The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-05-10

Couuitiou oi tue nation, with its poiiti- I
cal outlook, its election frauds daily re-
ported, the corrupt action Of men in
oIncial position, governors, Judges, aud
ooarls OF canvassers, has not brought
Us 10 our moral necessity when some
new element is needed IN government?
But, alasi when women appeal TO Con-
gress for the protection of their natural
rights Of person and property, they send
Us for redress to the courts, and the
courts remand US 10 the States.
You did not trust the Southern freed
man to the arbitrary will Of courts and
States Why send your mothers, wives,
and daughters to the unwashed, unlet-
tered, uuthinking masses that carry our
State elections?
We are told by one class Of philOsO-
pliers that the growing tendency to IN
crease national power aud authority Is
I leading TO a dangerous Capitalization;
that the safety of the government rests
/ in local self-government. says the edi-
tor of the Boston AldeE:
"What is local self-government?
Briefly, that without any interference
/ from without, every citizen should man
age his own personal affairs ia his own
way, according to his own pleasurei
/ that every town should manage its own
town affairs in the same manner aud
under the same restriction; every county
/ its own county affairs, every State its
own State affairs. But the independent
/ exercise Of this autonomy, by personal
and corporate individuals, has one fun
damental condition, viz: the mainte-
nance OF all these individualities intact,
each IN its own sphere OF action, with
/ its rights uninfringed and its freedom
uncurtailed in that sphere, yet each also
/ preserving its just relation TO all the
rest IN an ali-cOmprehensive social or
ganiZation. Every citizen would thus
stand, as IL were, in the center of several
concentric and enlarging circles Of rela-
tionship 10 his kind; he would have du-
ties and rights in each relation, not only
as individual, but also as a member OF
town, county, State, and national or
ganization. His local self-government
will be at his highest possible point Of
realization, when in each Of these rela-
tions his individual duties are dis
charged and his rights maintained"
On the other hand, what is centraliza-
{ tion?
cit is such a disOrganization of this
well-balanced, harmonious, and natural
system as shall result in the absorption
Of all substantial power by a central au-
5 thority, to the destruction OF the autOn-
!, omy Of the various individualities above
b mentioned; such as was produced, for
instance, when the municipal Of the
o Roman Empire lost their corporate in
dependence aud melted into the vast
= imperial despOtism which prepared the
way for the collapse of society under the
q blows Of Northern barbarism. Such a
4 Capitalization must inevitably be pro-
a. l. l. 81 J. -
ling for rights, out of which local self
4 government has always grown. That
: is, if individual rights in the citizen, the
: town, the county, the state, shall not
be vindicated as beyond all price, anC
: defended with the utmost jealousy, aut
~ at whatever cost, the spirit of liberty
n must have already died out, aud th,
. dreary process Of Capitalization be al
4 ready far advanced. IL will thus be evi
! dent that the preservation Of individus
+ rights is the only possible preventive o
o Capitalization, and that free society hai
p no interest 10 be compared for an instau
10 Importance with that of preservin,
these individual rights.
"NO nation Is free in which this is no
= the paramount concern. Woe to Amer
!, lea when her sous and her daughter
Il begin to sneer at rights! just so lOnl
as the cltlZeuS are protected lndlVluualll
in their rights, the towns, and counties
and States cannot be stripped; but il tn
former lose all love for their own lIber
, ties as equal units Of society, the latte
will become the empty shells OF crea
= lures long perished.
y "rhe nation as such, therefore, II
2 would be itself free and nOn-centralized
ii must ind its own supreme interest il
n the protection OF its Individual citizen
II in the fullest possible enjoyment Of thei
n equal rights aud liberties"
< As this question Of woman's enfran
q chisement is one Of national safety, W
: ask you to remember that we are citi
= zens Of the United States, and, as such
I claim the protection of the national fla
|" in the exercise of our national rights
in every latitude and longitude, on sea
= land, at home, as well as abroad; agains
"a the tyranny OF States, as well as ag8ins
y foreign aggressions. Local authoritie
> may regulate theexercise ofthese rights
: they may settle all minor questions @
y property; but the inalienabie persona
. rights Of citizenship should be declare
= by the constitution, interpreted by tn
! Supreme Court, protected by Congress
I and enforced by the arm Of the execu
y tive.
- fCOuffuued next week.