Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-05-25
u.yr WE An EMrIREs
.ow. ract. In our Fast and Present
History.
dor the Dlspatch.)

-shakespeare. King Henry w., Act III.
Tho term "emplre." applied to govern
r,opt CONVEYS no uncertain meaning. IL
,rrnlies power IN the central government,
adequate, I'm supposition, TO suppress re-
volt. Instruction, and revolution, ana,
although. save In instances OF absolute
monarchy, IL does not imply sovereign
power, the distance, and transition from
powers limited 10 absolute are at onco
short and quick over the historically suS-
gestive route Of coup d'etat! To what
extent have we warranty in our FORM
of government against the possibility OF
an empire? And, in truth, based upon the
history of the government, represented
In acts. exteriorally. of the Constitution.
against the probability OF virtually an
existing empire? From the opinion held
by the Federal school OF political think
ers, Hamilton. Jay, and others. concern
ing the expediency of the adoption Of the
Constitution. the answer TO the first ques-
ton is easily in the negative!
THE SAFETY VALVES.
In accordance with the Federal con-
struction of the acts OF the convention
OF 17S, the thirteen original states, IN
adopting the Constitution. reserved no
rights, save those of local Interior gov
eminent, and at present date the safety
valves Ito borrow phrase from me-
chanics) against usurpation or the eXecu-
tive except the right of impeachment,
are alone represented in the clause, first,
providing for amendments by two-thlrds
vote OF tho Senate and House Of Repre-
sentatives (Which. before becoming part
of the organic law are required to be
ratified by the popular vote; and secondly,
giving to the Congress the right of pro-
viding 'the ways and means" for the re-
quired current and special expenses of the
government. including appropriations for
making adequately effective the army and
navy. The danger is imminent that the
two clauses referred TO may sooner or
later become obsolete as safeguards OF
popular liberty! The danger to the stabi-
ity of republic Is dissimilar 20 that which
produces uneasy rest 10 heads that
wear "a CROWN 1t does not lie in gun
powder plots" nor in dynamite conspira-
cies 1t Is the ineradicable evil that turks
in the insidlous influence and available
power of capital at the balot-bOX and in
the lobby. And certainly the facts that
the President is commander-n-chefo Of
standing army Of seventy thousand men.
and Of a navy proportionately large, and
is the representative OF n great political
organization consumed with the desire
Of territorial expansion, and animated by
the pride OF imperial prestige, are not
factors favorable TO the nourishment of
constitutional limitations!
THE CONSTITUTION.
To discuss gravely the Constitution: 1t
seems, from the experience it has received
from different schools of construction,
that there are principles liable TO contin-
ual evolution, from the conditions of the
national life, that are more highly valued
by statesmen than either those formu-
lated i'm the written organic law, or that
lie within the scope of it's protection;
that there are elements in the philosophy
Of government that can neither be re-
strained nor shaped by written constitu-
tons.
In 1891 Daniel Webster gave expression
to the following thoughts: Acts for
which no specific authority has been
found, either in the Constitution or the
laws. have been justified. on the ground
that the President is the representative
of the whole American people" And
again: what may not an unlimited rep
resentative of the people dor Men will
undoubtedly exercise power in popular
safety or high public interest" 1t would
not seem homogeneous In this connection
to reproduce the language Of an eminent
writer upon the fate of the Roman re-
public; "The polite Octavius scattered
flowers over the paths he was secretly
tracing toward despot.sm.' From 1895, the
date Of the purchase OF Louisiana. to
"AppomattOX," and from "AppOmattoX'
to Manila" whilst drifting in seas, ma
~. L.. 4 I,a,
precluded, it would appear by reason OF
party attachment, carried reckessly to
every extent" and party antipathy mad |
dened into insanity" from realizing the |
character of the ship in which we have |
sailed.
VIOLATION OF THE INSTRUMENT. |
The principle that governments derive
their just powers from the consent of the |
governed" was first violated by its author,
Thomas jefferson, i'm the purchase or
Louisiana. Mr.. Jefferson admitted this
in the following language. written to |
distinguished public man Of that day:
'The Executive, i'm Selling the fugitive
occurrence, which so much advances the
good of the country has done an act be-
yOnd the Constitution" and i'm a letter
written his Attorney-GeneraL Levi Lin
coin, August 30, 1893. suggested the fol-
lowing draft of an amendment to the
Constitution: Louisiana. as coded by
France to the United States, is made
part Of the United States &c. The
amendment was doubtless never offered.
and presumably for the reason that, as
tentative legislation, it was in its nature,
EEK post facto" The history of that pc
riod shows the thought Of leading states
men to have CrystaliZed in almost the
concurrent opinion that the purchase Of
Louisiana was without constitutional au- /
thority. and "a naked usurpation OF
power" In the presence, as it were OF |
the mausoleum, reared to American valor !
by the heroic achievements alike of the |
northman and southron, and Respondent |
with the light Of an imperishable fame. IL |
were proper to ask, Was the consent or |
the governed" an element i'm the surren-
der into the custody Of the Federal Gov
eminent OF the political and civil rights
of the people of the late '''Onfederate
States"? Forcible consent! Consent,
in obedience 10 Overwhelming NUMBERS
and resources! Instances occur IN con-
stitutional history, both American ana
English. more frequently than we Ike TO
that i'm the absence OF the /
"yultus instantis tyranni," the actual
menace Of despotism 10 civil liberty. the
consent of the governed Is negative !
quantity III shaping administrative poll
cies."
PHILOSOPHIC TRUTH
GlbbOn relates a fact illustrative Of a
large degree Of philosophic truth. when
he states. concerning the decadence OF
the public opinion OF Rome from pre-
vious ideas of republican liberty, that In
the age of Augustus the people demand
ed only bread and amusements." Bread" !
Industrial considerations. the interest /
of ";he retainer in the 'fief' OF The
Lord" are the most potent human agen-
cics that develop policies or form govern
ments. There is a divinity that shapes |