Evening star., 1914-07-26

national elections is compulsory for all males over the
age of twenty-five In Lower Austria Upper Austria,
Moravia, Siesia and few other Austrian provinces
each elector obliged participate in the election Of
members of the Reichsrath under penalty of from
one to fifty kroner. In Belgium failure to is
sdered misdemeanor punishable with varying penal
ties, ranging from warning to the suspension
of political rights for period of ten years in the
of obdurate offenders together with the suspension OF
such civil rights that of eligibility for Office.
The enactment of such legislation in the United
States would constitute species of tyranny that would
be speedily resented 1t is the duty of citizen to
vote; but he cannot be compelled to perform that
duty. If is not desrous of becoming good cltl-
zen, all the legislation the statute books cannot
transform him into Compulsory suffrage is no
nostrum sufficiently potent to take the place of an
alert intelligent citizenship guided by conscience and
proper ideals More than anything else need to de-
veop the sentiment that the who does not vote
is shirkng real duty citizen, that he falls short
of the popular standards Nowadays there is sharp
revival of civic consciousness which usties the hope
that public opinion will be strong enough to
plish this end.
Personally I cannot subscribe to the idea that be-
in large city only thirty forty per cent of the
electorate go out to vote-fewer people than attend
baseball game on the Fourth of July-it is indict-
ment against any system And it seems certain that
with compulsory suffrage should have vastly in
creased number of people voting who had not studied
public questions.
THERE is manfestly no force in public life
stronger than the reaction against the party in
power and the legislation it enacts Devotees of the
party desire that vital progress should be made
along the lines they have advocated while those out Of
power are aroused to renewed opposition by measures
they condemn.
Never the tendency apparent toward the break
ing down of party lines and indifference to party a-
ations The people seem to be dividing into smaller
groups place of the older and stronger party assoca
tons. Each group seeks to inaugurate some piece of
legislation the adoption of reform against
which is always aned another group equally nsistent
The farming class against those in the cities, the
laboring classes against the employing classes;
class urges the enactment of restrictive imgra
ton laws which bitterly denounced by another Glass;
group wishes to be exempted from the operation Of
the Sherman antitrust law; element of society
demands strict temperance legislation, while another
group threatens to visit condign punishment upon any
member of Congress who votes for such bills Each
organization backs candidate for office because of
selfish local considerations of his attitude
upon the subject in which it is interested to which
it is devoted.
The result is that candidates are tempted to make
all of promises without regard for the welfare
of the whole people, committing themselves to legisla
ton in which the largest possible number of such minor
organizations Interested We thus the resultant
tendency Congress to vote not accordance with
members judgment to the merits dement's of a
measure but rather in accordance with what he
sders the wish of the majority.
And thus the welfare of locality or section of a
State preferred to that of the whole nation bill
that affects part of the country appropriates
of money for certain locality is under consideration
at Washington, and at the eleventh hour members of
Congress deluged with hundreds of letters and tele
grams signed by individuals who have no familiarity
with the merits involved, but lend themselves to
ceverly planned but transparent campaign inaugu-
rated for the purpose of stampedng Congressman into
supporting bill of whose desrability there is grave
question. Many times l have answered these letters
by requesting their authors to furnish with the