The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-09-11
RADIcALlsm AND NDAGnAR1ANIsM.


RADICALlSM AND DAGRARIANISM
NAPOLEON ILL.,, the profoundest stat esman and
most successful politician Of our day and gen.
Grafton, snyS. IN bis Life Of CESAR, that eth.
success Of superior men depends much more OIL
their ability to profit hy circumstances than on
that presumption sufficiently blind TO make
them believe themselves cupabie of causing
events 10 be born which are in tho hnn,ls of
| GoI, alone" We nrc ull the creatures Of cir
| cun,stances, aud tho only difference between the
great man and the small, is that the great man
| sezcs the circumstance ms it arises, while the
man of inferior capacity let's the opportunity
| slide away and allows himselfto be left behind.
| The fool alone thinks that he can create events
| ur that he can prevent ccrtnin effects from fol-
| lowing certain causes. The world moves by
] fixed laws. There is logic in events. 1t is
| cusy to arouse passions, but it is impossible 10
prevent the consequences OF those passions.
| AARON Burn on one occasion expressed this
idea strongly md forcibly. At the time of nuli-
iicntion in this State he said to gentleman
| from this city, "there are men enough in South
Carolina who can raise storm, but thoro is
not one in the State who can aucll that storm
when raised
| The contest between the North and the South
has Terminated giving IL marked develop
mcut to the theory of blind majorities. Under
tim, theory minoritics are entitled 10 no protec-
ton. They arc defeated. They must be
crushed. Carried out fully it means nothing
| more nor less than ITr Fietis, woe to the con-
quered. You are defeated, let the car pass
over you We are the majority. 1t is our will
and pleasure. You should not complain. You
made the fight and you conquered. This
may be right. This may be proper. This
may be just. 1t certainly is not wise. To-day
| the victor tramplcs under foot his victim. To-
morrow, the victim having gained strength and
| learned the lesson from his conqucror in turn
| plays tyrant und tramples on his former op-
prcssor.
There are other and more dangerous results
growing out of the theory that the blind will of
! the majority is the law of the land. The first
mud necessary result is the olnl loss of liberty.
This loss, il is true, takes the shape in the first
| place of dcspotism Of the masses, hut where
ever that despotism exists the distance is not
great FROM anarchy on the one hnnd or one
| man power on the other. Our fnthers forcsaw
this. They were not only wise men, but they
were animated by pure and noble instincts.
Well versed in the policy Of the past they were
| determined 10 frame a government which would
| avoid the shoals and quicksands on which other
governments had been destroyed. They knew
| thnt race of born kings may become eiTeie,
IL
officer should he elected. They knew that long
! possession of power made men forget their re-
sponsibiily to their fellow men, and they elect
e,l their president for IL short term They had
seen oligarchies oppress the people, and they
avoided anything approaching to nristocracy.
They had seen turbulent democracics Danish
AMI ostracisc their noblcst aud best men. and
they guarded jealousy the rights and privileges
Of the hnmhlest citizen. They had seen The
bad effects of the union of Church and State,
and they provided against the possible union of
religion md politics. They knew that small
States would certninly be oppressed by their
stronger and more powerful neighbors, and
they established perfect equnlity in one
branch Of the legislature of the nation. Theirs
was government of perfect checks and
balances in which the smallest minority wns
protected by written constitution, from the
most powerful and passionate majority. Under
that government three millions Of people rapid
ly increase / tcn-fold commerce, arts mud tho
sciences ilourishel Every man with health
and industry found bread, and with ordinary
prudence could lay up surplus. Their gov
L
abroad.
Human vanity, however, and human passion
can and often does destroy the noblcsl work.
The war came and with the passions of the
war the Radical party acquired power. Set
ting itself up for teacher, arrogating to itself
superior wisdom, rejecting the lessons of the
past and the light Of experience, II declared
that change was progressi the Constitution of
the Unitad States an instrument which should
only endure 30 long as the majority would per-
init, and TINT the will of q majority of the
American people Is the supreme law of the land
This is the policy now actuating the dominant
party,-in nothing exaggerated. This is the
platform laid down by the most prominent and
certainly the most honest among their leaders.
Let us see to what results this policy will lead
unloss the sober sense Of tho American people
should in time drive back The current
There is a debt of near St, 600, ,OOO, 900 to be
paid. The population Of the United States is
3G,O0o,000. OF that &C. 00O, 600 about half
million are owners Of the debt. Suppose
that each owner has family of four
persons in addition to himself, and we
would have Two million and half of people
enjoying the labor md the toll, and bene-
fitting by the swent Of thirty-f four million
five hundred thousand. Mejorites should
rule, say tho radicals. Their will Is tho
low. viii it be the will of fourteen men,
tnught to believe that no social compact is bind
ing any longer Than the majority desires that il
should bind, 10 labor for life for The support of
one! If the radical theory is correct there can
be no faith in politics; their own party must, as
u necessary consequence of their principles,
advocate repudiation.
One proof of this is to be found in Mr.. TRAD.
STEVENS "mild conhscalion schemc"-extra
constitutional rs he admits it to be. Mild con-
fscaIion God save the mark One might rs
we'll spenk of mild highway robbery mild