Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 322, 12 November 1891 — The Franchise and the Property Qualification. [ARTICLE]

The Franchise and the Property Qualification.

I"uuc-rthe heading of Electoral Rights, Art 11, īn the Deciaration of Pr»nciples, adopted by tbe Hui Kalai.i 'na about four weeks ago at a p»:i.iic meeting, and later by. other Political Associations,' wa- also adi>p;ed by the and Workjngmeti's Frotective Union. The course pursued by the Union olo?*s the door of future hope to the r<".;n:mtcff the Reform lparty, in V iacoming eleeiion cam£aign.

i wr doing so the P. C, Advertiser mkee tbe mechanics to task: points out their course as very unwise inaccuses them of being fearful ar»d s9 actuated by cowardiee rath er tlian "'eoimeiion." but silent a8 to. pnneiplea. It blowe hot and l4ows cold, aud then attempt% to ma\iv u snotly comparigon and to ridicule the mechanics for aceepting a i'undamental piineiple of right* whieh this sin-cyrsed earth has nothing to do with except to restore the primitive prder whieh of right tjflon|fS to evcry man alike.

The P. C. A. assuDies the attitude taken by the mechanies**s to their opposition toward the Chiri- € e, and the planter as an cnemy io thein, no doubt in the 3atter inBtance on the «ame ground that the shark is dreaded bv the 2esser fry. ■This is nurely an nssamptior. in refrr"nce to the queßt:on. and an dnr» a.sonabie one. unworthily credited t«> the mechanics without anv evi<knoe to support such an assertion. The ineclīanies are not as devoid of ?enson or intdliffence ns the I\ C. Advcrtiser wou!d have ils readere "• fbr. The inechanics of <>ur oom•iiwnity are thinking men, and look 'iUo qoestions of naiional import- • nee witb at least the same degree ; i n as, the men who have u i'ow dōlfars n)orejlh£in they have. ;.l with" jiepidadly lei?s prejudicr ?■><<} selfiehnees to tfrau their jiui£ 'i»'-nt. Their d©Bisiow on the quesof franchise and property quai<;ation ig not based on expi i d* and self iikieresf, but as a >n;i|tor of princlpiJ?. The white !>• ehaiiiee liave this neiple born within him: he is e r:idied with it, nurtured fro*n elnlilLh.kl to iuanhood uporv it. It i® thf very life principle upon whieh hiā raother countrv ie cstabliihcd.* The r«ūwn attributed (o the workingmao is too Himey and hardly worth ar«n2injr ercept to shaw, perb*f«. how c.tifittotl the autbor of qnegtioQ is for the privib»ge fitround ōf vofi i'.am.pon.

Fhe doing wbat ri£hi, bj' auv ow*» the wot&ingn)ea a>» w$H $ā <sA;)itaiist, is not at all a jueai)£ of„ spitiag one'd seif. The graudesi gov • strucxum is huilt up«>n tno prim ipie» of fr<»edou> .-ui<i ' r y > »ncl *>vGTy nalion J ! :m prmcip!o is _hiter<»riing t«> <l" **ray witb iho unjust 6rsteui of iiiiM*Uuav «uart ō|wtiich usths d given votet{- : 'wh

the s€irf deiud€d Advertiser, is endeavoring to teach is right rau6t give the Advertiser the credit of advocatihg a lie for the purpose of perpetuatmg a tyranny, whieh the wiiters of that aheei ,thf!mselvefi detest, but whose virtue | and priaeiples are regulated bv 4he the amount of wes!th it briiJgB them. 44 The tendencv eyerywhere is to an unreetrieted safferage," and the same doctrine prevails here. The

corapanson of primordial principles to a cess-pool, shows the laek of sound reasomng in the P. C. Advertiser writer. The multiplication of first principles never ereates an atmosphere ot disease. but the subverviskm oiF primary principles has been the cause of the distemper

whieh affects tbe mi»d of this <4sinruined" world of ours, and more especialiy little ephere to whieh i the P. C. Advertiser belong. Every argument adduced by the P. C. Adveftieer to support its purpose, i. e.. to ®aintain adiscrimiaation against one class b©eause they are poor, is contrary to juetice, a perversTon of nature and of all tbat is ptire and holy, and shows the degeneracy and corrnpt nature ot those who inepire the article of the P. C. A. This is more astonishing fes they Sprofess to follow in* their xeīin the princlpl.es whieh they try hard r to condemn and to ,mislead others into. But the attempt is too puerile to have any effect with the mech£.nics and workinfitmen. It fails in its object and has helped the latter to understand the disposition of the P. C. A and ks patrons. More anon.