CHAP. LIII Difficulties of Representation in Large States Liberum Early Democracy Aims not to Govern but to Revolution and spread broadcast by the French Revolution, has gone on from victory to victory until with the recent downfall of all the European autocracies its future is secure. While in the city-state popular control by the town-meeting is easy enough, in the extended territorial states built up by conquest it is very difficult to devise an acceptable means of ascertaining and formulating the general will. It is by no means a simple matter for the people to act through representatives. Shall the representative sit for a stated term or until recalled? Is he to obey the instructions of his constituents or to use his own judg ment? Does his vote bind his constituents or does his every act have to be ratified by them? It took generations to establish the political morality which forbids a representative to feather his own nest with the bribes and favors offered by the government he is sent to curb. The principle that the will of the majority shall prevail strikes us as self-evident. But it was not so to the folk motes of the Slavs. Their veche or town meeting admitted no other mode of settling public affairs than unanimous decision. . . . "The veches passed whole days in debating the same subjects, the only interruptions being free fights in the streets. At Novgorod these fights took place on the bridge across the Volchow, and the stronger party sometimes threw their adversaries into the river beneath. A considerable minority very often succeeded in suspending the measure already voted by the veche, but if the minority was small, its will had soon to yield to open force." The famous "free veto" which was tolerated in the Polish Diet and which wrecked the Kingdom of Poland was but a survival of this old Slavonic custom. The discovery that it is cheaper to count heads than to break them is to politics what the discovery of the lever or the inclined plane is to mechanics. YOUTHFUL DEMOCRACY In the infancy of modern democracy there was no question of setting up a people's government. A massive, venerable State was there, built up about the royal power and buttressed by Curb Gov. Divine Right and the juristic doctrine of sovereignty. The strat egy of the Commons was to rear barriers beyond which this State should not pass, to set constitutional bounds to it. Already some 1 Kovalevsky. "Modern Customs and Ancient Laws of Russia." ernment monarchs were measurably held in check by the spiritual authority of the Church, by the solemn charters which, in return for aid, they had granted to the municipal corporations, and by the people's time-hallowed right of petition. СНАР. LII Making ment Re- sponsible In England and in the English colonies in America the representatives of the people denied the competency of the Crown to levy a new tax without their consent and took advantage of the financial necessities of profligate kings to extort royal recognition Represenof their claim. By this "power of the purse" they got their the People hands on the brake of the car even if royalty still held the steering wheel. Warned by Continental example of the peril of a standing army in the King's pay, they favored a militia as the means of national defense and asserted the right of the people to keep and to bear arms. To secure justice against the pressure from the King and his minions they contended that the judge appointed by the King should be free to follow his conscience in the performance of his duties, i.e., they stood for the "independence of the judiciary." They opposed the inheritance of offices, denied the Divine Right of kings, insisted that magistrates are trustees or servants, not masters, and proclaimed the unqualified right of the people to reform, alter, or abolish their government. In order to provide the innocent individual with an ark of safety against irresponsible power they asserted the equality of all before the law and forbade that any one should be deprived of life, liberty or property without "due process of law." Private property was not to be taken for public use without just compensation. There should be no unwarrantable searches and seizures. A person accused should have an open, fair and speedy trial before a jury. No excessive bail should be required nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The citizen was to be secure in his freedom of speech, of assemblage, of the press, of conscience and of contract. The time arrived when certain of these old gyves bound upon government when it was an alien and uncontrolled power became a nuisance, hampering the effective action of a state which had become responsive to the will of the people. Long after the arbitrary George III. of England had become dust forces new and unforeseen sprang up in society. There came a day when the railroads, the traction companies and the trusts taxed the people as the Stuarts had never dared to tax; when great corporations Guaran tees of the Rights of the Indi vidual Anti-social Shelter selves Behind These tutional Them ''Consti Guaran. tees" CHAP. Making Government Obedient and employers trampled on the rights of the employee, the competitor or the patron with the arrogance of the officials of King John. And when the people endeavored to curb these new tormentors by orderly means the judges barred the way in the name of "due process of law," "freedom of contract," and "just compensation." Happily, the strain has lately been relieved, but the scandalous blockade of remedial measures in the closing years of the last century by judges most of whom were probably conscientious enough illustrates how revolutions are bred. MATURED DEMOCRACY Since the American Revolution a technique for the control of the State by the people has been gradually worked out, so that to the Peo- now no intelligent people, unless they are held down by sheer force, ought to suffer long from irresponsible power. In a written constitution the political organs are described and their orbits drawn. Hereditary executives are dispensed with or become mere gilded figureheads of state. No class has any preference in office holding. Officials are chosen for short stated terms and the official who misconducts himself may be retired