Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1863-04-03
Liberty and Capitalization.

Shall we have q consolidated nationality,
and strong central government? These
questions are sometimes asked with APP
parent honesty, and with apprehension Of
danger in the present course Of things
We shall endeavor TO answer them fairly.
Are we thus tending towards centraliza-
ton and the gathering of power in the
hands of the general government? No
doubt we are. Shall we then soon be
under dspotism? That is a matter not
to be so quickly pronounced upon. This
part of the earth has been now for some
weeks turning toward the sun, but it does
not follow that Massachusetts is hence
forth to be situated in the torrid zone
1t is the very nature Of a government
that it must be liable to the fluctuations
that mark all human affairs. It is i'm
possible to fix it upon a dead and unbro-
ken level. II will have its variations
with the varying quality of the men
that administer it, with the changing
condition and temper Of the people, and
with the exigencies of the shifting time.
1t has never been the aim of the wisest
founders of governmental institutions to
fasten them in unbending uniformity, but
rather to make them supple to the yici5-
STUDIES of time, and endow them with a
certain spring and elastic power, resem-
bling that of life itself, which should en-
able to give way under pressure and re-
turn again toward their original form.
1t has usually been sought to compass
this end By some complexity of system !;
by the division of powers, and by the
establishment of departments with their
separate, yet mutually dependent func-
tons. Thus the different branches Of
the government are relied upon to oper-
ate as cheeks upon each other, so that
no one shall gather to itself an undue
and overbearing authority. And in a
similar manner il has also been calcu-
lated that if one organ of the govern
ment should fail in its proper office, ar
other might be made 10 do It's work.
Thus in Rome a tribune might maintain
franchise which a consul or a senate
has disregarded or in England when
the king and the judges were false, tie
commons house of parliament might up
hold the constitution.
lis easy TO see that This system Of checks
and balances cannot alone be relied on
as a safeguard for any long period
against the evils that are to be appre-
hended. A recourse more simple and
also more direct and positive must be
provided. With our American repub-
licanism this appliance has been sought
for, and found, as we hope, in the gem
eraI education and enlightenment of the
masses Of the people themselves, from
whom all power comes. If this train
ing of all the citizens of the state could
be made perfect, it would give all the
security that could ever be needed
Whatever then might be the unusual me-
cessities of any time, the government
could aud would be safely strengthened
to meet them, and whenever the urgency
was passed the working of the govern
ment would, for the same reason, return
to lis former standard. The govern
ment would be perfect instrument in
the hands Of people perfectly compe-
tent to control and direct it. No checks
whatever would be needed. And no
amount Of consolidation would be Of ne
cessity an evil. Now such an ideal per-
lection as this is certainly not to be look
ed for in these ages Of the world. Yet
it is nevertheless true that we do and
must place our chief confidence upon
precisely this ground,-lhat is, the dis
position and ability of the people to gov
ern wisely. And the consideration is
capital one in all discussions with regard
to our present dangers and the means of
warding them off. Consolidation or dis
tribution are secondary matters with US.
The sound wisdom of the nation is the
main thing. We depend on that to con-
fer great power, and to take it away, as
occasion may require.
But the trainers Of our government,
while they had the courage to hope for
better things than the past had ever
brought forth, had also the clear and
practical sense to employ every precau-
ton which the experience Of the past
had shown to be available. They car
ried to its fullest extent the system of
distributed and cooperative powers. No
other government ever bad machinery
more complex, and more nicely adjusted
and balanced between its parts. There
is division of powers in two different
directions first between the federal gov