I think Kevin is entirely right about this.  Twain's distrust of the common voter and belief that the votes of the wealthy and educated should weigh more than those of the poor and ignorant is explicitly (and, as Kevin suggests, non-satirically) laid out in "The Curious Republic of Gondour," is strongly implied in The Gilded Age, and, I would say, is generally consistent throughout Twain's writings.  I believe Lou Budd also suggested something of the sort many years ago in Mark Twain, Social Philosopher.

P. S.  In "The Curious Republic," it's the narrator's desire to return to his "dear native land" that's satirized.   --Jim L. 


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kevin Mac Donnell
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2015 2:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: When political posters quote Mark Twain

Yup, I think the case can be made either way. The narrator was glad to get back home, so this could signal it was satire, but it reads as if it is a serious proposal, and I've always thought Twain was seriously floating the notion (the more educated you are the more votes you get, etc.). If I weren't snowed under on other writing projects I'd be tempted to dive into this one and read his letters to Howells (the sketch was published by Howells in The Atlantic Monthly), Twain's other comments on voting like Pap in HF, Twain's political speeches and letters of the 1870s-80s, etc.

Kevin
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