The Wilmingtonian., 1886-05-15
Concluded From First Paae. J

DAY is not distant, when many things that
take deep hold upon social life must be
brought to this tribunal. There is day of
judgment coming for many injurious prac-
tices that have gradually entrenched them
selves in places of public power. Bnt above
all reforms, above all interests, higher than
all, is that vital force of law which must be
kept sacred and inviolate, or the whole ma
tional fabric will come crashing about our
heads, and this grandest of all the expert
ments in human government, will be num-
bered among the things that were.
Every movement, which contemplates
even remote or possible substitution of
physical force for the all-pervading and un-
questioned authority of law, is nothing more
nor less than an effort to drag the race back
towards barbarism.
Mr.. Gladstone, in his recent famous pres
entation Of the Irish question, to the English
Commons, made definition of the "first
conditions of civil life" and this definition
will pass into history as one of his greatest
contributions to the wisdom of the age. He
declared the "first conditions of civil life to
be as follows: ''the free course of labor,
the liberty of every individual in the exer-
else of every legal right their confidence in
the law, and their sympathy with the law,
apart from which no country can be called
civilized country" 1t is the principle in
vOlved in this definition that is to work out
the solution of all such questions as these,
and not the violent and forcibe measure of
suppression and restriction that we hear so
freely advocated on all sides. How often
do we hear in the intercourse of our daily
lives such remarks as these "wlat we need
is a large standing army" or "alter all a
greater Capitalization of power is what we
need or ''wc need Bismark for such occa-
sions as these or our government is too loose
and too weak to cope with such questions as
these" No doubt these sentiments are sim
cere and possibly they are entertained by
men who love their country and believe in its
institutions, But reflect upon what all this
really implies. 1t clearly implies that the
fundamental idea upon which this country
was founded is an error. That the theory of
self-government is after all delusion, that
human society must necessarily be divided
into two classes, the oppressors and the op-
pressed. "The race not fit to govern itself" +"
this phrase has done duty for every tyrant
that has cursed the world, from Nero to Bis
marck, it has been the pretext for the per-
petration of every outrage that selfish and
conscienceless rulers could conceive and
practice upon their subjects 1t is the foun-
dation of every absolute manarchy in the
world to-day, and expresses in the most con-
densed form, all that exists in human AFRO
indeed? Thank God, the day has passed
for all that restrain human liberty, rather
broaden and deepen the love of it, and faith
in it, rather weld it more solidly with law.
LeG individual liberty be so firmly embed
ded in law, that no man shall dare TO assail
it, whether it exists in the person and prop
crty Of the bloatcd millionaire, or the wild
eyed and most dangerous mischief maker
that infests the crowded slums OF our popu-
lous cities. The line must be drawn SO
distinctly and clearly that no one can fail to
see it, and when any man, no matter what
his station in life may be- shall dare to pass
that line let him be put W! ere his influence
will cease. A centralized power indeed? and
who shall administer il in government like
ours, where the ultimate power resides in
the people, by what trick of legerdemain is
it proposed to rob the people of their func
tions as citizens, and concentrate the powel
in the LANDS of the few, and how shall the
few be chosen, aud who shall say where th,
wisdom of the generation lies? This is cen
tralized nonsence. The remedy lies in
greater devotion to our duties as citizens, tt
broader philanthropy which shall include
the education of the masses in the science o
selfgovernment.T To less of selfishness; to tht
elevation of common politics, to the level o
the highest responsibility, and to full anC
hearty participation in all kinds OF publ
work by the best and wisest class of ourciti
zens. Much of the mischief which appeal
to us now, has it root in the profigaoy whicl
has crept into our municipal and nationa
politics in the shameful abandonment o
public measures and public duties by tn
wiser and better classes of our citizens t.
the weaker and meaner men who cannot j
they would, and would not if they could
administer those functions and discharg
those duties faithfully.
In closing wish to refer again to the gen
eral aspects OF the question under considers
tion. We hear it spoken OF on every han
as the ''labor troubles" and it certainly
called so properly, but the term does nc