Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-10-30
Fundamental Principles of
Democracy Must Survive
To the Editor Of The Star:

TO the Edltor OF Inc starr
The fundamental principles which
form the foundation of any modern
democratic state are the inalienable
rights to life. liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. The confiscation of such
ideals can in the long run only prove
reactionary to the PRONUNCIATION of
more free and independent people. These
practices are inherent in our social, eco
nomic and political set-up, and the dis
solution of such would weave delinquency
and degeneration into the moral and
intellectual fabric of our citizenry. Such
principles and ideals of free government
are innate in that they have been tried
since the beginning of governmental or
ganization. We find the usage of such
in the democratic city states of old
Greece, in the administration of early
Rome and in our own hemisphere even
as far back as the Toltec and Magyar
civilizations. Crude it was. and in all
probability not as practical as our mod
ern states, but nevertheless performing
the duty requisite to the enhancement of
any initiative, that of letting the gov
erned govern.
Sovereignty Is wonderful thing when
used to the benefit of all, but when
welded by political clique in tyrannical
fashion it may become a fetter to the
legislative needs of the body polite. 1t
little matters in what form tyranny
exists; whether it be through a political,
social or economic oligarchy, it can still
be tyranny. In any form of government,
as in anything else, policy too far to
the left or too far to the right cannot
be practical. Look at Communist Rus
STA today Here we have a proletarian
state where the people are the servants
of all. They have even gone so far as
to repudiate the church, the institution
of marriage and all the mores which are
necessary to any civilization.
In the Fascist type of government, on
the other hand, we have swing to the
opposite direction. Here we have a
corporate state, or state capitalism. In
dividualism is retained, but of what value
is such in the physical sense when it
is retarded along the lines of education?
This is where their philosophy falls
short of its purpose and we soon realize
that the theories of foreign demagogues
are shallow in their attempt to govern
dictatorially.
Out CT the hodgepodge of this maneu-
vering we witness civil disorders and
international friction which are the
prime encouragements to world conflicts.
We don't want war and can't believe
the peoples on the continent do either
but with such conflicting opinions it is
small wonder that there is trouble be-
tween countries so closely associated.
commercially. socially and geograph-
ically. 1t is only during times of eco
nomic disorder that demagogues and
powerful personalities hypnotic the
people into believing that the way to a
better and more abundant life is through
their autocratic and imperialistic policies.
We thank God that the people in this
country have remained level-headed
enough to dismiss any such fallacious
reasoning and that the institution of
democracy has been preserved by a
citizenry we'll aware of what is going on.
BENJAMIN R. STICKNEY, Jr.