Sin Heway Maine's last work on Popular Government has attracted " great deal of attention, and has beencriticised from vations points of view. Mr, Frederic 1,18 We recently showed, spoke its doctrines with great praise, but a writer in the last number of the Nineteenth Century finds fault especially ith Ubat portion of the work on the cts of Popular Government, critic is Mr, E, L. Godkin, the editor of the Nation, who dates his letter from New York wud deals with Sir Henry Muine's opinions from the point of view of " Mogwump. The Magwumps are, we understand, that section of the Republicans who from objections to Mr.
laine, bused on certain passages in his political life, refused to follow the bulk of their party in enpport of him for Pre-party who do not at all times bow the knee to caucuses, and whose actions are go independent that their party ti are very slight, and apt to be thrown off altogether when national interests seem to require such @ political sacrifice, Mr, Godkin locke at the things going fon around him and the people engaged in the business of life with call, observant eyes, and a cool judgment, 'I fam not an enthusiast,' he says, for popular government, or for any other form of goverumout, I to be an extremely pra business, and that the commun which succeed best in it, are those which bring least enthusinam to the conduct of their affairs.' be the utterance of on Club men whom some of the Liberal contemptuously call Arm-whenever they venture ions contrary to those which it should be Mr. Godkin seems to have paid care. fal attention to the modes of thought and action among the mass countrymen before offering their gen ral conduct of affairs us an answer Sir Henry Muiue's opinion that popular government Incks dur only in England and Americs, and this is the scope of Mr. Godkin's paper also, that popular government has had a fair trial; an a varied form of ariatocrnoy or oligarchy; in France, though the form of government under the Republic was popular, the people, except in a few largo cities, exercised no control over their ruler while the Italian and South Amor Republics were merely force masquerade ing in popular clothes. In England popular government came slowly, and as yet scarcely be eaid to lave into full possession of power but in the United States, the Coustitution having made the government emooratio in the fullest popular government hus had every opportunity of showing its best and its worst sides, Now let us see what an observer like Mr, Gudkin has tony of the working of the votes of the populace. The United States, he says, are th one country, governed by universal suffrage, in which the grent mae of the people have a realizing sense of the fact that the government is their aut and not their master, or, as Lincoln expressed it, a government. of the people, by the people, for the people,' It has in no place ever shown A tendency to put an end to all social and political activities, or arrested anything which has been associated Liberalism, us Sir Henry Maine said popular govern had done wherever tried, It is more energetic than other forms of government, especially in such measures as tend to the development of the resources of countries, und consequently to the increase of population, and those things which go to muke the comfort of the common peuple. The people of the United States are apt new theories of the art 1g, discoveries, and inventions, and within the proper sphere of ors to treat them with high honour. But outside of that sphere the people either refuse to honour them, or (rear them with indifference, The inventor should stick to his Ling, the author to his making of boke, and sv on. The American voter listens with extreme impatience to anything that has the air of li is to be A found not uclion 60 much as in ko in the political field of anything which savoura superiority.' Now, we may remark in passing that what took place during the Inst general election shows a very marked difference between the Eng-hand the Americnn democracy in this respect. A greater number of superior persons, professors and the like, offered themselves as candidates to popular constituencies and were elected than was ever the case before.
The English democrats seem 1g for that class of pol which they have prebubly the example vf the French and German democracies. One effect of this feel Auerica is to make orators very careful to repudiate all pretence of knowing anything more about their matter than their hearers, They speak so as to appear to repro~ dace things with which the audience as the spankers, and hence political speaking has of Into years been remarkably uninstructive, uninteresting and a poor educational agency. The American democracy ready enough to legislate on reports and investigations but these must be made in ils own name, through what it calls, practical men," as distinguished front scientific or pro~ fossorial men. There is everywhere an inordinate respect for successful business men, which Mr, Gudkin thinks is not more wonderful in an industrial community than the reverence in a military community for a great soldier, In matter like the Tutiff, in which the opinions of theorists are very in. portant and practical men ure likely to be utterly wrong, this habit of exoluding science is, he says, undoubtedly very unfortunate, Bub if this lends to the etubodiment of gross delusions in legislation, it never lends to the con version of an error or delusion into onered dogma, People, orators, legis-HIntors and newspapers are always ready to own up' and change sides on. political questions; for instance, some ut the most furious advocates of Blond's Silver Bill ure now ile most strenuous opponents and in regard to the protective Tariff, Mr. Godkin offers some reasons to slow Ubnt its maintenance, ug some English freetraders eny, {not an example of position! bigotry, No other country finds within ile own borders the menue, us fur ne soil and climate are concerned, of producing nearly everything it puya from fore eigners; the prohibition of Customs {duties between the States has given Inrger aren to free trade than exists any where else; and the enormous immigra-jon—nenrly a million w year—of consumere and producers prime of life, is constantly making now markets; and this for many years haa postponed the glut which is now pnt. ting the high tariff in 60 much peril, The free trade argument dues not in Jcousequence of these things present self in the sumo compact form to the erican voter in which Cubden and Bright were able to offer it in 18.46; The American voter, though much deluded about the tariff, in not deluded to the same degree or in the same way as the British fuir-trader, He hus mever had the notion thnt, ne people say here, he could lift himself by his own bvot-straps, or make money by swapping juck-knives. His yet ree serve of waste Innds has always been in his mind, something for w tar to work on which no other nation pos. sessed."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.