of looking at the matter that one must ascribe the apathetic
acquiescence in the British hereditary system, upon which I have
already remarked. There is a frank and excessive admission of every
real and imaginary fault of the American system, and with the
proposition that we are on the horns of a dilemma, the discussion is
dismissed.

But are we indeed on the horns of a dilemma, and is there no
alternative to hereditary government tempered by elections, or
government by the ward politician and the polling booth? Cannot we have
that sense and tradition of equal opportunity for all who are born into
this world, that generous and complete acknowledgment of the principle
of promotion from the ranks that is the precious birthright of the
American, without the political gerrymandering, the practical
falsification, that restricts that general freedom at last only to the
energetic, and that subordinates quality to quantity in every affair of
life? It is evident that for the New Republican to admit that the thing
is indeed a dilemma, that there is nothing for it but to make the best
of whichever bad thing we have at hand, that we cannot have all we
desire but only a greater or a lesser moiety, is a most melancholy and
hampering admission. And, certainly, no New Republican will agree
without a certain mental struggle, without a thorough and earnest
inquiry into the possibility of a third direction.

This matter has two aspects, it presents itself as two questions; the
question first of all of administration, and the question of honour and
privilege. What is it that the New Republican idea really requires in
these two matters? In the matter of administration it requires that
every child growing up in a state should feel that he is part owner of
his state, completely free in his membership, and equal in opportunity