In February， March， April， and May， 1789， there are prolonged parish meetings， for the purpose of choosing electors and writing out grievances， also bailiwick meetings of still longer duration to choose deputies and draw up the memorial. During the months of July and August， 1789， there are spontaneous gatherings to elect or confirm the municipal bodies； other spontaneous meetings by which the militia is formed and officered； and then， following these， constant meetings of this same militia to fuse themselves into a National Guard， to renew officers and appoint deputies to the federative assemblies. In December， 1789， and January， 1790， there are primary meetings， to elect municipal officers and their councils. In May， 1790， there are primary and secondary meetings， to appoint district and departmental administrators. In October， 1790， there are primary meetings， to elect the justice of the peace and his assessors， also secondary meetings， to elect the district courts. In November， 1790， there are primary meetings， to renew one-half of the municipal bodies. In February and March， 1791， there are secondary meetings， to nominate the bishop and curés. In June， July， August， September， 1791， there are primary and secondary meetings， to renew one-half of the district and departmental administrators， to nominate the president， the public prosecutor， and the clerk of the criminal court， and to choose deputies. In November， 1791， there are primary meetings to renew one-half of the municipal council. Observe that many of these elections drag along because the voters lack experience， because the formalities are complicated， and because opinions are divided. In August and September， 1791， at Tours， they are prolonged for thirteen days；[27]
at Troyes， in January， 1790， instead of three days they last for three weeks； at Paris， in September and October， 1791， only for the purpose of choosing deputies， they last for thirty-seven days； in many places their proceedings are contested， annulled， and begun over again. To these universal gatherings， which put all France in motion， we must add the local gatherings by which a commune approves or gainsays its municipal officers， makes claims on the department， on the King， or on the Assembly， demands the maintenance of its parish priest， the provisioning of its market， the arrival or dispatch of a military detachment， - and think of all that these meetings， petitions， and nominations presuppose in the way of preparatory committees and preliminary meetings and debates！ Every public representation begins with rehearsals in secret session. In the choice of a candidate， and， above all， of a list of candidates；in the appointment in each commune of from three to twenty-one municipal officers， and from six to forty-two notables； in the selection of twelve district administrators and thirty-six departmental administrators， especially as the list must be of a double length and contain twice as many officers as there are places to fill， immediate agreement is impossible. In every important election the electors are sure to be in a state of agitation a month beforehand， while four weeks of discussion and caucus is not too much to give to inquiries about candidates， and to canvassing voters. Let us add， accordingly， this long preface to each of the elections， so long and so often repeated， and now sum up the troubles and disturbances， all this loss of time， all the labor which the process demands. Each convocation of the primary assemblies， summons to the town-hall or principal town of the canton， for one or for several days， about three million five hundred thousand electors of the first degree. Each convocation of the assemblies of the second class compels the attendance and sojourn at the principal town of the department， and again in the principal town of the district， of about three hundred and fifty thousand elected electors. Each revision or re-election in the National Guard gathers together on the public square， or subjects to roll-call at the town-hall， three or four millions of National Guards. Each federation， after exacting the same gathering or the same roll-call， sends delegates by hundreds of thousands to the principal towns of the districts and departments， and tens of thousands to Paris. - The powers thus instituted at the cost of so great an effort， require an equal effort to make them work； one branch alone of the administration[28] keeps 2，988 officials busy in the departments， 6，950 in the districts， 1，175，000 in the communes -in all， nearly one million two hundred thousand administrators， whose places， as we have seen above， are no sinecures. Never did a political machine require so prodigious an expenditure of force to set it up and keep it in motion. In the United States， where it is now (around 1875) deranged by its own action， it has been estimated that， to meet the intentions of the law and keep each wheel in its proper place， it would be necessary for each citizen to give one whole day in each week， or on-sixth of his time， to public business.
In France， under the newly adopted system， where disorder is universal， where the duty of National Guard is added to and complicates that of elector and administrator， I estimate that two days would be necessary. This is what the Constitution comes to， this is its essential and supreme requirement： each active citizen has to give up one-third of his time to public affairs.
