13. Once Upon a Time

CHAPTER 13 ONCE UPON A TIME We can find no better means for exploring politics than by examining briefly and with some penetration the history of the origin of these United States. Perhaps there is no better way to assist one in making a penetrating self-analysis. Most of us are intimately acquainted with life in these United States. It would be instructive for us to learn just how and when these ideas became paramount in the general opinion: 1. The individual must surrender his· personal liberty so that "society" will be free.

318 - THIS BREAD IS MINE 2. The voice of the majority is the voice of God. 3. Any kind of political maneuvering is justified because the ends are far more important than any means for accomplishing the ends. In a prior. chapter, the advantages accruing from life in these United States during our free enterprise years have al ready been shown. Many believe that the cause of the progress and development of free Americans is the extension of suf frage which gives every citizen the opportunity to express him self at the polls. Whether or not this is true, let us begin by an examination into the background of the people of the original colonies in this nation. Socialist Antecedents The settlers who came to these shores came from nations which were already largely socialized. In England, France, Germany, Holland, and other spawning grounds of our col onists, such extensive regulation of the means of production and distribution had already occurred that men did not believe ONCE UPON A TIME - 319 that opportunities existed for them in their native lands. They migrated to America, knowing that America had to abound in opportunity since here there was little government to be reck oned with.

To a large degree it can be demonstrated that the waves of immigration to these shores were shifts of population im pelled by European socialism. Of course, before Marx adver tised socialism, few thought of·the process as socialistic. They thought of it rather as a system of privilege in which the ruling nobility had all the advantages and taxed the producers of wealth into a state of perpetual poverty. However we wish to term the theories under which the then civilized world operated, the fact is that socialism was the keynote, with a special order of highwaymen installed in offices of power. It was to escape these highwaymen that our forefathers fled to these shores. They well know that there was no security for them here. Rather, they faced a well-publicized frontier of boundless op portunities, boundless freedom, and few if any other advan320 - THIS BREAD IS MINE tages. A minority fancied that they could get rich quick on these alien shores and then return to the old country to enjoy their profits. By far the majority came here to set up homes and to live a new life free from the exactions and cruelties imposed upon them by a controlled.and regulated economy.

So vast was the distance which separated the colonists from the thrones of their respective monarchs, that for all practical purposes the motley horde that descended upon the Atlantic seaboard was ungoverned. The fact was particularly striking in the freest and most productive colonies. True, there were numerous colonial satrapies established. But the governor of each colony, holding a franchise from his king which permitted him to collect taxes, control imposts, levy. tariffs and the like, was so far removed geographically from the seat of enforcement that in a large measure the col onists, particularly the British colonists, did as they pleased. The Spanish and French kings who established settlements are deserving of recognition for their attempt to create in the new world an extension of the old. world slave society. The ONCE UPON A TIME - 321 colonists were like little children, to begin with, eager to please their kings, delighted to do as they were told. But when ever this charming submission came up against the facts of existence as it is, the colonial governors found themselves unable to enforce the simplest edict. The frontiers were so large and so near. The target of legal action could and did take to the hills or woods, and government, insofar as enforcement was concerned, rested largely on the willing acquiescence of the people, or it existed not at all.

Planned Welfare We know of no writing so descriptive of the times as that of Rose Wilder Lane in her book, "Discovery of Freedom." "Eager to build settlements'in New France and New Spain, the French and Spanish ·kings gave the land, in communal fields, to selected peasants of good character, sound morals, and industrious habits. The governments gave them carefully detailed instructions for clearing and fencing the land, caring for the fence and the gate, and plowing and planting, cultivat ing, harvesting, and dividing the crops.

322 - THIS BREAD IS MINE "The government allotted land for the village, to be built as in Europe, a compact mass of cottages. It protected the vil lages by a detachment of soldiers, and a well-built fort. "In every settlement, a commandant kept order and dispensed justice, usually with much human sympathy and wisdom. Typically, he addressed the settlers as 'my children' and they were obedient, well cared for, and gay. They had no trouble with the Indians. They learned the Indians' ball games, and played ball, raced horses; fought cocks, feasted and danced and sang, and gambled a great deal. They enjoyed safety, leisure, and enough to eat, in the American wilderness. "During a century, the kings of France established· such snug little settlements from the Atlantic along the St. Law rence, around the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi Valley to Mobile and New Orleans. Before Thomas Jefferson was born, there was a little Versailles in Illinois; ladies and gentle men in silks and satins and jewels were riding in sedan chairs to the Twelfth Night balls, and Indians and happy villagers, fatter than any in Europe, crowded outside the ballroom to watch the gaiety.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 323 "The English kings were never so efficient. They gave the land to traders (Pennsylvania and Georgia, of course, were later given to philanthropists) . A few gentlemen, who had political pull enough to get a grant, organized a trading com pany; their agents coIIected a ship-load or two of settlers and made an agreement with them which was usually broken on both sides. "Landed in America, the colonists were never sure of getting the promised supplies; if the company's directors did not send them, the colonists died. But the directors could not depend on the settlers; they didn't work, they didn't get the expected furs, and the bound servants, especially, were al ways skipping out to live with the Indians. "When Raleigh's promised supplies did not arrive, his whole colony vanished, and today you can talk with men from the Carolina foothills to the Osage mountains in Oklahoma who swear that their ancestors we~e in Raleigh's 'lost colony,' and that they simply moved to the mainland and up into the mountains.

