Fourth.—Security of Property is guaranteed by our Constitution. Private property may not be taken even by the government without a fair price being paid for it.
Fifth.—Political Rights are guaranteed to our people, universal suffrage, complete political liberty. This is the most valuable of all rights, because it is the right that secures all other rights.[11]
These rights are not absolute; they are dependent on public opinion as well as on the law. They are imperfectly administered. To the extent that they are denied, we must each one of us accept part of the blame, because liberty of action is ours. In time of war public safety may demand their suspension, and the people may give permission that this may be done temporarily.
The privilege of citizenship brings with it the obligation to defend the government of which that citizenship is a part. The right to vote is a right which might well be dependent on the loyalty of the citizen, and on his willingness to defend and maintain his country.
Men say even to-day that the vote has no value, that they do not care about it. Let them live for a time in a country where they would not be allowed to vote, where the people are governed by an autocratic power, and how long before they would be willing to sacrifice anything, even life itself, for political liberty?
The citizen of a democracy has not only the duty to defend his country, but is bound to transmit to future generations something better than he inherited from the past. As it is his part in time of war to defend the liberties that he enjoys, so it is his duty in time of peace to do his best to develop and strengthen liberty and justice.
That is a task even more difficult than to fight in time of war. The discouragements, the disappointments, are many.
Women are bound to meet these disappointments. The vote for which they have worked so hard and so long will not accomplish what they wish. Often it will seem to accomplish very little. The machinery of democracy is cumbersome and very imperfect. It is often heartbreaking to try to move it. It does not easily register the popular will. But in spite of the imperfections, and the discouragements, and the downright corruption, the foundation on which it is built is the best that the world has yet found. There are many labor-saving devices still to be invented for the bettering of the machinery of government—protective measures to be found against political corruption and to safeguard the interests of the people.
Side by side with the improvement in the mechanism of government must come a quickening of the public conscience. The yeast of universal suffrage is already working toward that end. The golden rule as the standard of action in government will make few mistakes. The prospect for an improved democracy in New York State is bright. The war has swept away many prejudices and has clarified many problems. Men and women are working together as never before, whole-heartedly, for the benefit of the State. To adapt the words of President Wilson, “the climax of the culminating and final war for human liberty has come, and we must be ready to put our own strength, our own highest purpose, our own integrity and devotion to the test,” and we must do this not only now in time of war, but also after peace has come, in the dedication of ourselves to the service of justice, freedom, and opportunity for all in our nation.