The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-09-13
bAPIH|NG WITH BLOOD
Manner in Which Old World
Rulers Granted Constitution.
HISTORY OF CONFLICTS
Hungary and Japan Won Theirs by
Voluntary Concession of the
Crown - Many MOnarchs Pre-
ferred Abdication Rather Than
Conform to Altered Conditions.

ferred Abd1catlOn RaCner Inan
Conform to Altered Conditions.
AS a general rule, national consti-
| buttons are baptized with blood, says
the Pittsburg Dispatch. A few-very
| few indeed-have been granted vol
| UNFAIRLY by monarchs far-sighted
enough to appreciate the impOSsibili-
| ltyof stemming for all time the ever
rising tide of democracy, and who
have deemed it polite to spread the
sails of their dynasty to windward,
and to endeavor to ride on the crest
| Of those waves of popular opinion
which they were powerless to resist.
In other cases again, the constitu-
ton has been built up by long Sc
| rieS of concessions, spread over hum
dreds of years, and obtained by the
people from the reluctant crown
through statecraft, popular pressure
and sometimes through purchase.
For there are several instances In
history where kings have traded away
| prerogatives of the crown to the ma
ton in return for money needed for
| dynastic purposes, or for purely self
ish pleasure. The English patch
work constitution may be described
as being Of this particular order.
| 1t was in the year 1848 that most
of these constitutions, thus engen-
dered in blood, first came into actual
operation. True, the people Of we'll
nigh every nation of continental Eu-
rope had been promised rights Of
self-gOvernment at the close Of the
| Napoleonic wars in the second dec
ade of the nineteenth century. But
these pledges were ignored by the
monarchies mainly through the In
fuence of that so-called Holy ALI
ance, which had the effect of calling
| into existence the Monroe doctrine,
and it was not until 1848, when q
revolutionary wave swept all over
Europe, that the substitution of gov
erpment by will of the people took
the place of that of despotism by
made a strong fight for what they
| considered to be their sacred prerog
atives and called upon their troops to
fire upon the people. In Vienna they
butchered the cabinet ministers and
drove the imperial family from the
city. In Paris they pillaged the royal
palace Of the Tuilleries and fright
ened King Louis Philippe so that,
abandoning his throne, he concealed
| his identity with blue spectacles and
+. a wig and fled to England under the
! assumed name Of Smith At Berlin
i hundreds of citizens were shot down
I. by the troops before the kindly and
! somewhat weak King Frederick Will
liam ". issued proclamation dis
claiming responsibility for what had
occurred, disavowing the action of
the military and granting the popu-
lar demand for full-fedged consti-
tutional government. At Turin King
Charles Albert of Sardinia yielded
not without a Struggle, the Statute
| Fondamentale del Regno" which is
to-day the constitution of United
Italy.
Among the countries that can
boast Of having received their con-
situations by the voluntary conces-
sion Of the crown are Japan and
Hungary. Japan's constitution, which
| Is Of the most modern and liberal
description was promulgated in Feb
ruary, 1899, when the Mikado vol
UNFAIRLY surrendered his autocracy.
based upon the popular belief in his
sacred attributes and semi-divine
| origin to his subjects. This was done
without any demand whatsoever on
| their part. It was not even asked for
| IN the native press or from the plat
| form. 1t was movement wholly of
his own initiative, made. of course,
after due consultation with the most
trusted statesmen of his empire, and
| has had the effect which he intended,
namely, of contributing to the pres,
tige of the nation abroad and to the
development of the progress and en-
lfghtenment, as we'll as Of the. indus
| trial, commercial and intellectual ac-
tivity of the people. True, there had
been revolution In Japan some
twenty years previously, but it was
revolution which had for it's object,
not the conquest. of any rights of
Self-government, but the restoration
to the throne Of the autocratic tenn
pOral power, Of which it had been
robbed by the usurpation of the Sho-
gun. Japan is an amazing country,
difficult as ever Of comprehension to
the foreigner, especially if he does
not happen to have resided for some
length of time in the Orient But
one Of the most surprising things in
it's history of the last half century
has been the popular revolution in
favor of the restoration of the most
absolute despotism to the Emperor
and then the latter's unasked-for
concession to his subjects 20 years
later of most liberal constitution
with legislative forms of government
and the surrender of his autocracy
to the people.