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Page 34
In selecting men, the citizen must be able to recognize general ability
and intellectual fitness. It is at this point that modern democracies
are most apt to go wrong. The standards by which we measure men and
women are most imperfect; and we are prone to let one good or bad
quality overshadow all others. Thus in an extended study on school
children's attitude toward Queen Victoria in England, and toward
President McKinley in America, made while these rulers were alive, we
found that less than twenty per cent. mentioned any kind of political
ability, nor did they often mention their general ability, nor their
honesty. They admired them primarily because they were "good and kind."
In other words the school children of these two lands approve their
rulers because, in a vague general way, they like them.[43] The
significance of the study lies in the fact that in all democracies a
large number of the voters live on an intellectual plane represented by
these school children.
[43] EARL BARNES, _Studies in Education_, Vol. II, pp. _5-80_.
Philadelphia, 1902.
This conclusion is borne out by the judgment of Miss Jane Addams who,
writing of foreign voters about Hull House, says: "The desire of the
Italian and Polish and Hungarian voters in an American city to be
represented by 'a good man' is not a whit less strenuous than that of
the best native stock. Only their idea of the good man is somewhat
different. He must be good according to their highest standard of
goodness. He must be kind to the poor, not only in a general way, but
with particular and unfailing attention to their every want and
misfortune. Their joys he must brighten and their sorrows he must
alleviate. In emergency, in catastrophe, in misunderstanding with
employers and with the law, he must be their strong tower of help. Let
him in all these things fill up their ideal of the 'good man' and he has
their votes at his absolute disposal."[44]
[44] JANE ADDAMS, _Democracy_, p. 221. New York: The Macmillan Co.,
1902.
To be a safe citizen one must be able to go beyond this kindly feeling
and ask, Does the candidate know enough to do what I want done? Has he
the honesty to resist the temptation to exploit me? Has he the
leadership to command the best efforts of the subordinates in his
department? Has he serious defects that may cause his failure? Is he an
opportune man for the time and place?
This selection is made very difficult to-day by the misrepresentation of
interested individuals and political parties; and especially by the
reports in the press, which seek to discredit candidates they oppose,
and to gloss over or deny defects in their chosen leaders. Thus the
whole public atmosphere in the midst of a campaign is intended to
confuse and bewilder the citizen who is honestly seeking the best
candidate. Only ripened intelligence, experience with men and women, and
ability to judge conflicting evidence, can enable the voter to select
wisely.
In the last place, if the citizen knows what he wants, how to devise the
governmental machinery to get it, and how to select the right men to see
that it is done, he must register his desire by a vote; and then watch
his servant carefully to see if he justifies the trust imposed in him.
If he does not, then the citizen must criticise, threaten, and, if
necessary, finally dismiss the unfaithful employee. Only one who can
fulfil all these functions can be considered a desirable citizen from
the point of view of a modern democracy. "Eternal vigilance is the price
of liberty."
And why should one desire to undertake this arduous responsibility? In
the first place, because he wants the public work well done, as he
understands it; and the only way to have it done in this manner is to
attend to it himself. If he does not attend to it, some one else will do
so; and if the intelligent citizens do not look after it then the public
business will be exploited by individuals, or groups, in their own
interest; and, before the citizen realizes what is happening, he will be
deprived of that political liberty to secure which millions of men and
women have struggled and suffered and even given their lives in the
years which lie behind us.
And yet possibly the most important value of participation in political
life to-day is the byproduct of continuous education which it gives.
Modern political life has probably done more to train the men involved
in it than have schools or churches. Business and industries alone might
claim to be its rivals. In a despotism, all the events of public life
are uncertain and seemingly accidental, depending as they do on the
caprice of an individual. This discourages thought among the masses,
paralyzes action, and breeds inertia and hopelessness. At best, it gives
rise to periods of desperation and violence; at its worst, it gives us
the hopeless masses of Mohammedan lands. In a free democracy, on the
other hand, those who participate are in a continuous process of
education, judging, selecting, willing, and always with regard to
realities that affect daily life. Citizenship gives one a continuous
laboratory course of training in the art of right living.
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