The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-04-13


Summers Works.: THE principles OF
the revolution taught the inhabitants of
this country to risk their lives and for
tunes in asserting their liberty: in other
words, their right to a share in the
government"
Daniel Webster, in his famous reply to
Hayne, said: 1T is, sir, the peoples
constitution, the peoples government;
made for the people; made by the people
and answerable to the people. The
people of the United States have
declared that this constitution
shall be the supreme law. We
must either admit the proposition
or dispute the authority. We are
all agents Of the same supreme power.
the people. The people, sir,
erected this government Gentle
men do not seem to recollect that the
people have the power to do anything
for themselves"
We see here where Lincoln got almost
the very words in his famous Gettys-
burg grafton: "A government of the
people, by the people and for the peo-
ple"
of this country arise from its uneasy
politicians; it's safety depends on the
tranquil masses
Wendell Phillips, who certainly did
as much as any other single man to
create the Republican party, said in his
Lesson of the Hour lecture, delivered
in 1859: "The idea of our civilization
underlying all American life is that we
do not need any protector. We need no
safeguard, not only the inevitable but
the best power this side of the ocean,
is the unfettered, average common
sense of the masses" And in his lee
ture on Public Opinion" he said: "Vox
populi, vox Dei-the voice of the people
is the voice of Cod do not mean this
of any single verdict which the people
of today may record. But in the great
result the race always means right. The
people always mean right and in the end
they will have the right"
Charles Sumner, in his lecture on
Caste, delivered in 1869, said "In the
presence of an enlightened people, a
single law-giver, or an aristocraey OF
law-givers, is impossible while govern
ment becomes the rule of all for the
good of all-not the one-man power so
constant in history-not an aristocracy
which is the rule of a class-not any
combination, howsoever accepted, sane
tioning exclusion-but the whole body Of
the people without exclusions Of any
kind; or in the great words Of Abraham
Lincoln at Gettysburg: Government OF
the people, by the people, and for the
people,"
James Russell Lowell, in his address
on Democracy said: "The Democratic
theory is that those constitutions are
likely to prove steadiest which have the
broadest base, that the right to vote
makes safety valve Of every voter
and that the best way of teaching a
man how to vote is to give him the
chance to practice
In an official address, dated Nov. 81,
1859, the Republican Association of
Washington said to the Republicans Of
the United States:
LET us not forget that it is not the
want OF generous sentiment that pre-
vents the American people from being
united in action against aggressive slave
power. Were these simple questions
submitted to the people of the United
States: Are you in favor of the ex-
tension of slavery? Are you in favor of
such extension by the aid or connivance
of the federal government? and could
they be permitted to record their re-
sponse without embassassment, without
constraint Of any kind, nineteen-twen-
tieths of the people of the free states and
perhaps more than half of the slave
states would return decided negative
to both"
Hundreds of other quotations could be
given from early Republican leaders,
but space will only permit quotations
from one, it's greatest man, whom Low
ell calls "the first American" Abraham
Lincoln said in speech at Peoria in
1854: According to our ancient faith
the just powers of government are de-
rived from the consent of the governed.
= Allow all the governed an equal
voice in the government and that, and
that only, is self-government."
In his first inaugural address, he said
"This country, with it's institutions, be-
longs to the people who inhabit it.
The chief magistrate derives all
his authority from the people.
Why should there not be a patient con-
fidence in the ultimate justice of the
people? Is there any better or equal
hope in the world? In our present diff
ferences is either party without faith of
being in the right? If the Almighty
Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth
and justice, be on your side of the North,
on yours Of the South, that truth and
that justice will surely prevail by the
Judgment Of this great tribunal the
American people"
And all remember his witty words:
"YOu can fool part of the people all the