The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1885-08-12

7 OdAous WIN hau ~ 'uspohh VI hoiuihe
open air assembly for the transaction O
public business. This assembly, il
which every head of family and al
full-grown men had voice and vote
is known in history as the "Ancien
Saxon Whittenagemot :" and it wa.
the germ Of the present British Parlia'
ment, whence all our representative
bodies have sprung. But il is a matter
of fact that the British Parliament had
very little real authority until about
the 10th century. On one occasion
Henry WILL who wanted a military
Till passed, sent for Montague, the
Premier. When Montague arrived
and knelt at the feet of his monarch,
according TO custom, Henry placed his
hand on the Premier's head and said,
Montague, why hast thou not passed
my bill ?" Get thee my bill passed by
tomorrow, or else tomorrow this head
shall come OFF, The bill was passed.
But il were useless TO consume space
in detailing the wrangles between Par
lament and the different Kings, the
revolt of the CrOmwellian Parliament
and the regicide of Charles /, and each
successive step of this representative
body to farther acquisition of authority
till the present time, in which the
Parliament presided over by the Pre-
mier, is in reality the governing power.
The right of representation i'm our
State and National Legislatures is a
boon of liberty; but, sometimes, as in
the case of a kentucky legislature, our
dearest interests are ceded away by our
representatives to a corporation like
''rhe Green Il Barren Rivers Naviga-
ton Company" which has become an
injurious monopoly to the citizens of
the Green River Section. Again, in
the numerous instances in which the
Congress of the United States has
made land. grants of the Public Domain
and money subsidies of the peoples
revenue TO railroad and steamship com.
panies. Such acts as these are to be
considered rs mistakes of legislation
and errors OF government, to be repre-
hended by the sovereign people, who
must teach legislators, governors and
presidents that they are not masters
but servants. Are our legislatures and
our congresses Montagues to these
Henry VIII corporations that they
should pass their bills q? Are the people
Montagues that they should kneel at
the feet of corporate power? 1 guess
Knott if you will inquire into DUPONT
(de point! Well have none of this
convict business, even If the Green &
Barren Rivers Navigation Company
were made secure in their "vested
rights" by our State Supreme Court.
l might cite you To the acts of the
British Parliament for the London
Company" in the colonization of Amer>
lea; the plugging OF France into debt
and the grinding of the great masses of
her people into poverty by Louis XIV
in his ambitious and senseless wars, and
show you in this last instance how the
French peasantry were brought to
starvation forty thousand people in
one Province having TO subsist for
considerable time on roots, fruits and
herbs in field and forest) how all this
led to the French Revolution of 1889
which eliminated in "reign of terror"
but l will only ask, If the railroad
companies continued to gobble up land
where shall poor man find home-
stead?
If our lands and rivers are granted
away, what will be the final result /?
Old William the Conqueror gave away
the whole Island of England to his
seven hundred barons, and to-day you
can see the curse of landed aristGcra.
cy i'm that country. When the first
great French Revolution began, five
thousand men owned the whole terri
tory of France, but when at an end
the land had been divided among mill
lions.
Democratic administration will see
to il that the whole batch of Tariff
Laws are finally repealed!
The errors of government have ever
been fruitful of wrong and injustice,
poverty and want, hate and cruelty,
and often of bloody revolution. Then
why should legislation be unequal or
government partial, II the ultimate end
Is distress or death?
vengeance is mine, saith the Lord"
but II freemen are plundered they gen
orally usurp the Lords prerogative
U, We who are enriched by the robbery
and degradation of the honest aud in,
dustrious taxpayer by tariffs, monop-
olies, and convict competition, remem-
Der that Gods balance, watched by
angels, is hung across the sky!
Lo, deceitful is the yellow gold;
Riches do OFT vanish away:
And the unjust power We hold,
snail condemn We at Judgment Day.
w. H. CUNDIFF.