THE AMERICAN
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
ITS CHARACTER AND WORKINGS, ITS DEFECTS, OUTSIDE
PARTY MACHINERY AND INFLUENCES, AND THE
PROSPERITY OF THE PEOPLE UNDER
ITS PROTECTION.
BY EZRA C. SEAMAN,
COUNSELLOR AT LAW,
AND AUTHOR OF ESSAYS ON THE PROGRESS OF NATIONS.
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO., 654 BROADWAY.
LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON AND MARSTON.
1870.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
EZRA C. SEAMAN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern
District of Michigan.
THE NEW YORK PRINTING COMPANY,
81, 83, and 85 Centre Street,
NEW YORK.




d tbot
MEMBERS OF THE BAR
AND OF
THE PRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,
The defects in the representative and elective branches of the American system of
government, which have led to party organizations, party committees, caucuses,
and nominating conventions, increased the intensity and violence of party
spirit, fostered intrigue, corruption, and a despicable scramble for office
and power, tending to demoralize the people as well as politicians,
and threaten the stability of our government if the evil be not
arrested, have suggested the ideas and remedies contained
in the following pages; and the work is respectfully
inscribed to you, without distinction of party, as the
most effective classes of persons to aid in enlightening and forming public opinion upon
the subject, and preparing the public
mind for such reforms as the exigencies of the country impera.
tively demand, to arrest
the downward course
of our political
system.








PREFACE.
IT is more than forty years since I commenced the study of the
law. All the great changes in the State constitutions, and in the
modes of electing State, County, City, and other local officers, as
well as in the election of presidential electors, have been made since
my recollection. The first partisan State nominatingconvention was
held in the year 1824, in the State of New York; and the first partisan national convention was held in the year 1832.
For more than forty years I have been an attentive observer of
the current of events; of the workings of our system of governmentof our political, religious, educational, industrial, and philanthropic
institutions, and of our great corporations and partisan organizations.
I have participated sufficiently in the practice of courts, in official life,
in practical business of various kinds, and in partisan politics, party
committees, party meetings and conventions, and witnessed enough
of such matters, to enable me to judge pretty accurately of the current reports of events which I did not witness. My mind has been
much exercised with such matters, and in forming opinions in relation to them; and more particularly when I was editing a newspaper,
and preparing information and comments for my reader —both during the great rebellion and since its close. I have, to a large extent,
witnessed the facts and current of events which form the judicial,
legal, constitutional, political, industrial, commercial, railroad, and
banking history of our country, or learned them contemporaneously,
for about forty years past; and have witnessed the political agitations, the mutations of public opinion, the growth and development
in our country of party organizations, from a very weak and imperfect state, to their present form, extent, and power.
Having studied the institutions and history of our country, observed
and inquired carefully into the workings of our complicated dual system of government, and the outside party machinery now in use to
carry it on, I have discovered, or think Ihave discovered, great defects in
our representative and elective systems, and have sought to point them
out to my readers, and to suggest suitable remedies. It is obvious to




vi                         PREFACE.
me, as well as to many other candid observers, that, however prosperous our people and country may be in most respects, our politics
and politicians have been growing more and more corrupt; that for
nearly half a century party spirit has been undermining and taking
the place of patriotism; that party organizations have dictated more
and more the policies and leading measures of the government; and
that our political system has been deteriorating, and gradually sinking
into corruption and party despotism. These evil tendencies I have
endeavored to trace to their causes, and to point them out; and I find
many, and I may say the most of them, originate in the defects of
our representative and elective systems of government, and admit of
a remedy.
The views presented upon woman and her rights and proper
sphere, upon the increase of territory and population, industry and
power, and upon taxation, debt, and finance, currency and banking,
are intended to show the agitating questions of the day, and the difficulties and dangers which beset and threaten us as a nation, as well as
the prosperity which the people have enjoyed under our system of
government.
The results of my observations and inquiries into the operations
of the American system of government, and the deductions of my
reasoning upon the subject, are presented to my readers in the following pages. I have endeavored to present, in this little work, correct and philosophical views of the character and workings, tendencies and defects, of our dual system of government, and to suggest
proper remedies; and if it should aid in calling public attention to
the evil tendencies and bad workings of our political system, and to
the defects in the representative and elective branches of our system
of government, and induce an examination of the subject, and inquiries for proper remedies, good will grow out of it, and I shall feel
well compensated for my labor.
Something should be done to correct the corrupting influences of
an intense partisanship and party machinery, which have been produced, to a large extent, by defects in the representative and elective
branches of our system of government. The necessity of reform is
indicated by the tone of some of our most influential newspapers.
The New York Observer of February 10th, 1870, says:" A community is on the brink of a crisis, when public confidence
in the stern and impartial exercise of justice is shaken. When the




PREFACE.                            vii
judge, whose solemnly imposed duty it is to interpret and apply the
law, is regarded as the accomplice of speculators or political partisans,
-when he allows himself to ignore all responsibility, except to those by
whom he has been elected or by whom he hopes to be re-elected,-the
very foundations of social order are undermined. Criminality is sheltered by partisanship.  Wickedness exults in assured impunity.  All
through the community the countlessly varied elements of avarice and
intrigue are let loose without check, to prey upon the vitals of society,
and mock at all threats of restraint.  The very air is thick with
moral pestilence.  From  the highest to the lowest sphere there is a
new impulse given to the development of corruption.  *  *  *
"We regard legislative corruption and judicial faithlessness-in the
extent to which they now prevail-as the exuberant fountains of mischief. Law cannot be enforced so as to repress the outbreaking violence.  The daily record of crime is appalling.  Taxation becomes-to
the extent to which it is carried-organized and legalized robbery.
The safeguards and barriers of justice are overthrown, and offce itself
becomes the reward and premium of successful invasion of the rights of
the people. WVhen chicanery and fraud pay better than honest labor,
honest labor will be despised; and when bounties instead of infamy and
penalty are set on crime, the vilest haunts of gamblers and desperadoes
will name our legislators and appoint our judges.
"How far we are from  this state of things, every intelligent observer must judge for himself. Christianity has powerful influences
at its command, but it is unjust to expect it with oars, to retard the
progress to ruin of the ship of State, when this is floated on by the
powerful currents of legislative and judicial abuse.  We need an
awakened public conscience.  We need a bold exposure of the
shameless iniquity of political partisans and the'rings' that distribute patronage and dictate legislation. There is danger lest, if legal
restraints prove vain, the crisis may come when popular indignation
will break over all organized barriers, and carry desolation along its
track, involving precious interests in the common fate.
" The charges of public dishonesty or political corruption have become so common, that the criminated parties are sheltered to some extent by their very number. The individual offender is lost in the
crowd.  The echo of accusation is drowned in the voice of some new
accuser. *  *  *
"If there is a radical defect in our method of judicial selection, let it be




Viii                       PREFACE.
remedied. If it has come to this, that rogues by management contrive to
elect those that will befriend them from the bench, let us see if some
way cannot be devised for placing men in that responsible position,
who shall be known as fearing God and bating covetousness."
Referring to the city of New York, the Observer says:"We are living in the midst of an ungoverned race of thieves, robbers, and murderers. Police officers are regarded by the public as little better than the criminal classes. They take bribes. They commit violence on unoffending citizens. They wait for rewards before
they seize criminals. They suffer rogues to escape when they have
them in charge. The police is about as bad as it can be, and not
have anarchy.  *  *  *
" Ruled as this city is, by selfish, corrupt, and greedy politicians, we
believe a fair majority of the legal voters desire an enlightened,
honest, faithful government."
The New York Times says:
" The strength of the criminal classes is constantly increasing, while
no corresponding efforts are made to keep them  under restraint.
The present police force is not adequate to deal with the desperadoes who have taken up their permanent quarters in New York, and,
moreover, the policemen generally are demoralized. They perform
a service of great danger, and rarely derive proper support from
magistrates or judges. After an officer has been half killed in the
attempt to arrest some well-known jail-bird, he has the mortification
of seeing his prisoner set free by a judge with whom he happens to have
influence. How* could any police force be expected to do its duty
properly, under these circumstances? The men lose all heart and
confidence. They know that it is useless to risk their lives. A corrupt judiciary will be sure to neutralize their most earnest efforts, and
probably rebuke them for exhibiting too much zeal in the service of
the public."
E. C. S.
ANN ARBOR, Mich., February, 1870.




TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
CHARACTER AND FORM  OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA-THEIR THEORY, DEFECTS, AND THE PRACTICE UNDER THEM, 1-54.
SEC. 1. Character of our system of government.
SEC. 2. Corner-stones and principles of the American governments.
SEC. 3. State independence, and the doctrines of non-intervention.
SEC. 4. What are, and what are not, the proper objects and purposes,
and within the legitimate sphere of governments.
SEC. 5. Political parties exist under every free and popular government.
SEC. 6. Defects in our mode of representation and system of elections.
SEC. 7. Development of party organizations, and uses of nominating
conventions.
SEC. 8. Theory of our government, and the practice under it, contrasted.
SEC. 9. Powers and jurisdiction of the Federal and State governments
-Law and jurisprudence.
SEC. 10. Character and slow development of federal law.
The criminal laws of the United States.
The civil, revenue, land, postal, pension, and military laws
of the United States.
SEC. 11. Territorial governments and laws.
SEC. 12. Our Indian system and policy.
CHAPTER II.
WORKINGS OF OUR  SYSTEM  OF GOVERNMENT-OUTSIDE PARTY
ORGANIZATIONS AND MACHINERY TO CARRY IT ON, AND THEIR
INFLUENCES-REMEDIES SUGGESTED FOR ITS DEFECTS, 55-124.




X                         CONTENTS.
SEC. 1. Popular elections, and their influences upon politicians and
people.
SEC. 2. Partisanship, and its influence upon the mind, and upon the
conduct of man.
SEC. 3. Party organizations and nominating conventions-how managed.
SEC. 4. Corrupting tendencies of bad party practices and theories.
SEC. 5. Objects and purposes of party organizations, creeds, and platforms.
SEC. 6. The party cry of principles not men, is delusive.
SEC. 7. Both parties should be represented upon every administrative,
corporate, and election board of officers.
SEC. 8. Necessary qualifications of public officers, and of voters.
SEC. 9. Elements of character, which commend men to the favor of
party politicians.
SEC. 10. Tendencies and effects of party organizations, creeds, and
platforms, and party discipline.
SEC. 11. Practical sovereignty-how exercised.
SEC. 12. The exercise of the appointing power, and party services to
be rewarded.
SEC. 13. Differences of race and language, religion and manners, are
all sources of clannishness and discord.
SEC. 14. Uses of negro suffrage, and of the exercise of political power
by the negro, as an experiment.
SEC. 15. Party committees and political societies and clubs, and their
influences.
SEC. 16. The newspaper press-its party dependence-intoleranceslander and abuse of public men.
SEC. 17. Corporations, and the abuses of power by their officers.
SEC. 18. Prominent party abuses of power.
SEC. 19. Remedies suggested for political evils.
CHAPTER III.
BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER-OF GOVERNMENT, AND
OF THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.-THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF REPRESENTATION AND MODES OF VOTING, AND OF NOMINATING, ELECTING, AND APPOINTING OFFICERS.-SUGGESTIONS OF OTHER MODES
OF REPRESENTATION, VOTING, AND NOMINATING CANDIDATES FOR
OFFICE, 125-185.
SEC. 1. Basis of social and political power, and of government.




CONTENTS.                         xi
SEC. 2. Intellectual and physical inequalities of men, and inequalities
of fortune.
SEC. 3. Equality-civil, political, and social.
SEC. 4. Civil equality.
SEC. 5. Political equality.
SEC. 6. Social equality.
SEC. 7. Theory of pure democracy, and how it works-political equality impracticable.
SEC. 8. Basis of the right of suffrage.
SEC. 9. Colored suffrage-its tendency and effect at the South.
SEC. 10. Delusions relative to the effects of the elective franchise upon
laborers, and the price of labor.
SEC. 11. Is liberty, equality, or law and justice, the great desideratum
of civilization?
SEC. 12. Antagonisms between laborers and employers-trades unions
and strikes.
SEC. 13. Single and plural voting.
SEC. 14. Limited and full voting.
SEC. 15. Cumulative voting, and its advantages.
SEC. 16. Voting by ballot, or viva voce.
SEC. 17. Direct and indirect popular elections and appointments.
SEC. 18. Good judges-how they are not secured.
SEC. 19. The frequency or infrequency of elections and appointments.
SEC. 20. The representation of minorities.
SEC. 21. Double elections, and the prohibition of nominating conventions and caucuses.
CHAPTER IV.
WOMAN-HER RIGHTS, AND THE AGITATION IN RELATION TO THEM;
HER CONSTITUTION AND NATURE; HER TALENTS, AND PROPER
SPHERE OF ACTION; AND HER CLAIMS TO THE ELECTIVE SUFFRAGE, AND TO THE RIGHT TO HOLD OFFICE, 186-212.
SEC. 1. Woman-her rights, and the agitation in relation to them.
SEC. 2. The constitution, nature, and proper sphere of woman.
SEC. 3. The employments and condition, education and tastes, proclivities and ambition of women.
SEC. 4. Woman's rights, the protection thereof, and the relative position of husband and wife.
SEC. 5. Female suffrage.
SEC. 6. Duties of women, and their business in special cases.
SEC. 7. Cooking and household work-aversion to, of American girls.




1ii                       CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
THE EXPANSION OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES;
THE ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY; THE INCREASE OF STATES AND
OF POWER, OF INDUSTRY AND OF WEALTH; AND THE POPULAR
IDEA OF THE MANIFEST DESTINY OF THE UNITED STATES, 213233.
SEC. 1. Expansion and increase of the population of the United States.
SEC. 2. The area of the United States in 1783, and the acquisition of
territory since.
SEC. 3. The power to acquire and govern additional territory, and the
admission of new States.
SEC.-4. Increase of industry and commerce, wealth and power.
SEC. 5. The destiny of the United States.
CHAPTER VI.
THE REVENUES AND TAXATION, DEBTS AND FINANCES OF THE
UNITED STATES-COIN AND SPECIE PAYMENTS-CURRENCY AND
BANKING, 234, 282.
SEC. 1. Revenues and taxes, debts and finances of the United States.
SEC. 2. Income tax.
SEC. 3. Duties on imports.
SEC. 4. Financial, industrial, and commercial condition, at different
periods.
SEC. 5. Evils of a depreciated currency.
SEC. 6. Standard of value, and causes of depreciation of value.
SEC. 7. Specie payments.
SEC. 8. Reduction of the currency.
SEC. 9. Preparation for specie payments.
SEC. 10. What is the remedy?
SEC. 11. -Our new system of banking.
SEC. 12. The test of depreciation, or non-depreciation.
SEC. 13. Deceptive as well as evil influences of a redundant paper
currency.
SEC. 14. Free banking, with a circulation practically unlimited.




CHAPTER I.
CHARACTER AND FORM OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA-THEIR THEORY, DEFECTS, AND THE
PRACTICE UNDER THEM.
SEC. 1.-Character of our System of Government.
THE government of the United States is an elective,
representative, federal Republic. The State governments
were originally continuations of, or substitutes for, the
Colonial governments, with slight changes in some of their
features-which were rendered necessary by the revolution. The federal Union grew up in a measure spontaneously-being suggested and produced by common
dangers, common interests, a common origin and language, and nearly uniform laws and institutions.
The State constitutions, adopted after the declaration
of independence, and the Constitution of the United States
also, were formed and adopted by the freemen of the
several States; and all officers are elected, directly or indirectly, by the freemen, or appointed by those that are so
elected, or appointed. The theory is, that all political
power emanates from the freemen, who are voters, and is
delegated by them to the several officers and departments
of the federal and State governments, in accordance with
the constitution and laws of the country. The sovereignty
of our country is divided into many parts. Our system




2       THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
of government is dual-the people of each State being
subject to two distinct governments, and two codes of
law,-each supreme and sovereign within its legitimate
and proper sphere,-the one federal, national, and mostly
external in its jurisdiction and powers, and the other internal and municipal, or State,-to each of which the
people owe obedience and allegiance, in accordance with
their respective powers and jurisdiction. A divided and
double allegiance results from a divided sovereignty.
The union, constitution, and government of the United
States, having been formed by the freemen of the original
States, was based upon their State governments, laws,
and institutions; the organization and action thereof, in
various ways, being based upon the laws and action of
the State governments. The theory is, that the regulation of the elective franchise belongs exclusively to the
States, or to the freemen or people thereof-and that
members of Congress to represent the people of each
State, should be elected by the same voters that elect
members of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.  The Constitution of the United  States was
framed in accordance with that theory-allowing each
State to determine for itself, who should vote for its
members of Congress-leaving the election of United
States Senators to State legislatures,-and allowing each
State to elect, and to regulate by law, the mode of electing, its own Presidential electors,-and to appoint officers
for their own militia-when called into the service of the
United States. Such was the theory and the organization
of our dual system  of government; and such was the
uniform practice under it, until the passage of the acts of
Congress in 1867, generally known as the Reconstruction
Acts.




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          3
SEC. 2.-Corner Stones and Principles of the American
Governments.
The leading  principles upon which the American
governments are founded, are stated in their constitutions,
and in the declarations or bills of rights-forming a part
of nearly all the State constitutions, and prescribing the
limits of power. The following are the corner stones
upon which our governments, both State and national,
are established.
1st. Popular Sovereignty-recognizing the liberty and
rights of the people, and that the exercise of political
power should be regulated by the freemen, who are
capable of using the elective franchise properly.
2d. The religious liberty of every individual, and the
entire freedom, independence, and equality of each and
every religious sect. Each sect being independent of all
others, and independent also of the State and national
governments.
3d. State Sovereignty upon all subjects of a local,
domestic, interior, police, and municipal characterover persons and property, personal rights and contracts,
education and morals, interior commerce and navigation.
4th. Federal Union, and National Sovereignty over all
matters of a national, international, and inter-State character.
Full and complete religious liberty was firmly established in all the States (except Massachusetts and Connecticut) prior to the formation of the constitution of the
United States. It was finally established in Connecticut
by the adoption of their first constitution in 1818; and in
Massachusetts by an amendment to their State constitution in 1834. It is the very essence of American Protestantism.




4       THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
But so far as churches hold property, they must hold it
under State laws. They cannot hold property, without
being incorporated under the laws of the State. So far,
and no farther, they are dependent upon State legislation
and State laws; but never upon the national government,
except in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories
of the United States.
From these principles result the co-ordinate supremacy
and sovereignty of the national and State governments,
over the samne country and people-each being supreme and
sovereign within its proper sphere; and the acts of each
being mere usurpations of power, and theoretically void,
when it travels beyond its legitimate sphere of action.
From this results also, the double allegiance of our
citizens. The powers to tax property for the legitimate
purposes of government, to organize, call out, and govern
the militia, and some other matters, are in their nature
concurrent powers-to be exercised by each government
over the same persons and property. In all cases of concurrent power and jurisdiction, the national government,
in accordance with the sixth article of the federal constitution, takes priority, and precedence, nothing more. That is,
its demands must be satisfied first. Its supremacy consists in its right to priority, which gives it no right to
overrule, annul, change or interfere with the operation
of the State laws, any farther than is necessary to satisfy
its legitimate claims for legitimate and constitutional purposes, and to confine the State governments to their
proper sphere of action. It cannot protect property from
State taxation, nor protect persons from military duty
under State laws; nor can it exercise its powers of taxation and over the militia, except for legitimate national
purposes and objects-according to the true intent and
meaning of the constitution.




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         5
SEC. 3. State independence, and the doctrines of nonintervention.
The union of the States under one national government, is a federal union-not a consolidated union. It
is a union for exterior, inter-State, and national _purposes; and not for interior, domestic, and municipal
purposes. With the exception of a few cases and purposes (mostly of concurrent jurisdiction), the powers of
the several States are absolute and exclusive, in matters
over which they have jurisdiction; and in all such
matters (except the rights of national citizenship) the
States and the people thereof are as independent of each
other, and of the federal government and laws, as they
are of the king, parliament and laws of Great Britain.
Neither the Congress of the United States, nor the people
or government of any State, have any more right to intermeddle with the proper municipal and local laws,
customs, or domestic institutions of another State, than
with those of Turkey or Russia. They may think Mahometanism, the despotic governments and the arbitrary
and cruel punishments inflicted in Turkey and Russia, all
wrong; but it is none of their business. They cannot
interfere to reform them, without violating the laws, and
disturbing the harmony of nations. The principle of
non-intervention forms the corner stone of international
law, and the only rule that will secure the peace and
harmony of nations.
One individual cannot intermeddle with the domestic
concerns or business of another, without assuming a right
to dictate to him, and to direct his conduct; which would
be inconsistent with his equality of right, freedom, and
independence. All such intermeddlings of one person in
the affairs of another (except that of parents with their




6       THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
children), is generally regarded as officious, impertinent,
and insolent,-as meriting rebuke; and it very generally
stirs up and excites ill-feeling and violent resentments,
and often leads to bitter quarrels and bloodshed. Nor
can the government or people of one State intermeddle
with the laws, customs, or institutions of another, with
any propriety,-except so far as nay be necessary to
protect their own rights, under the constitution of the
United States, and particularly under the second section
of the fourth article thereof. Ill-feeling and bad consequences will necessarily follow any other interference.
The second section of article four of the constitution of
the United States, declares that " the citizens of each
State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of
citizens in the several States." That provision gives to
citizens of each and every State, the right to go into, and
to travel in any other State, as often as they please,-to
remove to or from  it, their personal property, without molestation,-to make contracts and attend to any industrial pursuit or business therein-and to purchase,
hold, enjoy and sell property therein, either personal or
real, in the same manner as if they were citizens of such
State, and under the protection of the laws thereof. They
may also remove to, and become citizens of any other
State. But the citizens of one State have no other rights
in States where they do not actually reside. They have
no right to participate in the government of any State,
except the one in which they reside; and when they do
business in any other State, they must do so under, and
submit to its laws; and have no right to complain of
them, so far as they are equal, nor to interfere to change
them.




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           7
SEC. 4.- What are, and what are not, the proper objects
and purposes, and within the legitimate sphere of
governments.
Governments are instituted to maintain order, secure
peace, administer justice, and protect the rights of all
the people-to protect rights, not to create them-not to'
destroy or diminish them-not to enlarge the rights of
some by contracting the rights of others, in order to
equalize them-and not to make men equal, either in
property, social position, or political power.  To enlarge
the natural rights of some by law, involves in the process the infringement and the contraction of the rights
of others. Pope says' Order is Heaven's first law, and this confess'd,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest,
More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence,
That such are happier, shocks all common sense."
The Providences of God have made very great inequalities in the intellectual and physical strength and activities, and in the faculties and capacities, as well as in the
wisdom of men-whereby the industry of some is from
two to ten times as productive as that of others; and
hence some  accumulate wealth, while others remain
poor. It is not within the proper sphere of governments
to equalize the fortunes and conditions of men, by taking
from  one class and  giving to another-but to secure
every person in the proper exercise of his faculties, and
in the enjoyment of all his rights-including rights fairly
acquired, as the results of the proper exercise of his
natural rights and faculties.
It is not the business of governments to take from the
strong and wealthy, to give to the weak and poor



8       THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
except so far as humanity may require proper provision to
be made for paupers, at the public expense-and so far as
the public welfare and justice may require provision to
be made for the support of schools, by taxation, for the
education of children.
Governments should enact just, equal, and good lawsto protect the rights and promote the welfare of all;
should devise a wise and just system  of taxation-to
defray its expenses; and should administer laws and
justice to all alike-without favor, partiality, or prejudice; but it is no part of the business of a government, to
act as a special guardian over any class of adult well
persons, who are able to labor, and to provide for their
own wants by their own industry. For a government to
act as the special guardian over such classes of persons,
would necessarily infringe their freedom; take from them
the rights and privileges of self-government, and of thinking  and judging for themselves;  make them  intellectually weaker, by accustoming them to depend upon
the government; and be productive of vastly more evil
than good. All the federal government can properly do
for the negro, is, to protect him from unjust State laws;
and let him learn to live and thrive, by his own industry
and economy.
Republican governments like ours, are not instituted
for the purpose of giving to each and every man an equal
voice and influence therein,-but for the purpose of
securing the rights of all.
Our system of government is not based upon popular
elections, to secure to each and every man an equal
voice, and equal influence, as an important end to be
attained; but it is based upon such elections as the best
means to obtain enlightened legislators, good officers, and
faithful representatives of the rights, interests, and wishes




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          9
of the whole people-to the end that enlightened legislation, wise laws, and a fair and good administration of the
laws and government, may be secured. Hence no one
should participate in the government, by the exercise of
the elective franchise, who has not sufficient intelligence
and independence of mind and thought, to do so properly, consistently with the general good, and with the
ends to be attained. Persons so ignorant and weakminded, that they are easily misled, and made the tools
of designing politicians, induced to sell their votes, or
influenced by a clannish feeling to support unfit men for
office, because they belong to the same race, are unsafe
voters, and exert a pernicious and dangerous influence
upon popular elections; and therefore, they are not
entitled to the elective franchise. If allowed to them,
it is as a favor, not as a right. The exercise of the franchise by such men, is not consistent with law and order,
and even their own welfare is not promoted by it.
By extending the franchise to men too ignorant and
weak-minded to exercise it properly, many bad and unfit
men are elected to office; and the tendency of it is, to
throw  the government into the hands of cunning and
intriguing politicians, and to subject the better classes to
the rule of the most unprincipled and selfish. By giving
political power to an ignorant and inferior class, the
helm  of power is practically taken from the superior
class, and the government becomes corrupted, by means
of the degradation of the suffrage.
If there were two classes of electors,-one having a small
amount of property subject to taxation, as a qualification
for the election of State senators, governor, and some
other officers-to exercise a conservative influence; the
other class might, with more safety, embrace nearly all
the adult males of the country.  In such case, each
1*




10      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
branch of the legislature would exercise a more effective
and salutary check upon the other.
SEC. 5.-Politicalparties exist under every free and popular government.
Political parties exist under every free and popular
government.  They necessarily arise from differences of
opinion as to systems of government, measures, and policies; and also as to the relative merits of men who are
supported for the highest elective offices. Candidates for
the chief offices change, and measures and policies of government should change with changing circumstances;
and differences of opinion in relation to subjects constantly changing, cannot form distinct and permanent dividing
lines between two great political parties. On the contrary, as such differences of opinion are constantly changing, parties should change with them, and be re-formed
whenever new candidates for President and Vice President of the United States are presented for the support
of the people, or new issues and questions arise for their
consideration. Measures and policies must, or should
change with the changing condition and circumstances
of a country; and yet differences of opinion upon such
subjects, and in relation to candidates for office, constitute
the only proper ground of division between parties. As
it must depend mostly upon the President and Heads of
Departments, and a few leading members of Congress,
to determine such questions, so far as they relate to our
national government, the division of parties should depend
more upon a choice of men for all the higher offices, and
less upon party creeds and platforms. The cry forprinciples, not men, is a miserable delusion.  It is idle to
talk about principles, without proper men, and men of
principle, to carry them into effect. It is very unwise




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.       11
and dangerous, to elect selfish and corrupt men, to carry
into effect good principles, and wise policies. The conclusion is obvious-that there is no good reason for
maintaining permanent party organizations in our country, or in any country; and that there is no propriety in
doing so. All political parties should be temporary and
changeable-based upon the questions and issues of the
day, and upon the opinions of voters of the relative merits
of the candidates for President of the United States, for
Governors of States, and other high offices.
So far as political parties and the lines of division between them are produced by differences of opinion in relation to the principles, policies, and measures of government, they will be as permanent as the causes and issues
upon which they are based; and they should be no more
so, and should pass away with the causes which produced
them. Parties should not be based upon mere abstract
principles, which have no direct practical bearing; nor
upon dead issues which have passed by, and are of no
practical importance; nor should they be sustained and
made permanent by organization, party machinery, and
party creeds, to promote the election and aggrandizement
of party leaders,-regardless of the public good.
Political parties spring up spontaneously, in every free
country having a government with popular elements in
it. They are the natural offspring of honest differences
of opinion among a free and intelligent people. They
existed in Ancient Greece; in Ancient Republican Rome;
and have existed in England since the early part of the
reign of Charles I.; and political clubs, which are the
germs of more extensive organizations, were formed in
revolutionary France; but no such party organizations
and machinery, as have been developed and now exist in
the United States, ever existed in Europe, or in any




12      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
country of the old world. Such organizations have sprung
up in this country as incidents to our elective system, and
to supply its defects.
SEC. 6. — efects in our mode of representation and system of elections.
The mode of representation and the system of elections in the United States, are both very imperfect and
defective. The former is defective, in giving the entire
representation and power to majorities, and practically
disfranchising iminorities,-by allowing them  no representation, aild no voice in the government: and the latter
is defective in omitting to provide any mode of selecting
candidates for office, to be voted for by the electors at popular elections; and in furnishing at the polls no ballots
for the electors.
SEC. 7.-Development of party organizations, and uses
of nominating conventions.
No attempt has been made to furnish a remedy for the
defect in representation; but to supply the other defects,
resort has been had to outside party influences, to make
nominations, and furnish tickets or ballots for voters at
elections; which has caused the gradual development and
growth of the party organizations and machinery of the
present day-consisting of National, State, County, City,
ward, Township, and village committees for each party-to
call and provide for the holding of National, State, County,
City, village, ward and township meetings, caucuses and
conventions, for the purpose of making nominations,
party creeds and platforms; and also to distribute political documents and other information among the peoples
-procure speakers at political meetings, furnish ballots
for voters at elections,-to rally the voters of their respective




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          13
parties out to the polls, and to resort to any other means,
which the consciences of politicians will permit-to carry
an election.
The law should provide means and methods of carrying on all the operations of the government-including
the selection of its officers-without the necessity of aid
from outside party influences; but such is not the case.
The laws of all the States and of the United States also,
are defective, in not providing any mode or method by
which the voters, irrespective of party, can participate in
nominating candidates to be supported at popular elections; and hence party organizations, and nominating conventions or caucuses, are indispensably necessary to supply the defects. Until such defects are supplied, the government cannot be carried on, independent of outside aid,
and combinations of men to make nominations, and to
procure and distribute tickets at the polls.
The defects in our electoral system can be very easily
supplied, and the machinery of partisan organizations
and nominating conventions, with all their pernicious influences, can be dispensed with-by holding two elections
following each other with a short interval-the results of
the first to be used as the designation of candidates to be
supported at the second.
For more than thirty years after the organization of
our national government, Presidential electors were elected
by the State legislatures; candidates for President and
Vice President of the United States were nominated by
Congressional caucuses; and candidates for Governors of
States were nominated by legislative caucuses. Since the
system of electing Presidential electors by the people, by
general ticket, was adopted by nearly all the States,
nominating State conventions have become more necessary
than they were previously;-though national conventions




14      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
are by no means necessary, but mere party expedients-to
concentrate their votes.
The first State convention of the kind, I think was held
in the State of New York in 1824-when De Witt Clinton was nominated for Governor, and triumphantly elected.
The first national conventions for nominating candidates
for President and Vice President of the United States,
were held in 1832. Since that time, national nominating
conventions have been held every four years, by two
political parties, sometimes by three, and in 1860 by four;
and State, County, City and township nominating conventions have been held pretty regularly, in nearly all the
States; and in most of them party conventions have been
held in each Congressional district, to nominate candidates for Congress.
SEC. 8.-Theory of our government, and the practice under it, contrasted.
In theory, we have a popular government, in which the
masses of the people select their own rulers; but owing to
the defects of its organization, system of representation
and mode of electing officers, the practice is very different from the theory.
Officers to be elected by the people are not selected by
any considerable number of the voters, but by the dominant faction or clique of the dominant party-by whom
and their associates in nominating conventions, they
are presented to the people, to be by them confirmed
by formal vote-the masses of the voters having no
choice, except between two sets of nominees, presented
for their suffrages, by partisan conventions.  In nine
cases out of ten, a mere choice of evils is presented to
a large portion of the voters,-the candidates of neither
party being such as they would have preferred.




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         15
Though nominally a popular government, controlled by
the voice of the people, practically our government has degenerated into an oligarchy of the leaders of the dominant
clique or coterie, of the dominant party of the day; and
the people act a very subordinate part, even in the election of their own representatives-a -majority of them
merely ratifying and confirming the nominations made, and
supporting the measures and policies prepared by the party
oligarchy-while the minority look on and have no substantial voice or participation in the government. Party
organizations and the party character of our government,
have been in the process of development gradually, during
a period of nearly fifty years-ever since the inauguration of
State and national, as well as local nominating conventions,
the adoption of party creeds and platforms, and the election
of Presidential electors by the people-by general ticket.
The theory of the government is, that it is a representative government-in which all the adult male citizens,
(with few exceptions) are equally and fairly represented,
by men of their own choice, and through their representatives have a voice in legislation, and in the government
of the country-making it in some measure a self-government; a government of the whole people, by the people themselves. But in practice, under our defective
electoral system, the majority of the voters in each electoral district elect all the representatives, and the minority none-whereby the minority are unrepresented, and
practically disfranchised, have no voice in the government, and no one to represent, advocate or defend, their.
special interests and rights.
The theory of the government is, that each State is sovereign within its own limits, as to all matters of a domestic and police character, and has full and sovereign power
to regulate the elective franchise therein; but the war




16      TIIE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNIENT.
anld the dissensions aid discords growing out of it and its
causes, the struggles of one party to keep the negro in a condition of subordination and semi-serfdom, and of the other
to make the negro an element of party power, and to force
negro suffrage upon the country as a means of perpetuating
their own ascendency, have seriously impaired the powers
and local sovereignty of the States, as established by our
forefathers; and concentrated nearly all the supreme and
sovereign power of the country in Congress. This partisan
object is to be effected, through a cryfor equality between
races, which have been made unequal, by the Providence
of God; and by efforts to elevate an inferior race of people, to an equality with the superior races of our country,
who are the only races which have ever shown themselves
capable of an elective representative system of government.
The efforts are, to place the balance of power between parties in the hands of the inferior race, and to subject the superior race to their domination and government, wherever
they constitute a majority. If the scheme be entirely successful, the effect must be to place the helm of power in several of the States in the hands of a race, which has never, in
any country, shown any capacity for improvement and progress, for business, for the proper management of their
own concerns, or for any branch of self-government.
The theory of the national government is, that its powers are limited, and divided between Congress, the President of the United States, and the Supreme Court-and
that each is supreme within certain spheres of action, prescribed by the Constitution. But the tendencies now are
to undermine and destroy many of the powers of the
President, and of the Supreme Court also, as well as those
reserved to the States-to degrade the President from his
rightful position as the head of an independent and concurrent department of the government, to the subordinate




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.       17
position of a mere agent and instrument to execute the
decrees and orders of Congress; and to concentrate more
and more sovereign power in the Congress of the United
States. The power of party organizations and party
spirit, is increasing, and the power of Congress is increasing also; and both are becoming more and more absolute
and irresistible; while all other powers of the government,
and the legitimate powers of the people and of the State
governments, are gradually dwindling away and perishing.
The theory of our government is, that it is a government of checks and balances-its sovereign powers being
divided between distinct governments over the same people, and between distinct departments of the same government-so balanced and regulated that each may act as
a check upon the others-to check popular passion as
well as party passion and ambition-to prevent class and
improper sectional legislation, and the adoption of violent
party measures; and to save the country from being
plunged into war, without due consideration, to gratify the
President, or the dominant party in Congress.
The theory of the Constitution is, that each House of
Congress should act as a check upon the other-by deliberately passing upon all its legislative acts, with power
to amend, approve, or reject them; that the President
shall act as a check upon the two houses-by approving
or disapproving and vetoing their acts; that in the dernier
ressort, the Supreme Court may pass upon acts of Congress, and determine without appeal, whether they are, or
are not consistent with the constitution; that Congress,
by legislation and the power of impeachment, may act as
a check upon any violent or improper measures of the
President; and that the State governments, by their organization and action, remonstrances and protests, as well




18      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
as by withholding moral and military support, may in some
measure check the course of the federal governmentwhen impelled by party passion, and induce more consideration and moderation.  But when the same political
party elect the President, a majority of each house of
Congress, and the Governors and major part of the legislatures of a majority of the States, and have the entire
control of all branches of the national government, and
of the governments of a majority of the States also, and
all are animated by the same opinions, passions, and ambition for power, all the checks provided by the constitution are neutralized and become unavailing-and there is
really no effective check to the adoption of any measures,
however violent and revolutionary. Under such circumstances the minority have very little security for their
rights. Popular passions, delusions, and fanaticism, often
make governments as well as people, terribly reckless.
Unfortunately for our country, both of the great political
parties which have ruled the country for more than sixteen years past, have been afflicted with strange delusions.
When the convention met in 1787, to form our federal constitution, there were but three banks in the United
States-the bank of North America at Philadelphia, incorporated by Congress in 1781, and the charter ratified
and confirmed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, in
1782; the bank of Massachusetts incorporated in 1784and the bank of New York, established as a joint-stock
company in 1784, but not incorporated until 1791. These
were the only institutions in the United States which issued
notes intended to circulate as money. The people had
suffered so severely from continental money, and from the
issues of Provincial paper money or bills of credit, by several
of the colonies, previous to the revolutionary war, that they
seemed generally resolved on having in the future, a specie




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.       19
currency only.  To accomplish that end, which then
seemed so desirable, the government of the United States
was authorized to coin money and regulate the value
thereof, and the provision was inserted in the constitution, prohibiting the several States from issuing bills of
credit.
The theory of the constitution and government then
was, to have a specie currency only; but the bank of
North America, like the bank of England, proved to be
so useful to the government as a fiscal agent, that under
the influence of Alexander Hamilton and his reports as
Secretary of the Treasury, Congress passed an act in
1791, to incorporate the first Bank of the United States,
with a capital of ten millions of dollars. The provisions
of the constitution to secure a specie currency were found
to be defective and entirely insufficient. Though the States
were prohibited from issuing bills of credit, individuals
and joint-stock companies were not inhibited from so
doing; nor were the States prohibited from incorporating
banks, and authorizing them to issue notes-to circulate as
money. The advantages of banks and paper money to
stockholders, and business men, were so great, that the
State legislatures could not resist the temptation to incorporate numerous banks; and before the close of the year
1800, there were in the State of New York four incorporated banks; in Massachusetts 4; in Maine 1; in New
Hampshire 1; in Rhode Island 4; in Connecticut 5; in
Pennsylvania 2; in Delaware 1; in Maryland 2; in Virginia 1; in South Carolina 1; and in the District of Columbia 1; making in all 27 banks, with an aggregate authorized capital of over eighteen millions of dollarsbesides the United States Bank. Instead of having an
exclusively specie currency, the country was again supplied with paper money.




20      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
The enemies of the first Bank of the United States
claimed that it was unconstitutional, and the question was
brought before the Supreme Court of the United States,
and settled by that Court, in favor of the power of Congress to charter such an institution, as a fiscal agent of
the government.  An act was passed by Congress in
1832, to charter a third Bank of the United States; but
President Jackson vetoed it, as unconstitutional, and dangerous to our republican institutions.
We had a national bank and State banks during periods in all of about forty years. From the expiration of
the charter of the second Bank of the United States, in
1835, to the time of the inauguration of the system of
national banks in 1863, we had State banks only; which
had increased in 1859, to over 1,500-including branches.
It was claimed by the Secretary of the Treasury, in
1863, that the framers of the constitution-by vesting in
Congress power to coin money and regulate the value
thereof, and to regulate foreign commerce and commerce
among the States, and also prohibiting the States from
issuing bills of credit-intended to, and did grant to Congress, full power over paper money, as well as coin, as an
instrument and medium of commerce; and thereupon
Congress passed the general banking law, under which
nearly 1,700 national banks have been organized, with
an aggregate capital of over $425,000,000; and Congress
also passed laws to drive the State banks out of existence,
by imposing excessive taxes upon their issues.
Such have been the mutations and changes of the predominant opinions and practices, under our system of
government.  The federal constitution has been found
sufficiently flexible, for any purpose of the dominant party
-whether of war or peace; to put up or put down a
national bank, State banks, or any system of banking or




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         21
currency; to acquire territory by purchase, by filibustering and annexation, or by conquest; to extend without
limit, to limit, or put down and abolish-slavery. By fiction of law, and without reference to the fact, or to principles of law previously established, States have been regarded as in or out of the Union, according to party exigencies; and treated as in the Union for some purposes,
and out of it for others.  Anything can be done by the
dominant party, under the forms of law; about as well as
the Emperor Augustus Caesar, preserved the republican
forms of the Roman government, during nearly forty
years of his reign.
The national banks and banking systems have performed their functions the best, and given the most general
satisfaction of any system of banks ever established in the
United States; and if the currency can be properly equalized and the amount reduced, until its value is nearly
equal to gold, and the amount be kept down by Congress
so as to be worth within one or two per cent. as much as
gold, we shall have the best banking system in the world.
If the national banks continue to be popular, and commend themselves to nearly universal favor, the general
banking law will be recognized as constitutional, by all
parties; but if the leaders of one of the great political
parties, should hereafter think that the strength and power of the party can be increased, by attacking the national
banks and banking system, an outcry will be raised against
the banks as odious monopolies, and the banking law will
be denounced, in the party creed and platform, as unconstitutional, inconsistent with State rights, and dangerous
to public liberty and to our system of government.
The theory of our government is, that our country
should enjoy peace, and the fruits of peaceful industry
-have a small army, a small navy, and be burdened with




22      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
very light taxes-the people enjoying local self-government, and a federal Union and organization, merely to give
greater security, and sufficient strength to repel invasions
and suppress insurrections-but not to wage foreign wars,
for purposes of conquest. Under that theory and a practice in accordance with it, our country prospered, improved rapidly, and increased, with wonderful rapidity, in
population, wealth and power, for more than fifty years;
when a restless filibustering spirit arose in relation to
Texas, and we annexed it in 1845, by statute.
The expansion of the culture of cotton, the increasing
demand for it, and the greatly increased importance of the
cotton crop; the increased and increasing value of slave
labor; and the annexation of Texas, all contributed to stimulate the ambition of the then dominant party, for party
glorification-by means of the acquisition of new territory.
Our government picked a quarrel with Mexico; invaded
her territory, under pretences in some respects false;
stormed the forts around her capital, and took the city;
forcibly entered the halls of the Montezumas, seized California, dictated terms of peace, and acquired title to California and New  Mexico honorably by treaty, and the
payment of a fair price; explored the Sierra Nevada and
Rocky chains of Mountains, and the intermediate plains
and valleys; discovered and developed the rich gold and
silver mines of those regions; swelled with pride over
our achievements, our conquests, and our prospective wealth
and power; and then came our domestic trials and difficulties-to divide our acquisitions between a pro-slavery
and ambitious South, and an anti-slavery, and an anti-extension of slavery North.
So long as our settlements were confined to the country
between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi river, and
to the tier of States lying west of, but bounded by that




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.        23
river, and before we entered upon a career of conquest,
our country enjoyed peace and prosperity, and was reasonably harmonious in support of nearly all the measures
of the government; but when we acquired Texas, murmurs began to burst forth from the Northern people, on account of the extension of slavery and the increase of the
slave power; and the settlement of Kansas induced a deadly
strife between the pro-slavery propagandists of the South,
and the anti-slavery and anti-extension of slavery parties of
the North, which soon kindled into civil war. Many persons
were assassinated, numerous skirmishes were fought with
fire-arms, between small bodies of men-and great numnbers of lives and a large amount of property were sacrificed, in 1855 and 1856; which prepared the public mind
on both sides, for the great secession movement and
revolution of 1861, and the gigantic civil war which
raged for more than four years.
The extension of territory, the war, the debt created by
the war, and a redundant paper currency, have increased
the taxation and expenses of the federal government
about fourfold; changed the practice of the government,
from great economy, and made it one of the most extravagant and prodigal governments upon the face of the
earth. Previous to 1855, members of Congress were
paid for their services $8 per day, during their attendance; which generally amounted to less than $2,500
per term of two years-exclusive of mileage. The ideas
of the members having expanded in relation to the value
of their services, they fixed their own salaries in 1856?
at $3,000 per year, over and above mileage; and growing more and more liberal to themselves, they raised
their own salaries, in 1866, to $5,000 per year, or $10,000
per term; which is more than four times as much as
their former per-diem compensation. Extravagance and




24      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
prodigality have become common in every branch of the
public service.
Subtle interpretations of the Constitution and violent
party measures, have been so numerous and various
under different parties, as to form plausible precedents
for almost any change of the government which the leaders of an ambitious and triumphant party may hereafter
desire. If they cannot interpret, to the satisfaction of
their party, the constitution as it may happen to be, so
as to warrant the change desired, they can propose an
amendment, and by party tactics and power, eventually
force it upon the country. There will therefore be no
occasion for covups d'etat, and the violent modes adopted
by Sylla and Caesar, Cromwell and Napoleon, Santa
Anna and Louis Napoleon-to attain their less violent
ends. There is, however, no danger of an imperial government and an aristocracy (as some have supposed); for
they are not in accordance with the spirit of our people,
and the tendencies of the age. But there is great danger
of such reckless conduct by party majorities-such corruption and prodigality, and such grievous taxation and
oppression of many classes of people, as to lead to mobs
and riots, occasional resistance, and a chronic state of anarchy and civil war-as in Mexico and Hayti. There is
also danger of the country being frequently involved in
foreign wars, to concentrate the attention of the people
upon a foreign enemy, and divert their minds from a consideration of the corruptions and abuses of power, of the
dominant party at home.
We are a great people, have a great country, and a
wonderful destiny; but unfortunately statesmanship is
dying out, for want of aliment to develop and sustain itand partisanship has taken its place. Party spirit will
no longer tolerate the degree of independence of thought




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         25
and action, necessary to develop sound statesmanship;
and we have fallen under the dominion of party politicians,
many of whom, of each party, are sharp and adroit managers of party conventions and elections, and the distribution of party patronage-but' have no clear conceptions of the true principles of political economy, finance,
currency, or social or political science of any kind. The
degradation of the elective suffrage, party spirit and
party domination, with negro domination at the South,
and the centralization of supreme power in Congress, will
tend to produce extravagance, oppressive taxation and
despotism, by the national government-anarchy, mobs
and riots in the States, and particularly in the Southern
States and large cities-and prodigality and corruption
everywhere.
SEC. 9.-Powers and jurisdiction of the federal and
State governments —aw  and jurisprudence.
Within the several States, the federal government has
power to levy taxes for national purposes; to establish
post offices and post roads, receive, transport and distribute mail matter; to regulate foreign commerce and commerce and navigation between States; to exercise certain enumerated military powers; to borrow money; to
establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform
laws upon the subject of bankruptcies; to secure copyrights to authors and patents to inventors; to coin money,
regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and to
regulate the currency as is now claimed, and fix the
standard of weights and measures; to punish certain enumerated crimes, and all violations of its own laws; and
to hold courts to administer its own laws, and to administer justice between citizens of different States, and in a
few other cases. Here its powers and jurisdiction, within
2




26      THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.
the limits of the States, end. All other legitimate powers
of government within the States, belong to the State
governments.  With the  exceptions  enumerated, the
federal government has no power in a State over persons
or property, contracts or rights, schools or education, marriage or the domestic relations, matters of internal government or police, vice or crime, morals or religion.
It belongs exclusively to the State governments, to protect, within their respective limits, both persons and property; to regulate contracts, and the mode of acquiring
and using, selling and conveying property, or transmitting
it to heirs and next of kin; to regulate wills and testaments, marriages and the domestic relations; to provide
roads  and bridges for the people; to provide for education and for the poor; to preserve order, and regulate all
matters of police; to provide for the punishment of vice and
crime; and to levy and collect taxes for all purposes of
local and interior government. These subjects embrace
nearly the whole domain of jurisprudence, municipal law,
and what we include in the terms common law-though
not the whole of the code of commercial law, and not
any of the code of maritime law. The United States as
a unity, as a country, and as a government, have no civil
code, no municipal law, and no common law, in the ordinary
sense in which those words are used. They have no civil
jurisprudence, except in admiralty matters.  The federal courts, while sitting in civil cases, other than those
of a maritime character, administer not only the local common law, but also the statute laws of the States in which
they sit. The United States have no law upon such subjects, either statute or common; no power to enact laws
* The United States may make post roads and military roads, and
perhaps roads to promote commerce among the several States-but no
others.




THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          27
upon such subjects, to operate within the States; and no
power to enact or administer laws within the States, to
punish crimes or offences against either persons or property
-unless the offence be against the property or rights of
the United States, or against the person of one of its officers, while in the actual discharge of his duties. They have
no power even to protect the character of their own officers, from slanders and libels, uttered and published
within a State.  For such wrongs, federal officers must
rely upon State laws for their remedies; and they must
generally resort to State courts for redress.
Each State having exclusive and supreme power to legislate upon all domestic and municipal subjects within its
limits, the result is, that each State has not only its own
code of statute law, but also its peculiar customs, usages,
and judicial decisions-forming a common law, varying
in some particulars from that of every other State. Each
State has borrowed more or less from the laws of other
States, and also fromn the laws of England and from the
Code Napoleon of France-so that the laws of the several
States have been constantly expanding, in a state of development, and generally improving and assimilating more
and more to the principles of universal law.  Our complex system has, therefore, worked well in practice, as a
general rule; the State and federal courts have moved
on in harmony; the latter in civil matters, administering
the same law as the former-the principal evils resulting
from a general tendency to too great laxity in the laws,
as well as in their administration, for the collection of
debts, the punishment of fraud, vice and crime, and in
matters of police. The principal defects, however, are
more in a want of energy in the execution of the laws,
than in the laws themselves.
The defects and inefficiency in the administration of




28                  FEDERAL LAWS.
justice, is greatly owing to the modern system of electing
nearly all judicial as well as executive officers by the people —or rather by  the dominant political party of the
county or district; but it results, partly, from the extremes to which the principles of freedom and philanthropy have been carried; whereby sentiments of tenderness, and in some cases of sympathy, have been excited
for criminals as well as for defaulters and debtors, as unfortunate persons.  We need a remedy for these evils.
The fact stands out in bold relief, that there is less security for life, person and property in this country, than
there is in either France or England. This is owing to
the state of public opinion, the inefficiency of the police,
and too much laxity in the administration of justice. It
is undeniable that our national character has suffered in
Europe from these causes.
SEC. 10.-Character and slow  development of federal
law.
The most of the politicians and people of this generation
live in ease and luxury, when compared with the condition of our revolutionary fathers. They are divided into
political parties and cliques; nearly all independence of
thought upon political subjects is worked out of them by
party organizations and party discipline; and party creeds
and doctrines supply the place of individual thought. Our
revolutionary ancestors were very differently situated.
They were not much divided into parties and factions
struggling for the ascendency; but were united and nearly
unanimous, in declaring their independence and right to
self-government; and in defending their rights from British
domination.  They had experiences which tried men's
souls, tested their patriotism, and formed many distinguished men.  They were schooled in adversity and severe




FEDERAL LAWS.                  29
trials, in war and devastation, in severe taxation and
poverty, and in industrial and commercial depression,
which developed their energies and power of thought. It
may well be doubted, if any body of men ever assembled
on this earth, equal as a whole, in high mental endowments and wisdom, in independence of thought, and in
political science and patriotism, to either the convention
which formed the constitution of the United States, or the
first Congress which assembled under it.
The Articles of Confederation were framed and agreed
upon by Congress, in November, 1777; but did not take
effect until March, 1781, after they had been signed by the
delegates of all the States. Many of their features were
suggested by the Articles of Alliance and Confederation
of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (or Holland),
and by those of Switzerland.  The Confederacy of the
United Provinces, formed in 1579, had been in practical
and successful operation about two centuries, and formed
an efficient commonwealth; under which that country
prospered, and increased in industry and commerce, wealth
and power. Their confederate system of government, so
far as regards the legislative department thereof, and so
far as it was applicable, was adopted by the American
Congress, as the basis of the Articles of Confederation of
the United States; but the executive department of that
government, which constituted its strong features, were
not adopted.
Our government, under the Articles of Confederation,
was more nearly assimilated to the government then existing in Switzerland, than to that of Holland; and experience soon showed that it was not adapted to a large
country, with various interests, consisting of many States
-having republican representative governments, with
frequent elections, numerous rival commercial cities upon




30                 FEDERAL LAWS.
the seaboard, very trifling commercial intercourse between
distant States, to bind them together, and no aristocracy
nor ecclesiastical organization, to strengthen the bond of
union. When put into practice and tested by experience,
it was found to have several very grave defects.
1st. In not giving Congress power to levy and collect
taxes and excises, and duties on foreign imports, to enable
the government to raise its own revenues; and il making
the federal government entirely dependent upon the
several States for its revenues, and for raising and supporting its armies.
2d. In not giving Congress power to regulate foreign
commerce and navigation, and commerce among the
States —as a means of raising revenue, and of establishing
a uniform system of commercial intercourse with foreign
nations, and superseding the conflicting commercial laws,
and injurious commercial rivalships of the several States.
3d. In not providing for the establishment of an efficient
executive branch of the government, distinct from mere
committees of Congress.
4th. In not providing for the establishment of a Supreme
and Inferior Courts, to expound the constitution and laws,
and aid in executing them-and in determining the boundary lines of power between the federal and State governments.
The experience and wisdom  of the members of the
convention which formed the constitution of the United
States, enabled them to supply those defects, and to produce the most perfect constitution ever framed for the
government of a nation. The government established
under the federal constitution, being grafted upon the
State governments, and in many respects depending upon
them for its proper action, and in others acting independently, formed a very complicated system, in many re



FEDERAL LAWS.                   31
spects entirely new. Some of the leading Teatures of the
new system originated with the distinguished statesmen
who framed the constitution.  They were suggested by
experience and wisdom, and matured by the Convention,
and may be claimed as American law.
It required also great legal acquirements and experience, and much wisdom  and originality of thought, to
frame laws to organize the executive and judicial departments of the government, to put it into operation; for
there were no precedents for many provisions of those
laws, and it was necessary to originate them, and to adapt
them to our peculiar federal and dual system of government. This was done by the first Congress which met under the constitution.  The judiciary act of 1789, which
provided for the organization of the Supreme, Circuit and
District Courts of the United States, and prescribed their
jurisdiction, powers, and modes of procedure, is a model
of excellence.  The 25th section of that act, gives the
Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction from any final judgment or decree of the highest court of a State, in any
case where the validity of a treaty or statute of the United
States, or an authority exercised under the United States,
is drawn in question, and the decision is against their validity; or where is drawn in question the validity of a
statute of, or an authority exercised under any State, on
the ground of their being repugnant to the constitution,
treaties, or laws of the United States, and the decision is
in favor of their validity; or where is drawn in question
the construction of any clause of the constitution, treaty,
statute, or commission held under the United States, and
the decision is against the title, right, or privilege claimed
under such clause of the constitution, treaty, statute, or
commission; and authorizes the Supreme Court to reexamine and revise or affirm such judgment or decree,




32                  FEDERAL LAWS.
upon a writ of error, and to proceed in certain cases, to a
final decision of the same, and to award execution to
carry their judgments into effect.
The most of our judicial system, both State and national, as well as our jurisprudence, was borrowed from
the laws and judicial system of England; but the 25th
section of the judiciary act was entirely new.  It gave
to the Supreme Court of the United States a jurisdiction
and powers previously unknown, and not exercised to this
day, by the highest judicial tribunal of any other country.  That section of the judiciary act made the Supreme
Court of the United States the ultimate expounder, not
only of the laws and treaties of the United States, but of
the constitution also; and clothed it with authority to
sit in jdgment upon the validity of any treaty of the
United States, any statute of  Congress, or any law,
statute, or act of a State government, or under its authority, and to decide and finally determine whether such.
treaty, statute, or act, be or be not consistent with the supreme law of the land,-the Constitution of the United
States.
That section of the judiciary act is in accord and harmony with the Constitution of the United States, and
was and is necessary to carry the constitution into full
effect; and yet it made the Supreme Court the balance
wheel of our complicated system  of government-the
umrpire between the federal and State governments;
and clothed it with authority to determine the boundaries
of power between the federal and State governments, and
the limits to the powers of each.  Under that section, a
large number of the acts and laws of the States have
been overruled, declared void, and virtually annulled,
as repugnant to the constitution, laws, or treaties of the
United States; and all conflicts of jurisdiction, power and




FEDERAL LAWS.                   33
authority between the federal and State governments,
have been thereby avoided.
Very few acts or parts of acts of Congress have been
declared by the Supreme Court inconsistent with tile constitution; and the opinion of Judge Taney, in the Dred
Scott case, in which the court were divided, and a majority of the judges declared the Mlissouri Compromise act
repugnant to the constitution, was the first decision of
that distinguished tribunal, in which a majority of the
people of the United States refused to concur, and which
they denounced as unsound.  That opinion has been repudiated by at least' two-thirds of the people of the
United States, as a sectional and partisan effort to extend
slavery into the Territories, and make it a national institution.  Such a decision would never have been made,
if Southern men had not used  the powers of Congress improperly, and obtained for the then slave States,
five of the nine judges, and the control of the court upon
questions affecting the institution of slavery; when the
population and business of those States scarcely entitled
them to four judges.  That tribunal has been reformed
since 1860-so as to secure to the North and West their
proper influence in its decisions, and prevent the operation
in future, of sectional interests and prejudices.
The extraordinary powers conferred upon the Supreme
Court of the United States, give it an importan.ce which
no other judicial tribunal ever had. As the umpire and
final judge between the powers of the federal and States
governments, that Court has had a very salutary influence
in deciding questions of jurisdiction and power; in preventing conflicts between the two governments, which exercise
power over the same territory, and over the same people,
in each of the States; and in harmonizing the various elements, in our federal and dual system  of government.
2*




34                  FEDERAL  LAWS.
It has had a benign influence in perfecting our federal
system  of government, and promoting the cause of civil
liberty, and constitutional law. It has gradually built up
a code or system of constitutional law, which serves to
enlighten and guide legislators and statesmen, as well as
courts, jurists, and lawyers, throughout the civilized world.
Acts were passed by the first Congress to organize the
State, Treasury, War, and Post-Office departments, and
the then necessary bureaux thereof; to regulate processes
and proceedings in the courts of the United States; to provide for registering and clearing vessels, and for regulating the coasting trade; to impose duties on tonnage,
and on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the
United States; to establish and support light-houses,
beacons, buoys, and public piers; to establish a uniform
rule of naturalization; to promote the useful arts by
patent rights; to encourage learning by copyrights; to
regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes; to
provide for the payment of the debts of the United States;
for the government of the Territories; for the punishment
of certain crimes and offences against the United States;
and for various other purposes, to put the government
into operation, and provide for carrying it on.
The Criminccl Laws of the United States.
The act for the punishment of certain crimes against
the United States, approved April 30th, 1790, defines the
crimes of treason, misprision of treason, and various other
crimes and offences against the United States, and prescribes the punishment, and modes of trial thereof-including the crime of forging or counterfeiting any certificate or security of the United States; stealing, taking
away, or altering any record, writ, or proceeding of the
United States; committing perjury in any suit or cause




FEDERAL LAWS.                   35
depending in any court of the United States, or in any
deposition taken pursuant to any law of the United States;
bribing or attempting to bribe any judge of the United
States; obstructing or opposing any officer of the United
States, in serving, or attempting to serve, judicial process; rescuing any person convicted or charged with the
commission of any crime or offence against the United
States; assaulting, striking, wounding, or imprisoning an
ambassador or other public minister, or sueing out or executing process against him.
Any of the foregoing crimes and offences could be committed anywhere in the United States, or in any territory
thereof-either within or without the territorial jurisdiction
of a State-the powers of the State governments not extending to crimes and offences against the United States.
The same act of the first Congress, provided for the
punishment of piracy, murder, or robbery, committed on
the high seas, or in any river, haven, basin or bay, out
of the jurisdiction of any particular State; for the punishment of any person guilty of wilful murder or manslaughter, committed within any fort, arsenal, dockyard,
or magazine of the United States, or in any other place
or district of country, under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States; of maiming any person
within any of the places upon land, under the sole and
exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, or upon the
high seas, in any vessel of the United States, or belonging
to any citizen or citizens thereof; or of stealing and purloining the goods or property of another, or of the United
States, within any of the places under the sole and exclusive
jurisdiction of the United States, or upon the high seas.
The class of crimes lastly enumerated, are such as can
be committed only where the State courts and governments have no territorial jurisdiction; while the class of




36                 FEDERAL LAWS.
crimes firstly enumerated, may be committed where a
State has territorial jurisdiction, but no jurisdiction over
such offences-because they are not committed against
the government of any State, but against the majesty and
laws of the national government.
The federal government has the exclusive police of
the high seas, of the District of Columbia, and of the territories, forts, arsenals, and dockyards of the United States.
With those exceptions, each State has the exclusive police
of all places within its limits. The lines of distinction between federal and State power, to punish crime, as well
as to levy and collect taxes, regulate commerce, and for
other matters, depends generally  upon subject-matter,
object, and purpose, and seldom  upon locality.  Hence
the lines of distinction, between federal and State powers, are often nice, and not easily determined, until defined'by statute, or by a decision of the Supreme Court.
It required such master minds as those of Alexander
Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, and John Marshall,
and their compeers, to determine and define the powers
of the federal government, and the boundaries of power
between it and the State governments; and the process
is still going on-for the federal government never exercised many of its powers, until the great rebellion revealed
the necessity of extraordinary powers to put down the
Confederate government, and maintain the supremacy
of the constitution and laws of the United States; and
suggested new laws, and developed powers never before
exercised by the government of the United States.
The criminal laws of the United States were altered,
amended, and enlarged, and new provisions enacted in
many instances, between the years 1790 and 1860; and
laws were made to punish mail robberies, obstructions to,
and violations of the United States mails, purloining




FEDERAL LAWS.                   37
moneys, letters, and other things therefrom; counterfeiting or forging coin, or notes of the TTnited States bank;
uttering and passing false and counterfeit coin or notes
of the United States bank; extortion by an officer of
the United States; carrying on the slave trade; committing murder, rape, striking, stabbing, poisoning or
shooting at any person under certain circumstances within the admiralty jurisdiction of the United States; attacking a vessel with intent to plunder; breaking into a
vessel with intent to commit a felony; plundering, stealing, or destroying the effects of a wrecked vessel; setting
fire to, burning or otherwise destroying a United States
vessel of war, or any vessel of which the person doing
such act is not the owner; inciting a mutiny or revolt on
board a vessel; maltreating the crew by the master of a
vessel; committing arson in any place within the sole
and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States; conspiring, combining and confederating to cast away, burn, or
otherwise destroy any vessel, with intent to injure and
defraud the insurers thereof; committing a fraud upon
the customs, or violating the revenue laws of the United
States; or cutting timber upon the lands of the United
States.
The subjects enumerated embrace, in general terms, all
the most important criminal laws of the United States,
enacted prior to the year 1861. Many defects in the criminal code were supplied; the laws extended from time to
time to new subjects; and acts not previously made critninal, were declared by Congress to be crimes and offences,
as the exigencies of the country, and the commission of
such offences, developed the necessity of prohibiting them,
and punishing them as crimes.
Much was done, during the first seventy years after
the adoption of tile federal Constitution, to mature and




38                 FEDERAL LAWS.
perfect a criminal code for the United States; but there
was one glaring defect in that code. Although the law to
punish treason against the government of the United States
was well matured and complete, there was no law to punish
conspiracies against the federal government. In December, 1860, and January, 1861, a conspiracy against the government of the TTnited States, was concocted in the Capitol
at Washington, by Senators and Representatives in Congress, who communicated by both letter and telegraph,
with their friends and co-conspirators at the South, and
thus aided in forming and directing conspiracies and combinations to overthrow the federal government in the Southern States; and there was no law to punish such inceptive
acts of treason, until the Confederate government was organized, commenced making preparations for rebellion, and
actually committed overt acts of treason, in levying war
against the United States.
That great defect in the criminal laws was known to
the conspirators, and served to embolden them in their
acts and movements. Some of them remained in their
seats in Congress for several weeks, conspiring, from  day
to day, to defeat any measures to strengthen the executive
branch of the government and prepare to meet the coming
rebellion-voting against all such measures, and communicating frequently with their fiiends in the Southern
States. If we had had an efficient law to punish conspiracies, such things could not have been done without
exposing the conspirators to arrest, imprisonment, trial,
and punishment, if convicted; which would have held
them in check, induced more caution, and less activity in
organizing combinations, and preparing for rebellion, and
deterred many from joining the conspirators.
That great defect in the law was cured by an act of
Congress, to define and punish certain conspiracies, a.p



FEDERAL LAWS.                   39
proved July 31st, 1801. That act provides that if two or
more persons within any State or Territory of the United
States, shall conspire together to overthrow, or to put down,
or to destroy by force, the government of tle United States,
or to levy war against the United States, or to oppose by
force the authority of the government of the United States;
or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any
law of the United States; or by force to seize, take or possess any property of the United States, against the will, or
contrary to the authority of the United States; or by force,
or intimidation, or threat, to prevent any person from accepting or holding any office or trust, or place, under the
United States, each and every person so offending, shall
be guilty of a high crime, and, upon conviction thereof, in
any Circuit or District Court of the United States having
jurisdiction thereof, or District or Supreme Court of a
Territory, shall be punished by fine not less than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars; or by imprisonment with or without hard labor, not less than six
months, nor more than six years, or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
Under such a law, with an efficient and vigilant administration, with the aid of the electric telegraph, and
the facilities of railroads and steam  navigation, every
future conspiracy against the government can be nipped
in the bud, before a confederate rebel government can be
organized, or much preparation made to wage war against
the United States. Threats of a dissolution of the Union
were occasionally thrown out in Congress and elsewhere
for more than thirty years prior to the great rebellion of
1861; but in future, such threats will subject the party
making them to suspicion, and surveillance.
Congress passed an act approved August 6th, 1861, to
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes: an




40                  FEDERAL LAWS.
act approved June 2d, 1862, to prevent and punish fraud
on the part of officers intrusted with making contracts for
the government; and an act, approved July 1st, 1862, to
punish bigamy, and prevent the practice of polygamy in
the Territories of the United States. The last act referred
to has been disregarded by the Mormons, and never executed.
An act was passed and approved July 17th, 1862, to
suppress insurrections, punish treason and rebellion, and
to seize and confiscate the property of rebels. The 24th
section of the act for enrolling and calling out the national
forces, approved March 3d, 1863, provides, that every person, not subject to the rules and articles of war, who shall
procure or entice, or attempt to procure or entice, a soldier
in the service of the United States, to desert; or who shall
harbor or conceal, or give employment to a deserter, or
carry him away, or aid in carrying him away, knowing him
to be such; or who shall purchase from a soldier his arms,
equipments, ammunition, clothing, or any part thereof,
shall upon conviction thereof, be fined not exceeding five
hundred dollars, and imprisoned not more than two years,
nor less than six months. Section 25 provides that if any
person shall resist any draft of men enrolled under that
act, or aid any person to resist any such draft; or shall assault or obstruct an officer in making such draft; or shall
counsel any person to assault or obstruct any such officer,
or shall counsel any drafted man not to appear at the
place of rendezvous, or wilfully dissuade them from the
performance of military duty as required by law, such
person shall be subject to summary arrest, and upon conviction of such offence shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, or by both of said punishments.  Section 30 provides that in time of war, insurrection or re



FEDERAL LAWS.                   41
bellion, persons in the military service of the United
States, who shall be guilty of murder, assault with intent
to kill, mayhem, wounding by shooting or stabbing, robbery, arson, burglary, rape, or an assault and battery with
intent to commit rape, shall be tried and punished by a
court-martial or military commission.  Section 38 provides that spies may be tried by general court-martial or
military commission; and upon conviction shall suffer
death.
Congress passed an act, approved March 3d, 1863, to
prevent and punish frauds upon the revenue; an act, approved June 27th, 1864, to prevent and punish smuggling; and an act, approved July 1st, 1864, prescribing
the punishment for enticing or aiding seamen to desert
the naval service of the United States. Penalties have
been imposed by other acts of Congress, and the criminal
laws have been amended, improved, and added to, from
time to time, and defects supplied, until the United States
have now an efficient criminal code for periods of war,
and insurrection, as well as peace-to punish and prevent
conspiracies against the government, and many acts of
sedition, as well as other crimes. But it has required
wisdom, time, and experience, in war and rebellion as
well as in peace, to develop and mature our national
criminal code. While the most of our criminal laws have
been suggested by circumstances and the exigencies of
the country, they have been constructed by the wisdom
of American statesmen.  A good, complete, and efficient
criminal code adds largely to the efficiency, security, and
stability of a government.
The State of New York inaugurated at Auburn, about
the year 1820, a penitentiary system of punishment, with
solitary confinement in separate cells at night, and hard
labor in silence, in workshops by day; which unites the




42                  FEDERAL LAWS.
purposes of punishment, with the reform of the criminal,
so far as is practical, and the acquisition of a useful trade
with habits of industry-that will enable him to earn an
honest living when discharged.  That system has been
adopted by all, or nearly all the States, and has been well
matured, during a period of about fifty years, and brought
to a high state of perfection. It is a great improvement
upon the modes of punishment for most crimes, previously
in use, in America as well as in Europe. Such prisons afford
an efficient means of punishment, with a view to the acquisition of habits of industry and skill in some useful trade
-and to reform blended with punishment.  Our system
has been adopted by many countries of Europe, and will
have a salutary and benign influence upon the civilized
world. One of the greatest defects of all the governments
of ancient times, as well as of Europe, until a recent period, was the want of good criminal codes, of an efficient
police, and of good prisons and penitentiaries, with -workshops, for the confinement of criminals at hard labor.
The punishment of crime, both against person and
property, committed within the territorial jurisdiction of
a State, together with the police power, belongs exclusively to the State government-excepting only offences
against the government and laws, or property of the
United States. Hence there are two distinct codes of
criminal law, in operation in each State. The criminal
laws of most of the States, including the State of New
York, are very defective, in not providing properly for the
punishment of directors and other officers of corporations,
for the embezzlemen t or other misapplication of their funds,
for fraudulent issues of stocks, and other abuses of power,
and frauds practised upon stockholders. A law to punish
such ofiences, with a proper degree of severity, might
have prevented many of the frauds and swindling opera.




FEDERAL LAWS.                   43
tions practised by the controlling spirits of the Erie Railroad.
The United States are allowed the use of the State
prisons and penitentiaries, for the confinement and punishment of their convicts, and the use of the local jails,
for the confinement of persons charged with crime against
the United States; which adds greatly to the economy, as
well as to the facility, of executing the criminal laws of
the federal government.
The civil, revenue, land, postal, pension, and military
laws of the United States.
The federal government has no municipal common
law, either civil or criminal; and no law which is usually
termed municipal law, either statute or common.  Nor
has Congress any power to legislate upon municipal subjects, except for the Territories, and the District of Columbia. While sitting in the several States in civil suits,
other than admiralty cases, the courts of the United
States administer the local municipal law.  The 34th
section of the judiciary act of the United States of 1789,
provides that the laws of the several States, except.where
the constitution, treaties, or statutes of the United States
shall otherwise require or provide, shall be regarded as
rules of decision in trials at common law, in the courts
of the United States, in cases where they apply.
The act of Congress for the establishment of a Freedman's bureau for the Southern States, can be justified and
maintained as constitutional, only on the ground that the
States in which those laws operated, were practically and
de facto out of the Unzion, and subject to the laws of the
United States as conquered territories.  That is the practical interpretation which Congress has given to the constitution of the United States; and a majority of the




44                 FEDERAL LAWS.
American people have acquiesced in that interpretation.
The constitutionality and validity of the acts of Congress
known as the reconstruction laws, can be defended upon
that ground, and by that interpretation of the constitution, and no other. The interests of the country can
never be promoted by disturbing that practical interpretation, which will teach men caution, and the great danger
of rebelling against the federal government hereafter.
That interpretation of the constitution will tend to increase the security and stability of the government; and
may save the country from future efforts to dissolve or
divide the Union.
The evils of secession and a division of the Union, were
recently portrayed in a clear light by the London Examiner.
Speaking of the prosperity of this country, the Examiner said: "Had secession succeeded, the Border line
would now be bristling with bayonets; and men's thoughts,
instead of being fixed on works of peaceful development
and progress, would have been concentrated upon systems
of strategy, works of fortification, and schemes of vengeance and destruction."
REVENUE LAWS.-The federal government has been
supported by duties on imports and tonnage, the sale of
public lands, internal duties, stamps, licenses, and income
taxes, and to a very limited extent, at different periods, by
direct taxation; but its revenues have been mostly derived
until recently, from duties on imports.
Since the system of direct taxation of lands and other
property was abandoned by Congress in 1862, and a high
tariff, income tax, heavy internal duties, and taxes for licenses and stamps, were imposed, the government has
been eminently successful in raising larger revenues and
loans than were ever raised before, by any government, in




FEDERAL LAWS.                   45
any country, from the same number of people. And yet
the loyal States were in a high state of prosperity even
during the war, and more so since its close-notwithstanding the heavy burthens of taxation; and the prosperity of
the seceding States is rapidly reviving. The errors and
blunders of our revenue systems, both'internal and commercial, are so overbalanced in their influences by virtues,
that on the whole they have been very salutary in their
effects. They both need revision, and the number of articles upon which taxes are levied, should be greatly reduced. The character and policy of the revenue laws,
will be discussed in a subsequent chapter.
The federal government has frequently changed its
revenue laws, and particularly its duties on imports. It
has also made many changes in internal taxes. It has
experimented extensively, and tested the effects of taxes
at various rates, upon great numbers of articles, and learned
the amount of revenue that can be derived from each-and
thereby created as well as collected, a large amount of
materials to guide statesmen and legislators in framing a
better and wiser system of revenue laws, than this or any
other nation, ever had. The information collected with
the national census each ten years, serves also as a guide
to legislation.
PUBLIC LAND SYSTEM.-Our system of surveying, selling, and disposing of the public lands, was originated by
American statesmen, and is very different from that of
every other country.  The British, French, Spanish, and
Dutch governments, have been in the habit of making
large grants of land, of thousands of acres, sometimes of a
whole province, and often of a tract as large as a county,
to a single prominent and influential man; generally as
a matter of favoritism, of to encourage him to introduce
emigrants to settle and improve the country. The col



46                  FEDERAL LAWS.
onies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, -Maryland,
Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, were
originally under proprietary governments, each of them
having been granted to one or a few great proprietors.
Nearly all Spanish America was settled under large grants
and concessions of the King of Spain, made in most cases
to favorites, without any pecuniary consideration paid to
the government.  The grants and concessions of the
French government in America, were smaller in extent,
but generally of the same character-having been made
without any consideration paid for them. The tendency
of such a system was and is, to build up and maintain an
aristocracy; to make a few wealthy proprietors, and a
poor, humble, and dependent peasantry-of very little energy of character or public spirit-having few schools,
roads, or other public improvements, and but little commercial intercourse.
Our land system is very different in its effects, as well
as in its character and operation. The federal government buys the Indian title; surveys the lands; opens land
offices, and offers the lands for sale, at the minimum price
of $1.25 per acre; sells them mostly to actual settlers; organizes territorial governments for the government of
the country and the protection of settlers; makes liberal
grants of lands, to erect territorial buildings, make roads,
improve the navigation of rivers and watercourses, establish and maintain schools, colleges, and universities,
and aid in making canals and railroads.
Congress granted to the new States-admitted prior to
1840, a section or mile square of land in each surveyed
township of thirty-six square miles, to establish and maintain common schools; and grants of two sections in each
surveyed township have been made for common school purposes, to each new State admitted into the Union since 1840.




FEDERAL LAWS.                 47
Our federal government derives a considerable revenue
from the sale of the public lands, over and above all expenses attending them; and yet it retains the control of
all the lands, until sold, or granted for useful purposes,
and disposes of them as a general rule, (some few improvident grants excepted,) to the utmost advantage, for the
promotion of the settlement and improvement of the
country, and the welfare of the people of the United
States.  What would Illinois and Iowa, the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan, and the States of Kansas and
Nebraska have been to-day, without the aid of Congressional grants of lands for railroads and other public improvements?  Who can estimate the influence, twenty
or fifty years hence, upon all the Western, interior, and Pacific States, of grants of the public lands, made by Congress? While other countries have thrown away the most
of their public lands, by giving them  to a few favorites,
Congress has made the public lands of the United States
a source of revenue-a great national power, and bond
of union between the States; and also a great civilizing
agent, for aiding in settling, improving, and developing
the resources of the interior and of the western portion
of the continent, and of educating and promoting the
general welfare of the people.
Our land laws and land system tend to promote the
rapid settlement and improvement of the new States and
Territories; to produce an independent, educated, industrious, and energetic people, as nearly equal in condition as the Providences of God will permit-living upon
and cultivating their own lands, with no landlords to
demand rents, or share their crops with them-the federal, State, and local governments, to which they must
pay taxes, being their only landlords. Such a system
tends to promote justice and equality of condition, educa



48                 FEDERAL LAWS.
tion and intelligence, industry and energy of character,
extended commercial and industrial intercourse, public
spirit and patriotism-and to make a people fit for self-'government-a nation of high-spirited Republicans, and
law-abiding constitutional Democrats.  Our public land
system may, very properly, be regarded as a model of excellence; and when fully appreciated, it will become the
admiration of the civilized world.
POSTAL SYSTEM AND LAws.-The postal system of the
United States and the laws regulating the same, have
been gradually increased and matured, during more than
three-fourths of a century, and improved in accordance
with the suggestions of experience, in this country and
in England.  Our system will now  compare favorably
in magnitude and facilities, in extent of accommodations, safety and economy, with that of any country of
Europe.
PENSION LAwS.-The pension  laws of the United
States constitute a noble and philanthropic system-to
promote and secure the comfort of disabled soldiers, and
of the widows and minor children of those that have
lost their lives in the service of their country.  They do
justice, as far as is practicable, to the soldier and his
family; and have a salutary influence in encouraging
enlistments to support the government and the flag of the
country, in time of war.
MILITARY SYSTEM AND LAWS.-The military system of
the United States is anomalous, Congress having power
to provide for calling forth the militia of the several
States, to aid in executing the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions; and also power
to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be
employed in the service of the United States, reserving




FEDERAL LAWS.                  49
to the States respectively the appointment of the officers
thereof, and the authority to train the militia according
to the discipline prescribed by Congress.  The federal
government has fully exercised all the military powers
granted by the constitution; passed numerous acts upon
the subject; kept but a small standing army; and relied
mostly upon the militia and volunteer forces-to be raised
quickly in time of war and invasion, or insurrection.
Congress has matured a military code for the government of the army and navy, and the militia also, when
called into the actual service of the United States.
The States also have power to pass laws not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, to provide for
organizing, arming, training, and calling out the militia;
and all of them have exercised such powers; and depend
entirely upon the militia, and the United States army, in
case of an emergency, to aid in executing their laws.
The organization of the militia in most of the States, in
time of peace, is only nominal.
The military Academy at West Point, on the Hudson
river, and actual service in the army during the great
rebellion, have educated a large number of military men,
and fitted them  for officers; so that the United States
can raise in a few months, officer efficiently, and organize
as large military forces as any country of Europe, except
Russia. The immense field which our country offers for
civil and mining engineering and other business avocations, give our officers employment, in time of peace; but
the government can command their services again, whenever they may be needed.  Our military expenses are,
therefore, very small, in time of peace, when compared
with our very large military resources and powers, which
can be called into existence and made available, in a few
months. Considering the military spirit and patriotism
3




50                 FEDERAL LAWS.
of our people, our military system may be regarded as
the best in the world, for such a country and such a people, living under such a government.
Common law of the United States.
Congress has enacted a great body of laws of a national
character; and in interpreting and executing the constitution and laws of the United States, great numbers of
decisions have been made and opinions given, by the
Attorney-Generals, heads of department and bureau officers, as well as by the courts; and the heads of department and bureau officers have made rules and regulations, prescribed forms of procedure, and issued circulars
from time to time, to give interpretation to the laws and
aid in executing them; under which, usages and systems
of practice have grown up, become established customs, assumed the force of law, and now form what may be properly termed, the common law of the United States. It
embraces the usages, customs, and practice of the departments and bureaus, the decisions of the courts, and the
opinions of the Attorney-Generals, upon the subjects of
commerce and navigation, revenue and finance, the public lands and postal matters, pensions and military affairs,
bankruptcies and fugitives from justice, and to a limited
extent, practice in the federal courts, and interpretations
of the criminal laws of the United States. It cannot
therefore be denied, that the United States have a growing
common law, upon such national subjects and questions
-though they have no municipal common law-no common law upon the subject of property, personal rights
and obligations, contracts, police matters, morals, religion,
education, nor the poor. All such subjects of legislation
and law, fall within the exclusive jurisdiction and domain of the State governments.




TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS.          51
SEC. 11.-Territorial governments and laws.
Congress has absolute and unlimited power to legislate
for the Territories of the United States, and the District
of Columbia; but has delegated the power mostly to territorial governments, and neglected to exercise it sufficiently to promote the best interests of the Territories.
The ordinance of Congress adopted July 13th, 1787, for
the government of the territory northwest of the Ohio
river, was not only an organic law, charter, or constitution for the organization and regulation of the territorial
government; but it also contained some of the germs of a
civil code of law-including as it did a prohibition of
slavery, a general rule for the descent of property, and
the modes of executing and attesting wills and testaments, and conveyances of property.  But acts of Congress passed during the last fifty years, for the organization of territorial governments, have been simply Organic
Laws, or constitutions, leaving the people of the Territories, through the agency of territorial legislatures, to legislate for themselves, upon all subjects of a municipal and
police character.
Nine-tenths of the men who usually emigrate to a new territory, are in some sense adventurers, and may be included
in the following classes: 1st, young and inexperienced
men; 2d, fugitives from justice, and fugitives from their
creditors; and 3d, men of shattered fortunes and small
means, who have not been successful in life. The settlers
in new territories comprise but few experienced, first-class
men, who are fit for legislators and lawgivers, and qualified to frame a code of laws for a people; and hence the
importance of Congress framing and adopting the outlines
of a code of laws for all the Territories-regulating the
descent of property, the mode of conveying and transfer



52       TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS.
ring property, and executing wills and testaments; marriages and divorces; the domestic relations and guardianships; securing to married women their own property and
earnings; regulating bills of exchange and promissory
notes, and the rate of interest on debts and contracts;
establishing absolute freedom of religious worship, freedom of speech and of the press; prohibiting any discrimination or distinction in legislation or taxation, between
persons, on account of race or origin, color or religion, or
any distinction in taxation between the property of residents and non-residents.
The success of the Territories has been owing to the
great natural wealth and resources of the country, the virtues of the public land system and the munificent donations of Congress, and to the energy of the people; rather
than to any great wisdom in their territorial legislation.
The shocking election frauds and abuses, and the barbarous legislation in Kansas while a Territory, involved the
Territory in civil war, and showed that the heterogeneous
mass of people, that settle new territories, are poorly qualified to make good laws, and to maintain order and peace.
But the most despicable government that ever existed
on the continent of America, is that of the Territory of
Utah.  The Mormon settlements have been foul nests of
knaves, thieves, and robbers, ever since they settled in Missouri; from which they were driven by an outraged people, on account of their crimes. They then went to Illinois, and built the city of Nauvoo. When driven from
Illinois, they migrated beyond the Rocky mountains, and
settled in Utah.  The lusts of Brigham Young and his
subordinates of the Mormon priesthood, induced the pretended revelation, authorizing polygamy, and the introduction of the practice of polygamy among them. But
the government being practically a Theocracy, the most




INDIAN SYSTEM AND POLICY.            53
of the women are monopolized by the Mormon priesthood,
who set at defiance the law of Congress, prohibiting
polygamy in the Territories of the United States. Moimonism is the grossest, foulest, and most corrupting inmposture which has been successfully imposed upon any
people, since the age of Mahomet; and yet it has some
virtues, and elements of progress. It inculcates. order,
industry, and economy.
SEC. 12.-0ur Indian system and policy.
Our Indian system has been the least successful in its
workings, of any branch of our government. Finding the
Indians wandering savages, without government or law
(except their chiefs and a few rude customs), and without
any capacity to make laws, and to organize and administer a government for themselves, Congress omitted to subject them to laws, to form a government and a code of
laws for them, and the result was, that they became corrupted by intercourse with the whites; and for want of
fixed residences and subjection to law, the most of them be.
came outlaws and robbers.
Much has been done to improve, civilize, and accustom
to habits of industry, the few thousand Indians settled
upon reserves in the State of New York; and some progress has been made in civilizing the Creeks, Cherokees,
Choctaws, Chickasaws, and other Indians, who were
removed into the Indian Territory, west of Arkansas and
Missouri, nearly forty years since; but their improvement
has been small compared with what it would have been,
if Congress had organized a territorial government for
them, united them under one government, adopted the
outlines of a code of laws for them, appointed for them
a Governor, State Officers, Judges, and Marshals, subjected them to law, appointed their chiefs and educated




54              INDIAN SYSTEM AND POLICY.
men to such offices as they were competent to fill, and
allowed them to elect some of their own officers, and to
participate in legislating for themselves, and in administering their own local affairs, within a certain narrow
sphere.  Nothing can be done with wandering tribes,
until they are confned upon reservations, and subjected
to law.
With our boasted free institutions, Protestant civilization, and exclusive spirit, keeping the Indians at arm's
length, we have succeeded in half civilizing about 100,000
of them, during a period of 250 years; while our Spanish
American neighbors, with the aid of the Catholic Priesthood, by mixing with and intermarrying with the Indians,
extending to them  the civilizing agencies of law and
government, have subjected to law, the Gospel, Catholic
civilization, and to some degree of regular industry, and
raised to a higher grade of civilization than exists among
the tribes in our Indian Territory west of Arkansas, more
than twelve millions of the full-blooded and half-breed
descendants of the aborigines of America.  Truly we
have no reason to be proud of our success, in promoting
the welfare of the Indian race.




CHAPTER II.
WORKINGS OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT-OUTSIDE PARTY
ORGANIZATIONS AND MACHINERY TO CARRY IT ON, AND
THEIR INFLUENCES-REMEDIES SUGGESTED FOR ITS DEFECTS.
SEC. 1.-Popular elections, and  their influences upon
politicians and people.
THOUGH our form of government is the best in the world
for an intelligent people, in a cold or temperate climate';
yet, like all other human institutions, it is not perfect in
its operation, and does not fully answer the hopes and
expectations of its framers and friends. Popular elections,
as conducted under our system, are by no means an unmixed good; though a large portion of the evils resulting
from them arise from the defects and vices of our electoral
system, and might be avoided. The pursuit of politics, in a
democratic country like this, often entices men from their
business and proper pursuits, and allures great numbers
with false hopes and delusive expectations, and subjects
them to bitter disappointments.
Frequent elections and the popular agitations attending
them, stimulate the personal ambition of great numbers of
persons; awaken aspirations which can never be gratified;
excite the minds of the multitude to run to and fio, to attend
political meetings; disturb industry and business; and by
the exaggerations, falsehoods and false pretences attending
them, they tend to keep a people excited, restless, and dissatisfied with their government as well as with their rulers,
and to induce in many persons, indolence, trickery, and




56          WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
crime. Popular elections and the enjoyment of the elective franchise, have utterly demoralized the negro of
Jamaica and other British West India Islands, as well as
Ilayti and St. Domingo, and there is great danger that
they will do so in our Southern States.*
Strong and well-balanced minds are benefited by such
excitements, while weak ones are often injured. They
operate as healthy stimulants to some, but are very injurious to many.  It may well be feared that the enjoymnent of the elective franchise and the machinery and
excitements attending popular elections, will demoralize
vast numbers of the negroes of the South, and make them
ambitious, turbulent, and disorderly; excite in  them
hlopes which can never be realized; divert them from
industry; involve them in contests with the whites and
with each other; and do the race vastly more injury
than good.  What the social and political status of the
colored man will be hereafter, must depend upon his capacity for improvement and self-government, and upon
the farther development of his intellectual, moral, and industrial character.  But it is said, the freedmen have been
denied their rights, and sorely oppressed; and that universal manhood suffrage is necessary, to enable them to
protect themselves.  That they have been oppressed is
very true; but all history and experience shows, that
they are incapable of protecting themselves.  They must
secure the good-will of the whites by patient industry,
* Ex-Governor Perry of South Carolina describes the negro as "no
longer that industrious, useful and civil laborer which he once was,
but an idle drone. Inflated with his new and marvellous political importance, he has abandoned his former industrious habits, and spends
his time in attending public meetings and loyal league gatherings, by day
and by night. This whole race seem disposed to quit their work, and
resort to the towns and villages, where they may eke out an idle and
wretched exiAbnce, in pilfering and begging."




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            57
and Congress, under the fourteenth amendment to the
constitution, will protect them from unequal and unjust
State legislation, more effectually than they can protect
themselves by the ballot.
There are many evils incident to popular elections,
which cannot be avoided; but they are greatly increased
in number and magnitude, by the electoral system in operation with us-by which minorities are practically deprived of any representation-by the caucus and convention methods of nominating candidates for office-and
)by the multiplication of elective offices.
The system of popular elections which gives all repres;entation and power to majorities, however small, and
none to minorities, however large, tends to stimulate both
persq qun.1d partisan ambition too highly; to excite rivalship "and strife, partisan passions and prejudices; to
divide a people into parties, cliques, and factions; and to
increase and intensify the violence of party spirit.  It
offers too great temptations to resort to improper means
to insure success, for poor, weak, and selfish human nature to resist;' and hence it tends to stimlulate secretiveness and duplicity, petty scheming and trickery, falsehood
and fraud,-and to encourage social drinking and prodigality, as a means of popularity and of getting votes. It
tends to stimulate and sharpen the intellect; but to paralyze the conscience and the moral feelings; to foster demagogism  and a despicable scramble for office, and to demoralize politicians, and great numbers of the people.
The elective system should be so organized as to stimulate
party spirit as little as possible, and the personal ambition
of as few persons.
3*




58         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
SEC. 2.-Partisanship, and its influence upon the mind,
and upon the conduct of man..To attain truth, in the investigation of a moral or religious, political or financial question, or complicated question of any kind, it is necessary to examine it in all its aspects and bearings, from several standpoints, and from every
practicable point of view. Every fair-minded judge hears,
patiently considers, and weighs properly, the arguments
and views of the case presented by both parties, before he
decides the cause. Every legislator should, in like manner, hear and consider the views of public questions presented, with the appearance of candor, by the members
of both political parties, and bymen of all shades of
opinion. Legislators should also consider tlhe views of
executive officers, and of petitioners and remonstrants,
who are often deeply interested in the questions before
them. This is necessary to the attainment of truth, and
to enable them to act wisely.
It is the characteristic of zealous political partisans, to
look at every measure presented, and at every political
or national question, from the standpoint of their party;
and to see it and examine it on one side only. With the
eyes of the understanding nearly closed, they listen to the
arguments of their opponents-not for the purpose of
learning what truth they may contain, and what weight
should be given to them; but for the purpose of finding
defects in them, or what they may distort and make appear erroneous-in order to destroy their influence. Being accustomed to hear the merits of their own party extolled, and its principles, policies, and measures held up
to view as tending to promote the best interests of the
country, and the general welfare of the people; and accustomed to hear the opposite party and its principles




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            59
and policies reviled-as tending to evil, and to evil only,
political partisans usually take. one-sided and partial
views of all questions and measures of a political or public nature. They seldom view a quedion in all its aspects
and bearings; and hence they get only partial and imperfect views, and in their reasoning upon them, they
necessarily arrive at conclusions more or less erroneous.
They often become imbued with enthusiasm  in relation
to the merits of their own party and party creed, and inclined to attribute all the prosperity of the country to its
principles, policies, and measures. They can see no good
in the other party-either in its principles or its policies,
its leaders or its measures-and attribute to the federal
and State constitutions, to our popular system of government, and to the virtues of the people and the laws previously enacted, all the prosperity which the country
enjoyed during the administration of their opponents.
The first object of many partisan legislators, is to promote the success and secure the ascendency of their party. To promote the general good and welfare of the
country, and of the whole people, is with them a secondary consideration-being regarded by them rather as a
means of promoting the success of their party, than as the
proposed end and object of their legislative action. They
may be patriots in a certain vague and general sense, attached to their country, and wish it well; but can see no
merit or virtue in either the men, measures or policies of
the opposite party; and expect to work out the good of
the country, as well as their own personal good, only
through the agency of their party.
Party spirit has become so violent and intense in this
country, that it tends to blind the understanding, to fill
the mind with prejudices and false assumptions, and to
pervert the reasoning powers. In the view of violent parrVI~ y yy~~ ~ r~V —- - rV ~~ Z n




60         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACIINERY
tisans, every public good must be worked out through
partisan agency, and partisan agency only; and they are
seldom if ever willing to do anything for the public good,
which will tend to expose the frauds or abuses of their
party, or endanger the success of their party or party friends.
Registry laws, intended and well adapted to prevent
friaudulent voting, and to secure the fairness and purity
of elections, have been opposed on partisan grounds only.
Zealous partisans are inclined to look with a jealous
eye upon the leaders of the opposite party, and all their
measures; to suspect their motives as selfish and sinister,
— to regard their measures and policies as designed to
promote the success and increase the power of their party,
without regard to the public good-and to attribute to
the corruptions, the abuses of power, the erroneous principles, and the bad measures and policies of their opponents, all the evils and nisfortunes which have befallen
the country.
Looking with an eye single to the principles, purposes
and policies of their own party-always regarding them
favorably, as tending to promote the best interests and
welfare of the nation; and looking with suspicion and
prejudice upon the leaders of the opposite party, and regarding their measures and policies as having evil and pernicious tendencies, they look forward with hope and
cheerfulness to the triumph of their own party, and often
regard with fearful forebodings the success of their opponents; and hence they are inclined to look with favor,
and to regard as a sort of pious fraud, almost any kind of
organization, management and trickery, deception and
falsehood, which may tend to defeat their opponents, and
promote the success of their own party ticket. Partisan
newspapers and speakers, addressing the people at political meetings, are expected to present in bold relief, and




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            61
to magnify the merits and successes of their party, to palliate their shortcomings, misdeeds and reverses —to seize
hold of and magnify the errors, corruptions, and abuses
of power of their opponents, and to paint in as dark colors as possible, the tendencies of their measures and policies, and the dangers which would result to the country
from their success.
The tendency of party spirit is to tolerate no man as a
leader, who is not blind to the faults of his own party,
and to the merits of his opponents. Men of sound understandings, who look at both sides of political questions
and judge fairly and impartially of their merits, soon lose
the confidence of violent partisans, are distrusted by them,
and no longer recognized as leaders. A fair-minded man,
who looks at both. sides of political questions, and considers them carefully, with a view to judge of their merits,
is unfitted for a party leader, and must stand in the background. Partisan enthusiasts, and men who have one
blind side, and are accustomed to see and appreciate the
merits of one side only, must occupy the front seats.
The violent party spirit and party organizations of the
present day, tend to make sharp, one-sided, and narrowminded men, and cunning politicians-but not statesmen.
They tend to discourage freedom of inquiry, freedom of
thought, and freedom of speech upon political questions;
to destroy freedom of action; and to unfit men to become
statesmen, however long they may be in public life. Party
spirit is, in fact, so wedded to temporary partisan expedients, that it can hardly tolerate sound statesmanship.
The power of party organizations and the intensity and
violence of party spirit, have greatly increased during
the last fifty years, by reason of1. The election of Presidential electors by the people,
by general ticket.




62         WORKrNGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
2. The election of Sheriffs and other county officers
directly by the people; and
3. The election of State officers and Judges-of courts of
record, by the people.
The changes, whereby all such officers are elected by the
people, were made from time to time, since the year 1820.
Such changes have greatly increased the importance of
State and county, as well as Presidential elections-but
rqore especially the latter. Under the general ticket system of electing Presidential electors, the party casting a
majority of votes, however small such majority  may
be, get all the electors, and the other party get none. A
very few votes sometimes turn the scale in favor of one
party or the other, and give such party the whole vote of
the State. Hence the great anxiety and efforts to get votes
in the doubtful States, and the large expenditures of
money, trickery and fraud, to carry elections-accompanied very often by abuses of power, by officers authorized
and required to register voters, and by officers who receive
and canvass the votes. The temptations to corruption offered by such a system, are often greater than human nature
can resist.
SEc. 3.-Party organizations and nominating conventions
-how managed.
Parties and party spirit will exist in all free countries.
They are incidents to free institutions-and arise from
honest differences of opinion among men, as well as from
ambition for the honors and emoluments of office. They
become evils only when party spirit is carried to excess.
Party organizations, such as we have in this country,
exist in no other, and are not necessary in a well-organized government.  They were invented long since the
organization of our government, partly to supply the do



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            63
fects of our system of elections, and partly to promote
the success of party, and party leaders (as is shown in the
first chapter of this work); and they can be dispensed
with when those defects are supplied by law. The principal evils of our system of government. grow out of these
organizations, nominating conventions, and other party
machinery, devised to stimulate party spirit, to secure
success at elections-either by fair or foul means, and to
control the destinies of the country.
Party organizations and machinery consist of national,
State, county, city, ward and township committees, and
committees for each Congressional district, for each political party; and township, ward, and city meetings, county,
State, district, and national conventions-for making
nominations, discussing political questions, adopting resolutions, party creeds and platforms, and appointing committees for the succeeding year or term. The committees
call the meetings and conventions; provide for holding
them; procure and disseminate documents, addresses,
political tracts, and other information among the people;
procure and distribute tickets at the polls; and do various
other things, to obtain votes and carry elections-some of
which honest men will do, and some of which they will
not do.
The primary meetings of each party, which nominate
township and ward officers, and appoint delegates to city
and county conventions, are generally composed of from
ten to about fifty persons, who are mostly politicians and
aspirants to office, or the friends of aspirants, and seldom
comprise more than from five to twenty per cent. of the
voters of the party, for which they assume to act. The
county conventions nominate persons for county officers,
for the State legislature (in most of the States), and appoint delegates to State and Congressional conventions.




