Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-29
I'd EDITION.
PERSONAL LIBERTY.
Senator Hill Addresses the Hop
Growers of New York.
APULLSTAFEMENTOF HIS VIEWS.
The State Inteferes Too Much, He
Thinks, With individuals.
POM SIN THE s EECH.
AFULL STATEMENT OF HIS VIEWS.
POM IN THE s ECH.

POINT IN THE s P E c. H.
ROME. N Y. July 2s-At the picnic o
the Hop Growers Association at Sylvan
Beach today Senator David B. Hill made
an eloquent address, his subject being
Personal Liberty
Senator Hill spoke in part as follows:
personal liberty, as II IL generally I'M
derstood. especially in it's best II not its
broadcast sense. means the largest measure
of liberty which ii Is possible to confer
upon the individual citizen not injurious
to the real or substantial interests Of the
whole community.
1T may be safely asserted as a general
rule that citizen may eat. drink and
wear whatever he pleases. and that he
may sow and reap In his fields whatever
they will grow. and that he may manu-
facture in his shop whatever his skill may
invent These are natural rights which he
possessed before governments were founded
or constitutions framed. rights which he
never surrendered and rights which con-
stitutions and laws cannot justly take
away.
Abuse OF Personal Liberty.
THE abuse Of personal liberty by the
citizen is always made the plausible pre-
text for its prohibition or restriction. You
are familiar with the old threadbare argu-
ment: Men indulge their appetites to excess.
therefore the good of the community re-
quires that the manufacture and sale OF
what they eat and drink must be prevented
or repressed by stringent and offensive
laws.
THE fallacy. to a large extent. of this
argument Is apparent when 1t Is reflected
adequate reason for its destruction. issues Az
How many absolute rights would be
permitted to remain If the reasonable and
Just exercise thereof at all times was the
imperative condition of their existence?
Who will assert that the freedom Of the
press Is not frequently abused and yet who
Is prepared to declare that It, therefore,
should be abridged?
Liberty of Conscience.
The air is filled with the noise Of dis
graceful religious dissepsions upon abstract
questions of orthodox doctrine. and prose-
cutions or trials for alleged heresy among
most respectable denominations are be-
coming so frequent that 1t is impossible for
We poor miserable sinners to determine
what Is heresy and what is not. yet a total
denial of the liberty of conscience would
scarcely be tolerated in this land Of boasted
How often is the privilege of writ of
habeas corpus invoked in trivial cases and
In Il; cases without merit and for the PURPOSE
INSCRIPTIONS legal advocates for unjusti-
fable ends or upon insufficient grounds, yet
these conceded abuses are hardly sufficient
to warrant the destruction of that most
valuable writ. which has always justly
been regarded as the sheet anchor Of our
the very essence of tyranny itself.
The guaranty of the right Of trial by
jury has always been most sacredly guard
ed. yet how many miscarriages of Justice
are believed to occur through such trials.
| how susceptible are jurymen to the inf1u-
ence OF popular passion. how many wrong
| reached through ignorance, prejudice. par
| TALLY and sometimes even through corrup-
set aside by higher courts composed of
learned judges. yet Notwithstanding the ex-
| listing defects and inflrmities in the ad-
| are. 1t Is extremely doubtful whether the
| substitution OF any other method OF trial
would prove as acceptable
right of the citizen should be abolished or
abridged simply because 1t Is liable to
a free moral agency Of men dminisH p sae
sonal responsibility. invest governments
with arbitrary power, it is opposed to the
spirit of our free institutions.
Raising Hops.
There are those whose views are so ex-
IRENE that they would oppose the raising
of hops because such production facilitates
the manufacture of beer. They seem deaf
to the fact that hops must be deemed to
be participant in whatever evils pertain
whose manufacture they largely enter.
They forget the further fact that hop rails
ing Is an honorable occupation and a vast
industry which furnishes employment to
thousands of people and absorbs much cap
ital in the transaction of it's business in
the markets Of the world.
1t may be suggested that to be consist
ent in their Inconsistency that they should
go further and insist upon some restric-
tons on the raising OF rye and corn because
which enter into the manufacture of
liquors and are necessarily furnished with
or in some degree responsible for the evils
tntemD2rate so M
such liquors.
They would prohibit or restrict the
manufacture of tobacco because foolish
men and silly boys sometimes smoke too
much. They would curtail numerous in
nocent amusements because they are
oftentimes carried to excess. They would
prevent athletic exercises in our schools
because they might develop a tendency
toward professional pugilism. They would
prevent the manufacture Of firearms in
times of peace because they are usually
the instruments of murder and must be
deemed to share as accessories In the
by their aid.
Personal Rights In Labor.
In the realm of labor and in the domain
of industry. the principle involved in per-
sonal liberty cannot be too frequently as
serted. The fact cannot be too strongly
emphasized that every mans labor is his
own, and that he can do with 1t as he
pleases. He has a personal right to name
his own wages, his own house, his own du-
ties, ana all the Otner terms under which
he Is willing to be employed and IL they
are satisfactory to the one who hires. an
agreement is reached and there is an end
of controversy between them. The con-
tract is a personal matter with which no
other workman or employer has any right
to interfere. In the performance Of such
labor in a peaceful and orderly manner. the
workman-whoever he may be-is entitled
to the protection of the law which guaran-
tees equal privileges to all its citizens
These considerations of the relative righs
of the individuals engaged In labor pursuits
do not conflict with the obligations which
workmen assume when they voluntarily
join labor organizations. except in the mat
ter of personal honor which may be in
volved, and which may require submission
to the conclusions of the majority.
1.-The legal rights of such individuals I'M
duestionably remain the same, irrespective
Of the question of such membership. They
always must be deemed to reserve the alb
stract legal right of repudiating such men,
hership whenever they so prefer, their with
drawal only occasioning such minor for
FIXTURES or penalties as reasonable bylaws
might infiict. They cannot be compelled to
act against their will. Their personal right
cannot be jeopardiZed.