324 - THIS BREAD IS MINE "To the scandalized French, the people in the English colonies seemed liked undisciplined children, wild, rude, wretched subjects of bad rulers. Their villages were un planned, their houses were· scattered, they did not cultivate the land in common (though the towns did have communal pas tures); their harvests were not equally divided, and they were always quarreling with each other and with the Indians. Their settlements split into factions;· rebels left them and made other settlements. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf, in 1750, 'Bos tonian' meant what 'Bolshevik' meant in this country twenty years ago. "These unmanaged settlements all grew much more rap idly than the French and Spanish settlements. They grew so rapidly that in a hundred and fifty years they numbered more than a million persons, and the· rate of· population-growth was rapidly increasing .... "

And here was the point. The English colonies were un planned, free and open to the individualistic nature of the inhabitants. They were rebellious of authority. The French and ONCE UPON A TIME - 325 Spanish colonies were planned, controlled and safe. But there was no room for individualistic developments. Consequently, when an English colonist wished to accomplish some particu lar chore he did so, probably right in the colony where he resided. And the king's representative could like it or not as he chose. But in a French or Spanish colony, the individualist wishing to depart from the controlled and regimented atmos phere had to depart physically. So he pulled up stakes and headed into the wilderness. The vigor of expansion occurred in those colonies in which a minimum of regimentation resided. Elsewhere, little or no growth developed. We can trace the predominance of British influence in this country to the freedom of its settlers. Had the French .or Spanish kings relaxed their vigilance over their "children" it is possible that today we would be speaking and writing either French or Spanish rather than English. After all, the French and the Spanish had the advantage in most places of prior settlement and prior claim.

326-THIS BREAD IS MINE But the early American, throwing out his chestand breathing deeply the atmosphere of liberty, became in a few generations a rugged and independent human being. He was self-reliant because he had to be. He owned no man to be his , better .. He soon learned to kneel to none but God and even to keep his hat on in the presence of the king'srepresentatives. His eyes sought the verdure of the ever-present forest. The mists of spring and autumn kissed the hills ever at hand. Strange new ideas of human rights began to fill his mind. When he decided to open a forge, establish a mill, grow wheat, shoot quail, trap beaver, get married, raise a family, break horses, mine gold, hire out asa carpenter, make bricks, go to sea, become a merchant or a drummer, he did so. If the king's representative didn't like it, the cocky upstart thumbed his nose at vested authority and moved to a new location, or he stayed where he was and did as he pleased.

When taxes oppressed him, he refused to pay them. When the king brought in regiments to collect them, he tarred and feathered the tax collectors. He drank strong ale and stronger ONCE UPON A TIME - 327 wine, he uttered seditious and treasonous speech with great glee, he worshipped where he would and even was so bold as to stay away from the state-supported church; and whenever he sniffed out any type of oppression leveled against him or his, he fought back with vigor, or he ignored·it, or he moved away. For nearly 150 years BEFORE the Declaration of Independence was written, the men and women of America were giving indication they knew freedom meant the absence of restraining force. And during those years, a series of indolent and passive rulers on the throne of England ,enhanced their spiritual and moral outlook by doing nothing for them. Thus it happened when the third German George (III) grasped the British scepter of dominion and swore he would bea progressive and an industrious king, the colonists were steeped in seven generations of being let alone. So far as they were concerned, the alleged "divine right" of the British monarch to collect taxes from them was foolish.

328 - THIS BREAD IS MINE George might be able to regulate and govern trade in the British Isles. All the more reason· for him to leave the settlers alone. When it became apparent he wasn't going to leave them alone, a few spirited colonists like Tom· Paine, Tom Jefferson, the Adams boys, George Mason and others formulated a doc trine which proved that a monarch who inherits political power has no divine right to rule. They made an intellectual travesty of monarchy which shook the foundations under every throne in the world. High Treason This was treason, as the members of the Virginia house of burgesses tried to warn Patrick Henry. He would not heed their warning! He counselled that the next breeze from the north might bring with it the sound of clashing arms. And as far as he was concerned, he would have liberty . . . liberty from the clutches of a divinely appointed sire ... or he would take death!