64         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
The State conventions nominate persons for State officers
and Presidential electors, and appoint delegates to national conventions. Thus the system of party machinery is
complete-all depending upon the action of the little handfiul of party politicians attending the primary meetings,
and upon the delegates to county conventions, appointed
by them —the most of the voters having no voice in selecting the candidates, or adopting the creed of either party.
The primary meetings are attended by so few persons,
that it is generally easy for two or three leaders to rally
their friends, and secure the appointment of such delegates as they wishgianid conventions are easily packed,
to procure the nomination of men, who could not be nominated by the voice of the party, fairly expressed.
It is not generally difficult for a shrewd politician, by
the free use of money, and the employment of agents in
several towns and wards, to rally his friends and procure
the appointment of a. sufficient number of friends as delegates to the county, city, or district convention, to secure
his nomination for such office as he may desire.  This is
often accomplished, by the expenditure of considerable
sums of money, and the profuse use of promises.  The
process is called packing a convention. Nominations to
Congress and other offices are often secured in the same
manner-by the expenditure of large sums of money;
the profuse use of promises and pledges to support the
applications for office of a large number of active politicians, as a compensation for their services; and by
packing conventions.
By the caucus and convention system, everything is
arranged in secret by a few leaders, without any public
discussion in convention, of the resolutions presented, or
of the merits or relative merits of the candidates named;
and when they come to vote, a silent vote is cast, without




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            65
any reasons being assigned.  Conventions come together
simply to record the decisions of the leaders, when they
are united; and to determine by vote, which faction or
section is the strongest, when they are divided.
SEC. 4. —Corruptiny tendencies of bad party practices
and theories.
Looking at the usages of political parties as they are,
many politicians conclude that there is very little (if any)
honesty in politics; that it is mostly brag and bluster,
false pretences and sophistry, bribery and corruption-to
get votes, promote party success, and carry elections;
and that as their opponents resort to foul and corrupt
means to secure success, it is necessary for them  to do
likewise. Partisans on both sides, reason and manage in
the same way.
Regarding politics as a game, partly of chanQe and
partly of skill and management, and starting with the
proposition that no one has any inherent natural or legal
right to office-except by virtue of an election or legal
appointment; politicians easily persuade themselves that
no wrong is done to any man, or class of men, when their
party are enabled to carry an election by false pretences
and sophistry, deception and trickery, or by a perversion
of law, in excluding or admitting voters.
Political partisans often justify themselves, and quiet
their consciences, in practising deception and falsehood,
and other corrupt means, to promote the success of their
party, by alluding to the fact, that their opponents do
likewise; that to do so is sanctioned by custom, and necessary to success. Criminals of all grades reason in a very
similar manner, to apologize to themselves, for their crimes.
The bad practices of each party tend to corrupt the
other; and unless some remedy can be devised, to correct




66         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
the corrupt practices and evils which have grown up
under our system of party organizations, nominating conventions and caucuses, and electing public officers, there
is great danger of such wide-spread corruption and distrust of all public officers, and of legislation and the
administration of law, that we shall sink into anarchy,
and a chronic state of revolution and civil war-as Mexico
has done.
SE. 5. —Objects and purposes of party organizations,
creeds, and platforms.
The first and most obvious purpose of party organizations, is to furnish the machinery to bring together delegated conventions, to nominate candidates for office; and
secondly, to work the machinery and carry on political
campaigns effectively,-to secure party success at elections.- The machinery consists of a series of committees,
primary meetings, caucuses, and nominating conventions,
-comprising National, State, County, City, Township
and Ward committees, meetings, and conventions.  The
most effective and legitimate means of operating upon
public opinion and upon voters-to secure party success,
are party creeds and platforms, mass meetings and addresses, and the dissemination of political tracts and documents, public speeches and newspapers. But in addition
to this, a large amount of intrigue, trickery and fraud
are practised, through the agency of such machinery.
Party leaders, deeply imbued with ambition and party
spirit, desire an organization, frequent meetings and addresses, a party creed and a political faith, and also the
establishment of some political dogmas-to distinguish
them from other political parties, and to unite their friends
and followers, and stimulate their zeal.  By such means
they can determine what should be recognized as political




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           67
orthodoxy, and are enabled to restrain freedom of opinion
and individual liberty, from endangering the unity of the
party; and they can also maintain rigid party discipline,
and confine the patronage of the party to the most zealous and active of the faithful; one of the main objects of
party leaders being to secure party zeal and fidelity, —and
activity and capacity to promote the success of the party,
rather than the best interests of the country;-moral
character, qualifications and fitness for office, being very
generally regarded by them, as matters of secondary consequence.
Another object is, to enable them to reason from party
creeds and dogmas, and to appeal to partisan prejudices,
-to alarm the fears of their followers for the success of
their opponents, to keep them faithful to party nominations, and prevent them from straying from the party
fold. Instead of seeking after truth, and appealing to a
healthy public sentiment, party leaders very generally
reason from party dogmas, and appeal to partisan prejudices. A still further object is, to form public opinion,
and to educate and mould the public mind, in accordance
with the creed and dogmas 6f the party,-in order to secure permanent success, and party domination. The objects are mostly selfish, rather than patriotic-to promote
personal and party aggrandizement, more than the public
good; and yet they cannot be dispensed with, until we
have a change in our electoral system, and its defects are
supplied.
SEC. 6.-The party cry of principles, not men, is delusive.
Party men often raise the cry of principles, not mento induce voters to support candidates whom they know
to be extremely selfish, unscrupulous, and not very honest




68         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
-and console themselves with the delusive idea, that they
go for principles, not men, and that the only way to promote the success of their principles, is to vote for the
nominees of their party.
The true rule is, to gofor principles and men of principle, character, and fitness. Principles cannot be carried
into practical effect, without men; and selfish, ambitious
partisans, who have but little regard for honesty, can
pervert and bend to their own selfish purposes, the principles of any party.  Honest, patriotic, public-spirited
and fair-minded men, who are not violent partisans, will
discharge their duties faithfully; and the public interest
will seldom suffer in their hands-even if their political
principles are not in all respects sound; but no confidence can be safely reposed in a dishonest and ambitious
man-no matter what principles he may profess. A dishonest man will frequently use the power vested in him
as a public officer, to promote his own personal interest,
or the interest of his friends-regardless of justice and the
public good. Such men can be swayed by bribery, favoritism, and the expectation of personal benefits to result
to themselves, when they think detection and exposure
are impossible, or very difficult and improbable.
When unfit, dishonest, or reckless and unscrupulous
men are nominated for office, no man should vote for
them because they were nominated by his party, and profess the same principles that he does. Dishonest men
have no regard for principle, and it is of no consequence
what they profess. Voters should not support such nominees, but cross their names off the ticket, and insert better names from the ticket of the opposite party, if there
be such, or put on names not in nomination, or vote in
blank-to show their disapprobation of the nominees.
There is no other way to save a country from official cor



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           69
ruption, and abuse of power. Men should not delude
themselves with the idea that they are supporting their
principles, when they are voting for ambitious politicians,
who have noprinciple.
The object of the cry is, not principle-but to acquire
power and patronage, and the emoluments of office.
The general principles which usually divide great political parties, have very little bearing upon the duties of
subordinate executive offices, or upon local legislation;
and hence the questions which should be propounded in
relation to all candidates for office, are those suggested by
Mr. Jefferson: Is he honest? is he capable? is he faithful
to the constitution?  These questions should be propounded and answered in the affirmative, in addition to
the usual question-Does he belong to our party?
The masses of the voters in our country can have no
reasonable expectations of deriving any personal benefit
from office, or public contracts and jobs, and are interested in the election of good officers and in good government;
and yet they are so blinded by party spirit, and deluded
with the idea that their own good and the public good
also, is inseparably connected with, and depends upon, the
success of their party, that they often support men
whom they know to be personally selfish and dishonest,
or otherwise unfit for the stations they aspire to. They
deceive themselves with the idea, that they go forprinciples-not men; and that it is better to elect bad men who
have sound political principles, than good and honest men,
whose political principles are not in all respects sound.
Deluded mortals! They do not seem to know, that there
is generally very little difference between the political
principles which govern the two great parties of our
country; and that the principal difference between them,
consists in the difference between two or three of the lead



70         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
ing measures advocated by them respectively. Such political delusions, generated by party spirit, are productive of
very evil consequences.
When political partisans flatter themselves that they
go for principles, not men, they mean political principles
and partisan expediency-not moral principle.  Moral
principles are very generally well ascertained, and certain in their character; while political principles are very
uncertain in their nature.  Mlen  may easily deceive
themselves in relation to the latter; and are often misled
and governed by very unsound principles.  Those who
disregard moral principle, to follow an assumed political
principle, very generally follow false principles, and not
sound principles of any kind.  When a rule of action, in
accordance with assumed political principles, is not in
harmony with moral principle, the assumed political
principle must be more or less unsound; and when
electors vote for dishonest and bad men for office, under
the assumption that they are going for principle, because
the persons voted for are nominees of their party, they
deceive themselves.   Extremely selfish, dishonest, and
bad men, generally have no regard for principle of any
kind, either political or moral; and " when the wicked
rule, the people will mourn."
All or nearly all the differences between the great political parties of our country, during the last century, have
related to our national government and foreign affairs,
national policies and slavery. There have been no differences, or rarely any, involving questions of principle,
in matters of local government. Local elections generally
involve no differences of principle between the political
parties of the day, but merely preferences for men; and
hence as a general rule, in local elections, the questions
should be as to the honesty and fidelity to the government,.




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            71
and the qualifications and fitness, of the candidates-without much reference to their partisan associations. But to
keep their party organized, party leaders strive to draw
party lines closely at local elections-on account of the
influence which local elections and local officers have upon
State, Congressional, and Presidential elections.  The
leaders endeavor to impress upon their followers the duty
of voting for the party candidates as a matter of political
principle-often at the sacrifice of moral principle-when
in fact there is no political principle involved in the election-nothing but moral principle, the differences in the
character and fitness of men, and party policy. Religious
and moral men should always look to the character of the
candidates they support for office. There is less difference
between political parties than is generally supposed; and
more importance should be attached to the character,
qualifications, and fitness of candidates-and less to party
associations and party creeds, than has been, heretofore.
SEC. 7.-Both parties should be represented upon every
administrative, corporate, and election board of officers.
To secure fairness and impartiality, it is necessary that
each party should be represented upon every board of
officers; and this can be done only by the representation
of minorities, as well as majorities.
All prudent persons wish to live in harmony with their
personal and partisan friends; which they cannot do, in
the present state of partisan organizations and feeling,
if they express their opinions freely, in criticizing the
measures and policies of their party, and party friends.
To oppose any party measure is generally regarded by
party leaders as an unpardonable offence; and even to
question the propriety of a party measure, tends to lessen




72         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
a man's influence in his party, and often subjects him to
attacks and abuse from his party friends.
Members of the same party, associated together on
boards of directors of corporations, and on election and
other official boards, are, from prudential considerations
and delicacy, very generally disinclined to oppose each
other, or to express their opinions freely of any scheme,
measure, or policy presented to promote the interest of
their party, however unjust it may be, and inconsistent
with the letter and spirit of the law. Such prudential
considerations and delicacy very often induce  public
officers to overlook and wink at acts and iniquities perpetrated by their partisan associates, which they would expose and denounce at once, if committed by their opponents.
When all the members belong to the same party, abuses
of power, frauds and iniquities, are often cloaked and
concealed, because the persons who disapprove them are
restrained by partisan and prudential considerations from
exposing them; but such is not the case when the members
belong to different parties. On the contrary, when men
of different parties are associated together as- public or
corporate officers, they rarely have any false delicacy in
expressing their opinions freely, of the acts, measures, and
policies of their opponents, and in criticizing them severely.
Such expressions of opinion and exposures bring all partisan schemes and official acts before the public, and subject them to the searching eye of the newspaper press and
of numerous critics, and to the test of public opinion;
which tends to hold party leaders in check, and to deter
them from carrying into effect many partisan schemes and
contemplated abuses of power.
Secrecy is the cloak of much iniquity and fraud, in
public matters, which it tends to foster and encourage;




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            73
and hence secrecy in most public matters (except those
of a military or police character) should be avoided, and
the utmost publicity should be required. Secrecy favors
intrigue and fraud, corruption and crime. Fairness and
honesty can be secured, only by action open to the public
view, and by the publicity of all acts and proceedings of
a public character.  The utmost openness and publicity
should attend the proceedings of courts of justice-of administrative boards of officers-of boards for registering
voters, holding elections, canvassing and certifying votes,
and of all legislative bodies and councils and committees.
To subject the acts and proceedings of all such official
boards, as well as legislative bodies, to a proper degree of
publicity, and to the salutary influence of public opinion,
it is necessary that both parties should be represented'in
each, so that the public may have reports from both sides.
SEC. 8.-Necessary qualifications of public officers and
of voters.
We want for public officers, honest men. Honesty is
the first requisite; and in most situations, nothing will compensate for the want of it.
2d. We want patriotic men, who can overlook personal
considerations and the success and interest of party, and
devote their minds and energies to the faithful discharge
of their duties, and to the promotion of the best interests
of the country. An honest and patriotic party will be
strengthened by the faithful and proper discharge of their
duties, by its officers. It is impossible for excessively selfish and extremely avaricious men, to be either scrupulously
honest, or very patriotic, and devoted to the public interest. Nor is it possible for a violent partisan, to be
practically very patriotic. We should have honesty and
patriotism first; and party spirit should come afterwards
4




7TI4       WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
and be secondary-that the former may temper and mloderate the tendency of the latter, to become too strong.
3d. A public officer should have sufficient intellect and
acquirements, education, training and discipline, for the
place he is to fill, and some practice and experience in the
same or some analogous employment or pursuit; and for
all the higher offices, men should have a superior intellect,
a sound understanding, large acquirements, maturity of
mind, and considerable practice and experience.
4th. All public officers should have industry and energy of character, and habits of attention to business, above
the common order of men; or else they are not well fitted
for their places.
We want for public officers the best of men-taking their
intellect and moral character, education and habits, acquirements and experience, energy of character and industry,
all into consideration.  Such men partisan politicians,
caucuses and nominating conventions, generally do not
want.  They want active, pliable, and devoted partisans.
We should have no inferior, nor very common men, in any.
official station-though it is not to be expected that very
talented and experienced men, of large acquirements, can
be procured to fill the common and lower offices. More
common men, or young and inexperienced men, must fill
them. But we want the best men that can be procured for
all public stations; and should get rid of a system which
ignores moral character and standing, experience and fitness, and regards cunning and tact, activity and partisan
servility, as the principal passports to party favor.
Under the most favorable circumstances, and under
those only, man is a progressive being; and there is still
room for progress, not only in mechanical and natural
science, but also in the science of law and government.
Our system of government is but an experiment, of com



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT             75
paratively short duration; and as its defects are exhibited
in practice, efforts should be made to correct them.  We
want for legislators, and for all the higher grades of office,
wise and prudent, moderately progressive men —who keep
pace with the rational progress of the age, but do not run
in advance of it. As science, industry, and society progress,
law should progress to keep pace with them. We do not
want for such offices rash and fanatical reformers, nor men
so bigoted to the laws and institutions of our forefathers,
that they think it is impossible to change them, except
for the worse.
Voters can judge of the fitness of candidates for office,
only by their acts and reputation; by their education,
pursuits and habits; in a word-by their history. And
hence men should be brought forward as candidates, who
are known; men who have some antecedents, some history, character, and reputation, among their fellow-men;
and men are not qualified to vote properly, unless they
have some knowledge or reliable information, of the education and character, of the pursuits and habits, and of the
history and successes or failures, of the men whose names
are presented for their suffrages.
In an elective system of government like ours, where
the most of the officers are elected for short periods of
time, the voters should be reading, observing, and thinking men-capable of thinking for themselves, and forming
proper estimates of the character, qualifications, and fitness of men for office; and of the candidates, from their
own knowledge, or from reliable information of their acts,
and history. As a general rule, men should be brought
forward who are known, and have a history, not obscure
men; and the voters should have some knowledge or
reliable information of the history of tile candidates, to
enable them to judge of their merits and fitness.




76         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
Such is the theory of our elective system of government;
but unfortunately, by reason of the defects in the modes of
nominating and electing public officers, the practice and
workings of the system are far different.
SEC. 9.-Elements of character, which commend men to
the favor of party politicians.
Success being the primary object, and the permanent
good and welfare of the country only a secondary consideration with zealous party politicians, they want for public officers, and recipients of party favor, men of pliable
temperaments and pliable consciences, who will submit
to the dictation and cater to the wishes of party leaders;
men of no great firmness of character or fixed principles,
but such as habitually swear by the last-published creed
of the party; men who have no independence of mind,
and who profess no opinions differing in the slightest degree, from the last edition of the party creed; men of versatile talents, and subtle and shining, rather than sound
reasoning powers; men who can see no errors in the creed,
dogmas and policies of their own party, and no good in
those of their opponents; men who are nearly blind to
the vices, corruptions, and abuses of power of their own
party, and party friends, and keen to detect the slightest
errors and misdeeds of their opponents, and to turn them
to account; men who are partial to their own party and
party friends, as far as they can be, without positively disgracing and destroying themselves; men who are ready
to interpret the constitution and laws, so as to favor their
own party and party friends, whenever it is practicable to
do so; and men who sympathize with the party, in all its
acts and measures, creeds and policies. In all these re-.spects, party politicians of all political parties, are essentially alike. They differ in other particulars, but not in




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           77
these, except in the degree of the strength and intensity
-of their partisan feelings.
Party politicians generally comprise a majority of nominating conventions; but such is not always the case.
Some men go there who have no interest or feeling, but to
select the best men, and to promote the public good.
Hence nominating conventions generally prefer and nominate for their representatives and standard-bearers, politicians who fully sympathize with them-men of the
character indicated in the last paragraph. But such is
not always the case. Men of high character, who are not
active party politicians, are sometimes nominated, because
it is supposed they will poll a strong vote, and draw
voters to the party.
Many good men are nominated and elected to office, under the caucus and convention system of making nominations; but the tendency of the system is, to keep nature's
noblemen, and all high-toned and conscientious men, in
the background, and to elevate to place and power, pliable, trading politicians, of easy virtue. Austere and rigid
morals, very rarely commend a man to the favorable consideration of a party caucus, or nominating convention.
Good and unselfish men are generally too quiet to be very
efficient politicians; while those that are very selfish and
ambitious, are usually bold and enterprising, active and
energetic, in canvassing for themselves.
SEC. 10.-Tendencies and efects of party organizations;
creeds and platforms, and party discipline.
Party organizations tend to foster party spirit, a spirit
of exclusiveness and intolerance.  By means of party
creeds and platforms, adopted without debate or much
consideration, to fan the flames of class interests, and the
prejudices of race and party, and to catch votes, they tend




78        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY.
to create and perpetuate artificial distinctions between
parties, for mere party purposes. They furnish rules and
tests of party faith, by which to determine the fidelity of
the members, and to discipline or denounce as unfaithful,
those that presume to think for themselves, contrary to
the party creed.
Party organizations and machinery have become so
complete, party spirit so intolerant, and party discipline
so rigid and efficient, that if a party man, having any position or influence, presumes to express opinions differing from the creed or the policy of his party, the party
leaders combine against him, charge him with deserting
his friends and the principles of his party, and denounce
him as a political heretic. Very few men have popularity
and strength sufficient to withstand such attacks, and
maintain their position. The result is, that most of the
public officers of our country are the mere slaves of party
and party leaders-without much freedom of action, or
freedom of speech-being accustomed and required, to
speak and act, in accordance with the creed and policy,
and the supposed exigencies of their party; and if they
fail to do so, they are usually denounced as traitors.
The New York  World, after commenting in May,
1869, upon the treatment of President Johnson by the
Republican party, said:"Two other notable examples of the despotism  of
party-which, for obvious reasons, we mention together
-are WILLIAM H. SEWARD and THURLOW WEED. They
formed, organized, drilled, and led to victory the Republican party. Yet because, in course of time, they
ventured to question the policy which the majority
determined to adopt, though continuing to labor for
the success of the party, they were promptly ostracized and as bitterly reviled as they had been lavishly




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           79
praised. Senators DIXON, of CONNECTICUT, and DOOLrrTLE, of WISCONSIN, who enlisted in the Republican party
when its first call for recruits was sounded; who fought
with it and for it throughout the war, when it needed all
the help that it could get; who blinked or boldly defended some of its most questionable deeds;-these men,
the very moment that they dared to question the wisdom
of what was known as the Congressional policy of reconstruction, were branded as traitors to their party, and, almost against their will, were fairly driven into the Democratic ranks..
" What is the moral of all this, but that in American
politics to-day, there is no place for middle-men? He who
would achieve political success must ally himself with a
party, abide by its fortunes,and endorse its policy, whether
or not it commends itself to him. There can be no hope
for promotion in any other line of action.  There was
once in England a class of men known as'trimmers,'
who held themselves free to advocate such measures as
they might approve of, irrespective of the party in which
they might originate.  Some such remain, among whom
may be mentioned Lord STANLEY and ROBERT LOWE.
But, with the enlargement of the elective franchise,
party lines are drawn more tightly than once they were.
Mr. GLADSTONE, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, allowing
freedom of opinion among his followers, was beaten on
the Reform bill.  Subsequently made Prime Minister he
adopted a more vigorous party discipline, and carried the
Irish Church bill through the House of Commons by a
triumphant majority. To-day, he allows no stragglers in
his forces.  The day for middle-men is past; the field for
those in this country or in England, who would win power
without the sacrifice of independence, is closed.  Henceforth, the successful men in our politics are to be the par



80         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
tisans who will stick at nothing which is avowed by the
party to which they belong."
The torrent of abuse, that was poured out by party
friends upon the Republican Senators who voted against
the conviction of Andrew Johnson, upon the impeachment trial, was terribly vile and demoralizing.
Party organizations and creeds, and party spirit, tend to
magnify the importance of many questions of but little
real consequence, and to encourage the formation of immaterial issues, in order to multiply the differences between parties,-to enable them to maintain party lines
as distinctly as possible. They lead men to study the success of their party, and their own success connected with
it, rather than the interests of the country; to consider
every question from a party standpoint; and to regard principally, its bearing upon the future success of the party.
In legislative bodies, they induce party leaders to oppose,
as a matter of policy, the measures of their opponents,even if good; rather than lend their efforts to improve
and perfect them-for fear they may inure to the future
success of their opponents.
Party organizations have become so strong, and their machinery so extensive, far-reaching and powerful, that they
dictate interpretations of the constitution, the creeds and
political faith of the people, and the leading measures
and policies of the government; and in a great measure
control the action of the government. They have checked
and restrained freedom of inquiry and freedom of thought,
freedom of speech and freedom of the press; increased
the intensity and violence of party spirit; engendered
political intolerance and tyranny; and nearly destroyed
all freedom and independence of official action.
Party conventions often nominate and endorse men of
bad or doubtful character, and put them upon a level with




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            81
those of high moral character and standing.  By means
of the party endorsement the system tends to put all candidates for office upon the same level; the inexperienced
upon a level with the experienced; the unqualified upon
a level with those of high qualifications; and the tricky,
selfish politician upon a level with the honest man.  All
are put upon the same ticket, and commended as worthy
of support.  By such means, an artificial character is
given to bad and worthless men-whereby they are often
elected to important offices; when they could comniand
very few votes, if they stood upon their own character
alone,-not endorsed by a political party.
By giving effect to combinations and political management, they facilitate intrigue; tend to multiply aspirants
for official stations of all grades-to produce a despicable
scramble for office-and to aid in elevating to place and
power, men distinguished for craft and devotion to party,
who are adroit politicians, and talking men, and often
men of bad or doubtful character -in preference to thinking and sound-minded men, of good character.  The system tends to the proscription of honest, firm men-as unfit
for party instruments, and unavailable for party purposes.
The machinery and influence of party organizations,
tend to form and mould the opinions of the people, in accordance with party creeds; to form narrow-minded politicians; and to prevent the development of enlarged views,
and a high order of statesmanship-which can spring only
fiom freedom of action, freedom of thought, and very
mature deliberation.  They are inconsistent with the
formation of great statesmen, and noble-minded, self-sacrificing patriots.  The great civil war through which our
country has passed, developed and formed some great commanders; but very few statesmen have been produced in
our country, during the last forty years. Under our ad4*




82         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
vanced system of party organizations, and party discipline
and intolerance, statesmanship is dying out.
By electing to office, through the agency of party organizations, and subjecting to the domination of such
organizations, and to the temptations to bribery and corruption, great numbers of politicians of pliable consciences
and easy virtue, and many of bad or doubtful character,
the legislation of the country, all the departments of the
national, State, and city governments, and nearly all
\branches of the public service, have been more or less
corrupted.  Even the judiciary have not always escaped
the taint of party influences, and partisan prejudices and
partialities; nor even the suspicion of bribery, in some instances.  The whole tendency of such a system is, to corrupt politicians and office-holders, and to demoralize the
people. If the evil be not arrested, it will undermine and
destroy the stability of our government.
SEC. 11.-Practical Sovereignty-how exercised.
The practical sovereignty of this country is vested in
the dominant party, and is exercised by the leaders, to a
very great extent, in committees, party conventions, and
caucuses.  A few party leaders, at State and national
conventions, draw up and submit a series of resolutionswhich are adopted by the conventions; generally without
any debate or discussion, and without sufficient time for
careful examination.  The resolutions so prepared and
adopted, are received and published as the platform, embracing the outlines of the creed of the party; and any
man who presumes to question their soundness, is regarded
and treated as unfaithful to the party. Woe be to the
candidate for office, or the aspirant to party favor, who
does not subscribe to every jot and tittle, of the last platform of his party. It expresses, to some extent, the in



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           83
terpretation given by the party to the constitution; declares the powers of the government in relation to some
leading measure, and the policy which Congress and the
Administration should pursue; and constitutes, for the
time, the supreme law (f the party-more potent than the
constitution itself, or the practical construction given to
the constitution-and more obligatory than a decision of
the Supreme Court.
Partisan creeds and platforms, adopted hastily, and
with but little consideration, merely to unite the party
and get votes, exercise a very pernicious, and often dangerous influence over the action of Congress and State
legislatures, and over the action of the President alsoon the one.hand restraining their action, and on the
other impelling them on, to devise and carry into effect
extreme party measures-sometimes of a revolutionary
and dangerous character.
The New York Wleekly Times of May 9th, 1868, very
truly said:' The practical working of our Government
is simply a Government of parties. It is the will of the
dominant party-not the will of the people-which controls and directs public affairs. Those of the people who
do not belong to the dominant party, have no more voice in
the Government, than if they lived in France or Algiers.
They are aliens-not in view of the law, but in view of
the actual government of the country. A necessary result of this is, that the offcers of the Government must be
agents of the dominantparty; and if they cease to be
such agents, if they attempt to act for themselves instead
of for their employers, they must be got rid of."
On referring to the appointment of Robert Lowe, as
Chancellor of the Exchequer of England, in December,
1868, notwithstanding he had opposed the policy of the
Liberals on the reform bill, the New York Times said:




84         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY.
"Yet Mr. Gladstone appreciates so highly his talents and
the influence which they give him,-and would so much
rather have him for a friend than a foe,-that he tenders
him the very best position in the Cabinet, under his incoming administration....
"Mlr. GLADSTONE is evidently under the impression that
the strength of a party does not consist wholly in the number of its votes-that talent, debatingpower, sagacity, and
high personal character, still count for something, even to a
party,which is largely in the ascendant. We have got
over all such obsolete ideas in this country.  When a party
has a large majority of votes-it can do anything it likes.
It needs nobody's support-and scorns to look outside its
own party lines for help. All it has to do is, to feed its
own followers well, and see to it that not even the smallest' nubbin,' of patronage falls to anybody who is outside
the party fold.
"In this country party is the ruling power.  The Government is nothing but the party. Whatever aids the
party, aids the Government.  The only proper and legitimate mode of aiding the Government, therefore, is to aid
the party.  Whatever does that is all right; whatever
don't do that is all wrong.  This fundamental principle of
popular government evidently has not yet penetrated the
British mind.  Parties in England especially, think it.worth while to conciliate the confidence and support of
their opponents, as well as of their stanch supporters.
The general sentiment of the whole country, seems to
them  worth something; and they try to get it on their
side.
"This will probably be regarded as proof of the slight
progress England has actually made in the science of party
government, in spite of the Reform bill, as compared with
the United States. That the party which is successful in




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           85
the election, and which thus has absolute control of all
the patronage and power of the Government, should
actually give a high position to a man who refused to go
with it, on a cardinal measure of party policy, shows how
little that party knows of the cardinal maxims of party
rule, or the real secrets of party strength!
" If such things are to be done with impunity, what becomes of the well-known principle,-adopted now by all
parties in this country,-that'to the victors belong the
spoils?' How can a party be expected to maintain itself,
if it is to be thus cut off from the full breasts of Government patronage?  What encouragement have politicians
to work for a party victory, if they see so large a slice of
its rewards coolly handed over to a renegade,-to one who
deserts the party because he cannot endorse its acts? What
right has any party man to a judgment or a conscience of
his own?  What business has he to'set up for himself,'
-to act upon his own convictions of duty, instead of following in the train of his party,-content to obey its behests, and to ask no questions? "
Should a legislator or other public officer regard his
official oath; or should he submit to the dictations of
party caucuses, and party leaders 
The modern mode of legislation, in the State legislatures, as well as in Congress, is, for the members of the
dominant party to meet frequently in caucus-to discuss
matters of party policy, to prepare and agree upon bills,
resolutions, and reports to be acted upon and passed-so
that the members of the party may be united, and when
the measures are brought up for action in their respective
houses, they may be put through by the party leaders, under the party lash, without much discussion-whereby the
members of the other party, and the people they represent,
are deprived of any substantial participation in legislation.




86         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACIINERY
Such are the methods by which the independent action
of legislators and other public officers, is shackled, and by
which the substantial practical sovereignty of the country
is controlled and exercised-the people having very little
voice in it. Are such practices and methods wise and
safe, for any country. If not, is there any remedy, and if
so, what is it?
The Congressional coup d'etat of 1867, in springing
upon the country, in obedience to a party caucus, the first
of a series of acts, known as the reconstruction acts, was
the most audacious legislative act ever attempted in this
country.  It not only took the people by surprise, but the
audacity of the act produced such a shock of the public
mind, as to nearly silence opposition for a time. In its
boldness and revolutionary character, it would compare
with the acts of the British Htouse of Commons which
brought Charles I. to the block, for the purpose of revolutionizing the government of England. It was a revolutionary act, intended to change the basis of power, and
the very foundations of our government-by conferring
political power on three-fourths of a million of colored men
and disfranchising half a million of white men-to put
the balance of power in ten States, and the absolute control of several of them, permanently into the hands of the
negro race.
It should be remembered, however, that the Southern
people, under the reconstruction policy of President Jolnson, had very generally elected their old secession leaders to their State conventions and legislatures, and to
nearly all the most important offices in the rebel States;
and while they ratified the 13th amendment to the federal constitution, they ignored and denied some of the
most important civil rights of the negro; they employed
their wits in forging new chains for him, and refused to




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           87
ratify the reasonable and important provisions contained
in the 14th amendment-to secure the civil rights of the
negro, and give peace to the country. They showed, in
various ways, a rebellious spirit-hostile to the Union and
to the new order of things-growing out of the war, and
the emancipation policy of the government.
The attitude assumed by the legislatures, leading men,
and people of the South, threatened the country with anarchy, and endangered its future peace, as well as the civil
rights of the negro race; which alarmed even the most
conservative portion of the Republican members of Congress, satisfied them  that it would be better for the
country to throw the political control of the ten States,
then lately in rebellion, into the hands of the negroes,
than to allow it to relapse into the hands of the secession
leaders, who had once plunged the country into the most
terrible war of modern times. The attitude and conduct
of the Southern people united the Republican party in
Congress, in support of the violent acts known as the reconstruction acts, and formed a strong apology for their
adoption; which was approved and sanctioned by a majority of the people of the United States. The advocates
of negro equality embraced the measure con amore,
while the more rational and conservative republicans regarded it as only a choice of evils, which party spirit,
party organization, and the bad conduct of the Southern
people, had forced upon them.
Peculiar and critical circumstances sometimes furnish
an apology, if not a full justification, for violent measures.
The only legal justification for the reconstruction acts (if
there be any), must be based upon the theory that those
States, by their own voluntary and revolutionary acts,
were de facto out of the Union, and while so out, waged
war upon the United States and were conquered; and




U08     WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
being so conquered, it was just and legal to treat them
as conquered provinces or subject territories, and to
govern them under the provisions of the constitution in
relation to Territories.
There is no such apology for the impeachment and
trial of President Johnson, in obedience to the decree of a
party caucus, for pretended high crimes and misdemeanors. If they had impeached him for a terrible abuse and
prostitution of the pardoning power, in pardoning great
numbers of murderers, mail robbers, counterfeiters of
bonds and securities of the United States, and persons
who had been convicted of defrauding the revenue, and of
other high crimes and misdemeanors, there would have
been good grounds for convicting him and removing him
from office. But party passion and ambition blinded the
leaders-so that they overlooked the real grounds for impeachment, and the proper means of attaining their ends,
and could see nothing clearly but the exigencies of the
party.
A special despatch from Washington, published in the
Chicago Tribune, in May, 1869, says:
"The State Department has just prepared a list of
counterfeiters convicted and pardoned during Mr. Johnson's term. The total number of cases was 142. Pardons began with the remission of two sentences on the
day of Mr. Lincoln's burial, and the last was on the last
day of his term. A list of pardons of those convicted of
violating the internal revenue laws shows 91 cases."
SEC. 12.-The exercise of the appointing power, and party
services to be rewarded.
It is right and proper, that executive officers, invested
with the appointing power, should appoint to office their
political and personal friends, who are qualified, in pre.




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            89
ference to their enemies or opponents. They need friends
-men in whom they have confidence, who approve their
measures and policy, and will aid in carrying them into
effect.  As a general rule, they should not appoint opponents, who disapprove their policy, and may secretly exert an influence to thwart it.  It is therefore expedient,
right and proper, that they should prefer their personal
and political friends, and appoint them only to office, in
preference to their opponents. A public man who does
not know who are his friends, or does not discriminate
between them and his opponents, will soon be destitute
of friends.
But it does not follow, that they should appoint friends,
regardless of their qualifications and fitness; or that they
should refuse to appoint any, who have not professed to
belong to the same party. In this age of general education, there are so many educated and good men, so many
who have had a business education and experience, so
many professional men, and so many men who have had
more or less official experience, that there is no justification nor apology for the appointment of unqualified and
nnfit men, or men of bad or doubtful character.
There are also exceptions to the general rule, that an
administration should make its appointments from  its
own political friends. Military and naval officers, and
civil as well as military engineers, should be appointed
for their professional learning, experience, and abilitywithout much reference to their political or party associations; and men of high character and standing, and eminent fitness for particular stations, who are not active
partisan politicians, should be acceptable to either party.
The public good would often be promoted by the appointment of such men, without regard to their slight party
affinities. They always make good officers, and faithfully




90         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
carry out the measures and policies of an administration,
and give them a fair trial. It is upon the same ground
that the most of the experienced and faithful bureau officers and clerks at Washington, are generally retained in
office, when a different party comes into power.
There has been a great cry against party appointments,
and removals from office, to make room for such appointments; and there is much reason for the cry against the
party abuse. But the evil does not consist in such appointments, when proper and good men are appointed, to
fill vacancies.  It consists in the cppointment of unqualified and unfit or bad men-because they have been active
partisans, and to reward them for party services.
The American people do not believe in a life tenure
of office of any kind; and hence the most of our fedelal
officers are appointed for only four years, and at the end
of their term, there is no wrong nor evil arising, in most
instances, from filling their places with other good men,
equally well qualified, except as to experience-which
they will acquire in a few months.
To have two armies of politicians, nearly all of them
aspirants to office, or for public patronage, contracts, or
jobs, operating upon the public mind in various ways,
for weeks and months before a contested election, with
the hope and expectation of being rewarded for their services, if their party succeed, must necessarily have a very
corrupting influence; and induce much falsehood and deception, intrigue and firaud-to carry elections.  Hence it
has a corrupting influence to appoint men to office, as a
reward for party services.  Men should be appointed for
their political principles, party affinities and fitness; cand
not as a rewardfor their partisan services.  They should
be appointed for what they are, and what they are capable
of doing for the public; and not for what they have done




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            91
for a political party.  But with the present electoral
system and party organizations, the evil cannot be avoided.
It is inherent in the system. We should change our electoral system, and get rid of party committees and party
caucuses, party nominating conventions, and all the present party machinery; and let the people select their candidates for office, and elect their own rulers, without the
dictation of party committees, caucuses, or conventions;
and then we should not have many partisan services to
reward. An administration would then come into power,
with but few persons claiming appointments, as rewards
for party services; and at liberty to bestow the patronage of the government, upon the best and most fit men of
their party.
In this age of general education and pretty general
extravagance, in which prodigality has become so very
common as to demoralize great numbers of our people,
and tempt them to acts of dishonesty, there are perhaps
ten men fitted for office, where there is one such of rigid
honesty and true moral courage; both of which are necessary to render men safe depositaries of power in important
situations. There is no great difficulty in procuring educated men, of experience in business, who, with practice,
can soon make reasonably good officers-if men of easy
virtue be acceptable, and no regard be paid to honesty
and moral character. The difficulty is, in uniting honesty,
energy, and firmness of character, with other qualifications and experience. Our system of elections and party
organizations has an unfavorable  influence upon the
character and honesty of politicians, which increases the
difficulties of filling the executive and administrative offices of the country, with good, honest, and well-qualified
men.
But with all the evils attending our present system, and




92         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
the cry against the abuse of the appointing power, it is
safe to say, that the appointing power is exercised with
more care and discretion, and with more regard to the
character, honesty, and qualifications of the appointees,
and the public good, than is used in making nominations
for elective offices; and that, as a general rule, the class
of men appointed to offices are quite as good, and perhaps
better-and quite as honest, as those elected. When appointees show themselves unqualified or inefficient, neglect
their duty, or are even suspected of dishonesty, there is
generally an outcry against them from some quarter, and
they are very soon removed; but an election by the people
is regarded as an approval of ignorance and inefficiency,
neglect of duty and abuse of power, and any dishonesty
short of bribery, stealing, or embezzlement of the public
funds.
Some attach great importance to a system of competitive examinations of candidates for appointments, by
commissioners appointed for that purpose; and by giving
the Senate a check upon removals from office. But it
does not appear to me that much good can arise from such
machinery and checks to executive power; and certainly
some evil would spring fiom it. The main difficulty is,
to obtain men who unite honesty and fidelity, and firmness of character, with sufficient acquirements and business qualifications. If such commissioners could examine
candidates phrenologically as well as intellectually, and
ascertain their grade of honesty with as much accuracy
as they can their intellectual capacity and acquirements,
such a system would be invaluable. But you cannot determine by any such means, whether a man be trustworthy or not. All you can judge from is his previous
acts and character, habits and associations. You never
need look for scrupulously honest men, among gamblers,




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           93
gambling speculators, idle and prodigal, or extravagant
and fast men.
Some mistakes will be made in making appointments
under any system; and if there be any reasonable ground
to suspect the honesty or fidelity of a public officer, he
should be removed at once.  Any check to executive
power in making removals, will aid in keeping bad men
in office, and tend to encourage dishonesty. The power
of removal has a salutary check upon appointees, which
does not exist in relation to elective officers.
SEC. 13.-Differences of race and language, religion and
manners, are all sources of clannishness and discord.
Sameness of race and language, origin and national
history, manners and customs, moral sentiments and religion, are all bonds of sympathy and union, between individuals and communities; and generate preferences for
them over those of a different race and language, or who
profess a different religion. Where persons of the same
race and origin, language and religion, associate mostly
together, but in their pursuits and business are thrown
into contact with persons of a different race and religion,
their associations with each other beget mutual sympathies, and induce a clinging together, which is properly
denominated clannishness.  On the contrary, their business and industrial intercourse with persons of a different
race and language, or different religion, is generally of a
formal character, and excites no feelings of sympathy.
It is mostly an intercourse of men with men; and not a
social intercourse between families-in which both sexes
participate, for social enjoyment. It is not an intercourse
which often leads to marriage between persons of different race, language, or religion. Where such differences
exist, there is, very generally, too little sympathy be



91         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
tween the sexes, to induce marriage, or to render it either
agreeable or desirable; and hence, with the wonderfully
mixed population of the United States, perhaps ninety-nine
hundredths of all the marriages, are between persons of the
same race, language, and religion. There is so little difference between Protestants, that persons of different Protestant sects, of the same race, do sometimes intermarry;
but even such marriages have their discords and disadvantages.
The word clannishness is used as a common and expressive term, to express the preferences of people of the
same race and language, religion and customs, for each
other; which leads them to cling together. I do not use
it in a sense which ought to be offensive. It applies to
Protestants as well as to Catholics; and to Yankees from
New England under certain circumstances, as well as to
Irish and Germans, Scotch and English, and other elnigrants from-Europe.
This spirit of clannishness has affected the settlement
of both country and city. The sons of New England
and of Ireland, the Catholic Germans and Protestant
Germans, and the emigrants from  each other nation,
have as a general rule, settled by themselves-each occupying nearly whole townships in the Western States, and
whole  neighborhoods  in  cities —having  their  own
churches, their own societies and associations, their own
peculiar amusements, and  in some cases, their own
schools. Those that belong to different races, or profess
different religions, have but little intercourse with each
other, except of an industrial or business character.
It was so in the colonial settlement of the Middle
States. The first settlers of New York and New Jersey
were Hollanders, and the first settlers of Maryland and
Virginia were from England; but there were large and




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          95
distinct settlements of Germans, comprising nearly whole
townships and counties, on the Hudson and Mohawk
rivers, in the State of New York, and in Central Virginia
as well as in Pennsylvania. The English language and
common schools, a common government and the Press,
railroads and commercial and industrial intercourse, have
melted the descendants of the revolutionary population of
the States of New York and New Jersey, into one homogeneous mass; so that, at this day, you can scarcely tell the
descendants of a Dutch Burgher, or of a German, fiom
those of the Pilgrim fathers. The spirit of clannishness
which existed among them  during the revolution, and
for two generations afterwards, has disappeared, and no
longer exists among their descendants. The spirit has
been perpetuated only by immigration fiom  the old
world. Even religious antipathies have been softened
down, and have nearly disappeared, between different
Protestant sects; but can never be entirely extinguished
between Catholics and Protestants.
The causes in operation are gradually Americanizing
the descendants of European emigrants, who have come
to our country during the present centur —amalgamating them to a large extent in opinion and feeling, with
the American people, and forming a national character
for the whole white population; but the sons and daughters of Africa, can never be amalgamated with the white
races, and must ever remain a distinct people.
There is no clannishness, (as a general rule) but a cosmopolitan spirit, among scholars and well-educated men
-the world over. The more illiterate a people are, the
fewer bonds of union they have with races. and peoples
other than their own, and the stronger their proclivities
to clannishness.
The Germans who come to America are mostly an ed



96        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
ucated people-embracing mechanics of nearly all kinds,
farmers and gardeners, merchants and teachers, as well as
laborers; and have sufficient diversity of employments, to
form communities among themselves, and to live independently, in a great measure, of their neighbors.
The Catholic Irish who come to America, are a very
different people from  the  Germans.  Having  been
oppressed as a people for centuries, the most of them are
destitute of any school education whatever, and are poor
and dependent laborers, who have made themselves useful
in digging our canals, grading our railroads, and doing the
most of the common and coarse labor in our cities and
villages. But few of them are mechanics, manufacturers,
miners, farmers, or gardeners. Though farm laborers,
and accustomed to the spade and to farm labor as it is
done in Ireland, they are not accustomed to the modes
and varieties of American farming; and are not well
fitted to make good farmers or gardeners, or to form distinct communities among themselves, as the Germans do.
Hence they have mostly collected in the cities and
villages, as common laborers, carmen, porters, and keepers of saloons and small shops and stores-very few of
them rising to the learned professions, or to the higher
grades of business of any kind. By attaching themselves
almost universally to one political party, and acting together, they have had a very great influence in that party,
in many villages and wards of cities. Having as a race
or class of men the least education and intelligence, and being the most prone to intemperance and clannishness of any
white race, they have had a disturbing influence upon the
politics of our country. In many of the cities, and particularly in the city of New York, they have been charged
with having a demoralizing and corrupting influence
-by opposing men of high character and standing, and




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            97
supporting and electing to office many men of low character and standing, and often very unscrupulous men, and
men of bad or doubtful character. They have often held
the balance of power in a State, and generally given it to
one political party.  The alleged pernicious influence
which they have exercised upon elections, has formed one
of the strongest apologies given by leading radical republicans, for forcing negro suffrage upon the country, that
the negro vote may balance the Irish vote as well as the
rebel vote.
The alleged abuses and inefficiency of the police in New
York and some other cities, have been so great, as to form
an apology for taking the whole power of appointing
police officers and regulating the police, from the local
government, and vesting it in commissioners, appointed
by the Governor and Senate. It may well be doubted,
if police officers and constables elected by universal
suffrage, will ever be very efficient.
There has been some clannishness among the Germans;
but much less than among the Irish. The former have
generally taken a much less active part than the latter,
in the politics of the country.
During the last thirty years, we have had party organizations, party committees and caucuses, party conventions and mass meetings in all the States; Irish clubs and
clans in most of the cities; German societies and clans in
many cities and districts of country; and now we have
negro clubs and clans, with negro clannishness at the
South,-as a still further disturbing political element.
What the result will be, nothing but time and experience
can determine.
5




98         WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
SEC. 14.- Uses of negro suffrage, and of the exercise of
political power by the negro, as an experiment.
Man's understanding and reasoning powers are so imperfect in their operations, that his theories and political
knowledge are never certain and reliable, until they have
been confirmed by practice and experience, and verified by
history.
Looking at the extension of political power to the illiterate freedmen of the South, by the light of history, it
must be regarded as a doubtful and dangerous experiment; but it will have its uses, whether it succeed or fail.
It may be useful to other nations, if it injure this. The
experiment must be a failure, unless the sons of Africa in
the United States have been so improved by climate and
circumstances, as to be greatly superior to those in the
West India islands.
The disastrous failure of the governments of Hayti and
St. Domingo,-the anarchy and insurrections, civil wars
and revolutions, devastations and massacres in that unfortunate island, and the experience of Jamaica and other
British West India islands, do not seem to furnish evidence
sufficient to satisfy many of our people, of the unfitness of
the negroes as a race, for the proper exercise of political
power. The majority of the dominant party can never be
convinced of the weakness of the masses of the negro
race, and their incapacity for the safe and proper exercise
of political power, until the experiment has been fairly tried
under the most favorable circumstances, and proved a failure. Nor can the pro-slavery portion of the democratic
party ever be convinced that the negro has any capacity
for self-government, until the fact has been established by
experiment. Nothing but experience and practice, under
the most favorable circumstances, and during a period of




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          99
several years, can test fairly, and determine, to the satisfaction of all reasonable men, the strength and weaknesses, —
the capacities and incapacities, of the negro race; and:
their fitness or unfitness for entire self-government, and
the exercise of political power.
Such is the confused state of public opinion upon the
subject, that it seems necessary to try the experiment. If
the experiment prove entirely successful, all will be well;
opposition to the measure will gradually disappear; and
a great and new  principle in our system  of government, universal manhood suffrage, will be established. If
the proposed Fifteenth Amendment to the constitution be
adopted, and the experiment fail, there will be a terrible
reaction upon the subject, which will sweep the radical negro-equality party out of existence, and a violent agitation
will be commenced, to repeal the obnoxious amendment,
and amend the negro constitutions of the South; and the
agitation will be continued, until the objects are attained,
or we are again involved in civil war.
There is a large number of educated colored men at the
South, from one-half to seven-eighths white, who have inherited a large share of talent from one, two, three or
more white ancestors. Some of that class would make
good officers; and if the negroes would generally select
their leaders from the best and most intelligent of that class,
and from white men of the highest standing, and elect
them to office; instead of following the legd, and electing
cunning and ambitious but illiterate men of the full
African type, there would be much less objection to negro suffrage. But the very inception of the system has
excited political aspirations in the minds of many of the
most illiterate of the race; and the colored voters have
generally shown no capacity to discriminate between the
educated and the uneducated-between the sound-minded




100        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
and good on the one hand, and the visionary and reckless
on the other. A spirit of clannishness has often excited
the suspicion in their minds, that none but full-blooded
negroes, as illiterate and poor as themselves, fully sympathize with them.
Negro suffrage has been forced upon the white inhabitants of the eleven seceding States, and established by
their new constitutions, —formed under the reconstruction
acts of Congress. Let the experiment be fairly tried; and
if it should prove a success, it will be time enough then,
to force it upon the States that have refused to incorporate it into their State constitutions. The public good
does not require that it should be forced upon them now,
and firmly established, by the adoption of the proposed
Fifteenth Amendment to the federal constitution.
SEC. 15.-Party committees and political societies and
clubs, and their influences.
Party committees not only call party caucuses and conventions, and make arrangements for holding them and
carrying on political campaigns; but they discuss, and
often agree upon nominations in advance, present them
to the conventions, and secure their adoption; and in a
great measure direct and dictate the proceedings of such
conventions-so that the most of the delegates of the
party have but little influence in them. Such committees sometimes exert considerable influence upon legislation for partisan purposes. They exercise great influence
with the appointing power, in making removals as well as
appointments to office; and especially in the appointment
of the assistants and subordinates of collectors of customs,
marshals, postmasters of cities, and other officers. They
also exercise an influence upon the letting of government
and municipal contracts and jobs. In all such matters,




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         101
they assume to dictate what the interest and success of the
party requires; and their recommendations are often received as if they had the right to dictate.
If such committees were always composed of clearheaded, high-minded, and disinterested men, who had no
personal nor improper ends, to attain by their action, their
influence would be good; but zealous partisans and aspirants for office, do not wish, and will not have such men
appointed-they want strict party men, politicians who
belong to their clique or coterie, and will favor them and
their friends; and hence such committees very generally
use their influence to secure nominations and appointments, contracts and jobs, only for the members of their
own clique or ring, and their immediate friends and dependents, without regard to the public good. Party committees and caucuses have been hotbeds of ambition and
faction, as well as of intrigue and corruption.
Public officers act under the sanction of an official oath,
and are responsible for their acts; which must soon be
known to the public, and be subjected to the criticisms of
the newspaper press, and to public opinion. On the contrary, party committees do the most of their acts, make
recommendations, write letters, and exert their influence,
in secret, and unknown to the public. They act in secret,
without the sanction of an oath, and cannot be made responsible for their acts; and hence the people have no
such check upon them, as they have upon public officers.
Their influence is great, and sometimes good; but often
very pernicious.
In the large commercial cities of New York and Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans, there is a large corps
of federal officers, and an army of local officers also; and
if one party has the control of the State and local government, and the other of the national government and




102        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACIIINERY
its patronage, the committees of each party exercise
great power and influence. Jealousies and divisions are
apt to arise from the exercise of power by such committees, in the division of the spoils,-where the patronage
is large. The Republican party in the city of New York
has been divided for some years-each division having
its committee known as the Radical Committee and the
Conservative Committee. The Democratic party has also
been divided, and had its Tammany Hall Committee, and
its Mozart Hall Committee, and sometimes a third clique
or faction, with its committee.
The character and influence of such committees may
be judged of by what the Press, and particularly the
Press of their own political party, say of them.  The
New York Times (semi-weekly), of July 27, 1869, —referring to remarks of several other Republican papers of
the State, in relation to the Republican committees in the
city of New York, says:
" They have expressed the all but universal feeling in
regard to the condition of the party here,-the mismanagement which has weakened and disgraced it, and the intolerable pretensions of the men who in its name assume
the right to regulate conventions and nominations according to their pleasure..... While divisions lasted, the
consequences of mismanagement were ascribed to the conflict between'Radical' and'Conservative,' rather than
to the true cause. But with the pretext for division, forbearance toward its promoters has ceased.  The infamy
as well as the impolicy of the squabblefor ofice, which has
been carried on by rival committees, has attracted attention to the character and aims of the individuals composing them....
"But one course can be advantageously followed. These
city committees must be swept out of existence, and a new




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           103
organization effected, that will command the respect and
confidence of city Republicans, and enable them to develop
the full measure of party strength.  It is idle to talk of
compromise in the premises.  The present committees,'Radical' and'Conservative,' are simply nuisances, kept
up for the purpose of enabling certain men to acquire
plunder.  They are corrupt from beginning to end."
The same paper, of July 30th, says:"'What we want, as a party, above everything else,
both in the city and country,' remarks the Newburg
Journal,'is a little more honesty among leaders, and
toleration everywhere.'  The truth could not be more
tersely stated. The party in this city has been run in the
interest of combinations of individuals, who, by sheer impudence and pertinacity, have secured from successive
conventions an indorsement of their pretensions. Of bond
fide title to leadership they have not a particle. Neither
by ability nor character, neither by service nor by the
possession of popular respect, are they justified in claiming the prominent positions they have held.  By persistent bullying and intriguing, however, they have contrived, year after year, to be -intrusted with the party
management, and this power they have used for corrupt
personal purposes. The welfare of the party has not
entered into their calculations.  The effect of their action
upon the reputable members of the party and upon the
popular vote, they have not cared to consider.  It has
been enough that, invested with the symbols of party authority, they have carried on a system of bargain and
sale; so that while the city Republican vote has steadily
declined, their opportunities for carrying on the trafic in
offices and plunder, have continued undiminished.
"Now, the ability of these schemers and jobbers to manipulate conventions and promote their own ends has been




