A SCHOOL FOR POLITICS.
[To THE El'lTor.j Sir,—ln these dsivs win n women arc asserting their inalienable right to work shoulder to shoulder with man for the common weal of the race one is often apt to hear from their few hitter narrow-minded opponents the worn-out discorded wheeze that the sex is mentally inferior to mail, and that they are incapable of bringing a cool judgment and calm common sense to their aid in recording their votes at the parliamentary elections. The sentiment is obsolete, so there is no necessity for discussing it; but it opens up the question of the grave responsibility which rests upon each individual who registers his vote at the polls. At the forthcoming general elections the men and women of New Zealand will bo asked to choose a policy for the government of our colony for the three following years, and it may possibly be that a single voter will be the means of putting into power a man whose vote or whose personality may influence the destinies of the country for incalculable good or evil. In this colony my opinions may be received as rank blasphemy, but I positively say it is criminal oil the part of a State to entrust its vital interests in the hands of an unthinking vascillating mob, who in a great many instances do not comprehend the very alphabet of the politics of their country, and who in a majority of cases could not explain what is even meant by •' Political F.coliomy.'' At the polls in this colony what do we see"? What do we see at those times when the heart of the. nation is beating fast hanging on the result of the elections'? A train of thoughtful men and women entering the booths with the full knowledge of the duties required, and an intelligence capable of discharging them." Yes, most certainly : but the sight of great hulking, illiterate, halfimbecile boors stalking in and by a cross of their frivilous pens undoing the work of the intellectual public who alone can understand the requirements of the colony is frequent and painful. Indeed, though I have referred to illiterate and unintelligent larrikins, this does not by any means. I regret to say, touch the root of the question. II it did their voices rniyht be drowned
in that of the mass of the people. No, I have no hesitation ill saying that more than half the electors a; present on the roll h;'vo no practical ac<juaintaince with the principles of political economy, and to whom the que-iion of bi-H'i-taii: Di is a vague "incomprehensible quantify. i-'nlly a ipui rk*r have only a '■nperfieinl or el • ,10 knowh dge whatsoever of the C-overn-ment ihiance ; there ar hundreds who could not advance a respectable opinion on really important politics, such as the single-tax; and there are a considerable number whose limited intelligence renders them tools in the hands of unscrupulous politicians and who are therefore a standing menace to society. for argument's sake, and for argument's sake only, I will say that 1 am overestimating the proportion of those on the electoral roll whose acquaintance with vital politics is so narrowed or whose intellect is so bounded as. to warrant their exclusion from the list of voters. The feet remains that a large proportion of them, from one cause or another, are a prey to the representations of plausible orators, or else vote blindly without fully understanding the interests at stake. This being so, it becomes most emphatically the duty of the State and of the intellectual public to insist thai tiie general and bye-elections shall be a combined conscientious effort of the united intelligence of the country for the national benelit, and not the mere mechanical record of the votes of irresponsible people who are either utterly ignorant or culpably careless ot the vast issues involved in the result. How can this be attained ? Simply by making the science of political economy compulsory in the curriculum of our schools, and demanding that each aspirant to the electoral roll holds a certilicate of hav ing attained a certain standard of proliciency in the subject, such per-son-1, and such persons only, being allowed a voice in the affairs of the State. lam fully aware that such a fundamental change could not be made suddenly. It would be too radical, and would be quite properly resented by the community. l!ut the colony should lay the foundation hy demanding that the rising generation be made acquainted with the subject of exchanges, values, and taxation through the medium of the State schools, and have authenticated documents issued to them on leaving, indicating the standard achieved, the lowest of which \\ould qualify them to vole. After the lapse of some years it would be then possible to introduce a J Jill into the Legislature compelling each elector to hold such a decla ration, and the public business will be conducted by men placed in power not by the wealth, nor the ignorance, nor the emotions, but by the reason and the intelligence of an advanced people. I am, \c., Tiuxie.
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Bibliographic details
Hastings Standard, Issue 49, 23 June 1896, Page 3
Word Count
854A SCHOOL FOR POLITICS. Hastings Standard, Issue 49, 23 June 1896, Page 3
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