The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-11-19
KILL DEFEATED.

The defeat of John Stuart Mill at the first
election after the enlargement of the suffrage
is calculated to recall the story of Franken-
stein, pursued with deadly malignity by the
| monstrous creature of his own constructive
Ingenuity. No single person in England,
| perhaps, did so much towards effecting the
extension of suffrage granted by the late par
lament, and under which the incoming par
| lament is elected, than Mr.. Mill. The Lib
efal party of Bright and Gladstone has had in
him its most logical thinker the general
cause of radical reform has had in him its
most philosophical and conscientious advo-
cate. The present electoral basis even some
Liberals were disposed to decline, as the
reckless concession of despair, or as Grecian
gift from the willy enemy, when proposed by
Mr.. Disraeli, and many more of them believed
that they took a fearful leap in the dark
when accepting it. Not SO with Mr. Mill.
He had but one objection to the measure. 1t
did not go far enough. 1t went to the verge
of universal manhood suffrage. 1t admitted
to the elective franchise about million of
men who, exclusive of individual exceptions,
stood, in respect to ignorance and poverty,
lower than the lowest of the suffrsgans under
the old system. But Mr.. Mill was not salts
fed with this advance. He was willing at
once to entrust the political fortunes of Eng
land to several millions more of new voters
without experience in political affairs and
wholly unaccustomed to the exercise of po-
htical rights and the discharge of political
duties. In this number he would have inclu-
ded women, and all boys and girls of adult
age. Assuming it to be safe, expedient and
just to enfranchise the newly-made voters, he
argued that if these could be permitted to
vote, not only without detriment, but with
positive benefit to the country, all the rest of
the adult population, not excluded by crime
or idiocy, could be enfranchised with equll
assurance of asalutary result.
Thus the argument of MIR. Mill stood when
he became a candidate for reelection to Par
lament before a large constituency, very
large part of which consisted of the newly
entranchised class. Here, one would sup
pose, was an excellent opportunity for him to
test by his own personal experience the
soundness of his theory. Early in the can
vass he must have had some misgivings as to
the issue of the experiment. For it was soon
obvious that he had lost ground by the an
nouncement of his intention not to use
money to buy his way to Parliament, and
that the fayorite with the newly made voters
those who owed to him, perhaps, more than
to any other man the possession of the cleo
tive franchise-was a candidate infinitely
below him in intellectual ability and moral
repute, bat who illustrated the liberality of his
principles by the simple and dashing expedient
of scattering money with open hand among
the suhragans. Mr.. Mills political fit
ness for seat in Parliament was not ques-
toned. He was cordially Endorsed by John
Bright and other Liberal leaders who, along
with him, had laborea so long for the enfran-
chisement of the newly made voters. And yet
he is defeated by these very voters-he, the
purest and ablest of those who advocated
their introduction to the sphere of political
activities. They remand him to privacy be-
cause he scorned to use venal expedients to |
gum their sumos0s, .---1 Si.vy svt,.,n i'm his |
place vulgar trader in politics who owes sue
cess to the money which he spent and to the
low estimate which he put upon their virtue
and intelligence.
1t is hardly to be supposed that the case of |
Mr.. Mill is a solitary exception. Similar in
stances must have occurred elsewhere in |
England. Such results look very unpromis- |
ing for the future of England under the pro-
gressive extension of the elective franchise
which, at no distant day, is doubtless to cul-
inmate in universal suffrage. While fully as
much bribery and corruption as ever will be
at the basis Of parliament, it seems likely that
both the moral and the intellectual average of |
that body will be lower than ever so that the
truest and most enlightened friends of English
reform have the dreadful possibility before
them of seeing the English Parliament sink
to the level of a Radical Congress in the
United States.