The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-05
True and False Conservatism.

True and False Conservatism
THg word conservative" is used so often
nowadays in party sense, that we are in dan
ger of forgetting the distinction between what
passes for conservatism and what really is con-
servatism. In this, as in everything else,
there is the true and the false. False con-
servatism adheres blindly and unreasoningly
to what is. True conservatism oonserves only
that which is good, and so worth preserving
False conservatism is narrow and contracted
in its view, seeking present ease and quiet at
the cost of future peril and woe, worshippng
at the shrine Of temporary expediency, and
forgetting that immutable principles constitute
the great laws of the universe. True con-
servatism recognizes the element of progress,
looks beyond the passing hour to ultimate re-
suits, and shapes its course in accordance with
the dictates Of more comprehensive philoso-
ply. The conservatism of what is good re-
quires constantly the overthrowing of what is
evil, for evil and good are perpetually antago-
Estic, and the one lives as the other dies. 1t
thus comes about that the true conservative is,
by necessary law of his constitution, also a
radical, for he cannot truly conserve the good
without radically opposing the evil.
The history of the world has probably pre-
sented few examples better illustrative of true
and false conservatism than is now given
by our own country. That which among us
appropriates to itself the name of conserva-
tism, par excellence, is but the merest sham
and count erfeit of the genuine article. Where,
among our so-called conservative leaders in
this country, do you find one man of broad and
comprehensive views, truly catholic in his
feelings, man of brain to see and of heart to
love the true principles of human freedom,
and to intelligently plan for their full realiza-
tiOn in the structure of society On the con-
trary, they are bigoted and narrow minded
partisans, whose chief aim seems to be to cling
as long and as tenaciously as possible to the ex-
ploded errors of the past Take their construc-
tion Of the Constitution, and what is it? Narrow,
technical, literal, sacrificing the spirit to the
form-an instrument for pettifoggers to quib-
bel over and for smali li-minded men to construe.
In their hands its noble proportions are
dwarfed, its ytfility emasoulated, its compre-
hensivenesS narrowed down until it becomes
mere power of attorney granted by petty
soWreignties, instead of being the organic law
end the vital bond of great nation Their
idea of craftsmanship, what is it! Persecu-
ton of the negro-absolutely nothing else.
Slavery having perished, they would conserve
as much as possible of its spirit and its policy.
They fail to comprehend the fundamental
principles which have constituted the vital
power of the nation, and which have carried
it to its present pitch of greatness and glory.
True conservatism, in our country, must be
based first Of all upon an intelligent apprehen-
sion of, and devotion to, the great doctrines of
human freedom as enunciated in the Declara-
ton of Independence. These must be main
tanned, conserved, in the structure of the Gov
ernment. Whatever conflicts with these must
be dismissed as foreign and hostile element.
Society must be made homogeneous, and must
take TO itself form in accordance with these
vital laws of the national existence. By thus
doing we shall preserve all that is distinctively
republican in our system of government, and
shall be enabled to transmit to posterity in a
higher and more perfect state, the blessings
handed down to us by the fathers.