Evening star., 1928-12-21
The Duty of the
Citizen to Vote

The tollowinc is the prize essay In
the competition held by the District
Department of the American Legion
among the high school students OF
| Washington, for Which Miss Anne
| Woodward King OF Central High
! School received q gold medal Stgnt-
| fying her Uictory in the dtutSton IN
Which she competed.
Again in the Fall of 1923 citizens and
| future citizens of the United States are
| caught in the full tide of presidential
| campaign. Tags and posters are exhibit
| ed in automobiles and in the windows OF
homes: the names of the candidates
are to be seen scrawled upon the walks,
| walls and public structures; the air is
full of it-even the voteless Capltal
City
In the midst of such keen contro-
| versv and enthusiastic demonstrations
the least interested persons must, per-
force, take some part-if only an in
ward decision in favor of one or the
other party. 1t is a most appropriate
time to recall to our minds the signlfl-
canoe of suffrage to the citizens ana 10
the Nation.
Voting is commonly spoken Of as a
right of the citizens of republic. In
the strict sense of the word, 1t Is not
a right, for each State sets its 1ndl-
vidual standards whereby certain per-
sons within it's boundaries are dlSen-
franchised. Therefore, when you cast
YOUR ballot you are exercising prlvl-
Ieee which not every resident in your
State possesses and. moreover, you are
performing your most important CIVIC
duty.
It is we'll known fact that you
cannot have privileges without respon-
| sibility. If you are presented with a
| beautiful home and do not undertake
the responsibility of keeping it in re-
pair, it will cease to be beautiful ThuS
| it is with your privilege of voting. You
must continue using it if you desire
beneficial returns.
And not only must you use it reg
ularly, but wisely as well. II your
neighbor is a conscientious citizen, he
will have investigated both the plat
| forms and the candidates of the OPP
| posing parties, and he will have come
to an independent conclusion as to
which will best serve the needs OF the
day, before he approaches the polls.
| Blind fealty to the name Of party
or narrow prejudices against a candi-
date will not influence his vote. He
will vote for the statesman who, free
from the control of corrupt political
machines. has strength to stand up for
his own convictions.
| How contemplate, in contrast, is the
man who stays at home, either because
he is forgetful or sfamelessly negligent
| of his supreme duty as a citizen! Has
| he any right to be dissatisfied because
| the city officials are dishonest or inef-
| ficient? Whom has he to blame that
| the party in power does not foster his
interests? So tremendous is the num-
| ber of non-voters such as he that ad-
vocates of compulsory voting law
have arisen, pointing out the success of
that system in Australia and showing
that the people of the United States
are no better represented than those
in Mexico.
Is 1t possible that in the same coun-
| try where, a century and half ago,
their ancestors fought a war over "tax-
alton without representation" almost
half Of the citizens do not care to par
! ticipate in the government to the ex-
tent of voting for those who are to
| govern?
In the present campaign it is evident
| that the failure of few thousand cit
liens to vote may defeat the candidate
whom the majority of the people favor
Although fourteen million more people
have registered than in 1924. there is
no way of telling how many Democrats
and how many Republicans among
these may go to the movies or take an
automobile trip on election day.
The name Of patriot, while generally
| applied to the intrepid heroes of war
time, belongs equally to the citizen who
on the 9Th Of November performs the
peace-time duty and service of casting
an honest ballot.