The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1885-08-05

tlOu loT the Fenfess Oh grievances. III
was also provided that the people
should have the right to bear arms. but
that no soldier should i'm time of peace
be chartered in any house without the
owners consent, nor in time of wal
except as provided by law. The power
of unreasonable seizures and searches
was denied. No person was to be held
to answer for an infamous crime except
on the indictment of a grand jury.
No one was To he twice tried for the
same Offense. No one was required to
accuse himself Private property was
not to be taken for public uses without
just compensation. The right of tria.
by jury and the writ Of habeas corpus
were guaranteed to every citizen. These
are some of the rights of citizenship
rights now undisputed, but only Sc
cured by a long, doubtful and bloody
war. Among the rights and privileges
of the citizen, none should be priced
higher than the elective franchise. IL
is the sceptre Of a freeman's power.
by its means he may express his APP
probation or disapproval of men and
measures. Through its medium he
can secure the passage Of good laws and
repeal of bad ones, as well as the exe'
cution Of those in force. He may him.
self aspire to any office IN the popular
gift, and il majority of his fellow,
citizens deem HIM qualified, he can
hope to fill it. For the blessings con-
ferred by the government, the citizen
surrenders a certain part of his natural
liberty. This he does for the common
good. Certain legal duties are imposed
upon him which the government may
compel him to discharge. I. He can
be compelled to serve in the armies of
his country in time of war. .. He is
compelled to pay taxes to support the
government. 3. 1t is his duty to serve
ON juries and perform other duties
when ordered by the proper. tribunal.
These are the enforceable duties of the
citizen, but his moral duties do net
stop here. The latter may be neglect
ed, but the duty exists nevertheless and
the neglect will inevitably be followed
by evil results. 1t seems especially
pertinent to refer to this subject at this
time, when the public prints are telling
us Of bad government, bad laws and a
bad constitution. There are defects in
the constitution, there are defective
laws, and just ground exists for COM
planning as to the execution of the
laws in certain quarters.
A constitutional convention might
improve the constitution or it might
make it worse There is the rub. II
is the history of all people when things
go wrong-when trade languishes,
when society is disturbed-to trace the
cause to some defect i'm the govern.
ment or the law. Ii is human nature
to dodge responsibility. But when
such complaints arise it must often
strike the rejecting mind
"How small of all that human hearts endure
That part which laws or kings can cause or
cure"
When l hear these complaints of the
laws and the constitution, am re-
minded of some farmers, who with
good farms and plenty of stock and
implements, fail i'm their crops. They
lay the fault on their seed or their
plants, or the season-put it every
where except ia the right place-and
that is on their own shoulders. A good
farmer makes the best of his Opportun-
tiles, and usually his labors are blest.
So the good citizen instead of COM
planning of defective laws, sets himself
to work to get the best results from
those he has.
Turn the leaves of English history
if you will, you will find that England
has had substantially the same laws
under good kings and bad. The people
have prospered under the one. and
suffered under the other. A good form
OF government avails nothing when
bafiemen control it. The strength of a
monarchy is said to be the wisdom OF
the king-the strength of republic
lies in the virtue of the people. To the
virtue of the people i'm this country
alone can we look for the preservation
of our rights and liberties Why are
not the Mexican people as fiourishing
and prosperous as we? They have a re-
publican form of government, copied
no doubt from ours. The cause is to
be traced to bad citizenship. Reverse
this and that land of the sun would
bloom and blossom like the garden OF
Paradise.
Several years ago it was common
thing for prisoners to escape from the
county Jail. 1t began to look like il
would hold nobody that wanted to get
out. One morning a crowd gathered
a. one end of the Jail contemplating a
hole in the ground. 1t marked the
spot where prisoner had escaped the
night before. A neighbor of mine
an old man-walked up and stood ST.
lently leaning on his cane. The crowd
were discussing how to build Jail from
witch no one could escape. Various
plans were discussed. Finally some
one asked the old man his opinion.
"My judgment is" said he, "that there
is more in the build of the jailer than
i'm the build of the jail"
So good government depends more
on the character of the citizen than
the form of the government or the
number of its laws. But you will ask
what makes a good citizen. l answer
a man may obey the laws and not be
good citizen. The Pharisees obeyed
all the laws of Moses, and yet were