Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1882-08-09
The Compact.

What compact The social compact.
That compact is doubtless a legal fiction if
we take it literally. There are good many
legal fictions. When a lawyer, the owner
of farm near the village where his Office
was, had his name blazoned on a milk wagon
and over his name tn inscription PURE
JERSEY MILK" One of his students said to
the other That is the latest legal fiction,
and Blackstone would have a spasm if he
could see it," Now the social compact was
never literally and truly made. Men never
came together on some vast plain, and then
and there chose the tallest man in the crowd
to be their governor They never on any
such occasion agreed in solemn compact to
give up certain natural rights in return for
the protection that society could give them.
But by very harmless and indeed useful
legal fiction, all men now living are supposed
to have made what is known as the social
compact. Each man is the party of the
first part" Society as whole is the "party
of the second part" Each person is sup
posed to have given up all such natural
rights as he might freely enjoy were he liv-
ing in absolute solitude. For this sacrifice
he receives compensation. That compen-
sation is protection from all other men, to-
gether with all the benefits that flow from
being a member of society. The bargain is
a fair one. The benefits are of untold value
BY just so much as the highest civilization
outranks the lowest barbarism, by just so
much does the position Of a citizen under
good government outrank that of a solitary
man, living outside the pale of organized
society. 1t is plain that the world would
soon starve to death if no man should pro-
duce anything. 1t is equally plain that he
L., - nat
equivalent to him who does, or he is eating
what belongs to another The man who
draws a dividend at the bank is stock
holder. He has put money into its vaults
that he may take money out. He who takes
out without putting in, steals. Men owe two
great duties to society. They must be con-
tributors thereto in two ways first, to the
subsistence of society second, to its peace.
Patrick Henry said, when he saw the storm
of revolution coming Gentlemen may cry
peace, peace, but there is no peace As
we look out over the world and see Nihilism
in Russia, and as labor begins to utter its
ominous growls against capital here at
home, and then as we read each day in the
daily papers record that drips with blood,
shed by violent hands, we ask, Shall we ever
be at peace Society is to-day in highly
irflammabe condition. You can smoke with
safety by the seashore. A burning match
dropped there will not set the name of old
ocean on fire. But lumber yard is no
place to smoke in. A powder magazine
will do if you do not object to your own
suicide, and the sudden destruction of life
and property all around you. Never was
the obligation to contribute to the peace of
society so imperative as now. Has society
any notorious disturberp Yes, indeed.
When rough disturbs public meeting
the cry is, "Put him OUT" and out he
goes. The liquor traffic is the greatest dis
turber of the peace Of society now in ex-
istence. Apply the principles that have just
been laid down to the business of liquor
seller, and see in the light Of that applica-
ton what attitude society ought to take
toward him. 1t ought not to strike an
aesthetic pose, and then give sickly grin of
indifference. 1t ought, rather, to stand up
as Hercules, and when, club in hand, he
smote the Lernean Hydra What does a
liquor seller contribute toward the sus-
tenance of society? Nothing at all. He
takes the children's bread and throws it to
the dogs. He takes the grain that ought to
feed our hungry poor and fatten our cattle.
And thus does he withdraw food from the
pantry and provender from the granary of
the world but he sends back the grain that
he took, and he sends it in form that dis
turbs society as actively as grain of sand
disturbs the eye. Forever and forever does
he contribute that which disturbs the peace
of society as nothing else does. Justly,
therefore, should there be no peace for him.
Slowly does the iceberg move down the side
of the mountain, but it moves. Slowly, and
perhaps coldly, are we creeping to the con-
clusion that he who takes peace from society
should have no peace himself. He who
makes the lives of all men insecure does not
deserve to have his own life protected by
the men he thus endangers. He who makes
all property insecure ought not to have his
own protected by taxes levied on what he
helps to endanger. English law and English
story tell us of outlaws-men whose crimes
have placed them where they have no further
claim upon the law for protection. How far
should rum seller be protected by society
Just as far as he deserves it, and no farther
A trade that strikes at the peace of society
and the laws of the land should have NO
peace till it dies by the laws of the land
Christian at Work.