The Waynesburg Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 1867-18??, 1868-01-15
nnoUyDs OF orIapARrIAL SUFFRAGE.

cd for the life of us we don't sec how
thew can be sensihly contradicted. We
commend them to the reflection OF
candid voters
Ii suffrage could bcmade dependent
on virtue, morality, intelligence, cduca-
ton, creed, Or race, whom of us would
our ncighbors allow to vote? Virtues
bocomc vices when the vicious are
Judges. Morality is a moral stencil in
the nostrils of thedeprayed and which
arc the dcpravcd depends on who are
the moral critics. Most mcn'spomlity
Compounds for sins they arc iaellned to
By damning those they have no mind to-
We all have conscicnces kccnly alive
TO the sins committed by Others, And,
as to intelligence, fool always looks
upon philosopher as an ass a knavo
instinctively holds man of plety to
be Il hypocritc. A thief, whether in
or out of our legislatures, winks at hon
cstv as the last pretcnce of a scoundrel.
And n drunkard hiccups in his
maudlin stupor that the only difference
between saint and him is, that one
.cts drunk on rum and the other on
religion. The shareholders, whose
property in the slave was daily THEFT
of his wages, honestly scorncd the hero
who gave the slave his freedom as on
moral par with the thief who steals
n horse. None are so conceitcd in estl-
mating their wisdom as the intensely
ignorant; none so appreciative of the
intelligence of the humblest in their
sphere as the very wise. A sailor
would despise Il Newton who would find
everything to admire in the skill with
which the sailor fulfilled the functions
of his narrow but useful sphere of life.
Contempt for men of any kind, class,
or race, is never felt by the best men
nor the highest races for the lower, but
always by the lower for the higher
IT is not the Christs who cruelty the
rabblc, nor Socrates who administers
hcmlock to the Ounces, nor Galileo
who imprisons the bigots, nor the re-
formers who burn the scnsualists at TIN
stake. SO it is not the higher classe
of the American or English nation
who object to universal suffrage, bu
they whose right to the suffrage is a
doubtful as that of those to whom it
poposed to extend it. Ask the trS
man YOU meet who cannot read
whether the right to vote ought to b
limited, and he will answer Yes! NC
of course expecting the limitation WI
exclude him, who cannot read, but tn;
it will exclude some foreigner or negr
who can. But ask the Chief-Justlc
of the United States if all men ougt
10 vote without limitation, either as
education or property, and he answer
Certainly: voting is the simplest
all matters men do not vote tor me;
surcs, nor even for principles, but on
for one of two political parties, ar
the most ignorant man knows wit
whichparty his immediate interests lie
The popular vote is not designed
teach craftsmanship, nor to solve lntr
cate questions of any kind for these a
never submitted directly to the mass
voters. 1t is designed to tie statesm
and politicians to the peoples interes
not to supply them with the knowle
how those interests can best be serve
for that is in all cases better understo
by those who make special life-stu
of it than by those who give their til
to thousand other kinds of businC
and are prevented thereby fr'
becoming expert in statcsmansh
But all men know what their p
sonal interests demand. All p'
men want freedom to labor, and
power to recover their wages, prot
families, educate their children, sue
the courts, sit on juries, and enjoy
benefits of the Government which ia
them. Whatsoever party most libera
and sincerely offers these benefits,
10 others, but to their own class, wo
iucmcn will vote for. In the be
days of the Democratic party, it of
ed these to foreigners, and thereby
cured their vote. The Republi
party now offers the same to
Freedmen, and thereby secures Il
vote. The Democratic party is n
earnest in securing the same to
ex-Rcbels, and thereby is more ASST
than it should have been Of secu'
their vote. 1t does not require m
Intelligence iu any manto know wi
Of tie two political parties is most
voted othe interests ofthe class
which he belongs The Freed
Of the South have distinguished
tLo ,,u,.tty that voulG con1r