Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-07-10


tlOnal as well as State Governments the ten
dency is-as it always is with monarchies or
indIvIduals-to draw power to itself. TO do
things to-day which yesterday no one thought
Of doing, until, although a time of profound
peace, IL has been seriously proposed 70 sus
pend the privilege of the writ of hdbeds corpus,
thus leaving the personal liberty OF the cItl-
zens not only at the mercy of those for the
time being in authority, but ut the mercy Of
one man. The rankest despotism could do no
more than this and it would do it, il at all,
under the same plea that it was necessary
for the public good.
The end Of this absorption OF power in
government-when that government is demo-
cratic in form-is the French Communicative
I1terudti0udle-in which the State is every
thing and the indiYId ual nothing. Ii Is not
an attempt TO defend every person in the
endowment Of his rights. but an effort, through
some imaginary superior wisdom in the State,
to distribute benefits more equally Ii Is the
community principle, an equality OF rights
by taking away all rights; and while 1t pro
fesses to be unselfsh, it is the most selfish
phase of human nature, by which nobody
profits except the idle and thriftless part
ne~ship in which the brains and energy OF the
working man are expected to be employed
for the equal benefit Of himself and Of his
ndolent and ignorant neighDor.
There is such thing possible as a tolera-
bly, fair and honest recognition Of equal
rights by government-and one like ours
professedly based upon that affirmation ought
TO recognize the limitations of It's iundamen-
tai principle
Every subsidy Of whatever nature is un-
iustifable The plea usually urged that
these special favors are warranted. because
they result in the general good, is only the
] J. oIT ,-N Of rir,if -
commonly justified If true it Is only an
& sertion that the end justifes the means,
and would equally answer as plea for any
usurpatlOn. Congress at its last session,
voted a subsidy Of i've millions Of dollars TO
Pacific mail steamship line and it might
with equal prOpriety and justice have given
/ to any one Of my audience that sum Of money
out Of the United States treasury, on the
faith that the gilt would in the end, in some
way, have resulted in a public benefit. Is
it not too plain, that every such act gives
unequal privileges, benefits and rights, and
Is therefore an invasion Of equal rights
The labor movement, 80 called, so far as it
demands legislation, Is another instance Of
an attempted violation of equal rights and
individual liberty. We speak sometimes Of
the tyranny Of apital-sometimes of its
lneanness-and we always admit its power
So far as this tyranny, OF meanness, OF power
are the result of any legislation unduly ia
voring capital that legislation ought TO be
repeal ed and so far the demand Of the labor
movement is Just. So far, however, as they
are the natural results of accumulated wealth,
they are no more subjects of legislation than
pride, or Obstinacy, or seltishness. So far
as the State Is concerned the relations Of
capital and labor should be left to adjust
themselves no one should be compelled to
work. and no one should be compelled to
employ. For an equally good reason the
hours of work and the price Of work are
beyond the power Of the State TO regulate in
any way
It's only province is to see that neither
capital nor labor interferes with the liberty
and equal rights OF the other. When 1t goes
further it not only goes beyond its legitimate
sphere, but it attempts to deal with what il
is a. helpless to mend, as it would be If II
attempted TO regulate the seasons, or to pre-
scribe the amount of corn that might be
raised on an acre.
These gradual departures from the true
uses Of government were IN mind, no doubt,
in the trainers of our own State Constitution,
when they declared d" that frequent recur-
renee to fundamental principles Is absolutely
necessary to preserve the blessings Of liberty
and keep government free.
And this frequent recurrence 80 should
be something more than dealing in generali-
ties, something more than a declaration, like
most Of the platforms Of political cOnven-
lions, for the purpose Of tickling the cars OF
those who may hear, but to be thrown among
the useless rubbish of a political campaign
as soon as the election is over. These fuuda-
mental principles ought to be living truths,
the touch-stone by which every public mea-
sure and every public man are tried. 1t Is
not enough that we have emancipated four
millions Of slaves there Is enough left for
US TO do t. emancIpate the forty millions who
people this country and to rescue them from
the misconception and the misconstructiOn Of
government which, alike under all parties,
are sowing the seeds from which we or our
posterity viii reap a harvest Of bitterness
and strife.
If we could ou this anniversary bring our
selves 20 a thoughtful c1ntemplation Of what
the Declaration of Independence really sig
nifies: if we could bring to this contempa-
ton of the profound truths in that paper so
clearly enunciated, the light of reason and
philosophy If we could, when we proclaim
liberty and equal rights, know what those
phrases mean, -understand their power and
their application and not merely blazon them
upon our political banners if the people
would but understand that liberty and equal
rights are our possession by nature and crea-
ton and not something which the State can
by some legislative legerdemain give us
something concerning which we only need
ask the State to let us alone If we could
but clearly see that the State ought to give
nobody superior advantages under any plea
Of the public good, because il has no right
to do this. and whenever it does it, it in
dulges in tavOrItsm and usurp2tIOn , If we
could comprehend that men and women are
not wards, nor infants, nor Incompetent, to
he tOstered, and nursed, and coddled, and
taken care of; if we could realize that the
fault IS not in our stars, nor in our govern
ment, (if they let Us alone) that we are not
equally matched with our neighbors in the
contentious of life, the cause of that Unequal
ity lying so deep that legislation can neither
reach 1t Tor cure it; if we would cease pc
the government for help every time
We have poor crop, or find an overstocked
like the wagner in the
fable, to Jupiter to lift our wheels out of the
mud, when the true way to get out of the
mud IS to put our own shoulders to the
wheel we shall have REQUIRED to funda-
mental principles TO some purpose.
The State is no more god than Jupiter
is it does not stand in the place of a SUI
preme wisdom, either Pagan or Christian,
and the sooner we cease looking to it to give
US any rights or OpportunitIes-unless it
gives them to US as a monopoly and to the
exclusion Of our fellows, and therefore IN
justly-the sooner we shall arrive at just
comprehension of the functions of the State,
and bring II back to its legitimate work.
If l have succeeded at all IN conveying TO
you my idea of the proper limitations Of
State, | shall hardly need to say that we
make 1t quite too much boast and glory, as
though 1t were Of itself anything or could
accomplish anything, except to protect every
person IN the enjoyment of his freedom to
think, to act, and to work. Yet it seems
quite impossible for any of US, especially on
this anniversary, to refrain from speaking Of