The states-graphic. (Brownsville, Tenn.) 1???-1984, 1917-08-10
THE FRANCHISE |
SACRED DUTY

About the bi .;ges- thing in the Unit
ed States today is the government
self. And, reader, had you ever
thought that a little three-by-seven
slip of paper has made this govern
ment the mighty world power it IS j?
Fact-the ballot.
The franchise is the one thing OF
which Americans should feel prouder
than of any other or all others of their
possessions. 1t is the solution of ev-
cry question that can possibly arise,
the answer to every objection that
can ever be raised. 1t is the power
that unlocks the door to opportunity
and spreads wide the gate to the field
of achievement.
A great statesman has made the as
sertion that you can trust the people,
when unhampered and uninhueneed, to
do the right thing. We might safely
go step farther and assert that what
ever the people do, when uninfuenced
and unhampered, is right.
Is there a bigger power on earth
than the majority of its inhabitants
If not, there can be no appeal from
their expressed will. We do not con-
slider the old theory of the divine right
of kings, because we shook ourselves
free from that superstition more thar
a century ago. OF course the question
of the Divine Will is to be considered
but as we are each supposed to be
following the dictates of his own con-
science, that, to US, is RIGHT.
But we must qualify and assert that
the voice of the people cannot be
unquestionably right unless it is the
voice of ALL the people. The whole
can not err. Parties and factions can
and do.
And therein lies the cource of all
that is wrong, all that is important
all that is not right in our body poll
tic. We do not get a free expression
of the will of ALL the people. Let us
repeat: Partial impressions may be
wrong or may be right; the express
sions Of the whole CAN NOT be
wrong, because from it there is no APP
peal.
All of which is preliminary to the
statement that, besides being q priv
lege Of which all should feel proud
the franchise is duty that rests upor
each one, and from which no one may
escape and remain blameless.
Reader, have you thought that, when
the voice of the people is called for anc
your voice is lacking, the answer i;
incomplete. Yet such is the fact, ant
it may be your voice would have
changed the result.
How many times have you heard i
said of the result of an election, III
was the stay-at-home vote that did it,
And in every such case, if wrong
was perpetrated, it was the stay-at
homes who were responsible.
You hadn't thought of it in just tina
light, Ell? Well, perhaps not, bu
think of it hereafter.
Periodically there will be elections
in this town, and your town has ;
right to expect your vote to belrsgi
1t has a right to expect that your votl
win express YOUR HONEST convic
tions. And it has the right tc expec
the same of every voter within its con
fines. And when, or if, this result il
achieved, the result is RIGHT /
may not accord with your views o.
wishes, but it is right, because it il
ULTIMATE.
The town as a whole can be brough
to view this question of the franchis
in this true light, has taken a lonl
stride forward in civic we'll being, an,
will find as it puts into practice thes
principles that many of its vexins
questions will answer themselves ana
its knotty problems will be solved