Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-01-22
ws.s Of IN. Future.

To one who can look beneath the
surface Of things the United States
h to-day an absorbing etudy.
There are only two nations Of
which this can be truthfully said
Of France and our own country.
Both countries have been adjusted
to the finest poetizlng and philoso-
phlsing Of which the human intel
leot has acquitted itself with regard
10 the human race. The men who
gave the-impress and stamp to the
American revolution were the
msn who brought about the French
revolution. 1t is the fashion, now
a-days, to ring the changes upon
the klnshIp Of Great Britain and
the United States. England, hav-
Ing failed to cut our throat so late
y seventeen years ago, is now
never tired Of dwelling upon the
monotones Of common language,
Z common ancestry and the hack
neyed 'sbloed is thicker than
water" But the fact Is that, in
the early and most respectable era
Of Republican government in the
United States the men who repudi-
ated England and adopted the So
cial philosophy of France. repre-
ssnted by Jean Jacques Rousseau,
were Invariably successful In pep
ular elections. The men who ad-
mlfed the English model Of gov
ernment, such rs old John Adam
and his son John Quincy were al
ways retired to private lifs after
one term.
We have said that the United
6tntes and France are to-day the
only interesting nations, and we
have said 90 because all other ma.
tisnalities are welded to tie an.
tiqas and obsolete. They ore
founded upon cast iron prescrip
tlon and privilege. But, In their
case We now witness the spectacle,
which was remarked at the open
ing Of this century, Of two
nations, which, in express
terms, recognize the majesty
and worth of man as man,
They hold that frank is hut the
guinea's stamp, the mans the
goud for q that" They believe in
giving the fullest, fresst scope to
the Individual, irrespective of his
antecedents. We do not say thai
this theory 10 fully carried out, bui
1t II the theory officially adopted
and that fact contains the essence
Of what Distinguishes them from
all other earthly existing govern
ments.
In Europe to-day, outside o.
France and the Republic of Mo-
naco, with mere quiescence in
switzerland, is seen struggle
whose aim is to fortify privilege
and prescription. In Prussia, Bus
sia and Austria there are ruleri
who sign themselves such by the
grace of God, the people counting
for nothing. In the great and in
tellectual German nation we are
called upon to witness the proscrip
tion Of the press and free speech,
Far more determinedly than die
James Stuart in England from 1851
to 1888 has the Kaiser Wilhelm
planted himself, his dynasty and
his government on the fright d.
vine Of Kings" England is to-day
under Earl Beaconsfield, reaction.
ary in the highest sense Of the
word. To-day the press and the
thousand orators Of the present
British administration are engaged
in depicting Gladstone as sort Of
political monster because, almost
alone, he holds to the opinions and
the principles which, one hundred
years ago, Charles James Fox, Ed
mund Burke and old Chatham
himself would have assisted him tt
champion. II any political philos
opher sheuld to-day undertake tt
cast the difference between th,
haughty premier of Victoria and
the etrafford of Charles I. hi
would be astonished at what mar
row chasm separates the "thor-
ough" Of the beheaded Statesman
from the sweeping programme o
his successor, at u remove of twt
hundred and fifty years.
All the signs point to an ap
preaching struggle between th'
reactlonary aud republican ele-
msnts In the United States. W,
encounter, on every side, men whit
pirate q bout q sstrong government
who desire to see privilege ant
wealth entrenched against the
power of the people. We can stat'
our opinion of the approaching
confiict-an essentially "irrepress
Iblep one--in q nutshell. We thinl
the lovers of monarchy and ''strong
governmsnt' in this country have
been premature. With the eager
mesa Of the parvenu and the clown
they have shown their hands toe
soon. They are inviting the storm
without guarantees Of success
Tho small regular army of tn,
IInifad States would not count Ii