This
argument, doubtless, might be pressed further, and made to prove
much more. It would be eminently desirable that other things besides
reading, writing, and arithmetic could be made necessary to the
suffrage; that some knowledge of the conformation of the earth, its
natural and political divisions, the elements of general history,
and of the history and institutions of their own country, could be
required from all electors. But these kinds of knowledge, however
indispensable to an intelligent use of the suffrage, are not, in
this country, nor probably anywhere save in the Northern United
States, accessible to the whole people; nor does there exist any
trustworthy machinery for ascertaining whether they have been acquired
or not. The attempt, at present, would lead to partiality,
chicanery, and every kind of fraud. It is better that the suffrage
should be conferred indiscriminately, or even withheld
indiscriminately, than that it should be given to one and withheld
from another at the discretion of a public officer. In regard,
however, to reading, writing, and calculating, there need be no
difficulty. It would be easy to require from every one who presented
himself for registry that he should, in the presence of the registrar,
copy a sentence from an English book, and perform a sum in the rule of
three; and to secure, by fixed rules and complete publicity, the
honest application of so very simple a test.
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