Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-05
senaration of Government and Peo-

Senaration of Government ana REQ
pie.
A philosophic writer recently sald'
There is an innate tendency in all gov
ernments to become separated from the
people in sympathy, interest and AIMS
and in none is this truth more obvious
than in those founded on universal SUI
frage" Supplementing this we may re-
mark that. amid all the changes OF tue
ages. this tendency has renamed IN
changed. Immersed in the progress oil
the arts and sciences. absolutely enNel-
oped in advancing civilization-goVerll-
ments maintain their separation from the
paoDle. apparently seeking other aims,
objects and associations, affecting
dignity. consequence and power, having
no basis if not the power Of
the governed. Our own new order,
it was supposed, being ''of the
people" would break down the barrier
and unite government and people IN such
mutual sympathy and support that there
could be no temptation to usurpatlon
and aggression on the one side, ana no
suspicion. fear or jealousy on the other.
But il seems that we are no better on IN
this respect than the crumbling old mon-
arches of Europe and other countries,
who. if their subjects have advanced
in spite of them. they have, from
time to time. relaxed from IRON
rule lust enough to avoid overthrow, and
so continued TO rule under that su1erance
implied by sir William Blackstone when
ne iutimates that il is wiser 10 bear Win
some errors and abuses in the government
10 which we are accustomed than 10 VEN
ture uDOn the uncertainties of untrled
laws. Only when governments become
int0lerable are nations justified in such
experiments as produce sudden
changes. but the same end may be
reached in time by a gradual process OF
enactment and repeal. Our experiment
has now the record of a little more than
one hundred years, brief period, indeed,
in the life of nation, but old in the his
tory and events of modern republics,
raised TO the very height of civilization
and learning.
This would seem to be time enough and
the proper conditions under which to
bring about cordiality and sympathy be-
tween government and people, aud to put
an end to that proverbial opposition main
tanned against government merely De-
cause it is government. We suspect that
the fault is more of the people than
the government. since every govern
ment is more or less characteristic
of its OriginatOrs, and cannot subsist
without their concurrence. The one is
.Tularrofah hN- tho
other-utterly helpless without support
from the primary source, and yet so
magnified through Difference to custom
and the folly of conflicting opinions, that
it appears to the imagination giant OF
OppressiOn-a relentless monster OF I'M
limited power TO the simple.
Considering that this monster, when
closely scanned, like the giant of the
Harz mountains, is but the reflected
figure of those who cOnjured it up, the
whole thing would seem a huge joke, but
for the mischief it may provoke through
heat and contention in the mad folly of
partizan conflict. And herein lies
the secret of estrangement be
tween government and people. Wheth-
er natural or unnatural, tor good
or for evil, the product of conflicting
opinions is partisanism, and this is mild
and progressive, or turbulent and de-
! structive, according to the character Of
| the disputants. Mans own seltishness
and greed is the cause Of nearly all of his
misfOrtunes, for no sooner does he set up
/ than he is ready to pull down, and though
! he may consent to the elevation of indi-
| viduals of his race, he speedily repents if
| that elevation has not lifted himself along
with it. Thus he is ready to find fault
even with his own work, to magnify errors
and depreciate good actions until jealous
ambition drives him into measures OF hos
4 tility.
Not until he arrives at the helm of State
| and the smoke of battle clears away does
1 he realize the true situation, discover his
/ own weakness, the emptiness Of fame and
! the tireless fOlly-the ceaseless, unscrupu-
/ lOus struggle in the masses below, to drag
down what they had just lifted up with
/ frantic shouts of joy. What wonder if he
sickens at the sight, is disgust
/ ed with the groveling sycOphancy
| of his race, and holds in
/ sorrowful contempt the mean instincts,
\ he now reflects, that multiplied ages have
not sufficed to discipline into moral pro-
priety, even though their most vital in
/ terests were involved. HencefOrth he
reasons that government should be di-
rected to the elevation of society, to the
correction of errors, to the restraint of
| the wicked and to the support and encOur-
/ agement of the good, setting out
with this laudable design, he
finds that every movement is
/ hazardous, that every question his gov
/ eminent is called upon to determine has
/ but one result: to plunge it alresh into
! the m9lstrOm of partisan strife, where
/ few points are settled without erecting
monuments of hate and disaster to folly.
Separation of government and people, of
/ course, is perpetuated. The giant con-
/ tinues to grow and the monster to in
| crease the hideousness of its form.
sympathy is impossible and support is
| grudgingly yielded where envy and jeal-
Ousy are driven at the point of the
! bayonet, and dignity withholds grace and
! cOndescensiOn that must meet only abuse,
miscOnstructiOn and defeat. We repeat
/ that government is but reflex of the peO-
pie governed, and ''if they SOW the wind
| they will surely reap the whirlwind."
| The correction of the errors of
! government must begin with the cor
rectiOn of the morals of the people, and
this leads down through the masses to
| the nursery, to the family circle and the
social community. Until the fountain
| is purified there is no hope of cleansing
the volume of the stream.
The New Haven Register, a sterling
Democratic journal, closes its comments
on the letters of Messrs. Bayard and Nc
Donald on the tariff as follows: "But
because Bayard and Mcdonald believe
in a tariff for revenue and demand that
the fundamental law shall be enforced, it
does not follow that the business of the
country is to be DESTROYED. A revenue