politically conscious, to realize these real interests so that they will not be misled by agitators of mere dreamers of Utopia. if we are to have a parliament, we must teach the people how to vote and how to elect representatives who will really have their interests at heart.
The reorganization of the Privy Council is an attempt to carry out the first step of these ideas. It will be said that the Committee of the Privy Council as reorganized will not really represent public opinion in general, and that as a body it will not really be representative of the interests of the people. This is, of course, quite true. It is firstly intended to be an experiment and an education in methods of parliamentary debate. I believe that the experience to be gained will be useful. The body may possibly reflect something of the general public opinion, and I do not think that it will be entirely useless. It is to be expected, however, that the creation of this body will not satisfy everybody, and that it will be variously criticised. (I do not believe that it is possible to do anything or organize anything without being destructively criticised by a certain section of the people in Siam.)
The next step in our education towards democracy would be the organization of municipalities. This will be a means of teaching the people how to vote, and the experiment would also prove useful and instructive. It will certainly be better for the people first to control local affairs before they attempt to control state affairs through a parliament. I sincerely believe that if reforms are gradually introduced in this way, a democratic form of government could possibly be introduced without too much harm. But the process must be very gradual and carefully administered in doses. If the experiments fail at every step, then it may be possible to persuade ⟨the people that democracy is not for Siam. The danger lies in impatience.⟩
