Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-12
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
Hon. +. $. Richards Lecture in the
Social Hall Last Evening.

An interesting lecture on tn
, above subject was delivered las
/ evening by the Hon. F. S. Rich
t arts under the auspices Of tn,
/ Students Society Of the Latter-day
t Saints College. There was a larg,
! audience.
The lecturer commenced by stat
ing the vastness Of the subject anc
the CONSEQUENT necessity for genera
rather than special treatment. Civil
government is that form Of control
which has to deal with the political
Interests Of the people. Monarchies,
aristocracies and demoeracies are
the three forms Of government, the
inst being the strongest, so far as
centralized power is concerned. The
forms Of monarchiesare the absolute
and the limited, in the finst Of
which the sole power rests In the
MONARCHY the latter form recognizes
The power rs divided between the
sovereign and the legislative body.
In every government n sovereignty
must exist, in connection with
which is the power TO make law.
In monarchical governments this
sovereignty is in the king. as in
absolute monarchies, or in the legis-
lative assembly, as in limited ones,
while in the aristocratic form such
is in the hands OF n select few Of
those Of higher birth, called the
aristOcracy. Many claim that the
last named form Of government Is
the best for the better educated
class wOuld hate clear idea of the
needs Of the people at large. But
such a Capitalization Of power is not
good. The pure democracy is that
form in which all the people meet and
make the laws, while in the case of
this republic the power is delegated
10 the representatives OF the people.
The first, although the most highly
distributed in power, IL imprac-
ticable except where the PEG, le are
few in number. The latter form.
which is that existing. in the United
States, possesses ndx advantages
over the other forms. Sometimes
all these forms are confined, to-
gether, as in the case Of
Great Britain, there being
sovereign TO represent the
monarchical form, the House Of
Lords, the arlstocratle, and the
House Of Commons, the Republican.
There are certain rights, which
properly belong 10 all men. and laws
are enacted to preserve these pei
sonal rights from interference on the
part of others. The first of these is
the right man possesses TO act rs
he chooses, 50 long rs he does not
infringe upon the rights Of others.
Some Of these natural rights are
given up by the Individual to
the state in return for its
protection. This protection can
be exercised only through law and
hence the necessity OF law. Political
rights or privileges are conferred by
law, among them being the rights Of
voting, holding office, etc. In ad-
dition 10 these, We have certain civil
rights, which can not be taken
away from us without due process Of
law, although the political privileges
may be taken away by the legisla-
ture without such process. Civil
rights may, however, be taken from
a man by the infiictiOn Of fines,
Imprisonment, etc., but this must
be done only by n process Of law.
The Pilgrim Fathers all gathered
together for the transaction Of
business i'm the early part Of
their history, but afterwards the
representative form Of government
had TO be adopted on account Of the |
increasing numbers of the people. /
Virginia, before this time, had I
framed the first constitution, giving 1
to all men equal rights. She can be |
siid TO have taken the lead in this 1
Meter, and we can point with pride I
60 the fact that complete constltu- I
tiOnal liberty had its origin in cur
country. The lecturer referred tC I
the early colonial history, when I
charters Of n more or less liberal I
character were granted to the colo I
nists by the King Of England. I
These charterswG : referred TO in 1
some detail, il being shown that phi .
vileges were granted to the two
branches OF the legislature 10 make |
laws snder the restrictions that no
law should be passed in opposition /
to any act Of Parliament, and that |
all laws were subject 10 absolute |
veto by the governor.
The parallel between the territorial |
form Of government nOwsr.xisting |
in the United States, and&8he CO.
lOnial government was pointed out,
it being shown that in some re-
spects our condition is worse than |
was that of the colouists, for while |
they could make no law at variance
with the statutes of Parliament. that !
body was denied the authority to
legislate for the colOnists as Con- |
grcss now legislates for US, without
mutual consent For purposes Of
mutual aid, the colonies formed a
confederation, aiming TO preserve
the former rights Of each colony.
and still more 20 cement the union be- |
tween the established communities.
The articles of confederation pro-
vided that Congress should consist |
OF one house, the members voting
according to States. But this Con-
gress was comparatively weak, there
being no possibility Of enforcing its
laws. Under the circumstances Il
was thought necessary to form a
constitution, AID as a result
Of the calling Of n convention |
for this purpose, that grand instru-
ment known as the Constitution Of |
the United States was originated. Its |
foundation lies in the statement that |
all men arc created equal. and en-
dowed with certain inalienable /
rights, this idea having fist been |
enunciated in the Declaration Of |
Independence. This principle, In
fact, is the cornerstone OF the gov
eminent Of the United States, aud I
all attacks upon it tend TO jeopardize |
the entire fabric. The members Of |
the constitutional convention had /
many difficulties TO meet, and it was
only by Divine inspiration that the
great and successful result Of their /
labors was achieved. Some OF the /
representatives Of the people main-
tanned that there would be danger /
in attempting to take any rights
from the States; but without this
process no central government could I
be formed. On the other hand,
there were two classes who favored
the constitution. The leader Of one
of these classes was James Madison,
who contended that only such pow
ers should be given to the central
government as were absolutely /
necessary. and that Capitalization
should be avoided as much as posi-
bic. The other faction, led by
Alexander Hamilton, favored an
almost complete Capitalization Of
power, as the only means offorming
= srox-orumenr af any efrenrrth The