ONCE UPON A TIME - 329 The timid trembled. But the time had come. The death knell to ,a PARTICULAR TYPE of tyrannous rule had been sounded in these colonies. The farmers, merchants, drummers, hunters, trappers, fishermen and seamen sprang to arms. Who was the leader? Here is the curious central fact of the American rebellion against monarchy. There was no leader. This was true because there was no government in the normal meaning of the word. For seven score years and more the Americans had scorned the time-honored political concepts of the old world. Sam Adams started the Committees of Correspondence. Information of the latest misdeeds of the king and the king's .men was passed from colony to colony and into the far reaches of the frontier. The "Sons of Liberty," consisting in the main of hot-headed youth, the "hot-rod" set of their day, banded together to give theking's expensively dressed regulars a hard time. Each colony had its spokesman; each community, its savant coun selling freedom from oppression.

330 - THIS BREAD IS MINE Against the wishes of the king, the Articles of Confedera tion were drawn up. There was little leadership and what there was vacillated to and from with each dispatch. George Washington, an ardent Tory, took a trip on horseback and someone thrust a copy of Tom Paine's mighty "Common Sense" into his hands. He read it and was convinced separation of the colonies from the mother country had to come. The sedition spread. On every hand there were those who advocated an outright break. But on every hand were those who advocated submission and a patient subservience. The land was seething in political ferment. Gradually, a pattern of resistance to political oppression took form. A gang of exuberant Bostonians turned the waters of Boston harbor into a tea cozy. Another gang, mostly from Rhode Island, rowed out into the bay and captured an armed gun boat flying His Majesty's colors and which, at the moment, was attempting to capture one of John Hancock's merchant ships laden with contraband. Hancock was a black market operator and smuggler. The men in the rowboat swarmed ONCE UPON A TIME - 331 aboard the Gaspee, beat up the captain and crew, and burned the ship to the water's edge.

The Minute Men were organized. They VOLUNTEERED to stop whatever they were doing at a minute's notice to stand off further incursions from the British crown. Came the dawn of April 19, 1775. A thin, reedy line of fewer than 100 Minute Men met at Buckley's tavern on the Boston corner of Lexington's green. The hale and hearty tavern keeper, routed out at 3: 00 A.M., plied each man with a mug of something called rum flip. The ingredients are secret to this day, but the mugs were enormous. Those untrained, bleary-eyed farmers formed a line across the common. "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." Remember the words? And remember, no government told Captain John Parker, another volunteer, to utter them. Here· was a declaration of independence backed up by outright rebellion almost a year and a half BEFORE the his torically credited leaders of the rebellion got around to putting it on paper.

332 - THIS BREAD IS MINE The British troops under the orders of General Gage had little trouble in dispersing the rebels. They marched on to Concord, the objective of their foray. They were supposed to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock. But both men had been warned and were nowhere to be found. The ammunition and supplies gathered there, a secondary aim of the expedition, had been spirited away before the troops arrived. Empty handed, they retraced their steps to Boston. But now the countryside was aroused. Now the patriots, loving freedom more than they loved their political system, got behind fences, walls, trees and buildings. The march to Boston was increased to quick time, then to double time. The march became a retreat. Then a rout. The countryside was alive. Each man shot what and when he pleased. No man led the opposition. The only official leader on both sides was the British officer in charge. And he was so busy trying to dodge those singing pellets that he had no time to try to seek the leaders of the rebellion. To this day, no one is certain. Everyone was responsible for his own actions that day.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 333 The men who answered liberty's call took their positions because they would rather do it than not do it. Any man who didn't want to get out of his nice, warm bed on that frosty morn ing stayed put. But the ones who did get up earned an everlasting debt of gratitude from all who benefited by the freedom they voluntarily won on that day . •What Came Naturally Follow the course of the revolutionary war if you will. It is a record of free men doing what came naturally to them fighting for the right to be free of political dominance. From Bunker Hill to Valley Forge, from New York to Yorktown, the Americans, backed finally by French allies, retreated. The revolt against the British crown could properly be called a retreat to victory. Half the time the Continental Con gress was in flight. Most of the time there was no money to pay the troops. Forever the troops were poorly armed and equipped.

But there was no draft. There was no compulsion. Rarely did Washington, who finally accepted the overall command, 334-THIS BREAD IS MINE know who was in his army. Men came and went. There was sickness, privation and hardship - and an indomitable spirit. And here is an important point. This war was not fought so the Constitution could be written. On the contrary, the war was fought before the Constitution was even a dream. The battle of Yorktown, which ended the hostilities, occurred. in 1781. The call for the Constitutional Convention which drafted and then urged the adoption of a Constitution didn't go out until September 17, 1787. It took six years before even a few of the colonists could convince themselves that a major central government was needed. Having just experienced the pain and anguish of breaking off the yoke of one kind of tyrant, they did not desire a second yoke. We come now to a most sensitive point. Historian Charles Beard, in his book, "An Economic Interpretation of the Con stitution of the United States," (published in 1913) dropped a bombshell, the fragmentations from which have beeR of aid and comfort to the socialists for at least two score years.

