56 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



denied that their presence has been a strong factor in the development 

 of the pohtical boss. 



The requirement that all voters be able to read and write English 

 in addition to the usual requirements of residence and citizenship, 

 would tend very strongly in the direction of weakening the power of 

 the boss. Tweed openly declared that he did not care what the New 

 York papers said about him as his constituents could not read English. 



Granting the right to vote to every man without regard to his in- 

 tellectual qualifications is turning over the management of the affairs 

 of the country to inefficient persons. It is true that it is giving each 

 person an equality before the law as far as the right tcJ vote is con- 

 cerned, but the effect of this management of the government by illiterate 

 and inefficient persons brings about a condition under which it is im- 

 possible for each person to have an equal opportunity for success in life. 



It was formerly supposed that universal suffrage would mean equal 

 opportunity, but when such suffrage results in the formation of a strong 

 party machine controlled by one powerful boss who is responsible to 

 nobody, it is clear that the opportunities which should be accessible 

 to all are very much curtailed. The governments of certain of the 

 great cities of the United States are good examples of the way in which 

 equal opportunities are taken away from the people by means of a 

 strong party machine built up by the votes of the ignorant, the foreign- 

 born, and the indifferent voters. It is charged that in certain cities 

 the boss must be " squared " with before perfectly legitimate business 

 may be carried on without constant interruption and annoyance by 

 the authorities. In cases of this kind the exercise of universal suffrage 

 has had an effect just the opposite to that of estabhshing conditions of 

 equality for all the citizens. 



In the great cities of the country the foreign-born and children of 

 foreign-born greatly outnumber the native-born of native parents. 

 The following table shows the males of voting age and the percent of 

 native-born of native parents for the eleven greatest cities of the United 

 States : 



