| PAGE | |
| [CHAPTER I] | |
|---|---|
| PAST FAILURE AND FUTURE DANGERS OF UNLIMITED SUFFRAGE | [1] |
| [CHAPTER II] | |
| THE OLDEST AND THE BEST AMERICAN TRADITIONS FAVOR A RESTRICTED SUFFRAGE | [28] |
| [CHAPTER III] | |
| THE SUFFRAGE IS NOT A NATURAL RIGHT BUT A FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT AND MAY THEREFORE PROPERLY BE RESTRICTED TO THOSE COMPETENT TO EXERCISE IT | [40] |
| [CHAPTER IV] | |
| THE STATE AS THE DEPUTY OF SOCIETY POSSESSES THE JUST POWER OF ORDAINING FRANCHISE QUALIFICATIONS | [50] |
| [CHAPTER V] | |
| THE CAPACITY TO CREATE AND PRESERVE PRIVATE PROPERTY IS THE PROPER TEST AND PROOF OF QUALIFICATION FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP IN AN ADVANCED DEMOCRACY | [59] |
| [CHAPTER VI] | |
| ORIGIN AND FIRST APPEARANCE OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE AS PART OF THE FRENCH TERRORIST MACHINERY | [78] |
| [CHAPTER VII] | |
| IMPORTANT INFLUENCE OF FRENCH RED RADICALISM IN PROPAGATING THE MANHOOD SUFFRAGE DOCTRINE IN THE UNITED STATES | [83] |
| [CHAPTER VIII] | |
| THE SAFEGUARD OF A PROPERTY QUALIFICATION FOR VOTERS WAS DISCARDED BY A GENERATION OF AMERICANS WHO DID NOT REALIZE ITS VALUE OR THE DANGERS ATTENDANT UPON UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE | [88] |
| [CHAPTER IX] | |
| FIRST EFFECTS AND SUBSEQUENT RESULTS OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE; SPOILS SYSTEM; TRAFFIC IN VOTES; ORGANIZED CORRUPTION; THE BOSS; THEMACHINE; RULE OF POLITICAL OLIGARCHY | [109] |
| [CHAPTER X] | |
| SHORT SKETCHES OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE PROGENY; THE POLITICIAN AND THE BOSS; THEIR CREATIONS, THE RING AND THE MACHINE; AND THEIR BY-PRODUCT, THE LOBBY | [135] |
| [CHAPTER XI] | |
| THE EFFECT OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE IS TO FASTEN ON THE COUNTRY AND MAKE PERMANENT THE RULE OF THE POLITICIANS | [158] |
| [CHAPTER XII] | |
| INJURIOUS EFFECT OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE UPON AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE BODIES | [174] |
| [CHAPTER XIII] | |
| MANHOOD SUFFRAGE AS APPLIED TO THE GOVERNMENT OF AMERICAN CITIES HAS NOT ONLY BEEN A FAILURE BUT A DISASTER AND A SCANDAL | [190] |
| [CHAPTER XIV] | |
| BRIEF REFERENCE TO MANY NOTED DISCLOSURES OF GOVERNMENTAL CORRUPTION MOSTLY IN STATE AND FEDERAL AFFAIRS SINCE THE INSTITUTION OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE EN THE UNITED STATES | [218] |
| [CHAPTER XV] | |
| THE FOUR YEARS CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES IS DIRECTLY CHARGEABLE TO MANHOOD SUFFRAGE | [244] |
| [CHAPTER XVI] | |
| FAILURE AND CONDEMNATION OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE AFTER A TEN YEARS’ EXPERIMENT IN THE SOUTHERN STATES | [253] |
| [CHAPTER XVII] | |
| THE EFFECT OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE IS TO ENSURE INEFFICIENCY IN DOMESTIC LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION | [267] |
| [CHAPTER XVIII] | |
| WEAKNESS AND INEFFICIENCY OF OUR MANHOOD SUFFRAGE GOVERNMENT IN ITS FOREIGN RELATIONS | [293] |
| [CHAPTER XIX] | |
| ROTATION IN OFFICE; A MISCHIEVOUS BY-PRODUCT OF THE MANHOOD SUFFRAGE DOCTRINE AND ANOTHER FACTOR IN POPULAR MISGOVERNMENT AND HEREIN OF CIRCUMLOCUTION OFFICE REFORM | [305] |
| [CHAPTER XX] | |
| THE EFFECT OF THE OPERATION OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE HAS BEEN TO GIVEA LOWER TONE TO AMERICAN PUBLIC LIFE | [315] |
| [CHAPTER XXI] | |
| GENERAL PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CONDEMNATION BY THE INTELLIGENT CLASSES OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES; AND HEREIN OF WATCH DOGS AND YELLOW DOGS | [320] |
| [CHAPTER XXII] | |
