Evening star., 1915-06-15
DEGREES ARE GIVEN
TO 400 GRADUATES
Continued from Ninth Page)

few Of the things that you Will nave
to fight for or against. Cltizenshlp IN
the United States has been maze Co
extensive with population: hVoiu.lo1
along this line has reached ITS logical
we might say, its mechanical. l1mlts
But some qualifications are stlll re-
auired of public officers. Will you aid
in the movement for their removal
The principal restrictions on feoeIal
ofIicials are the age requirements for
the President senators and representa-
tives, and the provision that the fresl-
dent must be a natural-born cluLen OF
the United States. The logic OF pure
democracy, of course. would opliterae ten
these restrictions Will you follow
this logic?
We still restrict the electors 10
limited class of citizens, and one oi
the problems which you Will oe calieu
upon Immediately to face Will inNoive
the removal of some of these restfic-
tions. If the famous phrase IN me
Declaration of Independence TO the ei
feet that governments derive their JUST
powers from the consent OF tne soN
erned was intended as historical
statement it was false, necause ~
government has derived its powers
from the consent of the governed. II
it was intended as the expression OF an
ideal, it was foolish, because such ah
ideal cannot be realized: NO cover
ment ever can obtain the consent VI
all the governed, unless in the process
of evolution infants should be en-
dowed At birth with physical ana IN
tellectual strength sufficient to en-
able them to vote intelligently.
so take warning and never let your
judgment be bowled over by an cpl
gram.
To What Extent RealizedP
ar saap,S 1;l-a c,orileoa to sneak
otherwise than with reverent, unaues-
tionjng commendatfon of the phrase
made immortal by Lincoln at Gettys-
burg: Government of the people, by
the people, for the people, and yet you
must have the courage to ask and an
swer the question, to what extent the
ideal embodied in this phrase has been
or can be realizedo The answer, of
course. depends on the definition that
we give to people. If by people we
mean citizens, all the governed. then
this phrase. like the one in the Dec
lara tion, suggests an impossibility.
IF it is desirable to increase the
body of electors to its utmost limits
this can be done by giving the fran
voting age to eighteen or lower In
this way only can even majority OF
the people be accorded the right TO
take part in the government. At the
tion Of the United States was 90.0o0.Ooo.
Only 100000. or II per cent of the
people. voted. and the President was
chosen by the votes of 6.500,0O0. or
per cent Of all the citizens. This. OF
course, is not government by the peo-
pie, but government by a small frac-
tion of the people.
You will soon find yourself asking
how has it come about that the Ameri-
can people exhibit such devotion to
nf a
pie, deriving its powers from the con-
sent of the governed, while at the
same time they place such limitations
on the franchise? Why is it that the
government is in the hands solely of
men, and of men over certain arbi-
trary age, and why have these the ex-
elusive voice in admitting others to
the government? Is government, after
great silent power in the background
which, unseen and inactive, must be
assumed as the final, potential. deter
mining element of our political devel-
opmeRt?
In our country the men of twenty
one years of age and over, the present
electors, constitute 29 per cent Of the
population. If to this number, we add
the women as electors. We have So per
cent Of the whole number of citizens.
II we fix the voting age for men and
women at eighteen, the body of cleo
tors will form 70 per cent of the peo-
pie. Such an increase in the electorate
would be natural unfolding Of demo-
cratic tendencies.
Must Be Representative.
ut is not apparent that an absolute
ly pure, all-embracing democracy as
a form Of government is even mathe-
matically impossible? In other words,
governments must be representative,
at least to a certain extent. Is there
not danger that you may imperil the
best possible government by chasing
the will-'o-the-wisp of unattainable
democracy?
You will also be called on to fight
for or against the present movement
that has gathered considerable strength
in this country to uproot and destroy
all forms of representative govern
ment, and to substitute therefor legis-
lation by constitutions, the nominating
primary. the referendum. initiative and
recall. It may be that you will begin
by aiding this movement. II SO, let me