The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-31
FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION
PATRIOTIC sERMoN PREACHED BY
 REV. DR. PHILEIPS.


 Suppression of Public Opinion by Poli- ticians-How it May be Enthroned Again Enlightenment of the People-Duty of Press-An Awakening That Needs Must Come.
 Rev. Dr. Phillips preached the following patriotic sermon, so appropriate to the day, yesterday morning, taking as his text, Mark xi:S2, "They feared the people"
 Standing in New England pulpit one does not need to apologize for the message which our too few national days enable him to bring. Freedom of speech is one of the few good growths indigenous to this 'stern and rock-bound coast" and the New England preachers have never been minded to part with their birthright
 For the most part this privilege has been wisely used; the pulpit handling of public questions has been sane, wholesome, and without partiZan prejudice; the voice of the preacher has been lifted to proclaim the word of the law and the mind of the Lord' and society and government have been purl- fled thereby Though the pulpit has lost most of its ancient authority, 1t stlll has M the public ear, and when 1t speaks the words of truth and soberness, the people are inclined to listen; far distant be the day when either it's own unwisdom or the state of the public conscience shall prevent the delivery Of an unhampered message. Fast day has practically gone, Thanksgiv- ing day has lost it's character-in more ways than one we have left us only lnde- pendence day and Memorial day, and Me nlorial day, down to the present time, has been little more than day Of paradss a.Lso and speak unprejudleed history the posssibili- tion of panegyric have been well nigh ex- hausted; the blue and the gray have come together in . new and undying fraternity forgotten. Why should not the day be used for the free and calm discussion of those principles for which these soldiers gave their lives, and for the cultivation of those sentiments which are necessary to save us from worse disaster than the Civil war? The words of the text indicate the state of th-haters who had come into authority and wished to gag every mouth that dared utter criticism or rebuke. But they were held in check, as all men of that ilk have more or less been, by the remembrance of another power with which, in the final ad, justment they must reckon, they reared the people" It is well for such ar men l. that hat It Is too late, for the people, constitute the majestic force to which God has entrusted the balance of power in this world, and or dained to be the perpetual terror and the final destruction of tyrants, and bosses, and selfish and wrong-headed men of every sort. It is of this other power, sometimes called .'thee. people" and sometimes public opin- ion," that wish to speak to-day. What Is its real force, and how may It's efficiency be increased? How far. does the structure of our government give force to public oDin- ion? Theoretically to the last degree. It was intended that public opinion should be the insplrer, the. director, and the final The town meeting, open to every citizen and affording opportunity for the freest discussion, Is the germ; the primary, gov. ernmen mt by Raf fea9qent s haa and and making strenuous tie voice of the peo- pie. To these must be added an unshackled press, without censorship other than that of the sentiment of the community,--for we cannot for a moment admit that the con- trol of q newspaper by party. or boss Is either legitimate or, in the end, good, pol itics,-free schools, the right of petition and public meeting In these provisions for enthroning public opinion you find our the. that the theory has not been, and conspic- uously to-day, is not being worked out In a way that would lead the gods to applaud us. Legislatures that are laggard when they are not perverse, corrupt or defiant, bosses, partizan madness, special legisla- tion, the influence of corporations and sec tions, have all been powerful operants in preventing the effect.ve expression of pub lie opinion.
 In the current number of "The Century Magazine"' there is an open letter from MT.  gestive and stimulating reading quote a few of his sentences; he says: Tt has been said truly by many observers, that in the United States of America public opinion Is king; but the qualification has been added usually that it is king only when 1t chooses to exert its, power. MT. Bryce, in his ad- mirable and unequaled chapters on the subject in his American Commonwealth, opens his discussion with this impressive tribute: Towering over presidents and state governors, over congress and state le- Oic cI vaSf machinery of party, public opinion stands out in the United States as the great source of power, the master haste of servants who trem- ments tns wha9 ogpinon nnsf chiefly nseds S' America, in order to control the politicians, Is more sustained activity on the part of men of vigorously independent minds, a more sedulous effort on their part to i'm press their views upon the masses. It "by all observers that public opinion in this country has. not lowered over either politicians or legislators to such an extent them tremble before it. Indeed, it is doubt. ful if ever before in the history of the country politicians and legislators have shown such indifference to public opinion as they have recently. The most objection. able of them cary forward their schemes, in the open interest of bad government, without paying any n.y. heed to either @ criticism , in office, and the character of the men Is exposed they treat the exposure with si, lence. and put in the men. Formerly they thought it unsafe to leave damaging charges unanswered or unrefuted; now they think any attention to them unnecessary, Their policy is summed up in the view once expressed by one of their number who was rebuking an associate for replying to the arguments of opponents: oh, let 'em talk we've got the votes If public opinion were active this policy of silence would not be followed. It Is clearly the politicians be lief that if the king be not dead he is sleeping so heavily that they need have nC fear of him. Their feeling of security is based largely upon the steadily growing hold which they have been gaining in re cent years upon the nominating machinery of our politics. They control that machine " now absolutely in nearly all cases. They have driven public opinion out of the pri maries: 1t finds no voice there, and they think by suppressing 1t there they have stripped it of It's power. If the people car elect to public office only such men as the machines and bosses permit Ii be nominated then indeed has public opinion become DOW erless." Such words may he called queru lous and even be sneered out of court by the proud usurpers of power, the arrogant custodians of the public crib, but they art welcome words in the ears of long suffer ing and often defrauded people. And they