Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1869-04-22

ing iat +res@s, 80 1I4d i or.T ElcQtt the
form Of is Fundamental lax, bat Should
sls7 inform 81 direc. the sDirjs OF the
goycrnmenty TIE IsmazoEae3 q = coan-
try seek tleir own ephen 2ral interests
through the pas ions not tie reason Of
the messes.~ They sloces !. for in times
OF excissnist and .: Danger. sai wen
great issues hre ?. sax. nan n masses
are ever p4e-ontta. w have often saen
tsle remark that even Ire hundred in
tcllieent men cannot be ct together with
gu; a-srong natural tendency - oecome
q NIB
I. Is doubtless sublime faith. Al en-
visible trust in the optimism Of humanity
to appeal wi;h genuine earnestncss AM
not as a coatemptb,e clap;rap, 70 the 81
ter second -shoag OF 3 people. WI.
enough perhaps it NAV sa5ye in peace u.
and quiet times, when the public mind :
stirred by no deep impulses; when i. i
not required to take an important antlh-
nal resolve. and when the slow e!feets OF
mistaken policy no; mortal in It's conse-
quences can be easily repaired BY tim Or
rectifei By the experience Of it5 results
In such cases there can be no necessity
for its use Bl. there may De moments
Of great danger, when the decision OF
dav or of al hour may become nom m
tous for al time, when the fun lanental
pgincipesRa society may b, involved
in the issue, and then there 30 no room
for second thought. Woe to people who
through their supinencss or the Madness
of their passion have thrown down the
sword and the shield o. their defence,
have suffered the protecting forms fthelr
Fundamental laws to be destroyed; who
have surrendered the Palladium Of their
liberties to those once the instruments OF
their will now their master or their mas
tiers, be they in the gljso of epauletted
despotisn or under the not less banetll
form of civic oigarchies. As vel ex-
pect the shattered oak to spring. with lite
renewed, from the stroke Of the bolt;
again to ding abroad the branching hon-
ors of its head to the winds Of heaven as
believe that such a people can or will re-
assert their manhood ana rewin their lost
rights. The issue Of things has passed
beyond their will, they have forfeited
their privileges and the laws of nature
and Of mind are moulding them to other
shapes Of which perhaps they wot but little
VIII people never have done talking OF
laws to men who wear swords was the
remark in oldcn time Of leader ofarmles
and of mau. Shall We never be doAe
talking of constitutions and Of rights be-
fore the onward rush Of a people Will ::
Shall we sit quietly. with hand IN pocket,
pratine of guarantees Of thc constitution
when they are being swept one by one
away in the surgiu, Ii lie Ola people pas
sion, urged, directed aud sustained by Or
gauizsd and great Interests for the attain
nent Of their own selfish ENDS
Let Us then ask our readers 10 cast .
single glance around :hem upon the con-
dition Of the country to which We all be-
lo1r. How often have tile safeguards
of the constitution, vanity sought t. b.
built finn and strong by It's founders,
been torn down By their appointed gnar-
diaus, how of;su been supinal y surrender
cd or maIly cast aside by the people who's
richest heritage they should have been
esteemed The Senate the represents
tive of the dignity of the States, has be
come but the m0uthriacc Of popular or
party sentiment, almost the tool Of the
lower House; the Supreme Court has
been frightened into sevvihty the TX
ecutivo if differing from the Legislature
is made a nuIlity, the popular branch Of
the Government seems II be rapidly alb
sorbing th9 sole authority Of the land
State Sovereignty is Offering but feeble
resistance within tue jaws OF triumphant
party passions and interests. Congress
appears to be fast becoming the instru
ment of favored classes in the comnuni-
ty. Its policy is directed, its laws sug-
gested, its patronage and the patronage
of its creature the government coutrol-
led by the influence of vast corporations.
Are not the words of the grea. writer
above quoted pregnant with truth for
our day and for our people! Has not
the condition of society here reached a
point of natural and inevitable develop
ment 2" When the success of a politi-
cal party. which had, before the war, be
come the representative of the ideas and
tendencies OF a sectional and 4 greatly
preponderatIng people, of people oppos-
ed to the domestic institutions and con-
sentative interests Of the South upheld
bv the slave owners as a body, has been
assured, we may expect the situation
which we now observe around US. Pow
erful and more or less organized bodies
exist and existed before the war prnci-
pally l believe in the East.
Their object it has naturally been to
obtain dominant influence in the gov
eminent. Through the element of pop
ular representation in the Constitution
they were enabled gradually but surely
to exert a controlling power IN the lower
house OF Congress. Their policy was and
is protective. They did not recognise
the fact that in the view of Political Econ
omv, the civilized world had, through
the great inventions of modern times.
facilitating cheap and rapid intercommu-
n;cation, become really but one people.
Bv combination aud BY money they we're
winning the command of the House
The Senate, the embodiment Of the con-
servative power in the political order, OF
the will of the States not Of the people
was an obstacle. Bu, the war came, aud
with the annihjlation Of the influence o.
Southern Shareholders IN the gayernm ,
the power Of the agricultural Interests
has sucoumbel to the trading, mining,
manufacturing, banking, railroad and
other Influences in the country.
The manufacturers Of New England,
the whiskey rings Of the Mid lie and
Western States, tue National B'nbs, the
Railroad corporations, the Bondbolaing
.,,, =, f,ot All the larra and mon