Equal rights; C. Schurz

This general identity of interests is the only thing that [ 132] can guarantee the stability of democratic institutions. Equality of rights, embodied in general self-government, is the great moral element of true democracy; it is the only reliable safety valve in the machinery of modern society. There is the solid foundation of our system of government; there is our mission; there is our greatness; there is our safety; there, and nowhere else! This is true Americanism, and to this I pay the tribute of my devo tion. Expediency It is a matter of historical experience, that nothing that is wrong in principle can be right in practice. People are apt to delude themselves on that point; but the ultimate result will always prove the truth of the maxim. Perhaps the most formidable danger for the safety of our institu tions arises from the general propensity of political parties and public men to act on a policy of mere expe diency, and to sacrifice principle to local and temporary success. And here, sir, let me address a solemn appeal to the consciences of those with whom I am proud to struggle side by side against human thraldom.

You hate kingcraft, and you would sacrifice your for tunes and your lives in order to prevent its establishment on the soil of this Republic. But let me tell you that the rule of political parties which sacrifice principle to expe diency, is no less dangerous, no less disastrous, no less aggressive, of no less despotic a nature, than the rule of monarchs. Do not indulge in the delusion, that in order to make a government fair and liberal, the only thing [ 133] necessary· is to make it elective. When a political party in power, however liberal their principles may be, have once adopted the policy of knocking down their oppo nents instead of voting them down, there is an end of justice and equal rights. The history of the world shows no example of a more arbitrary despotism, than that exercised by the party which ruled the National Assem bly of France in the bloodiest days of the great French Revolution. I will not discuss here what might have been done, and what not, in those times of a fearful crisis; but I will say that they tried to establish liberty by means of despotism, and that in her gigantic struggle ~against the united monarchs of Europe, revolutionary _France won the victory, but lost her liberty.

The Logic of Things There is a thing which stands above the command of the most ingenious of politicians: It is the logic of things and events. It cannot be turned and twisted by artificial -arrangements and delusive settlements; it will go its own way with the steady step of fate. It will force you, with uncompromising severity, to choose between two social organizations, one of which is founded upon privilege, -and the other upon the doctrine of equal rights. Force instead·· of right, privilege instead of equality, ,expediency instead of principle, being once the leading motives of your policy, you will have no power to stem the current. There will be new abuses to be corrected, new inconveniences to be remedied, new supposed dan[134 ] gers to be obviated, new equally exacting ends to be subserved, and your encroachments upon the natural rights of your opponents now, will be used as welcome precedents for the mutual oppression. of parties then ..

Having once knowingly disregarded the doctrine of equal rights, the ruling parties will soon accustom them selves to consult only their interests where fundamental principles are at stake. Those who lead us into this chan nel will be like the sorcerer who knew the art of making a giant snake. And when he had made it, he forgot the charm,;.wordthat would destroy it again. And the giant snake threw its horrid coils around him, and the unfor tunate man was choked to death by the monster of his. own creation. [135 ] SOURCE OF RIGHTS THE AXIOM of what is often called "individualism" is that every person has certain inalienable rights. For example, cCindividualism"holds that property as such obviously has no rights; there is only the inherent right of a person to his honestly acquired property .... The axiom of socialism is that the individual has no inherent rights. The privileges and prerogatives that the individual enjoys are grants from society, acting through its management committee, the government. That is the condition the individual must accept for the benefit of being a member of society. Hence, the socialists (includ ing many who do not so name themselves) reject the statement of rights in the Declaration of Independence, calling it a fiction of the eighteenth century.