by impeachment or recall. Since filling many offices by election confuses the voter and aids the political "boss," key positions are filled by election and the rest by appointment. "Invisible Government'' The legislator is to respect his mandate and "instructions," while by means of "initiative" and "referendum" the people have a check on their legislature. The suffrage has been extended to adults of all classes, while elections have been hedged about with restrictions designed to protect their purity. In proportion as popular control moved forward in America on these lines the property interests most fearful of advancing democracy intrenched themselves in the political parties, then purely private and unsupervised organizations. By the lavish use of money through a long period they built up a control of party primaries and conventions and a technique for the winning of the electoral campaign. Here was the citadel of what came to be known as "invisible government." Within the last dozen years, however, by means of "direct primaries," the prohibition of contributions to political parties from corporations, the limitation of political expenditures and the enforced publicity of campaign contributions and disbursements, this citadel has been made untenable. Of late the threatened interests have retired further back to the field of political opinion and seek to manipulate it by secret propaganda, by controlling speaking halls and printing presses, and by silencing or discrediting all who voice opinions. which they dislike. The long stern fight for the people's control of the state has made clear that there is a certain contradiction between political democracy and governmental efficiency. The fact that every class domination of the past has posed as the rule of the wise and intelligent should not blind us to the grain of truth in this claim. In forcing the barriers erected by ruling classes universal suffrage becomes as absolute as a religious dogma. It is urged as an indefeasible right of an adult, like the right to mate. Perhaps when the principle is no longer in jeopardy we shall recognize that the vote of the imbecile, the pauper, the habitual lawbreaker, the illiterate, or the follower of an infamous occupation does no good either to the voter himself or to society. Since such classes of voters constitute a permanent political asset of the moneyed anti-social interests, they should be deprived of the ballot. Again, the people, in order that they may control all their government all the time, make such hard conditions that they will not be well served. The principle of "no office-holding class," "pass the offices about," etc., discourages capable youths from preparing themselves for the public service. Direct primaries so burden the contestants with expense for personal publicity that strong men will not run for office. The people's right to recall a public official at will may put the expert at the mercy of the inexpert before there has been time for his policies to work out. POPULAR GOVERNMENT AND CENTRALIZATION CHAP. contradic tion Be tween De mocracy and Em ciency Govern ment is Averse to Centraliza tion, The passage from absolutism to popular sovereignty is accom- Popular panied by decentralization. As it ceases to be an engine of domination which one race or class uses upon others, matters which are regional or local in character are relinquished to a political subdivision. Once the dynasties have vanished from the scene, the central government does not show itself so jealous and distrustful of community self-government. The uniformity of administration dear to absolutism ignored the dissimilarity of conditions in different parts of the country and stretched all on one Procrustean bed. As soon as the people have their way they СНАР. but Social Develop ment Calls for It No Hardand-fast Rule as to the Proper of the State refuse to wear the strait-jacket of uniformity and each self-contained locality or region insists on dealing in its own way with highways, irrigation, drainage, education, poor relief, trade, police and justice. Nevertheless, altho in the democratic era "autonomy" and "home rule" are phrases to conjure with, certain social changes favor centralization in spite of its bad name. Thanks to the mental contacts brought about by improved facilities for communication, the growth of national consciousness has been so quickened that it outruns and overtakes local consciousness. Since the people in all sections think and feel more in common, they more often desire the same laws and are more willing to act together. Again, this sharper national consciousness is uneasy if certain parts of the country are sadly behind the rest in respect to some essential such as law observance, school opportunities, or child protection. This brings into favor centralizing policies by means of which a national government may bring backward parts abreast of the main body.. It should be noted, furthermore, that mere technical advance causes functions once local to be passed up to the central government. Thus, as transportation, communication, production and commerce, from being local come to be national, or even international, in character, the function of regulating them must develop in the same direction. THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT It is idle to attempt to lay down definitively the proper functions of the State, because its scope should depend upon such Functions variables as the trend of social relationships, the development of the social mind, the advance of technique, the talent available for government, etc. Consider, for example, how the electric telegraph, aviation, irrigation, plant pathology, child study, genetics and the doctrine of the influence of forests on rainfall and erosion have affected our conception of the duties of the state. No doubt other surprises just as great are in store for us. Successfully to foretell the functions of the coming state would require one to anticipate discoveries and inventions which have not yet been made. Why the State Activity is Enlarged Nevertheless, we can recognize the chief factors upon which changes in the functions of the state depend. In our time we have witnessed the rise of telegraphs, telephones, tramways, pipe |