The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-22 00:00:00

Americanising England.

There are thousands of good people in Great
Britain who shudder on seeing these two words,
just as there are thousands who shudder at the idea
of a cold bath, but find the water -cleansing, invigo-
rating, and healthful. Whatever may be the danger
from the rock towards which we are drifting, there
can be no doubt that that rock is Democracy.
People who have most deeply studied the subject
call it the only secure haven, while those who have
glanced but partially in the direction maintain that
it; is a surf-beaten, dangerous, deceitful shoal.
When people talk of Americanising England they
simply mean the assimilation of political institu-
tions ; that is, of taking the supreme power from
the hands of the class which wads it in the United
Kingdom, and placing it in the hands of the whole
body of the people. Whatever may be the length
or nature of the struggle it must end in Democracy.
True lovers of liberty; and those who most strongly
favour this drift of opinion, desire to see it accom-
plished gradually, that. die people may be prepared
for the exercise of ^ privilege as the elective fran-
chise descends in the scale of society. With them the
main question is Preparation—or, to use another
word—Education. What they argue is this :- —To
make a Government absolutely secure, to make a
nation unassailable, you must base the power on the
people. When the people are educated they are
certain to elect and support good rulers. Where
they see the necessity, they will submlt to arbitrary
measures from a Government thus eleciarthat they
would not endure from a despotism or an oligarchy.
The people therefore Make a strong Government;
for the Executive wields a control which at times
may amount to a despotism sanctioned by the whole
force of the people, and which cannot therefore be con-
trolled. The superiority of Democracy is maintained
on the theory that an instructed people will nearly
always be right in the groundwork of their opinions.
When American abuses are pointed out to show in
how large a degree corruption accompanies demo-
cratic institutions--how the best men . are driven
from politics, and the stump orator takes to legisla-
tion as a lucrative trade, the answer is simplu—
all this proceeds from ignorance. Educ Lte the
people, and it will cease. When people refer
to the fate which has attended Republics, the
answer is the same--they were destroyed by igno-
rance. history records no instanceof a D.unocracy
with the power in the haudsof an instructed people.
Had there been such a community, it would have
been crushed by despotism. England g tined
ffeedom through 11;?r isolation ; and America owes
Democracy to the Atlantic Ocean. It required the
Channel 0 establish a Limited Monarchy, but it
required a broad sea to protect the cradle of a Re-
public, or the infant would long mice have been
strangled. The difficulty with which America has
had to contend has been the gross ignorance of the
immigrants. Whatever bad government is possible
there, has its origin and main support in this class
who are always the tools of oligarchies and despo-
tisms. Against this difficulty Eogland will not
have to struggle in the Americanizing process. On
the contrary, she will be materially aided by the
outflow. It is generally conceded that Democracy
does not give the most skilf al Government, for this