The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-08-08
PROF. WILSON'S ADDRESS,

an address at the Hot Springs, IN VIZ
ginia. 10 the Bar Association of the state
upon the subject OF our 'Leaderless Gov
ornment." which was one OF the most
scholarly and polished addresses that 1t
has ever been the fortune Of The Times
| 20 hear. and IL the people OF the United
| States stood in need OF legislation IT Is
| quite possible The Times would agree
with much that he said and with what
no suggested as a remdy for the Ills that
he thinks we suffer But as the people OF
] the United States need little. II any legis-
| lation. except the repeal Of the infamous
and unjust tariff law that has recently
been PASSED. The Times is unable to dis
cover the ills that the Professor thinks
we suffer. or TO concur in the measures
that he would have Us adopt as a remedy
for them.
Buckle. in his History OF English Civil
izatlon, has made one Of the profoundest
| remarks that ever fell from any writer.
| He SAYS that the great work Of the legis-
lator has been I'm repeating and undoipg
what some previous legislator has done
Nothing wiser or better was ever said.
when the legislator has imposed a sufli-
cient tax rate upon all the people, TO
raise the money needed for an economi-
cal government by a distribution of the
taxes that makes them fall in the same
way upon all the people, and when he
has added to that the police regulations
necessary for preserving order amongst
the people, he has come very near full
| filling all his functions. III he will allow
| the people, after that, to go on In the
| development Of their affairs, according
10 the needs that they see growing up
around them in their daily lives, he will
accord to them the greatest boon that he
can give them.
| Professor Wilson pictured most graphi-
cally the way in which the speaker OF
the House Of Representatives controls all
business in that branch of our Gov
eminent, and how the clique in the Senate
blocks all business in that branch. He
also showed in a most interesting way
how the Executive part of our Govern
ment is unable TO adopt any material
initiative, and with this expose. he sem
sibly concluded that there was no leader
in our system at all. This is perfectly
true. and yet the Professor failed to COM
ment upon the most important fact OF
all. that the press aided by fast mails.
the telephone and telegraph, is rejecting
each morning the thoughts of the people,
| and debating 10 the representatives at
| Washington the course they shall pur-
sue upon whatever public measure is be-
fore them for consideration. Instead,
therefore. of this being a 'leaderless gov
eminent" 1t is one under the most des-
| potic leadership that any people ever
had, and that leadership is the will Of
| the majority of the American people, as
| the Senators and representatives are able
! TO discover IT through the expressions Of
the daily newspapers of the day. 1t is
vain to say that the newspapers inform
! those representatives Of a vicious public
; opinion that they should not be guided
! by. They inform them OF the actual
I opinion that the people hold. and as this
| is a government in which the majority
| is intended TO be the ruler, the repre-
sentatives OF the people do all to respect
and obey the wishes Of that majority,
whether those wishes are thought by
some TO be wise or otherwise-no pun
being intended. And. from the collision
and friction that this continual exhibition
| Of popular will produces. we have that
wise restraint upon national legislation
which leaves our people so much freedom
in their development, and we have, there
fore, the giant strides that we are always
making in our national life.
Professor Wilson's remedy for the ills
the suggestion that the President and
his Cabinet should have access to the
floor Of both houses of Congress. and
that they should be charged with the
duty Of proposing legislation and defend
ing it upon those floors. This. undoubtedly
works well in England. and. If we had a
| great colonial system as she has, that
required much legislation, or II we were,
as she is, partly a monarchy and partly
democracy no doubt the system would
work well here.
But we need little legislation, and we
are not a monarchy in part. The English
have engrafted upon their system of gov
eminent some most admirable demo-
cratic principles but theirs is not de-
mocracy, by any means. We. upon the
| contrary. have tried the experiment OF
a pure democracy. and we are entitled to
run the experiment TO its full length 10
discover whether II is a failure or a sue
cess. The Times opinion IS that we
are demonstrating that II is a great sue
cess We have all sorts Of threatening
movements that intimidate even stout
hearted men, but when the collisions
that they evoke are over. we find that
no one has been hurt and that our in
stitutions remain solid. and as fruitful
OF blessings to the people as ever. The
Times wants to see the experiment CON
tinued as long as it brings such biissful
results, and, that being so, while listen
ing to Professor Wilson's address. with
unfeigned pleasure, The Times declines TO
recommend what he suggests.
---------
THE STUDY OF ENGLISH.
We have received from Mr. John y