In this study, Beard maintained the Constitution was the deliberate work of a particular economic group. His charge ONCE UPON A TIME - 335 was that the document was the offspring of the monied and propertied class and was set up deliberately to hold down the working classes and to exploit them, at the same time it pro tected and benefited those of superior .economic position and advantage. For a long time the charge went unanswered. There were few in this country who were willing to undertake the enor mous research necessary to refute this allegation. Finally, in 1958, Forrest McDonald, working through the American History Research Center of Madison, Wisconsin, did so. His book, "We the People," (University of Chicago Press) is the most painstaking and thoroughly workmanlike job undertaken to refute Professor Beard. But while Dr. McDonald lays the ghost of the Beard accusation, his study uncovers a wealth of political chicanery which accompanied the drafting and the ratification of the Constitution, albeit the maneuverings are shown to be devoid of primary economic motivation.

336-THIS BREAD IS MINE Economic Motivation Those who opposed the ratification and adoption of the Constitution were, in many instances, as economically solvent as those who favored it. Clearly, in its antecedents, the Con stitution was NOT the work of the monied classes. However, notwithstanding McDonald's exhaustive efforts it is still pos sible that those who favored and those who opposed the Constitution's adoption, took their positions for economic reasons. It may be those men of means who favored the formation of a stronger central power believed their financial position would be enhanced thereby; and it is equally possible those who opposed the formation did so for an identical reason. Men are not gifted with prescience. And since Dr. McDonald was compelled to work backward from the known results of the Constitution, it is a little too extensive a stretch of our credulity to suppose that either 1) all of the men who contended on this issue were gifted with foresight or - 2) all of the men who thus contended were devoid of economic interests.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 337 In any case, some men were aided financially by the adop tion of the document and some men were not. (Nor were all of those aided, those who favored it; and those harmed, those who opposed.) Before considering this important milestone in the history of government, it must be stressed that the Constitution as a document is not the truly important item to be considered. The Constitution was designed with the principle of men's independ ence and economic individuality in mind. What must now be asked is this. Has the Constitution proved to be the safeguard for individual free enterprise that our founders hoped it would be? Has it stood the test of time? Has it retained its basic na ture of providing for a limited government of dispersed power? Or, has it, rather, escaped the mold into which it was poured, and burgeoned outward until today it has become as oppressive as some prior and contemporary forms?

What is important is the true nature of man. If the Con stitution has done the job outlined for it,namely, that of pro338-THIS BREAD IS MINE viding a centralized agency for the purpose of insuring all of men's basic rights in freedom, then we must be content with the Constitution. If, on the other hand, we must "get back to the Con stitution," proving thereby we are no longer protected by it, then we must be candid enough in our appraisal to recognize that it contained certain basic flaws. We must be willing to examine it carefully, not as though it were a divine instrument struck off by angels, but rather as though it were what it is, an instrument of government in keeping in some places with man's nature, and in violation in some places of man's na ture, but in no way so holy and so sacrosanct that it must not be analyzed. Surely, a Constitution can be improved upon as well as degraded. Surely, we are not banned from cutting gov ernment down in size or even eventually abolishing all powers it has taken which it uses to invade human rights.

It is absurd to suggest that all we have to do is to adhere to a particular written Constitution if it can be shown that the particular form has already been breached by the clever maniONCE UPON A TIME - 339 pulations of those who seek to convert America into an old-world despotism of either Platonic, Marxian or Fabian character. If the Constitution can protect our basic rights, then let us stick with it. If it cannot, then let us not hamper ourselves with an ineffective tool. What. is important is our basic rights. If what began as an instrument for protecting an individualistic economy has been altered so it has become an instrument for inducing a new kind of democratic tyranny, the quicker we wake up to the fact, the better. We must take care at this juncture in American life that we do not lose the spirit of liberty in an adherence to a form which no longer contains the spirit. A bottle which has been emptied of the elixir it contained, should not be a subject of worship. It is simply an empty container. It is the elixir which must be preserved.

Under motivations the depth and extent of which we will probably never know, a group of sincere and dedicated veter ans of the American con:Oict with Britain set themselves the 340 - THIS BREAD IS MINE task of providing a "more· perfect union." Among these men were such stalwarts as Alexander Hamilton, J ohn Jay and James Madison. But among the American colonists who op posed the adoption of the Constitution were such men as John Hancock, who helped pay for the revolution; Patrick Henry, whose inspiring speeches helped trigger the revolution; and George Mason, one of the outstanding libertarian minds of his generation. As Professor McDonald reveals, the political footwork to secure ratification of· the Constitution was engineered even while the delegates were battling over the nature of the in strument. Clearly, there was a strong and urgent desire in certain quarters to set up a federal government at whatever cost, regardless of what it provided.

