AMERICAN POLITICAL IDEAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4270, 21 July 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

AMERICAN POLITICAL IDEAS.

OF FREE OPINION AND PUBLIC OPINION. Letter No. IV.

[FROM OUR SAN FRANCISCO SPECIAL.]

In previous letters it has been shewn that the prime object with the framera of the American system of Government was to secure political liberty to every human being, and it was also shewn that political liberty meant perfect freedom to every individual to do as he pleased so long as he did no evil to anyone else. Political liberty without free opinion would be a paradox. Therefore the American claims that every man has the right to think as ho pleases on every subject. Because " as a man thinketh so is he ;" and if a man's thoughts be not free, he is net a free man. The right to think freely could bear only one kind of fruit, —the right to speak freely or to publicly pronounce free thought. Therefore the right to a public expression of political opinions is the very foundation of the American system. It has been argued that this right would create such a diversity of opinion that no one system could be sustained for any length of tune. But in reply to this, it is urged: allow every man to speak freely what he thinks, but let the aggregate of thought rule. And it is not objected that there is any great difficulty in the way of arriving at this aggregate, because in all controversies the most fitting will take tho lead and of a necessity form parties. The arbitrators—the public —having heard all that is to be said by either party, are certain to exercise their prerogative, and give judgment either by accepting the views of one side or the other, or by instituting a third party, which being sustained by the people, at large, represents the aggregate of opinion—has a majority and governs. Give a man, it is urged, a fair and impartial hearing, and, whether or no judgment be recorded in his favour, he will reBpect and obey the judge. Attempt to destroy his inherent right to free utterance and you drive him into the Becret and malignant counsels of the conspirator. Ventilation is the great safeguard of the American Bystem. It matters not how chimerical, how Utopian, or how absurd the man's opinion may be, the design of the American system is to draw out that opinion, aud by exposing it to the pure analysis of public criticism, place it just where it ought to be according to its value. The American may abuse his own Government, may advocate an entire change in its system —may openly and through the Press urge the establishment of a Monarchy, an Empire, or any other form of Government for which he may have a preference. If there should be one grain of wheat amidst his chaff, it was worth garnering, if not, the winds of public criticism will make Bhort work of the proposal. Dignities and Powers have small respect in reference to the incumbent. The office of the governing power is respected, but the actions of President, Senate, and subordinate officers aro treated just as the actions of personal servants. In theory Cromwell's advice, —" Approbation is an act of conveniency, not of necessity. Does a man speak foolishly ? Suffer him gladly, for ye are wise. Does he speak erroneously ? Stop such a man's mouth with sound words that cannot be gainsaid. Does he speak truly ? Rejoice in the truth," —ia as much in force in America as that ancient republican was in the habit of using it in England. It is a difficult matter always to make theory and practice dove-tail. But in America" the theory of a free public opinion has not only been maintained but abused. So long as men are content to attack parties or principles or public men because of their departure from both, then free public opinion is a wholesome check. But when it is prostituted to low, cowardly assaults upon the private character of the individual, it can only become a species of the worst form of tyranny. It is true that expression of pubhc opinion in America has never aught of the assassin in it There is no doubly-damning a man by the infamous inuendo; the charge, whatever it may be, is launched straight at the offender, who is named, and challenged to clear himself if he can. Thus the exponent of the sentiment takes upon himself the entire responsibility of what he has proclaimed. Yet, so dear to the American heart is this right of public challenge, that it is next to impossible to obtain a verdict for libel against a newspaper publisher. Better, it is argued, that here and there private character should suffer martyrdom than that a grand principle should be endangered. Public opinion is, then, merely tho aggregate of the private opinion of the people,expressed eitherthroughtliePress, the Senate, or by their orators. Do Toequcville says, "Society can only exist where a great number of men consider a great number of things in the same point of view, when they hold the same opinions upon many subjects, and when the same occurrences suggest the same thoughts and impressions on their minds." Tbis statentcnt contains the whole American system, because it implies (1) freedom ; (2) the right to free thought and speech;'(3) the desirability of ascertaining what are the thoughts of the people, and (4) the necessity for the preservation of society by enforcing upon the minority not a silent acquiescence in the rule of the majority, but simply an acquiescence. So long as they obey the laws, which are created in accordance with the expressed wish of the majority, they may growl night and day. No man can be punished in America for dissent; only by appeal to arms can he become a traitor. The American holds tliat vox populi vox Dei, because the attribute of reason is God-like, and its expresiou is the nearest approach to the oracles of God of which man is capable; at any rate, no other human power lias tun right to control it, and no other power, save the human, is recognised in the American system. The Old World theory of divine right of kings is but a pleasant joke now-a-days. The American, however, claims for public opinion what ho refuses to kings. Says Guizot, " There is a force which cannot be enclosed by laws, which, when need be, can dispense with institutions ; it is the force of ideas, of the public mind and opinion ;" and Tally rand followß suit. " I know one," says he, " who is wiser than Voltaire, and has more understanding than Napoleon himself, and of all Ministers who ever were, aro, and will be; and this one is public opinion." As a natural aud logical sequence to the right to free thought and speech, tho American claims the right to free assembly, free communication, free locomotion, and free association. It needs no argument to shew I that, under a Government which exists only by virtue of public opinion, all these rights are material and proper parte of the whole system ; and for the maintenance of each the Constitution has fully provided. The first amendment of the Federal ConstiI tion reads, "Congress sliall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the , Prees, or of the right of the people peaceably ' to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." i There is but one form of Government ! worthy of the name, but one system that can hear the touchstone of reason, the subtle analysis of thought, the crucical test of experience, and that is a system based upon public opiniou freely expressed. There is only one form of Government which can develop to the utmost wealth of mind and of earth, and that is the Government of the governed. It ifl not then a matter of surprise that the daily paper in America has become to the people what the oracles were to the ancients. The dollar is, after all, less a deity than the paper, and the Americau who docs not manifest an intelligent curiosity iu the daily progress of not only his own nation but the world at large, has no claim to manhood. From the humblest labourer to the President, the contents of the newspaper is an object of daily interest. It If a photograph, ot passing event*, and the

nervous system of the body_ politic. In America ii ia omnipotent. It is the corrector of every abuse, the organ and generally the promoter of every progress ; it isthe safeguard of the commonwealth. It is in the hands of the greatest thinkers of the country, and its voice is a terror to evil doers. Men who fear nothing else fear the Press, and the pulpit has far less power in the land. No system, no scheme, no party can live in opposition to an honeßtly conducted journal. There are, of course, some restrictions upon the Press, but these are only in the nature of legal appeal to the laws. There is no such thing as censorship, but a citizen may bring an action against a newspaper proprietor just as he would against an individual who had forgotten the basis of political liberty, viz., free —unless injurious to freedom. The total of the world's publication of newspapers and periodicals is 15,513, o! which America publishes within a fraction of one-half—an eloquent fact.