The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-17

! of St. Paul. is the author of the follow
ing Grafton, delivered at the graduation
exercises of the Central high school class,
| of which the young man was a mem
! Der:
What constitutes a state?
! Not high raised battlements or le bored
mounds,
Thick wall or moated gate;
| Not cities proud with spires and turrets
crowned
| No; men, high-minded men
Men who their duties know,
But know their rights, and knowing dare
maintain
! These constitute a state''
It is to the people, then, that we must
/ turn in every crisis of affairs. and IN
! the shaping of a nations destiny the
| deciding factor is-VoX popuh
How this divine voice may best be eX-
| pressed is what we Shall investigate this
| evening. Montesquieu, in summarizing
| the principles of government, assigns to
each some peculiar virtue: To monarchy,
/ vigor; to oligarchy or artstocracy, intel
! ligence, and to democracy, purity of pur-
! pose. Goldsmith has said: Mob rule Is
not good let US have one monarch or,
as a more classical example that of the
! Grecian bard: iii fares it where the
multitude have sway However, in a
! monarchy, we must guard against that
! tyranny which ever threatens a people,
as if it were one of the Harpies of the
Strophades. AS for olgarchy, it's syno-
nym is intrigue the wiles of the politician
here reach their elimination.
And now renainS-Gemocracy Aye,
democracy! which Daniel Webster-that
prince of eloquence and giant of states
men-termed: THE peoples government
made for the people, made by the peo-
pie and answerable to the people" To
attain the "sIlmmum bonum"-pure
| democracy-the state had needs COM
bat the fanaticism and ignorance of the
masses. Nevertheless I think it may
safely be asserted that for a people i'm
bued with civilization the best govern
ment THE ideal democracy is
/ that form of government in
which the people, in their own persons,
make their own laws" the ultimate
goal of any democracy, 1 take it, is
legislation by popular vote-direct leg
islation, and it's agent is the iniative
and referendum.
1t is an economic fact that where the
masses own the soil and live in close
proximity that population will have
more perfect government than a people
otherwise enVironed 1.-The magic OF
property turns sand into gold" For note
that the Southern plantation has given
rise to aristocracy; in. New England the
small farm system has evolved the
/
Folkmoot of the TeutOn. Therefore, in
dfvidual property ownership is a prime
factor of the true democracy.
The majority Of a people do not con-
stitute the whole people, de facto The
greatest crimes of history, the darkest
stigmas of antiquity were caused by mob
| rule of the majority. What we require
is representation of the minority-a touch
| Of conservatism. If the majority we're
! right RnddbiCnn UOl11d ha al
religion; if the majority were right, there
would be lost to mankind all progress,
the treasures of science, the delights of
learning. Columbus, Copernicus Galileo,
LUther-all these master minds were rid
| iculed by the tickle mob. The measure
! Of right IS quality, not quantity.
In OUT theoretical democracy we must
vigilantly guard against Socialism De
Tocqueville tells us that democracy and
Socialism are the antipodes of each other
utterly incompatible. Democracy gives
rise to liberty and individual independ-
ence, while Socialism inculcates servitude
and makes the individual a cipher The
voice of the people may or may not be
the voice of God, but liberty is the
daughter of reason and the mother of
equality.
We fomdly hope that in this republic of
republics the divine right of kings has
changed into the divine right of the peo-
pie.
What, then, are the destinies of this
people? What their future? To what
heights of glory will they attain? The
| internal discussions of this nation were
! healed ON the blood-stained fields Of the
| Civil war; the graves of hundreds OF
| thousands of blue and gray rear an in
destructible monument to the triumphant
| greatness of this people. The external
ddssensions. Of the world will be healed bv
! the proclamation Oh that doctrine. which
; as 1t We're, says to the nations of
Europe; In this hemisphere at least.
| tyranny will be bought at the price of
the last drop of blood in the veins of the
last American who is able to stand ana
| shed it!
Let us, then, trust to the future. Tho
great nations Of antiquity have lost their
power.
TROY has been" The ancient Trojan
| seal of power is now mass of crumbling
ruins. Carthage, the metropolis of At
RIGA, where were gathered the arts, the
spoils Of the Orient-Carthage, the clas-
| steal ruler of the waves-even as Brit
| ANNA is now-Carthage is no more The
| mighty realm of Alexander, after at
tanning the acme of her civilization, is
| scattered to the four points of heaven:
| her Marathon, her Thermopylae, and the
| courage of the indomitable Leonidas are
| but memories. Rome, too, has fallen
The diadem of the Caesars has now 10
potency. The silver eagles of Rome no
| longer lead her cohorts to victory; the
| Eternal City sleeps the sleep of the dead
We call these forgotten ages; we sum-
mon all the glories and traditions of an
| tiquity; we invoke Fame herself as wit
nesses of our greatness.
| Behold! there stands the radiant figure
of Justice-balancing in her hands. the
scales OF misunderstanding as it
were, especial privileges to none, equal
rights to ALL Assailed by the storms of
winter, buffeted by the winds of heaven,
there she stands to greet the rising and
setting of the sun until it shall rise and
set no more, until this orb shall cease to
| Tevolve amidst the limitless extent of
space! The falling stars have kissed it.,