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The next step in the observation in the democracy of 1831 is in the humble conditions of its leaders, living in a lack of pomp.
Praise for one another seems to be the norm. With such aristocratic visitors as these French travelers, D’Toukfel and Beaumont, everyone of importance wants to go out of their way to accept them with flattery. In meeting the governor of New York, the French travelers feel their way through the ceremony and protocols… or lack of them.
One thing that impresses the Frenchmen is the lack of children and soldiers on the streets. They learn how the public school system keeps kids off the streets, and that every man is a soldier in a way, a citizen militia to support the army as demand calls for it.
Is there anything bad about democracy? A judge tells about a case of burglary he tried, and that even in the darker side of humanity, he has seen democracy at work. The governor explains his take on what makes American democracy work: Enlightened self interest, every man the equal of the next, commercial and political freedom. With every man shouldering responsibility in his self interest, there isn’t such a need for having so many soldiers on the streets.
Honorable trade makes a free and happy nation. The concept is underscored as the Frenchmen take to the streets full of vendors and merchants from everything from cat tails to lamp oil, even city dog killers who keep the animal population under control. The noisy streets burst forth in a parade for no other purpose than to honor the marketplace merchants.
