To do this, we must demand amendments to the Constitution by which the natural and inalienable rights of the people will be secured in their free and full exercise. These rights are divinely endowed; they are guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence; they were conceived in the highest and holiest aspirations of the human soul, and brought forth amid the din of battle and the flow of blood-" THAT WHENEVER ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS,

TO SE

IT

CURE THE RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNED,
IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR
ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE A NEW GOVERN-
MENT, LAYING ITS FOUNDATION ON SUCH PRIN-
CIPLES AND ORGANIZING ITS POWERS IN SUCH
FORM AS TO THEM SHALL SEEM MOST LIKELY
TO EFFECT THEIR SAFETY AND HAPPINESS."

SYNOPSIS

OF

THE NEW REPUBLIC.

DEFINITION.

POPULAR government is a national association in which all its citizens are recognized as possessing equal rights, privileges, and opportunities.

The term "popular government" means a "government of the people, by the people, for the people"; that is, one in which the will of the people is fairly and properly expressed and exercised.

POWER.

The power of such a government is derived "from the consent of the governed."

There are essentially two forms of government: in the one, the power is assumed or usurped, and is vested in one or more persons who claim the right to rule; such government is a monarchy, usually in some modified form, an aristocracy, or a confederation of petty aristocracies, constituting an oligarchy. In the other, the power, emanating

from the people by virtue of their natural rights, is delegated to representatives to execute the people's will; this form of government is a republic. In the former, it is permission by or submission to usurped powers; in the latter, it is consent which implies volition, will, by the governed. Since volition means freedom of action, a government deriving its power from the consent of the governed must be a free government.

PURPOSE.

The object of popular government is the regulation and protection of all its citizens in the full and free exercise of their natural rights and opportunities.

In monarchies and aristocracies, the purpose of government is the aggrandizement of those who govern at the expense of the governed; in a popular government all the benefits go to the governed. It follows, as an inevitable conclusion, that if" all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ❞—all must be equal beneficiaries in any scheme of government instituted "to secure these rights."

CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR ITS EXISTENCE.

Popular government can only exist when there is intelligence in its citizens to comprehend the principles upon which it is based, and virtue to appreciate the rights upon which it is founded.

No duty can be properly performed without due qualification of those upon whom such duty de

volves. No one would intrust another with any kind of work or business, unless he was satisfied as to the qualification of the person so intrusted for that work or business; for no one could succeed in any enterprise or business without the proper knowledge and skill. No one can intrust another unless he himself understands the work to be performed, with any prospect of success. If the employer be ignorant, he is dependent on the employee and at his mercy. Designing knaves seek such employers because they can take advantage of them. In popular government the people are the employers and their only safeguard is their intelligence.

Not only is intelligence necessary, but the ability to appreciate the value of human rights is essential to their preservation and enjoyment. The love of justice must be supreme; for justice is to the mental what gravitation is to the physical world-the great regulator of the equilibrium of values, as gravity is that of forces. If values are duly appreciated, they are secured and utilized; if not, they cannot be. Therefore, there must be such love of justice in the people that any violation of it would. be deemed sacrilege.

The value of these rights is equal to life itself; and life is valuable only so far as they are exercised and utilized. Hence, the conditions necessary to the existence and maintenance of a popular government must depend on the intelligence and virtue of its citizens.

ENUMERATION AND DEFINITION OF RIGHTS.

I. The right to live; that is, to the free and unrestrained activity of all the physical powers and mental faculties of the individual in the legitimate pursuits of life.

This is personal freedom, without which no one can truly be said to live; namely, to carry out all the purposes of life; although he may in a certain sense be said to exist.

II. The means of life, which consist in

(1.) The possession and free use of all the natural elements of wealth-God's free gifts to man-sunlight, air, water, and the natural products in it, and land with its natural productions, as minerals, metals, forests, and wild animals and fruits.

Since these natural means of wealth are produced by no man, they belong to no man; but as "God is no respecter of persons," they belong to all equally alike. They are sources of supply for man's consumption, and as all equally need the supply for consumption, all are equally entitled to the means for obtaining the supply for consumption.

Sunlight is the great vivifying principle of the earth: all life and organization depend upon it.

Air is so essential to life that were one compelled to walk two hundred yards to reach it, he would perish in the attempt. Hence it envelopes the whole earth, and presses into every nook and corner where life exists.

Water enters into every structure of organized beings, and of most of them constitutes the greater part. It is the great fertilizer of the soil, and an essential supporter of life.

Land is the source of the means of life, and those who control it control the means of life. In densely populated countries, this condition is fully realized. In our country the possession and control of vast