THE
HONEST AMERICAN VOTER'S
LITTLE CATECHISM
FOR
1880.
BLYTHE HARDING.
NEW YORK:
John Polhemus, Publisher, 102 Nassau Street.
PREFACE.
I was invited the other day to take down, as Stenographer, whatpurported to be a discussion upon some general political topics, andmore especially on the forthcoming presidential election. One of thedisputants entrenched himself in what, I believe, scholars call theSocratic method, that is, he pumped his supposed antagonist dry.Whether the world at large may think the dialogue as funny as I didmyself, I can form no opinion. It is to solve this question that I giveit to the public.
BLYTHE HARDING.
New York, August 31st, 1880.
THE DIALOGUE.
What is a republic?
—A state, or Union of states, in which the people holds supreme power.
How does the people exercise this power?
—Through men elected for this purpose.
What are these men called?
—Senators and members of Congress or Congressmen.
Is there a head or chief in a republic?
—Certainly.
What is he called?
—The President.
Must the President be elected?
—Yes, by the people.
Who declares the voice of the people in this matter?
—The electors of the different states, appointed to do it by thepeople.
Is it necessary that the whole people should agree on one man in orderto elect him?
—No; it only needs a majority of the nation, voting through theelectors.
Do the votes of the electors generally follow the voice of the people inthe different states?
—They ought to follow it.
Are the electors considered bound to vote as the majority of the peoplein their different states direct?
—Undoubtedly they are.
Then it is fair to say that the vote of a majority of the electors showwhich way the majority of the people voted?
—That's a simple question. Why, of course!
What are the duties of the President?
—To mind the business of the nation, and his own, too.
Anything else?
[Pg 4]—Isn't that enough?
Well, but what is that business?
—The business of the nation?
Yes.
—He makes treaties, weeds out old political hacks, and sends them onembassies where they cannot annoy him, and have nothing to do; appointsJudges of the Supreme Court like Joe Bradley, when he wants to playeight-to-seven, commands the army and navy, gets fifty thousand dollarsa year, takes all the presents he can get, lives in the White House, anddoes a kind of general housekeeping business for the country.
I was not talking of Grant. Let that go. Does he do anything else?
—Yes; if he comes from Ohio, he fills nearly every place he's got togive away with lean, hungry Ohio men, so that you can get a "whiff" ofthat state all over Washington, and in a good many other places too, anytime of the day or night.
Really I don't understand you. All our Presidents do not come from Ohioor Illinois!
—Thank God they don't.
Just tell me what the Senators have to do?
—To prevent Congressmen from ma