In this 1801 essay, Edmund Pendleton argues that the danger of tyranny is ever-present, and therefore we cannot “depend on the rectitude of fallible men” to restrain themselves from abusing state power. FULL ARTICLE by Edmund Pendleton
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/13626/the-danger-not-over/
The Danger Not Over
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The danger not over?
On the contrary.
Reminds me of the old joke about the little girl who sheepishly approaches her mother, “Mom, do you remember how worried you were that someone might accidentally hit your beautiful vase and ruin it? Well, your worries are over.”
Wow! Pendleton’s sentences are intense.
“If this hope may multiply offices and extend patronage, if the president may nominate to valuable offices members of the legislature who shall please him and displease the people by increasing his power and patronage, if he may be tempted to use this power and patronage for securing his reelection, and if he may even bestow lucrative diplomas upon judges whilst they are receiving liberal salaries paid as the price of their independence and purity, then a risk exists lest the legislature should legislate, the judges decide, and the senator concur in nominations with an eye to those offices, and lest the president may appoint with a view to his reelection; and thus may at length appear the phenomenon of a government republican in form without possessing a single chaste organ for expressing the public will.”
Astounding!
I suppose that’s one advantage of having a large illiterate population: there’s no real pressure to dumb down your sentences, especially not from teachers(though I personally think the style back then was pushing it, though short sentences I loathe[they almost never flow right]).
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