PART II. Of the Principles and Reasons on which the Right of Suffrage is founded;-of various things which have been erroneously supposed to lay the foundation of that right;-of various things which ought, or ought not, to debar or disqualify a person from the exercise of that right;—of the manner in which the exercise of it ought to be regulated in practice;—and of the apportionment of Senators and Representatives. CHAPTER I. Some General Remarks, and a Division of the Subject. The right of suffrage cannot be classed among the original natural rights; because the exercise of it, and the opportunity to exercise it, presuppose the existence of civil society and political regulations, such as do not exist in that condition of mankind usually called the state of nature. If twenty-five men should happen to come together in an uninhabited country with a view to a permanent residence, in the same place, each one would stand upon his separate, independent, natural, rights; and a majority could not, by their vote, bind the minority; nor could a vote of twenty-four bind the twenty-fifth man. Any portion of them might properly unite to repel the aggressions of any of the others; but they could not rightfully ex ercise any control over each other. They might voluntarily unite in a society, and agree that the vote of a majority should bind the whole. The right of voting then would be the result of the social compact, or of the formation of themselves into society, and not a natural right; and no person would have a right to vote, nor would he be bound by the vote of the others, until he had, in some way or other, become a member of the society. And when the society is once formed and the territory taken possession of and appropriated to the use of the members, they would have a right to receive or reject other applicants for membership, as the interests of the society should dictate. When one has so become a member, his right would be regulated by the rules or laws of the society; and those rules or laws would be prescribed by the society, and not dictated to it by the individual. Most persons become members of political societies or governments, by birth and not by any act of their own. They are placed there by natural causes, and have a right, which may not improperly be called a natural right, to all the privileges of the community in which they are born, consistent with the general welfare, and with the rights of other members of the same community. But the institutions of the society must determine what rights and privileges an individual may enjoy consistently with the general welfare and with the relative rights of others. Men, as members of society, give up many of their natural rights for the greater privileges of civil society and laws. Although, as has been before shown, no person can claim the right of suffrage as a private right except in accordance with the public welfare; yet there are certain qualifications and conditions which furnish reasons in favor of such right; and which, when possessed in sufficient numbers, may properly be said to give him that right. Ours is an elective government; and it would lose its organization and existence, if the various offices of the government should become vacant by the omission of the people to elect. The right and duty of the people to elect the officers of the government, is at the foundation of the system. It is certain, therefore, that there is a portion of the people to whom this right belongs and to whom this duty attaches; and the great question to be settled is, who, or what individuals, compose this portion of the people. There are two leading and governing principles to be kept in view, in settling this question. The first is, that which has been so often mentioned, the public good. The second is, to give to all the members of the nation their just relative share of influence in the affairs of the government, so that the rights of all may be equally protected. The second is but an emanation from the first, and is in strict accordance with it, and has the same object. The condition and interests of men are different and ought to be consulted for the mutual harmony and benefit of all. It will not do to introduce the bed of Procrustes for the measurement of political rights. The short men may bear to be stretched a good deal to bring them to a prescribed arbitrary standard. But the tall men will not consent, and ought not to consent, to have their |