New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
Thoughts ON the MuzzIe

M Il. VARDAMAN. Mr. President. the
AvA strength of this Republic consist,
IN the moral qualities and intellectual ac
quirements of individual citizens thereof.
1.-THE government is strong and great in
proportion to the strength of mind and
moral force of the individual man and
woman" The citizens can not deveIop to
their utmost in mind and morals without
1uily enjoying unrestricted the privilege to
tnlnk, the freedom of speech, and the un-
prescribed performance of the duties of
citizenship. A citizen Of this Republic has
got right to think, and that right carries
with 1T the right to think incorrectly. If
perchance his mental processes shall be
somewhat warped. The mental straitiacket
Is never used with success in republic.
and 1T has no place here.
believe in an hour like the present that
the fullest and freest discussion shou1d he
permitted. The right and privileges guar
anteed by the Constitution should be up-
held and scrupulously respected, / would
not prescribe men and women in the ex
preston OF their views, for the reason that
IN dong so fear that might be influenced
Dy my own feelings and my own earnest de-
slres' which might carry me too far in GER
taln directions. There is danger in pro-
S8IetV
dom OF thought and liberty of speech. The
lie is harmless as long as truth is free n
COMBAT 1t: To make myself better under
stooo WILL be permitted, trust, to para
phrase statement made by one of Amer
lcas greatest constitutional LAWYERS and
noD!est patriots: ut is not for the exercise
OF oespotlc power, nor yet from the head
long passions of a raging people that we
WILL learn our duty to one another and to
our country. When the prophet Elijah
stood on the mountainside and looked for
some token of the divine will he did not
see 1T IN the tempest OR the earthquake or
the hre, but he heard it in the still, small
voice which reached his ears after thew
had passed by We have heard the storm
OF political debate, we are feeling the earth
quake shock of world war, we are seeing
to-day the effect Of legislative persecution
We shall find the truth when they are all
passed and gone, and we will find il bv
hearkening to the "still, small voice" which
speaks to our consciences in the articulate
words of the Constitution from the graves
OF our fathers. II we cannot get the truth
from them, if their words of wisdom and
the llght OF their patriotic examples do not
lead us in the straight and narrow nath
then, Mr.. President, the days Of this great
Republic are numbered. The end is not far
away. would counsel moderation in this
hour OF trial. Laws that originate in in
tense hatred or excessive love are equally
unreliable and necessarily unstable.
1t is a mistake to legislate upon the pre-
sumption that all the wisdom and all the
patriotism are confined to Congress and tho
executive branch of the government, Raa-
soning from that hypothesis leads inevi-
tably to false conclusion, finally to dis
aster. ~
cannot more fittingly close what have
to say than by quoting from an anc;ent
Greek who had felt the hot iron ~ a.
versity in his soul. He understood the faIli-
bility of men, the unreiiability Of humar
Judgment, and in the shadow of doubt. con.
scious of human limitations. he utterad
these wise words for the guidance ~ h;s
people. commend this to your careful
considerations: 1u'
Tossed on Of trouble so,.l ma, .o.,
Do thou nsvseY cosstroi wy so"'.
10 meet the soeopors Of odvo~otno foe.
a stubborn breast oppose s"0'
Unddtnted by tho hostile ,ntoht NJ .,..,s
burntn0 for the dDht - 'x""@'""s
Thtne no vain b0ustSsu tphen ths .xcto-,. .
W nls the desevJed rcssospn: s'S''"
Intne no detected tpAem defnnt
Woxd urge bose rctvcut
Het0Sce 'fntd joyous thinOs. nor <,s,s,.....n
Lst grief TIM tososn to.ch
Ma evUs SttU ooor IN nst~d
q doso- -oA0agVs& an ia aoaes Q1bAua,nu. 1uf,e