The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-10-20
B|CEL0W SPEAKS OF
CURE FOR. DEMOCRACY
Representative Government Is a
Compromise Between Mon
archy and Democracy.
Direct Legislation is Only Simon
Pure Remedy for Ills Of
Present Government.

CINCINNATI, Ohio. Oct. 18.-Rev.
Herbert S. Bigelow of the old Abolition
church created an uproar In his con-
gregation last Sunday when he gave
utterance to the following sacreligious
statements:
"A representative government is
compromise between monarchy and
democracy.
King Charles, in his speech on the
scaffold, said, concerning the demand
Of the people for a share in the govern
ment:
"That is nothing appertainlng to
them. A subject and sovereign are
clean different things
Our fathers denied this theory Of
government. They proclaimed the
doctrine that subject and a sovereign
are one and the same thing. But the
trainers Of the constitution were afraid
Of democracy We can not wonder at
it. They were taking a plunge in the
dark. They thought 1t expedient to
put the representatives out Of reach of
the people as possible.
| Some frankly stated that they IA
| vored a monarchy. But they knew the
| people would not tolerate that. So
they aimed to make their representa-
tive system OF government as much
like monarchy as they could.
| Aim Of the Constitution Builders.
| The aim Of the trainers Of the consti-
tuition was not to provide the machin-
cry for a democracy Their aim was
to make a government as undemocratic
as the people would accept.
| In that constitutional convention
John Randolph declared that 1.-The gen.
eral object was to provide cure for
the evils under which the United States
labored; that in tracing these evils to
their origin, every man had found 1t
/ ins.the 1turbulency and follies Of demo-
Ecracy; that some check therefore was
to be sought for against this tendency
Of our government; and that good
senate seemed most likely to answer
the purpose"
The popular election Of the lower
house was regarded as concession
which must be made to the democratic
sentiment of the times. But they con-
stituted the senate as they did in order
to curb the democracy Of the house.
Mr.. Dickinson said:
I'm the formation Of the senate, we
ought to carry it through such re-
fining process as will assimilate it, as
nearly as may be, to the house of lords
In England. He wished the senate to
consist of the most distinguished char
acters, distinguished for their rank in
life, and their weight Of property, and
bearing a strong likeness to the British
house Of lords as possible; and he
thought such characters more likely to
be selected by the state legislatures
than by the people,"
Secretary Shaws- Admission.
In the light Of this history the words
of Secretary Shaw. uttered in his
Memphis speech last month, are most
eating the present drift towards more
democratic forms. Of government.
Il submit" said he, "that there are
more points Of similitude between a
monarchy like England and a repre-
sentative government like the United
States than there are between a repre-
sentative government like this and a
pure democracy"
Democracy indicated.
Secretary Shaw may share Ran
dolph's and Dickinson's and Hamilton's
fear of democracy. But our century of
experience seems to show that this
fear is groundless. We can not say
as did Randolph, that our present evils
have their origin in the turbulence and
follies of democracy. We can say that
they have their origin In the pots and
conspiracies Of plutocracy. And ou1
only hope today is in giving the people
a more direct power over their repre-
sentatives.
The most complete. application OF
democracy that an American state has
hade is the Initiative and referendum
system Of Oregon: and a study OF
Oregon's experiments confirms ou1
faith that our democracy can be cured
only by removing the curbs which our
fathers placed upon 1t.
HERBERT S, BIGELOW,
Cincinnati