SELF-GOVERNMENT 7 tion. North Carolina rejected the Constitution, and the authorities in Rhode Island would not summon a convention to consider it. Most of the states urged the addition of several amendments embodying the personal liberties which the colonists had enjoyed as Englishmen. They supported the Constitution with this understanding. Finally ratified and put into execution, it was loyally upheld by the conflicting interests which directed their energies toward an attempt to gain control of the new government. From these elements the first political parties in the United States developed. The Federalist Party which held control down to 1801 represented the conservative, propertied classes who supported the idea of a strong central government. The Jeffersonian republicans who came into power after that time represented the more radical element which desired to give more power to the people, more to the states, and less to the federal government. They discovered, as have many other liberal groups since that time, that it is easier to talk reform than to execute it. The Modern Period. It was not until 1820-1830 that the movement to abolish the suffrage restrictions in the separate states gained full headway. This movement was greatly aided by the democratic frontier states which at that time were becoming a determining factor in the nation's political life. The desire for a greater measure of self-government found expression when Andrew Jackson, a man from the masses, was elected to the presidency (1829-1837). After that time white manhood suffrage gradually became practically universal. Political control was no longer vested in the hands of the well-to-do and the educated but passed to a considerable degree into the hands of the people. But the majority of the people were still disfranchised and had to submit to a government without their own consent. Women had no voice in the new democracy. Negroes were enslaved. A civil war had to be fought before the slaves were freed, made citizens, and enfranchised. Even to-day, the suffrage qualifications in most of the southern states effectively prevent the great mass of colored people from voting. A great non-military struggle lasting almost a century was necessitated before suffrage qualifications based on sex were abolished in all the states by the nineteenth amendment. Even to-day women are not effectively represented by members of their own sex in the national and state governments. The constant widening of the suffrage was accompanied by greater popular control over the election of president and senators; direct primary elections; and the initiative, referendum, and recall. These devices were designed to correct some of the evils incident to a democratic government manipulated by a political machine. The primary election takes the place of the indirect nominating convention which offers an excellent opportunity for corrupt politicians wholly to control the nomination of candidates for office. It gives the people a more direct voice and a wider choice in the election of officials. The initiative, referendum, and recall are intended partly to solve the question of misrepresentation. They permit the people more effectively to share in their state, city, or town governments. The initiative allows a certain proportion of the voters to propose laws which the state officials with or without the intervention of the legislature must submit to popular vote. If the necessary popular vote is obtained the measure becomes a law. The referendum permits a small percentage of the voters to demand that any statute passed by the legislature, with certain exceptions, be submitted to the electorate and approved by a stipulated majority before it takes effect. The recall enables a certain number of voters who are dissatisfied with the conduct of a public official to compel him to stand for a new election and submit his right to continue in office to the decision of the electors. This usually applies to elective officials only. Through these devices and through the wide suffrage more of the people to-day have a share in the government than ever before. The Part Played by the Newspaper. Effective participation in public affairs necessitates an enlightened public opinion. The most timely purveyor of information concerning national and international happenings is the newspaper. It brings to the attention of every individual the news concerning his government, the conduct of his nation in the handling of internal and external problems. It may be called the voice of the nation. While the paper may be loath to assume such a responsible rôle, the fact remains that it is largely through the daily journal that the average individual keeps in touch with his government and the everyday occurrences of modern life. It is this journalistic organ that is instrumental in shaping his ideas concerning men and events. Indeed the paper is the only means within the reach of the great body of people by which they can keep informed on current topics. Unless the paper is impartial and authentic, the great mass of citizens will be misinformed and unfitted to carry on their own government intelligently. The newspaper has many faults, most of them very human faults. How to make the press into a moderate, accurate, and unbiased news bureau remains a question. It is a problem closely connected with the problem of self-government. A greater danger to the development of the ideal of self-government lies in the abridgement of those other ideals, liberty and equality of opportunity. With the growth of big business, the disappearance of the frontier, and the widening of class divisions these ideals are in danger of losing their significance in American life. LIBERTY The complement of the ideal of self-government is the ideal of liberty. To govern themselves, a people must be free. To have an elastic and useful government, they must have the right to express their thoughts and opinions. The ideal of liberty was one of the motives which inspired many of the early colonists to seek America. They found here a wider measure of freedom than in the old world. They could establish their own forms of religion. They had a better opportunity for self-government. There were fewer social distinctions or restraints. There was always the opportunity for the adventuresome to shake off community restrictions and push