They
behave as if the American ship of state will hereafter require careful
steering; and a turn or two at the wheel has given them some idea of the
course they must set. On the other hand, even the best of them have not
learned the name of its ultimate destination, the full difficulties of
the navigation, or the stern discipline which may eventually be imposed
upon the ship's crew. They do not realize, that is, how thoroughly
Jeffersonian individualism must be abandoned for the benefit of a
genuinely individual and social consummation; and they do not realize
how dangerous and fallacious a chart their cherished principle of equal
rights may well become. In reviving the practice of vigorous national
action for the achievement of a national purpose, the better reformers
have, if they only knew it, been looking in the direction of a much more
trustworthy and serviceable political principle. The assumption of such
a responsibility implies the rejection of a large part of the
Jeffersonian creed, and a renewed attempt to establish in its place the
popularity of its Hamiltonian rival.
Pages:
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329