a similar though slower process the
fundamental law may be changed. Hence it is in this country until
recently there was no difference of opinion as to the wisdom of the
system of government under which we are living. The existing diversity
of opinion will soon disappear. If suffrage were limited there would
be a body of discontented people ready to seize upon any pretext that
promised a change. In the present condition of our system the only
danger is due to the forcible or fraudulent withholding of the right
from those who are entitled to enjoy it. This condition of things
must soon end. The safety of a state is yet further secured by
frequent elections. The project to extend the Presidential term is
full of danger. If the term were six or ten years the presence of an
offensive or dangerous man in the office would provoke a revolution, or
cause disturbances only less disastrous to business and to social and
domestic comfort. In the little republic of Hayti there have been not
less than seventeen revolutions in the hundred years of its existence
and they were due in a large degree to the fact that the Presidential
term is seven years.

The various propositions submitted to the House of Representatives for
securing the right to vote to all the male adult citizens of the United
States were referred to the Judiciary Committee of which I was a
member. Among them was one submitted by myself. In the committee they
were referred to a sub-committee consisting of myself, Mr. Churchill
of New York, and Mr. Eldridge of Wisconsin. Mr. Eldridge as a
Democrat was opposed to the measure, and he took no interest in
preparing the form of an amendment. Churchill and myself were fellow-
boarders and we prepared and agreed to an amendment in substance that
which was adopted finally and which in form was almost the same. When
I reported the amendment to the committee not one word was said either
in criticism or commendation, nor was there a call for a second
reading. After a moment's delay Mr. Wilson, the chairman, said:--"If
there is no objection Mr. Boutwell will report the amendment to the
House." There was no objection and at the earliest opportunity I made
the report--that is, I reported the resolution for amending the
Constitution. Mr. Wilson made a speech which I have not since read,
but which made an impression upon my mind that he was opposed to the
measure, or at least had doubts about the wisdom of urging the