The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-07-13

plight - protected BY our constitutions.
both state and Federal, But the mo-
jurs 81. neishSor. .0 he rsnd en"i himself
amenable 70 the repressive power Of
law. Undoubtedly the man who is re-
strained from committing murder from
o e h the Ivy S & @sss
passion Of murder was In his heart. he
was far from being made good" as
that quality - defined in the scriptures
a fs u II .s se classn he Would Ssvs isd
the Instinct Of society Il to leave the
Individual free, not specifying what ne
negative-'Th ou-shalt -nots"
Governmeaf Necesnity.
From the necessity Of represents
~ springs o the for oonsti
tuted repressive force. This force
should be adequate, impersonal and dis
interested--hence government It,.rra ad y y
q public force. Government is Justice
tice---the laws OF the land.-in q demo-
ssra,sy like ours are ~ mae d ~ ste by
the judicial, and executed BY the execu,
tive branches of the government; ana
practically all Of these officers, legisla-
BY the people by majority vote. Such
a government Is founded upon an i'm.
piled compact between each citizen and
s5hS sy s ssl h aM. Tor the
mon good; these laws to be GROUNDED
In the will Of the majority ~ expressed
by their chosen representatives. dt
government assumes that the minority
--or practically an Of them--will gract-
ously submit 20 the. decision OF the
majority when consdItu atbllr cIvii
war and revolution would follow every
election, or every session Of the legis-
lature. In the effort OF q little more
lie less ss than half to accept the result
as binding. And this often happens
among Latin American republics to the
south Of VS. wnsF fsr sss peVprs ars
Thomas Jefferson, in his first In,
augural address, admirably expressed
the idea thus: During the contest OF
Ussssa me tnsou animstion Of discussions
and exertions has sometimes worn an
aspect which might impose on strang-
ers unused to think freely, and to speak
being now decided 81 the voics Of the
nation. announced according, TO-, the
rules of the constitution, all Will OF
course arrange themselves unaer .ne
efforts for the common good he con-
tinued: II know indeed that some
honest men fear that q republican gov
s sonernne ssnh 70 not ct ssrons enoagh
believe this "a ON the contrary. the
strongest government on earth--I be-
lieye 1t. is the only one where every
to the standard Of the law. and would
meet invasfons Of the public order as
his own personal concern,
would he say that In montgomery
JEFFERSON, in closing this mastery
address, In summing up the essential
principles of our form OF government
a acss in the decisions Of the
pnbiios, from which there is no appeal
but to force. the vital principie ana
Chief Justice Marshall adds this
further thought, which ts an excellent
reason for submitting to the Will OF
the maiority rh tn S, ~ suG minds that
Ii Is impossible We shall ever concur
in one system until we try II II
after being. tried II proves 2aa OF W.
est good to the greatest number" Is
a republic; and II law does not stand
this test. the greater number, nay.ns
more practically every fundamental
personal and property right imagin-
able, certainly every essential one
which e n from INVASION BY
the iegisiature. should the majority be-
come tyrannical or oppressive. py tne
admirable provisions OF our STATE eho
federal constitutions. and II IS tue
sworn duty of our courts to declare
nun and void every act which contra.
veTes those -fundaHnentai rights. Tne
s spIssnIss sTs which our
"a John 6. Calhoun said that. this
admirable constitution Or oats WaE
circumstances, and superior to the Wis
dom of any or all of the great men by
whose agency 1t was made. Tnen ne
nations who have been so fortunate as
~ adoi,t a wise constitution, still FEWER
have had the wisdom long 70 preserso
one ii is harder to preserve than TO
obtain liberty, AFTER years esaEhs 81 ia p hsId
is but too often forgotten. we make
a mistake In surprising All people cap.
able Of self-government; none pes
usople advanced to high state OF
moral and Intellectual excellence are
eapabie OF forming and maintaining
free governments.
..aentlemen, jefferson had great faith
1, he average citizen doing his duty,
He believed that the majority coulo
he trusted TO select the right SOFT OF
men to make and administer the LAVE,
and that the people as whoie "Y hma
constitutionally enacted. Ana " ~
upon this idea that our entire system
OF government of the people, for the
people and by the people 10 founded.
we might express the American idea
in the idiom Of the day by saying that
inasmuch as the people make the rules
and can, under the Constitution, repeal
or amend them at will. we put The
people ON their honor, and trust them,
like real sportsmen, to play the game
accordiTg to the rules" Hence we do
not MI the field with multitude OF
soldiers and policemen and burden. the
taxpayer with their support. We have
so few soldiers that a majority OF the
children in Alabama have never seen
a soldier. and very few soldier in
actual service.
aOf course the time has never been
and perhaps will never be, when. alb.
the rules There are certain per-
centage of lawbreakers and criminals
in all countries and under all forms Of
government And while our fathers
founded our system upon the general
principles above expressed. they were
too wise not to foresee that there
would be some criminals and law
breakers even in their ideal democ-
racy. and hence they provided an excel-
by juries impartially selected, afford
Ing at once protection to society
against offenders and to the. accused
against arbitrary power or unjust pun
ishment, and they backed up the judg-
ments of the courts with an executive
department whose full reserve power IL
SO great that It is rarely IL ever nee
essary to exert Its full force, for the
number and strength Of the lawless
he 81 orra haan