had said, "All who live in a country should take an interest in that country, love that country: and the vote gives that sense of interest, fosters that love." To every general rule there were exceptions, and the exceptions in this case were lunatics, infants, and criminals. The best of women were therefore placed by our laws on a level with lunatics, infants, and criminals. They were even on a worse footing than the latter, for even convicted criminals were allowed to vote when they had served their sentences. It seemed absurd that a man just