Evening star., 1922-01-15
BY THOMAS n. MARSHALL.
Former Vice President OF the U.

Former Vice President Of the U. s.
T is tho right of = people to
alter and reform their gov
ernment. but this reforma-
ton should be open and
aboveboard- There is no justin
cation for a change in the system
Of government by indirectfon. The
eight years I spent in Washington
convinced me that those who need
watching are not the enemies OF
the republic but those who love
1t, even as, you and I. 1t goes
back to this-that a man can take
care Of his enemies II he can only
handle his friends.
We fought the most stupendous
war in all history to overthrow
the militaristtc system. OF the
German government. We raised
an army of four million men and
a budget OF sss.ooo.ooo,ooo to the
end that the principle might be
established that the individual ID
not subservient to the state; tina!
what is q crime in the indtviduaI
must of necessity be a crime IN the
state: that that people anvsrDeS are Dest
and that individual initiative.
after all, is worth most in the long
run Of humanity.
~ X
We gayed with horror on what
wa called the atrocities of soviet
Russia. We agreed that the
tyranny of the mob was worse
even than German autocracy. we
inyeighed against the bolshevist
idea, that q child wac an asset OF
the state, and we were outraged
at the thought Of a government
taking children at their birth ana
transferring them to the care
custody and education OF the e.ase'
we regarded this as most oo-
noxioua. as opposed in every par
ticular 10 that Anglo-Saxon Tree,
dom which has slowly broadened
down the aisles of time. we
heeame so excited that we de-
nanded laws against the preaching
Of this gospel in free America.
Although the first article TO the
Constitution guaranteed tne 1isns
Of free speech. nevertheies@ v"
held that the promulgauon ot
doctrines such as this was inlmleai'
mot only to our system Of govern
ment but to the good of mankina'
we announced q doctrine that:
however much disputed, hampereo
and hindered, will remain true 10
the end Of time, namely, that the
Individual is the unit Of govern
ment and that the home ls tne
citadel of free institutions. ,unani-
NOUS was our BELIEF that there
should never be migrated on our
system OF government elmer e sne
idea Of the Prusstan Junker tnat
the state, as represented in the
person of the emperor. was su.
preme, or the Russian idea that
the state itself was supreme. we
CHING to the faith transmitted to
us by our fathers. We again az
firmed that our system of govern
ment was the last hope OF human
kind.
Our government was built up by
men who believed in the indivtd-
ual, in his capacity. his power and
his desire to do the right thing
for himself. his family. his coun-
try and the world. The Pilgrims
sailed across stormy seas and set
tied on the inhospitable shores OF
New England to the end that
they might worship God according
to the dictates of their own con-
science and that each might set
up a home where no one, not even
The king htmeeif. might epter save as
an officer bearing a writ. The
cavaliers of Virginia. the Presby-
terians and Auguenots OF the Car
olfnas and Georgia. the Quakers
Of Pennsylvania and the Dutch OF
New York came on similar mis-
sions. These courageous, self
confident but not self-seeking sons
of the new world trekked across
the mountains. populated the Ohio
and Mississippi valleys, construct
ed homes, erected their houses Of
worship and builded their SEMI
naries Of learning. Year by year
they pressed slowly westward the
frontiers of civilization. until at
last from ocean to ocean the pio-
neer and the pathfinder had made
of America a land of individual
lists. q nation of homes.
Out of these self-reliant homes
came the flower Of American man
hood that went to France to over
throw the military autocracy
which threatened the world And
we said Of these young men that
when they came back. laurel
crowned, and resumed their places
in American life, they would help
us to keep safe the old institutions
which had made America illus
trious and glorious. They are,
measuring up to our expectation.
These heroic sons Of America, by
voice and vote, are declaring them