457!] ASPECTS OF THE PLEBISCITE 159 



a plebiscite, held in whatever form, should not take place 

 until the territory in question is once more in a state which 

 would justify its being called peaceful and well-governed. 



Eliminating from any plebiscite held on the issue of the 

 transfer of territory the element of force and bribery, we 

 still must admit the possibility of danger in the form of 

 popular illiteracy and ignorance in matters of politics.^'^ 



No doubt, most peoples have, on one occasion or other, 

 been confronted with the problem of voting on laws and 

 ordinances, or on amendments to laws and ordinances, 

 which not two of the best legal minds have been able to 

 interpret to each other's satisfaction. On the other hand, to 

 decide whether one wishes to remain with Russia, or Ger- 

 many, whether one wishes to be independent or to assume a 

 foreign allegiance, must be admitted to be an infinitely more 

 simple process, running less danger of surpassing the aver- 

 age intelligence of the normal man or woman. 



Assuming then, in the case of the transfer of territory, 

 the feasibility of a popular vote on a clear and unambiguous 

 issue, without military and police interference and without 

 bribery, it seems that the ultimate result of the vote would 

 be equally representative whether registered on the basis of 

 universal suffrage, by an assembly elected on the issue to be 

 decided, or by an assembly vote afterwards ratified by uni- 

 versal ballot. Questionable could be only the decision of an 

 assembly elected on another, an unconnected;, or an inten- 

 tionally beclouded issue. 



There remains to be considered the direct vote on a re- 

 stricted franchise or the vote of a legislature elected by 

 limited ballot. Writing of Napoleon Bonaparte's constitu- 

 tion of the 22 frimaire of the year VIII, submitted to the 

 plebiscite of December, 1793, ^"<^ P^-^^ '"to effect before the 

 end of the voting, Aulard states that " in effect universal 

 suffrage, while being reestablished, was being annihilated at 



^^ On this subject see E. Vacherot, La Republique constitutionelle 

 et parlementaire, in Revue des deu.x mundcs, Nov. 15, 1879, vol. 

 xxxvi, especially pp. 252-254. 



