The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-04-25
TIE MORALITY oF THR STATE.
ANDERSON, s.. c.. April !.

"Civis," in his article No. 6, seems tc
ignore, but which Is unquestlonably the
natural and primitive reason for the yer,
idea of the punishment Of transgression
It is justice. He does seem, indeed, to
recognize this element in his ciosina
sentence, in which he speaks of the
Commonwealth "settling down in black
dishono,," under the weight of two bur.
dens-the encouragement of crine''
aud the "debasement of education"
This last, the "de6asement of education. y
involves the exceedingly interesting
question, how far the State as such IL
under obligation to provide for the edu.
cation of the mass of the people. We
do not propose to go into this matter
now, but to show that while "Civis" does
recognize tho State as quasi moral
person in being capable of "dishonor, !"
and therefore capable of doing the lust
or unjust thing, he substantially bases
her moral quality On the doctrine of
sheer utility, in saying that "if property
must surrender 800 or more to punish
the larceny Of s5, then the larceny had
better 60 unpunished."
Beyond any doubt the question of self
preservation and Of her own material
prosperity as expressed in monetary
value must engage the highest attention
of the State, and be the chief burden of
her legislation. But whatever might be
the cost, she is bound to punish the
larceny So, both to maintain the repre-
sentative and honorable position which
she occupies towards her own upright
citizens, and for the respectability Of her
place in the community of States. The
government which fails to recoguize in
ternational justice, or even to administer
it within her own precincts and between
her own citizens, would be at once treat
ed as an outlaw from the society of re-
spectacle States. In truth, the national
honor" is but the expression of that high
moral position which State has attained
by her civic and military men; by her
arms, her arms not in predatory wars
and ambitious invasions, but in Just wan.
in noble self-defenses, in her spirited and
powerful resistance of national insult.
Her archives, her escutcheon of men and
deeds, her record, her generals and her
orators, her commemorations, emblasoned
on her armory, her coin, her statues and
her public buildings, that serve to gather
around her the admiration and the pride
of her cstizens, are just so many forms of
expressing appreciation Of moral worth.
1t is justice, truth and public virtue that
are thus emblasoned.
No government, therefore, can subsist
on the doctrine of o utilitarian policy.
IL cannot constitute the sole ground of
her actions any more than it can of the
individual man. It cannot be left out
of the estimate that crime not only draws
iroui the treasury OF the State but also
defames her character. It is clear that
the State feels herself TO be moral per-
son, the representative of moral persons;
representing their aggregate virtue, ia
appointed to encourage and dsSaad it.
She protects the rights OF her citizens
because those rights are right e., just
tho fundamental idea in the concep.
ton of property. She treats her citizens
as immcrtals, hc.ding up their virtues
and their name to admiration and de-
Tending their ssacred honor" after they
are dead. She regards herself as immor-
tai. The State never acts, never legis-
lates or puts forth ruling function
which does not import her belief that
she has an eternal existence, and must
put forth every effort to sustain it.
Now this moral quality of the State is
never lost sight Of in any of her acts, and
when she Furnishes crime 1t is not simply
an act Of prevention, but of intrinsic
justice-.jast for &c oi0a sake.
1t is upon this ground that every re-
spectacle State in the world inaicts capi-
tai panishment. For the dictum of the
ancient Hebrew writings. "Whoso she'd
eth mans blood by man shall HE blood
be she'd" is founded in the natural con-
science: mans native ideas Of Justice.
The sentence above was not an original
revelation, hut an authoritative e,a.zs:eeee= cree
'nenf of an Unborn belief of man; and
the great mistake of the abolition of this
peualtr for any crime would be It's con-
tradiction OF the universal conviction Of
justice, and thus far an invasion of the
moral character of the State.
It would be very serious day for US,
Dir. Editor, when money became the
measp s of everything, and when the
might which money gives would make
right. The doctrine of utility as the sole
basis of State action, dries up all my
respect and yeneration for. its sovereign
ty. It would to awful, sir. She would
ha l,n.,s..a ..s sesaAs,.s-see rgiti, her nrinci-
pies, to cloco UP every inhrmary and
lunatic asylum In the land she would
be boun.. to push of every veak and
good-for-nothing citizen zton ihor protec-
tion; she would be bound to allow her
paupers, her deaf, her dumb, her feeble
constitutions, her sick, to slough OF from
the body polite; yea, and to encourage
az useful ensrGy away from the track of
beneSolence 20 the track of utility. It
would brutify human ex;etence. and
eventually render it impossible.
l may add, that 1t is In virtue OF her
beinU fhe rei,rhaenfa tive NJ ffthtffsa TFr1kh