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Untitled Article
"but equally for that of person , reputation , liberty , and life c virtue of these , if the degree of power is to be decided by the degree of interest , every human being is entitled to an equal share / The strength and skill of the labourer are property , in any sense in which property can be made , the basis of representation without gross violation of justice . Its protection from spoliation is one of the most important functions of government .
It might and should be made the electoral qualification , were toil shown to imply intelligence as certainly as property . With what amount of property the requisite intelligence will generally be found connected , is a question which can only be answered by accurate investigation of the actual condition of a
people . The miiiinmm should always be taken , in order that by a numerous constituency protection may be afforded against the prevalence of class interests , and the influence of bribery and intimidation . The author admits that property is a very inexact criterion ; that nothing like proportion between its amount and the degree of intelligence can be supposed without manifest absurdity ; that as it can often be no more directly ascertained than knowledge , it may itself require some criterion ; that the purpose may have to be accomplished by reference to the amount of taxes which a man pays , or the value of the house which he occupies ;
and that this , like all other limitations of the franchise , allows one class of the community to sit in judgment upon the competency of another class to exercise usefully the functions of which it arrogates for itself the exclusive possession . But for these evils and anomalies he sees no help until the g reat mass shall be better instructed . No one , we apprehend , would admit more readily than the author , or more earnestly contend , that no class should be left
destitute of the franchise but on the supposition of a clear case of disqualification being made out against it . We would rather that
this principle had been made more prominent . Wo would assume qualification rather than disqualification , and have all constituted the guardians of their own interests , and the common interest which is their aggregate , until incompetency be demonstrated . Mr . Bailey has adverted to ' the effect of the possession and exerei » e of the franchise on the mind of the elector , ' and it is a
most important consideration . Were the machinery of elections properly managed , did their results depend solely upon opinion , there would not long be a lack of qualification in the very lowest classes , supposing them to be invested with the franchise . Political instruction would take the place of canvassing . The
materials of opinion would be produced and brought home to every cottage door . A tolerably adequate degree of qualification would very speedily arise out of the right ; and it would most Uk « ly advance so rapidly as to place the entire population on
Untitled Article
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1835, page 406, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2646/page/42/
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