Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-02-27
PUBLIC OPINION.

PUBLIC OPINION. &sf
This was probably the oldest human law
giver. Itstir { field of operation wa, perhaps,
limited to the family, and afterwards 1t ex-
tended to the patriarchal family, and then
to the tribe or community. 1t was not un.
likely in primeval times enforced BY ready
authority. It grew out of experience and
the needs Of people FIRST in practical affairs,
and then extended its influence over moral
acts. Probably in the beginning of natural
society it was all the Law. 1t shaped the
first duties Of men toward each other, gave
woman her place at the home, and armed
man with the weapons of war or the chase.
In it was the origin of positive law.
But however iuterestin: these surmises of
the dawn Of society, the present era affords q
better and more certain study of the subject.
Within our generation the scope of public
opinion has vas,ly enlarged. fit was the
first law maker, it is now the great
law-maker. What might have been &C.
cepted as a good definition O public opinion
fifty years ego would not do now. Then
the times we're more patriarchal. We
used steam and iron some, but there we're
neither railroads nor telegraphs. Society
was more fixed, travel was slight, news was
gathered tediously, and mails were slow. 1t
was not possible then for representatives to
consult constituents or governments to COM
municate opinions in emergencies. Wars
came about slowly, lasted far longer, and
changes were made with great leisure. The
BATTLE of New Orleans was fought after the
treaty of peace had been concluded betw cen
the hostile nations.
Nor was society then prepared for the
rapid work now being done. The railroad
and telegraph came soon enough. They
serve liberty, right and civilization now.
Before the world was educated and the
minds of men disenthralled, they might
have been employed by tyrants and the
powers of darkness. So We now see every
dark spot and bad system in the world, every
measure Of bigotry and wrong, Of bsrbarism
and despot,sm. under the fierce light of
thought and subject to the immediate criti-
cism of the worlds conscience. +
So has public opinion grown and spread.
That which was within the lives Of men
now living but a n%eighborhood decision, OF
at most the best sentiment of q county, is
now the moral sense of. the world,-"the
COMMON sense of most which holds a fretful
realm in ave." Washington and London
and st. Petersburg are nearer neighbors
than Philadelphia, New York and Boston
were when James Madison was president.
Italy has grown more in twenty-five years
than England did in the 18th century won
derful Is it wae. France has made far
greater and safer advances in fifteen years
than she did in any previous fifty, So with
Germany, Austria and Russia. The rapid
whirl of events since 1860 has changed the
character Of human society and ameliorated
its condition more than all the wars of the
18th century.
This country had really no public opinion,
which is = clear conscience, prior to 1856
except upon independence and some minor
issues. Then the railroad, the tele.
graph and the printing press began
to show their great results. The field is not
yet clear but the conquest has been vast.
The daily press preads before the world all
its deeds and tells their quality. The whole
world daily arraigns each part of it and in
some way executes its judgment sooner OF
later. The whole nation is now before its
best civilization and conscience on trial.
The bayous and swamps of Louisiana or
the pine forests and cane breaks of Mississ.
ippi, and all their boosted panophy Of state
rights, cannot hide the cowardly malice Of
their people or the perjury oftheir tribunals,
in their treason to life and liberty, from the
power Of the national conscience and opin-
ion. The criticism of the world will blaze
upon them. The aroused conscience of the
nation will with its '.ferce light best upon
them )" and nc duplicity Of power or cor
ruption of politics can long ward off the
remedy. Parties and cabine.s and commits
sions may p%alliate, but the intelligence of
the people which is free will burn out the
dark spots and remove the base stains. The
freedom and conscience of this land will
protect its own.