forward in an attempt to conquer the wilderness. Despite the freedom of a kind which the colonists found in the new world, they were ruled by a stern mistress. Disobedience to nature's laws meant death. They were not free from hardship and danger, though the years brought increasing immunity from these foes. As Englishmen, they carried with them a heritage of a continued struggle for freedom. The concessions which had been wrung from reluctant kings were insured the colonists in the charters which granted them the right to settle in the new world. But the struggle was not ended, the colonists continued to strive for greater liberties. This desire for liberty, the wish to maintain their right to self-government, and other more material motives induced them to declare their independence of England and to fight the Revolution. It was the continued agitation for these ideals on the part of the idealistic and radical elements of the people that compelled the more conservative element to write them into the Constitution. The amendments, among other provisions, forbade Congress to make any law abridging freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press. They stipulated that every person should have a right to a fair trial by jury with counsel and witnesses and should be secure in his person and property. The two principal abridgements of these liberties occurred in 1798 and again over a century later in 1917 and 1918. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were passed at a time when war with France seemed imminent. The first gave the President authority to expel certain aliens who might prove dangerous to the nation's welfare. The second, in addition to other things, made it a crime to publish libels against the administration. The acts met with much popular opposition. They were one of the causes of the downfall of the Federalist Party which was responsible for their enactment. The Espionage Act of 1917 and 1918 and the Deportation Act of 1918 were likewise enacted at a time of stress and excitement. The United States had entered the World War on the side of the Allies. There was a rather general fear of possible disloyalty on the part of our large foreign population and of the activities of the radical organizations which had sprung up throughout the United States. The espionage acts effectively restricted freedom of speech and of the press and indeed made punishable any derogatory criticism of the government. The deportation act made all aliens considered dangerous to the United States because of their political beliefs subject to deportation. Under these acts many persons were imprisoned and others deported. Many of the states copied the example of the federal government and passed similar laws limiting the liberties of their citizens. The states like the federal government had provisions in their constitutions protecting such liberties, but these provisions were held to be relative in character and not unlimited. The new acts like the earlier measures met with much criticism. Many thoughtful people recognized that the ideal of self-government was endangered by the abridgement of the rights of free speech and free publication. If the people are not permitted to criticize and if need be condemn, the government ceases to be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. The people have no longer the right of self-expression. The criticism may be only that of a minority. It may be worth while or it may be valueless. But expression of many diverse opinions is necessary to ascertain the will of the majority. Even after this will has become evident, if minority opinion is suppressed, all the people are not represented in the government. Without free expression of ideas, however disagreeable to accepted beliefs, progress, liberty, and democracy are threatened. Suppression of liberty goes further than the enactment of re pressive laws. It is especially evidenced in industrial struggles where the workers are denied the rights of assemblage and free speech and are subjected to arbitrary treatment by officials controlled by the wealth and power of the dominant class. On the other hand large numbers of people who in the past had no liberty are at present in the process of securing freedom from sex and race oppression. Women, who constitute approximately one-half the citizens in the United States, have within recent years attained a place as individuals with some share in the life and ideals of the nation. Since the middle of the nineteenth century they have been slowly emancipated from the sex handicaps which reduced them to the position of inferiors with lesser rights and opportunities than men. But the majority of women have not yet secured the freedom, the wide opportunity, choice of occupation, economic independence, and legal advantages enjoyed by the other sex. Over 10,000,000 of our citizens suffer from similar inequalities because of their race. The slaves when they were granted freedom did not receive any guarantee of equality which public opinion was ready to enforce. To-day color determines to a very wide degree a man's social position, his chances in economic life, his share in the government. Until recently we made no very concerted effort to make our ideals of self-government, liberty, and equality of opportunity effective for women and Negroes. Sex and race stood as barriers to much that was pleasant and worth while in life. But these handicaps are becoming less. While the woman problem and the race problem have not yet been solved in conformity with American ideals, they are at least recognized as problems and efforts are constantly being made to effect a solution compatible with American democracy. But these efforts do not bring back the loss of liberty which comes from an abridgement of that other ideal, equality of opportunity. This encompasses both the ideals of self-government. and liberty. The right of free speech, of free publication, and of assemblage is a precious right; freedom from sex and race dominance is still more valuable to great numbers of individuals; but neither of these will bring a satisfactory measure of liberty and self-government without the ideal of equality of opportunity. EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY The Absence of Class Divisions. To the early colonists America stood symbolized as the land of opportunity. To the New |