Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14

In its potency to stir the American
| people into forgetfulneSs Of their i'm
mediate woes no stimulant Is equal to
an open challenge to their institutions
and a warning against their political
birthright. With Congress just swing
| ing into action, facing the worst eco
nomic situation experienced in a dec
| ade, with Communism perplexity to
statesmen and an annoyance to police
officers and with grumblings against
the order of things generally heard in
the land, the challenge of Lord Macau-
lay is worth bordering.
In letter dated at London May %,
1857, the British peer addressed to H.
S. Randall Of New York, author of a
life OF Thomas Jefferson, prediction
concerning the future course Of Ameri-
can affairs which contains uncomfort-
able conclusions for readers nearly a
century later. The letter reads, in part /:
I am certain that I never wrote q
line indicating the opinion that
the supreme authority in a state ought
to be intrusted to the majority of the
citizens told by the head in other
words, to the poorest and most ignorant
part Of society. I have long been con-
Vlnced that institutions, purely demo-
cratic, must, sooner or later, destroy
liberty or civilization or both"
This is strong medicine, indeed, for
the 100 per cent American bred I'D in
the belief of the innate superiority Of
his national institutions. Lord Macaulay,
however, presents a remarkable picture
in support of his views. He says:
In Europe, where the population is
dense, the effect of such institutions
would be almost instantaneous. What
happened lately in France Is an ex-
ample. In 1S48 pure democracy was
established there. During q short time
there was q strong reason to expect q
general Spoliation, o national bank
ruptcy, new partition of the soil, q
maximum of prices, a ruinous load of
taxation laid on the rich for the pur-
pose of supporting the poor in idleness.
Such system would. in 20 years. have
MADE France as poor and as barbarouS
as the France of the Carlovingians.
| Happily, the danger was averted; and
now there Is despotism, q silent trib-
une, an enslaved press, liberty Is gone,
but civilization has been saved. have
not the smallest doubt that If we had a
purely democratic government here the
enect would be the same. Either the
poor would plumber the rich, and civili-
zatlon would perish, or order and prop
erty would be saved by strong mill
tary government and liberty would
perish.
FOresaw Change In Economic Conditions.
You may think that your country
enjoys an exemption from these evils. I
Will frankly own to you that am of a
very different opinion. Your fate be-
lieve to be certain, though it is defer
red by physical cause. As long as YOU
have boundless extent of fertile and
unoccupied land your laborir1g popula-
tlon VIII be far more at ease than the
laboring population of the Old World,
ana while that is the case the Jeffer-
sonlan policy may continue TO exist
without causing any fatal calamity.
But the time will come when New
England will be as thickly peopled as
old England. Wages will be as low and
Will huctuate as much with you as with
US. You will have your Manchesters
ana Birminghams. Hundreds and thou
sands of artisans will assuredly be
sometimes out of work. Then your in
situations will be fairly brought to the
test. Distress everywhere makes the la
borer mutinous and discontented, and
lnclines him to listen with eagerness
to agitators, who tell him that 1t is q