104        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
in good part derived from the prevalence of an intolerant
spirit..... We have seen in this city the most trustworthy Republicans branded as enemies, and their excommunication demanded, simply because they refused compliance with the sinister requirements of ward politicians,
who care nothing for the party except as an agency for
distributing offices."
Such are the remarks of one of the most candid and
reliable papers in the United States; and there is no reason to doubt the correctness of its views. Selfishness and
party spirit generally rule supreme, in such committees.
The numerous forged naturalization papers procured
and used at elections, and the common practice of certain
classes of reckless men, repeating their votes, and voting
in several wards of the same city-by the procurement of
Democratic committees, shows that they have been still
more corrupt than the Republican committees. More
corrupt, because they have had more material, and more
pliable material, to operate upon —to carry elections; and
more facilities to perpetrate fraud-having a unanimous
election board on their side, in nearly all the wards of the
city.
The Columbian Order, or Tammany Society, was formed
about the year 1790, and was designed as a patriotic political league or society, to sustain the State institutions,
and resist the supposed tendency to concentration of power
in the federal government, and preserve the balance of
power between the federal and State governments. Mr.
Hammond, in his history of political parties in the State
of New York, says: At first " there was no party politics
mixed up in its proceedings. But when President Washington, in the latter part of his administration, rebuked
self-created societies, from an apprehension that their ultimate tendency would be hostile to the public tranquil



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         105
lity, the members of Tammany supposed their institution
to. be included in the reproof; and they almost all forsook
it. The founder William Mooney and a few others, continued steadfast."
Perhaps the great political power and influence exerted
by the affiliated societies and clubs of Paris, suggested the
idea of using the Tammany Society for party purposes;
and Colonel Burr and his friends used it with effect, to
cperate upon the Democratic party, and upon elections in
the city of New York. When it was incorporated I am
unable to say; but it has long been an incorporated institution, with the usual powers of a corporation, including
power to hold property, and have a hall to meet in. Its
corporate powers gave it a more complete organization;
and its hall and other property served as a nucleus to hold
the society together, and make it permanent. I am not
aware that any other society for political purposes, has
ever been incorporated in the United States. The tendency of such societies is to increase the power of their
officers and leaders, and to promote the aggrandizement
of the members, without regard to the public good; and it
is scarcely possible to promote the public good, by giving
them the powers and privileges of a corporation.
The Tammany Society has exercised great power and
influence in the Democratic party, and over nominations,
elections, and appointments to office in the city of New
York, for nearly three-fourths of a century;-which has
often given the party the balance of power in the State,
and the control of the State government, and sometimes
given it the balance of power in the United States. But
the loyal leagues, established of late years by the Republicans, have been so numerous and well organized in-the
most of the States, have acted in such perfect harmony
and concert, and their influence has been so extensive5*




106        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
pervading almost every district in the United States, that
they have been an overmatch in the Union, for Tammany Hall, whose powers are local. The Tammany Society and its officers and committees have also exercised
great influence over the legislation of the city, and of the
State, so far as it relates to the city, as well as over public
contracts, jobs, and the local administration.
The influences of party committees and political societies,
are generally selfish, and very rarely disinterested, pure,
and patriotic. They are designed to promote the success
of a party, or the interest and aggrandizement of a mem
ber or members of the party or society; and the general
good of the country is seldom considered. They answer
for war, and for revolutionary and military purposes, better than for peace.
It is very desirable, that our system of elections should
be so amended and reconstructed, that party committees
and nominating conventions, party machinery and political leagues and societies, may all be rendered unnecessary,
and dispensed with-as not consistent with a free and
unbiassed exercise of the elective franchise; nor with the
right of the people to choose their own rulers; nor with
a fair and upright administration of the government. The
people have more reason to repose confidence in responsible public officers, either elected or duly appointed, and
acting publicly, under the sanction of an oath, than in
irresponsible party committees and political societies,
whose operations are carried on in secret, for party purposes.
SEC. 16.-The Newspaper Press-its party dependence
-intolerance-slander and abuse of public men.
Nearly all the newspapers in the United States are dependent, for the principal part of their support, upon either




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           107
a political party,, a religious sect, or some particular order or class of men. Such is the violence of party spirit,
the discipline of party organizations, and the clannishness
of sectarian feeling, that it is very difficult,-much more dif
ficult in this country than in England, to support a newspaper without such aid;-and to obtain it, it is necessary
to sacrifice the independence ot the paper and its character for fairness and impartiality, and to make it the servant and instrument, as well as the organ, of a party or
sect; and most editors and publishers feel their dependence, and the necessity of conciliation and subservience
so strongly, that they make their papers very servile instruments of the party or sect upon which they depend for
support.
At the seat of government of each State as well as at
the city of Washington, the Legislative and Executive
patronage is large, and goes far towards supporting the
organ of the dominant party; and in each county, the patronage of the sheriff and other county officers, is very considerable, and contributes largely to the support of the
organ of the dominant party in the county. The advertising and other patronage of members of the bar, and of
merchants and business men, aids greatly to support the
local newspapers; and as a general rule, professional and
business men give their patronage whatever it may be, to
the organ of the party which they severally prefer. Party
fealty is not only expected, but exacted; and if the least
independence is exhibited in criticising or questioning the
propriety of any of the measures or policies of the party,
or any article of the party creed, the patronage of the
party, to a greater or less extent, is withdrawn, subscribers
fall off, and sometimes a new organ is established to supplant it.
Such is the state of things which makes nearly all our




108        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
newspapers, mere party organs, one-sided mouth-piecesblind and dumb to the merits of the measures and policies
of thle opposite party-subservient to, and frequently lauding the leaders of their own party, and often shamefully
abusive towards the leaders of their opponents.  The papers are placed in the same situation as politicians are,
who are seeking promotion.  Th]ey are not allowed to be
fair and impartial, in the presentation and discussion of
public questions, partisan measures, policies and platforms; but are expected and required to paint in brilliant
colors, and to magnify the importance of the acts, measures, and policies of their party, and the necessity of its
success, to the prosperity and welfare of the country,and to paint in sombre colors, the acts and policies of
their opponents, and the evils which would follow their
success.
There is less party dependence, and more independence
in many of the papers in large commercial cities, which
have a lucrative commercial patronage, than there is
usually in country papers.  Commercial and business men
are more in the habit than farmers and mechanics are, of
reading papers of both parties, and of patronizing, as advertising mediums, those that are the most enterprising,
and have the largest circulation.  By such means commercial and business men become more liberalized in their
views, opinions and feelings, and better prepared to appreciate a paper that fairly presents and discusses public
questions, and the creeds, measures, and policies of both
parties, and criticises and condemns some of those of its
own party, and expresses an approval of some of those of
its opponents.  The New York Times and Tribune, 11erald and Journal of Commerce, World and Post, and many
others, as well as the London  Times, are all more independent in their character, and fairer in presenting and




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           109
discussing both sides of public questions and policies, than
party papers, in small cities and villages, are allowed to be.
The World says:"What opening is there for men who, while working
with a party, can hold themselves free to criticise its
action?  There can be but one answer, and that is the
Press. Journalism alone offers an opportunity for the exercise of an honest independence, linked with an intelligent support of party. It is a curious fact that, while
mere politicians have lost caste with their party associates by declining to accord with them in some points, the
influence of journals has increased in proportion as they
have shown themselves independent of the mere dictates
of party. Mr. Greeley was soundly berated by his party
confrires for becoming a bondsman for Jefferson Davis,
while the same men at the same time secretly admired as
well as diligently read the Tribune. As a politician, Mr.
Greeley has been unsuccessful; but the Tribune, in
which all the peculiar vagaries of its editor have found
expression, is conceded to be the most influential organ in
the country, of the Republican party.  On the other hand,
the journals which heed the beck of party with unquestioning docility, exert but little influence. The independence which ruins the politician, makes the journal-provided, of course, that the latter display ability, as well as
independence."
The reasoning of the Yorld applies only to papers in
large cities, which have a lucrative commercial patronage,
as well as a large circulation; but as the country grows
older and the cities increase in size, it will apply to a
constantly increasing number; and if party organizations,
party committees and  nominating  conventions, party
creeds and platforms, can be dispensed with, the reasoning of the World will apply to nearly all the papers in




110       WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
our country, and we should soon have a much healthier
state of public opinion and feeling, than we have now.
The organs of each political party have, to a very great
extent, been converted into instruments of slander and
abuse, to defame the leading men of the opposite party,
who are either office-holders, candidates for office, or leading politicians. Our system of elections and party organizations engenders such a violent party spirit, and such
jealousies and hatred towards the opposite party and its
leaders, that many regard it as the special business of
party newspapers to abuse and defame their opponents.
The object seems to be, to excite a sensation, and to effect
some partisan or personal end, without regard to truth or
propriety.
Party organs are made the conduits for pouring upon
public men and candidates for office, torrents of abuse and
vile slanders, by anonymous writers, and by persons
furnishing incorrect information to editors and publishers,
-for which the system  and party spirit, and not the
editors, are properly responsible.  They are made the
instruments of pouring defamation and abuse upon officeholders and candidates to such an extent, as to lessen
greatly the influence of such organs-by rendering it
difficult to ascertain the truth, and destroying confidence
in their statements.
Such slanders and abuse are almost unknown in English
papers, and in newspapers upon the continent of Europe;
and they are pointed to by Europeans as evidences of the
corruptions of American politics, and of the tendencies
of our institutions to corruption and anarchy. There can
be no doubt of their demoralizing influences.
The slander and abuse poured out upon public officers
and candidates for office, has pernicious influences of
various kinds. In three cases out of four, it is undeserved




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         111
and unjust; and when the statements made have some
foundation in fact, the facts are often so exaggerated, distorted and colored, and the-explanatory circumstances omitted, that they make false impressions, and really convey
more falsehood than truth. The practice of almost indiscriminate abuse, tends to confound the innocent with the
guilty, and to enable the guilty to escape in the general confusion-to destroy confidence in party papers-to induce
many persons to believe that there is no honesty in public
men-to deter many honest and high-minded men from
becoming candidates for office, as the only means of escaping newspaper abuse-and to throw the government
of our country more and more, into the hands of men
who make politics and party management a trade, and
their principal study.
A large portion of the corruptions and evils of the press
in the United States, results from our system of elections
and party machinery; and will be obviated by correcting
our electoral system, and dispensing with the most of our
present party machinery.
SEC. 17.. —Corporations, and the abuses of power by
their officers.
Corporations other than municipal corporations, religious societies, colleges, hospitals and charitable institutions, were few, and little known, either in this country
or in Europe, until within a century past. Prior to the
discovery of America, all the great enterprises of the
world were carried on by Governments. Now they are
mostly carried on in this country, in Great Britain, and in
other countries to some extent, by corporations-by jointstock companies incorporated-by what may be termed
private corporations-managed for the benefit of the
stockholders; and yet nearly all of them are of a public




112        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
character, and tend to promote industry and the prosperity of a country.
Being organizations of capital and labor-organized
under and in accordance with law, and managed by
directors elected by the stockholders, independently of the
government and of party politics also, in most instances,
they are bulwarks of property and of business-of industrial liberty and self-government.  Their business and
the property vested in them, being exempt from the arbitrary interference of the government and protected by law
-and their business carried on by their own officers, under
the control of the directors, they operate as schools, to aid
in educating the people in the arts of self-government.
When fairly and properly managed, they may be reckoned
among the most beneficent institutions ever invented by
man; but when selfishly and corruptly managed, they
become terrible engines for filching from the public,
defrauding  their own  stockholders, and  stimulating
gambling speculations in their stocks.
We have in the United States, a very large amount
of capital invested in the stocks and bonds of incorporated
companies; and the amount is rapidly increasing.  The
demand for railroads has been so great, during the last
twenty years, and railroad corporations have thrown so
many bonds upon the market at high rates of interest, to
raise the means to construct and equip the roads, that it
has had a very palpable effect upon the rate of interest,
and raised the rate of interest from six and seven per cent.
per annum, to from eight to ten per cent.
The amounts invested in the stocks and bonds of incorporated companies, may be estimated in round numbers,
as follows:In Railroad Corporations nearly......... $2,000,000,000
In National, State, and Savings Banks over   500,000,000




OF  UR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.           113
In Manufacturing and Mining Corporations $1,000,000,000
Canal and Navigation Companies about...   100,000,000
Fire, Marine, and Life Insurance Companies
over...............................    100,000,000
Gas, Turnpike, Bridge, Water, Telegraph,
Express, and other incorporated companies over..........................     100,000,000
Total probably about............. $3,800,000,000
-equal to about eighteen per cent. of all the private
property in the United States. The amount invested in
stocks and bonds of such corporations, at the end of the
year 1860, amounted to about $2,500,000,000, and at the
end of the year 1850 it did not exceed $1,100,000. The
increase in manufacturing and mining corporations as
well as in railroad companies, has been very great and
rapid. The tendency of the public mind has been and
is, to seek the forms and powers of corporations, as the
best means of organizing capital and labor, to make them
effective.
Though wonderfully efficient agencies of good, when
fairly, honestly, and wisely managed, corporate organizations and powers are sometimes productive of terrible
frauds and corruptions, and alarming evils, when they
fall into the hands of reckless and unscrupulous men, and
desperate speculators in stocks. Our system of organizing
corporations, and particularly railroad companies, and
electing directors,-giving the holders of the majority of the
stock combining together, all the directors, and the minority none;-the loose legislation in relation to such corporations; —and the very extraordinary powers exercised
by the judges, under the laws of the State of New York,
of issuing injunctions and appointing receivers for corporations upon exparte affidavits, without a hearing of the




114       WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
defendants, and without giving bonds to secure the injured
parties, in case such injunctions and proceedings are not
sustained;-have all contributed to engender tendencies
and evils, some of which are of a very alarming character.
1st. They have encouraged and induced scheming and
unscrupulous stock-jobbers, to form combinations to buy
up the majority of the stock of a company-to enable
them to elect all the directors, appoint the officers, and
take the whole control of the road and its franchises
and rolling stock, its books, business, and incomes; to
manage the whole in their own way,-and very often for
their own selfish ends, and fraudulent purposes; and to
exercise their powers, and use the finances of the company,
in secret, and without much responsibility.
2d. By the unity and secrecy of their action, they
can use the incomes and credit of the company without
check; can issue bonds, new stock and scrip dividends, to
almost any extent, for speculative or other purposes; can
use the funds of the company to employ lobby agents,
to beset legislative bodies, and influence members by
means, often corrupt,-to vote for acts, granting improper
and dangerous powers, and powers without sufficient
guards and checks; can use corrupt means to procure
judicial action, and the judgments of some judges; and
may,.in many ways, deceive and defraud the public, and
swindle the stockholders who are not in their secrets.
The management of the Erie Railroad, and some of
that of the New York Central during the last three years,
and the stock-jobbing operations and judicial action to get
and keep the control of these and some other roads, and
some of the legislation in relation to them, have been of
a very demoralizing character,-tending to destroy all
confidence in corporate officers, in legislation, and in
some of the judges of the city of New York.  They




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          115
finally culminated in a judicial warfare, mobs and violence-to get control of the Albany and Susquehanna
Railroad, and rendered it necessary for the Governor of
the State to call out the militia-to keep the peace, and to
appoint a superintendent to take charge of the road, until
the controversy could be settled, or decided by the courts.
The gross income of the New York and Erie Railroad
and branches, has been from fourteen to over sixteen million dollars annually, for some years past. The amount
of its stock has been reported in the Merchants' Magazine
and Commercial Review, as follows:End of 1867, Common Stock......$16,574,300
"  "   "   Preferred   "......  8,536,910
Total.......................$25,111,210
1869, Sept. 11th, Common Stock...$70,000,000
"    "    "   Preferred  "...  8,536,910
"    "    "   Total........... $8,536,910
Increase in two years........$53,425,300
The funded debt was increased some during that period
-being less than $23,000,000 in 1867, and over $23,000,000 in September, 1869. How such an immense amount
of new stock and the proceeds thereof were disposed of,
I am unable to learn. It is left to a large extent, to the
public to conjecture. The management of the affairs of
the company, in connection with the issues of new stock,
and the disposition of the stock and the proceeds thereof,
appear to the public like the most gigantic swindle, which
the history of the world presents. The action of the legislature and of the courts, in relation to that company, seems
equally extraordinary.
Speculating and swindling officers of great corporations, having large interests and millions of money under




116        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
their control, have learned the art of procuring the nomination and election of their own friends, for legislators
and judges, prosecuting attorneys and sheriffs, and of
controlling both legislative and judicial action, by the expenditure of large sums of money. What may not be
effected, by the expenditure annually, of millions of dollars, in employing politicians, lawyers and lobby-agents,
letter-writers and newspapers-to corrupt, and in corrupting legislators, judges, and jurors, as well as politicians and
voters! If large sums of money be used for purposes of
bribery and corruption, what frauds and swindling operations may not be committed with impunity, under a partisan elective judiciary, and our lax and defective codes of
criminal law! Our system  of nominating judicial and
executive officers by party conventions and caucuses, and
electing them by universal suffrage, has produced in the
city of New York, a sort of millennium for knaves and
swindlers; and there is great danger that it will gradually
weaken and demoralize the administration of justice in
most of the States.
There is a lamentable want of honesty in too many of
the managing officers and employes of railroad and banking, mining and manufacturing corporations, and of other
incorporated companies, as well as in the officers of the
national, State, and city governments. Managing officers
are too much inclined to cloak and conceal the financial
condition and acts of such companies, to enable themselves and their friends to speculate in the stock.
When the interests and usefulness of a corporation require additional legislation, let the officers be paid their
travelling and personal expenses for going before legislatures and legislative committees, to procure such legislation.
Nearly all other expenditures for such purposes, are corrupting in their nature and tendency, and therefore improper.




OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.            117
Legislation seems necessary to define and limit the
powers and duties of directors and other officers-to prohibit the use of corporate funds for improper purposes;
to increase their responsibility to the stockholders; to prohibit them  from  increasing the capital stock, making
stock or scrip dividends, issuing bonds or contracting
debts, except for current and ordinary expenses, without
the action and assent of the stockholders, taken at a stockholders' meeting-to require full and accurate reports to
be made annually, or semi-annually, under oath, of the
proceedings and business, income and expenditures, and
the financial condition of each company-to punish as a
crime, any fraudulent act or violation of law, by the directors, or any director or other officer of an incorporated company-and to impose some restrictions upon courts and
judges, to issue writs of injunction, and appoint receivers
for corporations, upon exparte proceedings.  The judges
of most of the States, and of the federal courts, have no
such extraordinary and dangerous powers.  The administration of justice in the city of New York, in relation to
railroad corporations, has ceased to command the confidence of the American people, and become a subject of
jest and ridicule, as well as of suspicion.
The practice of railroad directors and other officers,
secretly issuing millions of stock, and keeping it themselves, or disposing of it to friends, without accounting
for the proceeds,-for the purpose of controlling elections
of directors and keeping themselves in office, cannot be
tolerated much longer in this country.  How long shall
the corrupt practice continue, of defrauding stockholders
of a large portion of the earnings of railroads, and using
them  to pay lobby agents, bribe legislators and judges,
and other corrupt purposes?  Stringent criminal laws
are necessary to punish such swindling and abuses of




118        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
power; and more publicity in the management of corporations, is necessary to avoid them.
All corporations have special privileges, and are monopolies to a greater or less extent, except those organized
for manufacturing or mining purposes; and the legislature
should have some control over the charges of railroad corporations and some others, and should retain power to reduce them as their business and net profits increase-or to
compel them to pay into the State Treasury half of their
income, over and above a certain percentage, as a substitute for local taxation, and a compensation for their special
privileges.
The tendency now is, to consolidations of railroads, and
the formation of trunk lines from Lake Michigan, and
the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, to the seaboard
-to enable them to monopolize freights and travel, as
much as possible, and to keep up prices, by mutual
arrangements between the several lines.
There is reason to apprehend, that the numerous trunk
lines with their connecting roads, and the great Pacific
roads, with capitals eventually ranging from ten to nearly
an hundred millions each, may, at no very distant day,
exercise a very dangerous influence over the legislation
of many of the States, and of Congress also,-unless public
opinion can be more enlightened upon the subject, and
laws be passed to define and limit the powers of directors
and other officers, with more precision, and to regulate
their action much better than it has been heretofore.
SEC. 18.-Prominent party abuses of power.
Among the most glaring and corrupting abuses, conceived and devised by cunning politicians, to carry elections, secure party ascendency, or enrich party favorites,
are the following:



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.          119
1st. Importing and colonizing voters from other States
or districts, to vote the party ticket, in towns and wards
where the members of the boards of election all belong
to the same political party. The ballots of such imported
voters are, in such cases, generally received without being
challenged; but when challenged, the persons offering them
usually swear in their votes-and thus add perjury to
fraud, in the full belief that the crime cannot be ferreted
out, that the party will protect them, and that they shall
escape punishment, and get the reward promised.
2d. Repeating votes-the same persons voting two,
three, or more times, in different wards,-and often swearing in their votes, in the belief that their party friends will
conceal the crime, and shield them from punishment.
3d. Forging naturalization papers, and voting upon
forged papers.
4th. Ballot-box stuffing-putting into the box ballots
not voted; and sometimes taking out votes of one party,
and putting in an equal number of votes for the other party.
5th. Making out false certificates of the results of elections, and concealing the ballots and the poll-lists-to
avoid detection; and sometimes making additions to the
poll lists, to make them correspond with the number of
votes certified to.
All such partisan abuses and frauds have been frequently practised; and it is impossible to prevent them without registry laws, the careful registration of voters, and
the representation of both political parties upon every
board of election, and upon every board for registering
the names of voters, prior to each election.
The adoption of the general ticket system for the election of Presidential electors, gave an additional stimulus
to party efforts to carry elections by fraudulent means, in
doubtful States, where a few thousand, or even a few hun



120        WORKINGS AND PARTY MACHINERY
dred fraudulent votes might determine the result, and
give to the successful party all the votes of a State.
6th. Gerrymandering, and other unfair means in forming Congressional, Senatorial, or representative districtsso as to give the dominant party more members than they
are fairly entitled to.
Gerrymandering is effected by making irregular-shaped
districts, for the purpose of putting together into one, two,
or three districts the most of the counties giving the
minority party large majorities, and so distributing the
other counties giving majorities to the minority party, as
to overbalance them in each district, by majorities of the
dominant party; and thus give the dominant party small
majorities in two-thirds or three-fourths of all the districts
in the State.
7th. The perversion of both law and fact, in passing
upon cases of contested seats in Congress and in State legislatures-for the purpose of increasing the power and the
ascendency of the dominant party.
8th. Legislation has often been used by party leaders, as a means of speculation.
Party domination has led to great abuses in legislation
-in Congress as well as in State legislatures-to furnish
rich jobs, contracts, and charters, to party leaders and
favorites. Granting subsidies in lands and bonds to railroad companies, has been the means of enriching a great
number of the leaders and influential men of the dominant party; and there is reason to believe that great speculations and corruptions have grown out of such grants,
and in the management of the corporate powers and property granted.
Perhaps no dominant party ever exercised power with
more moderation and partisan wisdom than the dominant
party in New York did, from thirty to forty years since



OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.         121
when under the management of what was called the
Albany Regency; and yet the legislative power was often
used for partisan purposes. Banks were then monopolies;
the business of banking was carried on by corporations,
under special charters granted by the legislature; and
bank stocks were generally from ten to twenty per cent.
above par. The legislature chartered from one to three
banks annually; appointed party men as commissioners to
receive subscriptions for, and to distribute the stock; threefourths or more of the stock was usually assigned to men
of the dominant party-a large share of it to leading partisans, as a reward for party services; the banks were organized, mostly owned, controlled and managed by men
who belonged to the dominant party, and were made a
means of party power as well as of profit. When money
was scarce, party friends were preferred to political opponents, in making loans; which tended to draw, and did
draw many business men into the party, as a matter of
interest, and prevented others from being active in their
opposition to the dominant party.
Railroad charters and stocks were in like manner,
though to a less extent, made the means of party power,
and of enriching party leaders. No very great evil grew
out of that mode of party tactics and use of legislative
power. The banks, railroads, and other corporations,
were as useful to the people of the State, as if they had
been in the hands of the opposite party; but the tendency was corrupting in its nature. More liberty would
have been allowed to business men and borrowers, if the
banks and banking capital of the State had been more
equally divided between the two great political parties of
the day. The passage of the general banking act by the
legislature in 1838, put an end to the banking monopoly in
the State of New York, and to speculations in bank charters
6




122             REMEDIES SUGGESTED.
and bank stocks, and to the use of the banks, as engines
of party power.
It seems to me the public good requires that party
spirit should be moderated and party power checked, by a
division between parties of all the powers of government,
except that of the Chief Executive and the military power; that it is not desirable for one political party to have
the entire control of the Executive department and of
both houses of Congress, except in time of war, insurrection or anarchy; that legislation should be for the equal
good, as far as is practicable, of the whole people, and
not for the special benefit of the leaders of the dominant
party; and that every legislature, every legislative committee, every election board, and every board for levying
taxes, auditing accounts, or administering the affairs of
counties, cities, towns or villages, should be composed of
men of both political parties-to secure publicity and
fairness.
SEC. 19. —Remedies suggestedfor political evils.
There are corruptions and evils incident to all forms of
government, which cannot be entirely avoided-because
they arise from the natural selfishness of the human
heart; and from the imperfections of human nature, in its
best aspects. But many of the political evils with which
our country is afflicted, arise from the defects of our representative and elective systems; from the outside partisan organizations and machinery, developed to supply
the defects; and from the violence of party spirit-fostered and intensified by party machinery, nominating
conventions and caucuses, and by party creeds and platforms. Evils that are developed or increased by artificial causes, may be either avoided or mitigated. To do
so, it is necessary to supply the defects, and correct the




REMEDIES SUGGESTED.               123
errors of our system, and to moderate the intensity and
violence of party spirit. As a means to attain the ends desired, the following changes in our system are suggested:
1st. Give to minorities, as well as to majorities, a representation in legislative and administrative bodies and
councils, and also in corporations of all classes.
2d. Allow cumulative voting.
3d. HIold double elections-the first election to be held
three or four weeks before the second, to determine who
shall be candidates for office, to whom the votes at the
second election shall be confined.
4th. Prohibit caucuses and conventions for the nomination of candidates for office.
5th. Go back to the old system of appointing judges
and State officers by the Governor of the State, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate; or elect them
by a joint convention of both houses of the legislature.
6th. Make the President of the United States ineligible to a re-election, until he has been out of office four
years or more-for the purpose of avoiding any temptation on his part, to use the appointing power improperly,
to promote his own re-election.
7th. Provide by amendments to the State constitutions,
that State senators, sheriffs of counties, constables and
police officers, assessors of taxes, and some other officers,
shall be elected exclusively by taxpayers, having $250 or
or more taxable property.
The mode of arranging  representative, senatorial,
and Congressional districts, to give minorities as well as
majorities a representation, and the subject of cumulative
voting and double elections, are presented and discussed
in Sections 15, 20 and 21 of the next chapter.
Under our party machinery and present system of
electing officers, judges and sheriffs, constables and po



124             REMEDIES SUGGESTED.
lice officers, are all too dependent for their nomination
and election upon non-taxpayers, roughs and rowdies,
keepers of whiskey and lager-beer saloons, gambling
houses and other places of amusement, to secure good officers, a faithful administration of law and justice, or an
efficient police. Men who have no taxable property,
and nothing at stake in a community, generally feel very
little interest in an efficient police and a good administration of justice. Having no property to protect or to be
taxed, their feelings upon political subjects are mostly of
a partisan character; and they are not inclined to pay
much heed to the moral character of the men they vote
for. There is no remedy for such evils, except to require
a property qualification for voters, for such officers; or to
provide for their election or appointment, otherwise than
by popular elections.
Judges may better be nominated by the Governors of
the respective States, and appointed by and with the advice of the Senate; or elected by the two houses of the
State legislature in joint convention, than to be nominated by party conventions, and elected by the people.
Under our present system of nominating and electing
State officers by the dominant party, each has his duties
to perform, independent of the Governor, and of each
other-the Governor has no authority over them; each
acts in accordance with his own individual views, without any policy being established by a Cabinet Council;
and without concert of action. The Governor has in
fact, no Cabinet Council or confidential advisers; and
there is no unity of policy in the executive department of
the State governments. To secure to a Cabinet Council,
unity of policy and concert of action, it is necessary that
the State officers should be appointed upon the nomination of the Governor.




CHAPTER III.
BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER-OF GOVERNMENT,
AND OF THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.-THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS
OF REPRESENTATION AND MODES OF VOTING, AND OF NOMINATING, ELECTING AND APPOINTING OFFICERS. —SUGGESTIONS OF OTHER MODES OF REPRESENTATION, VOTING, AND
NOMINATING CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE.
SEC. 1.-Basis of social and political power, and of
government.
THE basis of social and political power and of government, is the same. It is said in the American Declaration of Independence, that governments derive their just
powers from  the consent of the governed. This is not
strictly correct. Political power is derived from the
same source as social power; and the government of a
community or State must have the same source and
basis as the government of a family. No one will pretend that the right of the parent to exercise power over
and to govern the child, is derived from the consent of the
child. From whence is such right and power derived?
The answer must be, the power of the parent is derived
from the nature and constitution of man, the helpless
condition of the child, and its dependence upon the
parent. It is derived from the laws of nature, and the
necessity of government-to maintain order, and to promote the welfare of the child. The government of States
and nations has the same basis;-not the consent of the
governed, but the nature and condition of man; the laws




126     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
of nature established by the Creator; the necessity of
law; and the necessity also of government-to make
and administer law,-to the end that the rights of individuals may be protected, crimes punished, remedies furnished for wrongs, and peace and order maintained.
It is desirable that the government of a country should
be of such a character, and be so organized, as to be sanctioned by the whole people, or nearly the whole; and
that the laws and policy of the government should also
meet the approval of the whole people; or all but the vicious and criminal,-who cannot be expected to approve
proper and rigid laws to restrain vice, and punish crime.
The sanction and approval of the people, or the most
of them, gives additional power and stability to a government, and aids greatly in the execution of the laws; —and
more particularly those laws that are made to restrain
vice and punish crime. But it can hardly be seriously
pretended, that it is necessary to have the consent of the
vicious, to give validity to law for the restraint of vice, or
the punishment of crime.
While the just powers of government are derived from
the laws of nature and the necessity of law and government; the form of government must be selected by man,
and the distribution of its powers must be determined by
him; and they should be so determined, by the best and
most intelligent classes of the community. When there
are differences of opinion, the majority must, from the necessity of the case, determine the question, in preference
to the minority. But a majority cannot rightfully confer
upon a governmentpowers which are not within the legitimate ends and purposes of government, and not necessary to promote the welfare of the people; and whenever
a monarch or an aristocracy, an ecclesiastical body or a
majority of the people, exercise extreme powers, not




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    127
consistent with the laws of nature and with a reasonable degree of human liberty, and therefore not within the
legitimate ends and purposes of government, they are
guilty of usurpation of power, and of tyranny and oppression.
Consent or election does, or should, designate the officers
to exercise the several powers of government prescribed
by law, either by human law or custom, or by the laws
of nature; but consent alone cannot confer power, and is
not the basis of power. If laws be just and proper, the
rights of persons who have not consented to them, are not
infringed by their execution. If laws be unjust, the fact
that a majority of the people may have consented to them,
does not alter their character-nor lessen their injustice
towards the minority, who have not so consented.
If the validity of laws and of government depend upon
the consent of the governed, then females have the same
right as males to participate in the government; and to
deny them the right of suffrage-to participate in electing
officers and in making laws, is gross injustice; and all
governments and laws, so far as they exercise power over
women, are without any just foundation, despotic, and
tyrannical.
If my reasoning be correct, the oft-repeated declaration, that the just powers of government are derived from
the consent of the governed, is but an assumption, and
does not form a sound basis for universal suffrage.
SEC. 2.-Intellectual and physical inequalities of men,
and inequalities of fortune.
The influence of the general laws and powers of nature
and of mind,-produce great inequalities in the mental
powers and capacities of mankind; in their moral characteristics and propensities; in their physical powers and




128     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
capacities; and in their powers of endurance. These are
inequalities in the constitutions of men; inequalities produced by the Supreme Being, through the agency of general laws and providences. What God has made unequal,
cannot be made equal by human laws and regulations.
Though all men have equal natural rights, (each being
entitled to liberty and the products of his own labor and
industry)-as the capacities of men are not equal, the
fruits of their industry are not equal, and their acquired
rights of property are very unequal. If one man, by
means of superior strength, activity, or skill, can and does
do twice as much in the course of a year as another, and
they both spend the same amount, the former may in the
course of a quarter of a century or more, become rich,
while the latter remains poor. So, if one man, by reason
of superior intellect, education, and experience, can direct
the industry of twenty others, and make it as productive
as thirty such men would be, if they worked separately,
or in combination under the direction of any one of themselves-then, in the case supposed, the directing man, by
his superior knowledge and capacity, causes an increased
production equal to ten common men.   This increased
production is the fruit of his intellect and superintending
labor and attention; and he is as fairly entitled to it, as
the common laborer is entitled to the products of his own
industry.
The accidents of fortune also-of good or bad healthof fire and flood-of dearths and fruitful seasons-of the
rise or fall of goods and other property, make some rich,
and others poor. The natural instincts of parentsplanted in them by God, prompt them to give their property to their children.  This is not only right in itself,
but as a general rule it is a matter of duty, which is sanctioned by the laws and customs of all countries-among




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    129
barbarians, as well as civilized nations. Hence some inherit wealth, and others poverty.  From  these various
causes the acquired rights and the property of persons are
very unequal in every country; though their natural rights
may be equal.
SEC. 3.-Equality-civil, political, and social.
The watchword of the French Republicans. has been,
liberty, equality, fraternity. Many in England and also
in America, couple equality with liberty, and think the
latter is necessarily imperfect without the former. This
is a great error.  The law may establish civil equality;
that is, it may allow the same civil rights to all citizens;
it may protect all alike, and may extend the right of
voting for public officers to all adult males, and even to
females-and so far as the law is concerned, all may be
regarded as politically equal; but it cannot make them
equal in influence in political matters, and therefore it
cannot make them in fact, politically equal. The equality would be only nominal-not real.. In this country, where we have no nobility and no
class of persons who enjoy special and superior privileges
-except such as are conferred by wealth and official station; the laws make no social distinctions; but they cannot make all persons and classes of persons socially equal.
That is impossible.
SEC. 4.-Civil equality.
The object of governments and laws is to protect the
persons and property, the natural and acquired rights of
the whole community, equally. It is not the business of a
government to take property from one man and give it to
another, in order to make them equal in worldly possessions. Such laws would be very unequal and unjust in
6*




130     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
their operation; they would tend to discourage industry
and economy, and to encourage idleness and prodigality;
and would shock the moral sense of mankind.
The words civil equality mean no more than that the law
protects equally the rights-both natural and acquired —
of all persons; that it protects all in the enjoyment of
personal liberty, so long as they do not commit any crime
nor offence; that it protects them in their employments
and their business; in their contracts and their property;
and that it allows them to make contracts, and to acquire
and hold-to enjoy and transfer property-and to transmit it to their heirs or friends.
The law regards contracts made voluntarily by adults
of sound mind, and not tinctured with fraud, as valid and
obligatory-and enforces them. It cannot protect men
from improvident and foolish contracts, without violating
their civil liberty, and doing in the aggregate more mischief than good. The most it can do is to protect innocent
persons from contracts into which they have been drawn
by fraud. Equal and just laws protect all classes of
persons in the enjoyment of all they can acquire honestly,
by contract and business, as well as by labor. And hence
equal civil rights-equality before the law, does not imply equality of fortune, political equality, nor social
equality. I can see no good reason why colored persons
of African descent, should not enjoy civil equality with
our white inhabitants-both at the North, and at the
South. The rights of citizenship and civil equality are secured to our colored people, by the first section of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States.
SEC. 5. —Political equality.
The phrase political equality means that all adult
males of sound mind are allowed the same political rights




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    131
and privileges-including the privilege of voting for all
officers elected by the people. Legislation and the administration of the government being greatly influenced
by public opinion, which is formed and guided by men
of intellect and intelligence-political equality does not
imply that the uneducated and ignorant have or should
have, equal political influence with the most intellectual
and best-informed men in the country.  Nor does it
imply that inexperienced and unfit men have the same
right to hold and exercise the powers and influence of
high offices, as those that have large acquirements,
experience, and fitness for such stations. On the contrary,
it is an abuse of the elective franchise and of the minority,
for a majority to foist upon them unqualified and unfit men.
Nor does political equality extentlin this or any other
country, so far as to make the elector and the officer
elected, politically equal.  Governments and laws are
necessary to preserve order, and to protect persons and
property; and it is necessary to have legislators to make
laws, and officers vested with power to execute them.
The best qualified men, who are. honest and faithful,
should fill all public offices-and when duly elected or
appointed, they have powers to exercise, and public duties
to perform, and are no longer on a political equality with
the mass of the people.
SEC. 6.-Social equality.
We hear much said in these days, about social equality.
It is often said that injustice is done to the poor, because
the rich do not invite them to their houses, and associate
with them on terms of equality; and great complaints
have been made by a large class of philanthropists, because
colored people of African descent, are not received into
society by our people as equals.  All such complaints




132     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
are based on false conceptions. Social equality never
did exist in any country, and never can exist. Even
among savages and barbarians, the Chiefs are raised to a
social level above the masses of the people.
Social intercourse is purely voluntary.  It is nowhere
regulated by law; not even in England, nor on the continent of Europe.  It is influenced everywhere by custom
and public opinion-but by custom  which is advisory
only, and has not the force of law. In ancient times, the
laws of Hindostan and some other Eastern countries forbade intermarriages between persons of different castesand the early laws of Rome forbade intermarriages between the patricians and plebeians. But all such laws,
disappeared in Rome and in Europe nearly two thousand
years since, and never existed in our country-except in
the case of the laws of Massachusetts, Michigan and some
other States, which prohibit intermarriages between white
persons and negroes. That is the only legal restriction to
social intercourse and intermarriages between persons of
different races, which exists in our country.
People meet together socially, to enjoy themselves in
social intercourse; to promote their own pleasure or interest-and not for purposes of benevolence-to promote
the enjoyments of persons inferior to them in intelligence
and social position. In a sparsely settled country and in
small villages, there are very few distinctions in society;
nearly all meet together in one society, on terms of equality; but in cities and densely peopled countries the case
is very different. All cannot unite there in one society;
and hence they divide off and form  numerous societies,
partially separate, but more or less intermixed-association depending on similarity of education and opinions,
tastes and conditions of life-sympathies of nationality and
race-and on interest and business intercourse.




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    133
The educated, intelligent and refined, generally have no
motives to associate with the ignorant and rude. They
can derive neither enjoyment nor profit from such association. The rich have no motives, as a general rule, to
associate with the poor. They have associates enough of
their own class, and cannot possibly in cities, associate
with all in their vicinity. If they invite the poor to social
entertainments at their houses, the latter cannot reciprocate the compliment, and have no means of interesting
them.  Hence it is impossible for the rich and the poor to
associate together on terms of equality. Thousands of
people in moderate circumstances have been utterly ruined by ambitious efforts to associate with persons of wealth,
and to dress and live in style-to accomplish that object.
Social equality is not in accordance with the natural
differences among inen, nor with the condition of things
in any country. Official station, differences in natural talent, in education and opinions, in nationality, race, and
language, in tastes and habits of life, in employments and
business, and in wealth and style of living-all naturally
tend to form distinctions and divisions in society, and to
render social equality impossible. To these may be added
many prejudices, which cannot be easily overcome.
Distinctions and inequalities in society being produced
by natural causes, cannot be overcome by human laws.
Such being the case, the colored people of our country
must for a long period, and perhaps for ages to come, form
societies among themselves, distinct from the whites-both
for social intercourse and for religious exercises. They can
derive no advantage as a race of people, from efforts to
force them into the society of the white inhabitants. The
discussions and efforts of philanthropists at the North to
raise the status of the negro to a condition of civil, political, and social equality with the white man, formed one




134     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
of the principal causes of the rebellion; they prolonged
and rendered more fierce and bloody that terrible war;
and they may disturb the peace and harmony of our country, for half a century to come.
Pope, the most philosophical of English poets, said,
"Order is Heaven's first law; and this confess'd,
Some are and must be greater than the rest;
More rich, more wise-but who infers from hence,
That such are happier, shocks all common sense."
What the Providences of God have made unequal, it is
vain for man to attempt to equalize, by arbitrary laws,
and forced customs.
SEC. 7.-Theory of pure democracy, and how it worksPolitical equality impracticable.
A pure democracy in its strict sense, means a government in which all the adult males of the community have
equal political rights and equal political power, and participate equally in the practical business and administration of the government in all its branches, legislative,
executive, and judicial. This is the case in the Baptist
church, where each distinct body of worshippers constitute an independent church and government; and being
few in numbers, and the subject and proper jurisdiction
of ecclesiastical government being very limited, such a
system and form of government can be carried into effect;
but it is utterly impracticable when applied to a State or
a country. But if a representative democracy, instead of
a pure democracy, is intended, and every one is to have
equal political rights, and equal political power, in order
to carry this principle into effect, as each man has the
same right as his neighbor to hold office, without regard
to character or qualifications, all officers should be elected




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.     135
by lot, as many officers in Athens were, and not by choice
and favoritism; and no man should be elected to, or hold
office more than one year, until all his fellow-citizens have
had their turn, and the circle of rotation was completed.
And in legislation, the representative should be bound in
all cases by the will of the electors of his representative
district, and all laws should be a compound of the opinions
and wills of the electors of the State or nation; so that
the opinions of each and every elector should have the
same amount of influence upon the legislation and government of the country.
This is the theory of a pure representative democracy.
It is a beautiful theory; and if all men were virtuous and
none excessively selfish-and all were endowed with equal
natural talents, had equal acquirements, intelligence and
abilities, or were inspired by the Deity with equal wisdom
and goodness, it would be equally beautiful in practice as
it is in theory. But unfortunately such is not the case,
and hence the theory is impracticable. In filling the offices
of a country it puts vice and extreme selfishness, ignorance
and inexperience, on a par with virtue and intelligence, and
with experience and fitness for official station. It would
necessarily fill nearly all the offices with inexperienced
and unfit men. Any country would soon be reduced to
anarchy under such a system; it would be impossible to
hold society together. Men would soon find it necessary
to resist the exactions, corruptions, and tyrannies of ignorant and bad officers-and to defend their own rights, and
redress their own wrongs by force. Even savages have
their most talented and able men for chiefs; and are not
so simple as to recognize that all are equally entitled to
official station, and equally qualified for the exercise of
official power.
The theory of the entire political equality of men, and




136     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
that all have an equal right to hold office and to exercise
official power, if they can procure an election or appointment, by means of party tactics and clanship, is radically
unsound; and the time has come when the American
people must suffer from it, if they do not recognize its
unsoundness, and provide a suitable remedy.  Governments should be so organized as to secure (as far as is
practicable) virtue and intelligence, patriotism and fitness,
in all public offices; and to secure men of experience,
high qualifications, and the highest order of talents, for
high official stations.
No man has any just claims to office, nor any right to
be a candidate, unless he has a good character, and qualifications and fitness for the office to which he aspires.
Men of character and high qualifications for office have a
just claim and right to have their fitness considered by
their countrymen; and men of acknowledged merit, who
have talents and fitness superior to their opponents, have
some just, though imperfect right to the offices to which
they aspire; while those who are not qualified have no
right whatever to official station —and it is an abuse of
power to elect or appoint them. When the majority of
the electors reject the superior and best men who are candidates, and elect bad or inferior men, they abuse the
power vested in them as voters, and do injustice to the
minority of the voters, and to all the non-voting class.
The elective franchise is not designed as a personal
privilege, to be sold by the voter, nor to be exercised to
gratify his personal or partisan prejudices and partialitiesregardless of the public good; but it is vested in the voter
as a trust-power, to be exercised for the public good, and
also to enable him to protect his own rights; and whenever
the voter does not so exercise it, he abuses the power vested
in him. No one is justly entitled to the elective franchise




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    137
who has not sufficient intelligence and public virtue to exercise it for the public good. There have been, until recently,
in all the States, and still are, in the most of them, more
or less restrictions and limitations to adult male suffrage.
Any system of universal manhood suffrage, where there are
two or more races, and a majority of the voters are illiterate and ignorant, must necessarily lead to demagogism
and corruption, and to anarchy and civil war, as it has in
Mexico and other Spanish-American  republics.  The
reason why nearly universal suffrage has practically obtained in some of the States, is the difficulty of discriminating and determining the true rule, and of applying it
to all persons claiming the right. Persons who have no
correct information upon political subjects, no definite
opinions upon political questions, cannot be expected to
exercise the elective franchise very wisely; and yet many
of that class judge pretty soundly, from the acts and history of candidates, of their abilities, as well as of their
character; and hence such men are proper electors for
certain officers, though not for all. Partisan influences
and clannish prejudices and partialities have done more
to pervert the exercise of the elective franchise, than all
other causes.
SEC. 8. —Basis of the right of suffrage.
Political self-government can  be exercised only by
means of representatives elected at comparatively short
periods.  Representation by election, and the exercise
of the elective franchise, are the means, and the only
means, of exercising the right and power of political selfgovernment; and it may be affirmed as a self-evident
truth, that persons of so feeble intellect and little intelligence, that they cannot participate in the election of
public officers advantageously to themselves and  the




138     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
community, have no natural right nor just claim to the
right of suffrage.
The elective franchise (the basis of political power in
our country) is not an inherent right, which belongs to
all persons; nor to every man, as a natural inheritance.
On the contrary, it is, to some extent, a trust power, to be
used for the good of all; and no one is entitled to it, who
has not sufficient intelligence and public virtue, to exercise it with some degree of propriety, and for the public
good. It is an acquired, not a natural right. It is acquired by education; by the acquisition of knowledge of
men and things; by maturity of mind and experience in
life; and by public services, by discharging the duties of
a tax-payer, head and representative of a family, or by bearing arms in support of the government.
Persons and classes of persons and races. who are incapable of political self-government when they form whole
communities by themselves, are equally unfit to exercise
the powers of self-government, by voting properly and independently, when they form a portion of a community,
with persons or races, who have more vigorous intellects,
and more energy of character.  It has a corrupting and
pernicious influence to confer the elective franchise upon
men who cannot think and judge for themselves, and
who necessarily become the mere instruments of party
leaders, and often of crafty political demagogues.
Some of the features of political self-government grew
up spontaneously in Greece and Italy, France and England, the Netherlands and Germany, Switzerland and
other countries in the temperate climates of Europe;
where the people have elected a portion of their local and
municipal officers, even under the monarchical system of
government. Such peoples have shown themselves capable
of using advantageously the rights and powers of self-gov



BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    139
ernment, and the most of them are justly entitled to it;
and by reason of their character and intelligence, have a
right to elect their own officers, and to make their own
laws, through the agency of representatives elected by
themselves. But none of the customs and institutions of
self-government have ever grown up among any people
in the torrid zone; and the descendants of Europeans who
have settled in tropical countries, have shown very little
capacity for self-government, —so little that it is still a
problem, whether it be possible to maintain an elective
representative system of government, with frequent elections, in any tropical country.
Among  savages and  barbarians, their chiefs (some
elected and some hereditary) are the representatives of
their respective tribes. The Patriarchal system of. government is one of the most ancient in the world.  The
Patriarchs were the heads of the great and wealthy families, and the representatives as well as the heads of their
respective tribes or clans. The fact that the patriarchal
system grew up spontaneously in nearly all pastoral countries, and temperate climates of the Old World, furnishes
conclusive evidence that it is well adapted to such countries and climates. When the representative system of
government arose in England in the 13th century, the
Archbishops and Bishops were summoned to Parliament,
to represent their respective dioceses and churches; and
two knights were at first elected by the county court of
each county, and afterwards by the freeholders of the
county, as deputies to represent the counties.  Long
afterwards, the privilege of voting was conferred by various statutes, upon householders who rented a tenement
of a certain amount. The voters were all either freeholders or householders, and acted in some representative
capacity-as representatives of families-of wives and




140     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
children, whose rights it was their duty to protect-or they
were owners of property subject to taxation, and should
therefore have a voice in legislation and taxation.
In ancient Greece and Rome, freemen, who were neither
householders and heads of families nor property holders,
were allowed to vote; but such has not been the case to
any considerable extent in Europe, for nearly two thousand years, until universal adult male suffrage was established in France, by the Revolution of 1848. In fact, the
insurrections and revolutions of that year, furnished the
germs of nearly all the popular elements in the governments of Italy, Prussia, and Austria, at the present time;
all of which were borrowed from the laws and institutions
of the United States.
The first American constitutions, and all those adopted
during the 18th century, limited the right of suffrage very
considerably, and allowed none but property holders and
tax-paying citizens to vote; but the tendency has been
towards universal manhood suffrage, ever since the election of Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency, in the year 1800.
The true basis of the elective franchise is as follows:
1st. That the elector is a citizen and the head of a family,
whom he represents, and whose rights it is his duty to
protect; or
2d. That he is the owner of property subject to taxation,
and therefore directly interested in matters of taxation,
and in all matters of legislation relating thereto; or
3d. That he is an adult male, and has done military
duty within a certain time; and
4thly. That he has sufficient intelligence to judge for
himself, of the character and general capacity of candidates for office, and has opinions and a will of his own
upon such subjects; and
Lastly, That every such elector is a loyal citizen, not a




