Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1881-03-12
COylpsGj$EG.iIsiD,
NEAR CuARLEsTowN, w. Va.
Feb. 25th, 1881.

John II. little, Esq.--Dear SRI
beg leave to send you another clipping
from the Evening Post, touching the
subject of "Nesled rights and vested
wrongs" which am sure will be Gag
erly read 10y your subscribers for, to-day,
corporations by their great number and
variety, their vastncss in respect OF
wealth and power, their tendency TO
combination aud eX;ortlon and the gen
eral venaity Of the times challenge
the attention of all good citizens who
know that the price OF our tree institu-
tious and safety is eternal vigilance.
Very truly &c,
JNO. THOS. GIBSON.
"AccorCling to the famous doctrine of
vested rights one Legislative body may
barter away privileges which, however
pcrmiciuus or fatal to the liberty and pros
pCrity of the great mass OF citizens, can
never be reclaimed by its successors. The
milestone once tied about the neck of the
people becomes Il vested right, and call
not be miOOscd even To save them from
drowning. II such j. the settled princi-
PIE, does it not hold upa warning to the
pie against lightly giving away, or bar
Icring for some piliut consideration,
privileges Whic h however dangerous or
pcrnicious in their consequences, must
either be perpetual or endured for a GER
tain number OF years? If the grant is ir
revocahle how careful should they be in
making ii! Repentance cannot alleviate
tnv consequences of the tramSgrcssion;
. legislation can make no dtOnyMCnt. 1t is
the flat OF f,tr, and 10 strive against ii is
not only vain u. bla>phclnOus according
tothc opinion ofthc champions OF lcSisla-
tive omnipOtcnce."
The people OF this or any other coun-
try never contemplated bestOwing on
tIcir government the power 20 iu;.i"t ul-
on them evils which no subsequent cXcr-
ton OF that power could remove. They
did not beSjow upon their legislative
bodies q portion OF their sovereignty 10
barter ii away in exchange for the wages
OF corruption or for political purposes.
What they gave they expected would be
received by those to whom it was given
for the special benefit of the great major-
ity, and MOI employed III forging for them
tvjtcrs from which no after struggle could
release them, This practice of frittcring
away the powers OF the government, in
d
that government of a great portion Of
4 what The people conferred on it and on it
( alone
1t is in the nature of political abuses
: TO be always on the increase, unless ar
rested 10y the virtue, intelligence and
lirmmcsS Of the people. Ii not corrected
in time, they grow Up intoa gigantic Wig
or and notorIety, which 1T length enables
them 10 WrcStle successfully with the pco-
pie and to overthrow them and their
rights. The possession fmoEopOlicS and
exclusive privileges, which form the cs-
sencc OF every bad government, pcryerta
long perseverance in ;hu wrong into
political right; abuses grow venerable
by time; usurpdti"n natures INTO pro-
ScriptiOn :distihctIous become hereditary;
and what cannot be defended by reason is
maintained on the ground that a long
continuance OF WRONGS, and long pos
session OF rights, are equally sacred.
We have said, and we repeat, that the
impending shadow which has begun 10
throw gloom over Our returning prosper
itv, a shadow cast by the huge and men
ancing figure Of corporate monopoly,
prc>Ggrs Il danger not 10 or pockets Ouly
hut To our freedom; aud while We find no
fault with the paid advocates Of mOnopO-
lists. provided the nature of their adyOCa-
cv i fully understood and acknowledged,
for maTshaiinL all the special pleas their
ingenuity can devise in defense Of this
towering dcspOti>m, we insist that the
moment has GENE when it should be firm
~ resisted by all patriotic citizens.
The present contention seems TO be that
the creature is greater than the creator,
the corporation more potent than the
state, and that no principle, whether OF
eminent domain or aught else. can be APP
pied To the recovery or restraint Of dele
gated powers when those powers are used
20 The public injury. Never mind, say
the attorneys OF the corporations, What
thcir tyranny or cXaCtions may be, that
which the state has bestowed it cannot
recall; the people cannot give with one
hand and take back with the other; be
the coz sequences of the gilt ever 50 bur-
dcuSUnc, or ever 50 ubiquitous, the pco-
pie must stand to their bargain. This
view, and others like it, might have con-
elusive force as concerns an ordinary con-
tract, say as between man and man. But
the state does not deal with an equal here.
The state is sovereign. Yet more; it has
actually made the body opposed to it is
FraukcnStCin in the romance made in
Monster; but the state has never aSSentcd
10 StipulatiUns, express or implied, that
its creature should be allowed 10 turn and
rend il.
The trainers of the United States Con-
Stitution were so far jealous Of such pos
sibility that the instrument CouferS no
bower in terms to make corporation at
all. 1t is true that there WAS long a
United States Bank and that now there
are national banks; but the anomaly has
been sustained on precisely those high
grounds Of urgent public necessity which
many thoughtful men now hold would
justify the curbing or suppression OF cor
roratiuns that swell into tyrannicS. The
importance Of strict construction and
enforcement. of law cannot, however,
easily be exaggerated, and methods for
legally disposinS of oppressive monopo-
lies have already been outlined. But
We're there Lo such methods it is not to he
conceived that Il spirited people would
submit indefinitely 10 a vast and dcgrad-
ing oppression. The Boston Tea Party
was gathering entirely unwarranted by
existing statutes. So long as tie Anglo
Saxon race predominant in this country,
and 50 long rs they know, as we'll rs they
now know, that the laws are made for
man and not man for the laws, it will be
dangerous TO trust 10 mere legal techn;-
CaliticS for the perpetuation of any form
of either corporate or other dcspotism
that is al once rCpugnant TO common sense
ant. at war with the interests of the peo-
pie. ---
"Dr. Sellers Cough Syrup" will en-
o,,,., ,.o,, n r,ooA piuht's rpst IL Is tho