The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-21
sVOX POPULL.'
ny WATSON AMDRUsrER.

which, sbaIlowly interpreted, may be made to
contain a most mischieyous falsehood; but,
interpreted In the sense wherein no doubt 1t was
spoken, holds a deepest truth. We must only
remember he continues, That this people Is
mot the populace either in hIgn place or In low:
and that this voice of the people Is .i hos auy
momentary outcry, but the consentlng tesumony
of the good and wise, OF those neither Dru-
tallzed by ignorance nor corrupted oy ialse
cultivation, in all places and 10 al times. o,,,
which have agitated the world from the earliest
ages are concerned, this view is undoubtedly
correct, both in theory and practice. No mere
''momentary outcry, no matter how widespread
1t may be, Is sufficient of itself TO decide such
questions-to condemn one particular dogma as
unsound, or to impart to another the true spirit
OF inspiration. That the same principle should
be applied to problems of political character
no reasonable person will deny. There are but
few questions concerning the policy OF gov
enment, whether local or national, which eau
be fully considered and wisely determined en-
tirely apart from their social and moral as
poets; and in the most viCal issues, such as
those pertaining to the unallenable rights OF
man and to the restrictions which are neces.
sarily imposed upon them for the common
benefit OF the whole community, 1t Is quite i'm
possible to draw the dividing line. But while
no one will care to dispute the theoretical sound
ness of this view, the history of the world has
shown that its practical application ls utterly
out of the question. This is especially true
with respect to the political system which has
obtained the ascendancy in this country, in
compliance with which we are perforce obliged
to fall back upon the threadbare maxim in its
broadest and most commonplace Interpretation
In the Old World, the divinity which, out OF
courtesy, is regarded as inherent In every form
of government, is held to hedge about" the
kingly parsonage in whom is centred the sove-
reignty OF the realm, and whose will is the
primal source of power. Louis the Fourteenth
fully comprehended the true theory of king
sen sn0 is o It To II 0nH 9Gr SG
blindly accept and meekly submit to its sway,
the voice of the people, is q mockery-the
maxim VoE popui oor Del Napoeonic snb-
terfuge, and nothing mote. But according to
the American system, as solemnly enuncated by
the founders of the republic, governments are
instituted among men TO secure the unallena-
ble rights OF life, liberty, and the pursuit OF
happiness" and in all cases they must derive
'their just powers from the consent of the gov
erned." By this theory the sovereignty Is
lodged absolutely with the people at large. II
the forms OF government which they have
established in the free aud untrammelled exer-
else OF this sovereign power partake in any
degree OF divine auth horization, it is because
the voice of the people is the voice of God;"
and this must hold true, Notwithstanding that
the popular will, as thus expressed, has not
received 'the consentng testimony of the good
and wise In all places aud In all tmes.n We
have no alternative. From the people we can
appeal to history alone. We can only accept
the will of the majority as tie definite settlement
OF every mooted point, whether it be sanctioned
or condemned by those who rightly arrogate
to themselves the virtue and wisdom of the ages.
radical defect of this system, from which
even the etete kingcraft of the Old World is
happily free, consists in that it often ignores the
established landmarks which have been kept in
sight for centuries, venturing recklessly upon
nntrodden and seemingly hazardous paths.
seated prejudices or from sudden and unreason-
able whims of the popnlace, must OF necessity
prevail at times; while the testimony of the good
and wise is frequently ignored, and the policy
OF the government shaped by ignorance and
false culture, But these defects of the system
are the inevitable accom- paniments of all true
hberty We must be content to counteract their
influence as best we may, or reject as a whole
the cherished theory of mans capacity for eeif-
government. The great problem presented for
our solution, therefore, is the ascertainment OF
Cod"
1t might be profitable in this connection to
enter into an examination of the different
theories which have been advanced touching
the nature and conditions OF the elective fran
chlse, the means whereby we have attempted
this solution, were it not for the fact that the
subject has been considered from every stand
point, anu 1t would be quite impossible 10 pre-
sent any clearer elucidation of lt from one
altogether original and novel. Whether we
coneede that the ballot is natural right CO.
ordinate with and equal to those rights which
are enumerated in the Declaration of Independ-
ence as 'unalienable" or whether we maintain
that 1t is merely technical franchise, and
therefore to be granted or withheld according
to the pleasure OF the de fdc.o sovereignty, is of
no moment to our present object which is
simply to show the manner in which this most
precious OF all political privileges Is exercised
py those who are entrusted with it, and the
estimation in which it is held by them. In
compliance with the maxim VOI pOpul5 oOa Del,
we have devised the scheme of universal suf-
frage, or what is practically equivalent thereto,
as the basis of oar political structure. Let US
glance at the workings of the system, and see
now full and faithful an expression is given to
of the ballot
In the first place, what is commonly styled "a
1ull vote" is seldom polled, except on such rare
occasions as Presidential elections; and even
then the number avaiing themselves of the
privilege falls far short of those who are entitled
TO 1t. The great fluctuations in the popular
votes OF every State in the Union, which demon
strate this fact at glance, are too familiar to
the general reader to render it necessary to
encumber these pages with anything in the way
OF comparison Tor that purpose alone. For the
purpose, however, OF showing the relation borne
py the aggregate votes to the population, the
gradual increase of the percentage of the former
as compared with the lattOr, and the point
ABOUT which 1t has huctuated during the past
thirty years, we have prepared the tables given
below. As the franchise has been restricted to the
whlte race In almost every State, and the negro
vote, where it is included, is OF very triAing
proportions, the negro element of the popula-
uon has been entirely ignored in the calcula-
uons' IN the intervals between the regular
1ecennlal enumerations of the people the popu-
iatlon mas been carefully estimated from the
esta0hshed annual increase. Beginning with
Lhe state OF pennsylvania, we have the following
result
THE VOTE OF PENNSYLVANIA FROM 179 0 TO 1860
14aa RsSr. ig,!9n ac: OGce. Hote. cent.
iSS'''' i5SS'' sSa O99 80 527~... ~
iS isVS 74s9iu...."., .......l iii 554,..i4 /
is2c. i25c..~ 81 Sas SSG Ss9. 80 80 sSs- 92
iSaS 400 ooa ''"'''' 29, 80 5-,.. 10 2