The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1910. A NEW FRANCHISE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1004, 20 December 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1910. A NEW FRANCHISE.

We should very much like to know, but of courso it is .beyond ascertainment, what >the majority of thoughtful men throughout the world will think oftho novel and interesting basis of the rfranchise under the npw Constitution provided for Alsace-Lorraine.'''' Members of Parliament, a cable, message,told us yesterday, "will be elected by secret bal-" lot, and the franchiso is given to all adult males 25 years old, two ■votes being allowed to electors „over 25 years of age, and three votes to those over 45 years." This..is an entirely new and original'idea, so far as we know, "and it is bound to' attract the hostile attention, of those who hold that : everybody above the age of 21 should have one "vote, or,. to put it another way, that, the mere act of coming of age confers upon a boy an equal'ability and an equal vlight to share in the . direction of his nation's government' as' is possessednot only by his father, but by .the greatest and wisest man in the country. It is'too generally forgotten that .the principle of adult suffrage —of perfect political . equality ■amongst adults—is as purely empirical as any other suffrage doctrine. No stronger case can be made out for it than can-bo made but for many of,>the varying doctrines; arid, in, some ,ca,ses the balance of moi'it•is .againstj-'1t..,, .Thoro is no u'C'fvson, for. examplrfj ,whyr2s years-should riot' bo ! taken as "the' porio'd'. .of'political adolescence instead, of 21 years. Thoro is infinitely' more,,lbgic in "the .doefcrino that a period of military training should precede enfranchisement than in the doctrine that the power to voto should come to everyone automatically with a certain striking of the clock. Thero are' oven advantages of a kind in a suffrage based upon a property qualisuch- as the suffrage that 'lia§; obtained even in, Ncjk Zealand hi'respect of'cc_rfcain?muiiicipal referenda] 1 And. if age brings wis- ; , dom, and a greater competence • to, judge men and examine principles, as it assuredly does in' the case of everybody save the'incurably foolish, there is perhaps more logic in. the new Alsace-Lorraine franchise than in any other.

The only, point that -is. 1 worth notinp, however, is that every sort of suffrage yet devised is empirical. None is perfectly logical. Mill, in hia famous essay on Representative Government, - against the spirit of which not even the wildest "democrat" can breathe a word, was led to conclusions which will noiyhere bs accepted without largo amendments, and which are occasionally very illogical; indeed; . -But Mill,. for all his Liberal sympathies, was unable to approve universal suffrage. :He held that "it is a personal injustice to withhold from any one, unless for the prevention of greater evils, the ordinary privilege of having, his voice reckoned in the disposal of affairs in .which .he has the samo interest as other people," yet he insisted upon some wide disqualifications. • It is important (he wrote) that, the Assembly which votes the taxes, cither general or local, 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 bo lavish and nono to economise. As far as money matters are concerned, any power of voting possessed 'by them is 'a violation of the fundamental prineiplo of free government; a severance of the power of control from the interest in its beneficial exorcise. It amounts to allowing them to put their hands into other people's pockets for'any purpose, which they think fit to call a public one. . Mill touches more closely the principle of unequal political power, in a later passage: ' When two persons , who have.a joint interest in any business differ in opinion, does justice - require that 'both opinions should be held of exactly• equal value? . . . One of the two, as the wiser or better man, has a claim •' to superior weight. l ' . . In considering the translation of this fact into clectoral;law,.Mill came : to the conclusion .that those .persons who oxcrcised 'superior functionsemployers, foremen, skilled workers, bankers, merchants, manufacturers, and so on—should have two or more votes. He laid great. stress ■ upon educated intelligence ,as a-qualifica-tion for plurality. He would insist, however, that .the plurality.' of votes should not be carried so tar that those privileged by it should Outweigh tho rest of tho community. Having admitted that universal equality in voting power is .'conducive to progress, as being in itself educative, Mill adds a warning that wc must bo allowed to quote : t 'But theory and experience alike prove that a counter current sots in when they [the less educated classes] "arc ipado the' possessors of all power. Those who are supreme over everything, whether they be - One, or Few, or Many, have no longer need of, the arms of reason; they can make their' mere'will prevail ; and those who cannot be resisted are usually far too well satisfied with their 'owh bpin-' ions to be willing, to' change them, or. listen without impatience to any one who tells them that they/aw in.the wrong.