"Thus, in the Convention, even as they debated principles and haggled over details, they were writing into the Constitu tion the first provision in their future· political strategy. This was Article VII, the process of ratification: The ratification of the. Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the ONCE UPON A TIME - 341 Establishment of this Constitution between the States so rati fying the same. Harmless enough on its face, this provision stacked the deck in the forthcoming contest and virtually assured ratification." By .holding special conventions in each state, rather than relying upon the existing state legislatures, those favoring rati fication employed an astute device enabling them to pack dele gates into these special conventions which process was barred them had they depended upon the normal representation. Ad ditionally, by creating a situation in which the ratification of nine states would automatically validate the Constitution, an instrument of pressure was created which tended to whip the remaining four states into line. A combine of nine states would be too strong for four separate sovereign states to ·oppose.

Here is Professor McDonald again: "This seventh article, together with the complementary resolutions sent to· Congress and to the several states, reveals the nature of the contest, at least in the minds of Federal strat egists ... It was STATES as such which had to be won, and 342 - THIS BREAD IS MINE the design of Article VII, and the strategy of the Federalists were geared to this fact." The Constitution was not adopted by the people of the colonies in anything resembling a general election. Nor were their representatives, drawn together under the Articles of Confederation, permitted to vote on the issue. The political strategem was to by-pass both of these means and to place the issue squarely before a group of persons carefully drawn to gether for the especial purpose. The plan to provide the colonies with a strong central government began to be noised about during the days follow ing the revolutionary war in which a treaty of peace was being negotiated with Britain.

Political Strategy The idea was slow to take hold. One of the staunchest op ponents of the scheme was Thomas Jefferson, the bold author of the Declaration of Independence. At this time Jefferson was serving in the Confederate Congress. His comments against ONCE UPON A TIME - 343 the adoption of a stronger central authority were so pertinent a move was undertaken to ship. him to England to negotiate the treaty and thus to get him out of the way. He turned down the first proposal to this effect, but as treaty efforts continued to languish he finally agreed to go when the second offer was made. Jefferson was strongly opposed to slavery, despite the fact he was himself a slave owner. He could see the single possible advantage to a strong central government as residing in a per manent decree against the practice. But this single· advantage did not seem to him of sufficient importance to justify the formation of an entire federal government simply to obtain it.

He was a strong exponent of states' rights and it was well known then, and is well known now, that his position was "that government is best which governs least." His political faction was strong in Virginia, and Virginia was not only a key state insofar as the ultimate union was con cerned, but contained the one man the Federalists wanted as president, George Washington, himself.

344 - THIS BREAD IS MINE Jefferson had already served two terms as governor of Virginia, and when he absented himself to go to the Congress and afterwards to go abroad, Patrick Henry, another strong anti-Federalist, became governor. By the time Jefferson's second appointment came, the treaty had been successfully concluded and his sailing was deferred. The Federalists were desperate. They dared not ig nore Jefferson if they sent out a call for a Constitutional Convention. Yet, they feared his opposition. What to do? Someone got a brilliant idea and proposed it. Jefferson could be sent to France as an assistant to Benjamin Franklin, who had served and was serving brilliantly as minister. Jefferson, amenable finally to a sojourn on British soil, was successfully redirected to the courts in Paris. Although Franklin needed no assistance, the strong champion of states' rights went to France to provide it.

Now, the Federalists played a trump card. Franklin was an old man and politically open to a strong central government, albeit one with severe limitations. It would be better to have ONCE UPON A TIME - 345 Franklin in the States than Jefferson. Both men had reputa tions as statesmen. Both were dedicated to the cause of free dom. Either could be counted upon to lead his followers in whichever direction was finally taken. In 1785 Jefferson took over Franklin's duties as minister to France and the aging author of "Poor Richard" came back to America and was asked to serve as delegate to the conven tion, where he could lend dignity to the proceedings and, it was hoped, swing his followers into line behind the new government. So Jefferson was not present at the Constitutional Con vention and did not return to the States until the end of 1789, after the document had been ratified. He had nothing to do with its framing or approval. Later on, he was to support it stoutly.

Franklin and the Constitution Let us examine Benjamin Franklin's conduct at the meeting in Philadelphia.

346-THIS BREAD IS MINE "Franklin, Apostle of Modern Times," by Bernard Fay, gives us some insight into the general thinking of the dele gates at the convention and also a view as to Franklin's par ticular philosophy respecting government. As to the delegates, Fay says: "They were directly op posed to Franklin's philosophical tendency, which might be summed up in this formula: the least government possible is the greatest possible good." On page 504 of this biographical sketch, Mr. Fay describes what transpired during that hot and sultry summer in Philadelphia. "Throughout the session of the Convention, Franklin ad vocated lost causes and praised French liberalism in which no one was interested. Three theories were particularly dear to him: the danger of paying government officials high salaries; the necessity of establishing a feeble, plural executive body; and the justice of representation which was proportioned to the population and the State's wealth.

