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An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting

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guilty of the crimes therein specified_." No law of Congress describes the qualifications of voters in this State, or in any State. Congress has provided no registry law. Therefore, what constitutes the offenses charged in this indictment, must be looked for in the laws of the State. By no Act of Congress can it be determined in what case a person votes, "_without having a right to vote_." By no Act of Congress can it be determined when an Inspector of Election has received the vote of "_any person not entitled to vote_," or has registered "_as a voter, any person not entitled to be registered_." These are the offenses alleged in this indictment. They are penal offenses by the Statutes of New York. The jurisdiction of the State Courts over them is complete, and cannot be questioned. By the Act of May 31, 1870, above cited, Congress has ordained, in legal effect, that if any person violates the penal Code of the State of New York, or any State, in respect of voting, he may be punished by the United States. And the offense is a variable quantity; what is a crime in one State under this Act, is a legal right and duty in another. A citizen of Rhode Island, for instance, who votes when not possessed in his own right, of an estate in fee simple--in fee tail, for life, or in reversion or remainder, of the value of $134 or up-wards, may be convicted of a crime under this Act, and imprisoned in a State Prison.
Cast Upon the Breakers

CHAPTER I. A FAITHLESS GUARDIAN. "Well, good by, Rodney! I leave school tomorrow. I am going to learn a trade." "I am sorry to part with you, David. Couldn't you stay another term?" "No: my uncle says I must be earning my living, and I have a chance to learn the carpenter's trade." "Where are you going?" "To Duffield, some twenty miles away. I wish I were in your shoes. You have no money cares, and can go on quietly and complete your education." "I don't know how I am situated, David. I only know that my guardian pays my expenses at this boarding school."
He voted in violation of the laws of his State. A citizen of New York votes under precisely similar circumstances, and with the same qualifications, and his act is a legal one, and he performs a simple duty. Any State may, by its Constitution and laws, permit women to vote. Had these defendants been acting as Inspectors of Elections in such State, their act would be no crime, and this indictment could not be sustained, for the only illegality alleged is, that the citizens whose votes were received were women, and therefore not entitled to vote. The Act of Congress thus, is simply an Act to enforce the diverse penal statutes of the various States in relation to voting. In order to make a case, the United States must combine the federal law with the statutes of the State where the _venue_ of the prosecution is laid. Before the enactment of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, it is not, and never was pretended, that Congress possessed any such power. Subdivision 1 of Section 2, of Article one of the Constitution, provides as follows: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature." By this provision, what shall qualify a person to be an elector, is left entirely to the States. Whoever, in any State, is permitted to vote for