Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-07-20
IRONTON, MO-. THURSDAY. JULY 20. 1882

Die from the SLAnOpOlnt OF JuplSpFu-
dence will discover that the land of
Canaan was held by the Jews under
feudal tenure, and that the state of
things complained of arises from an
abuse of that tenure. For information
on this point. w. G. Is respectfully re-
ferred to Wharton's Law Dictionary,
article "Tenure."
So long as we received our laws from
England, the. taint of this corrupted
and perverted feudal tenure chung TO
them; but now the United States Gov
ernment, as the...proprietor OF the soil,
quit-claims all its rights thereto In
consideration of sum certain, and all
the feudal tenure in the case vests in
the States, which can and do eviet for
nom payment of taxes, as between q
man and the State, or for the nom
payment Of debts as between one man
and another, And taxes are regarded
as debts due the State, aud the right
Of redemption within q specified time
and on specified terms is vested in the
owner.
A careful study of the whole subject
will disclose the. fact that any..system
of land reform that is not based on
Peoples reform is nebulous. A cry is
raised against feudal tenures, as the
root Of all evil, whereas a little exani-
nation will show that, unless the prin-
tiple of feudal tenure be vested in the
State, all civil government must fail
for the lack of the means of self
perpetuation. The experience of CIV
ilization has demonstrated that every
citizen must pay to support the gov
ernment that protects him. Our taxes
then are required. as an evidence of
tealty and allegiance, and in order to
certainty in their collection they must
be based on that which Is immo vable,
and defined by metes and bounds. But
the great fact.is that the principle of
feudal tenure, as the basis of the right
of taxation, underlies the very exist
ence of civil government. Shylock
reasons very correctly on that subject
when he says:
"You take my house, when you do take the
That doth sustain my house; you take my
life,
When you do take the means whereby |
| live."
But your outcry against Feudal Ten
| ures is not only an outcry against the
very existence of civil government,
but revelation of your Agrarianism,
Socialism, or Communism. All of
these words smell bad they have San
ancient and fish-like smell" but they
must continue to be used until you can
find some other word meaning the
same thing.
In short, my dear sir, in raising the
Irish question with view to a ride on
your bicycle, you committed a blum
der: for every outcry against the prin-
ciple Of feudal tenure is an outcry
against the power Of civil government
to perpetuate its own existence. 1T
will not be necessary to decide whether
your blunder exposed the hoofs, horns
and tail, or only the ears.
AS our conference began on the Irish
question, let us close on that. Among
the great facts into which civilization
has crystallized, we can place the
truth that, whilst civil government is
the ordinance of God, the mode of its
administration depends on the amount
Of virtue and morality among Its sub
| jects. If they are well controlled by
moral principle, the external restraints
of civil law will not be SO much re-
quired; the institutions of government
will be liberal, and the powers of gov
ernment will be safe if distributed
among tho people. But if . people
have no understanding, their mouths
must be held by the bit and bride of
strong institutions. The tyranny of
Nero, bad as it was, was the only gov
ernment of which Rome was at that
time capable. Then, before we can
settle the questions connected with
Ireland's wrongs through British mis-
rule, we must determine the capacity
of the Irish, under Papal domination,
tor self-government.
In the meantime, what are the Irish
to do? The answer is, Get out Of Ire
land as fast as possible, singing:
"Good bye to you, Father O'Blad-
For me the last time at confession,
And my very last sixpence you've had"
Let them come here. We have free,
open Bibles, free knowledge, free la
Dor, and homes at prices merely nomi-
nal, and above all, the God-given right
of every man to be as good as any
other man, il he chooses 80 to be.
In conclusion, man can be known
by the books he reads. They are a
part of the company he keeps. Per-
NIT me to recommend the Bible, Mon
tesquieu's Esprit of Laws" Vattel's
Laws of Nations" Guizot's .'History
of Civilizations" "Blackstone," and
Kent's "Commentaries.n Tt