4
THE BATTALION
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potism arose, and with it what a state of desolation our eyes
behold! r l he monuments of the arts, the fabric of genius and
skill and the creation of science, have been prostrated in the
dust. The places where Demosthenes and Cicero spoke,
where Homer and Virgil sang, and where Plato and Aristotle
taught, are now exhibited as mementoes of the perishable na
ture of human glory. Oh, let us not contemplate such a ter
rible fate for our beloved America. Still something must be
done for the conservation of our republic, and what should
it be? Surely no stone fortifications with a large army to de
fend our cities, or a disciplined navy with destructive iron
clads to protect our sea coasts, because our foes are imper
vious to the heaviest artillery. For the protection and de
fence of our country we must build fortifications around our
institutions with the letter of the law, and say to the invader,
not by the point of the bayonet, but by the point of law, so
far and no farther.
As it was pointed out that the real government is the
people, and as the safet3’- of a nation lies in the chaaacter of
its citizens, we have a right, which the Constitution of the
United States explicitly guarantees to us, to say who the peo
ple should be that are to constitute our government, and what
qualifications they should possess to be entitled to suffrage.
While it is to be admitted that the Immigration laws of this
country, however great the restrictions put upon them within
the last few years, are loosely constructed, and open a
wide avenue for the influx of an undesirable class of immi
grants, the prohibition of which would undoubtedly lesson
the danger with which this country is surrounded, yet, I
shall not discuss this phase of the question, as it involves a
number of great constitutional points.
The remedy that suggests itself to my mind is, I believe
of far greater importance than the one mentioned. I believe
that our Naturalization laws ought to be amended as to re
quire an educational qualification for suffrage. Let the ballot
be conditional upon a certain amounf of knowledge. A man
before being entitled to suffrage should have at least, a
knowledge of the essential parts of the Constitution to which