The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-03-18

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citizenship In this country Is . produe
Of law--of law establishing and protect
Ing individual and community rights. I
follows that good citizenship is Obedienc,
to the law. An evident fact of the law
is that community rights are frst-tht
great or general community first, and
the smaller or subordinate communities
State is product of the law. Its well
being and perpetuity, dependent upon
the law, it is obligatory that the people
the administrative and legislative forces
Of the State-obey perfectly the law of
which the State is Il product Otherwise
the State. MS contemplated by the law, is
destroyed. So with citizenship, failure,
to obey the law, of which citizenship is
product, destroys that citizenship
destroys the quality of it as contemplated
by the law. No amount of sentiment
about 1t, and no amount of devotion to
purposes involving violation of the law
justifes that violation, or makes the
viOlatOr of the law Il good citizen. In
establishing citizenship and making
States, there is an assumption of fund.-
mental principles which must be OBJ
served, and of which the law is the ex-
preston, as citizenship for the individual
and Statehood for aggrcgations of in
dividuals is the product The basic
principle of citizenship is equality before
the law; and of Statehood the basic prirl-
ciple is that the majority opinion, ascer
tanned by provided methods. is the law.
The citizenship that presllmes to create
an inequality of citizenship in its own
behalf, is not good citizenship. The
citizenship that denies the authority of Il
majority opinion, ascertaincd and de-
clared according to law, is not good citi
zcnship. There can be no demand for
doing these things in the rules of good
citizenship. AT the recent election, in
which was involved the election of two
United States Senators, the majority
of the States citizens voted the Repub
lean ticket. That was decision that
the two Senators, the election Of whom
WAS necessary to preserve the States
status as State, should be Republican.
The majority of the State Legislature
elected by tie Republican majority were
Union Republicans, and to that majority,
under the law, written and unwrhtcn,
was delegated the right, the privilege
and the duty of naming the candidates
for United States Senators. The denial
of that right, privilege and duty was
a denial Of the principle of majority
rule, upon which the government is
founded, and Il violation Of the law pro
vding for the perpctuily Of American
institutions. There is
nothing in the principle OF practice of
SpNc Dustu tnt 'bhSNht VI |
the governed, nothing in the law govern
ing the practice of governmental de-
cisions, executive, judicial or legislative,
that demands, or in legal sense, permits |
the surrender of the ma ority to the !
minority. The minority right is always /
to the right of the majority. |
Whenever it transccnds that limit it |
encroaches upon the general right, vio-
lates the statutes, and ignores the prin-
ciple of the law-bccomcs outlawry. i
That is the position the boilers assumed .
in the legislative Senatorial contest.
They put themselves beyond any posi- !
bic concession which law Or equity would
justify. The good citizenship demand
for the election Of two Republican
United States Senators was demand
for obedience to the law, and was not |
for a concession to outlawry.