Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1899-05-17
PKESENT-DAY THOUGHTS,
BY G. GRosvENoR DAVE.

"
Figures are useful sometimes, particu-
larly when figures are reliable and rash
statements are Unreliable Now, accord
ing to the census of 1890, there were in this
country on that date G., 622 $50 inha bitants
In 1892 at the presidential election, when
Grover Cleveland was elected and Benja-
min Harrison defeated, the total vote cast
for all parties was 12G59,35O, or consider
ably less than one-iifth of the entire popu-
latiOn of men, women and children.
Again, according to the census of 1890
the number of males of voting age that
year was 16 9io,311, representing about
one fourth of the population. Very
nearly five million of these failed to vote
in 1892.
Look atthe matter another way. OF the
100000, over thirty million were female,
leaving balance of thirty-two million
males, of whom, as l have said before, only
12,000,000 voted.
There is another way to look at the
matter. The votes for Grover Cleveland
were 5,556,9l8, or only 3S0,SiO more than
the votes cast for Benjamin Harrison. 1t
is also RICH, to point out that Cleveland's
total vote and the total vote cast for all
other candidates shows that $780, 32
greater number, in fact, than all those
who voted for him.
If now it is fair to say that a vote is an
unfailng evidence of the consent of the
governed, then there were more people
opposed tothe successful candidate than
there were people who consented to his
government. Furthermore, if a vote be
the unfaililg method of learning a peoples
will, then against Mr.. Cleyeland's five
| milli' II supporters one must set the whole
fifty seven million who did not vote for
him. Yet The viii Of the five million i'm
pressed upm the fifty seven million the
form of government they would have for
| four years. The unvoting majority did
not interior with the triumph of the five
million anda hall
Furthermore, SO strangely does our
electoral syaem work that in 1883, though
Benjamin harrison secured hundred
thousand v,tes less than Mr.. Cleveland,
yet Mr.. Harrison was elected.
These fgres are not introduced as
having any ,oltical bearing, but because
both of the dections mentioned come the
nearest to tie last census. Now figures
do not lie, utess it is a liar who uses them;
and assuming that my readers have not
found me + belong to that category of
evildoers, shall make one or two de-
auctions fran the figures that have been
given in th preceding paragraphs, and
even at the lsll of appearing dull and un-
interesting, hold the attention of the
reader dow to certain facts of our
national life This is with the intention
| of making oe point clear-that the con-
sent of the overned is learned in an or
derby nationhy some other method than a
) universal voa.
This is so 18th us, for it has been shown
} that at the LIST election of Mr.. Cleveland
! only about ,ne-eleventh of the national
strength de,ared itself in his favor at the
polls. Does not our past history show
s that the onsent of the governed as
; cnunciated y Jefferson means among the
men the triumph OF one or two parties and
the acquiesance in the result of the de-
feated? Among the women there is prac-
tically no 'oce at all that expresses itself
j in a public way, either in one direction or
another, ,pi the women are more than an
, ! superintendent in our national life and
intelligence
1t fills one with pride to remember how
quiet and orderly is our national life, in
relation u rational questions, though the
greater number of US are always and for
ever prevented from being upon the win
ming side \ Central American republic
is different for there the true principles of
govern met are not understood. Our
voiceless women and our equally voiceless
children ard even our defeated men live
contentedl7 under form of political be-
lief that thy did not uphold,
AS woNlng government founded upon
declarations that thrill the heart, we find
that the government goes calmly on its
way and its members live contentedly
under it, though only a small fraction
carry out the declaration made by our
ancestors. The practical result up to the
present O, government by the people of
the most intelligent, most liberty loving
republic IN the world, is that four tifths
of the governed give their consent solely
by being content.
This line of argument, it is hardly nee
essary 10 explain, is introduced to show
the partial unreasonableness of some of
our thinkers who are crying aloud for the
consent Of the governed in the Philippines,