The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-24
Democracy Through The Ages

Since this type of government was run
by representatives of the various sdemes,'
it became known to history by the name
of democracy, or democracy as we call it
today. The Greeks made only beginning
toward the real democracy as ii was con-
ceived by the trainers of our Constitution.
The Greeks of Athens, for instance had the
custom of making work slaves out of other
Greeks which they took prisoners in their
numerous wars, and it is estimated by his
torians that the slaves or helots who were
denied the rights Of citizenship outnumbered
the citizens of Athens who possessed them.
Later even this much "deme- -ocracy"
crumbled away when the Greek city-states
like Athens and Sparta began to spend prac-
ticaly all of their time warning with one
another. The old Athenians passed away
and the younger generations lost interest in
preserving their rights of voting and electing
honest representatives. Dictators seized
control of the government These adven-
turers were known by the Greek word
"tyrant," and that is the origin of the word
which we use so often today.
The limelight of history passed next to
the Roman empire but Rome in the days
of its fame was not a very good example of
democracy. Rome was sort of democracy
in the early days when it was still small
and struggling community. It's pro-consuls
were chosen by the Senate and had author
ity only as servants of the people, and not
its masters But early in Rome's history.
It's generals began to assume the titles and
pomp of monarchs, and in the age of Caesar
Al
while Rome seemed to grow more powerful
abroad, its Emperors even reverted to the
old asiatic custom of declaring themselves to
be Gods, and one, Caligula, even passed
decree making his favorite horse God.
This corruption of the rights of citizenship
became so flagrant that Rome decayed and
collapsed into oblivion of its own political
rottenness. The barbarous Germanic tribes
from the North over-ran the city.
The Dark Ages followed for more than
thousand years. when man reverted I'd the
old tribal form of government. which now
became known as feudalism The people
became the serfs and slaves of the various
powerful bully-boys who were strong enough
or cunning enough to gather group of skull
crackers about them and build a combined
fortress. dungeon and castle. These strong
boys became the nobility of Europe and after
about a thousand years began to form al
lances which grew into Kingdoms and
finally into Empires. But the old false
principle of kingship-and-god had been
firmly reestablished and the people were
held in serfdom for many centuries.
The revival of a primative concept of
Democracy came with the Renaissance. and
a number of city-states developed in Italy
vaguely similar to the old government of
Athens. However. il was not till the dis
covery of the New World and the rebellion
of the American colonies from England that
democracy was given its first clear-eut and
foreeful expression in the form of firmly
established government. The American
republic was founded on citizenship for all.
special privilege for none, and the power of
the government deriving only from the con-
sent of the governed
That is the promise and the heritage of
American citizenship. That is the true con-
cept of democracy. Too often we become
involved in local issues and petty brawling
politics. in party pickering and the compe
tition of one group of outs against the
other group of ms Too often we look
upon politics as the competition for jobs,
government contracts and other forms of
patronage. Too often our leaders act like
the old viziers and prime ministers of Asia
Minor. interested only in keeping their
snouts in the public trough.
But all of this is the lowest form of poll
tics" and it is not to be confused with
democracy" Democracy is an ideal. It is
the ideal we must be always working to-
ward. 1t rests on genuine and solid citizen
ship. in the participation of people in the
election of their representatives and the con-
troll of their own destinies. And the way
to preserve it is qualify, to register, and to
vote, and constantly to bear in mind that