Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-07-27
SOME ENGLISH VIEWS OF UNIVER-
SAL SUFFRAGE.
[FioIn the New York Sun I

- A- tiIt IHtSiiOl stuitHN Il CtTttiu SOrI
OF wealthy and pretentious Americans
10 dccry universal suffrage. and to as
criDe TO it all the political evils OF the
country. Mr. Francis Parkman. Tor ex-
ample, publishes in the July number of
the North American Review an article
IN which he declares that our political
system tends to exclude from the gov
ernment the best class of citizens; ac-
cordingly he advocates a reform by
which only men possessed of Il certain
amount OF property shall be allowed to
vote. In this respect he follows in the
footsteps of Mr. Evarts and his associ-
ates. who lately endcavored to hand
over the government OF cities in this
state 10 the control of the PAYERS of
certain amount OF rent or taxes. And
1t i quite common to hear ii said that
the most competent men among us take
no part i'll active politics because of the
discouragcmcnt they meet with from our
unlimited suffrage laws.
That such sentiments spring from igno-
rance OF the facts of the case or from
sick!y refinement which cannot success
fully grapple with practical questions,
no healthy Judgment doubts. That Mr..
l'arkman, Mr.. Evarts. and others OF their
Sind tail o! winning their confidence and
the esteem OF their fellow citizens who
| possesses less wealth and book learning
| than they do, is not because OF their SUI
| perlor atta!nments, or OF their greater
| capacity to serve the public. 1t is be-
cause the uncorrupted instincts OF the
voters whom they profess To despise de-
tect their want OF knowledge OF tho
| broad interest of the country, and will
not accept their financial theories rs
political wisdom. Rough common sense
IN this. as in many other cases, arrives
At u sound conclusion. though 1t may not
give lis reasons IN elegant language.
An interesting discussion of the ca
pacity OF masses OF men to Judge cor
reci!y on political subjects has lately
been going on in the pages OF an Eng
li>h review. The Nineteenth Century,
between Mr.. Gladstone, Lord Arthur
Russell, Mr.. Greg. Mr.. Hutton. and
other cmincn, Englishmen. The sum-
ming up OF their several views appears,
"ppurtuncly enough. simultaneously
with the publication Of Mr.. Parkman's
article in this country, and is most sat-
isiactOry answer to it. Mr. Gladstone,
particularly, is out-spokcn in his opin-
ION, that 80 tar as we know the facts,
and with a possible exception or two,
the popular Judgment on the great
achievements OF the last half century,
which have made our age (so iar) q
praise among the ages. has been more
| Just and true than that OF the majority
nt the higher orders He mentions 4
number OF measures. such as the repeal
p OF the corn laws, the cheap postage bill.
snd Irish establishment. in confirmation
: OF this proposition. and concludes thus
: Now. when we have enfranchised ona
: tail halt OF this class, which ielt and
, Judged So much more soundly than We
did. and that halt the more questionable
u! the two. it will not be well to with
= hold the corresponding boon demanded
by equality. by growing intelligence.
and by ungucstionable docilIty. from the
other mOietv." Mr.. Gladstone did not,
;t> he might have done, add to his illus
i trations the popular support which the
! [ nitrd States received in England
+ against the efforts of the aristOcracy
Il during the war for the Union, and his
= own recent failure to commit England
:, 10 the side OF kus>ia against Turkey !;
= hut he must have remembered them, and
j his iuhgmrn, is therefore the more dis
:. interested. Mr.. Hutton and Mr.. Grant
i Duff agree with Inn, and support him
! Will al! 'iiiaN vi liStS titpSSticl oNSl- =
=. whclining.
{ The truth is, that, as Mr.. Gladstone
Il points out, something more than intel
lectull cultivation is necessary in form
: ING Il correct conclusion on political
= questions. This something is moral
. >oIndncsS. which is too often impaired
= by the very circumstances OF luxury
c and social pretense which accompany
II superior education. Wealth and ease
}. bring with them, he says. in majority
+ OF cases. an increased growth in the
d hardening crust OF egotism and selfish
+ ness, and diminish the capacity of right
= Judgment more than leisure, money and
opportunity increase it. And he con-
: cudcs by appealing to the experience of
: the early christians. who found favor
4 with the poor and ignorant, when they
II despiSed and prosecuted the aristo-
= cracy of the Roman empire. On one
5 side OF the water we have only TO point
3 to the apathy. not to say cohplacency,
Il with which many educated citizens
Il regard the great presidential fraud. and
e the alacrity which some OF the most
II conspicuous among them have displayed
{, in seeking office from the hands of a
i man who derives his ability to give it
1t from bribery and perjury, to be convlnc-
d ed that. not among this set, at least, are
st the S;,viors of the country to be looked
for. Our ordinary American citizens
II may not be full of classics and mathe-
d matics, but they know right from wrong,
Il and can be depended on to approve the
Is one and condemn the other.