Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-06-10

iaith, no supariofsi
The article entire being loo lengthy Fnt q
columns. ne haze selected only such pe,tio
III It AZ ate the most iorcible and impressi,
II can at least do the dear. good people
harm to read and reflect seriously on II
"eornbing down. They take The privile!
occasionally Of 'romhinu down. individus
like Mr., Ufownson and myself. and WI
shsuld we not pay them back in their ov
coin I
DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY
nv o. A, HHowEsov.
Dur democratic brethren are Upon III
whole n fine sci Of fellows, and rarely IN
to talte whatever turns Up with great goo
humof otherwise we should expect I
lose ctr earn, II not ont head, for the ma
severe things we Intend in the course &
our essay TO say ~ them and about theiti
We shall Try them SEVERELY for we inten,
10 run athwatt many Of their fondly cher
ished preiudiees, and To eatrovsft moi
few Of their faverite asioms but we tfis
they will be able 10 survive the trial. att
10 come forth IA pure and M bright nj
they have from that which The Wings CAV,
them In 1870.
Mentiehing this 1910, we must cay tina
II marks nm epoch in oss--~we speak per
sonally, mel fot The Democratic Review.
Political and social doctrines. The famous
election Of that year wrought n much
greater revolution In us than In The Gov.
eminent and we confess, here on the
threshold, That since then We@@that IL the
writer ef this-havs pretty much ceased
10 speak Of, or 10 eontide In, the %"intell,.
gsnee of the people" The people. the 80.
sereign peeple,the sotsfeiEas. ms eur friesd
Governor Hubbard calls them. during that
campaign ffsssRIed but n sorry sight -
Truth had no beauty, poupd argument no
weight patriotism mn influence. They
whe had desotad their lives 10 the cause
Of their country. OF truth. Justice. liberty.
humanity, we're lohked hpuh 40 enemies
Of the people, and were unabIe 10 thake
themselves heard amid tho %sbaadehsd md
maddsning hdrraiis Of tie drunken meb
that went for "Tippeeanoe. and Tyler
too" II was n sorry sight, to SEQ the peer
fellows rslIing huge halla, and dragging
leg cabins al the bidding Of tho delna.
gegues, who were surprised ID find how
easily the enthusiasm Of tho people could
be excited by hard cider and doggerel
rhymes. And we confess that we could
hardly torbear exolaIning. IN vexat,on
and contempt. "Well, after all. nature
will out the peer devils. If we but LET
them alone, will make cattle Of themselves. |
and why should we waste our time and
substance in trying 10 hinder them from
making themselves cattle I"
An instructive year, that 1sI0, to Nil
who have sense enough to read 1t nfight.
What happened then may happen again.
# mt IN the same form, in aome other
form equally foolish, and equally perm.
etatis and. therefore. IL we wish 10 20.
10 ourselves and our rosterity the
blessings Of freedom and good govern.
ment, we must procure stronger gnnfan.
than popular suffrage aud popular vir.
tue and intelligence, We for one frankly
tenless ,~tnd we care not who krows II.
that what we saw during the pressden.
Iial election of 1910, shook. nay, gava 10
he winds. all our remaining confidence In
popular democratic dorttines~~not
aeasures~af the Jay and wa confess.
furthermore, that we have seen nothing in
he conduct of either party since. that has
ended 10 restore il.
We have not erred In laboring 10 OK.
end popular sufi~ragc,~-though thus far its
extension has operated almost exclusively
n favor of the business classes. or rather
t the money power,-but In telying on il
$ alone sufficient, There is not a 1.-THE of
nat virtue In tho ballot. box which we. In
ur Fourth Of July orattons and caucus
~ieecies, are in tho habit of ascrihing to
/. The virtue wa have been accustomed
0 ascrlhe 10 it. we have claimed for it on
he ground that tho people always know
that is right, and will always act up to
knowledge. That is TO say. suffrage
ests for its basis, az n guaranty of free I
and good government, on the as. +.
nmed intelligence and virtue of the peo. 5,
10. lie grand maxim Ia, "fhe people can /,
o no wrong" Now, this may DO very |
III thebty, but when we come to |
this virtue and intelligence Of {
people is MI n humhug. We beg par {
On Of the Sovereign people for the treason
Bile speech /; but it is true. true as Holy
Writ, and there Is neither wisdor nor vir. b
10 in pretending to the contrary. Pet I
apps, however. our remark is not quite a
Tie, tn the sense IL, rhich IL ,rH be taken, I
ithout n werd or Two by way Of explain. c
I
70 tho explanation, then. we are in /
lis country, we democrats and all, most
lcorrigible aristocrats. We are always =
sing the word people in its European $
'nse, as designating the nnprivileged $
in distinction from the privileged G
W. But this sense Of the word is with s
really inadmissibie. We, He the lite. b
ry, the refined, the wealthy, the fashion v
lie. we are people as well as our poorer
I'd more coarsely hammered and clad t
We are all people in this coun. I
the merchant, the banker, the broker, v
e manufacturer, the lawyer. the doctor, p
o efice-holder, the of1ice.seeker, the a
hclar, and the gentleman, no less than p
e farmer, the mechanic. and the factory v
We do not well to forget this. p
Or ourselves, we always remember it.
ID therefore when we speak slightingIy n
the intelligence and virtue of the peo-