The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1877-08-11
STRENGTH AND EFFICIENCY.

N' tttitAlAtf l'hi iN7t ~ EoFtiuHtil
is tho safety Of the people. Since gov
ernment- have been organized among
men. many plans have been tried, and
between the personal ambition ard
greed Of rulers, and the license of the
mas ses, every principle OF both mon,
archy and republicauism has been put
to the severest tests Personal govern
ments have in some shape existed since
the Rrst Republicanisin Is as yet, but
a partially worked out experiment In
England, France, Germany, Italy, Aus
tria. and even Russia. the license Of the
masses has surged in helpless frenzy
against the granite walls OF personal
authority The successes won by the
people in all such struggles have only
been partial. and the reforms growing
out Of such success have ever been par
tial and unsuccessful When the
baronage and peopleo Of England wrested
the great bill OF rights from John,
substantial advance was made,
bat it took the blended pow
er of the people and the aristoc-
racy to accomplish this. Later
in the history of that government,
when the people psnted for unbridled
liberty, the baronage and the throne
combined and proved too much for
them, but the safety of the institu,
tons of England in that trying crisis
rested with the conservative policy OF
her victorious sovereign and the class
which stood nearest the throne. Their
success did not degenerate into license,
and to-day perhaps they nave the most
FIRMLY established, successful and he,
nign government on earth. To the
| perfect blending OF authority liberty
and federation, 10 the oneness of the
three governing powers. the throne, the
aris.ocracY and the people. is due the
4 proud success of the plan
/ We are the descendants of the Eng.
fish. Their ideas OF government, of its
duties and responsibilities, have in
many notable instances served us a
good purpose. The license Of the masses
has often formed itself in riotous antsg-
onfsm 70 legal authority, but few days
only in each instance. has been neoes-
sary to restore the lost equilibrium, and
reason has returned to her governing
task. By the activity of this respect
for constitutional authority, for that il
IS end nothing else. we have been en-
abled TO carry our great experiment to
whore we have, and not TO any real or
isncicd perfection in the system we
have adopted itself. do we owe our
safety 80 far.
The recent brief but bloody contest
between mob license and the govern
mental power. constitutes by far the
most dangerous test to the strength OF
our system, the stability and power of
our government which has. yet been APP
piled. That we have escaped in this
instance, is due more 10 our good luck
than our power TO grapple with high
handed lawlessness in active rebellion
against the government. AT the bot
tom OF tins safety was unquestionably
the doubts which fingered in the
minds Of the rioters themselves as
10 the correctness OF their policy
SO IL is. at last, to this deeply implant-
cd respect for law. which Is the BIRTH
right Of the Anglo Saxon. that we owe
our safety, and not TO the bayonets Of
either the state or national govern,
ments But the time viii come when
il will be unsafe to rely upon this scn-
timental regard for law The many al.
lacks made sill gradually wear out the
sentiment, and then we will be COM
PEELED to rely upon the bayonet alone.
That Is . dangerous and unssfe experl.
ment The true policy Is to keep alive
tins inherent respect for law, from
which our present safety dates. and
unto 70 that the guarded and restricted
strength Of military power.