EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS 



By John B. Phillips 



The old idea that in a land of liberty everyone should have a voice 

 in the conduct of the government is gradually disappearing with the 

 growth of intelhgent citizenship. It is beginning to appear that the vital 

 thing in democracy is equahty of opportunity, rather than a share in 

 the management of the government. As long as each has the same 

 chance to succeed in life, it is not of great importance whether or not 

 he has also the right to take part in the government by the exercise of 

 the elective franchise. 



Anything that tends to swell the floating vote does not augur well 

 for the welfare of the country. It is well known that the immigrants 

 who first get the right to participate in the elections are not famiUar 

 with the principles upon which the American theory of government 

 rests. They are therefore obhged to rely upon some person for the 

 information as to how they shall cast their votes. The person that 

 advises them is the ward boss. His business is to control the immi- 

 grant vote. Unable to understand the principles of the political parties, 

 these foreign-born must be appealed to in some other way than by 

 eloquence, and this the boss is not slow to perceive. The laborious 

 method of instructing them in American institutions is not resorted to, 

 but other and more direct and effective methods are employed. In 

 this way the purchasable vote is increased. 



It is thus clear that by the unrestricted privilege of the franchise 

 we are introducing into our citizenship a large floating vote. Reared 

 under a different political system, and ignorant of our institutions and 

 the pohcies of our political parties, these voters fall an easy prey to 

 the arts of the unscrupulous politicians in our large cities and so con- 

 tribute to establish there the conditions that are now the shame of our 

 municipal pohtics. While it is not true that all the evils of municipal 

 pohtics are to be laid at the doors of the foreign-born, yet it cannot be 



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