But he would find it in the unwritten law of the natural aversion of the
races. He would find it in public opinion, which is the vital force in
every law in a free government. This is a subject that our Constitution
failed to regulate, because it was not contemplated by its authors. It
is a question that will settle itself, without serious difficulty. The
equality in the suffrage, thus guaranteed to the negro race, alone--for
it was not intended to include other colored races--creates a new phase
of political conditions that M. De Tocqueville could not foresee.
Yet, in his commendation of the local town and county governments,
he applauds and sustains that elementary feature of our political
organization which, in the end, will render harmless this wide departure
from the original plan and purpose of American Democracy. "Local
Self-Government," independent of general control, except for general
purposes, is the root and origin of all free republican government, and
is the antagonist of all great political combinations that threaten the
rights of minorities. It is the public opinion formed in the independent
expressions of towns and other small civil districts that is the
real conservatism of free government. It is equally the enemy of that
dangerous evil, the corruption of the ballot-box, from which it is now
apprehended that one of our greatest troubles is to arise.

The voter is selected, under our laws, because he has certain physical
qualifications--age and sex. His disqualifications, when any are
imposed, relate to his education or property, and to the fact that he
has not been convicted of crime. Of all men he should be most directly
amenable to public opinion.

The test of moral character and devotion to the duties of good
citizenship are ignored in the laws, because the courts can seldom deal
with such questions in a uniform and satisfactory way, under rules that