AN ELECTION ADDRESS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. .71 SIR,—Is it not the case that the jest of one generation becomes the serious politics of another ? The following jeu d esprit, written by me in November, 1868, has just turned up. The occasion which called it forth was the candidature of Mr. Ayrton for the Tower Hamlets in that month.—I am, Sir, Sze., VETERAN.
" CmzEss,—Although four Candidates of so-called Liberal opinions are soliciting your votes, you still want an advocate of genuine Democracy ; as such I offer myself to your choice. I believe in the Sovereignty of the People ; of the People unspoilt by education, or by the possession of property. Before this Sovereignty can be established further Reform is needed. The Suffrage must rest on no narrower basis than that of Manhood. Theorists have commonly excluded from the pos- session of political privileges the classes which they are pleased to stigmatize as Criminal and Lunatic. Criminality is the ban (often unjustly imposed) of a selfish and corrupt Society ; Lunacy is the eccentric development of the highest genius. I am stead- fastly opposed to exclusions so unjust ; the originality of the Lunatic, the ingenuity of the Criminal, as well as the unfettered judgment and ample leisure of the Pauper, must alike be utilised for the benefit of the people.
I look upon the Ballot as an obsolete device ; intended to secure Freedom of Election, it may serve to shelter the enemies of freedom. Nothing can be more satisfactory than that the Majesty of the people, making itself felt in imposing assemblages, should overawe the selfishness of individual opinion.
A Parliament thus chosen will have to make many changes. Taxation must be readjusted ; the duties of supplying and of expending the National Income are obviously distinct, and must not be exercised by the same persons. My aspirations point to a Government wholly supported by the possessors of property, and wholly administered by those who are free from that encumbrance. If a larger provisicin may be allowed, I anticipate a day when property itself shall have become a tradition of the past.
The Naval and Military Services must be abolished. It would be cheaper, and therefore more patriotic, to purchase at half the cost of their maintenance the forbearance of our enemies.
The Irish Church is doomed. I see in the English Establish- ment a wealthier, and therefore a more legitimate, object of attack.
I acknowledge the indefeasible right of the workman to fix his own hours of labour and his own rate of wages. If Capital will cheerfully submit to these conditions, it may be permitted to exist for the present ; I know, indeed, of no way by which the destruction to which it is doomed may be more certainly effected.
Of many Social Reforms that call for attention I will mention one alone. The peculiar industries of some of our most active fellow-citizens are hampered by the presence of hirelings who affect to represent the Law. By suppressing the Police Force I should put an end to an expenditure at once extravagant and injurious.
November, 18.S8." Your fellow-citizen, Qurvis.
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