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    141
pauper depending on the public for support, and has not
been guilty of any high crime.
The property of the married woman should be secured
to her, subject to her control, and exempt from the control
of the husband, except so far as he acts as her agent, and
with her assent; and when that is the case, the laws and
legislation of the country will bear upon husband and
wife equally, and he can be safely trusted to act as her
representative in political matters. To allow a married
woman to vote, would often lead to contentions between
husband and wife, and disturb the harmony of families,
without effecting any adequate good, to compensate for
the evil consequences that would result from it. But there
is no good reason why widows and other single women,
who are householders and heads of families, and also taxpayers, should not vote.
Such has been the delusion upon the-subject of universal manhood suffrage, that paupers and criminals of all
grades are allowed to vote in the most of the States. But it
is very obvious to my mind, that there is good sense and
justice in much of the old British law upon that subject,
as laid down by Blackstone in his Commentaries; and
that paupers, who are not tax-payers, but dependent on the
public for their support, have no just claims to participate in the legislation and government of the country. It
is equally obvious that persons who have been guilty of
violating the laws, by the commission of high crimes,
have no right or just claims to participate in the election
of officers to make or to execute the laws; for they feel
interested in electing to office their friends and sympathizers, and men of the same vicious class with themselves.
To give the elective franchise to persons who have
not sufficient understanding and intelligence to think and




142     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
judge for themselves of the character and general capacity
of candidates for office, gives them no real power; but
confers additional power on aspiring men and party
leaders, who make feeble-minded and ignorant voters
mere instruments to carry out'their wishes, and vote as
they advise and direct. The tendency of such a system
is to degrade the elective franchise and the whole system
of popular elections; to make politics a trade and a mere
gambling game; to invite appeals to party spirit and
clannish prejudices; to encourage party trickery and
demagogism; to elect managing and unscrupulous politicians to office; to corrupt the legislation of the country,
and the whole administration of the government; and to
demoralize the people. The anarchy and demoralization
of Mexico and other Spanish-American countries, tend to
illustrate the natural tendency and effect of lowering and
degrading the elective franchise; and the corruption of
ancient Rome, during the last half-century of the Republic, also shows the tendency and effect of such a policy.
SEC. 9.-Colored suffrage-its tendency and efect at the
South.
That the Southern freedmen are greatly inferior to the
colored people of the North in intelligence, capacity for
self-government, and'fitness to exercise the elective franchise, is very certain. That they are greatly inferior in natural intellect as well as in intelligence to the white population, is equally certain-however much we may think the
race may be improved by freedom, and the education of
successive generations. If intellect and intelligence are
of consequence to the proper exercise of the elective franchise (as is generally believed), it furnishes a good reason
why the emancipated slaves of the South should not be
put upon a political equality with the loyal white inhabi



BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    143
tants. The reasoning which would extend to them civil
equality, does not apply to political powers and privileges.
To disfranchise great numbers of the white men of the
South, and give emancipated- slaves and all free colored
men equal political privileges with the loyal whites, is
nearly equivalent to putting the entire control of several
of the State governments, and of a majority of the counties of South Carolina, Georgia, and all the Gulf States,
into the hands of colored men. It will put the government of those States into the hands of the most ignorant
and improvident class of the population, and subject the
more intelligent white classes to their domination. It
will encourage demagogism, foster rivalships and bitter
dissensions between the whites and blacks and their respective leaders-and must, sooner or later, produce anarchy, seditions and riots, insurrections and murders.
In discussing the subject of Negro Suffrage, the New
York Times in November, 1867, said:" If the question were free from'side issues,' it would
be easily and promptly settled. If it were simply this-'Are the negroes of the South, as a body, qualified to take
part in the reorganization of the Southern State governments; is it wise or safe to leave them to decide what
principles shall be embodied in the State constitutions,
what shall be the form and powers of the State governments, and what shall be the securities for life and property under them?'-there are not ten men out of a thousand
in the Republican party who would not say no. Nobody
believes they are. How should they be? The great mass
of them have been kept in the most stolid ignorance all
their lives; they can neither read nor write; they have
heard nothing of politics and know nothing of the simplest facts of our history or our government; they have




144     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
neither the capacity to form opinions nor the material to
form them from; and as matter of necessity, as well as of
fact, they will be and are simply tools in the hands of
party leaders and wire-pullers, on the one side or the
other.  Circumstances just now throw  them  into the
hands of the Republicans. The weight of their votes can
and will be thrown into the Republican scale. And it is
this fact which leads the Republicans to accept for then,
the principle of universal suffrage, and which, we may
add, leads the Democrats to oppose it."
Conferring political power on all the colored men at
the South, where they are numerous, and especially where
they form a majority, will tend to make them vain and
insolent, ambitious and clannish; and to make many of
them idlers-seeking office, when they should be at work.
It will encourage them to form political combinations and
party organizations among themselves; to hold meetings
and nominating conventions; to nominate candidates
wholly or mostly of their own race; and to support each
other for office, in opposition to the whites-in States and
counties, cities and districts, where they have a majority.
They will do at the South, as they have done in Haytiexcept so far as they may be restrained and influenced by
the whites, by law, and by the federal government.
There is no reason to doubt that it will tend to foster political ambition and a spirit of restlessness-to divert
their minds from honest industry-and have a very demoralizing influence.
The disposition to combine among themselves, to act
together, and to support their own men for office, will
grow upon them, as they feel more and more their own
power, acquire experience and skill in managing conventions and party machinery, and learn that they can
achieve success by such means, and by no other. They




BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.    145
will nominate and elect more and more their own men,
until they assume the entire control of the governments
of many of the counties and cities, and of some of the
States also. Can it be safe to the country, or useful to
the colored population of the South, to confer such powers
upon such masses of ignorant and weak-minded men?
Should there not be some limitation to adult male suffrage, in the Southern States?
The high wages and demand for laborers in the Pacific States and the adjacent mining territories; the low
wages and depressed condition of hundreds of millions of
the people of China; and the facilities offered by steam
navigation to the poor Chinese to come to our country,
have already brought here 100,000 or more; and the
probability is, that before the close of the present century, we shall have several millions of that race of people; and that in many districts and counties they will
constitute a majority of the inhabitants.  They may
eventually constitute a majority in all the States west of
the Rocky Mountains. Will it be safe to our country to
confer upon them equal political powers and privileges
with an American population of European descent, and
thereby give them, eventually, political control of the Pacific States   Being Pagans, of a low grade of intellect,
and a low standard of civilization, have they any right to
claim equal political powers and privileges with our superior, educated and Christian peoples, of European descent?
SEC. 10.-Delusions relative to the effect of the elective
franchise Ipon laborers, and the price of labor.
Strange delusions have crept into the minds of many
of our people, in relation to the influence of the elective
franchise, and the ballot. Some enthusiastic republicans
seem  to regard the elective franchise as a panacea for
7




146     BASIS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POWER.
nearly all the ills of the country-civil, social, and industrial, as well as political. They think the franchise will
raise the wages, and increase the value of the labor of
the colored man; give him  new courage and spirit;
elevate him in the scale of manhood; and raise him fiom
his present low, and in many cases degraded moral and
social condition. Such expectations are preposterous.
Persons who suppose that the exercise of the elective
franchise can have any influence upon the price of labor,
can have no correct conceptions of the principles of
political economy, and the laws which govern prices.
The prices of labor are governed by the same laws of
trade, by which the prices of agricultural products, and
other products and goods, are governed-that is, by the demand for labor, and the greater or less supply in the market.
Prior to the Revolution of 1789, the people of France
enjoyed no political power whatever; now the elective
franchise is enjoyed by all the adult males of France.
Has it raised them in morals?  No one will pretend that
it has. The new code of laws (the Napoleon code), religious toleration and some degree of religious liberty, the
extinction of the oppressive powers and privileges of the
ancient noblesse, the division of the great estates of the
old nobility, the modern system of railroads and other
internal improvements, modern science and inventions,
have all contributed, with the elective franchise, to
increase the industry and commerce, and improve the
condition of the people of France; and there is no reason
to doubt, that the elective franchise has aided in raising
them in the scale of manhood; because they had intellectual capacity to use the franchise with some degree of
wisdom. But no well-informed person will pretend, that
the elective franchise has raised the people of Mexico or
Hayti, either in the scale of morals or manhood.




DESIDERATA OF CIVILIZATION.          147
SEC. 11.-Is liberty, equality, or law and justice, the
great desideratum  f civilization?
The question may be asked, "Is liberty, equality, or
law and justice, the great desideratum of civilization and
progress?"  If it be liberty and the nearest possible
approximation to equality, then the North American
Indians would stand at the head of the civilization of the
world, and the people of France very near the foot. The
former enjoy the highest degree of liberty-personal and
civil, political and religious; but are without law,-except
a few rude customs; while the latter have a good degree
of civil liberty and some of the forms of political liberty,
but enjoy an admirable system  of laws-generally well
administered, and an efficient police-which gives them a
grade of personal and civil liberty as perfect as it exists
anywhere in the world, upon all subjects except matters
of government. The Indians are miserable and degraded
savages, gradually sinking in numbers and power-their
liberty, and approximative equality without law being of
no service to them; while the people of France, with
restricted liberty regulated by law, are in the front rank
of civilization,-keeping pace with the progress of the
age. This illustration is sufficient to show, that a good
system of laws, properly administered, is of ten times as
much consequence as political liberty, to the welfare of
the human family, and the cause of civilization. Liberty
without law has very little value; but on the contrary
law, without political liberty or the elective franchise, is
of immense importance to a people.
Even arbitrary, unjust, and oppressive laws,-such as
the laws of primogeniture, laws which authorize the entailment of property, laws which give a nobility unjust
and oppressive powers and privileges, and laws and




148   ANTAGONISM OF LABORERS AND EMPLOYERS.
customs which authorize serfdom, are better than no
laws at all. A system of law and government embracing
such unjust and  oppressive laws, serves to organize
society, to preserve peace and order, and is better for
even the laboring poor, and the oppressed classes, than
the uncertain and wandering condition of savages and
barbarians, who have no laws, except a few rude customs.
We want law and justice, and so much liberty, and no
more, than is consistent with law and justice.  Liberty
without law, and without regard for justice, tends to
license and rowdyism, vice and corruption, confusion and
anarchy.
Political liberty, which is the enjoyment of the right
to elect their own officers, and to make their own laws, is
of no consequence to any people or class of people, who
have not sufficient intellect and intelligence to elect the
best men to office; and to judge, with some degree of
wisdom, of the soundness and importance of the leading
measures and policies of government. Political liberty
has not increased the wages nor the industry, nor improved the physical or moral condition of the Indians
and mixed races of Mexico. On the contrary, they remain
as poor and ignorant, depressed and degraded, as they
were when under the dominion of Spain.
SEC. 12.-Antagonismns between laborers and employerstrades unions and strikes.
All persons have rights, to a greater or less extent, to
protect; and therefore all are interested in good laws,
and in a good administration of the government. Hence
it seems right and just that all should be represented in
making and administering the laws, who have sufficient
intelligence and wisdom to use the elective franchise properly, and with safety to the country. The chief diffi



ANTAGONISM OF LABORERS AND EMPLOYERS.   149
culty is, to determine how far political power should be
trusted to the uneducated classes, who have no property
to protect, to legislate for and to govern the  educated classes, and to impose taxes to an unlimited extent
upon property and business. This difficulty has been regarded as very great in Great Britain, where the laboring
classes are mostly uneducated, have little or no property
subject to taxation, and yet constitute a large majority of
the whole population of the United Kingdom.
All persons are laborers and belong to the laboring
classes, in the most general sense of those words, who do
more or less manual labor; but in the restricted and technical sense in which it is commonly used, the word laborer
includes only those persons who sell their labor to others
by the day or week, month or year, or work by the piece
for wages-and does not include small farmers and gardeners, mechanics and manufacturers, who labor for themselves, and sell their products instead of their labor. The
word laborer is also mostly confined to those who do common labor for wages.  The words laboring classes have a
broader signification, and include all persons who do
either common or mechanical labor for hire, or for themselves. In our Northern and Western States, there are
great numbers of small farmers, and also numerous mechanics, who work for themselves and do a small business
without employing much hired help.  Such persons belong
to the laboring classes, though they are not commonly
called laborers.
Almost everything is done in Great Britain on a large
scale-by capitalists and business men, employing great
numbers of laborers and mechanics. There are in that
country very few small farmers, mechanics, or manufacturers, who labor for themselves. The number of small
shopkeepers is much larger; but a very large majority of




150    ANTAGONISM OF LABORERS AND EMPLOYERS.
the people are laborers, mechanics, and servants, who sell
their labor to others; belong, strictly speaking, to the laboring classes, and have an interest in keeping up wages;
while their employers have an interest in reducing wages,
and keeping them down. There is a strong antagonism
in Great Britain and nearly all old countries, between the
laboring classes and their employers. The same kind of
antagonism is beginning to show itself to a limited extent
in the manufacturing and mining districts of the United
States, and in some of the commercial cities, as well as
in the cotton, rice and sugar producing districts of the
Southern States, since the abolition of slavery.
The mechanical, manufacturing and mining laborers of
Great Britain, have formed societies, extensive combinations and trades unions, for the purpose of aiding each
other, communicating information, establishing, raising,
and keeping up the prices of labor. Many of those organizations have been long in operation-some of them more
than half a century. They have inaugurated numerous
strikes to raise wages, and resorted to violence and crime
to compel laborers to submit to them; and while they
have produced good in some instances, by communicating
information, aiding persons out of employment, and procuring a proper standard of wages by negotiations with
employers, they have often disturbed industry, and been
the cause of an incalculable amount of evil.
Trades unions have been organized, and strikes inaugurated to a limited extent in the United States, with similar, though less injurious consequences; less injurious,
because the unions here are not so strong as in England;
the field for labor, in proportion to the number of laborers, is much greater; wages are higher; the inducement
to strike is much less; and the difficulties between laborers and employers are generally compromised very soon,




MODES OF VOTING.                151
or otherwise the laborers look elsewhere for employment.
Laborers and servants, and the small shopkeepers depending upon them, constitute three-fourths or more of
the whole population of England, and there is antagonism of feeling as well as of interest between the laborers
and employers; and hence the educated and business
classes, as well as the great landholders, feel that their
rights and property would be unsafe, if the whole political
power of the House of Commons were vested in the laboring classes, by a system of universal manhood suffrage, and
frequent elections.
SEC. 13.-Single and plural voting.
The educated, wealthy, and aristocratic classes of England fear the effect of universal suffrage,-believing that
it would throw the whole power of the House of Commons, and the virtual control of the government, into
the hands of the representatives of the laboring classes,
and endanger their rights and interests; and yet many
of them realize the importance of extending the elective
franchise, equalizing the representation in the Commons,
and making some great reforms in the government.  To
secure the advantages of an extension of the elective
franchise and of some reforms, and avoid the dangers
of universal manhood suffrage, reflecting and ingenious
minds have invented a system of single and plural voting
-single voting for uneducated laborers having no property subject to taxation, and various grades of plural
voting for educated, business, and professional men, and
property holders; allowing a laborer or mechanic, and
every man, an additionli vote for a common-school education,-another or third vote for a classical or scientific
education,-another or fourth vote for taxable property




152               MODES OF VOTING.
of a certain amount,-and an additional vote for a professional or business education, of a certain grade.
Such is the outline and substance of the plan of plural voting. It is presented here as an ingenious theory,
for which there is more apology in the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, than in any other country.
The system does not recognize political equality-though
it admits that all adult males have political as well as
civil rights and privileges.
John Stuart Mill, in his work on Representative Government, says: " I regard it as wholly inadmissible that
any person should participate in the suffrage without
being able to read, write, and perform the common operations of arithmetic.... Universal teaching must
precede universal enfranchisement. No one but those in
whom  an a priori theory has silenced common sense,
will maintain that power over others, over the whole
community, should be imparted to people who have not
acquired the commonest and most essential requisites for
taking care of themselves; for pursuing intelligently their
own interests."  Again he says: "It is also important,
that the assembly which votes the taxes, should be elected
exclusively by those who pay something towards the taxes
imposed.  Those who pay no taxes, disposing by their
votes of other people's money, have every motive to be
lavish, and none to economize."
Speaking of the effect of universal suffrage, Mr. Mill
says: " The great majority of voters in most countries,
and emphatically in this [England], would be manual
laborers; and the twofold danger, that of too low a standard of political intelligence, and that of class legislation,
would still exist in a very perilous degree. It remains to
be seen whether any means exist by which these evils can
be obviated."




MODES OF VOTING.                153
"In all human affairs [he says], every person directly
interested, and not under positive tutelage, has an admitted claim to a voice; and when his exercise of it is not
inconsistent with the safety of the whole, cannot be justly
excluded from it. But though every one ought to have
a voice-that every one should have an equal voice, is a
totally different proposition.... Entire exclusion from
a voice in the common concern is one thing; the concession to others of a more potential voice, on the ground of
greater capacity for the management of the joint interests,
is another....  An employer of labor is, on the average, more intelligent than a laborer; for he must labor
with his head, and not solely with his hands. A foreman
is generally more intelligent than an ordinary laborer;
and a laborer in the skilled trades than in the unskilled.
A  banker, merchant, or nanufacturer is likely to be
nore intelligent than a tradesman, because he has larger
and more complicated interests to manage. In all these
cases it is not the merely having undertaken the superior
function, but the successful performance of it, that tests
the qualifications;... for which reason the occupation should have been pursued  successfully for some
length of time (say three years). Subject to some such
condition, two or more votes might be allowed to everyperson who exercises any of these superior functions.  The
liberal professions, when really and not nominally practised, imply a still higher degree of instruction; and
wherever a sufficient examination, or any serious conditions of education are required before entering on a profession, its members could be admitted at once to a plurality of votes. The same rule might be applied to graduates
of universities; and even to those who bring satisfactory
certificates of having passed through the course of study
required by any school, at which the higher branches of
7*




154                MODES OF VOTING,
knowledge are taught.... The plurality of votes
must on no account be carried so far, that those who
are privileged by it, or the class to which they belong, shall
outweigh, by means of it, all the rest of the community."
Again Mr. Mill says: "'Until there shall have been devised, and until public opinion is willing to accept, some
mode of plural voting, which may assign to education, as
such, the degree of superior influence due to it, and sufficient as a counterpoise to the numerical weight of the
least educated class: for so long the benefits of completely
universal suffrage cannot be obtained, without bringing
with them, as it appears to me, a chance of more than
equivalent evils.... It is not useful, but hurtful,
that the constitution of the country should declare ignorance to be entitled to as much political power as knowledge."
Such are the views of some of the leading minds of England-of men who are in the front ranks of the liberal
party.  They apply with great force to our country, and
particularly to the Southern States; where a large proportion of the people are of African descent, bred in ignorance as plantation slaves. My reading and observation,
concurring with the history of the world, lead me to the
conclusion, that the mode of electing or appointing officers,
directly by the people or indirectly, and the frequency or
infrequency of elections, should be adapted to the condition, grade of intellect, and education of the people, and
to the climate in which they live. The higher their grade
of intellect, the greater their intelligence, the greater their
self-restraint, and the more they are accustomed to the
exercise of political power, the greater the number of
officers that may be advantageously elected by the people,
and the greater may be the frequency of elections; and
that there may be a nearer approximation to a pure demo



MODES OF VOTING.                155
cracy, in temperate and cold climates, than in hot and tropical countries.
The number of laborers in proportion to the whole population being small in our Northern and Western States
-(except in the mining districts, and in the large manufacturing  and commercial cities)-and there being no
such antagonisms between laborers and employers, as there
are in England, there is no necessity here for such a system
of plural voting, as ingenious Englishmen have suggested,
to obviate the evils and dangers of universal suffrage in
England; but the intolerance and tyranny of party spirit,
and the domination and evils arising from party organizations and nominating conventions, are such, that we need
other modifications of our system of elections, much more
than they do even in England.  We need a system of
limited and full voting, such as was provided for in the
first constitution of the State of New York —adopted in
1777; we want also the representation of minorities,
double elections, and cumulative voting.
SEC. 14. —Limited and futll voting.
The first constitution of the State of New York, adopted
in 1777, provided that every male inhabitant of full age,
who personally resided within one of the counties of the
State for six months immediately preceding the day of
election, should be entitled to vote fdr representatives of
the county in the Assembly; if during the time aforesaid
he had been a freeholder, possessing a freehold of the value
of twenty pounds within the county, or had rented a tenement therein of the yearly value of forty shillings, and
been rated and actually paid taxes to the State.
That constitution provided that the Senate of the State
of New York should consist of twenty-four freeholders,
to be chosen by the freeholders of the State, possessed of




106               MODES OF VOTING.
freeholds of the value of one hundred pounds ($250), over
and above all debts charged thereon; and that the Governor and Lieutenant Governor should be elected by the
same class of voters.  No State, county, nor judicial
officers were elected-all being appointed in various ways.
Representatives to Congress were elected by the two
houses of the State legislature, prior to the adoption of
the constitution of the United States.
Under that constitution, there was a large class of small
freeholders, and householders also, who paid taxes, and
enjoyed the limited privilege of voting for members of the
Assembly only-not being allowed to vote for State Senators, nor for Governor and Lieutenant Governor; while
the freeholders of the State having freeholds worth more
than $250 each, over and above all encumbrances, were
allowed to elect the State Senators, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and to vote also for members of the Assembly. The former enjoyed theprivileye of limited voting only, while the latter had the privilege of full voting, or voting for all elective officers. The idea was that
one branch of the State legislature should be elected and
controlled exclusively by freeholders-by men having
landed property subject to taxation, as a security for property; and that the small freeholders and householders
should have a voice in the lower house only, and should
not have the power to control both houses, and to impose
taxes to an unlimited extent upon the property of others.
There was still a large class of men in the State,
mostly single men, in the employ of others, who were
not allowed to vote at all, for members of either house of
the legislature; and were subject to laws, in making
which they had no participation. The mistake in the
constitution was, in not extending the limited suffrage,
for the election of members of the Assembly, to nearly all




MODES OF VOTING.               157
the adult male citizens of the State; and in making so
broad a distinction between the owners of landed and personal property, both being subject to taxation.
All persons are subject to the laws, have rights to protect,
and are interested in the government, and in the legislation of the country; though all are not equally interested,
nor equally capable of participating in the government,
nor in the election of officers. Hence there is great propriety in allowing a limited suffrage, to participate in the
election of members of the lower house of State legislatures, and members of Congress, to all adult male citizens, except criminals and paupers, idiots and lunaticsto allow them some participation in the government, for
the protection of their rights. Under such a system, giving to the educated classes and property holders the entire
control of the State senates, and the election of governors and local officers, it would be much less hazardous,
and perhaps it might be entirely safe, to allow a limited
suffrage to the illiterate and ignorant colored men at the
South.
The proposed Fifteenth Amendment to the federal constitution will probably be adopted,-whereby the descendants of the Puritans will force negro suffrage, and the
political equality of the negro, upon all the States; and
if so, and if, as a matter of self-defence, the most of the
States should be driven to the necessity of adopting the
system of limited and full voting,-requiring a small
property qualification for voters for State senators, governor, and many local officers, the effect of the amendment would have a compensating influence, which would
overbalance all the evils that can arise from it.
SEC. 15.-Cumulative voting, and its advantages.
Cumulative voting is the casting of two votes for one




158               MODES OF VOTING.
of two candidates, instead of casting one vote for each of
them.
The tendency of party spirit and party nominations is, to
put all the nominees of a party upon the same level-without
regard to talents or acquirements, experience or moral character, and to induce electors to cast their votes for the whole
ticket-because they cannot cut off any candidate upon
the ticket without weakening their party, and adding to
the strength of their opponents; while cumulative voting
would frequently enable the minority party to elect one
candidate, by concentrating their votes upon him, when
they could not elect two. Cumulative voting would,
therefore, tend to aid the minority or weaker party, and
to give them in many cases some representation, instead
of giving the whole to the majority.
Cumulative voting would present an opportunity to
electors, to express their preferences between candidates
of their own party; and to make them available, when
two or more candidates for the legislature, councilmen,
or other offices of the same class are presented for their
suffrages, to give two votes for one candidate, instead of
giving one vote for each of two candidates.
Under the present system, party men, who have some
discriminating judgment and some conscience, are very
frequently embarrassed because they cannot cut off a
party candidate whom they esteem unworthy of their support, without losing a vote, or voting for a political opponent, which most party men hesitate to do, for fear of
weakening their own party and adding to the strength of
their political opponents. But cumulative voting would
give electors an opportunity to discriminate between
candidates of their own party-to increase their vote for
the best men of their party, and secure their election, and
to cut off those that they esteem unworthy or unfit, with



MODES OF VOTING.                159
out voting for a political opponent, or losing any portion
of their votes. It would tend to encourage electors to
break in upon party  tickets, to  vote according  to
their consciences and judgment, and to cast their votes
for candidates of their own party, whom they esteem the
most fit and worthy.
Under the present system unscrupulous schemers and
cunning tricksters have an advantage over honest and
fair-minded men in getting nominations, while a system of
cumulative voting would give men of high character and
standing in a community an advantage at the polls over
men of bad or doubtful character.  A system of cumulative voting would teach the politicians of each party the
necessity of bringing forward for office their best men, as
the only means of securing success.
SEC. 16.- Voting by ballot, or viva voce.
The ballot has two uses in voting: 1st. To facilitate
the process; and 2d. to enable the elector to conceal his
vote from the public eye.
When not more than two or three, or at most half a
dozen officers are to be elected, the ballot facilitates the
process very little; but when a governor, State officers,
members of the State legislature, county officers, and
also members of Congress, and every fourth year a number
of presidential electors are to be elected, the ballot
greatly facilitates the proceeding; though at the same
time it serves as a cloak for numerous frauds, in canvassing and certifying votes. It also renders it much
more difficult to ferret out fraudulent voting, to ascertain
for whom fraudulent votes were cast, to purge the polllists of such votes, and to determine for whch candidates
a majority of the legal votes were cast-so that the system
of voting by ballot is not an unmixed good.




160               MODES OF VOTING.
By enabling the elector to conceal his vote from the
public eye, and from the knowledge of political friends
and persons wishing to intimidate him, or exercise an
influence over him, it tends to secure the freedom and
independence of the voter; enables him to cut his ticket,
and vote for those that he may consider the best men
of both parties (if he  wish to do so), without being
known and abused by his party friends for so doing; it
also tends to prevent ill-feeling  between  neighbors,
acquaintances, and party friends, and to preserve the
peace at elections, as well as afterwards. Where the
viva voce mode of voting is practised, many contentions
and quarrels arise after elections-growing out of the
vote given by one of the parties; which would have been
avoided, if the party had voted secretly, by ballot.
Voting viva voce increases the power of party spirit,
party organizations, and the influence and tyranny of
majorities over minorities, in an election district. Very
few men, of the majority party, while subject to such
influences, have the moral courage and independence to
so far separate from their party friends, as to vote for one
or more candidates of the opposite party, when they think
them the best men. It, however, offers some safeguards
against frauds.  Where the vote is viva' voce and recorded
on the poll-books, and the poll-books are properly preserved, they furnish persons of both parties who may see
fit to examine them, evidences of the real vote, and the
means of purging the poll-books of fraudulent votes,which will tend to hold the election board in check, and
prevent ballot-box stuffing, and frauds in canvassing and
certifying the votes.
The ballot favors the personal liberty and independence
of the voter, the exercise of freedom  and honesty in
voting, and tends to preserve peace in the community, as




ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.          161
well as at elections; but when fraud is committed in
voting, the ballot aids in concealing the fraud. It also
aids in facilitating and concealing frauds in election
boards, and in canvassing and certifying the votes. Votes
may be purchased with equal facility, and corruption may
prevail to nearly the same extent, under both systems.
Each system has its virtues and its evils; but, upon tile
whole, the virtues of the system of voting by ballot greatly
predominate.  Its virtues can be secured by no other
means; while its principal evil can be guarded against,
by a careful registry of voters, and by having both
political parties represented upon every board for registering voters, and for receiving, canvassing, and certifying
the votes.
In the Northern States, where the ballot has been
universally used, there has been less party domination
and tyranny over voters, than in Southern States, where
the viva voce system has been practised; and there have
been also fewer disturbances at elections; and contentions
and quarrels growing out of votes cast contrary to the
dictates of party and party leaders, have been more rare.
SEC. 17. —Direct and  indirect popular elections and
appointments.
Great changes have been made in the mode of electing
officers in many of the States. During the Revolutionary
war, and until the adoption of the Constitution of the
United States in 1788, members of Congress were elected
by the colonial or State legislatures, as our Senators in
Congress now are.
Under the first New England charter, the governors of
the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were
elected annually by the freemen thereof.  Under the
second charter, those colonies were united in 1692, and




162         ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
from that time until the Revolution, the governor of the
colony was appointed by the King of England. The
freemen of- the Connecticut and Rhode Island colonies
elected their own governors, annually, fiom the time of
their first settlement; and never had a royal governor.
The other colonies had, at first, proprietary governors,
and then governors appointed by the King, until the revolution. From that time until since the year 1840, the
governors of the States of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, were
elected by their State legislatures. The governors of the
other States were elected by the people; and under the
last constitutions formed, the governors of all the States
are elected by the people.
All the early State constitutions provided for the
appointment of judges and State officers by the governors of the States, by and with the advice and consent
of the State Senate; or for their election by the legislature
on joint ballot.  But that salutary practice has been
abandoned and changed in nearly all the States. Demagogism, blended with popular delusions, has gradually
infused into the minds of the people many false and delusive ideas and maxims, including the following: —Vox
populi, vox Dei, —(that the voice of the people is the voice
of God, speaking through tlem)-that the people can do
no wrong-that the majority of the people are always
right-and that to secure good officers and good government, all officers should be elected directly by the people, for short periods of time, by universal adult male
suffrage. Such delusive ideas (some of them originating
among the Radicals and Jacobins of France, during their
first Revolution) have been working in the public mind
for three-fourths of a century, and gradually extending
their influence from time to time, to a large number




ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.         163
of our people; until they have wrought many unfortunate changes and evils in our system of government;
and finally culminated in negro suffrage, and strong efforts
to force negro equality upon the country.
Fortunately the Constitution of the United States cannot be easily changed; that it cannot be changed by a
mere party majority; and that it provides an equitable
rule as between the small and large States, for the election of President and Vice President, through the agency
of Presidential electors, and the election of Senators in
Congress indirectly, by the State legislatures; and that all
judicial, executive, and administrative officers of the United
States, are required to be nominated and appointed by
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, by the heads of departments, or by the judges of
the courts. These are conservative features, which have
rendered the Federal Constitution superior to all the State
constitutions now in force; and made it, to a great extent,
the bulwark of law and justice, and of liberty regulated
by law; which is the only liberty of much value. But
it may well be feared that the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, if adopted, will so override the conservative features of the State constitutions, as to make radicalism and
a central absolutism triumphant.
Though the exercise of the appointing power greatly
increased the importance of the office of governor, and
the anxiety of the people to elect the best men to fill the
office, it did not produce any such popular agitation, scheming, and system of bargain and intrigue, as our present
system has of nominating by party conventions, and electing judges and all executive and administrative officers by
the people.
By the second constitution of the State of Mississippi,
formed in 1832, it was provided that the Judges of the




164         ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
Supreme and Circuit Courts, the Chancellor, the Secretary of State, Attorney-General, State Treasurer, and
Auditor of Public Accounts, should all be elected by the
people. This was an innovation upon the practice which
had universally obtained in all the States, up to that time,
of appointing all such officers by the Governor, with the
advice and consent of the Senate, or electing them by the
two houses of the legislature.
The Convention which revised the constitution of the
State of New York, in 1846, being deeply imbued with
radicalism and popular enthusiasm for the election of all
officers directly by the people, unfortunately followed the
example of Mississippi, and provided for the election of all
the Judges, State and County officers, and Clerks of Courts,
directly by the people; and the most of the States, which
have formed or revised their constitutions since that
time, have committed the same blunder. Time will show
the evils of such a system, and suggest proper remedies.
Among an educated and reading people, the most of the
electors will acquire sufficient knowledge of the acts, history and character of a few of the leading men of the State,
whose names may be presented for the office of Governor,
to enable them to vote intelligently for a proper man for
that office; but it is impossible in a large State, for the
most of the electors to have or obtain sufficient information of the character, qualifications, and fitness, of all the
men in the State, whose names may be presented for
Judges and State officers; and the masses of the people are
generally very poor judges of the legal acquirements and
fitness of men, for high judicial stations. The multiplication of elective officers increases the difficulty, and often
renders it impossible for electors, who are constantly occupied with their own private affairs, to acquire sufficient
information of the qualifications, characters, and fitness, of




ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.          165
numerous nominees for office, to enable them to discriminate properly, and to vote intelligently. On the contrary,
the Governor and State officers are employed and paid, to
devote their whole time to the public service; and it is the
Governor's duty to inform himself in relation to all candidates for office; and he has the aid of the State officers in
their several departments. He is responsible for his acts;
and more likely than the wireworkers and managers of
party conventions, to make good selections.  The reason which applies to the election of members of the legislature, local officers, and the chief executive officer of a
State by the people, does not apply to the election of
judges and State officers. (See on this subject section 19
of the last chapter.)
In Brazil, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies are elected indirectly by the people. The heads of every fifteen
families, having an annual income from property or business of $50 each, choose one elector, and the electors thus
chosen in the several Provinces, elect Senators for life, and
members of the Chamber of Deputies for four years. Each
of the twenty-one provinces of the Empire has a provincial
assembly (like our State legislatures), elected indirectly,
in the same manner as the national Chamber of Deputies
-in some for two, and in others for three years. The system of indirect elections and a limited suffrage has worked well, and secured peace and prosperity to that immense
empire, for nearly fifty years; while Mexico and all the
Spanish-American republics, under the influence of republican governments, universal adult male suffrage, and
direct elections, have all, with the exception of Chili,
been  frequently  disturbed  by  factions, insurrections,
revolutions and civil wars. Universal suffrage and direct elections by the people do not seem adapted to the
impulsive populations of tropical climates-the masses




166         ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
of whom  are always weak-minded, as well as uneducated.
In the Netherlands, or Holland, the system of elections
is mostly indirect, and far from popular or democratic.
Persons who pay a certain amount of taxes choose a certain number of electors in their respective towns; and
these electors elect the members of the town councils,
who, prior to the amendment of the constitution in 1848,
were chosen for life. The town councils elect deputies
to their provincial assemblies, which are very similar to
our State legislatures. The States-General, or national
legislature, i3 composed of two Chambers — the Senate
and Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of
39 members, divided into three classes-elected by the
provincial assemblies for 9 years-one third part going
out every three years: of which North Brabant elects 5,
North Holland 6, South Holland 7, Friesland 3, Drenth 1,
Gelderland 5, Zealand 2, Overyssel 3, Limburg 3, Utrecht
2, and Groningen 2. The members of the Chamber of
Deputies, 68 in number, are elected for 4 years, from 38
districts, into which the provinces or States are divided,
by electors who are twenty-three years of age and upwards, and pay taxes, varying in different provinces, from
$8 to $65. The executive power is vested in the King.
Such is the system of government of Holland, the most
liberal and popular of any in the Old World, with the single exception of that of Switzerland. Our federal system
of government was mostly borrowed from Holland and
Switzerland.
SEC. 18.-Good judges-How they are not secured.
The method of electing judges by the people, in many
of the States, is an anomaly-unknown in the history of
the world, except in ancient Rome; which finally sank




ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.          167
into anarchy, civil war, and despotism, under the combined influences of corruption, demagogism, and military
power. Some good judges will be obtained by any system of election or appointment; but the method of electing
them by the people has not proved a success. It has not
improved the character of the bench, in the States which
have adopted it.
A judge should be an experienced man-distinguished
not only for legal learning and ability, but also for unselfishness, uprightness and impartiality, evenness of
temper and firmness of character. He should not be
a sensitive, nervous, excitable man-nor a man of very
tender feelings, that may be easily wrought upon, and
swayed by friendships, partialities, or the misfortunes of
suitors; but should be constantly governed by a spirit of
justice, tempered by humanity, and a due though not
an excessive regard for the infirmities of human nature.
He should have no special favorites at the bar; and as ageneral rule, the less intimate acquaintance there is between
a judge and members of the bar practising before him,
the better it is for the ends of justice.  An active and
zealous partisan politician should very rarely be appointed
a judge-never unless he be a man of very superior intellect,
large acquirements, high moral character, even temper,
and not very avaricious nor selfish.
The masses of the people are not good judges of legal
talents and acquirements, and fitness for high judicial
stations-being generally too much captivated by talking
talents. They are much better qualified to select men for
legislative, executive, and  administrative duties.  To
nominate candidates for high judicial stations by caucuses
and conventions of partisan politicians, and elect them
by the people, is a very poor method to secure good judges.
It is impossible to secure impartial judges in that way.




168          ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
Judges should not feel that they are dependent upon
certain suitors in their court, and upon some of the members
of the bar, for their nomination and election; and at the same
time feel that other suitors and members of the bar voted
against them, or opposed their nomination. Such feelings
are not consistent with impartiality, and the fair administration of justice.
The reasoning of judges, like that of all other classes
of men, is often warped by partialities and prejudices,
which they are not aware of themselves. There are, in
both English  and American law, so many technical
matters of pleading, practice, and evidence; so many
nice hair-spun distinctions in the rules of law announced
from the bench, (some of which are very whimsical);
and so many conflicting and unsound decisions, that it
requires but little partiality or prejudice, to direct the attention of a judge in one direction or another, and to
sway the minds of many judges in favor of, or against
either party, without much regard to the real merits of
the case. Much of the proverbial uncertainty in the
administration of justice, arises from such causes. Ience
the importance of having upon the bench, clear-headed,
pure-minded, upright, honest, and impartial men; who
feel a proper degree of independence, and are animated
by the spirit of justice. The creatures of corrupt men, or
of party politicians, are not safe judicial officers.
Good, conscientious, and unselfish men, are too apt to
be quiet and inactive-while selfish and ambitious men
are generally bold and adventurous; and hence partisan
nominations are very generally managed and controlled by
the most selfish and unscrupulous, as well as the most active
and ambitious men of the party. Make judges, prosecuting attorneys, and sheriffs, dependent for their nomination and election upon roughs and rowdies, pimps and




ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.         169
gamblers, political rings and swindlers, partisan committees and scheming politicians, and the administration of
justice, and particularly of criminal justice, will necessarily
be weak, and often influenced by partiality or prejudice.
The facts stated, and the charges made in the petition
filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, by
Joseph H. Ramsey against the New York and Erie Railroad Company, -     Gould, -    Fisk, and others, show
the dangerous and corrupting influences which result
fiom  the control of great corporations, by selfish, ambitious, and unscrupulous men.
In that case Judge Murray, at Delhi, in Delaware
county, where the petition was filed, on the 23d of November, 1869, made an order, suspending -     Gould,
Fisk, and several others, from their functions and
authority as directors and officers of the New York and
Erie Railroad Company, till the further order of the
Court; and appointing a referee to take testimony, and
report the evidence and proofs in the case, to aid the
Court in the further exercise of its powers.
On the next day (Nov. 24th) Judge Balcom, living in
another county, made an exparte order in the case, that
all proceedings in the action on the part of the plaintiff,
including the service of any orders or papers therein,
other than the summons and complaint, and also including all proceedings before Philo T. Ruggles, the referee
named in the order of Judge Murray, be stayed, until the
entry of an order upon the motion specified in a certain
notice-such stay not to exceed twenty days.  On the
next succeeding day, Judge Barnard, of the Supreme
Court, at a court held in the city of New York, made an
order in a cross-suit, similar in terms and effect to that
of Judge Balcom, enjoining proceedings in the suit before Judge Murray.
8




I70         ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
The exercise of such strange, anomalous, and conflicting judicial powers, was never before heard of in any
civilized country. If the acts of New York judges in
relation to railroad corporations, and the action of managing directors and officers thereof, do not disgust the
bar and the business men of the country with our elective
judiciary, it will be strange indeed.' Several of the
papers of the city of New York have commented with
becoming severity upon the subject.
From THE EVENING POST, Nov. 26.
"Judge        Balcom, of Binghamton, has issued
an order staying all proceedings in the suit of Joseph
H. Ramsey against the Erie Railway Company and
others, and forbidding the referee*to take testimony.
This order was served on Mr. Ramsey's counsel on Wednesday evening.
" Yesterday, Judge    - Barnard, of the Supreme
Court, in this district, issued a somewhat similar order.
*   *   *   In making these orders, both Judges directly violate the previous order made by Judge Murray,
whose jurisdiction in such cases is co-ordinate and equal
with theirs. By what right do they thus insult another
Court, and attack an authority which cannot be impaired
without disgracing themselves? If these judicial acts are
done in a private interest, in order to protect bad men
from  exposure and punishment, they are intelligible.
*   *   *  We trust that proper measures will be taken
to test these questions at once, even if it involves the
suspension of a Judge from office by the Legislature, as for
a flagrant crime, and the tedious trial of an impeachment."
From THE DEMOCRAT, Nov. 25.
"Here is the Company's seat of government. Here its
managers live.  Here they operate in gold-stocks and
bonds. Here they have, at enormous expense, purchased
an Opera House for an office, in which their orders are
written and accounts audited. Here they have purchased




ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.          171
a first-class Supreme Court, on purpose to decide all matters of law in their favor; and it is an insult to the Company, its Opera House, and its Court, to compel Fisk and
Gould to go out of the city. *   *   *  Must they be
forced to buy a little Supreme Court to locate at every
depot along the line   Must they employ only Supreme
Judges for switch-tenders, to open and shut the law, to let
such and only such trains through as are marked' Fisk
& Gould,' private  "
From THE WORLD, Nov. 27.
"There have never been more disreputable scandals in
the administration of miscalled justice, than those which
are now, for the second time, taking place in connection
with the affairs of the Erie Railway. An angry conflict
between the parties to a suit, is what often takes place in
litigation; but the enlisting of Judges of the same Court
as contestants engaged in a struggle to thwart and circumvent one another, and resorting to expedients of chicanery in the interest of crafty and unscrupulous litigants,
is disgraceful to.the Supreme Court, and to the personal
character of the Judges."
THE NEW YORK TIMES says:" The action of Judge Barnard in the suit commenced
in the name of the Erie Company against Mr. Ramsey
and Mr. Eaton, his counsel, to restrain the prosecution of
Mr. Ramsey's action, brought in Delaware County against
certain of the Erie Directors, is quite as remarkable as
anything which has been done hitherto by this extraordinary Judge, in this most extraordinary litigation. The
case requires no comment. *  *  *  After a career of
the most reckless and profligate management, this band
of Erie adventurers found themselves confronted at last
by an honest judge, suddenly suspended from office, and
called upon to account for forty millions of money. Forbidden access to their books and papers, except in the
presence of an unsuspended director; prohibited absolutely
from making any entry therein or removing any of them
from the office, and ordered to appear before a referee,
that all the secrets of their shameless career should be
exposed to the public view, and that the public might see




172         ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
and know when, and how, and under what circumstances
these many millions have been disbursed, —it is not surprising that extraordinary measures should have been
taken in their behalf. What may not the threatened
fearful exposition have presented?  Who can say what
reputations, *  *  *  would have been blasted by such
a revelation?
SEC. 19. —Tie frequency or infrequency of elections and
appointments.
The character of a government is determined as much
by the term of service of its officers, and the frequency or
infrequency of elections, as by the mode of such elections,
and the origin of its powers.
Late in the evening of November 9th, 1799, after N.a
poleon Bonaparte had dispersed the Council of Five Hundred at the point of the bayonet, about sixty members of
the two legislative bodies met and passed a decree, abolishing the Directory of France, vesting the executive power
in Napoleon, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos, as provisional Consuls, and appointing a Commission to act with the Consuls in framing a new constitution. A constitution was
formed in a few days.  Napoleon was made First Consul
for ten years, and the whole was submitted to a vote of
the citizens of France, on the 13th of December, 1799, and
approved by an affirmative vote of more than 3,000,000.
In 1802 the Council of State adopted a resolution to
submit to the electors of France, the question, " Shall Napoleon Bonaparte be First Consul for life? " And thereupon registers were opened in every commune, and the
people voted upon the question.  The result was announced in a senatus consultum of August 2d, 1802, declaring that 3,557,885 votes had been cast, of which 3,368,259
were in the affirmative, and only 189,626 in the negative.
On the 18th of May, 1804, the Senate declared Napo



ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.         173
leon Emperor of the French, but referred to the electors of
France the ratification or rejection of the decree.
The question was submitted to the people, and the decree was ratified by a vote almost unanimous-being 3,572,329 in the affirmative, and only 2,569 in the negative.
In December, 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the
nephew of Napoleon 1., was elected President of the then
French Republic for a period of four years, by a popular
vote of 5,658,755, against about 1,500,000 votes, which
were cast for General Cavaignac.
December 2d, 1851, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, then
President of the French Republic, issued a decree, dissolving the Legislative Assembly and Council of State;
arrested and sent to prison about one hundred and eighty
members of the Assembly, and a number of other distinguished men; with the aid of the army mowed down
with fire-arms in the streets of Paris, more than two thousand citizens who opposed his revolutionary measures;
made himself DICTATOR OF FRANCE; decreed universal suffrage; and issued a proclamation to the people. On the 3d
of December he decreed that the people meet in their respective communes, and by their votes accept or reject the
following plebiscite:' The French people desire the maintenance of the authority of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte,
and delegate to him the powers necessary to establish a
constitution, upon the basis proposed in his proclamation
of December 2d."  The affirmative votes cast November
20th and 21st, 1851, numbered 7,439,216; the negative
votes 640,737; and 30,820 votes were annulled for irregularity.
In pursuance of the authority vested in him by the voice
and vote of the people, Louis Napoleon formed and adopted a
new constitution for France, by which he was made President for ten years, with nearly absolute power, and very




174         ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
slight checks upon its exercise. He was invested with the
command of the army and navy, with the sole power to
initiate laws, and nominate all officers-with power to
declare war, conclude peace, make treaties of alliance and
commerce-with a Senate and Corps Legislatif and
Council of State to assist him, but with little more than
advisory and nominal authority.
Like Napoleon I., not satisfied with the nominally republican constitution and Presidency, in accordance with a
decree of the Senate, the question was again submitted
to the people in November, 1852; Louis Napoleon was
elected Emperor, by the vote of 7,824,129 of the citizens
of France; and the Empire was proclaimed December
2d, 1852.
Such have been the votes of the people of France,by which they conferred almost absolute power upon Napoleon Bonaparte, and also upon Louis Napoleon; and increased their powers from time to time, after each of
them had been guilty of the most dangerous conspiracies,
usurpations, and abuses of power.
When officers are elected for one, two, three, four, or
six years, with powers defined and limited by law, public
opinion and the criticisms of the press in a free country,
have a powerful influence and check upon them. They
know that they cannot be re-elected unless they satisfy
their constituents; that they will be subject to trial and
punishment, if they are guilty of crime, corruption, or
official misconduct; and that misconduct in office is often
more easily ferreted out by successors, and generally more
easily punished, after they go out of office, than while
they remain in. The shorter their terms of official service
may be, the more dependent they are upon the popular
will, and the more subject they are to public opinion.
The term may be so short as to destroy nearly all indepen



ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.         175
dence and firmness in the discharge of official duties, And
produce a timid spirit-injurious to the public weal.
If a man hold office for life, or for so long a period as
he will probably want the office, he often feels too independent of the people, and has too little regard for public
opinion-unless he is ambitious to obtain a higher station.
Hence the importance to an educated and intelligent people, in a country of law, of electing their legislative, executive, and administrative officers, for comparatively short
periods of time-to hold them in check, and compel them
to study the public interest, and to pay heed to an enlightened public opinion. The Bonapartes, elected as they
were, were no more held in check by the public opinion
of France or of the world, than they would have been if
they had been hereditary monarchs. Their election by
the people for ten years, and then for life, served to foster
their pride, to confirm their supremacy and power over
the people, and to make them feel more independent than
they would, if they had inherited their power. Napoleon
was more absolute, and so is Louis Napoleon, than any of
the hereditary monarchs of Europe, except the Czar of
Russia, and the Sultan of Turkey; and the fact that they
owed their high position and power to the votes of the people of France, gave the people no additional check upon
them, and no more influence over them.
All our elective officers, State, national, and local, are
elected for short, or comparatively short periods of time;
and such is the case also with those appointed to officewith the exception of the judges. The officers in some of
the States are elected for too short periods, to be convenient or advantageous. They render elections for many
offices too frequent. The governors of all the New England States are elected annually; in each of the States of
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia,




176          ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana,
Texas, California, Oregon, and Nevada, the governor is
elected for four years; in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
lie is elected for three years; and in each of the other States
he is elected for two years. The terms of service of State
officers and State Senators are equally short and variousbeing but one year in each of the New England States,
and from two to four years in the other States.
No advantages can arise from the election of such officers and county officers annually, over their election for
three or four years. Frequent elections render the changes
of officers too frequent, and the scramble for office too
great. More experience, as a general rule, will be secured during a series of years, by electing such officers for
three or four years, than for but one or two; and the expense and idleness, intrigues and other evils, attending
their nomination and election, will occur less frequently
in one case than in the other. If the annual election of
nearly all officers has worked well in New England, it is
because they are a homogeneous, educated, and intellectual people. As the foreign element increases, the system
may not work so well.
Senates should be filled with men of mature minds,
who should hold their offices long enough to acquire experience, and become intimately acquainted with the affairs of the State; but the members of the most numerous
branch of the legislature should be elected for a shorter
period, that they may feel the public will more sensibly.
Long periods of official service, and holding office
during good behavior, serve to educate men for the efficient and proper discharge of official duties, and tend to
make skilful officers; but at the same time that system
tends to foster an esprit de corps among officials; to
stimulate the pride of official rank; to excite class feel



ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.          177
ings and interests, and ambition for high salaries; and to
produce indifference and disregard for the interests of the
laboring classes. Hence the system is anti-democratic in
its tendencies.
Frequent elections for short terms, bring fresh zeal and
industry to the public service, but they tend to fill
nearly all offices the most of the time with new men, of
no official experience, or very little, if any; to foster a
petty ambition in great numbers of people, and to induce
a general scramble for offices of all grades, high and low.
They afford very little opportunity for the proper education of statesmen, and the fill development of statesmanship.  They have beeh a great evil in our country, and
that evil has been increasing, during the last fifty years.
To secure experience and efficiency in office, and main-,
tain a republican spirit, it seems necessary to observe a
proper mean between long and short terms of official
service-as each system has its advantages and disadvantages.  The experience of our national and State
governments indicates, that the best term of service for the
most of our executive and administrative officers, is four
years. Many, that make first-rate officers, should be continued, and some should be promoted; while those that
are not above mediocrity, should retire at the end of their
term, that their places may be filled by others. The
term of the President of the United States does not seem
too long nor too short. It is not so long as to enable the
President, by his patronage and power, to obtain an undue ascendency over Congress or the army; nor so short
as to make him too weak, and enable Congress very easily
to undermine the Executive power.  Every President,
except Tyler and Johnson, has exercised as much power
over Congress, the army, and the people, as was consistent,
with the public weal.
8*




