Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-01-11
true function Is not universally
agreed upon.

Plato sought in vain for a divine
Revelation in the universal senti-
ments Of all peoples and nations.
semper, Unique ct alb omnibus,-hc
found it not.
Since primeval days, there have
been and there still linge- the two
| irreconcilable views of the true
function of the State-and your
people and mine have adopted the
same theory. We hold that the State
EXISTS for the individual, to '.eep the
peace, to prevent the settlement OF
disputes by the strong arm, to force
arbitration or judicial determination
of differences. to prevent aggression
on the weaker, the satisfying Of
wants or greed by stealthy larceny or
open robbery, to encourage industry,
integrity and peace among it's people.
The State owes all these duties to the
citizen--the citizen owes nothing to
the State but loyal assistance in the
| performance of it's dutics-the State
does not transcend the individual.
The citizen has the fullest tight Of
action consistent with the similar
the identical-rights of other citi-
ztns. That is liberty-all else is
slavery open or disguised. We
acknowledge liberty with audible
and absolute Acknowledgement, and
set slavery at naught for life and
death"
In times of war indeed we recognise
the practical necessity for an auto
| ca. :. -,- I2Ss vciled-intcr arma
silent leges-but where such neces-
sty does not exist, we carry our love
Of liberty to great lengths. We fol-
low Walt Whitmans advice Resist
much, obey little"--it is enough for us
that thing is "vcrboten". to make
us wish to do it, the sign keep off
the grass" is taken as an implied
invitation to trcspass and the grass
Is promptly trodden down. Too often
we are content to believe that we
cannot have both good government
ana liberty; and liberty We think the
better of the two
This liberty ncccssari means the
right to govern ourselves and that it
IS tyrannous for another to govern
us--a concept unknown to the I'M
developed or ill-devclopcd races in
some parts of the earth who claim the
right to be governed so that it is
almost tyrannous to compel them to
govern themSelves-such are they
who could hear the Head of their
state boast There is but one will in
this land and that is mine--him who
opposes mo | viii crush" without re
bellion or universal outburst of de-
riSiVo and ineXtinguishable laughter
Self government is Democracy
whether the form be monarchical. re-
II
Is naught. the soul is what counts
and here not seldom the letter kill
eth but the spirit giveth life"-what
is called a Republic may he a mere
oligarchical tyranny. What was Re
publican Athens or Rome? What the
medieval Republics of Italy? What
some of the so-called Republics even
in modern times Of South and Cen
trail America?
Democracy is not form. It is 4
vital principle manfesting itself in
many ways, under as divers shapes as
life itsolf-We may be puzzled some
times to define il, we can never fail
to recognize it where it exists, &c
miss it where it is not.
Il am not one of those who believe
or pretend to believe, that denOcra cy
was born on the fourth of July, 1T76
ana that her birthplace was on this
continent. | do not believe, nor dc
YOU believe that liberty was unknown
and non existent before the Decla :
ration of Independence" With =
thorough appreciation of the impor
lance Of the elements of the popula :
ton Of the Thirteen Colonies, dcriv-
ing from Scotland. Ireland. and Hol-
land, not shutting my eyes to the
great part played by these in the
political and industrial development
of these states, not losing sight of the
valuable scandinavian immigration
or of the German factor-if it is
not prohibited in the present
state of public opinion to SO much
as mention the Gcrman-having no
drop OF English blood Ill my veins. NJ
pride of English ancestry do not
| hesitate to say that the source of the
American as it is the source of the
Canadian conception of liberty and
democracy is England-not indeed
the ultimate source, but the immc-
diate source whence the stream
flowed to the Colonies.
| The ultimate source lies far re-
moved from the trodden path Of civ
ilization--not in Rome. not in Greece
still less in Babylon or Persia but III
the hlcal, cold fens and the dense
forest of mort western Europe where
Angle and Saxon and .Jutc maintained
their proud independence and alone
of all the nations refused to bend the
knee to the Imperial Mistress of the
world.
Perhaps because insular. the sturdy
! EngliShman never quite lost his sense
of personal freedom: Norman and
Pluntagenet and Tudor and Stewart
did their worst but the instinct for
liberty survived all assaults. The
| ,.tC al hat freedom
Of the subject of high station only;
but it contained us in solution the
freedom of all: one Stewart must be
slain to show that the King is after
all but a public servant, another lost
his throne to prove that the public
servant must not too much try his
master
The Bill of Rights in 1859 laid down
principles of democracy in systematic
form; and democracy was we'll adj
vanccd before George Washington
was born. Freedom of speech: free
dom of the press: freedom of assem-
bly, and petition: no taxation with
out representation: no gift or bcnevo-
lence to the king unless made by a
free Parliament freely elected by a
free people and debating freely; these
principles the Fathers of the Amer
lean Revolution brought with them,
either in person or by their ancestors,
to this continent. 1t needed but a
series Of sensible and sympathetic
monarchs, or even one such monarch
to have democracy fully developed in
England before the American Rcvo-
luton. Unfortunately near the end
of the eighteenth century, pig
headed, half -crazed, ill-trained, i'll
balanced Hanovarian, educated by a
foolish woman, whose voice he never
I fnrcnt "Genlcn he a king George he