ONCE UPON A TIME-347 "He was beaten on all three points. In spite of his speech on June 2, liberal salaries were attached to all federal appoint ments; in spite of his address on June 11, which urged that the smaller states accept equal taxation if they demanded equal representation, the smaller States won out. He had to propose a compromise himself, to the effect that the equal representa tion should be maintained except on financial measures. But this was not enough; the Convention agreed to establish a federal Senate; to which each State would send an equal num ber 'of representatives. Franklin had no success, either, in his proposition for a multiple executive body (June 30). "The Convention did not talk the same language as he· did. On June 28 after hours of vain discussion in this question of representation, Franklin suggested they have recourse to pray er and ask heaven for assistance. His discourse, which was brief but moving, and filled with Biblical piety, would have made the ladies of Passy weep, but it had no effect whatsoever on the American delegates. One of them answered with a crush ing objection: the Convention did not have the money to pay 348 - THIS BREAD IS MINE for a minister! There was a short discussion and Franklin was forced to realize that 'the convention, except three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary' . . ."

His final speech is excerpted for us by the biographer. "I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Constitu tion, at present ... In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, - if they are such; because I think a general government necessary for us and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years and can only end in despotism, as other' forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic govern ment, being incapable of any other." Fay sums it up as follows: "Thanks to this speech, the plan ·of the Convention was adopted .unanimously and became the Constitution of the United States. From the standpoint of public opinion, his in tervention was decisive, for the people were rather hostile ONCE UPON A TIME - 349 to this new project, and would have probably rejected it if a leader such as Franklin had denounced it. Thus, he had played an important role at the Convention but it was political suicide; he had helped to organize a regime which was different from what he wanted, from what he had been recommending for thirty years, and he had put a group of men in power who had no confidence in him."

Thus Franklin played the Federalists' tune and Jefferson was out of the way. What of Samuel and John Adams, stalwart backers of the revolution? Adams and Hancock Privately, Sam Adams had expressed himself as having strong reservations against the Constitution. He would not serve as delegate. But he would make no public statement either pro or con. John took a similar position. To secure the backing of the Adamses was an important and necessary step in the process of ratification. Massachusetts was a vital state. And the Adamses were cold to the proposal while John Han cock, also from Massachusetts, was openly hostile.

350 - THIS BREAD IS MINE So the Federalists held a mass meeting at the famed Old Green Dragon Inn two days before the Constitutional conven tion was held. Some 400 participants, mechanics and tradesmen of Boston rallied to the cause of the Federalists and the Adams boys were witness to the drama. Seeing what appeared to be large public sentiment in favor of the Constitution, Sam an nounced that he would support ratification. Hancock was another story. But the Federalists were com petent to deal with him. According to Dr. McDonald, "To en list Hancock's support the Federalists promised to support him for the vice presidency or, if Virginia did not ratify in time to qualify Washington, even for the presidency. Nothing could have appealed to Hancock more, and he gave his support to ratification. " Hancock, of course, was not the vice president finally selected by the Federalists. The final major battle for ratification was to be fought out in Virginia.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 351 Here, notwithstanding Washington, the absent Jefferson's influence was strong. And the esteem and .prestige of Patrick Henry was so great the contest became virtually a personal campaign between Henry and Washington. Henry was elo quent. It is said by McDonald that at a single meeting where Henry spoke, he managed to convert three Federalist delegates to the anti-Federalist cause. He portrayed the destruction of human liberty under the Constitution in such vivid phrases that the witness "involuntarily felt his wrists to assure himself that the fetters were not already pressing his flesh." For sheer political wizardy and compelling behind-the scenes maneuvering, the adoption of the American Constitution has few parallels. The adoption came. And the course of his tory was set. The heroic men and women who struggled to insure us an atmosphere of liberty were under pressures the like of which have only become parallel in modern times. Disunited, alone, facing a world of great potential hostility, it was only normal and natural for our forebears to band together. Of course, they 352 - THIS BREAD IS MINE had just defeated on the field of battle the most powerful em pire in existence. But the cost of this effort had been enormous.

The colonists were exhausted by the effort and could not have looked abroad without the fear that some other nation might swoop down upon them to find· them weak and illy-prepared for future hostilities. If they moved to institute an agency of arbitrary and artificial might, one cannot blame them. Not the slightest breath of criticism for their fears and apprehensions is intended or implied. Provide again the unique situation with which our ancestors were faced and there would be few of us who would counsel a course of action other than the one finally taken. While the colonists viewed a situation that was unique, so, too, do we, their descendants, face a unique period of his tory. And what we must do is to blaze a new trail, mark a new pathway into greater liberty, not be content merely to rest on past glory and presume that everything has already been accomplished.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 353 Some men sincerely felt the cause of freedom would be aided by the Constitution. Others just as sincere, believed the cause of freedom would be harmed. It is not our purpose here to decry or to defame the splendid dedicated men who labored either for or against ratification of the document. It can be assumed each man had his motive, and we must assume these motives, however colored they may have been by each economic situation, were in the main altruistic and objective. What is important for general realization is that many and brilliant were those who strongly opposed the instrument. Nor is their patriotism in question. The Constitution was a human document which, so long as people were intent upon their own affairs, leaving govern ment largely in other hands, served well enough. But, as time passed, efforts were made to convince the American people their progress, their industry, their productivity, were not the product of their own energies but, peculiarly, the product of their own government.

