Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1904-05-20

spoons Of her superstition The state
must govern and repress; the state must
strengthen her apparatus, improve her
machine. She must put her subjects
down; she must keep them down; she
must teach them to be tame and tract
able; to go at her will TO rise; TO halt;
70 sit; TO sleep; TO wake at her bidding;
TO be meek and humble; and all this
with the belief that men so subordipated
aud put down, can be, should be. and
ought 20 be, great and happy. They are
so we'll cared for, so happily governed!
On the contrary, il history has proved,
does prove, any one thing 1t II this:
Man when least oppressed is greatest.
When his heart, his brain, his limbs are
unbound, he straightway begins to
flourish, 10 triumph, and TO be Curious.
Then, he sends up the green and blossom
ing trees OF his ambition; then, be tlings
out both hands to grasp the skyisnd and
the stars; then, indeed, he feels no long
er q need for the mastery OF society no
longer a want for some guardian and
intermeddlng state TO inspire and direct
his energies. He grows in freedom.
His nature rises TO "a statue. He springs
forward TO grasp the grand substance,
the shadow OF which he has seen in his
dreams. He is happy.
OF all things that are incidentally
needed TO usher in the promised demo-
cracy aud brotherhood of mantle COM
ing of new era OF enlightenment and
peace-one OF the most essential is toller-
alton. IL is thing which the world
has never yet enjoyed but is just now
beginning TO enjoy. Almost every page
OF ancient and medieval history has
been made bloody with some form OF
intolerance, and until the present day
the baleful shadow Of this sin against
humanity has been upon the world
Liberty in the minds OF men has meant
the privilege OF agreeing with the ma
jority. Men have desired free thought,
but fear has stood at the door 1t re.
mains for the present TO build a high
way broad and free, into every field OF
liberal inquiry. and to make the poorest
OF men and walk therein, more secure
in life and reputation than the soldier
who sleeps behind the rampart9.
Prescription has no part or lot in the
modern government OF the world-the
stake, the gibbet, thumb screws, swords
and pillory have no place among the
machinery of civilization. Nature is
diversified so are human faculties, be-
liefs and practices. Essential freedom
Is the right 10 differ, and that right
must be sacredly respected. Nor must
the privilege of dissent be conceded
with GOODNESS and disdain. but openly,
cordially, aud with good will. No loss
OF rank, abatement OF character or
ostracism from society must darken the
pathway OF the humblest of the seekers
after truth. The right Of free thought,
free inquiry. and free speech to all men,
90 al
and as bounteous AS the air around the
sea.
A second auxiliary In she forward
the
EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN.
There are two stations to which
women may logically be assigned, One
Is the Harem of the Turk; the other is
the high dias OF perfect equality with
man. The middle ages gave her the
former place. The seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries sought to fix her in
a station between the two extremes.
The present, having discovered that
human rights are not deducibe from
distinctions, seeks to make
her as free as man. The tyranny and
selishness of political parties will for a
time retard what they cannot prevent,
and then, by an attempted Justification
OF history seek to make it appear that
they have been the champions OF the |
cause by which one-halt of the human
race !s TO be enfranchsed-remo |
from a state Of political serfdom-to be- |
come a great and salutory agency in the |
social and political reforms of the age.
1t remaines naturally to add, that the |
creation of universal citizenship. by I
means of a universal education in a |
third force which is TO usher in and |
glorify the future of all lands Just in |
as republican principles |
encroach upon the absolutism in the |
domain OF government. the necessity /
for enlightening the masses will become |
imperative. The development Of a high !
degree OF intelligence is in all free gov.
eminent "Sine qua non" of their
strength and perpetuity Without it |
such governments fall easy victims to
ignorant military captains and civil
demagogues Of low repute.
Whether, indeed the renuhlican form