The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-04-20
Whole System of Government
Rests on Ballot Box, He Says
Government Is Doomed
to Failure Unless Citizens
- Perform Their Duties There
-Refers to Law Cbserv-
ance.

Washington, April 20.-LP-Citi- :
zenshlp In America is not II pf,vat e
enterprise, but public function.
president Coolidge said in an address
last night before the Thirty-fi
Congress of the National Society of
the Daughters of the American Revo-
luton during which he urged the
people to exercise greater interest
IN their government by going to the
polls on election day.
The whole system Of government"
he asserted, RESTS on the ballot box,
Unless citizens perform their duties
there, such system of government
rs doomed to failure"
Making passing reference to law
observance as it relates to the duties
OF citizenship, the president said that
1T cannot be denied that in the
splendor and glamour Of our fife the
moral sense is sometimes blinded"
ut cannot be disputed" he said,
chat in too many quarters there
is lack of reverence for authority
and Of obedience to law. Such oc-
currences are sporadic and produce
their own remedy. When society finds
that it's life and property are in peril
from evildoers, it is very quick to
organize it's forces for its own protec-
ton. That cannot fail to be done in
our own country, for our people as
a whole are thoroughly law abiding !"
The Serious Danger
The President held, however, that
it was not in violence and crime that
the greatest danger lies. for their
evils were quickly apparent and could
be suppressed. A far more seriou,
danger, he said, "lurks in the sinking
of those responsibilities of citizen
ship, where the evil may not be so
noticeable but is more insidious and
likely to be more devastating"
The address was delivered on the
anniversary of the battles of Concord
and Lexington. and after referring to
the form of government set up as a
result of the Revolution, Mr.. Coolidge
said:
IF we are to keep our representa-
tive form of government and to main
tain the principle that the majority
shall rule, it behooves us to take
some drastic action to arouse the
voters of this country to a greater
interest in their civic duties on cleo
tion day. Many remedies have been
proposed, from disfranchisement to
criminal action. The most practical.
| believe, however, is for all bodies of
men and women interested in the
welfare of this country to join to-
gether under some efficient organi-
zation to correct this evil
Women Not Voting
"It was hoped that giving the vote
to women would arouse a more gen.
eral interest in the obligations of cleo
ton day. That has not yet proved
to be the case. The presidential
election in 1920 was the first after
the adoption of the universal suf-
frage amendment. There is no way
to divide the total vote cast by men
and women. But, after that election
some rather complicated calculations
were made based on the assumption
that the accession of women might
be presumed to double the voteA The
calculators reached the conclusion
that Of the approximate $1,000, 900
votes cast only 81 per cent represent
ed the votes of women. Some say the
percentage of feminine vote was
greater in 1924. Others say it was
less.
II am not disposed to accept these
conclusions as altogether fair to the
women. And it stands to reason that
it would take some time for them to.
CONTINUED on page three.)