The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1869-05-20
IDAHO WORLD.
SHALL WE HAVE AN EMPIRE'

pend, and IL is cOpleu Irotu Ino INV
Table of April oath. 1t shows TO "na' 10
markable pass the people OF the EaS' nave ' a.
rived that paper of the prominence ana aoll-
itv of the Bound Table should seriously olscusS
such an extraordinary question we copy 'no
entire article, as follows: ~
Ia there an. real danger that an empire WIN
h. established among us! Ii Is d sighillc"n'
fact of the times that the question IS no" , very
80 ad This may mean much or ilttie,
t,'t noonIe are not apt to ask each other II
+horl viii he q storm unless they see CLOUDS III
tho skv. and he who has not thOugnt OF Inc
matter before instantly looks upward when the
Question is put to him. 1t is probably true tnat
most Americans, when Intercepted on tnis
:. ;,nnerial theme, stllanswrr with an lncred.
n,ons smile, Yetit is certainly true that IN the
clubs. and in private society. IN the streets III
saloons. in churches, and in theatres, the topic
has of late been discussed with as much anx-
etv a. mirth, and that there are some VINO
have begun to persuade themselves that no
noss;ble evils of an empire could be greater
than those under which the country now iaDors'
What il there. ask such malcontents, that all
emDire could work to our prejudice Whlch can
not he--nav. IS not-effected under the repuo-
iicq Would an empire bring heavy taxation
We paw already more than the people OF ihPe-
rial France, and are worse OIL IT. TINS Ilall INC
French that we see little or nothing IN the way
of public improvement for our meney. a" QUA
an empire bring corruption, uiiSapproptla'lon
of national funds, sacrifice Otpuollc ior private
interests? 1t is incOncelva0le that u single
rule either could or would harm us more IN
this wise than do our present Cespotlc leSisla-
five assemblies. Would the administration oi
Justice be less secure, would greater huthoer
of murderers and thieves escape punishment
would there be less oppression from legal de-
laws and mpediments than at present uhder al
empire than under n republic! Experience
does not justify an affirmative. mere are more
evils of these sorts in the United States to-day
than in France. An elective judiciary and Il
defective code are about as etfectual here IN
nroducinp them as the worst conceivable sys-
tenn under an autocrat Are our streets clean-
or. our personal rights better guarded, our av-
eragr happiaess better secured under thor
oughly selfish, ignorant and INSCRIPTIONS oil
parchy-tor, putting euphemlsms aside, 1t Is
lust such government, that we are living I'M
der-than under the benignant sway OF pos
sible Augustus
Sucb are some of the views and arguments
of the imperialists; and. waving Tor the time
the weighty considerations 10 be brought
against them, and which we have 5" tar lelt
untouched let us glance at some ut tine CIR
cumstancrs that have arisen IT, INSPIRE dlstrnst
of democratic institutions. and to prompt dis
cusson in behalf of institutions so opposite
In the first place, if We divest ourselves of ma
tional prejudice, We shrll have no great diff
Guilty in believing that, given the opportunity
af az
pean nations would have no greater trouble
to-day in setting up and carrying out the prln-
ciules of 1868 than our English toretaihcrs
had. Geographical position, limited numbers
abundant lands, freedom from traditional bonds
and limitations, and little stimulating tyran-
nv from the mother country were admirably
adapted IL bring about the result they did, and
with Germans French, Irish, or Spanish to
day. other things being equal, the result would
doubtless be the same. But the foreign clc
ment is not so far advanced as what we call
the AnglO-SaxOn element after all; and since
in Some resptcts-lf not IN Othrrs-we have
been advancing since the Revolution, the in
creasing foreign immi grafton Of later years has
made mixture advantageous lndustrally, but
politically lncOngruous, and not without quail
ties of danger The caven of ignorance has
been thrown into the mass faster than average
education has kept pace with it; and it is an
incOntestible proof of the truth OF this saying
that the people OF the United States are, IN
1869, quietly submitting to many of the worst
evils of despOtism under the curious hallucna
ton that, because their government Is repub-
lie in name, it must necessarily be one in spirit
and essence 1t seems to be enough for the
masses that conspicuous merit of any but tine
shOpkeeping sort should be invariably abased.
discouraged. or ignored. This price regularly
paid, a body like the United States Senate or
the New York Legislature may do with lmpu-
nifty what no living monarch would dare to d"
in the way of robbery and oppression, and the
crowd will throw up their caps and call it lib
erty. This would scarcely have happened in
1776. We have grown richer more numerous,
and in some particulars, we fear. more ignorant.
We have not grown in independence of thought,
and universal suffrage has not added to our
moral elevation.
In plain sooth, the age of sensuality, of un-
checked corruption, of dense, Grass ignorance
Is coming down upon us like night. A free
press should have given more notes Of warning
than it has; but the press dislikes, i'll 4 free
country, to print unpalatabe truth. even when
it discerns such truth, and the journals that
profess fearless devotion to principle are
VIGOROUSLY the ones whose articles betray the
most laborious sollcitude to catch the applause
and fatter the prejudice of the greatest num-
ber Meanwhile, at what are called our great
centres a" coarse brutes, who ought to be dig
tging railways or drawing hand carts, lay down
the law for the whole community, and by dint
re vo Of ,raalfh amassad undar circumstances