178         REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.
SEC. 20.-The representation of minorities.
Our present system, of giving the entire representation
to the majority, in each election district, and none to the
minority, is not equal, nor just to the minority. It is
neither republican nor democratic, just nor politic. Every
principle of equality and justice requires that minorities
should have an equal representation with majorities, as
far as is practicable, in proportion to their numbers. To
attain that end, the following suggestions are made:
1st. Divide a large State into six or eight senatorial
districts, giving to each district six senators, to be divided
after the first election into two classes, and to be elected
for four years;-so that half the senate, three in each
district, shall be elected every two years-each elector
voting for two persons, or casting two  votes for one
person, for senator.  By that mode, the party having a
majority in a district would elect two of the senators at
each election, and the minority would elect one.
2d. Divide a State into districts, for the election of
members of the most numerous branch of the legislature,
without dividing counties,-so that each district may
have two or more members, by attaching each county,
not entitled to two representatives, to some other county
-to form  a district.  In districts entitled to but two
members, allow each elector to vote for but one. In districts entitled to three members, allow each elector to vote
for two persons; or to cast two votes for one.  In districts entitled to either four or five members, allow each
elector to vote for three, or to cast three votes for one.
In large cities, entitled to six or more members, let each
elector vote, as near as may be, for two-thirds as many
persons as the city may be entitled to members, and for




REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.         179
not less than three-fifths, nor more than three-fourths as
many; or to cast all his votes for a less number.
3d. In forming Congressional districts, if a State be
entitled to less than six members, let it form but one district; ifit be entitled to six or more members, divide it
so that each district shall have three members, and if in
so dividing, there be a remainder of one or two, attach
them  to one of the districts, —giving it four or five
members.  In States having only one or two members, let each voter vote for one; in districts entitled to
three members, let each voter vote for two, or cast two
votes for one; and in districts entitled to four or five members, let each voter vote for three, or cast three votes for
one.
4th. Elect two Presidential electors at large, in each
State, and elect the others to which each State may be
entitled, by districts, in the same manner as members of
Congress. Let each voter vote for one elector at large,
and for the others, to which his district may be entitled,
let him vote the same as for members of Congress.
5th. A plurality should elect in all cases; and on canvassing, the requisite number of persons having the largest
number of legal votes, should be declared elected, and certificates issued accordingly. By such a system, the minority in each district would be represented, as well as the
majority.  The former would generally have one-third,
and the latter two-thirds of the representation.
6th. In cities, give each ward or district three aldermen; and allow each elector to vote for two, or to cast
two votes for one.
7th. In States where they have no county boards of
supervisors to audit accounts, equalize and levy taxes,
take charge of the county property, the county poor, and
county roads and bridges, elect five county commissioners




180         REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.
every two years for such purposes, allowing each elector
to vote for three, or to cast three votes for one.
8th. For the administration of towns, elect annually a
board of five officers, each elector voting for three; and
in States where they have boards of county supervisors,
let the electors designate on their ballots which shall be
supervisor and which town clerk, the other three to be
assessors; and the board elected to designate which shall
be treasurer.  Let the board so elected supervise and
equalize the valuation of property for the assessment of
taxes, audit the accounts of the town, and constitute the
board for the registration of voters, and the election board
for receiving, canvassing, and certifying to the votes cast
at elections.
Such a system of representation and voting would remedy many evils, remove many facilities and temptations
to corruption and fraud, and be productive of many advantages.
Ist. It would do justice to the minority, and protect
their rights much better than they are now, by giving
them a representation and a voice in every election district, and in every county, city, and town board.
2d. By giving both parties a representation and a voice
in every county and town, city and village council and
administrative board, for levying taxes, authorizing expenditures and contracts, auditing accounts and claims,
registering voters, and receiving and canvassing votes at
elections, it would subject all such proceedings to a proper degree of publicity; remove the facilities for secret
management, favoritism and intrigue, fraud and corruption; and thereby promote honesty and fairness in the
transaction of public business.
3d. It would remove the temptation to great party
efforts, fraud, and deception-to carry elections in States




REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.          181
and districts where, parties are nearly equal-because
neither party could gain by success or lose by defeat,
more than one-third of the representation; whereas one
party now gains all the representatives and officers, and
the other loses all.
4th. By dividing the representation more justly and
fairly between the two great political parties of the day,
and rendering it impossible for either party to get all the
State senators, members of Congress, or representatives of
any State or district, it would lessen the prize to be gained
by successful party efforts; moderate the violence of party
strife and the intensity of party spirit; and allow voters
to act more deliberately and independently, and with less
party restraint.
5th. By enlarging the senatorial, representative, and
Congressional districts, each would comprise a larger population, more varied interests, and more men of talent and
distinction; which would give a better opportunity in many
districts to secure men for the State legislature, as well as
for Congress, of a higher order of talent and experience.
6th. As no party would be likely to support two farmers, two manufacturers, two mechanics, two merchants,
or two lawyers in the same district, all the different employments and business pursuits, professions and classes
of men, would be better and more equally and fairly represented than they are now. Nor could the people of one
religious denomination, if they constitute a majority, elect
all the representatives, as they can now.
It may be further said, that the system suggested has
been tested in the triple and fourfold districts of Great
Britain and Ireland, under their Reform Bill of 1868, and
that it worked well.
To prevent secret and improper management of the
directors of corporations, for speculative purposes and




182         REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.
private gain, the holders of a minority as well as of the
majority of the stock, should be represented as far as
practicable, upon the board of directors; and the mode
of voting should be prescribed by law, in such a manner
as to secure that end.
Public attention in our country has been called within
a few years, to the importance of minority representation,
as a means of securing fairness in legislation, and in the
administration of the government; and also of securing a
higher order of talent. There is usually no great scramble for nominations in the party which is in the minority,
in a district or county; and hence they generally bring
forward their best men.
Upon the recommendation of the Governor of the State
of New York, the legislature of 1867, in providing for a
Constitutional Convention, directed a certain number of
members to be elected by districts, and that thirty-two
should be elected by general ticket in the State-each
elector to vote for only sixteen. The object and the effect was, to return sixteen of the ablest and best men of
the State, from each of the two great political parties of
the day. The Governor of Ohio, in his annual message
to the legislature in November, 1868, said: "The abuses
of the elective franchise require the attention of the General Assembly at the present session, and I submit the
propriety of amendments to the election laws,for the representation of minorities in the boards of judges and
clerks of elections, and in the registration of lawful voters,
in each township, ward, and precinct, prior to the election."
SEC. 21. —Double elections, and the prohibition of nominating conventions and caucuses.
The number of elective offices in the ITnited States is




DOUBLE ELECTIONS.               183
so great, and the patriots, ready and anxious to serve the
country in an official capacity, so numerous, that the
practice of holding party caucuses and conventions, to
designate candidates to be supported at elections, has become general, and has been developed into a system.
The evils of the system have been heretofore shown; but
however great and numerous they may be, the system
cannot be dispensed with, in the present state of things,
until a substitute has been supplied. My suggestion is,
that double elections be held; that the first one be held
two, three, or four weeks before the second, as a substitute
for caucuses and conventions-to designate by the voice
of the electors of both parties, the candidates to be supported at the ensuing election.
The electors should vote at the first, as well as at the
second election, in the method indicated in the last section; the results of the first election to be treated as a
mere selection of candidates, and the voters at the second
election to be limited in voting, to a certain number of
persons having the highest number of votes at the first
election-perhaps twice the number for which he is allowed to vote with one added thereto-so that in districts
entitled to three members, there may be five legal candidates at the second election; each voter to be allowed to
vote for two of them, or to cast two votes for but one.
Require the election board of officers of each election
district, to procure a sufficient number of tickets to be
printed and distributed at the polls, at the second election, on each of which the names of all the legal candidates should be inserted, in the order of the number of
votes they severally received at the first election, with a
proper caption-designating the office for which they are
candidates.  The voter would then have before him  for
consideration the names of all the candidates, and should




184               DOUBLE ELECTIONS.
strike out those that he does not design to vote for, and
leave upon the ticket unerased the names only of those
that he votes for-or if he wishes to cast two votes for
one person, he may strike out all the names but one, and
opposite that name add the words, two votes.
Previous to the first election, the names of suitable persons for candidates would be announced in newspapers,
and political tracts, and handbills, and their merits presented to the people for consideration; and meetings
would be held, at which the merits of persons whose
names had been suggested as candidates, would be examined and discussed, in connection with the political questions of the day. Every individual would and should be
allowed to express freely his choice of candidates; but
no vote should be taken to determine the choice of the
majority of the meeting between candidates-nor to commit the meeting to support any person or persons as candidates. After the first election the merits and demerits
of the candidates selected, would be more fully canvassed
and presented to the people, in public meetings, as well
as in newspapers, political tracts, and printed addresses.
Such a method of proceeding would supersede the necessity and use of party caucuses and conventions to
make nominations; and they might with propriety be
prohibited. It would also obviate the necessity of party
committees, to procure and distribute tickets; the voter
would be relieved from the shackles of party, and from
the undue influence of party leaders and politicians;
and the votes cast at each election, would express, as near
as possible, the spontaneous choice of the people. Under
such a system, the government would be a popular government, in the full sense of those terms. It would be a
government of the whole people, wielded for the benefit
of the whole people; while it is now merely the govern



DOUBLE ELECTIONS.              185
ment of a political party, managed to a large extent for
the benefit of the leaders of the party.
The representation of minorities, cumulative voting,
and the system of double elections, are not necessarily dependent upon each other, and either may be adopted and
work well without the others; but all three of them combined would make the reform, and the remedy for our
present political evils, the more complete.




CHAPTER IV.
WOMAN-HER RIGHTS, AND THE AGITATION IN RELATION TO
THEM; HER CONSTITUTION AND NATURE; HER TALENTS,
AND PROPER SPHERE OF ACTION; AND HER CLAIMS TO
THE ELECTIVE SUFFRAGE, AND TO THE RIGHT TO HOLD
OFFICE.
SEC. 1. —Woman-her rights, and the agitation in
relation to them.
THE rights of woman are very little regarded by the
common law of England; which, with slight modifications, became the common law of all the States of the
Union, except Louisiana. By marriage her legal existence was regarded as merged in that of her husband; her
personal property absolutely vested in him, became his,
and was subject to his sole control, and to the claims of
his creditors; her earnings belonged to him; he became
tenant during their joint lives, of her real estate, and had
its use; and if she had a child or children by him, he
became tenant by the courtesy of all her real estate, during
his life-time. She could neither sue nor be sued, nor
make a valid contract, except as the agent of the husband. She had no rights of property which the law
recognized and protected, during his life-time.
That was all wrong. There is no good and sound
reason why marriage should not be treated as a special
and peculiar partnership for life,-the wife retaining the
title and control of her own property, and her earnings
also, as fully as the husband does his-both contributing




WOMAN'S RIGHTS.               187
to the common good, according to their ability. So far
as the husband manages his wife's property, he should do
so as her agent, and only with her assent, and in accordance with her wishes. He should have no power to sell
or otherwise dispose of her property, contrary to her
wishes, or without her assent; and yet its use and income,
or a proper share of it, should be devoted to the common
good of the family. There is no propriety in her living
in luxury and indolence upon his earnings and propertyinsisting that he is bound to support her-and to allow
her own property, if she have any, to accumulate for her
future use. Both should contribute to the common good.
Nor should she be allowed to contract debts in his name
to adorn her person, or for anything but the most common comforts of life, without his express assent. On the
contrary, she should be allowed to make contracts in her
own name, and to bind herself by her contracts, and be
subject to suit, and able to sue to enforce them; and the
husband should seldom be responsible for her acts or contracts. The law should give him the same share of her
property after her death, that it gives her of his, and no
other. This would put husband and wife upon terms of
as near an equality, as their different spheres of life will
permit.
Since the year 1840, laws have been enacted in many
of the States, and recently in England, to secure to married women their property, and the enjoyment and control thereof, freed from the control of the husband, and
from subjection to the payment of his debts. These laws
are in some respects defective and imperfect, and yet they
secure, in most particulars, the civil rights of married
women; and with some amendments and additional provisions, will do so very perfectly. The laws of France
treat marriage as a partnership for life; and not only




188     CONSTITUTION AND SPHERE OF WOMAN.
secure to married women all their civil rights, but give
the wife such a power and restraining influence over the
husband in the management of his business and the sale
of his property, that it checks enterprise, and often tends
to paralyze his energy.
We now have a class of women who, not content with
the protection and enjoyment of all their civil rights, are.
agitating the public mind to obtain political power-the
elective franchise, and eligibility to all offices. Women
now nearly monopolize the business of teaching children
and youth, have become a great social power in the land,
as they should be; and yet some are not satisfied because
they do not exercise political power. They are becoming
ambitious to hold office, and to hold the balance of power
between the two great political parties. They are seeking to become a new element of power, and hence their
character and qualifications should be carefully analyzed
and examined, to the end that their claims to political
power may be fairly considered.
SEC. 2.-The constitution, nature, and proper sphere of
woman.
Woman's constitution and nature are widely different
from man's, and fit her for a sphere of industry and duty
very different from his. They are counterparts to each
other, fitted to live together as husband and wife, and the
heads of a family  his being the more public, and hers
the domestic sphere. The difference in constitution, and
fitness for different spheres of life, are the sources of the affinities of the sexes, which constitute the strongest and most
permanent bond of union which exists among mankind.
Marriage and the domestic relations arise from natural
affinities-from the nature, constitution, and association
of the sexes, and the fruits of their union. Marriage, or




CONSTITUTION AND SPHERE OF WOMAN.        189
the union of a man and woman for life, in the relation of
husband and wife, and as the heads of a distinct family,
forms the first stage of organized society. The children
of such unions constitute additional bonds of union between the parents. Marriage being the consummation
of an agreement for a union during life, is of more consequence to woman than to man, and therefore she should
do nothing to.weaken the marriage tie.
The union of a man and woman for life, in the holy
relation of husband and wife, leads to the full development and perfection of the marital, parental, filial, and
fraternal affections, and of all the domestic affections and
sympathies; which would otherwise have only a fleeting
existence. When the parties are adapted to each other,
and each is contented to fill his or her proper sphere, and
has capacity to do so-so that all the family duties and
offices are satisfactorily discharged-without conflict or
rivalship, the relation tends to produce identity of interest, of sympathy, and of hopes and fears for the future;
to allay jealousies; and to develop feelings of security
and happiness. But to produce harmony of action, and
attain these ends, the family must have a head-a business, financial, and directing head; and as a general rule,
the husband must be that head, and the wife must act as
the confidential friend and adviser, being free to act in accordance with her own opinions and tastes, in all matters
within her special sphere; but assigning to the husband
the final determination of all matters of finance, the
amount of the family expenses, and whatever relates to
his own business. Whenever there is a struggle between
them, to determine which shall be the head of the family,
there is no chance for harmony of feeling or action, nor
for domestic affection or happiness. Two heads entirely
equal can seldom harmonize in action.




190      CONSTITUTION AND SPHERE OF WOMAN.
Woman's constitution and nature fit her to be the companion, the assistant, the help-mate of man. She is not
his equal in his particular sphere, but his superior in her
own sphere. She is superior to him in the delicacy of her
organization and in sensibility, in the acuteness of the
senses, and in refinement of feeling and sentiment; but
she is not his equal in physical strength, in powers of endurance, in courage and bravery, nor in capacity for
business of any kind-except teaching  children and
youth.  Her constitution and nature render her more
timid than man; more apprehensive of danger, and less
fitted for the strifes and struggles of a business life; for
bold and hazardous enterprises; for navigating the ocean,
seas, and lakes; and for subduing, governing, and using
animals for labor and practical business. She is not only
unfitted for a seafaring life, for hunting and fishing, for
military pursuits, but for agricultural pursuits, mining, or
manufactures, except as the assistant of man; and she is
totally unfitted to act an independent part in public
life.
Hiaving less strength and powers of endurance than
man, she has less ambition for power and dominion, less
inclination to inquire into the principles of science, and
to fathom its depths, as stepping-stones to business and
wealth-less power to master the details and complexities
of business, and to endure its disappointments, shocks,
and reverses. Having more delicacy and sensibility than
man, she is more under the influence of her feelings, and
is governed less by abstract rules and fixed principles;
and hence her judgment, as a general rule, is not so cool,
deliberate, and sound as man's.
Being less able to defend and protect herself, more
timid, less fitted for out-door labor and exposure to the
elements, totally unfitted for many of the rougher and




CONSTITUTION AND SPHERE OF WOMAN.        191
harder kinds of labor, and having less capacity for nearly
all business employments, she naturally clings to man as
her protector, and main support. She is fittedfor domestic life, to be the companion, assistant, and help-mate of
man, to raise and educate children, and manage the
household affairs. She is fitted for the domestic circle,
not the political circle; for domestic life, not for official
life; —not for the turmoil of politics, and the strifes and
struggles of electioneering campaigns, and contested elections with politicians, roughs, and rowdies.
That woman's talents are very different from man'sfitting her for a different sphere, is evident from her history, and from the fact that, with few exceptions, she has
followed different vocations in life; that she has clung to
man as her protector, occupied the domestic station as his
assistant and help-mate, and seldom attempted to fill a
station of independence-except when it was forced upon
her by widowhood, or by peculiar circumstances. Many
females have been taught the rules and principles, the
facts and theories of chemistry and natural philosophy,
and have also taught those sciences in the schools, but
they have never experimented in them to any considerable extent, and have never made any discoveries in chemistry or natural science. They have sometimes studied
the principles of mechanism, and practised several mechanical trades; but they have never been the equal of
man in any of them-not even in cutting and fitting
clothing; and they have never invented anything of
much importance.
Discoveries in natural science and inventions in the
practical arts, are never matters of chance; but usually
the result of experimenting for years, in accordance with
some theory or conception of the mind; and the fact that
woman has not experimented, and therefore has made




192      CONSTITUTION AND SPHERE OF WOMAN.
no such discoveries and inventions as man has, constitutes
of itself conclusive evidence that she has not had original
mental conceptions upon such subjects, as man has hadand that her talents for mechanics and natural science are
inferior to man's, and do not fit her for inventions and
discoveries.
Women write interesting novels and literary essays,
often give graphic views of domestic life, and sometimes
of the facts of history; but they never reach the spirit
and philosophy of history. Women have never distinguished themselves as historians, as discoverers in science,
as inventors, nor as mechanics, manufacturers, merchants,
navigators, or agriculturists; and yet there is no law
which prevents them  from competing with man, in all
such spheres of action, on equal terms; and they would
do so, if their tastes led them in such directions, and their
talents for such fields of inquiry and action, were equal
to man's.
Women seldom think of carrying on business except
from necessity. If they inherit property, they live on the
income of it, without troubling themselves to carry on
business to accumulate more. Not so with man. Business,
in an enlarged sense of the word, is his sphere-not hers.
It is, perhaps, unfortunate for women, in this extravagant
age of the world, that they are so little inclined to maintain their independence-to study and prepare themselves
for business, and to exert their talents and energies to
carry on business of various kinds for themselves-independent of man; and are so much inclined to lean tupon
him for protection, support, and guidance. The sphere of
woman's action might and should be extended to numerous mechanical employments, and to various branches
of manufactures, and to trade also; which many women
might pursue advantageously; if not fully equal to the




CONSTITUTION AND SPIERE OF WOMAN.      193
first classes of men, in such fields of action. At present
they are generally only laborers in such pursuits-occupying stations subordinate to men; but I see no good reason
why many of them might not embark in such branches
of business as principals, acting an independent part.
Such is the case much more frequently in Europe, than
in America.
Within a few years past, women have commenced the
study and practice of medicine, with a reasonable degree of success. They would be out of place as army
surgeons; but it seems evidently fit and proper, that women and children should be treated by female physicians.
The sphere for the exercise of woman's talents is wide
enougl, without entering the field of politics, of law,
or of government. As man is the protector of woman,
and she leans upon him for protection and support, and
is more or less dependent upon him, he fills the primary,
and she the secondary place in the family, and in society.
The husband and father is legitimately the head of the
family; and the guardian, representative, and agent of the
wife and children, in matters of business, and also in politics and government.
Single women, who have intellect and habits of industry and economy, may make themselves independent, by
their own labor and attention to business; but married
women, who are bearing and raising children, cannot
attend to much business outside of their own households;
and hence their condition is one of comparatively helpless
dependence-unless they have considerable property of
their own. Marriage is, therefore, in the nature of things,
inconsistent with female independence. Such is the general rule, to which there are few exceptions.
9




194     EMPLOYMENTS AND TASTES OF WOMEN.
SEC. 3.-The employments and condition, education and
tastes, proclivities and ambition of women.
The inventions of the spinning-jenny, the power-loom,
and the sewing-machine, have made great changes in the
employments of women, during the last hundred years.
Formerly nearly all the wool and cotton, linen and
silk, were spun by women, by hand, upon one-thread
wheels, and woven upon hand-looms.  Spinning and
weaving constituted (next to house-work) the principal
employment of women-and particularly of girls and unmarried women-so much so that the latter were designated in England as spinsters. Now all this is changed:
nearly all the spinning is done, and the cloth made by
machinery, and a considerable portion of the work is done
by men. It was formerly done in families, and gave employment to females for a large portion of the year; it is
now done in factories, and does not give a tenth part as
much employment to women, as it did prior to the nineteenth century.
Women having less mechanical talent than men, and
less ability to manage complicated machinery and keep it
in order-men occupy the posts of superintendents in every
department of factory labor: and the greatest part of the
spinning upon such complicated machines as mules and
jennies, is done by men. Even the sewing-machine, by
increasing the facility and lessening the labor, has lessened
the relative importance of sewing, and increased that of
cutting and fitting garments; thrown the business of
making clothing more into the hands and under the
control of men; thrown females more and more into the
subordinate position of executing the details, under the
superintendence and direction of men; and in a great




EMPLOYMENTS AND TASTES OF WOMEN.       195
measure taken out of woman's hands a business which
belongs peculiarly to her sphere of life.
The invention and general use of machinery in the
manufacture of cloth, and the use of sewing-machines in
making clothing, have all tended to enlarge the sphere of
man, and to contract the sphere of woman; to subordinate her industry more and more to his superintendence and direction; and to make her more and more
dependent upon him for employment, as well as for support. School-teaching is the principal employment of
women, which has been enlarged during the present
century,-the teaching of children and youth being now
mostly monopolized by females, in the United States.
If woman wishes to enjoy any considerable degree of
independence, she must study and practise mechanical
industry, book-keeping, and business of various kinds,
much more, and give less attention to music and matters
of dress and amusement, than she has done heretofore.
She must enlarge her sphere of industry, and do more for
herself; and rely less upon man. She should carry on
business of various kinds herself, and for herself. If she
cannot build and manage large cotton and woollen factories, forges and rolling-mills, there seems no good reason
why she should not carry on and manage establishments
for the manufacture of clothing. If women cannot become shipping and wholesale merchants, and carry on
such business successfully, they might keep the shops and
stores, and do a large portion of the retail business of
both city and country. This is done, to a very large
extent, in some countries of Europe. But the women of
this country seem to have no taste, and no ambition, for
such employments.
Single women of full age,-maidens as well as widows,
have the same rights as men-to control their own per



196      EMPLOYMENTS AND TASTES OF WOMEN.
sons and industry, property and business, to make contracts without any restriction or limitation, to sue and be
sued, and to pursue any occupation, employment, or business, which they may choose-except those of a military
or official character, and the practice of the law. The
professions of medicine, theology, teaching, engineering,
architecture, and navigation, are all open to them-as is
the business of banking, manufacturing, building and
operating railroads; and they can pursue any of these
professions and branches of business, if they can find
employers, or are fitted for them, and have capital and
credit to do as men do-set themselves at work, operate
with their own capital and credit, employ other women
or men as subordinates, and manage business for themselves. They often inherit property, and even a wellestablished and successful business. If they had the same
capacity and taste for business that men have, they would
employ their capital in business, as men do, and manage
it themselves. But for some cause, which it is not considered gallant to express in plain terms, ninety-nine in
every hundred that inherit property, trust it to men to
manage, and do not attempt to carry on business with it
themselves.
The question of admitting females into colleges and
universities, and giving them the same extended education as men, and in the same classes, has been much agitated of late years; and their exclusion from such institutions has been complained of as a great hardship, and-as
gross injustice. But if woman's constitution and talents
fit.her for a different, and not for the same sphere of life
as man's, why educate them together? Why not educate
them separately-each for the practical duties they are
intended to discharge?
Men are educated for the law and other professions



EMPLOYMENTS AND TASTES OF WOMEN.         197
for civil, mining, and military engineering-to fit them
for building roads and bridges, railroads and canals, to
open mines, and to take charge of all such works, and
others of a mechanical character. The pursuits of woman
are such that she needs no such education. She does not
need an extended education  in mathematics, nor in
natural nor mechanical science; because such acquirements are not adapted to her sphere of life, and to the
pursuits which she voluntarily follows. She manifests
neither taste, practical talent, nor ambition, for the professions and pursuits which demand such requirements.
When she builds roads and bridges, canals and railroads,
factories and workshops, superintends male as well as
female laborers, manages all such departments of industry,
carries on commerce by sea and by land, and also banking, successfully; then it will be proper to give her the
same education as man; and let her participate, not only
in the exercise of the elective franchise, but also in the
profession of law-in the administration of justice, and in
making and executing the laws of the land. Until she
shows herself able and willing to fill all such stations in
life, as well as man, and proves it by actual practice, it
seems out of place to educate her in the same manner,
and for the same'sphere of life as man.
Very few young women have ambition to obtain a
collegiate education, and are inclined to make sufficient
efforts to go through a collegiate course of studies. The
mnost of them are satisfied with the course of studies pursued in our best common schools-some having ambition
to acquire some knowledge of music and the fine arts, and
a few desiring a more extended education, generally for
the purpose of teaching. The chief end and purpose of
female education among the middle and wealthy classes
of our country, seems to be, to enable their daughters to




198        POSITION OF HUSBAND AND WIFE.
appear well in society-to please and amuse gentlemen,
and to get husbands who can and will support them in
ease, and without much effort on their part. Young
ladies are educated to spend-not to make money; to
live on the earnings and incomes of husbands-not to
make much effort to earn a living for themselves; to live
a life of dependence-not to carry on business for themselves and to live independently, upon the fruits of their
own industry. Young ladies and young married ladies
are expected to live in ease, though the minds of their
fathers and husbands may be so overtaxed with business,
and the anxieties attending it, as to wear them out rapidly,
and shorten their days.
The constitution, nature, and talents of woman, fit her
for domestic, not for public stations; and her tastes, proclivities, and ambition, are all in harmony with domestic
life. Hence she clings to man as her protector and
guardian; and prefers to have him act as her representative, rather than make the effort and incur the hazard
of acting for herself, an independent part. She rarely
attempts to act an independent part, except when impelled by stern necessity. She very generally leans upon
man more than is consistent with her welfare-or the
good of her family.
SEC. 4.- Woman's rights, the protection thereof, and the
relative position of husband and wife.
Man is the head and representative of the family. He
is also the agent and trustee, as well as the protector and
guardian of his wife and children, and of their rights and
property.  He should, in most cases, have power to
manage the property of the wife as her agent, in accordance
with her wishes and directions, and for the joint good and
benefit of the two, and their children, if they have any.




POSITION OF HUSBAND AND WIFE.          199
lie should have no other authority over her property and
rights of action; and the law should furnish her an adequate remedy, if he abuse his authority as agent. So far
as the English common law vests the property of the wife
or any part of it, at marriage, in the husband, it is wrong.
lie should be regarded only as her representative and
agent, with authority to act in accordance with her wishes
and interests, in civil matters; but in political matters,
his powers, from the nature of the case, must be of a broader character. He must act more independently of her, as
her trustee and guardian, as well as her representative,
and without directly consulting her wishes.
There is no conflict between the rights and interests of
husband and wife, where the law secures to a married
woman the control of her own property, person, and earnings, as it does to a husband over his; allows her to make
contracts in relation thereto; and allows the husband to
manage her property only as her agent, so long as she desires it, and he manages it in accordance with her wishes,
for the joint good of the family. On the other hand, the
husband often needs protection from the improvident acts,
extravagance, and prodigality of the wife. She should be
allowed to make contracts and purchases in his name, only
as his agent, and with his express assent,-except in very
extreme cases of destitution, when the necessity of the
case will justify it. As a general rule, the husband should
not be responsible for the acts and contracts of the wife.
There ought to be, and as a general rule there is, no
antagonism between the rights, interests, and purposes of
husband and wife.  They have, in most cases, a unity and
an identity of interest.  Such is especially the case when
they have children in common, to educate and provide for;
and neither of them has any other children.  Children
fornm the strongest possible bonds of union between parents;




200               FEMALE SUFFRAGE.
a bond of union which generally makes their unity and
identity of interest apparent to them. The greatest diversities of purpose and of interest, arise in relation to the
disposition of their property, when they have two or three
sets of children, or no children at all.
The rights and property of single women are as well
protected by law, in all civilized countries, as those of men
are; and the courts are open to both sexes alike, to redress
their wrongs. Under the Napoleon Code the property
and civil rights of married women are well protected; and
such is the case in most respects, under new statutes passed since 1840, in many of the States of this Union. As a
general rule, the same laws which protect the property,
rights, and interests of the husband, protect those of the
wife also; and in addition thereto, she has, in many of the
States, special laws for the security of her property-and
when that is the case, she certainly needs no direct participation in the government, to protect her rights. The
men may be fairly regarded as the political representatives of the women, as well as of the children, and allowed
to act for all classes, where rights and interests are so interwoven, united, and in many respects identical.
SEC. 5.-Female sufrage.
While the subject of universal manhood suffrage (including the lowest and most ignorant of the African race)
has been agitated and claimed by a great and dominant
political party, as necessary to secure the rights of the negroes in our country, promote justice among men, and perfect our system of government, some intelligent and strongminded women have very naturally conceived the idea,
that educated women have higher qualifications for the
proper exercise of the elective franchise than the ignorant
male negroes, who were recently plantation slaves; and




FEMALE SUFFRAGE.               201
they too have formed what they call an Equal Rights Association, and commenced agitating the question of extending the elective franchise and the right to hold office, to
women also. One class cries for universal manhood suffrage without regard to intelligence and capacity  to
exercise the franchise properly, and to the best interests
of the country; while the party more advanced in political theories, recognizing the propriety of universal manhood suffrage, claim and insist that women are entitled to
the same rights as men-political as well as civil-and
demand universal adult suffrage, without regard to sex.
Thils is demanded as not merely just and proper, but as
absolutely necessary to enable women to protect their
rights. In fact, some have gone so far as to denounce the
withholding of the right of suffrage and political power
from women, as gross injustice, the relic of a barbarous
age. Such are the extreme views and theories with
which our country is agitated.
If education and intelligence constitute the principal
and proper basis of the right or privilege of the elective
fianchise, then it is undeniable that it belongs of right
to nearly all the women of our Northern and Western
States, and to a majority of the white women of the
Southern States also; but does not belong to the late
plantation slaves, either male or female.
If being heads of.families and householders, acting for
others in a representative capacity, constitutes a ground
and the only just claim to the elective franchise, then a
large portion of the adult male negroes and some women,
who are widows, heads of families and householders,
should enjoy the franchise, to the exclusion of others,
both male and female, white and colored, who do not act
in any such representative capacity.
If the ownership of taxable property of the value of
9*




202               FEMALE SUFFRAGE.
two hundred dollars or more, upon which taxes are paid
annually, entitles a person to the elective franchise, as a
necessary means of protecting that property from exorbitant and unjust taxation, then a small portion of our
women, and a few negroes also, but very few indeed, of
the latter, have a just right to vote.
If subjection to military service-to defend the country
from foreign or domestic enemies in time of war, or domestic tumults and insurrections, confers a natural right
to participate so far in the government of the country, as
is involved in the exercise of the elective franchise, then
the adult male negroes of our country, if made subject to
military duty, are entitled to that right, and women are
not entitled to it-unless they have other just claims to it.
If all persons are entitled to the elective franchise without regard to qualification, merely because they are subject to taxation, either direct or indirect, and have personal rights which should be protected by law, then and in
that case, suffrage should be truly universal, and should
include not only men of all colors and races, but women
also, and children of both sexes and all ages that can walk
to the polls and put in such ballots as their parents,
guardians, or friends may put into their hands. But it
would require much boldness and hardihood to claim
that minors and children subject to their parents, or under
guardianship, and not allowed to make contracts except
of a certain class, have a natural right to the elective
franchise, the exercise of which requires judgment and information to do it with advantage to themselves, or
safety to the community; and yet many of our young
men between 16 or 18 and 21 years of age, have higher
qualifications for the proper exercise of that privilege,
than nine-tenths of the adult male negroes of the South
have.




FEMALE SUFFRAGE.                203
If any class of women are entitled to political powers
and privileges, it is widows, who are householders, and
act in a representative capacity as heads of familieshaving minor children under their care and protection,
whose rights and interests it is their duty to look after
and protect.
The husband is the legal representative of the wifemade so by her own free choice, in accordance with the
laws of nature. The rights of married women are generally united and interwoven with those of their husbands;
and their husbands so fairly and fully represent them,
and their fathers, brothers, and other male friends sympathize so deeply with them, that their rights and interests
could be no better protected if they enjoyed the elective
franchise themselves. The colored man has much greater
need of the elective franchise to protect his rights, than
our women have; for the latter have (as I have endeavored to show) representatives and guardians of their rights,
and the sympathy, as a general rule, of the whole community; while the poor negro at the South has no such representative and guardian of his rights, and no such sympathy to aid in protecting them.
If females were allowed to vote, it is probable that
single women would generally vote with their fathers or
brothers, and married ones with their husbands; and
thus enable husband, father, or other male friend, to cast
practically two votes instead of one-some females voting
with one party and some with the other; so that the
general result, in most cases, would not be materially
changed by female votes. But some females would think
and act differently from their husbands and male friends,
and would vote in opposition to them;-which would ho
the cause of dissensions and discords in families, and of
contentions and quarrels between husband and wife, and




204              FEMALE SUFFRAGE.
become a more fruitful source of separations and divorces,
than all other causes. Domestic peace and harmony are
of vastly greater importance to married women, than the
personal exercise of the elective franchise. If they cannot trust their husbands, as the heads of their families, to
act for them, in the election of public officers, there can
be no confidence, and no harmony in the relations of husband and wife; and we should soon get down to a system
of temporary domestic unions-in accordance with the
agreement and mutual consent of the parties, like other
co-partnerships. Women can never profit by claims to
political power.
If the women, aspiring to be office-holders and to obtain a share of the offices of the country, should combine
together, form associations and political parties among themselves, hold their own separate caucuses and nominating
conventions, and canvass for votes as men do, and as they
would do very soon, they would hold the balance of
power between the two great political parties of the
country; and as they would hlave, in most of the States,
as many votes as the men, and in some of the old States
they would have a majority of all the votes, they could
dictate terms to each party, and would make their own
nominations, of a third or fourth ticket, if their terms
were not acceded to. Husband and wife, mother and
sons, brothers and sisters, and even mothers and daughters, would often be arrayed against each other; and the
result would be, that we should have more violent and
bitter political contests than we now have; the peace of
many families would be destroyed, and we should have
the most perfect domestic, as well as political pandemonium in our country, which ever existed on the earth.
The bargaining and intrigue, sale and purchase of votes,
corruptions and evils, which would necessarily grow out




FEMALE SUFFRAGE.                 205
of such a system, would overbalance any possible good
that could arise from the change.
Women, whose husbands or fathers have sacrificed
their lives or their health in the public service, are entitled
to public consideration; and it may be well to appoint
them to clerkships, and to post-offices in country villages,
when circumstances are favorable.  But the idea of
encouraging women to dabble in politics as electors and
candidates for elective offices, does not strike me favorably. I do not believe public morals or the public good,
can be promoted by such means.
The right to vote at municipal elections in England,
having been conferred upon certain classes of women by
act of Parliament, approved in August last, (1869); and
the right to vote at all elections in the territory of Wyoming, having been conferred upon adult females equally
with men, by the territorial legislature, the experiment of
female suffrage will soon be tried, both in England and
America; and its influence upon society and the domestic relations, as well as upon elections and the government, will be tested and ascertained. If it should have
a salutary influence upon elections and governments,
without disturbing the harmony of families, it will be
extended from  one Territory and State, province and
country to another, until it becomes the established law,
among all English-speaking people.  On the contrary,
if it should have a disturbing and  disorganizing influence, and prove a failure, as is generally believed,
it will be given up, and the agitation for its extension will cease.  In any case, its influence in practice
will aid in settling social and political questions of
great importance to the cause of civilization, in the only
method by which they can be fairly and satisfactorily
determined. Theories upon such subljects are often found




206               DUTIES OF WOMEN.
delusive-when reduced to practice. Until fairly tested
by practice, they are uncertain and blind guides-compared with the facts of history, and the results of practice and usage.
SEC. 6. —Duties of women, and their business in special
cases.
The views presented in this chapter apply to the many
of the female sex-to at least ninety-nine in an hundred;
and partially, though to only a limited extent, to the
remaining few, who have been characterized as the strongminded.  There are but few high prizes in the great lottery of life; and no matter what men's education and
talents, acquirements and social position may be, but few
of them can possibly obtain high official positions-either
in the government or in the great corporations and associated industrial establishments of the country. The mass
of men, let their acquirements and capacity be whatever
they may, must fill the middle, common, and lower. stations of life; and must content themselves with such
stations, or be discontented, restless, and unhappy. So
with women. Nearly all of them  must, from necessity,
occupy the middle, common, and lower stations in life;
and must cling to their husbands and families, and conform
to the condition, rank in life, and social position, in which
the Providence of God-birth, marriage, and good or ill
fortune, haye placed them,-if they wish to fill the spheres
which God designed them  for, and to enjoy a tolerable
degree of contentment and happiness in this world.
As a general rule, a married woman must follow the
fortunes of her husband, and move in the same social
circle with him, and with the wives of his peers; should
conform herself and her industry, her habits of life and




DUTIES OF WOMEN.                207
style of living, to his business, condition in life, and income;
act as a help-mate, to manage discreetly and economically,
the family and household affairs, and instruct and aid
in educating her children. If she cannot make money,
she should study and manage to save as much of his
earnings and income as is consistent with the comfort and
general good of the family, and do her part to improve
their condition, and to accumulate something for the
future use and benefit of herself and husband, and their
children after them; and not, by a style of living beyond
their means, drag herself and her family, as well as her
husband, all down together into the slough of bankruptcy
and poverty.
The cases where women carry on business, or manage
property themselves, are exceptional-in which they fill,
to some extent, the usual sphere of men. They may be
classed as follows:
1st. Married women that have inherited or otherwise
acquired fortunes or property, and retain the control and
management of it themselves, independent of their husbands.
2d. Single women, who carry on business or manage
property themselves; and married women, who carry on
business independent of their husbands.
3d. Married women, the health of whose husbands
lla. failed, and, by reason of the necessity of the case,
and uncommon energy of character, they continue to
carry on the husband's business, under his advice-with
the aid of employes.
4th. Widows left with children, who continue to carry
on the farm, workshop, store, tavern, or other business
of the deceased husband, or some other business, with the
aid of her children and emnployes, and for the support
and maintenance of herself and family.




208        HOUSEHOLD WORK-AVERSION TO.
In these exceptional cases, women must superintend
their business, or some portion of it, keep books of account, make out and settle accounts, make contracts, employ men, settle with and pay their employes, sometimes
borrow money and give their obligations, and do many
things which properly belong to. the sphere of men; but
which some women learn, and do successfully.  Very
few women, however, are inclined to attend to such business, until stern necessity compels them; and when such
is the case, the exercise and the attention to business, very
generally improve their health, strength, and activity, of
both body and mind. Exercise and practice are necessary
to develop and give strength to the brain and mental
faculties of woman, as well as to her muscles, and other
physical organs.
It seems obvious that there should be an enlargement
of the sphere of industry for women, and an increase
in the number of female employments in this country;
but it must depend upon public opinion and the voluntary action of females themselves, and not upon legislation, to make the necessary changes; and hence the
elective franchise would be of no use to them, in that regard. The wages of females employed in cooking and
household work may be too low to be in keeping with
wages in other employments; but neither wages nor employments can properly be regulated by law. The wages
of labor depend partly upon custom, but mostly upon demand and supply.
SEC. 7. Cooking and household work-Aversion to, of
American girls.
About half of the women and girls in this and all
countries, are required for common household worksuch as cooking and baking, washing and ironing, nurs



HOUSEHOLD WORK-AVERSION TO.          209
ing, &c., &c.; but owing to the fact that higher wages
are paid to females employed in factories, or in teaching,
and other causes, there is very generally a great aversion,
on the part of American girls, to going out to service to
do household work; so much so that the people of the
North and West are obliged to depend for such help,
mostly upon Irish and German girls-and at the South
upon colored women and girls.
When American girls get married, the most of them
are ready to conform to their circumstances, and to do
housework for themselves, when necessary; but have a
great aversion to doing the same kind of work for others.
And many of them are not inclined to bring up their
daughters to do the same kind of work and drudgery,
even at home, which they do themselves for their own
families; and they will work beyond their strength, often
injure their own health, to save their daughters and bring
them up in comparative ease and indolence. Such feelings and aversions to doing housework, are the effects of
an unsound public opinion among women; which result
in bringing up a large portion of our American girls,
without such an industrial education and habits of industry, as are necessary for the future good of themselves and
their families.
The want of sufficient female help, and the difficulty in
many cases, of getting good help in this country to do
housework, is the great bane of housekeeping and domestic life. Housework must be done, and if not all
done by females it must be done by men. Who should
do it? Many educated and well-bred women who have
families and children, and need help to do housework,
and are able and willing to pay for it, are compelled to
go into their kitchens, for days, and sometimes for weeks
in succession, and to work often beyond their strength, to




210        HOUSEHOLD WORK-AVERSION TO.
do the necessary cooking and housework for their families. If it were not for the immigration from Europe,
and the great numbers of Irish and German girls and
women, who are willing to go into the families of others,
to do housework, American ladies, in our cities and villages, would very generally be compelled to do the most
of their own work, or hire men to do it.
Though housework is a healthy employment, it is
mostly solitary work, and therefore unattractive. Sewing, and work in shops and factories, where several
females are collected together, gives an opportunity for
sociability, and is more attractive on that account. Hence
there are thousands of women in cities who attempt to
live by the use of the needle, some of whom are compelled
to resort occasionally to vice, to eke out a very poor support with the wages of sin, when they could get an
honest and much more comfortable living, if they would
go into families, and do housework, sewing, and such
other work as the circumstances of the family might require.
By reason of great numbers of females becoming
teachers and seamstresses, those employments are overstocked, and wages depressed.  Complaints are often
made, that females are wronged and oppressed, because
their wages are so much lower than those of men. In
seasons of distress we have occasionally heard that there
were thousands of sewing-women in the city of New
York, and other large cities, in a suffering condition; and
some having children on the borders of starvation,-by
reason of the low prices paid for their labor, and a deficiency of work. If large numbers of them  would go
into smaller cities, and into the country and country
villages, and do housework, or any other work, proper for
females to do, that they could get, they could all find




REMEDIES SOUGHTT, AN  SUGGESTED.     211
comfortable homes, and get fair wages; the labor market
for sewing-women in the large cities would be relieved;
and those that remained there would get more employment, and better pay.
The remedy now sought, by a large class of talented
women, for low wages and all the wrongs and evils females
are subject to, is female suffrage.  They overlook the
fact that the prices of labor are governed by custom and
the laws of trade, and not by statute laws; that they are
regulated by demand and supply, and cannot be prescribed
by statute, without doing mischief instead of good; and
that there is no connection between the elective suffrage,
and the prices of labor. The English reform bill of 1867
extends the right of suffrage to nearly all the laboring
men of the kingdom; but it has had no sensible effect
upon the prices of labor. The only effect it can ever
have upon the welfare of the laborer, will be an indirect
one, upon legislation-to lessen and equalize the burdens
of taxation, remove the oppressive powers and privileges
of the aristocracy and the clergy, and promote good
government. We have no such evils to correct, and if
we had, do not believe we could correct them by female
suffrage.  The unfortunate condition of many females as
well as men in this country, and particularly of sewingwomen in the large cities, is not owing to the government, nor to the law; but to the nature of things-to
the state of society, to the sentiments and prejudices of
women-to their aversion to do housework, and many
other kinds of labor which they might do-and to their
improvidence, in not saving more of their wages, to accumulate something for a future day.
If those engaged in the woman's rights movement,
would lend their efforts to change public opinion in relation to female employments-to collect and disseminate




212       REMEDIES SOUGHT, AND SUGGESTED.
information among females, as to the demand for and
prices of female labor in different cities and sections of the
country, and in different employments-to remove the
prejudices of their sex against household labor-to enlighten females as to the importance to their future welfare, of saving as much as possible of their earnings, and
depositing them on interest in savings-banks, or investing
them in national, State, city, or other bonds and good
securities, drawing interest, to accumulate something for
a future day —those eloquent women would render an
invaluable service to their country, as well as to their sex.
They would do what cannot be effected by the ballot,
by legislation, nor by the government. They would aid
in correcting evils, which have not been produced by the
workings and errors of the government; but by the workings and errors of society. Hence the remedy must be
social, and not political.




CHAPTER V.
THE EXPANSION OF THE POPULATION  OF THE  UNITED
STATES; THE ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY; THE INCREASE
OF STATES AND OF POWER, OF INDUSTRY AND OF WEALTH;
AND THE POPULAR IDEA OF THE MANIFEST DESTINY OF
THE UNITED STATES.
SEC. 1.-Expansion and increase of the population of
the United States.
THE population of the United Colonies, at the time of
the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was less than
three millions.
As reported by the census of 1790, it was as follows:
Whites.........................  3,172,464
Free colored persons..............  59,466
African slaves...................    697,897
Total..................  3,929,827
Exclusive of about 100,000 Indians.
By the census of 1800 it was...... 5,305,937
" 1820   "...... 9,638,191
"   "    1840   "..... 17,069,453
"   " c   1850   "...... 23,191,576
"     "    1860 whites...... 26,973,843
6"    "      "  free colored.   487,970
c"    "      "   slaves...... 3,953,760
Total in 1860............ 31,415,573
Exclusive of about 300,000 Indians.




214       POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
The increase by immigration,
From 1790 to Sept. 30th, 1819, was about..    220,000
From Oct. 1st, 1819 to Dec. 31st, 1860.....  5,062,414
Increase by purchase of Louisiana, about....    32,000
of Florida, about....         18,000
acquisition of Texas, California,
and New Mexico, about...............   160,000
Increase by excess of births over deaths..... 21,993,332
Total increase in 70 years........... 27,485,746
This is the greatest and most rapid increase of population which ever occurred in the history of the world;
and yet the natural increase in the British North American Provinces, has been about the same; but the increase
from immigration has been there, much less. The natural decennial increase of the white population of the
United States from 1790 to 1810, was over 331 per cent.;
from 1810 to 1820, was nearly 32; from 1820 to 1830,
over 31; from 1830 to 1840, about 28; and from 1840 to
1850, it was nearly 25 per cent.; while from 1850 to 1860,
it dwindled to less than 23 per cent.
The diminution in the ratio of increase has been caused
by greater density of population, more luxurious and expensive living, and later marriages.  The diminution of
decennial increase in 40 years, from 1820 to 1860, was
about 9 per cent.-equal to 21 per cent. decline each ten
years; we may reasonably expect it will continue, from
the same causes, to diminish at the rate of about 2 per
cent. each ten years, until it gets down to the ratio of
Northern Europe-that is, about 1 per cent. annually,
near the middle of the next century: and after that, the
ratio of decline may not exceed I per cent. in  ten
years.




POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.        215
Notwithstanding many manumissions, the decennial increase of the slaves of the United States from 1810 to 1830
was nearly 30 per cent., and from 1840 to 1850, nearly
28 per cent.; and including manumissions and fugitives,
it was over 24 per cent. from 1850 to 1860-while the
natural increase of the free colored people, from 1850 to
1860, was less than 8 per cent. This is a curious factindicating that free colored men are not much inclined
to marry early, and incur the burthens of raising a family,
and that they raise but few children-many dying from
want of proper attention, medical attendance, and the
comforts of life-while the children of slave mothers, being better provided for, are more generally raised.
Great numbers of the colored population of the South,
and particularly of the women and children, died from
want. during the war; which so reduced their numbers,
that the whole in the United States, probably will not
exceed 4,000,000 at the census of 1870; and the increase
heretofore, of the free colored population indicates that
we need not expect their decennial increase hereafter, to
exceed 6 or 8 per cent. But notwithstanding the decline
of the ratio of natural increase of our population, both white
and colored-under our benign system of receiving and
treating immigrants, we may reasonably expect the immigration from Europe and Asia will continue to increase, and
to fill more and-more the avenues of common labor; and
thus keep the aggregate decennial increase of our population up to a high, though gradually declining ratio, until
the natural resources of our country shall have been fully
developed, and its industry shall have been arrested, by a
deficiency of fuel and timber.
Food and materials for clothing can be cultivated by industry and science, much easier, quicker, and more abundantly, than fuel and timber; and hence the exhaustion




216       POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
of the latter will arrest the increase of our industry and
population, long before the utmost capacity of the country to produce the former, shall have been reached. The
better and more comfortable style of living which obtains
in this country than in Asia, will never admit of such a
density of population as they have in China.
Considering the great extent, and the diversified and
vast natural resources of our country; the active industry
and enterprise of our people, and the extensive system of
railroads and other improvements made by them; the
laws which govern the natural increase of population; the
over-populated countries of the Old World and the large
streams of emigration to this, I should estimate the
probable future population of the present United States
and territories, as follows:
In the year 1870 at over.......... 39,000,000
"     1880 " about......... 51,000,000;"    1890 "   "........ 65,000,000
"     1900 "   "......... 80,000,000
"     1950 "   ".........160,000,000
"     2050 "   ".....320,000,000
"     2100 "   "........400,000,000
Many persons, estimating from  the past ratio of increase. without understanding the laws of population and
the decline of the ratio of increase as population becomes
more dense, have estimated our future increase as much
more rapid, than I have. I have given the elements of
increase. Let the reader judge and estimate for himself.
It will require a more careful preservation of wood and
timber, than has ever yet obtained in this country; and
also a vast system of irrigation in all the interior and
southern portions of our country, from the Missouri river
to the western limits of California, and thence south to




AREA OF THE UNITED STATES.            217
the Republic of Mexico;-and the extensive planting and
successful growing of wood and timber in vast districts of
country where it does not grow spontaneously, to furnish
fields of industry, and the means of support, for such immense numbers of people, as I have stated in my estimates.
It will tax to the utmost degree, the energies of our
people, and their institutions and civilization, and the capacities of our schools,-to Americanize and assimilate
such vast streams of foreign emigrants and their children,
together with our African and Indian population; and
prevent our country from finally sinking into anarchy and
ruin.  Our system  of representation and elections must
be reformed, or our government and institutions cannot
endure such a strain.
SEC. 2.-The area of the United States in 1783, and the
acquisition of territory since.
The area of the United States by the treaty of peace
of 1783, and the subsequent acquisitions of territory-including the Lakes, Gulfs, and Bays, over which the government exercises jurisdiction, and the southern half of
the chain of Lakes forming the northern boundary, may
be stated in round numbers as follows:
Sq. Miles.
The thirteen original States, adding Maine and
Vermont, about........................  400,000
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi..................................     180,000
The five States north of the Ohio and east of
the Mississippi, including the Lakes and the
part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi
river..................................     270,000
Total from 1783 to 1803.........  850,000
10




218         POWER TO ACQUIRE TERRITORY,
Sq. Miles.
of which the land comprised about...........  800,000
and the Lakes, Gulfs and Bays about........   50,000
Added in 1803 by the purchase of Louisiana,
extending from the Mississippi river to the
Pacific Ocean.......................... 1,235,000
Florida, purchased in 1819, over............   59,000
Texas proper, lying east of the Nueces river, annexed in 1845, about....................  200,000
Acquired from Mexico in 1847 and subsequently, Western Texas, New Mexico, California,
and the intermediate country, about.......  700,000
Alaska, purchased of Russia in 1867.........  580,000
Total since 1867................ 3,624,000
being nearly equal to the whole of Europe.
SEC. 3.-The power to acquire and govern additional territory, and the admission of new States.
For some years after the organization of the federal
government, it was regarded by many as a question,
whether the government had power to acquire additional
territory; and whether the acquisition of Louisiana by
purchase in 1803, was not a violation of the Constitution
of the United States.  The great importance to the
people of the United States, of the navigation and control
of the Mississippi river to its mouth, and the whole country drained by that noble river and its tributaries, induced
the purchase of Louisiana. The peace and general good
of the country also induced our government to purchase
Florida. The public good thus induced a liberal, practical, and common-sense construction of the Constitution
-that the power to declare and wage war, hold diplomatic
intercourse with foreign nations, make treaties, and re



AND ADMIT NEW STATES.             219
gulate foreign commerce, implied power to make conquests, and to acquire territory by conquest or treaty;
and when so acquired, to govern it, according to the express provision of the Constitution in relation to the government of territories. For more than fifty years, the
States, and the people of all political parties, have acquiesced in that construction, as correct: and there is no
reason to doubt its soundness.
Prior to the dicta of Chief Justice Taney, in the Dred
Scott case, (which the nation has repudiated,) the most of
the provisions of the Constitution, and the limitations to
the powers of the federal government prescribed therein,
were understood not to apply to the Territories; and hence
Congress, soon after the organization of the government,
fixed the tenure of office of the territorial judges, at
four years; and it has not been changed for more than
three-fourths of a century-though the Constitution prescribes that " the judges, both of the Supreme and inferior
Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior." The
action of Congress thus gave a practical construction to
the Constitution of the United States-affirming their
power over the Territories, as unlimited by the provisions
of the Constitution, which prescribe and limit their powers
within the States.
The limitations to the powers of the federal government prescribed by the Constitution of the United States,
were intended to limit its powers within the States-not
beyond them; to secure the absolute and unlimited sovereignty of the States, in all municipal, police, and local
governmental matters, within their respective limits; and
do not apply to the powers of the government beyond the
limits of the States. Hence its powers beyond the limits
of the States, to wage war, acquire and govern territory,
regulate foreign commerce and navigation, and to incor



220         POWER TO ACQUIRE TERRITORY,
porate companies to navigate the ocean, carry on foreign
commerce, and to acquire, colonize, and govern distant
islands and territories, are as ample and unlimited as those
of the governments of the Netherlands and Great Britain.
At the time of the Declaration of Independence, and also
at the time of framing the Articles of Confederation, it
was hoped and very generally expected, that the Provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia would join the Union; and
the hope that those Provinces would be eventually annexed, still continued, when the Constitution of the
United States was otrmed. Hence the language of the
Constitution in relation to the admission of new States
was made broad and general-that " New States may be
admitted by Congress into this Union;" and there is no
restriction, limiting the new States that might be admitted to such as might be formed out of the territory ceded
by Great Britain by the treaty of 1783, and then belonging to the United States.
By refusing to admit Senators and Representatives from
the seceding States, holding and subjecting them to the
military power of the federal government, and providing,
by the acts known as the reconstruction acts, for the formation of new constitutions, and the organization of new
State governments therein, the 39th and 40th Congresses
of the United States treated them as de facto (practically
and in fact) out of the Union-as conquered provinces or
territories-to be governed as other territories are.
Including the seceding States not yet re-admitted, but
under military rule as Territories, the original States and
the territory ceded to the United States by Great Britain
by the treaty of 1783, now form twenty-five States; and
the Territories acquired since, now (1869) form twelve
States and nine Territories, besides the Indian Territory,
west of Arkansas.




AND ADMIT NEW STATES.             221
Great benefits, and no great evils, have resulted from
the extension of territory, and the multiplication of
States; but it should be remembered that the territories
acquired were all new, having very few inhabitants, and
large natural resources-inviting settlers and colonists
fiom our country. The Louisiana territory, at the time
we acquired it, had a population of French and Spanish
descent, about 32,000; Florida, 18,000; Texas, 20,000,
of Mexican origin; California, 50,000, and New Mexico,
60,000.  In the present State of Louisiana, French
manners and customs, and French law, have had, and
still have, a great influence; and in many districts
French customs and the French language still maintain
the ascendency. A similar state of things exists in New
Mexico; but all the other new States and Territories,
acquired since 1783, have been mostly settled by AngloAmericans, who carried with them the English language,
Anglo-American customs and institutions, attachments
and  sympathies, Anglo-American law, and generally
the Protestant religion; so that nearly all the States west
of the Mississippi river, are as thoroughly American, and
as strongly attached to the Union, as the States east of
that river are. There have been but very few members
of Congress of either House from the States west of the
Mississippi river, who were not born east of that river, or of
Anglo-American parentage; and hence the Senators and
Representatives from those States have not introduced any
foreign and discordant elements into Congress, and have
not been a source of discord in our government.
So long as the jurisdiction and powers of the federal
government are confined to national and inter-State objects
and purposes, it will not be seriously embarrassed by a
multiplication of contiguous States, having many interests
in common; always provided, that the people generally




222        POWER TO ACQUIRE TERRITORY,
speak the English language-are sincerely attached to the
Union and the government, and to our Anglo-American
institutions-and that the most of them are educated and
assimilated to a large extent to our people, in manners
and customs.
A few of the northern States of Mexico, lying mostly
north of the 27th degree of latitude, and having each but
a very small population, might be annexed to our country
without detriment to it; because they could be settled and
improved by our people and thoroughly Americanized-as
much so, at least, as Texas or Louisiana; but such is not
the case with the remaining twenty-one States, lying in
a hot climate, having a mixed population of about
8,000,000, speaking a foreign language, and mostly uneducated, ignorant, and superstitious, and without any
attachments to our Union, government, or institutions.
To Americanize them, and assimilate them to our people,
would be impossible. To admit such a people, living in a
tropical climate, into this Union, with over forty of their
members in the United States Senate, and Representatives
in the other House of Congress according to their numbers,
would introduce into our government and country elements of discord; which would necessarily demoralize our
politics and government, and eventually involve the country in civil war, and destroy the Union.
There would be the same objection to the acquisition of Cuba and Porto Rico, and admitting them into
the Union as States, allowing them to participate in
the election of President and Vice-President of the United
States, and admitting their Senators and Representatives
into Congress. The only difference would be, that two such
States would be less dangerous to the Union than twenty.
There is no such objection to the voluntary admission
of the British North American Provinces; for the reason




AND ADMIT NEW STATES.             223
that the people of those Provinces are mostly of the same
races and origin as those of the United States; speak the
same language; have, to a large extent, the same history; are accustomed to institutions, laws and usages, and
to a system of representative government very similar to
ours; and have the same habits of industry, and the same
energy, stability of character, and regard for law and
order, as the people of the United States. Their geographical situation is such, and the character of the
people so nearly assimilated to ours, that they would
bring no new discordant elements into the Union; and
their commercial, industrial, educational, religious and
social, as well as political intercourse with our people,
would soon become extensive and intimate. But no such
state of things could ever exist between the people of
the United States and those of Mexico, or Cuba.
SEC. 4.-Inrease of industry and commerce, wealth, and
power.
The industry of a people must depend,
1st. Upon the climate, the extent, and natural resources
of the country they inhabit.
2d. Upon their advance in civilization, and the mechanical instruments they have to labor with.
3d. Upon facilities for internal and domestic commerce,
and also for foreign commerce.
4th. Upon the character of the government and its
policy, the administration of justice for the protection of
person and property, and the system of taxation.
A dense population creates markets for the products
of industry, which cannot exist in a sparsely peopled
country. The denser the population, the greater the
facilities for trade and commerce, and the mutual interchange of the products of industry, the more trade and




224     INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.
commerce will react upon industry, give it encouragement
and stimulus, diversify it, and increase its products-if
the resources of the country be sufficient to give full
employment to the people. The resources of our country
have been ample, and superabundant; but spread over
so large an extent of territory, as to induce our people to
scatter so much, as to impede commercial intercourse, and
industry also, and increase the cost of products; and at
the same time lessen the value of nearly all products, at
the places of growth or production.
By means of the steam-engine and other mechanical
inventions, made since the middle of the eighteenth century, Great Britain now supports more than three times
as many inhabitants as it did then; and with much greater
comfort. Their coal and iron were of but little value to
the inhabitants, until after the invention of the steamengine, and machinery for rolling iron. Since those inventions, the importance of coal and iron has been
increased by every new invention and improvement, but
more by railroads and locomotives, and by steam navigation, than by all others. The large agricultural resources,
and the immense mineral resources concentrated in so
small a country, together with the density of the population, and numerous good harbors, all contributing to give
facilities to a diversified industry, and to both foreign and
domestic commerce, have given to the industry of the
people of Great Britain great advantages over that of the
scattered population of the United States. British manufacturers have also had the advantages over the Americans, in priority of time, in the establishment of their
factories and workshops; in training their workmen, to
enable them to acquire skill; in a superabundance of
laborers and capital; and in the low prices of labor, and
low rates of interest.




INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.    225
American industry has been constantly brought into
competition with the great manufacturing establishments
of Great Britain, France, and Germany, under all the
disadvantages referred to; and if it had not been for the
incidental aid arising from the duties levied upon imported foreign products for the support of the federal
government, any considerable growth of American manufactures would have been impossible; and we must have
remained, like our Canadian neighbors, mostly an agricultural people-dependent upon Europe for the most of
our clothing, iron, and hardware —with but little industry,
energy, and wealth, compared with what we now have;
and with vastly less population-for with less industry
and wealth, we should have had fewer canals and railroads, less employment for labor, and fewer attractions to
induce emigration from the Old World.
The freedom and workings of our political and religious
institutions, freedom of domestic commerce, the press, and
the common-school education of the whole people of the
North, together with the higher institutions of learning
for the professional classes, have given to our northern
and northwestern people, as a whole, more activity of
mind, and more diversified mental and physical activities
and intelligence, than any other people on the earth; and
put them in the front iank of modern civilization. The
printing-press and the post-office, steam navigation and
railroads, locomotives and the electric telegraph, diffuse
information so rapidly, that mechanical inventions and
discoveries in science made in Europe are known and put
into practice in this country, almost as soon as in the
country where they originate. Though some branches of
our manufactures have been at'times greatly depressed,
by reason of the adverse circumstances referred to; and
the finer and more delicate grades of manufactures have
10*




226     INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.
not been established among us, yet for mechanical industry and all the more common grades of manufactures,
which are made with machinery, and the manufacture of
tools and implements of industry, our people have
shown themselves quite equal to any people of Europe;
and the superior mental activities and freedom of our
people, have put them ahead of all other people, in the
number, variety, and importance of their mechanical inventions, made since 1789.
Nearly all the great inventions of Great Britain were
made prior to the organization of our present federal
government, in 1789. Since that time the processes of
spinning and weaving, and rolling iron by machinery, have
been improved; the processes and instrumentalities for the
manufacture and use of coal illuminating gas, for lighting buildings and streets, and the locomotive also, have
been invented in England; some other minor original
inventions have also been made; and many improvements
upon former inventions have been effected in that island,
though but few of a novel character.
The mechanical inventions and improvements made in
the United States since 1789, exceed (I think) in number,
those of all the rest of the world; many of which have
been, and are of great value to the human family-including the cotton-gin; the steamboat; the process of cutting
nails; the electric telegraph; planing machines, and various machines and instruments for working wood, iron,
and other metals; improved printing-presses; mowing
and reaping machines; ploughs, cultivators, drills, and
other agricultural tools; revolving five and six shooting
pistols; revolving turrets for heavy guns in gunboats;
and sewing-machines to aid in making clothing.  By
means of modern inventions and improvements, agricultural industry, as well as most other industries in the




INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.    227
United States, are at this day, at least twice as effective
as they were at the close of the eighteenth century.
For some years, many branches of mechanical and
manufacturing industry in our country, were depressed
by oppressive internal revenue taxes; but the removal of
such taxes to the amount of about fifty millions of dollars,
has greatly relieved them.
Duties have been imposed upon many imported articles,
for the double purpose of raising revenue to support the
government, and also to give incidental aid to competing
domestic industry; but great mistakes have been made
by Congress in their tariff acts, in not discriminating properly between imported manufactures, and raw materials
imported, to be used here in manufacturing. To give
incidental aid to American manufacturing industry, by
means of duties imposed upon imported foreign products,
such duties should be imposed only upon imported
manufactures, and not upon materials to be used here,
and worked up into American manufactures;-nor upon
machinery and the mere tools and instruments of industry. Heavy duties imposed upon foreign wools and
dyestuffs, balance and neutralize, to a large extent, the
duties levied upon imported woollen goods; and tend to
cripple the woollen manufactures of our country. So
with ship-building.  The heavy duties imposed upon
many of the materials used here, have nearly destroyed
the business; and the utter prohibition of registry to
foreign-built vessels, prevents their purchase by American navigators and shipping merchants, and has thrown
nearly all the passenger business, and the largest part of
the transportation between the United States and foreign
countries, into foreign ships. All the lines of steamships
running between the United States and Great Britain,
France, and Germany, which carry our mails, are owned




228    INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.
in those countries. None of them are owned by American citizens.
~Heavy duties should be levied upon imported manufactures and luxuries of all kinds; and low duties, or no
duties at all, upon breadstuffs, provisions of all kinds,
fuel, materials to be used in manufacturing, and the tools
and instruments of domestic industry. When the condition
of the country (as it does now) requires taxes for revenue
purposes, to be levied upon all classes of imports, comparatively small and low duties should be put upon food
and fuel, materials to be used in manufacturing, and the
tools and instruments of industry and practical business.
Ships and vessels are the tools and instruments, with
which the great and important employment of navigation
is carried on. Iron ships are coming into very general
use. They can be built cheaper on the Clyde, in Scotland, than in any other country. The iron ships for the
British Government, for France and Germany, and also
for England, are mostly built on the Clyde. There is no
good reason why American citizens should not be allowed
to purchase abroad, and import iron ships, upon the payment of a moderate duty of ten or fifteen per cent., and
to have them registered and used as American vessels.
To prohibit them from doing so, is carrying the doctrines
of protection to such absurd lengths, as to defeat their
general purposes, of promoting domestic industry.
Notwithstanding the enormous taxation which is imposed upon our people, our inflated currency, and the
many disadvantages under which many branches of
manufacturing industry are laboring, nearly all branches
of American industry are in a reasonably prosperous
condition, with the exception of ship-building, navigation,
and the manufacture of woollen goods.
To transport the products of industry and carry on in



INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.            229
terior commerce, we have over 4,000 miles of navigable
canals, over 2,500 miles of navigable lakes and bays,
nearly 10,000 miles of river navigation, and over 40,000
miles of railway.  These extensive improvements and
instrumentalities, and the large amount of business done
on them, attest the magnitude of our industry and interior commerce.  The making of such immense and
costly improvements, attests also the enterprise of our
people, the magnitude of their industry, and the increase
of our national wealth and power.
Statements and estimates, founded upon the census
reports, of the values produced in the United States, during the undermentioned years, ending June, stated in
millions of dollars and fractions.
1840.     1850.    1860.
Mining, making iron, castings,    $26.65
salt, &c..................
Manufactures and mechanic arts.   196.68     $464   $854
Flouring and saw mills, and oil mills  23.58 $J 
The forest, except fuel........  14.76        25
The fisheries.................   10.33        11
Agriculture and fuel, exclusive  580          800   1250
of mineral coal............ 
Commerce  and  navigation, )
transportation and banking,    188          300    526
& c..................... )
Total.................. $1,040      $1,600 $2,630
Amount to each person..........  $60.87       $69    $83,63
The foregoing table includes only commercial values,
inherent in material and tangible products, which are the
subjects of sale and delivery. It does not include the rent,
or use of dwelling-houses, furniture, household labor,
teaching, or labors in the legal, medical, or military profession, the ministry, or in any public service.
The productive industry of the people of the United
States for the year 1869, valued in like manner in gold,
would probably amount to $4,000,000,000, or over $100
to each person.  Prior to the year 1800, it did not exceed




230      INCREASE OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.
$50 to each person. The following table shows the value
of the domestic products exported from the United States
at different periods, and the increase thereof.
Statement in millions of dollars and fractions thereof,
of the aggregate value of cotton and of all domestic products (exclusive of coin and bullion) exported from the
United States, during the under mentionedfiscal years.
Total of DomesYears.        Cotton.    Other Products. tic Products.
1790.......    *04          1962         19-66
1810.......  15-1            27'26        42-36
1820.......  22-3            29-38         51-68
1830.......  29-67          28-85        58-52
1840.......  63-86           47-80       111-66
1850.......  71-98           62-92       134-9
1855.......  88-14        104-61        192-75
1860....... 191-8           124-44       316-24
1865.......   5-72          248-76       254-48
1866....... *281-38       186-66        468-04
1867....... 202-91         182-81        385-72
1868....... 152-78          217-66        370-44
The values for the year 1865 and since, are stated in
currency; from which about one-fourth part should be
deducted to reduce the amount to the value of coin.
Though our industry and exports have been large, and
increasing rapidly; our extravagance, imports, and consumption, have increased still more rapidly than either.
Our imports of foreign products have exceeded our exports, and the excess has been constantly increasing;
draining us of nearly all the gold and silver which our
mines produce, and involving us more and more in debt
to the manufacturing nations of Europe.
* 650,572,829 lbs., valued at an average of 43 cents.




DESTINY OF THE UNITED STATES.         231
SEC. 5. —he Destiny of the United States.
The increase of the American Union from  13 to 37
States; the territory thereof, from  about 850,000 to
over 3,600,000 square miles; and of the population, from
less than four millions, to nearly forty millions, in about
eighty years, has impressed our people very generally,
with an exalted idea of the future destiny and power of
the United States. Many think that all North America
and the West India Islands also, will be eventually annexed to the United States, and that it is the manifest
destiny of our country to rule the continent.
If we can reform our system of elections and representation, and thereby make our government a government
of the whole people, instead of a government of the leaders
of the dominant party; moderate the intensity and violence of party spirit, and revive a spirit of patriotism
among the people; and arrest the downward course of
corruption in our national and State governments, and
the thirst for dominion and new States, there can be no
doubt of our future progress, power, and glory as a nation.
But if we continue the present system of party domination, and scramble for office, and downward course of
prodigality and corruption, which have been increasing
upon us since the acquisition of Texas, our destiny as a
nation is uncertain. That we shall continue to increase
in numbers and industry, commerce and wealth, and also
in national power, for half a century or more to come,
seems certain; but if we continue to reach after more
territory, and grasp after the States of Mexico, the West
India Islands, and the Provinces of British America, and
acquire them one after another, and incorporate them
into the Union as States, with equal political rights and
an equal representation with the original States, in both




232         DESTINY OF THE UNITED STATES.
houses of Congress, our national interests will become so
numerous and incongruous; our population so heterogeneous; the national character and sentiments, religious
views and aspirations of the people of different sections so
discordant; the bonds of union so weak; corruption and
profligacy so rank and bold; and sectional ambition so
rampant-that the American Congress will become a
discordant and turbulent mob, and it will be impossible
to reconcile the jarring elements, and prevent the flames
of insurrection and civil war from bursting forth; which
may rage and devastate large sections of country, and
eventually result in the division of the national territory
and the people thereof, into several different nations, according to their affinities of race and origin, religion and
language.
Those who suppose that the whole of North America
and the West India Islands, and the various populations
thereof, of different races and origin-speaking different
languages, professing different religious creeds and opinions, and accustomed to different institutions, laws, and
usages, can all be permanently united under one federal,
representative, republican government, with equal rights
and powers-overlook, or sadly misunderstand the facts of
history. To assimilate them, and form a national character
for the whole, would be impossible. Climatic influences,
if nothing else, would prevent such a result. The people
of the torrid and temperate zones, and high latitudes, can
never live in harmony, on terms of equality, under one
and the same republican government. Our history shows,
that the descendants of the Cavaliers in the Southern
States, and the descendants of the Puritans in the Northern
States, could not assimilate, so as to form a homogeneous
national character; though both  have had the same
origin and national history, speak the same language, and




DESTINY OF THE UNITED STATES.       233
profess substantially the same religion. Climatic influences prevent the assimilation.
If the peoples of two small and contiguous countries, or
parts of the same country, (like Holland and Belgium,)
having the same origin, and no radical differences except
language and religion, and such as have been produced
by differences of language, religion, and government,
cannot live together under one government, and that a
limited monarchy, it is vain to think that the people of
the present United States, the Mexicans, Cubans, Canadians, and the Negroes of St. Domingo and Hayti, can all
live together in harmony, on terms of political equality,
under one and the same representative, republican government.  I may say to our ambitious partisan politicians,
Ahoy! there are breakers ahead.
Great Britain has long governed from an hundred to
an hundred and fifty millions of people in Hindostan, by
and under the colonial system; but finds it very difficult
to govern less than five millions of Catholics in Ireland,
with a representation in the British Parliament, elected
by the subjected people. If the inhabitants of British
India were as well represented in the British Parliament
as Ireland is, according to their numbers, the British
Empire and government would soon crumble to pieces;
and several governments and independent nations would
emerge from the ruins. The West India Islands and the
States of Mexico can never be admitted into this Union
upon an equal footing with the present States, without
endangering the stability of the Union and federal
government, and eventually destroying them.  If they
should ever come under our federal government, they
can be governed with safety to the Union, only on the
territorial or colonial system; or we must exercise over
them very limited powers, in the form of a protectorate




CHAPTER VI.
THE REVENUES AND TAXATION, DEBTS AND FINANCES OF THE
UNITED STATES —-COIN AND SPECIE PAYMENTS-CURRENCY
AND BANKING.
SEC. 1.-Revenues and taxes, debts and finances of the
United States.
REVENUES of the United States for the fiscal years ending June 30th.
1868.         1869.
From Customs.......... $164,464,600  $180,048,427
Internal Revenue.........  191,087,589   158,356,461
Lands...................       1,348,715      4,020,344
Direct Taxes.............    1,788,146         765,685
Post Office and other sources...................   46,949,033    27,752,830
Total, exclusiveof loans.. $405,638,083  $370,943,747
EXPENDITURES OF FISCAL YEAR 1869.
Interest, &c., on the public debt....... $130,994,242 80
Pensions and Indians................   35,519,544 84
Civil Service......................  56,474,061 53
War Department...................   78,501,990 61
NavyDepartment...................   20,000,757 97
Total........................... $321,490,597 75
Surplus to apply on debt.............  $49,453,149 46




DEBTS AND FINANCES.               235
On the 1st day of December, 1869, there were outstanding United States bonds, issued to the Pacific railroads,
payable thirty years from date, with six per cent. currency interest, amounting to $62,625,320. The Railroad
Companies being required and expected to pay those
bonds and the interest thereon, they are not regarded as
a debt of the government.
Statement of the debt of the United States on the 1st day
of December, 1869, exclusive of the Pacific Railroad bonds:
DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN COIN.
Five per cent. bonds................      $221,589,300
Six per cent. bonds...................  1,886,348,700
DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN CURRENCY.
Three per. cent certificates..........    $47,195,000
Navy Pension fund, three per cent......      14,000,000
Debt on which interest has ceased......       4,292,026
Treasury notes bearing no interest......   356,113,258
Fractional currency..................        38,885,565
Certificates of gold deposited........       36,862,940
Interest accrued......................       42,947,893
Total............................ $2,648,234,682
Amount in the Treasury-coin.......   $105,969,949
Amount in the Treasury-currency....         11,802,766
Sinking Fund, and United States bonds
and interest..................          76,902,232
Amount to be deducted.............   $194,674,947
Balance of debt...................... $2,453,559,735
1865, Sept lst.-Balance of debt.......  2,757,689,571
Paid off in four and one-fourth years...   $304,129,836




236         REVENUES AND EXPENITURES.
The revenues and expenditures of the federal government, all derived from taxes, customs, and postages, except from one to four millions annually, received for lands
sold, were as follows, for the fiscal years ending June 30th:
Years.           Revenues.      Expenditures.
1866........... $558,032,620   $520,750,940
1867.......... 490,634,010    346,729,120
1868........... 405,638,083    377,340,285
1869........... 30,943,747    321,490,598
The expenditures include the annual interest paid upon
the public debt; the surplus revenues being applied to
reduce the principal of the debt. Such enormous revenues collected in time of peace, from a people impoverished
by war, attest the extravagance and prodigality of the
government, and the oppressive taxes imposed upon the
people. So large revenues were never before collected
from any people, in proportion to their numbers, in time
of peace.
The dominant party seems to have had an unnecessary
anxiety to pay off the national debt rapidly, and in a few
years; and, for fear the interest of it would oppress the
next generation of people, the present generation has been
oppressed and almost crushed with taxation, to pay not
only the interest, but on an average ovet seventy millions of dollars annually, of the principal. Our State and
city governments do not pursue such a policy. They contract large debts for public purposes and improvements;
are content to pay the interest only; and leave to the
next generation, who will be more numerous, and enjoy
the advantages of the expenditures, to pay the interest in
like manner. Great Britain and other countries of Europe have pursued such a policy, for more than a century past.




INCOME TAX.                  237
Statement of the amount of the funded and unfinded
debt of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
at the undermentioned periods:Debt in pounds sterling.   Decrease.
1817 February 1st...... ~840,850,491
1838 January 5th......  792,306,442    ~48,544,049
1855 March 31st.......  775,215,519        17,090,923
1860     " ".......  802,190,300*
1865     "   ".......  786,510,795        15,679,505
1867     ".......  777,497,804        9,012,991
Since 1860, large amounts of the public debt have been
converted into terminable annuities; no less than five
millions sterling were so converted in 1864; and the
estimated capital of such annuities was thus increased
from 1860 to 1861, nearly six and a half millions sterling
-so that the real decrease of the public debt of Great
Britain, in seven years of peace, from 1860 to 1867, was
only ~18,230,000-about ninety millions of dollars; while
the public debt of the United States has been decreased
by payments, in four and one-fourth years, more than
three hundred and four millions of dollars. The policy
of England is, to impose no heavier taxes and burthens on
the people than are necessary to pay the current expenses
of the government, and the interest on the national debt;
and leave their successors to bear equal burthens with themselves.
SEC. 2.-Income tax.
The first act of Congress to impose a tax on the incomes of individuals and corporations, was approved July
1st, 1862. As amended March 3d, 1865, the law exempts
* The debt was increased by the Crimean war with Russia.




238                    INCOME TAX.
from such tax, $600 of income, and also the rent actually
paid for a dwelling-house for the family, or the rental of
the dwelling owned and occupied for a residence, ordinary repairs thereof, and all national, State, county, and
municipal taxes paid, and losses in business, incurred
during the year; and imposes a tax of five per cent. on the
excess of incomes over $600 and under $5,000, and a tax
of ten per cent. on the excess of taxable incomes over
$5,000.  It also imposed a tax of five per cent. on the
dividends, and net surplus profits of banking, canal, insurance, railroad, and turnpike companies; and a like tax
on the interest paid by such companies upon their bonds
-which virtually represent so much invested in such
companies; the bonds being substitutes for stock, and the
interest thereon for dividends.
The Act of March, 1867, under which the tax upon incomes of the calendar year 1866, or fiscal year 1867, and
subsequent years were levied, exempts from tax, rents and
taxes as before, and $1,000 income; and imposes a uniform tax of five per cent. upon all incomes over $1,000,
and also upon the dividends, surplus profits, and interest
on the bonds of corporations.
Statement of the number of persons charged with income taxes, and the aggregate amounts collected, during
the undermentioned fiscal years, ending June 30th:
1866.     1867.       1868.
No. of persons taxed..........  460,170    259,385   240,000
U. S. officers and employes... $3,717,395 $1,029,992  $1,043,561
Other persons, 5per cent...... 26,046,760  31,492,694  32,027,611
do    do   10 per cent..... 34,501,122 25,547,946
Bank dividends and surplus profits.......................  4,240,663  3,774,975  3,624,775
Canal companies' dividends, &c.  203,234    195,382    215,280
Insurance companies.........  783,882    563,474    605,490




INCOME TAX.                    239
186.       186g.      1868.
Railroad dividends, &c........ $3,461,769 $3,379,262 $3,889,430
Turnpike Co., dividends, &c..   27,333    30,703    49,551
Total on incomes............ $72,982,158 $66,014,428 $41,455,698
Deduct half of 10 per cent. tax 17,250,561 12,773,973
$55,731,597 $53,240,455
For fiscal year 1869, reported at................... $34,791,856
If all the income taxes were collected the same fiscal
year they were levied, and the incomes were all honestly
and truly returned, and the number of persons charged
with income taxes were reported, those taxes would show
with accuracy, the amount of net incomes during the previous calendar year, of that class of persons; but it seems
that nearly half the amount levied is collected the following year after the levy-so that though no ten per cent. tax
was levied in the year 1867, more than 25 million dollars
of that class of taxes were collected in 1867, which were
levied the previous year; and by means of the change of
time for levying income taxes from May to March, made
by the statute of 1867, the ten per cent. tax reduced to a
uniform tax of five per cent., and the exemption increased
from $600 to $1000, more tax was collected than was levied, during the fiscal year 1867. The Commissioner of
Internal Revenue should report, for the information of the
public as well as the Secretary of the Treasury and Congress, the amount of income taxes levied each year, in
each district, and the number of persons taxed, as well
as the amount collected. Such information would be of
great value.
Business was better and profits larger during the calendar years 1865 and 1866, than they have been since; and
the Commissioner's reports indicate that, reckoned at the




240                  INCOME TAX.
uniform rate of five per cent. they would amount for the
fiscal year
1866, with the $600 exemption, to about 56 millions.
1867,    "  $1000    "                    48    "
1868, "          00 "     $ 0    "        42    "
1869, "   "  $1000    "           "       36    "
The stocks and bonds of the banking, railroad, canal,
insurance, and other companies that pay income taxes,
are nearly all owned by the same persons that are taxed in
the income accounts; and the dividends, surplus profits,
and interest, may be reckoned as a part of their incomes.
Statements and estimates from the Commissioner's reports, of the number of each class of persons assessed
with an income tax in the fiscal year 1867,-including the
stockholders and bondholders of corporations, charged with
income taxes; the range of amounts and the average
amount assessed to each class; and a calculation of the
actual amount assessed.
Amounts      Running    Average    No. of     Amounts
from         to    amount paid. persons.    assessed.
$20...... $10     68,000    $680,000
$20   to     50.......30       48,000    1,440,000
50   to   100........60        32,000    1,920,000
100   to   500.......200        58,000   11,600,000
Over $500 each.......600       54,000   32,400,000
Total.................. 260,000  $48,040,000
The rate of the tax being uniformly 5 per cent., the
taxable income is calculated from the amount of the tax,
and the amount of incomes exempted must be calculated
from the number of persons, and estimates of the rents
and rentals of their dwellings, and of the value of products
consumed, mostly by farmers, which are not included
in their accounts of income. The exemptions for rents,




INCOME TAX.                  241
&c., over and above the $1,000, of the two lowest classes
of tax-payers, may be fairly estimated at $300 each; of
the next class at $500 each, for rents; of the 4th class at
$1,000 each, for rents; and of the 5th class, for the rental
of their residences, many of them of a palatial character
— valued from $20,000 to $200,000 or more, at $2,000.
Statement, based upon the foregoing estimates of rentals of dwellings, and other exemptions, of the average and
aggregate net incomes of each class,-including the value
of the rental of the dwelling-houses and premises occupied
by their families:Classes.     Average.      Persons.      Aggregate.
1st class.......$1,500     68,000       $102,000,000
2d  do.........1,900        48,000          91,200,000
3d  do........2,700         32,000         86,400,000
4th do..........6,000       58,000        348,000,000
5th do.........15,000       54,000         810,000,000
260,000     $1,437,600,000
Add for persons not included..10,000
Add 41 per cent. for omissions and understatements............................. 62,400,000
Total incomes of about 270,000 families.. $1,500,000,000
The 270,000 persons who were assessed with income
taxes in 1867-including the 10,000 other persons omitted, were generally heads of families, and with their families reckoned at an average of 5 to the family, they
numbered about 1,485,000 persons; or one twenty-fifth
part of the whole population of the United States.
The 200,000 additional persons, or families, who were
assessed with an income tax in 1866, under the $600 exemption, and omitted in 1867, under the $1,000 exemp11




242                INCOME TAX.
tion, had incomes from over $600 to $1,000 each-over
and above the rental of their dwellings and gardens, and
the farm products consumed by farmers; which would
swell their net incomes to an average of about $1,000
each, over and above taxes. Of the 6,480,000 remaining
families, nearly one-third of them probably had incomes
averaging $800 each; one-third of them  $600 each;
and the remaining third, or about 2,100,000 families,
comprising more than nine-tenths of the colored population, had incomes from labor only, varying from $250 to
$500, and averaging about $400 each.
RECAPITULATION AND RESULTS-INCOMES.
270,000 families, mostly charged income
tax.............................$1,500,000,000
200,000   "  having $1,000 income each 200,000,000
2,080,000   "    "     800             1,664,000,000
2,100,000   "    "     600      "      1,260,000,000
2,100,000   "    "     400      "       840,000,000
6,750,000 families having net income, of $5,464,000,000
over and above taxes, except duties on
imports, during the calendar year 1866.
U. States taxes, over and above duties,...314,000,000
State, county, city, township, school, and
road taxes, estimated from returns of
census of 1860 at......................140,000,000
Total incomes (currency values)......... $5,918,000,000
The incomes from unproductive as well as productive
labor, and from property also, are. included-embracing
merchandising, official and professional services, teaching,
printing and publishing, household work for pay, and the
rental of all the dwelling-houses in the United States.




INCOME TAX.                 243
Out of that gross sum, the duties on imports were paid
-amounting in gold to $176,417,000- equal in currency
to...............................$235,000,000
To which add other national taxes......... 314,000,000
State, county, city, and other local taxes.... 140,000,000
Total taxes for the year................. $689,000,000
equal to over 11 per cent. of all the earnings and incomes of the people of the United States. No other
people were ever so borne down with taxation, in time of
peace!
Such are the taxes and incomes, and the great disparity
in the incomes of the people of the United States.  The
figures show that one twenty-fifth part, or four per cent.
of the people, have and enjoy over 27 per cent. of the
aggregate net amount of incomes over taxes of the. whole
population of the United States; and yet we have public
men, and editors also, who are opposed to a renewal and
a continuance of the income tax; and others who advocate a reduction of the amount thereof; who are in favor
of retaining nearly all other taxes as they are, for the
present, and for some time to come. It would be well for
them to consider the facts here presented.
Income taxes take only a small portion of the surplus,
of those that have a surplus; which is not needed for the
comforts of the family, except in very few cases.  They
do not burthen industry, business, nor the poor; but
simply take a part of what would otherwise, as a general
rule, be needlessly expended, or added to the accumulations of the wealthy and the middle classes.
Heads of families, whose annual incomes are less than
$1,000, cannot accumulate much; and very few of them
can live comfortably and accumulate anything; and
hence we may fairly estimate, that three-fourths of the




244                  INCOME TAX.
amount of all the accumulations of property in the United States, are made by the classes that pay an income
tax. To relieve these classes from the income tax, and
retain other taxes to support the government and pay the
interest on the national debt, would only enable the wealthy
and the successful business classes, to accumulate forty or
fifty millions of dollars more property annually, without
relieving industry, or the laboring classes, in the least.
The laboring classes, as consumers of tea and coffee,
sugar and molasses, spices and fruits, salt and rice, drugs
and medicines, and other necessaries imported, pay at
least half as much tax per capita, as the wealthy do; and
it is impossible to reach the wealthy classes, to any considerable extent, by federal taxation, except by either an
income tax, or a direct tax on real and personal property.
Direct taxes are often very oppressive to small property
holders, who have small incomes.  The income tax is a
modern substitute for a direct tax; and with proper exemptions, it is more equitable and less burthensome-for
it does not touch dead property, which yields no income,
and does not burthen poor families, who have only a
house and lot, or a little farm, and a small amount of other
property, with an income from all sources, less than $1,000
-over and above taxes.   Without an income tax, the
wealthy men, who have large incomes, would not pay to
the federal government one-tenth part as much tax in proportion to their incomes, as the laboring classes do.
The exemptions in the income tax law might be improved; but as a system of taxation it is sound, and
eminently just and wise. There seems to be no propriety
in allowing very large sums for house rents, nor in allowing a single person or two persons, the same amount of
exemptions as to a family of eight or ten. Why not allow about three hundred dollars for one person, six hun



DUTIES ON  IMPORTS.                        245
dred for two, and one hundred dollars for each additional
person in a family-with a sum not exceeding $200 for
the rental of a house?
SEC. 3.-Duties on imports.
Statement of the aggregate amounts of duties paid upon
each of the following classes of articles, imported into the
United States during the fiscal year ending June 30,1868,
compiled from the report of the Bureau of Statistics:Duties upon                          Amounts.
Chemicals, drugs, and dyes..............   $4,085,228
Hemp, gunny cloth and bags, and hemp                       2 22 
carpetin2,42,71
carpeting.......................... f
Chocolate and cocoa.....................                       61,336
Coffee..........................                         10,657,845
Tea....................................    9,414,664
Fruits................................    2,588,946
Ginger................................                        74,822
Pepper, cloves, and  other spices..........    1,950,455
Gums................................                         629,844
Hides and skins........................                     977,325
India rubber-raw......................                      196,911
Pig-iron...............................    1,011,110
Linseed, olive, and other oils...............                549,687
Sugars, sugar candy, molasses, and melada..  34,858,066
Boards, plank, and scantling, timber, staves, 
firewood, lath, and other lumber......... 17,5
Coal...................................                     492,557
Wool....................   1,645,448
Salt...............................    1,136,225
Rice................................                          1,146,286
Total on the above articles............ $75,216,824
Duties on other articles................ $89,247,776




246              DUTIES ON IMPORTS.
The duties upon the articles and classes of articles specified in the foregoing table, are excessively high, unnecessarily burthensome to consumers, prejudicial to American industry, and especially injurious to the laboring
classes. As a general rule, duties should be levied for
purposes of revenue only, upon raw  materials to be
used in manufacturing or as a means of industry, and
upon all agricultural and raw products other than luxuries, which do not come into competition with domestic
industry; and high duties should never be imposed upon
such articles, unless the exigencies of the country imperatively demand it.
Experience has shown that the farmer derives no substantial advantages from the duties imposed upon wool,
and particularly upon coarse and common wools; nor
upon hides and skins imported into the United Statesthough such duties are very prejudicial to the manufacture of woollen goods, and of leather, boots and shoes, and
burthensome to the consumers of such products. Nor do
the heavy duties imposed upon sugar and molasses, salt
and rice, lumber and hemp, coal and pig-iron, promote
domestic industry and the general interests of the country,
in a degree commensurate with the burthens thereby imposed upon the consumers of such articles; and great injuries to other branches of industry, arise from the duties
on lumber and hemp, and on wood, coal, and pig-iron.
As to the other articles named, some of them are used
in the arts and in manufacturing, and none of them come
into competition with domestic products; and therefore
the duties should be levied for purposes of revenue only;
and should be as low as the exigencies of the Treasury
will permit. Perhaps half the present duties should be
taken off from sugar and molasses, salt and rice, and pigiron; that the duties upon other articles named should be




DUTIES ON IMPORTS.            247
reduced-some to one-third, and some to one-fourth the
present rates; and that the duties on drugs and dye-stuffs
and on lumber, should be reduced still lower. If fifty or
sixty millions of taxes on these articles were taken off, it
would be a great relief to people of all classes as consumers, and greatly promote many branches of American
industry.
Heavy duties on lumber from Canada and other British provinces, raise the prices to consumers of domestic as well as foreign lumber, lessen importations, and
encourage the cutting of timber rapidly in our own
forests.
Our railroads, canals, and navigable waters, furnish
such facilities for transporting and distributing sawed
lumber and timber, that nearly all the pine fit for sawing,
now growing near navigable or floatable waters, will be
cut off during the next twenty years.
We have immense prairies and plains, with very little
wood and timber near them; and it should be the policy
of the government to preserve, not to destroy the wood
and timber, and especially the good sawing timber of the
country.  Looking to the future good of our country,
sound policy would dictate that very small duties should
be imposed upon lumber, wood, and timber, imported or
brought into the United States; and that such importations should be encouraged-to save our timber as long
as it may be practicable to do so. It would be much
better policy for the State governments to exempt wood
and timbered lands from taxation, and as a substitute, to
impose an equivalent amount of taxes upon cord-wood,
saw-logs, or sawed lumber and timber, when taken from
the land, —and thereby encourage the preservation of
wood and timber, rather than to encourage their rapid
destruction by heavy duties upon such imports. Our




248              DUTIES ON IMPORTS.
railroads consume immense quantities of fuel'; and wood
and timber are diminishing rapidly, in every section which
is supplied with them. In three-fourths of Europe, Asia,
and Northern Africa, it is more difficult for the people to
procure fuel than food; and such is the case now in more
than half of the States of this Union.
On account of the great importance of railroads, the
extremely large demand for railroad iron-much beyond
the capacity of the American iron mills to supply, it
would seem that the duties on railroad iron should be reduced. They amounted during the fiscal year 1868, to
$2,196,142.
The dogmas of free-trade and the doctrines of ultra
and indiscriminate protection of all branches of domestic
industry alike, are in-many respects diametrically opposed
to each other; and there is between them a wide domain,
for free-trade in some articles, and the imposition of large
duties upon others, to raise revenue-whereby incidental
aid, and what is called protection, will be afforded to
American industry.  The protectionists embrace numerous classes, many of whom carry the doctrines of protection to such extremes as to favor the indiscriminate protection of all branches of American industry; and think it
good policy to impose large duties upon imported wool,
as well as woollen goods; upon raw hides and skins, as
well as leather boots and shoes; upon coal, wood, and pigiron, as well as bar-iron and hardware; upon sawed
lumber, timber, and hemp, as well as upon manufactures
of wood and hemp; and to prohibit absolutely, the purchase of foreign-built vessels by American citizens, and
the registry thereof, as American vessels.
Indiscriminate duties upon raw products used in manufacturing, as well as upon manufactured articles, which
require skill and science, and also the concentration of




FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.      249
capital, skilled labor and machinery, to produce, serve to
neutralize and balance each other, so far as any benefits
to American  manufacturing industry are concerned.
Duties upon raw materials to be manufactured aid the
foreign manufacturer, by increasing the cost of American
manufactures which come into competition with imported
goods; and thereby discriminate against, and tend to depress American industry. England, France, and other
manufacturing countries of Europe, have learned a wiser
policy. They generally impose no duties, and very low
duties if any, upon raw materials to be used in manufacturing-that their manufacturers may make goods at as
little cost as is practicable, to enable them to sell at such
prices as to be able to undersell their neighbors, and compete successfully in foreign markets.
SEC. 4.-Financial, industrial, and commercial condition, at different periods.
The foreign debt of the people and government of the
United States, in 1830, was only about 100 millions of
dollars; but we then had but few miles of railroad, and
but few canals and other internal improvements, compared with what we have now, and very little capital
employed in either manufacturing or mining industry.
Now (January, 1870), we may estimate the cost of our
railroads, rolling stock and buildings, at nearly 2,000
millions of dollars, and they will soon be worth, in the
aggregate, as much as they cost.
The capital invested and employed in  mechanical,
manufacturing, and mining industry in the United States
in 1830, did not exceed 200 millions of dollars; in 1840,
it was, as appears by the report of the census, 296 millions of dollars; in 1850, it was over 525 millions of dollars; in 1860, it had increased to nearly 1,010 millions
11*




250     FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.
of dollars; and it may be fairly estimated now, at 1,600
millions of dollars; while our foreign debt has swollen to
thirteen or fourteen hundred millions of dollars.
The debts of the States were constantly increasing,
from the commencement of the Erie canal, in 1817, until
the end of the rebellion, in 1865. In 1830 they were
about 40 millions of dollars; over 198 millions in 1840;
over 250 millions in 1860; about 348 millions in December, 1865; and 323 millions of dollars in December,
1868. Nearly all the State debts, contracted prior to the
commencement of the rebellion in 1861, were for making
canals, improving the navigation of rivers, and building
railroads, or aiding incorporated companies to build them;
and half or more of the State bonds were sold in Europe,
to procure the means of making such improvements.
The most of our foreign debt arose from such sources.
The canals and river improvements in the United
States, had cost in 1830, about 40 millions of dollars;
100 millions in 1840, and over 160 millions in 1860.
The amount invested in railroads, depots, and other railroad buildings and bridges, and in rolling stock, was, in
1830, about two millions of dollars; in 1840, about 130
millions; in 1860 it was reported at $1,151,558,000;
December, 1867, $1,655,483,000;  December, 1868,
$1,869,525,000; and in January, 1870, it may be fairly
estimated at 2,000 millions of dollars.
With the exception of the large amounts expended
during the rebellion, the moneys borrowed by the States
were very generally well and profitably expended. In
most of the States, the State debts represent property to
their fill amount; and so far from  the people being
poorer, or hurthened by reason of the contraction of such
debts, they are actually wealthier-for the improvements
made with the monies borrowed, have been very generally




FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.     251
productive, and pay the interest on the loans. They not
only facilitate business and promote industry, but they
have actually increased the value of property, often from
two to five times as much as their cost.
Our city debts have also become large. In 1840, the
debts of thirteen of the then largest cities in the Union,
exceeded twenty-five millions of dollars. Since that time
they have been constantly increasing, and probably at
this time (January, 1870) they amount to from 100 to
150 millions of dollars. A large portion of them was
contracted for water works and market houses, railroads,
and other productive improvements, and now represents
productive property, the income of which pays the interest on their cost; but large amounts of the city debts
were contracted for public buildings, school-houses, sewers,
bridges, parks, &c., which produce no income-though
they are useful and valuable. Nearly all the city debts
represent valuable property. The debts for school-houses
and educational purposes have increased taxation more
than those of any other class.
The debts of railroad corporations, and other incorporated companies, are also very large. They represent a
portion of the capital invested in such improvements and
business-the stock of the companies representing only a
part of the capital so invested.
So far as our national, state, city, county, and corporate bonds are held by our own citizens, our country and
citizens in the aggregate are none the poorer on acoount
of them-though the interest on the national bonds, and
on some of the other bonds also, render it necessary to impose taxes upon the property and industry of the whole
people, for the benefit of the few who hold them; but so
far as they are held abroad, they not only oppress the
industry of the country, and impoverish it to pay the iu



252       FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.
terest, but they also embarrass the commercial relations
of the country, and drain it of specie.
It is very generally estimated that nearly 1,000 millions
of dollars of our national bonds are held abroad, mostly
in Europe, together with 200 or 300 millions of State,
city, and corporate bonds and stocks, besides a mercantile
debt against our country of 100 millions, or more-making an aggregate of 1,300 millions, or more; on all of
which, except a portion of our mercantile debt, interest
must be paid-amounting, in gold, to from  75 to 80 millions of dollars, annually. The effects of such a drain
must be obvious to every reflecting mind.
Statement, showing the outlines of the financial condition of the United States:
In 1840.    December, 1869.
Population......................  17 millions.    39 millions.
National debt.................... $51  do.    $2,4531  do.
State debts...................... 198  do.       323    do.
City debts...................... 25   do.  over 100   do.
Foreign debt of the country....... 230   do.     1,300   do.
PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENTS.
In canals and river improvements.. 100   do.      165   do.
In railroads and bridges........... 130   do.  2,000   do.
In mechanical, manufacturing, and  296           10 
296 ~~ do.     1,600   do.
mining industry..............
The canals and  river improvements, railroads and
bridges, and investments in mechanical, manufacturing,
and mining industry, costing, in 1840, only about 526
millions of dollars, and in December, 1869, about 3,765
millions, constitute our principal instruments and agents
of industry, and interior commerce. They also constitute
our principal assets, which must be set against our national, State, and corporate debts, and especially our
foreign debts; and taken in that view, they are indices
of the great progress we have made, during the last thirty




FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.      253
years, in industry and interior commerce, and show that
the financial condition of the country, with its immense
war debt, was vastly better in 1869 than it was in 1840.
The productive industry and aggregate incomes of the
people of the United States, valued in gold, were nearly
four times as much in 1869 as in 1840.
I have heretofore carefully estimated,* from the census
of 1840, the productive industry of the United States for
the preceding year, at................$1,0211 millions.
The Internal Revenue reports indicate,
that in 1869 it amounted to about.... $3,800 millions.
The total incomes of the whole people,
from unproductive as well as productive industry and business, including
the rental of dwelling-houses, in 1840,
amounted to about............... $1,250 millions.
And in 1869, they probably were (in gold) $4,600 millions.
And in currency, nearly.............. $6,000 millions.
By reason of railroad facilities, the growth of cities, and
the much larger proportion of the people being employed
in mechanical, manufacturing, and mining industrywhereby the markets for breadstuffs and provisions have
been increased, agricultural products, at the places of
growth, have increased, perhaps twice as much in gold
values, as in quantities.
Average annual amounts of the exports and imports
of the United States (exclusive of coin and bullion), during
the under-mentioned periods of five fiscal years eachstated in millions of dollars:Exports.      Imports.
5 years, ending in 1827, $75 millions. $78- millions.
5  do.       do. 1832,  711  do.        803   do.
* See my Essays on the Progress of Nations, vol. I., pp. 461, 462.




