Trade and commerce, if they were
not made of india-rubber, would never manage to bounce over the
obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and,
if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their
actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be
classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put
obstructions on the railroads.
But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call
themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government,
but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of
government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward
obtaining it.
After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the
hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period
continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the
right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because
they are physically the strongest. But a government in which the
majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far
as men understand it. Can there not be a government in which
majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?-
in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of
expediency is applicable? Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in
the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislation? Why has
every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and
subjects afterward.
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