The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-10-23
CONSERVATIVE FEAR OF DEMO.
CRATIC GOVERNMENT

The Conservatives of this state have Q
constitutional dread Of local self-govern.
ment. At the last session of the General
Assembly they passed a joint resolution
proposing certain amendments to the con.
stitution of the state, by which to get rid
of our township organizations and cree,
"magisterial districts" (which sounds big
and potent. like, you know,) in their place,
that towns may be controlled by counties,
IA sort of general satrapy), while the coun-
ties are under the legislative thumb Of the
state, Or rather Of the dominant party Of
the state, which is to be its grand oligar-
chy. In the way of conserving liberty,
this is going back to Noah's Ark for a new
crop of old ideas, or for such ideas as have
pushed Virginia back from the front rank
of states in the Union to tenth. class one,
as she now stands in the order of numerical
strength and greatness.
What is proposed by these Conservative
legislators is a return to the worst
possible form of consolidation or central
ism. They dstrust the theory of govern
ment, both in its philosophy and
experimental workings, which was struck
out by the trainers of our constitution,
and which has everywhere demonstrated
its superiority over any previous form
ever devised by the wit Of man. We
refer to the pure democracics as they exist
in the township governments to the county
organizations which constitute the first
departure from the pure democratic ele-
ment, in the recognition of republicanism
to take, in measure, the place Of democ.
racy; and, finally, to the state govern
ment, which, in its organic structure,
creates us as one people exercising the
powers of sovereign state, except so far
as the constitution of the United States
limits their exercise, by mutual compact
and agreement, to the paramount sove-
reignty extended over all the states. By
this division Of powers, we have what we
have several times demoninated as the
composite order Of government, distinguish
ing us from all other forms of govern
nent previously existing in the worlds
history: 1t makes the underlying element
of our system pure democracy, con-
stantly infusing spirit of liberty which
vitalizes republic, and makes it more
enduring structure than it has ever before
been.
The Conservatives Of Virginia hate this
form of government, forgetting that while
Greece and the other ancient republics
maintained local self-government, liberty
fourished and a splendid civilization
was developed and maintained. When
local self-government was crushed out in
Greece, liberty disappeared, as well
as the most splendid civilization the world
had ever seen. These old Bourbons hate
this principle of local self.goyernment,
which has infused so much life and activity
INFO the states of the North and West, be-
cause in adopting it here, it threatens to
wipe out the old oligarchy existing in vir-
ginia before the war, and to impart some
thing of that vitality and splendor which
inherently belongs to republican form of
government. A party thus building on
oligarchical principles should be stamped
out of political existence the first opportu-
nifty that offers. 1t is nothing more nor
less than the envenomed cobra, or
hooded snake of centralism, whose sting
is SO fatal to the life of republics.
Jefferson looked upon the township
system Of government as the best posi-
BILE guarantee of liberty in a free state.
1t gives us, according to his idea, a repub-
lican form Of government qcia. continu-
Gus Inspiration of democracy to underlie,
uphold, and sustain it. The Virginia
oligarchs as naturally hate such sys-
tenn of government as the Thirty Tyrants
hated the underlying principles of liberty
in the Greek polity. Wipe ont the
olgarchs.
THE outlook for the American EXPORT