Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-06-30
CLASS DAY AT COLBY
Continued from Page Five.)

ldIlu. Apparently CAioNo ~ 49,
nature of representative bodies GER
tain inherent peculiarities which tend
to encourage criticism.
I'm the first place, a legislature CT
congress, to use the phrase so apt
that frequent use has made it slang, Is
an easy mark for critics. 1t is a
purely impersonal thing. 1t has nc
sensibilities, no memory. no revenge
no gratitude and no permanance. /:
maligned 1t brings no libel suits, nor
does it treasure wrong in It's
memory for future retaliation. Its in
dividual members may be indignan;
at the defamations Of their body; but
they do not often accept the injury as
personal, and If they did their resent
nnent would be OF little effect, because
their association is perpetually dis
solving This lack of personality Is
of the first Importance in judging the
position of a legislative body. espec-
tally as compared with the judicial
and executive departments OF tn"
government where the personal ele-
ment is always in the foreground. Our
legislative bodies not only lack per
sonality, but they are perpetually con-
trasted in this respect with judicial
and executive officers, especially the
latter They extend no hospitality
thew distribute practically no patron
age in the way of offices. they never
f1atter, they write no letters. publish
on essays The only product which
comes from their minds as the fina'ity
consists of volumes of statutes, which
few read and volumes of debates
which exhibit to the reader the puzzl-
ing dissention of men who are con-
fronting new questions.
an this age Of sensationalism in
the printed words. the public often
gets distorted ideas Of their legislative
bodies. II member percl,ance, falls
into indecorum or disgrace. that is al
WAYS blazOned abroad with the con-
sequence man or woman at a distance,
absorbed in the duties of life, hastily
assumes that the whole body is to be
Judged on the terms of its lowest
member. Sensational incidents which
attract attention. usually unfavorably.
are sure to go abroad to be read and
remembered, while years OF faithful
and laborious work, marked by great
wisdom and civic devotion. may pass,
il not unnoticed. yet with so little
comment as to effect no Judgement in
the public mind We shall find how
ever that the main criticism of our
legislative bodies, arises naturally and
inevitably from three overshadowing
and unavoidable conditions.
"First, to them are given the most
dif1icult functions Of government. the
imposing Of taxes and the expenditure
of money.
. Second one supremely essential
function, that Of compromise, Is of
such a nature as to arouse criticism
perpetually.
Third the legislative body as we'll
as each member of it acts as repre-
sentative OF many and therefore is
governed by rules at variance with the
rilles of individual conduct.
1.-The first condition arises from the
II fact that representative bodies have
assumed the two great vital functions
OF government-the levying of taxes
and the appropriating OF money. Tho
idea of personal government is strong
ly intrenched In the human mind
Our experiences and our analogies
naturally run to it. The personality
OF the parent in the family is the first
government we know of, and 1t has
taken centuries of trouble and disaster
to teach the most civilized portion of
humanity that the personal parental
authority so happily exercised in the
family becomes a tragic failure when
applied to an extensive nation, espec-
tally when that nation has begun tc
acquire the complex interests of civlli-
cation.
"Before the days of Sir Robert Wal
pole 1t was quite liable to be the fate
of a fallen English statesman. when
at last he staggered under the burdens
of government, to go also to the block.
The people having no way of making
their voices felt directly in the affairs
Of government, and chatting under the
burdens Of the state, which meant to
a great extent the burden of taxation.
maintained constantly such an atti-
tude. that they could be satisfied most
easily by throwing to them the head
Of a statesman. In the few western
rations that still linger in the rear
Of the procession. assassination is still
the fate of conspicuous statesmen-not
such assassinations as have removed
three presidents from this country.
rerpetrated by persons Of weak or dis
ordered intelects, but transformations
undertaken at the instance of organ
ICED citizens and with the approval and
acquiescence of many other citizens.
These considerations of the duties of
the legislative bodies enable us to I'M
lerstand readily why they must nee
essarrily be criticised. 1t does not fol-
low however that because this work
has been criticised in all past time.
and has in ruder ages been rewarded
with death or revolution that there
fore all criticism is unfounded. de-
structive and ill-judged. Legislative
bodies may err like any other organ
ixations, or any person in this world
Of errors, but they do not err all the
time, or even the greater part of the
fine, although they are criticised from
one source or the other practically all
the time. Therefore in this attitude
of the citizen toward the institutions
IF the country, it is essential that he
bear in mind continually the peculiar
situation of the Legislative body in re-
-spect to the burden it bears
- The second great cause of the dis
favor Of the legislative body is the fact
VI