254     FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.
5 years, ending in 1837, $108- millions. $130- millions.
5  do.       do. 1842,  110k  do.    114    do.
4: do.       do. 1847, 118   do.        941   do.
5  do.       do. 1852, 1551  do.    176I   do.
5  do.       do. 1857, 246-  do.    295-   do.
5  do.       do. 1862, 293   do.    288-   do.
5  do.       do. 1867, 3211  do.    3241   do.
This table shows not only the great and regular increase
of the foreign commerce, and particularly of the exports
of the United States; but also presents evidence of the
increase of the national industry.
Coin and Bullion.    Exported.          Imported.
In 25 years, to 1847.... $143- millions.. $234.44 millions.
Excess of imports,...............   91.1   do.
In 20 years, to 1867,...$9743 millions..    223k do.
Excess exported,.. 751*  do.
Nothing but the gold fields of California has enabled
the commerce and industry of the country to sustain such
a drain of specie. The production of gold has had a
wonderful influence upon our commerce, and has greatly
stimulated our industry. It has also stimulated the avarice and ambition, pride and extravagance of the American people.
The loyal States prospered during the war-notwithstanding the enormous weight of taxation, and the heavy
drain of men from  the industrial and business classes.
The industry of the seceding States was entirely crushed;
but it has been rapidly reviving since the close of the war.
With the exception of the shipping and ship-building interests, the manufacture of woollen goods, and some
minor industries, the industrial interests and business of
the whole United States are in a reasonably prosperous
condition; and yet, owing to our immense foreign in



EVILS OF A DEPRECIATED CURRENCY.        255
debtedness, much larger (and perhaps three or four times
as large as any other nation ever had), our inflated paper
currency, and inflated prices of labor, as well as of nearly
all property and products-the mania for more railroads,
and the prodigious amount of capital absorbed annually
by the construction of new roads-and the general extravagance of the people, as well as of the government, our
country is in a critical condition; and the most of our
business men and capitalists are apprehensive of a coming
crash-of a sudden fall in prices and in the value of property, and a great depression in industry and business.
What is most needed by the people, is to be relieved
as much as possible from the burthens of taxation-to have
the tariff laws properly adjusted to the condition and
industrial interests of the country, and the currency
slowly contracted, or kept steady, and not allowed to expand. To be relieved from the public debt and the burthens of taxation to pay the interest, is impossible, without dishonor; but to impose taxes to pay off the debt
rapidly, is needlessly oppressive and cruel.
SEC. 5.-Evils of a depreciated currency.
A redundant or superabundant currency is always, and
necessarily depreciated, in its purchasing capacity. A
depreciated currency tends to increase the prices of all the
products of industry, the cost of living, the prices of labor,
and the prices of rents and all kinds of property-to raise
them all above the standards of the commercial worldto derange the business relations and industry of a country, and the relations of debtor and creditor-and to raise
the prices of products so high as to check and lessen exports, and invite an increased amount of imports; and
thereby create an unfavorable balance of trade, and embarrass the foreign commercial relations of the country.




256       EVILS OF A DEPRECIATED CURRENCY.
While the process of inflation is going on, it tends to
make some suddenly rich, and to foster pride and extravagance. Our country has been laboring so many years
under the influence of a depreciated currency, that its
evils have been fully developed, and are very generally
recognized; and I may safely say, that they are now very
greatly exaggerated, by a large class of persons, who are
inclined to attribute to the currency, evils which are incident to and produced by an immense public debt, the
prodigal expenditures of the federal government, and the
enormous taxation imposed upon the people to pay the
interest on the debt, and support the government.
The system  of carrying on the war, paying off the
army and the public creditors generally, with treasury
notes, was so easy, the first effects were so good and so
apparent, and the evil effects mostly so distant and slowly
developed, that the people as well as the government
were very generally lulled into a false security, and did
not realize, until after the war closed, that the redundant
paper currency increased the cost of the war and the public debt, five or six hundred millions of dollars; and perhaps more. It levied a sort of forced loan upon the people, which enabled the debtor class to pay their debts in
a depreciated currency, and to take advantage of their
creditors, to the amount of several hundred millions of
dollars.
These evils have been perpetrated and are past, and
there is no remedy for them. There can be no remedy
for past public evils.  They have been endured by the
creditor, and there is no remedy for him; the government
can have no remedy for its losses, without dishonor; and
those classes that have suffered from it by reason of the
enhanced cost of living, can have no remedy for the evils
which have been imposed upon them.  The people have




EVILS OF A DEPRECIATED CURRENCY.        257
now accommodated themselves to two currencies-one
of gold, used by importers to pay for foreign goods and
the duties imposed upon them, and one of paper, used
in all other transactions; for the importer, after paying the cost of his goods and the duties upon them
in gold, calculates their cost in currency, and regulates
his sales by their cost in currency.  The cost of labor
and of all the products of the country, and the price of
labor and products are adapted to each other upon the
currency standard; the banks and the currency have performed their functions admirably well, with great regularity, and with as little fluctuation in prices as has occurred in any country during the last four years. During
all that period the principal evils the people have suffered, have arisen from enormous, and in many instances
crushing taxation; which has hung like an incubus upon
the laborer, the capitalist, and the business man-depressed the business and the industry of the country, and
lessened the comforts of the masses of the people.
There has been of late a great clamor for the resumption of specie payments-as if that could cure the principal evils under which our country is laboring.  The hopes
and expectations upon which that clamor is based, are as
delusive as those of the administration were, when they
were issuing hundreds of millions of treasury notes; which
answered a temporary purpose in carrying on the war,
but, being carried to excess, produced enormous evils in
their effects.  To return suddenly to specie payments,
when our currency is equal to about eighteen dollars to
each person in the United States, would oppress the
debtor classes of the community, and derange again the
business and industry of the country more injuriously and
disastrously, than the original inflation, and soon end in
failure.




258     CAUSES OF DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY.
SEC. 6.-Standard of value, and causes of depreoiation
of value.
It is said that gold and silver are standards of value,
recognized as such throughout the commercial world;
and the only standards of value that are so recognized.
That is very true; but though the best and only standards of value we have, they are very far from perfect and
uniform standards. A portion of their value is artificial
-arising from the practice of coining, and from the laws
of civilized nations, making them a tender for debts.
Like everything else, their value, when measured by labor, or the products of labor, has fluctuated very much in
different countries, and gradually declined, ever since the
discovery of America, and the opening of the rich mines
of Mexico and Peru. Though labor and the common
products of labor fluctuate more quickly and frequently
than the precious metals, yet taking long periods of time
in any country of Europe into consideration, the price of
a day's labor, of a bushel of wheat, or of a pound of iron or
copper, has changed less than that of either gold or silver.
Prior to the discovery of America an ounce of gold or
silver would generally purchase in Europe about three
times as much wheat and provisions or other products of
labor, as it would in 1850; and the relative value and
purchasing power of those metals have depreciated not
less than twenty per cent. since the discovery of the gold
mines of California and Australia-so that ~1 sterling
in gold at this day possesses no more purchasing power
in England, France, or Germany, than sixteen shillings
sterling in gold did, twenty years ago.
The value of gold, like everything else, depends upon
the relation between the demand and the supply; and the
supply has increased so rapidly during the last twenty




CAUSES OF DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY.    259
years, and become so much in excess of the real wants of
the commercial world, that it has depreciated in value to
such an extent as to require one and one-fourth ounces of
gold to buy as much grain or other products, as one
ounce would pay for in 1850.
Paper money becomes depreciated by redundancyby an excessive supply beyond the wants of a healthy
commerce-by the same causes which depreciate the value
of gold, the value of labor, and all the products of labor;
and when it becomes redundant, it ministers to and stimulates unhealthy speculations in stocks, and property of various kinds. It may also become depreciated by a want of security for and confidence in its redemption and payment.
But such is not the case with our present currency-furnished by the federal government and the national banks
-all resting upon the credit and power of the government, and the resources and wealth of the country-receivable for taxes and nearly all dues to the government,
and much of it made by law a legal tender for debts between private persons.
It is undeniable that our paper currency is all depreciated, for three dollars in gold have been sold for four dollars or more in paper, the most of the time since the war
closed.  The law having made the most of it a legal
tender for most purposes, the principal cause of its depreciation is redundancy —the excessive amount of it which
has been issued. The amount of treasury notes, fractional currency, and bank-notes in circulation and deposited in the banks, amounts to nearly seven hundred millions of dollars; or about eighteen dollars to each person.
No other country ever had such an excessive circulation
of paper money, which did not very soon become nearly
worthless. The average circulation in Great Britain and
Ireland, during the last fifty years, (including coin and




260                SPECIE PAYMENTS.
bank-notes) has been about ten dollars to each person;
and in France it has been still less.
SEC. 7.-Specie payments.
It is supposed by some that specie payments possess a
miraculous power to prevent as well as to cure an inflation of the currency-to raise the value of an inflated
and depreciated paper currency, and to maintain it at the
par value of gold. The experience we have had in the
United States ought to dispel and extinguish all such fallacious opinions. For many years previous to May, 1837,
our banks regularly paid coin for their notes when presented, with the exception of a few that failed.  And
yet, the expansion of the circulation commenced in the
fall of 1834, continued to increase during the years 1835
to 1836, and until about the first of January, 1837, when
it attained its maximum; and including the coin in use,
it was equal to about eleven dollars to each person. The
fact was, money became excessive in amount-greater
than the wants of the country required; and as the paper money was convertible at will into coin, both paper
and coin were depreciated in value. This was made evident by the general rise of the prices of property and
products. The inflation of the currency and its excessive
amount, stimulated a spirit of speculation into a perfect
furor of excitement; and the result was a great revulsion,
a panic, and a general suspension of specie payments by
all the banks, in May, 1837, numerous failures and almost a suspension of business for many months, throughout the country. All this occurred when our country
was free from any national debt, or any cause of disturbance or embarrassment, except what arose from a redundant currency, the speculations stimulated by an exces



SPECIE PAYMENTS.              261
sive amount of money, and the anxiety to invest advantageously; and from excessive imports of foreign goods.
Having largely reduced their circulation, the sound
banks resumed specie payments again in 1838; but the
circulation was still so large, and the imports of goods
and the exports of specie so large in 1839, that the banks
were compelled to suspend again in October, 1839; and
they were not able to resume specie payments again until
1842-when the whole money in circulation, both coin
and bank-notes, had been reduced to about five dollars to
each person. From that time until 1850 the circulating
medium of our country was gradually increased from five
dollars to about seven and a half dollars to each person;
and after the discovery of the gold fields of California,
the paper money and coin in circulation continued to
increase, until they amounted in 1857 to over nine
dollars to each person-when another panic, revulsion,
and suspension of specie payments by the banks occurred,
which spread embarrassment and bankruptcy far and wide.
All these things have occurred in time of peacein Europe as well as in our own country-when we were
free from a national debt or any unusual cause of embarrassment, and when our taxation was light compared with
what it is now. They occurred also, when all the banks
in the United States in good credit were paying coin for
their notes when presented; when bank-notes were convertible into coin at the will of the holder. These facts
show that specie payments have no power to prevent an
inflation of paper money, and the disastrous consequences
which necessarily follow such inflation. The history of
banking, and of inflations, revulsions and suspensions of
specie payments in England, have been of a very similar
character. The most commercial and industrial nations
of Europe have generally had only from eight to ten dol



262             SPECIE PAYMENTS.
lars circulating money to each inhabitant; and whenever
we have had more than eight dollars to each person
in the United States, it has always stimulated speculation, produced an inflation of prices, and led to a suspension of specie payments, and to a great revulsion. Nothing but the legalized suspension of specie payments
has saved our country for years past, from  a more
severe revulsion than even that of 1837; for our burthens
of taxation are three times as heavy as they were then.
Ourexperience shows that a mixed currency of paper
money and coin, the former convertible into the latter at
the will cf the holder, serves to delude the pelple and lull
them into a false security and belief that all is safewhile an expansion may be going on and increasing,
before the excess becomes so great as to be much noticed;
but when it becomes so great as to become very palpable
to bankers and capitalists, it soon leads to efforts at contraction, to a stringent money market, embarrassment,
panic, and revulsion, and often to wide-spread bankruptcy and ruin. Some other and more effectual remedy
than specie payments merely must be sought, to limit the
amount of paper money, and the aggregate circulating
medium of the country.
Even if specie payments were an effectual panacea
under favorable circumstances, and when the currency
is not inflated, I do not believe it possible to resume and
maintain them, until the aggregate amount of paper
money shall have been reduced to about eight dollars to
each person, so that with the addition of the coin that
will be in use, the whole circulating money of the country will not exceed ten dollars.  So long as the foreign
debt of our people and country amounts to 1,200 or 1,400
million dollars, and requires 70 to 80 millions annually
in gold to be exported to pay the interest, and the




REDUCTION OF THE CURRENCY.          263
balance of trade is also against us, it must be very difficult to maintain specie payments until our circulating
medium is reduced in amount below that of either Great
Britain or France; whose national debts are due to their
own people, and not to foreigners. With so large a foreign debt, drawing coin annually to pay the interest, and
a balance of trade against us constantly calling for coin, if
specie payments were resumed, how long would it take
to drain so much specie from  our banks as to alarm
them, induce a curtailment of discounts and issues, a
stringency in the money market, a panic, and a severe
revulsion?
SEC. 8.-Reduction of the currency.
The late Secretary of the Treasury, in his annual report in December, 1868, said " Our debased currency must
be retired, or raised to the par of specie, or cease to be
lawful money, before substantial progress can be made
with other reforms." The second alternative of the Secretary's proposition, to raise the currency to par with the
present value of specie, without retiring a large portion
of it, is an impossibility.
It should be remembered as a well-known law of trade,
that the volume of money in circulation in proportion
to the annual products and business of a country, determines its purchasing power, and the prices of labor, and
of property and the products of labor, offered in the market; and that coin as well as paper money depreciates in
value, when it be6omes excessive in amount. It may be
affirmed as a truth, that whenever there is a mixed currency excessive in amount, consisting of coin and paper
money, and the law compels the issuers of the paper to
redeem it in coin, the natural tendency and effect is,
to degrade the value and the purchasing power of the




264         REDUCTION OF THE CURRENCY.
coin to the standard of the paper, and to equalize the
commercial values of the two. This truth is illustrated
by our high prices in 1836, when we had a mixed currency of coin and convertible bank-notes.  Such is the
necessary effect, until the aggregate currency is reduced,
by retiring a portion of the paper, or exporting a part
of the coin.
As prices depend upon the volume of the currency,
it is impossible to reduce the prices of products and
labor, and the expenses of living, to a proper standard,
without first reducing the volume of the currency. If
we had a circulation of 700 millions exclusively coin, the
prices of products and labor would be and remain the
same as they are now-until the amount of the circulation should be reduced by exportation; but the evil
would tend to correct itself, and it would net be long
before the amount would be reduced by exportation to
the proper standard. Hence there is no danger of having prices inflated very long by an exclusively metallic
currency.  But a mixed currency and compulsory specie
payments by the banks, furnish no safeguard against
inflation-as our experience in 1836 and 1856 plainly
shows; and hence a resumption of specie payments, before the volume of the currency has been reduced to its
proper amount, would be of no sort of consequence, except to increase the exportation of specie, and bring on
a revulsion.
If it were possible to resume specie payments while
we have in circulation 700 million dollars of paper
money, and to put all that volume of treasury and banknotes on a par with coin, the necessary effect would be,
not to raise the purchasing power of paper money, but to
depreciate the purchasing power of gold to the present
depreciated standard of paper money; and property, pro



REDUCTION OF THE CURRENCY.          265
ducts, and labor, whether paid for in paper or gold, would
remain at the same prices as they are now-so palpably
above the prices in other countries as to lessen our exports,
discourage and lessen domestic production (as was the case
in 1836), and invite still larger imports, until our supply
of gold to pay with became exhausted, and the banks and
the Treasury were again relieved from the pressure upon
them, by a general suspension of specie payments.
The inexorable laws of trade are such that it is impossible to reduce prices and the expenses of living and
of production in this country to a proper standard, without first reducing the volume of the currency. And with
a very large foreign debt drawing interest in coin, with a
considerable balance of trade against the country, it will
be impossible to resume and maintain specie payments,
until the volume of money is so reduced, as to reduce the
prices of provisions and agricultural products generally,
below the prices in other countries-so as to admit of an
increase of exports, and a more favorable balance of trade.
Looking at our present foreign debt, and the circumstances and condition of the country now, and in 1837
and 1857, and the causes of the terrible revulsions of
those years-resulting mostly from a redundant mixed
currency, and enormous extensions of the credit system,
stimulated by an excess of paper money, it does not seem
probable that we can resume and maintain specie payments, until the aggregate amount of our currency shall
have been reduced below ten dollars to each person. Considering the increase of our population, if the currency
could be reduced 30 or 40 millions a year for five years
in succession, we might perhaps successfully resume
specie payments at the end of that period.
The laws of trade are fixed in the nature of things and
of man. They are inexorable, and cannot be controlled by
12




266      PREPARATIONS FOR SPECIE PAYMENTS.
statutes of Congress, by public opinion, nor by any
human device. Man must conform to them, or suffer the
consequences of violating them. There is no escape from
the penalty, when the laws of nature are violated.
SEC. 9.-Preparations for specie payments.
Let us suppose that Congress provide by statute for
the resumption of specie payments by the government and
the banks, in July, 1870, or at some later period; some
preparation must be made, both by the government and
the banks, to meet such an event.  The government
should provide at least 150 millions of dollars of coin,
and the banks 100 millions, over and above the amounts
now on hand. How can that be done?
During the three years ending June 30th, 1868, the
coin  and bullion  exported from  the United States
amounted to $240,696,731, and the imports were only
$46,473,495; excess of exports over imports $194,223,236,
equal annually to $64,741,078, and absorbing all the products of our mines. In fact, nearly all the products of
our mines, during the last twenty years, have been exported,
to pay interest and the balance of trade against us. How
can the government and thebanksaccumulate the coin necessary to provide for a return to specie payments? Can
either procure coin in any mode, except by sending
United States bonds and other American stocks and
bonds to Europe for sale, and importing their proceeds
in gold? In that way we should increase our foreign debt
nearly 300 millions, to procure 250 millions in coin, and
should render our condition as a people and a nation,
worse than it is now.
As a part of their preparation, the banks would lessen
their discounts, and gradually draw in and lessen their circulation; and while the process was going on, capitalists,




WHAT IS THE REMEDY?             267
and perhaps mostly foreign capitalists, would be hoarding
our treasury notes and bank-notes, ready to draw and export
the specie when the time for resumption should come. During that period, the amount of money in actual circulation
would be decreasing; the money market would become
more and more stringent; the debtor and business classes
of the community would find it more and more difficult to
meet their engagements; the future would look more and
more uncertain; all of which would deter capitalists from
loaning freely, and deter business men from entering
into new engagements and new enterprises; and the
seeds to produce a panic would be gradually accumulating.
When the period for resumption had come, the flood
of paper that would probably be thrown upon the Treasury and the banks for redemption, would reduce the circulation very rapidly-until as in 1839, we should find
the bottom of our troubles, in the necessity of suspending
again, with a circulation reduced to 300 or 400 millions of
dollars.
SEC. 10.-What is the remedy?
It appears to me that a gradual reduction of the amount
of treasury notes, is the only remedy that is practicable, safe,
and certain. If; to avoid the disturbance of business and
industry that would necessarily follow a sudden contraction of the currency, which would precede and attend;
an early resumption of specie payments, the government
should withdraw and fund'for several years in succession,
30 or 40 millions annually, the difficulty could be tided
over without any great national shock. But to resume
at an early day and maintain specie payments without
a reduction of the currency, would be an impossibility.
It is said, however, that a gradual reduction of the curren



268             WHAT IS THE REMEDY 
cy, by withdrawing and funding treasury notes, has been
tried, and proved a failure. I know it has been partially
tried and a clamor raised against it; because it pinched
some classes, and tended to check speculation. But it was
tried under a very unequal and unfair distribution of the
currency; and it may be remarked, that it will be impossible in any mode, to get down to a sound currency, without producing some hardships and sufering in theproAs the creditor class suffered while the inflation was
going on, it is inevitable that the debtor class must suffer
some, during the process of returning to a sound currency; and hence the importance of modifying and lessening the evil, by extending it over a period of some years
-and giving all classes an opportunity to calculate its
consequences in advance, and of regulating their business
and making new contracts in reference to them. The
business and debtor classes must necessarily suffer some,
upon contracts previously made, from a reduction of the
currency; but what cannot be avoided must be endured.
The advantages to the country will greatly overbalance
all the evils it can produce. It would check speculations
in gold and railroad stocks, real estate and mining shares;
which would be a glorious result, and an unmixed blessing to the country.
Let us now look at the unequal distribution of banking
capital and bank-notes.   On the 30th of September,
1868, the circulation of the banks of the six New England
States was........................... $104,549,234
and of the State of New York...........   68,853,726
and of all the other States and Territories
only................................    126,403,605
Total of the United States....  $299,806,565




WHAT IS THE REMEDY?               269
New England, with less than ten per cent. of the population, has over 34 per cent. of the banking capital and
circulation of the United States; New York, with less
than 12~ per cent. of the population, has over 22 per
cent. of the banking capital and circulation; while all
the other States, with over 77 per cent. of the population, have less than 44 per cent. of the banking capital
and circulation of the country. Is that equal justice to
the people of the South, and the West? Massachusetts has
over 80 millions banking capital, and her banks have
over 57 millions of dollars of notes in circulation. With
less than two-thirds as many inhabitants as Illinois,
Massachusetts has more than six times as much banking
capital and circulation. Massachusetts has obtained the
lion's share, and seems inclined to hold on to it. She is
always provident, and looks out for her own interest.
Having but little banking capital, the circulation of
the Western and Southern States is mostly treasury
notes; and hence the withdrawal of treasury notes immediately and very sensibly affects the people of those
States-but does not affect New England-which has an
immense circulation of bank-notes-equal to more than
thirty dollars to each person. Equalize the banking capital as near as may be, and the circulation of bank-notes,
and the West can then stand a gradual reduction of
treasury notes, without very great inconvenience.
By equalizing the banking capital and currency, I do
not mean to give each State the same amount in proportion to its population; but in proportion to its business
wants. States like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, an4d New
York, extensively engaged in manufactures as well as
commerce, require from  two to three times as much
banking capital, and circulating medium, in proportion
to their population, as States do whose people are mostly




2'0         OUR NEW SYSTEM OF BANKING.
devoted to agriculture; but they do not require from six
to ten or twelve times as much, as they have now.
To equalize the currency, it is not necessary to equalize
the banking capital of the country,-nor to reduce the
banking  capital of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
New York; but let Congress authorize the creation of
banks with 100 millions or more capital in the Western and Southern States, properly distributed; -limit
the aggregate circulation of all the banks to 300 millions, as they are now limited; distribute that circulation properly, according to the business wants of the
several States-allowing the banks in some of the States
to issue from  80 to 90 cents on the dollar of capital,
and restricting those in other States to 30 or 40 cents
on the dollar capital, according to the excess of their capital
-and requiring those having an excess to reduce their
circulation to the prescribed limit. As it is the business
of a bank to loan capital and deposits, as well as to loan
its own notes, the banks of commercial cities usually
have much less circulation in proportion to their capital,
than country banks have; and hence such limitation to
the issues of the banks of New England and New York
as I have suggested, could not be productive of any great
evil or injustice.
SEC. 11.-Our new system of banking.
Our present system of banking is, in some of its features,
entirely new-being unknown in any other country, and
very different from all the systems heretofore known in
this country.  It is based upon the national credit much
more fully and completely than the Bank of England
is-legal-tender treasury notes being the reserve held
by the banks, instead of coin, with which to redeem their




OUR NEW SYSTEM OF BANKING.            271
notes-and over 340 millions of dollars of United States
bonds being deposited as security for the redemption of
their notes.
The system is new. It is, or was at first, only an experiment; bur it has now been in operation more than six
years, and a more successf ulfnancial experiment was never
tried in the history of the world. As the legal tender
notes with which the banks are required to redeem their
issues, are receivable for taxes and all dues to the Government (except duties on imports), and are a legal tender
for private debts, they have answered the purposes of
money for all domestic uses; and the notes issued
by the banks have been equally useful.  During the
dark and critical periods of the war, when it was doubtful if the Confederate government could be overturned and the Union restored, and whether the federal
government could ever meet all its pecuniary liabilitiestreasury notes, and with them the notes of our national
banks, were all depreciated, byreason of the doubtful credit
of the government; but they were depreciated still more
by the excessive amount of treasury and bank-notes put
into circulation. Since the great rebellion was put down,
in April, 1865, the redundancy of the currency has been
the only cause of its depreciation; but that is an evil
which can be provided against, and is not inherent in our
new banking system.
Though the currency has been depreciated, it has been
depreciated alike in all parts of the United States; and
during the last five years the exchanges and business of
the country, and the distribution of its products, have been
carried on with the aid of the national banks, with greater uniformity and facility, than ever before, in the history
of our country. Treasury notes, bank-notes, and high
duties upon imports, carried us safely through the most




272         OUR NEW SYSTEM OF BANKING.
gigantic war ever known in the history of the world; and
they did so without any financial revulsion. The same
causes have stimulated industry and enterprise to such an
extent, that our country (with the exception of the rebel
States), has been as prosperous during the last five years,
as during any period of five years since the organization
of the federal government.  Extravagance and prodigality, excessive taxation and speculations in stocks and
gold, have.been the principal obstacles to both individual
and national prosperity. We have enjoyed as a people
and a nation, the highest degree of prosperity, when
compared with several periods in our history, of profound peace-when the industry,- business, and property
of the whole country, were terribly depressed.  Those
gloomy periods were from 1784 to 1790, from 1818 to
1824, from May, 1837, to 1843, and for two years, commencing in September, 1857. The reader should study the
history of those periods, and inquire into the causes which
produced so great, so general, and so prolonged embarrassment and depression in our country.
Our new banking system, with all its virtues, is based
upon new light in relation to the powers of the federal
government, and upon new constructions of the Constitution
put by Congress, and not yet passed upon by the Supreme
Court of the United States. The redemption of the issues
of the banks is based upon legal-tender treasury notes.
But whatever ground there may be for holding the issue
of legal tender notes a violation of the Constitution-so
far as they apply to debts contracted before the passage
of the act authorizing them-there can be no injustice,
and I think no good ground to question the power of Congress to apply them to contracts made subsequently.
Without such power, the notes would have been of little
value; they would have given the government very little




OUR NEW SYSTEM OF BANKING.          273
aid in carrying on the war to restore the Union; and the
war would have been a failure.
Again, in passing the banking act in February, 1863,
the federal government exercised a power which had been
exercised by the States for three-fourths of a century-some
of the time concurrently, but for the last 27 years exclusively.  The banking law is based upon the theory that
the practice in England and in this country prior to 1787,
made bank-notes, as well as coin, money-that the provisions of the Constitution giving Congress power to coin
money and regulate the value thereof, and prohibiting the
States from coining money, issuing bills of credit, or making anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender for
debts, taken in connection with the power conferred on
Congress to regulate commerce among the States, included by implication, and conferred, power, to regulate and
control the issue of bank-notes, as money, and the medium
of commerce.
There is great force in the reasoning which supports that
theory; for if the States can charter banks, and authorize
them to issue an unlimited amount of paper money, the
constitutional provision inhibiting the States from emitting bills of credit is thereby practically evaded; and
that provision inhibiting them from making anything but
gold and silver coin a legal tender for debts, becomes
almost a nullity.
If this new construction of the Constitution be sustained
by the Supreme Court of the United States-as the welfare of the country requires it should be, then our new
banking system, resting on the credit of the government,
is based upon a good and durable foundation; but if the
Supreme Court should overturn that construction, and
declare the National Banking Act unconstitutional, and
all the acts and contracts of the banks witlout authority
12*




274          THE TEST OF DEPRECIATION.
of law and invalid, the most wide-spread embarrassment and ruin would occur, which ever afflicted our
country.  Such an unsound and mischievous decision,
upon much less plausible grounds, was made by the
Supreme Court of Michigan, many years since —declaring
the general banking law of Michigan contrary to the constitution of the State, and all the acts and contracts of the
banks organized under it, and the bonds and mortgages
they had given as security, invalid and void. Our new
banking system is not, and will not be free from danger,
until the validity of the act shall have been passed upon
by the Supreme Court of the United States.
If the validity of the banking law and thm policy of the
Government in relation to the currency be sustained,
giving to Congress full power to regulate and control
banks of issue, and paper money of all descriptions, then,
with some amendments, a proper equalization of banking
capital and issues, and a wise limitation of the aggregate
amount of paper money, we shall have, not only the best
banking system, but the cheapest and most convenient,
and in some respects the best currency in the world. We
should soon have a mixed currency, partly coin, but
mostly paper; and when the paper becomes reduced to its
proper amount, the difference in value between coin and
bank-notes will fluctuate from nothing to only one or two
per cent. Under our new system, our banks cannot be
disturbed and driven into suspension or bankruptcy, by an
adverse balance of trade, and large exports of specie.
SEC. 12.-The test of depreciation, or non-depreciation.
Gold has been sold for paper money for several years
past, at a large premium-the amount of premiums varying from time to time-being affected, first, by the good or




THE TEST OF DEPRECIATION.          275
doubtful credit of the government, and secondly, by the
amount of paper money in circulation.  The premium
paid for gold measures the depreciation of thepaper.  The
sales of gold under our financial and banking systems,
measure with precision the depreciation of our paper
money; and they would continue to do so, if the quantity of paper money should be reduced to one-half its
present amount.
Whenever the treasury and bank-notes in circulation
shall have been so much reduced in amount, that the holders of coin voluntarily exchange it for bank-notes at
par, or for a small premium of one per cent. or less,
that fact itself will furnish conclusive evidence that the
paper money is not depreciated; and that it is not redundant, nor in excess. But if specie payments be resumed,
the compulsory payment by the banks, of gold for their
notes, will furnish no test whatever, that the amount of
circulation is not redundant and depreciated,-as was the
case in 1836 and 1857, when the banks redeemed their
notes in coin.  Under the old banking system, with compulsory specie payments, we had alternate expansions and
contractions, as incidents of the system-first expansions,
until wild and visionary speculations, with large exports
of specie, caused a panic; which soon resulted in excessive contraction, and wide-spread embarrassment and
bankruptcy. Under the new system, with a wise limitation by law of the amount of bank issues, the currency
can be kept steady and nearly uniform in amount, without
expansion or sudden contractions, and the business and
industry of the country would soon be in harmonious relations with it, and with each other.
If my reasoning be correct, we have found a practical
and certain test, by which it is easy to determine when
paper money is in excess, and how much it is depreciated,




276          THE TEST OF DEPRECIATION.
if any; and as Congress has assumed and exercises the
entire control of the currency of the whole country, including paper money as well as coin, all that is necessary is
to reduce the circulation gradually, from year to year,
until the excess shall have been withdrawn, and the balance remaining in use shall have risen to par, or nearly
par with coin; to note the amount retained in circulation in proportion to the population of the United States,
and the problem of the amount of circulation needed, will
have been solved. Congress can then regulate and limit the
amount of paper money to be issued, from time to time, in
accordance with the increase of our population and the
wants of the country, with almost unerring certainty.
We should then have the cheapest and most convenient,
and in some respects the best currency ever known in the
world. The best for general use, andfor security against
inflations and contractions-enormous extensions of the
credit system and excessive speculations-panics, hoarding,
and severe revulsions. It is true, we should have two currencies-coin and paper money-coin for change and for
foreign commerce, and bank-notes and some treasury notes
for general use. But the difference between the value of
the latter and the former would be so small, that it could
not derange nor disturb either the industry or the business
of the country.
SEC. 13. —Deceptive as well as evil influences of a redundant paper currency.
Paper money is deceptive and delusive in its influence
upon business, and upon public opinion. Gold and silver
being extensively used in the arts and for matters of
ornament, have great intrinsic value in the estimation of
civilized nations. They are, therefore, in universal de



TENDENCIES OF A REDUNDANT CURRENCY.    277
mand for purposes of exchange and commerce, and are
often concealed, hoarded, and kept for future use. Paper
money having no intrinsic value, can be used only for
commercial purposes, as a medium of exchange, in the
country where it is issued. It cannot be sent abroad to
pay foreign debts, and there is no inclination to hoard it.
Every person having paper money is anxious to use it, to
make it productive-either by loaning it on interest, or
by buying stocks or personal or real property of some
kind, from which he expects to get an income, or make a
profit. An increase of money or currency increases the
number of anxious buyers, without increasing the amount
of property to be sold. By increasing the demand for
many kinds of property, without increasing the supply,
the tendency is to increase prices, and to make many
suddenly rich by the increase of prices. The constant
increase of prices for weeks and months in succession, and
the prospect of a continued rise, makes many persons
anxious to buy; and as this speculative movement goes
on, all kinds of property and labor also are more or less
raised in price, and continue to rise with the increase of
the volume of currency, until a perfect fever of speculation is excited in many kinds of property, and a panic
eventually ensues, which checks it. All such advances
of prices and speculative movements render a larger
amount of money necessary to carry on the business of
the country; and as prices advance, the issue of more
and more paper money is required to supply the demand.
TLe issue itself, by enhancing prices and stimulating
speculation, instead of satisfying, tends to increase the
demand for it, and to create a demand for still greater
issues; and thus the matter goes on, until a panic and a
financial crisis occurs, and the people come to their senses.
As more money is constantly demanded, and seems to be




278     TENDENCIES OF A REDUNDANT CURRENCY.
needed by business men and speculators, the public are
deceived by appearances, and are incapable of understanding that there is an excess in circulation already. They
do not understand the fact that the demand itself is artificial, and is mostly created by the enhanced prices and
the spirit of speculation caused by an excessive and redundant paper currency. By inflating prices generally,
including the prices of labor, and increasing the cost of
production, a redundant currency tends to raise products
so high as to invite large imports from abroad, and to
lessen exports, by raising the prices of domestic products
so much above those of other nations, that they cannot be
exported with profit. It tends to neutralize the influence
upon domestic industry of duties on foreign products-to
supplant domestic by foreign manufactures, and to undermine and paralyze the manufacturing and mining industry of a country. Such are the necessary tendencies, the
deceptive influences, and the delusive efects, of an excessive paper currency. The increase in the prices of property deceives great numbers of persons with the idea
that they are getting rich, when they are, in fact, only
marking up the supposed value of their property. Others
deceive themselves by making money on paper, by uncertain credits.  The whole tendency of a redundant currency is to deceive and mislead, to create false conceptions
of wealth, to encourage a spirit of speculation, extravagance, and prodigality, and to discourage industry and
attention to business. In any correct view which can be
taken of the subject, it operates as an impediment to the
progress of a nation.
If this reasoning be correct, how important it is to
prevent any increase of paper money, either by the Government or by the banks.




FREE BANKING.                279
SEC. 14. —Free banking, with a circulation practically
unlimited.
Some of our politicians and newspapers are discussing
the subject of free banking-of allowing the establishment, under general laws of Congress, of as many banks,
with as much capital, as the people of each State and community may desire-with an aggregate amount of issues
limited only by the demands of the people for currency.
In its operation, such a system would furnish a currency
practically unlimited in amount.
There is no necessity of limiting the amount of capital
that may be employed in banking in any city, State, or
community. As capital is loaned, and kept on hand in
banks, for the purpose of being loaned, the government
may very properly allow the amount of banking capital
to be regulated by the business wants of each community-by the principles of demand and supply; but the
amount of bills and notes to be issued in a State or country, to circulate as money, cannot be regulated by such
means, and should be limited by law-to prevent excessive issues, and the evil effects of a redundant currency.
There can be no good objection to the gradual increase
of the banking capital of the United States to five, six, or
eight hundred millions of dollars, as the owners of surplus capital may see fit to employ it in that mode, provided the amount of issues of bank-notes in each State be
so limited by law, that the aggregate amount in the
United States shall not be increased.
As avarice has no limit, and the speculative spirit and
desire to get money to use, to make a profit by its use, is
very general in our country, there is practically no limit
to-the demand for the gradual expansion and increase of
the currency. The depreciation thereof and the increase




280           FREE BANKING, WITH AN
of prices commence and go on pari passu with the increase of the volume of the currency. The increase itself, by its own natural operation and influence upon the
prices of products, property, and labor, creates an additional demand for currency-so that the increased demand for, and use of currency, go hand in hand with
the increased supply-whereby the public mind is deluded
and misled.
Banking and currency form several instructive, and in
some respects disastrous chapters in American history;
not the least disastrous of which has been the history of
free banking under State laws.  The disasters of the
past should not be forgotten, nor overlooked; but kept
in mind as a warning to the future.  If the circulation of national banks were ever so well secured, and
limited in amount to seventy-five cents on the dollar of
capital, the aggregate amount of circulation in the United
States would be practically unlimited, if there were no
limit to the establishment of new banks and to the addition of banking capital, with, the enjoyment of equal
privileges by all the banks to issue notes.
When Michigan was first admitted into the Union as a
State, her active and speculative, but comparatively inexperienced population, and juvenile Governor, conceived
the brilliant idea of teaching the world a new and free
system of banking. The Legislature of the State passed a
general banking law in March, 1837, and an amended
act in November of the same year.
During the years 1837 and 1838, forty-nine banking
associations were organized under the statutes, went into
operation, contracted debts to the amount of over a million of dollars, and all but two or three failed during the
year 1838; and all those which continued in business
after January, A.D. 1839, failed soon afterwards. The




UNLIMITED CIRCULATION.           281
Legislature, in 1839, repealed the acts by which they
were organized, and passed an act for winding them up
in Chancery, and collecting up and distributing their assets by means of receivers. Prior to 1838, the Legislative Council of the Territory, and Legislature of the State,
chartered sixteen banks, with two branches, which went
into operation with a nominal capital of over seven millions of dollars; all of which, but one, finally failed, and
swindled the public in the aggregate, probably twice as
much as the banks organized under the General Banking
Acts, known as "WILD CAT BANKS."  The population
of Michigan was then less than 180,000; almost exclusively agricultural and speculative; imported almost
everything they used or consumed, including not only
manufactures, but much of the provisions they lived on;
exported nothing but a few furs and some few fish; had
nothing to sell or dispose of but wild lands and banknotes, and had no legitimate use for more than one bank.
The State alone lost nearly half a million of dollars by
one of the chartered banks in which the State funds were
deposited.  Receivers were likewise appointed for the
greater part of the broken down chartered banks, but
some of them were so utterly worthless, that no creditor
ever deemed it worth while to incur the costs of proceedings to get receivers appointed for them. About threequarters of those banks were chartered, and the General
Banking Acts passed, when the cry and clamor throughout the Union was strong against corporations and the
power of associated wealth, as dangerous to the liberties
of the people; and numerous charters were granted, and
the General Banking Acts passed, to give poverty, inexperience, and popular ambition, an opportunity to associate for banking purposes, to counterpoise the associations of wealth, and neutralize their dangerous effects.




282                FREE BANrKIG.
The Supreme Court of the State finally declared the
general banking laws unconstitutional and void, and all
the notes issued, and contracts made by them, void also;
and by a series of decisions nullified the obligations of
the banks, and of the directors and stockholders thereof,
and the securities given by them, and left their creditors
without remedy. They were unsound decisions, based
upon fallacies and false assumptions, and supported by
sophistical reasoning. They show that the Courts can
do almost anything in Michigan, as well as in the City
of New York.
Such has been the experience-the sad experience of
Michigan upon the subject of banking. The experiment
of free banking has been tried in New York, Indiana,
Illinois, and Wisconsin; and the system utterly failed in
the three last named States; though being better secured
and regulated by law, and the circumstances more favorable, the failures of the banks were not so sudden, nor
were the disasters so great and ruinous in those States, as
they were in Michigan.  The ultimate success of the
present national system of banking will probably depend
more upon the limitation of the aggregate issues of the
banks, than upon all other regulations and causes.




NOTICES
OF
"ESSAYS ON THE PROGRESS OF NATIONS,"
WRITTEN BY THE SAME AUTHOR,
AND PUBLISHED BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO., NEW YORK.
NOTICES OF THE FIRST VOLUME OR SERIES.
From the Evangelical Observer.
" Many original views and reflections will be found in it. Its leading
topics are indicated by the title, " On the Progress of Nations."  The
object of the writer is to trace the influence of the great laws of nature
on the condition, transactions, and welfare of individuals and nations,
likewise of education and of government, both civil and ecclesiastical,
and of agriculture, commerce, the mechanic arts, and other vocational
pursuits."
From the New York Tribune.
"It is a most valuable contribution to the Literature of Political
Economy, and will be duly appreciated, we doubt not, by numerous
classes of inquirers into whose hands it may fall. If it could be perused by every voter throughout the United States, it would add much
to the stock of knowledge, and produce a most salutary effect in enlightening the public mind on many subjects now imperfectly understood.
" It is a most truthful and instructive work, which should find a place
in our village and school libraries, and be studied by every fireside.
"Mr. Seaman's work will be readily understood by any one, and no
one can read it without acquiring broader and juster views of National
Policy, and a wise Public Economy."
From the Commercial Advertiser, of Buffalo.
" It is in truth a work of great research, honest and convincing in
its expressions of opinion, and admirably calculated, by its array of incontrovertible facts, to dispel the many erroneous and mischievous
notions of mere theorizing political economists. We warmly commend
it to public favor, as a book of great interest and utility."




2                   NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
From  a Letter of ion. Milard Filmore.
" It brings within the reach of every man a vast store of useful information as to the progress of agriculture and the arts among mankind, which can be found nowhere else in so condensed and cheap a
form. Your sound views of political economy are sustained by statistical details, which serve at once to illustrate the subject, and carry conviction to the mind."
From a Letter of Hon. Ross Wilkins, of Detroit.
" Every topic discussed is of public importance, and the sources from
which you have derived your facts and data, accurate and authentic.
I think I can safely say, you have rendered a great service to the
country."
From a Letter of Rev. Geo. Duffield, D.-D., late of Detroit.
" I account it a valuable publication, which cannot fail to be of
great utility to the general reader, as well as to statesmen, editors,
professional and public men; and hope that its extensive circulation
among our legislators, and those who are and ought to be studious in
political economy, will seeure to it a measure of usefulness equal to its
value."
From the New York Evangelist.
" The discussions of this volume pertain to some of the gravest and
most important of human inquiries; and the conclusions of a candid
and thoughtful mind are both interesting and valuable. There are
positions taken which will not command universal assent; yet none can
fail to derive instruction from his reasonings, and from the numerous
facts and statistics by which his arguments are illustrated. The style
is perspicuous, and the whole management of the argument candid,
clear, and able."
From the American Review.
"We cheerfully express our opinion of the great value of Mr. Seaman's book, entitled " Essays on the Progress of Nations."  It has high
merits in a political and philosophical point of view. The author evidently views the Tariff and kindred subjects from a position higher than that
from which they are ordinarily contemplated. The reader will find, on
the examination of this work, that these are not questions merely of
temporary prices, or market fluctuations, but that they have a permanent bearing on the highest well-being of the nation. The author
demonstrates that the encouragement of a national industry, in its
various branches, is far more than a mere nominal matter of cheap
buying (although even here its advantages are in the end more clearly
shown), but that it is more intimately connected with the moral welfare and highest prosperity of a country."
From the Christian Examiner and Religious Miscellany.'Mr. Seaman has more than fulfilled the promise of his title-page.
Besides twelve essays upon the topics which he professes to treat, he
has given us five preliminary chapters that are chiefly devoted to the




NOTICES OF THE PRESS.                        3
moral bearings of his subject. In these chapters he discusses the laws
of nature, with their operations upon the condition of individuals and
of nations; then, industry and exercise; then, the course of civilization,
from the life of the herdsman to that of the modern manufacturer; and
finally, the influence of governments, civil and ecclesiastical, upon the
operations of industry. In these preliminary essays a healthy moral
sentiment is manifested."
From a Letter of the Hon. Walter Forward, late of Pittsburg, Pa.
"The truth is, it is a most valuable acquisition to the country.; The' Progress of Nations' is a work for farmers and mechanics to
read. I trust they will read it, and acquaint themselves more familiarly with the true grounds of our American Policy."




NOTICES OF THE SECOND SERIES.
From the New York World.
"ESSAYS ON THE PROGRESS OF NATIONS IN CIVILIZATION, PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY, WEALTH, AND POPULATION. Illustrated by Statistics of Mining, Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, Banking,
Internal Improvements, Emigration, and Population.' The first volume of these essays was issued some years since, and in
this, the second, we have chapters on the elements and agents of the
progress of nations; on impediments thereto; on law, organization,
education, and religion; on the difference in races of men; on Mohammedan countries; Mongolian countries; on Asia, Australia, Africa,
etc.; on Africa and Africans; on Oceanica; the West Indies; Catholic
America; the United States; British North America; and Europe.
Chapter twenty-five, on the differences in the races of men, and chapter thirty-three, on the United States, are of special interest, and exhibit marks of exceeding industry and care.
" The entire volume is replete with useful information. The author's
views on the influence of climate, on intellect and character, as set
forth in pages 478-481, are of considerable moment, as also his statements in connection with a subject of such present importance as paper
money."
From the New York Observer.
"These are no mere discursive discussions of theories, but a copious
collection of facts and statistics, illustrating valuable thoughts and
pregnant suggestions. So well arranged and concisely presented is the
mass of material, that the volume will be always valued as a book of
reference. *  *  *  The influence of Christianity and its institutions
is recognized as among the main elements of true progress."
From the New York Times.' Mr. Seaman reviews the progress of human affairs from the earliest
ages, and sums up its results, pointing out at the same time those
natural adaptations and aids, which necessarily led to the civilization we
have inherited or accomplished. His essays, comprehending all the
motions and means of artificial society, are very suggestive, presenting
those general views and conclusions which are received by our chief
social writers and political economists, but which must be always,
more or less, the subjects of controversy. The chief merits, however,
of this large and well-printed octavo, are in the historic summaries of
the various nations, and their statistics of population, natural products,
and social progress. *  *  *  All Mr. Seaman's commentaries on the




NOTICES OF THE PRESS.                       5
progress or condition of the various nations, will be found interesting;
and his comparison of the Hindoos with our own especial people, the
Chinese. is rather attractive just now."
From the North American Review.
" The title of this work accurately describes it, and understates, rather
than overstates, its extraordinary fulness of detail and information.
We must admire the rare patience and industry which were employed
in gathering, sorting, and adjusting this mass of facts about nations,
ancient and modern, large and small, civilized and savage, Christian and
heathen, Caucasian and Mongolian, in continents and islands, in every
clime, from the tropics to the poles.
" Mr. Seaman has, nevertheless, a higher end than merely to catalogue
facts. While he is no theorist, he has the spirit of a philosopher, and
means to show the causes of the national rise and decline, which he chronicles
in so many ways. He holds tenaciously to certain general ideas, and
is no believer in the doctrine that history is only a succession of events,
and is summed up in mere' annals.' In some particulars he agrees with
Dr. Draper and Mr. Buckle, especially in the influence of climate, which
is with him the most important factor in the product of national prosperity and national character. No civilization of any high order shall
come in the torrid or the frigid zone.
" Ethnological questions of the highest importance are frequently
started. Where did the tribes of Oceanica originate? How came the
Indians in North America? Mr. Seaman does not commit himself to
the theories of Darwin and similar thinkers, yet he is not a blind
believer in Biblical cosmology.
" On the question of' Reconstruction' Mr. Seaman's views are in
harmony with those of the moderate party. He approves substantially
of the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution. He
does not think that the South ought to have votes for the negroes
whom they disfranchise; yet, as he believes that education and intelligence should be conditions of citizenship (or rather of the elective
franchise), he would not give votes to ignorant negroes.
" We should be glad to notice more of Mr. Seaman's mature opinions
on a variety of topics, but must refer our readers to his well-filled volume. "
From the Philadelphia Press.
" This is a most important work, combining political economy with
history, geography, and statistics-the latter being brought down to
the present year. It is philosophical, too, without allowing the subject to sink into the obscurity of metaphysics. Whoever wants to
learn the present condition of any country, can do it from this book."
From the Presbyterian, of Philadelphia.
" The book is certainly a great repository of facts, of importance to
every student of the history of nations. We do not know of any volume in which so much that is of interest to every man is condensed, as
this one of Mr. Seaman's."




6                  NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
From the Chicago Tribune.
It is a hand-book of facts and suggestions, which every student
of human affairs should have.  The questions of social and political philosophy, which come up at every step, Mr. S. discusses briefly and judiciously, leaving them as much as possible to the decision of statistics.
He has attempted to show the influence of climate and circumstances
upon the character and destinies of peoples, and has handled this part
of his subject with judgment and learning.  *  *  *  The work is indispensable to scholars, writers, teachers, and whoever wishes to study to
any purpose the tendencies and prospects of the human race."
From the Chicago Journal.
" It is, in its way, a complete cyclopaedia. The author has evidently
bestowed immense labor upon it, and possessed rare fitness for the task
he has accomplished with so much thoroughness. The sections that
we have read are peculiarly satisfactory."
-From the Age, of Philadelphia.
" The author exhibits constantly the spirit of an earnest seeker after
truth. *  *  *  He seeks out the most reliable sources of information;
and with a full knowledge of the critical condition of our country,
while avoiding extreme theories not tested by experience, he is careful
to eschew anything partaking of a partisan spirit, or tending to promote
mere partisan ends. Lessons are taught in these pages to which we, as
a nation, will do well to take heed, lest, through our neglect, we are
forced to learn them in the school of bitter experience."