The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-02

as he describes-that this was their ideal of gov
eminent as well as his-and that while they
could not carry it out, we can and must And
to sustain this most extraordinary and pre-
posteTous pretense, Mr.. Stevens pretends to
appeal to the Declaration of Independence
| We copy from his letter the following
passage in which his argument if argument
it can be called, is set forth
1.-THE Constitution of 1889 did not carry out the
principles of government which were Intended
by the fathers, when in l776 they laid the foun-
dalton OF the Government on which this ma.
tion was to be built Then they had been in
spired with such a light from on high as never
man was inspired with before, in the great
work of providing freedom for the human race,
through Government in which no oppression
could find resting place.
"They contemplated the erection of q vast
empite over this whole continent, which in It's
national character should be governed by laws
OF supreme unVaTying character While
municipal institutions might be granted with
self control, for convenience, it WIS never In
tended that one-half OF this nation should be
governed by one set of laws, and the other half
by another and conflicting set, on the same
subject. The law, the principle, which was to
apply to the dwellers on the Penobscot, was to
apply to those on the savannah and Susque-
hanna, else the declaration would have pro-
claimed the 0ne-the people on the Penobscot
or Susquehanna-were born free and equal,
and those on the Savannah with modified
equality; that the one had tnalienable rights,
among which was liberty; that the other had
1nalienable rights, but perfect liberty was not
"The grand idea of those immortal mon was
that there were certain rights privileges and
immunities which belonged to every being who
had an immortal soul, none of which should
be taken from him, nor could he surrender
them in any arrangement with society. SO es-
sential to the repose of the whole community
was IL that every man should possess eael of
these right, privileges and immunities. that he
was forbidden by his Creator to part with them
He could not sell himself he conld not sell his
children into slavery. He could not sell his
life for price. He could not surrender the
happiness T.
tempt to do so was nugatory. Every instru-
ment 70 lndel on such contract no matter
how solemn, no matter how hedged about by
broad seals, no matter how stamped by State
these things gave it life. 1t was null and void;
1t was corpse incapable Of animation.
a., II am speaking now of the original design of
ence, who had determined that there were GER
tain principles which, to give perfect liberty,
should apply alike to every mortal being.
What are those rights privileges andimmu-
nitiesP Without excluding others. three are
specifically enumerated:-Life, liberty, and the
pursuit Of happiness. These are universal and
inalienable. 1t follows that everything neces-
within those rights
''You grant a lot or easement In the midst of
your estate, you thereby grant the right of way
10 II by tngress and egress.
"Disarm community, and you rob them of
the means OF defending life Take away their
weapons OF defense, and you take away the In
altenable right of defending liberty. This brings
us now directly to the argument by which we
prove that the elective franchise is a right of
the Declaration and not merely a privilege
ana Is one of the rights and immunities pro-
nounced by that instrumental be Inalienable'
III as our fathers declared, 'all Just govern.
ment is derived from the assent of the gov
erned,' if in federal republics that assent can
be ascertained and established only through
the ballot, IL follows that to take away thai
means of communication is to take away from
duce him to helpless bondage. 1t deprves him
OF an inalienable right. This clearly proves
mat the elective franchise ranks with life and
liberty in its sacred inalienable character"
Mr.. Stevens thus asserts that the elective
franchise is one of the inherent "inalienabe
rights" with which every human being is en-
dOwed by his Creator; that any law, consti-
tuition, or compact, no matter how solemn it
may be, which deprives any human being of
that right-the elective franchise-is 'tnull
and void" and that our fathers, who framed
the Declaration of Independence and esta-
bished our Government, held precisely that
view of the case, and intended "the erection
of a vast empire over this whole continent
which in its national character should be
governed by laws of supreme, unvarying
character" recognizing these principles and
making them the rule of its conduct and the
foundation Of its authority
And now we say in reply that all this is
utterly untrue. 1t is purely and wholly a
fgment Of Mr. Stevens Imagination. He may
entertain all these crude and absurd ideas of
government, but the fathers of this republic
never did. He cannot ind in anything they
ever did, or ever said, anything TO justify or |
excuse him for imputing to them any such |
opinions or ideas. We defy him to the in |
quiry. He cannot support his assertions, as |
to what they intended, and as to what they /
believed, by any evidence whatever. In point /
of historical fact, they never had any such /
IDEAS either of abstract right or of the future
destiny OF this nation. The idea that voting
was a nght-absOlute and universal, or even a /
right at all, was in that day entertained no.
where, outside of a restricted circle of specula-
tive, closet theorists Not single statesman
of that age-not a single one of the men who
asserted vindioated, and established our indie
pendence, ever dreamed of regarding and
treating the suffrage as an inherent, universal
right, and of making that theory the basis of
our form of government.
Equally unfounded is the assertion that
they or any of them Contemplated the ereo-
tion of vast empire over this whole oonti-
nent to be governed by supreme unvarying
laws" II would be difficult for Mr.. Stevens
or anybody else to invent a statement more
directly opposite to facts than this, The his.
tory of the country-the record of their acts
and opinions-proves its falsity. They did
not dream of continental empire of any sort
the most hopeful and prophetic of them all