If he is compelled to pay, if he may be compelled to
fight, if he is required implicitly to obey, he should be legally
entitled to be told what for; to have his consent asked, and his
opinion counted at its worth, though not at more than its worth. There
ought to be no pariahs in a full-grown and civilised nation; no
persons disqualified, except through their own default. Every one is
degraded, whether aware of it or not, when other people, without
consulting him, take upon themselves unlimited power to regulate his
destiny. And even in a much more improved state than the human mind
has ever yet reached, it is not in nature that they who are thus
disposed of should meet with as fair play as those who have a voice.
Rulers and ruling classes are under a necessity of considering the
interests and wishes of those who have the suffrage; but of those
who are excluded, it is in their option whether they will do so or
not, and, however honestly disposed, they are in general too fully
occupied with things which they must attend to, to have much room in
their thoughts for anything which they can with impunity disregard. No
arrangement of the suffrage, therefore, can be permanently
satisfactory in which any person or class is peremptorily excluded; in
which the electoral privilege is not open to all persons of full age
who desire to obtain it.
There are, however, certain exclusions, required by positive
reasons, which do not conflict with this principle, and which,
though an evil in themselves, are only to be got rid of by the
cessation of the state of things which requires them.
Pages:
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195