We must impress upon them the great truth, that there is not now, and never has been, a system of government which can abolish sorrow, or sickness, or stay the hand of death. That no government can help men who will not help themselves; that there is no way in which any government can bring riches to the indolent, nor bread to those who will not toil. We must combat the false philosophy which assumes that all men are equal in all things, because men are not equal, except as under the Constitution they are equal before the law. No system of legislation and no method of government can equalize the strong with the weak, the wise with the simple, the good with the bad. While God gives to some men wisdom and shrewdness which others do not possess, while some are broad shouldered, with muscles of steel, and others are frail, and tremble as they walk, there will always be riches, there will always be poverty, and any scheme for equalizing the possessions of men is but an idle dream which never can be realized until men are made over into beings without passion or pride or ambition or selfishness. Do not let them feel that its provisions are intended to protect only the rich and powerful. If the right of a railway [pg 210] corporation to certain lands is sustained under some constitutional provision, do not allow the people to assume that this provision exists only for corporations, but impress upon them that the same constitutional provision which protects the railway company in its rights, may be invoked in defense of the little homestead out upon the prairies.
If some desperado should be acquitted because he invoked the constitutional requirement that he upon his trial must be confronted by the witnesses against him, remind those who criticise that this same provision is made for their sons who may to-morrow be unjustly charged with a crime; impress upon them that it is impossible to have one law for the guilty, and another for the innocent; and that under our Constitution, every man is presumed to be innocent until proven to be guilty.
Then impress upon the people something of the wonderful growth of the Nation, the development of the Nation, and the progress of the Nation—all under the wise protection of the Constitution. To those who may be discouraged in the battle of life, and who may attribute their failure to the injustice of social conditions, point out what other men have done under the same conditions, with no better opportunity, and ask them to ponder the question as to whether their failure is not to be attributed largely to their own lack of energy and determination.[117]
And if they point out abuses which do exist, ask them to aid in eliminating these abuses. If half the energy which is exerted by earnest, but misguided people, in efforts to tear down our form of government, were honestly applied in an effort to remedy existing evils in a constitutional way, these people would show that they were patriots, and at the same time they would accomplish something for their country and their fellowmen.[118]
Too long have we been silent while the enemies of our [pg 211] country have poisoned the minds of youth, yea, and of manhood and womanhood, with the gospel of treason.
Those who despise and condemn the Constitution have in the past ten years had more earnest students of their vicious doctrines than have those who uphold the Constitution and prize their liberties which the Constitution guards and protects.
All over the land earnest men and women are endeavoring to teach the great truth of Americanism, and with substantial success; but those who understand human nature realize that the faith of our fathers can only be firmly established by lighting the fires of patriotism and loyalty in the hearts of our children. Through them the great truths of our National life can be brought into the homes of the land.
And the Nation will never be safe until the Constitution is carried into the homes, until at every fireside young and old shall feel a new sense of security in the guaranties which are found in this great charter of human liberty, and a new feeling of gratitude for the blessings which it assures to this, and to all future generations.