Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Published Writings
  3. Periodicals
  4. Journalism
  5. per.01213

What They Want

About This Item

  • Title: What They Want
  • Date: 12 November 1857
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.01213
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 12 November 1857: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Thara Michaelis Jamie DeRousse Jason Stacy Stephanie Blalock Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "What They Want." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 16 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.01213.xml (TEI)
image 1image 2image 3image 4cropped image 1

WHAT THEY WANT.

Every popular excitement like that which is now disturbing the peace and endangering the safety of the great metropolis across the river, only demonstrates with more clearness the truth that the one thing still lacking in our large communities, notwithstanding our admirable public school system, our cheap information and our omnipresent newspaper press, is the diffusion of intelligence among the masses. Educate, Educate,—it is the only true remedy for mobs, emeutes, wild communistic theories, and red-republican1 ravings.

Ignorance is their parent and just so soon as sound information is spread abroad among the people and is accepted in a kindred spirit, the true relations between rich and poor, will be come apparent to the confused apprehension and the complex political machine, which now grates so harshly in the working, will move freely and noiselessly in accordance with the immutable laws of justice and right. Blind prejudice will give way to clear-sighted views, the perplexing questions which agitate so many minds, and which are only perplexing from misapprehensions which a wider culture would dissipate, would no longer be the subject of angry controversy. The trade of the demagogue would no longer be so disgracefully profitable as in these troublous times.

The trouble is that the best friends of the people—those who have their real interests at heart—have no means of reaching them. Some turbulent demagogue with his red-hot harangues and chimerical schemes will lead them astray, excite their passions, appeal to their prejudices and make capital out of their misfortunes, while those who have words of dispassionate counsel and plans of practical relief cannot obtain a hearing, cannot meet them upon a common ground. When the time comes, as come it will, when the people learn to distinguish true friends from false, the interests of humanity will be safe and the dawn of a brighter day will be at hand.

Notes:

1. Red Republicans refers to a group of left-leaning French revolutionaries during the revolutions of 1848. [back]

Back to top