Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1866-06-29
THE TRUE THEORY.


that clause Of the Constitution which
requires that man shall be worth
$1,000, before he can be eligible TO
the Office Of Governor; but il was
defeated, by large majority. This
has called forth indignant comments,
from various presses, that delight in
harping upon the strings Of equal
and inaliensble rights, and all the
ct cetera Of political heresies which
demagogues have almost elevated to
the dignity of political axioms. In
popular governments, rights once
conisrred are not easily revoked, and
therefore, it may be idle to discuss
the policy which may have led us so
far astray from the true theory
Still, no harm can come of the ut
terance of An honest conviction, that
the Generalization Of Federal and
State governments and their reacting
influences upon the mass of the peo-
pie, the waste Of public treasure,
sectional discord, war. and bloodshed
are directly trsceable to universal
sHHrage-the surrender of the pri-
NAL interest of every government to
the keeping Of the incompetent and
irresponsible multitude.
Not only every ofhceholder, but
every voter should have more sol
id and fixed interest in the welfare
of the country, than is to be found
in the shallow pretence Of unbound
ed patriotism. Pecuniary interest,
the world over, is more closely watch
ed and guarded than any other, and
should, therefore, be the basis of
those political rights which directly
affect the administration of the gov
ernment. We see, daily, that health,
honor and religion are freely offered
upon the altar of Mammon, and as
the chief cpd of government is the
protection of property, let that be
the basis of suffrage. Then, and
not. till then, will be exercised that
eternal vigilance which is not only
the price Of liberty, but of every
substantial benefit which govern
ments ought to confer. In the ordi-
nary transactions of life, no sensible
man entrusts his pesuniary interests
to palavering tricksters and were
each voter made equally interested
in the honesty and capability of
his political agent, there would be
an end TO the occupation of the
demagogue, and the pernicious in
fiuences of nomadic population
would cease to be felt, through the
ballot-box. The cry Of equal rights,
SO continually uttered by ambitious
knaves and honest dupes, is all sheer
nonsense. A government of unre,
stricted liberty is not only an absur-
dity, but a contradiction. Govern
ment means restraint, and the wiscst
and best is that which is most sue
cessful in the imposition of such re-
strai9ts as will best secure its own
stability, upon the basis of individu-
al and aggregate happiness and pros,
perity. The greatest good TO the
greatest number comprises the whole
duty of the government; and since
property is the broad foundation up
on which organized society rests
since il holds in its comprehensive
grasp almost every interest Of man,
surely its full protection is 8 matter
of too great importance to be safely
neglected. Yet il has been neglect.
ed, and the paramount interests con +,
neetsd with, and growing out of it
have been sacrificed to the sbsurd
idea, that all men are equal, and en-.
titled to equal political rights--the
idiot and the sage; the man of vir.
tue aud the felon; the man of prop
erty and the pauper; the permanent
citizen and the rowing adventurer,
When emerging from a state of
nature into organized society, man
brings with him no absolute right
unless it be that of self. defense.
His right to life may be forfeited by
disobedieuce Of law his right to in
diyidual liberty is held by the save
tenure, and his right to the pursuit
Of happiness is restricted within the
limits of good morals aud due oh &.
servance Of the rights of others. In
other words, all the rights Of man,
under organized government, are
conventional, aud when he talks Of
any that are absolute aud inalieuable,
he talks ike iemsgogue, or like
one bcvildered by the glare of a