In the early days of our Republic, when there was more conservatism than at present, only the most important civil officers of the Federal and State governments were elective by the people, and the elective franchise was not so universally participated in by the masses as at the present time. Then the executive, elected by the people, was clothed with the appointing power, which he exercised with greater deliberation, calmness, and discrimination than is possible to the people amidst the excitements and intrigues of a popular election. He was held responsible to the people for an honest, faithful, and judicious exercise of this high prerogative.
But gradually the executive, elected by, and justly accountable to, his constituents, has been stripped of this power, and the same has become vested in or been resumed by the people, who, while possessing, according to the theory of the lawgivers of Ancient Greece, a greater amount of purity of intention, are swayed more by impulses and the passions of the hour. The legislative bodies then, as now, have always been elected by the qualified voters. Then elections were comparatively few, and the contests in the courts over executive, judicial, and ministerial offices, and in the legislatures over the contested seats of members, were comparatively few.
The law in such cases was sought for entirely from the analogies of the English common law cases and the parliamentary precedents and decisions. Now, while the Federal offices remain mostly as they were under our first Presidents and Congresses, in the States almost every office, from governor and judges of the highest courts down to magistrates and constables, has become elective by the people, and the States, with whom, under the Constitution, rests the power of regulating the qualifications for the exercise of the elective franchise, have generally removed all qualifications thereon, and conferred universal suffrage, as it is called, upon the people.
There is scarcely a function of government, from the most vital and momentous to the most trifling, that is not discharged in our regard by elected officers; our lives, our liberties, our property, our castles, and our reputations are confided to the protection or neglect, if not abuse, of officers elected for short terms; so that every interest of life and of society is thus governed, controlled, and administered indirectly by the voting masses.
We will give a single illustration of this: If we take thirty-three and a third years as the average span of human life, it may be said that in
every thirty-three and a third years [the time has been estimated as much shorter in regard to what we are going to state], the entire property of the country, its countless millions, are administered or acted upon by a single officer, the Judge of the Probate Court, or other officer of the law, elected by the people, and thus incidentally by the masses themselves. Thus the various elections, which we so heedlessly disregard or pass by, are, in fact, the casts of the die that determine the fate of the nation, its prosperity, happiness, and honor. The importance, therefore, of the law regulating these elections in their varied relations may be estimated from this fact.
That numerous questions and contests should have arisen in a country where so many offices are to be filled, and where elections are so frequent, is not strange, and that the decisions of our own courts upon these litigated cases should have become numerous and controlling is a natural result. The law of elections has been greatly developed and expounded in this country in recent years. The leading cases bearing upon these subjects have been skilfully and carefully collated by Mr. Brightly, illustrated by his own notes and references, and presented to the legal profession and the public in the volume before us. He could not have selected a theme of greater interest or importance to our country, especially at this time, than the law of elections. He has handled it with the same accuracy, learning, and industry which have always characterized his works, and elevated his reputation as a jurist and author. The present work carries with it an interest far more general than professional works
usually possess, and may be read with improvement and pleasure by all who are fond of a good and readable book, who seek for useful knowledge on a matter of vast public import, or who take an interest in the purity of elections, and in the general morals and welfare of the commonwealth. We commend it to their perusal.
The title of Father Doane’s new book is to be To and from the Passion Play in the Summer of 1871. It will soon be published by Mr. Donahoe, Boston.
Mr. P. O’Shea announces as in press, and to be published by subscription, The Lives of Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, by Mr. Richard H. Clark, A. M. The work will be published in two large octavo volumes, and will be ready about the first of December. These volumes will contain the biographies of all the deceased members of the American Catholic Hierarchy, from the earliest dawn of Christianity on this continent to the present day, and will trace the history of the church through the important episcopate of Archbishop Carroll, and chronicle with graphic effect the labors, sacrifices, and achievements of over fifty bishops who have been called to their reward.