354-THIS BREAD IS MINE The government became, in the minds of many, great in itself and not merely fortunate by virtue of its limited and di vided characteristics. When the American people began to believe all of their good fortune flowed from the federal capital, it was natural for them to turn to that capital for the satisfaction of every known want and desire. Though government can never serve as an all-knowing and all-seeing father, there were political oppor tunists on hand to profit by the assumption. This trend, which has developed slowly but steadily since the first days of ratification, has now reached alarming pro portions. The reason for the alarm is the federal government is an artificial agency of might, unnatural and contrary to the desires and talents of a great host of American people. It will remain for present or future generations to decide whether or not the Constitution must be preserved at all costs, or whether individual liberty, personal privacy, initiative, self-reliance and responsibility in an environment of freedom are more produc tive of good for everyone.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 355 While Communists may chant that they wish the Constitu tion abolished, Fabians and other Socialists are quite content with it. By modern interpretations of the meaning and purpose of the Constitution, the instrument is now serving to protect and sustain ideas which are hostile to personal freedom and independence. Instead of protecting the free enterpriser from theft and incursions of various sorts, the federal government has become the largest single predator with which he must cope. The Con stitution, as Franklin predicted, has become a device for fur thering despotism. The bulwark designed to protect our freedom has been breached. Not Far Enough The leaders of the war against England didn't go far enough. Their conceptions were developed within the frame work of their own time and place. They saw the necessity of limiting the power of government. Being intimately ac quainted with the tyranny of the monarchial form, they were 35.6-THIS BREAD IS MINE alert against it. In this, they were successful. There has been no sustained movement in these United States to establish a monarchy, although a few persons will, on occasion, venture that· we should have a "strong man" government in order to put down persons and ideas of which they do not approve.

Additionally, our founding fathers saw that political power placed in the hands of the people can lead to disaster. They tried to devise a middle way, in which all power would be diffused, each unit of power serving to check some other unit of power so tyranny would be difficult. Where they effectively checked the amassment of power, the government did not func tion at all. Where the check was insufficient, the government functioned and grew. According to Catherine Drinker Bowen in her book, "John Adams and the American Revolution," it was the consensus of opinion in those days that state governments must be in stituted at once. Without these governments, two and a half million people could not conduct a continental war.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 357 "Ever since June of 1775, when Massachusetts petitioned Congress to institute the first independent provisional govern ment, John had urged the necessity of separate state constitu tions. 'From the beginning,' John wrote later, 'I always expected we should have more danger and difficulty from our attempts to govern ourselves than from all the fleets and armies of Europe.' "Everywhere, Royal Governors were on the run. Lord Dunmore had been chased out of Norfolk, Virginia and lived on a warship, where he complained he was 'reduced to the deplorable and disgraceful state of being a tame spectator of rebellion.' In New Jersey, Governor William Franklin, Dr. Franklin's illegitimate son, was arrested and put under guard by the patriots. Maryland's Governor Eden, a tactful gentleman, much liked, was allowed to remain at large." It was gratifying to be rid of these crown officers, yet their going left no gov ernment at all. Even the conciliation men admitted that some sort of provisional government must be constructed. They were careful to stress the word, provisional.

358 - THIS BREAD IS MINE "The great question was, What form should these govern ments take? Thirteen colonies debated it. Interest was intense and penetrated to the remotest frontier households. If the war with Britain did not touch every cabin and settlement, the question of local government most certainly did touch them. They had absolutely nothing to go by; nowhere in Europe had popular government been tried on so large a scale. People were fearful of the unknown, the untried; each man looked to his own particular interest. Landowning patriots in New York and the Carolinas, with thousands of acres under their personal control, were naturally inclined toward a government by the aristocracy, which meant themselves. New England, on the other hand, inhabited by small traders and farmers, fishermen, storekeepers, desired governments far more democratical. Colonies, counties, towns sent in their stated preferences, 'that it is our opinion that we do not want any Governor but the Governor of the Universe, and under him a States General to consult with the rest of the States for the good of the whole'."

ONCE UPON A TIME - 359 But while the leaders were doing their best to arrive at a type of government which would not govern; at a type of representation not completely representative; at a type of taxing authority that would not tax too severely, the people themselves followed their leaders but with less objectivity and less self-effacement. The people rebelled against monarchy and the feudal con cept of a divinely appointed nobility because they recognized that it gave a certain select few the opportunity toprofit at the expense of others. To begin with, they actually abolished government. It took two years before the state governments began to function feebly. In general, the people went on ignoring government. Sporadically, they resisted it here and there. Remember the "whiskey rebellion," the "interpositions" in Virginia and Kentucky, the resistance to tariffs in South Carolina's open ports?