| THE ELECTORATE FUNCTIONS NOT BY ITS INDIVIDUALS BUT BY GROUPS WHEREBY THE ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE SHIFTLESS AND IGNORANT GROUP NECESSARILY TENDS TO CREATE A VICIOUS POWER IN POLITICS | [334] |
| [CHAPTER XXIII] | |
| ANSWER TO THE PLEA THAT THE BALLOT SHOULD BE GRANTED TO THE UNPROPERTIED CLASSES AS A PROTECTIVE WEAPON | [341] |
| [CHAPTER XXIV] | |
| ANSWER TO THE PLEA THAT THE PRIVILEGE OF SUFFRAGE BE GRANTED TO ALL AS A MEANS OF POLITICAL EDUCATION; AND HEREIN OF SILK PURSES MADE FROM SOW’S EARS AND OF AMATEUR HARPING | [347] |
| [CHAPTER XXV] | |
| ANSWER TO SUGGESTION THAT UNLIMITED SUFFRAGE IS A PART OF AMERICAN LIBERTY | [354] |
| [CHAPTER XXVI] | |
| AN UNQUALIFIED NUMERICAL MAJORITY RULE IS NOT IN ACCORD WITH GOOD STATESMANSHIP | [367] |
| [CHAPTER XXVII] | |
| OF EDUCATIONAL AND AGE SUFFRAGE QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS | [373] |
| [CHAPTER XXVIII] | |
| WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN THEORY | [378] |
| [CHAPTER XXIX] | |
| WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN PRACTICE | [408] |
| [CHAPTER XXX] | |
| A PROPERLY QUALIFIED ELECTORATE WILL REMOVE THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POPULAR DISSATISFACTION AND SERVE AS A DEFENSE AGAINST THE PRESENT MENACE OF BOLSHEVISM | [421] |
| [CHAPTER XXXI] | |
| THE CASE IS URGENT; THERE SHOULD BE NO DELAY WHATEVER IN ESTABLISHING THIS GOVERNMENT UPON A PROPERTY BASIS | [434] |
| [CHAPTER XXXII] | |
| CONCLUSION | [439] |
| BRIEF SKETCH OF WRITERS REFERRED TO | [449] |
POPULAR MISGOVERNMENT
IN THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER I
PAST FAILURE AND FUTURE DANGERS OF UNLIMITED SUFFRAGE
Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God.—Washington
Great numbers of discerning Americans must by this time have been brought to realize that something practical must shortly be done in this country by the believers in private property and private property rights to safeguard the nation from its threatened invasion by Bolshevism, Socialism and other various forms of anti-individualism, or else we are in for a hard and possibly a bloody struggle to maintain the very fundamentals of our social and political systems. From time to time in this country as in every other there occur periods of extraordinary danger to the political structure. In the past we have had several such episodes, the most noted being that of the secession movement culminating in 1860 and 1861. The seriousness of the present menace of communism in its various forms is due not so much to the strength of the communist faction, considerable though it be, as to the weakness of our civic structure consequent upon the long continued and increasing general distrust and suspicion of our actual political agencies and the confirmed popular dissatisfaction with their operations. Meantime, nothing adequately effective either in the way of strengthening our institutions or of disarming opposition thereto is being done or has even been proposed. A lot of vigorous denunciation has been directed against native and foreign Bolshevism, all thoroughly deserved and not without effect on the public mind, but falling far short of positive acts of defense or protection. Bolshevism is in the field not merely as an abstract doctrine, to be answered with words, but as an active and aggressive force which must be met by measures of active resistance. Such measures to be effective must take the shape of the creation of practical means and methods of offense and defense. The case is not one which admits of trifling; the attack is fundamental, the danger is vital, and cannot be effectually met by superficial expedients.
