Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-12-08
For the Portacc Sentinel. !.

For the Portagc Sentinel.
GENTs:-A part of the remarks of De
Lamar,ine, made before the Free Trade
Association of Marsailles recently, togeth-
Ier with PREDATORY by some American ed
itor, are going the round Of the papers in
this country. send them to you in the
Plain Dealer, and hope you will see fit to
give them place in your paper.
France possesses at this time rs many
enlightened statesmen as any other nation;
and her people would enjoy as much liber-
ty as any other, had they not heretofore,
in their attempts to obtain it, committed SO
many excuses. The immoderate charac-
ter other republicanism, as exhibited in her
revolutionary struggles, has ever produced
reaction in favor Of the arstocracy. In
1892, it was not enough to depose royalty
in the person of Louis 10th. The year af-
ter, held guilty of inheritance, he must be
sent TO the guillotine. 1t was not enough
to become Grionde. France must be.
long to the Mountain. Her fiery democra-
cy could not stop at National Assembly.
The government and rights of 25 millions
Of people, must depend upon the resolutions
and shouts of communes, clubs, and affiliat.
ed societies. Not enough to be democ-
racy, she must rush into anarchy; and
when she had upset every thing, the next
shout that rose from the Seine, and filled
Europe, was, "Vive l'Empereur."
The result of this course, has been, in.
variably, to leave the people, and the laws,
just about where they found them,-and
Despotism standing in the midst of republi-
can sentiments. There is democracy g.
nough in France, if properly organized,
not only 10 overthrow the throne Of Louis
Philippe, but all the monarchies of Europe.
Some writer's, in their exceeding partiality,
have styled the Distinguishing feature in
French character, "energy." This is we'll
enough, perhaps. But i. is such 'energy''
as always exhausts itself, and finally be-
comes weakness. The throne of France
is strong, only because the democracy is
weak; having made itself so by its own ex-
travagancies. The throne is afraid Of the
democracy, and the democracy is afraid Of
itself. Hence the present condition of
France.
Still, what republican in the United
States does not learn much from her phi.
losophers and sta tesmen. 1hiers, and e.
ven Guizot, little further removed from
the throne, might rank among the first a.
postles of Liberty In the world. Paris, the
seat Of letters, and philosophy, obounds with
institutions, and associations which sympa.
thize largely with the laboring classes; and
the whole people of that delightful country,
are about as we'll instructed on the subject
Of human rights, nssin the United States.
But the Free Trade meeting ut Mar
sailles, and the speech Of the poet and ora
tor, De Lamartine, suggested some thoughts,
of another kind. 1t is known to all, that
direct taxation, and free trade, belong to
the SAME creed. Take away from France,
Spain, England, and the United States, the
revenue, o money, they obtain from lev
ying q tax on importations at the landing,
or custom house, and their treasures would
be forthwith empty. Other means would
have to be substituted Immediately; or those
who live on the government would be OBJ
liged to resort to some other mode of SUBJ
sistence. There are no other sufficient
means Of maintaining them, but direct tax
alton. There is no discussion in any quar-.
ter, Of the question, whether the system of
direct taxes is equal and just or not. This
is admitted every where; and it would seem
that this should be sufficient to secure its
adoption everywhere. But government
makers, and government holders, object to
it, and why? Those skilled in creating Of
fees and ranks; in filling them with fami-
lies and friends, and in distributing the
treasures and honors Of nations, know why;
and can tell, or rathen o,cn why, did it not
endanger their trade. Government build.
ers know how to erect them, so that they
can live in them themselves. The masses
are their outdoor servants Young, and
inexperienced legislators, fresh from the
people, and yet uncorrupted with Office,
never have much influence in matters Of
legislation, and are told by the hereditary
occupants of power, as Calhoun told Allen
in the American Senate, that che was ye,
in the hornbook of politics."
But what is the objection to direct levy
upon each member of a government, in
proportion to what he owns under it, for its
support? In the first place, the same rea-
sons, Or rather objections, that were raised
by the nobility and clergy of France in
1888, when the king was endeavoring to
devise means for the relief of his govern