The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-01-14
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effective agencies for the moral and physical
training Of our young men. For such mill
tary training cannot fail to impart to our cit-
zen soldiers a spirit of manly independence
and pride, love Of order and neatness, and
habits OF subordination. Besides they serve
to keep alive, in old and young, the spirit of
patriotism. Reminded of the past glorious
achievements of our citizen soldiers in de-
fence of their country, they will covet the
honors of those who have deserved well of
their country, and lament that they had not
lived in the heroic days of the republic. and
had part in the war of the revolution, or the
great struggle for the vindication and pTeser-
vation Of the work Of our fathers A true
military spirit is patriotic spirit.
These are considerations which should
recommend and justify the requirement. bv
law, of military drill and discipline as part
OF our educational system for the moral and
physical training of young men in all our
colleges. But whether they are sufficient to
justify the annual appropriation necessary to
maintain military establishment beyond the
small number of highly disciplined companies
scattered over the State, to supplement the
police force. you viii judge and determine.
The great republic has passed that period
| OF its existence when it was thought arms
might be necessary to vindicate national honor
or preserve national interests against foreign
| foe. The Geneva arbitration settled that
| point and forever.
Our dangers are not from without; they are
all from within. And yet, thank God, we
are not training these soldiers for another Sec
! tional var. The conditions for such conflict
no longer exist. That great barrier between
the sections, that barred all intercourse and
made us strangers, hence enemies, is removed.
chasm Is left bvt that will be filed. And
it is no longer true that,
Mountains interposed
Make enemies of nations, which had else
| Like kindred drops been mingled into one,
| for by the agencies of steam and electricity
all our mountain barriers are removed, and
| space that sewers and estranges, is annihilated
So that now the dwellers upon the Atlantic
| and Pacific slopes are neighbors as well as
fellow citizens, and the most distant portions
| OF our widely extended republic are brought
into the closest relations, commercial and
social, as well as political. We are now one
| people, OF one country, with one constitution
| and one destiny. Nor need we train soldiers
to sustain ''strong government'--a govern
ment Of force to be felt only in its power,
IN its control, and not in its protection,
in its benefcence. For the now fifty millions
OF this republic cannot be governed They
must govern themselves or the republic itself
cease to be; for force is ever the immediate
parent of despotism.
Our dangers are all from within; and our
chief danger is that which we share in common
with all governments-the peril attending the
transfer of power from the hands of one to the
hands of another. "Wars of succession" have
desolated all lands but ours and even our ex-
pcrience has rendered us sensible of this peril
to our institutions. But we need not train
| soldiers for this contingency; for our exemp-
ton from civil war-a war of succession-de-
| pends not upon the presence of military force
at the capital, but rather upon its absence so
liable are armed men like concealed weapons.
to be used when the blood is up
In the days of the Roman Republic her
legions were not permitted to approach the
Capital, not permitted to pass the Rubieon.
Caesar crossed it and the Roman Republic
fell. Is it possible that the American people
can contemplate with indifference the pro-
posed gathering of militia of the States at the
National Capital on the 4th of March nexts
True the result of this election is not in dis
pute, but the result of the next election NAV
be disputed, and then the gathering of the
military forces at the Inauguration of General
Garfield may prove a fatal precedent, the very
Rubieon of our Republic. If the President
elect has the instinct of patriot he will sig
nalize his Inauguration by placing his veto
upon this prohered courtesy, and initiate the
simplicity of the third president, who, without
pomp and circumstance, almost unattended,
walked to the Capitol and took the oath of
his great office. By a wise provision of our
constitution the militia of Maine cannot be
marched out Of the State without the consent
of the Legislature.
Recent events, in our own State, have taught
us that we are not exempt from this common
danger attending the transfer of the govern
ment from the hands of one to the hands of
another We should look this danger squarely
in the face and apply such remedy as wisdom
and patriotism demand of us.
If the trainers of our constitution failed in
any respect, to guard perfectly at all points.
the citadel of constitutional liberty, it was in
this precise particular. Their great patriotism
seems to have rendered them incapable of ap-
preciating this great peril. They never dreamed
that the American people could ever become so
blinded by party zeal as to sink the patriot in
the partisan, and be ready to tear down the
very temple of liberty itself if public offices
are not occupied by men of their choice This
danger dawned upon the mind of the Father
Of our country, and in his farewell address he
gave us solemn warnings against it.
And Jefferson, having III view this grea.
peril to our institutions, lays down this rule
as the vital principle of all republics, viz:
Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the
majority" But this rule does not touch the
point of our difficulties. One element is want
ing. Who shall decides Who shall canvass
the returns, and declare the result: No man
shall be judge in his own case Absolute
acquiescence in the decision of the majority,
as declared By the tribunal constituted 6y Ia,o
for that pWpoSe,-this is the vital principle. to
which the attention of the people should be
directed; the essential condition of the orderly
conduct of the government; the only safe
guard against civil strife and bloodshed.
The powers of our government are distri-
buted into three departments: Executive,
Legislative and Judicial, each independent of
the other. While it belongs to the Executive
department to canvass the votes, returned for
Senators and Representatives, and certify the
primaa facie result, it is made the duty of the
Legislature to canvass the returns for Governor.
determine the result and declare it. And from
that decision there is no appeal except to
force. The Governor and Council may err in
certifying who 'appear" 10 be elected mem-
bers of the Legislature; the Legislature may
err in determining who is elected Governor;
but in either case, there is io appeal except to
force. So, possibly, either of these depart
ments in the discharge Of these official duties,
may act corruptly and fraudulently, and de
eide in favor Of candidate not elected; vet
there is no appeal except to force. All possi-
BILE frauds that may thus be committed, had bet
ter be borne for time, than plunge the State
into the horrors Of civil war.
The provision ofour constitution which per-
mits the Executive or Legislature to call upon
the court on any occasion, solemn or other
wise for its opinion, seems to me as wrong in
principle, as dangerous in practice. Under
this provision, questions are referred to the
court not for decision, only for opinions, which
the Executive or Legislature may take for
what they are worth, follow them or disregard
them at will, as has sometimes happened in
our history If these opinions are to be re-
garded as decisions binding the conscience
and free will of the other branches of the
government, where is the boasted independence
OF these coordinate branches, which has ever
been deemed the peculiar beauty of our svs-
TEN and as fundamental as the reserved rights
of the State:
As the Court has not the responsibility of
deciding such questions its opinions partake
OF the character of opinions generally. We
all know how cheap our opinions are when
we are not responsible for them. We never
know quite what we ought to do, any more
than what we can do, until brought face to
face with our responsibilities. For response
ic fbat tr,o Al.