The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1921-01-19

man, while ever a conservative force
yet holds the only warrant for rea
progress.
at is ignorance of its teachings
which leads men of good intentions tt
advocate either reaction or revolution
and a knowledge of its forces, which
aids men to promote the public vel
fare. In Judging of the strength of a
state it is necessary to know what has
gone before, what point of development
has been reached by the people of that
state, and whether their present plan OF
society is justified by their past expe-
rience.
Estates grow and there is an inexor-
able law of their growth. They must
go through the process step by step.
There is no hiatus in their development.
Liberty is not bestowed, it is an
achievement, but it comes to no people
who have not passed through the sue
cessive stages which always precede it..
1t is very far from state of nature.
1t is no light and easy thing to secure
or to maintain, but difficult of accom-
plishment and hard to bear. While
there are no conditions under which it
is better to be slave than to be free
there are many conditions under which
il is infinitely easier to be slave than
to be free and for the sake of their
ease there are those who have chosen
to relinquish much of liberty rather
than bear the responsibilities of the
free
"The greatest example of this was
the development of feudalism in the
middle ages. Men sought their security
and protection at the expense of their
freedom of action, so that whole com
munties were bound to varying SER
vitudes which reached from honor to
infamy, yet all with the same object,
their greater ease and safety. While
such a state has seemed to delay prog.
ress it really resulted in wedding out
the incompetent and developing those
who had the capacity to advance.
Progress of Government.
"The process of each state in govern
ment has been from unorganized races
to the despotic rule of an absolute mon
arch, which in time became limited and |
its functions shared in BY a nobility, |
enlarging into some form of /
~and finally extending to all .
the people There have been many |
grades and forms of such development |
under many and various names, but |
the process has ever been from anarchy |
through despotism to olgarchy, which
has hroadened out into democracy and .
ended in representative government,
based on universal suffrage
Many nations have failed some
where along the way. The absolute
monarchy has fallen into weak or
-icious hands so that disorder at home
" some superior force from abroad has
overcome the state. Or people have
eemed to lack the genius for govern
nent or strong king has overcome a
popular assembly, and what at one
ime appeared to be free institutions,
administered by legislative body with
generous powers, as in CASTLE and Ara.
,on at the beginning, and in France at
/ later period of the middle ages, has
apsed back TO despotic rule 1t is in.
eresting to note that no nation ever
ost its liberties in which there was
maintained strong representative
'ody vested with the authority of pro-
iding the public revenue. II has been
uggested that Spain was able to disre. ,
ard the liberties Of the people be-
ause her rulers became so enriched by