Evening star., 1923-09-02
Revolution,
When

1hls was followed by Townsend's rev.
enue act, laying duties on imports.
AGAIN the colonies protested and the
ministry attempted coercion.
Revenue Taxes Repealed.
This measure was too expensive
so once more all revenue taxes Were
repealed. except the one on tea. which
was left to maintain the principle
During an interval Of some four years
that followed, from 1870 to 1874, there
We're several acts Of violence on The
part of -. colonies in their resiE.-
ance to these i:nposts. including tn
Boston massacre, the burning OF the
Gaspee and the Boston tea party.
Again great Britain had recourse 70
acts OF coercion. First. 1t closed the
port OF Boston, thus destroying the
property of thousands.
Second, 1t declared void certain
parts Of the charter Of Massachusetts,
following policy begun in New York
in 1867. and SO it virtually attempted
to annihilate the protection OF char
tered rights and chartered liberties
that has always been 50 dear to EnG
lishmen. Free government was de-
stroyed. too. in another way.
Almost Puppets OF King.
judges. courts. sheriffs. were mad
Almost the puppets Of the king. The>
were placed in his direct pay and mad
subject to his pleasure. Town meet
ings were forbidden, and thus the old
familiar forms OF self government were
entirely swept away. The governor was
made as absolute as despot. and the
form OF government that was thus
thrust upon Massachusetts was despot-
ism such as Englishmcn would not nave
endured. even III the days Of Henri
VIII.
Third-Thc British government sen
nearly all criminals to England foF
trial.
the inhabitants, 50 that a military gov
eminent was set UP in the colonies.
Fifth-Parlianen passed the social
Sd Quebec act to separate the trench
from any bond Of sympathy with tn
colonies.
Tho goverrtr stood over them like
vicerov In IIs command was the army
Ii 4 soldier ehould murder a citizen he
was sent to England for trial. II =
citizen sholld become criminal ne.
too, might he sent across the sea N
order that III both cases the govern
rnent might have all the advantage. IT
vas military Gespotism. There Wer.
no pOpii'ar meetings. no crlmina!
courts. TO habcas corpus. no freedom Of
the prys- The question was no Longer
one Of :axes: that was a mere fisnent
rlow.
Jang@rous Principle Cited.
Though the injustice Of taxation
without representation made good
war cry. It is. in. the last analysis,
dangerous principle" But it is easy to
grasp, and the common people no douo'
fought the war largely on that issue
The fact is. it Is a duty to the state to
! Pay taxes. and il is equally duty I"
vote. 1t Iors not follow that beeaus7
the state requires one duty II shail re
Quire the Second.
But there is another side where the
requirement Of the state runs over into
| tyranny. only on this ground can re
sistancc to taxation be justified So
| long as the colonies Were a part or th'
state OF Great Brita in-and they were
so by their charters and by the action
| of William and Mary-that state had
| the right to demand not only their prop
| in the last extremity. their lives. L
cannot be. then, that the American
revolution was fought that colonists
might escape paying taxes. The great
:, struggle that they passed through mus
make such a duty seem insignificant
| The real principle was not one OF the
| right Of the state or the duty OF citl
zens-it was a question of government.
a question OF form and method.
| Struggle for Principles.
! 1t is this that Is meant above. III the
statement that the struggle was moi
| between nations. or for new principles
| II was not so much 4 revolution, pro
! pagation OF new ideas. as the main
| tenance of the old forms Of representa-
| tive government, OF chartered rights
| and constitutional liberty. England had
/ fought for this in l6SS and imagined II
! was secured. But it was only SO IN
name.
| George III was BY nature despot
at heart he was another Stuart. he
! had the parliament almost completelE
under his control in its leslSlauon
upon English questions. but in regard
to the kings colonies his viii was
supreme.
He forced a policy Of government
upon America that he could not and
dared not force upon England. though
his disposition was strong enough.
Were the descendants OF Cromwelfs
Puritans going back TO submit to
| Stuart regime?
! That is what is meant when We
hear that America fought at once the
in England. That is what England
great statesman meant when he de
Glared on the floor Of parliament that
he rejoiced in the resistance or the
colonists. The Earl of chatham kne%
that the government of George III
in whose ears was ringing the ad-
monition of his mother ito be king,
was undermining the constitution OF
Great Britain and bringing the state
back to the forms of monarchy that
had existed in the times of the
Stuarts and the Tudors.
Sovereignty in People.
/ But if the leading principle was the
preservation of English constitutional
government from the encroachments
OF king and parliament, there is an
other principle, as far-reaching as the
development of the state in govern
lment. Sovereignty is always finally
vested i'll the people.
1t may need a theocracy to lead
people out of barbarism; this may
develop into q despotism, with the
,power divided between kings and
bishops. but struggle is sure to
monarch, like Louis XIV. who really
Twas an objective realization OF the
Estate. This. too: will be but TEN
iporary: the people will realize more
land more that the sovereignty IS with
Them and will finally assert il.
I England had asserted it against
,the Stuarts, but George III forgot
lit and it took the loss of the colonies
him of it.
If the king could have accommodated
himself to the existing state of af-
fairs for America as he managed to
do for England, there would have
been the limited constitutional mon
archy that Great Britain finally
reached in 1892. But this was i'm
possible. and so the colonies were
driven to assert by war what the
commons Of England partly gained by
legislation sixty years later.
Basis of Mans PeeraEe.
There was further gained in the
United States recognition that
quality. not quantity, is the basis