Now there is happily one available measure of protection and defense against Bolshevism and all its assaults, one which is manifestly appropriate and will be absolutely efficacious. It is one which has long been highly desirable for other reasons hereinafter set forth, but which in view of the menace of radicalism is now imperatively demanded. It consists in such a reform of the electorate itself as will make it impassible and impervious to every influence subversive of our basic institutions. An electorate of male private property owners of twenty-five years of age and upwards would constitute an absolute barrier against all attacks on private property from any quarter; its establishment would summarily and forever terminate all hopes of Bolshevistic revolution in this country and ensure the American people freedom to enjoy the noble future which Providence has made possible to them.
The cause of private property rights is in the truest sense the American cause and that to which all other national causes political and social are subordinate. Those rights involve almost everything which is dear to the American heart. Even our governmental institutions are of secondary importance, they are the instruments merely; the means whereby we seek to obtain among other aids and aims the protection of private property, the absolute assurance to each American of the use and enjoyment of the fruits of his toil, of his self denial and of his foresight. This view is not novel in our politics. It was thoroughly familiar to our Eighteenth Century statesmen, it was part of the political faith of some of the most prominent among them, including a majority of the political leaders of the Revolutionary epoch. They endeavored to secure these ends and to ensure the future of the new nation by requiring wherever possible a property qualification for voters. Had this practise and its underlying principle been adhered to and (with proper modifications for changed conditions as they might occur) had the government been continued on the basis on which the wise and prudent men of that time endeavored to establish it, it would at this moment represent a satisfactory approximation of a true and scientific democracy able to hold in safe derision its critics and enemies. But the principle of a properly qualified electorate, so vitally essential to an efficient democracy has been repudiated and abandoned; the practise of unlimited white suffrage has been general amongst us for about ninety years, and today there can be no doubt that there is a prospect of danger to our country, not because of lack of courage and loyalty in her sons, but because of the unhealthy organism of our body politic, whose modern basic principle, unlimited suffrage, ignores property rights, and looks to control by the representatives of the inefficient and the proletariat whenever they can secure a numerical majority at the polls, thus incidentally accomplishing what Bolshevism directly aims at.
And now that private property rights heretofore considered as unquestionable are openly attacked, we must prepare for their defense, for the defense of the family, of the American social system and the free individual life, all three of which depend on private property for their existence. The time has come when the institution of private property must be formally recognized and defended as fundamental to our existence as a nation, and such recognition requires and involves the allotment to that institution of a place and influence in our electoral system. Private property cannot safely rely for its defense upon officials who are dependent upon the votes of the non-property holding populace. There is no way of final avoidance of the issue, or even of long postponing it. This nation must either declare itself definitely as adhering to the principle of private property rights or it must expect disaster. And first, the cause of private property rights needs organization and self consciousness. Property holders cannot properly defend a cause which has never declared itself and which has neither standard nor leaders, while its enemies have both, and are not only proclaiming their convictions with courage, but have enacted them into living statutes wherever they have power. If the institution of private property is to endure in this country it must be formally recognized as representing a sacred cause, to be carefully committed into the hands of its friends; the electorate must be made over into a property qualified body, and all temptation to Bolshevism must be removed from the American politician. Let this be done, let the constitution of every State be amended so that our voting mass shall be virile and substantial, and freed from the element of effeminacy and inefficiency now so controlling; give the conservative good sense of the nation a rallying point, an official standard, an authoritative creed, and it will speedily make short work of the enemies of social order and of sound political institutions.