Then again there were the violent "anti-draft" riots in New York City which accounted for the lives of a thousand men in Civil War days. It was when the government began to dole 360 - THIS BREAD IS MINE out "free land" to the "poor" that the agency of authority began to be viewed as a giant cornucopia. The former rebels reached out for the magic word "republic." Later, they groped for the word "democracy" to justify their desire to get something for nothing. By believing in the efficacy of either or both of these words, they came to believe that they could join· in with the "nobility" which they had rebelled against, and thus be nobles themselves by sharing in the profits others earn. The cruel disillusionment with which we are dealing fol lows when it is realized that there are no "others." The system is cannibalistic and results in a condition in which all men employ the government to prey upon all other men.

Stripped of its attempted moral justifications, this is socialism. Spirit of Liberty The question for our generation and those following is this: Can we rediscover the spirit. of liberty despite the Con stitution, or must we forever be subjected to a form of governONCE UPON A TIME - 361 ment which has, in fine, protected liberty little better than previous forms? Because of the initial thrust of liberty's clean blade, our country has forged ahead, and in contrast to the tyranny and capriciousness of other governments our political instrument has seemed superior. But when we turn our eyes once more towards liberty, we can realize how far we· have drifted from the basic American fact, how inferior is the instrumentality which was designed to protect liberty, how vast is the differ ence between what we have and what our founders sought to attain. Americans may fancy they have had freedom during the days since 1789 because of the Constitution. The fact is they had freedom notwithstanding the Constitution. Although the government we have had has been of assistance to punish wrong-doers, to maintain a large area of free trade and to wage warfare (if wars be useful), it has not been demon strated that these services could not have been performed WHEN NECESSARY by other means.

362 - THIS BREAD IS MINE It would take a volume larger than this to list and describe the instances in which our government, sometimes in contradiction of the Constitution and sometimes in accord with it, violated the principles of nature and of nature's laws. A single example should suffice to show the fact of these violations was known and understood before our day by men of principle. William Lloyd Garrison, at a fourth of July meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society in Framingham Grove near Boston, read the Fugitive Slave Act, and then read the court order of a federal judge handing a fugitive slave back to its owner. Having read them he set a match to both documents, crying as they burned, "And let all the people say Amen!" Then Garrison raised high a copy of the Constitution of the United States, read its clauses that sanctioned slave prop erty and declared the Constitution was the source of all other atrocities, terming it the "covenant with death and agree ment with hell." Then, he burned the Constitution. Today, were someone to do this he would be called a Communist.

ONCE UPON A TIME - 363 But Garrison was no Communist. Nor are the people Com munists who object to communism or socialism as it is rammed down their throats today by means of legal forms. From its earliest days of taxation, its conduct respecting slavery and the tariff, its broken treaties with Indians, its re ligious persecution of the Mormons, its harassment· of various individuals, its bayonet-bearing paratroopers in Little Rock, its first illegal income tax under Abraham Lincoln, its first re course to a compulsive draft which brought on a riot in New York City in which 1,000 innocent persons were killed, its employment of subsidies to bolster losing businesses at the expense of successful businesses, its aid to foreign despots, its debauchment of the currency, and its everlasting growth all of these things should cause honest men to look at their government and inquire if this is the best that can be done.

The bill of grievances contained in the immortal Declaration of Independence could be extended by our own citizens in modem times, had they the stomach for it.

364-THIS BREAD IS MINE Though some foreign agitators oppose the Constitution, their opposition is invariably calculated to legalize a stronger and more tyrannical. power in Washington. As Americans and human beings, we should favor the principles of liberty, of independence, of private ownership, irrespective of docu ments. The Declaration of Independence upon which the· Con stitution is based, and which is the primary legal instrument of this nation, contains these three sentences: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes de structive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Govern ments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind ar~ more disposed to suffer, while evils are suf ferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to ONCE UPON A TIME - 365 which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object e,vinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

So important is· the right and the duty of the people to dispense with despotism, this great Declaration contains the sentence not once, but twice. In its final utterance, the choice of words does not call for the formation of a government. Rather, it calls for "new guards" which mayor may not entail such a unit as an artificial government agency_ CHAPTER 14 BIRTH OF A MAN It is time for the descendants of the early American patriots who fought and died for that poorly defined but magnificent idea, LIBERTY, to let their voices be heard once more. It is time for those newly arrived Americans, fleeing the atrocities and tyrannies of Europe and Asia, to speak up boldly in favor of the liberty they came here to find. Humanity the world o\fer is sunk under a weight of ex cess~ve bureaucracy sired by the socialist ideologists.