Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1894-1895, 1894-11-23
A Republic in Theory.

ernment even in its best state Is necessary
evil. In its worst state an lntolerable one;
for when we suffer- or are expo Ell to tue same
miseres by a Government. which we might
expect III a country without Government. our
calamity is heightened by the reflection That
we furnish the means by which We suffer, The
inability of moral viltue to govern sodiety,
and to protect men i'll Their natural RICH
readers Government necessary. hence the true
design and end OF Governments. Is the free
dom and security OF society Tne true idea OF
Government is drawn from = principle in ma
ture, VIZ, the more mp.e a tllnS Is. the less
liable IS IL to be disordered. and the easier re-
paired. Wien dlsoruered.
All powers exercised by the Gov
eminent over people, must have an
origin some beginning. 1t must be
either delegated or assumed. There
are no other sources. All delegated
power is truss, and all assumed power
is usurpation. Time ,oes not alter
Governments of the old world, estab-
lished in the dark. or middle ages,
were organized by robbery.
These powers We're usurped, and at
forwards sustained 10y armed force.
The royal houses" of Europe refer to
robber castles, and the ancestors of
royal families were robber chiefs.
Tyranny and the sword suspended the
exercise and enjoyment of natural
rights and usurped power to enforce
wrongs. AMI that their usurped pow
er might be perpetuated in their pros
perity, they provided that the owner
ship of estates and the sceptor of pow
er should be hereditary, The sole OBJ
ject of this form of Government was to
enable the royal" and noble" few,
and their heirs forever, to live in regal
luxury and splendor upon the labor of
the toiling many-who were forced to
submit to the bondage for the sake of
existence.
How were the people robbed? At
that period, the earth, and what it
produced was the principal source of
wealth. The wealth of the earth con-
sisted of bread, meat, wines. skin and
wool or fur for clothing. and minerals
for tools and ornaments. The earth
then was the only source of wealth.
When robber chief, with his armed
band subdued a country, he divided
the soil among his chieftains accord
ing to grade, reserviug to himself the
largest share. With the soil went the
toilers, who were obliged to give the
fat of the land to the lord or baron,
for the sake of existence and protect
ion against smaller robbers.
BY monopolizing the means of life,
the mobility" as these boss robbers
were styled, controlled labor, and by
con rolling and monopolizing natures
resources and the forces of production,
the mass of the people became reduced
to condition of abject and absolute
slavery. In this condition generation
after generation came and went, and
for posterity there was no hope, for
the powers which bound them were
hereditary.
In formulating the Government of
this Republic, our fathers designed to
provide against the perpetuation of
eessien of power, by ignoring the law
of primogeniture, and the choice of
all public servants through universal
suffrage. For three quarters of a
century this system prevailed wi In
satisfactory results, until new ele-
ment came to the front in the form of
corporate nobility, with full fiedged
power of primogeniture and the i'm
mortality of hereditary succession.
This corporate nobility, this royal
family of perpetual life, has seized all
the powers and privileges ever usurped
by the imperial chiefs and bandits of
Europe; and they are now exercising
them for the same purposes and with
equal impunity. Through their mo-
nopoly of vast landed estates, they are
oil g.. ,,,ko
ranks of tenancy. Manufacturing e,
mining, transportation, exchange-in
fact all the resources of wealth and
the means of subsistence are as effect
ually monopOlized by the corporation
kings as the soil and the means of life
ever we're by the feudal lords and bar
ons of the barbaric ages.
Nicholas and Alexander may die or
be assassinated, but a despot always
occupies the Russian throne. George,
William or Victoria may die or be be-
headed, but Prince of Wales is an
immortal parsonage. Gould, Hunt
ington and Rockefeller may perish,
but the Western Union, the Union Pa
cific and the Standard Oil Companies
will live forever. 1t is not Gould,
Vanderbilt, Huntington, Rothschilds
and Drexel, Morgan & Co. who rule
the country, but the corporations
which they temporarily represent.
These constitute perpetual dynasty
and their wealth and their power in
crease with their age.
We fiatter ourselves that we are O
nation of freemen. and that our Gov
eminent is a republic. A republican
government is one which is established
and conducted for the public interest
Government by q king may be re.
public if conducted for the public
good, and representative government
may be despotism if conducted fol-
the benefit of the hereditary class
Ours is not republic so long as it is
conducted by and for corporate inter
ests. 1t is a despotism, as destructive
to the rights and interests of the
masses as were those of the feudal
ages.
A century has passed since, in the
DRY, our Government was established
as q republic. It's founders provided
against feudalism which had enslaved