Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/361

Slavery Question in Oregon. 333 made criminals whose offenses consisted in asserting in practice their natural right to a share in the bounties of nature, and as might be expected, the descendants of the so- called criminals are the reformers of the twentieth century. Probably the time will never come when unrestrained self- ishness will cease to complicate and vex the task of human government; if indeed it does not constitute the principal need for government as an institution; but all the more dofvs the necessity exist for a scientific basis of the governmental function, which so far in the world's history has been a matter of experiment, apparently following the line of least resistance. It is the lack of a philosophical basis that renders government such a hotch-potch in every form it has assumed, and at times presents phenomena compelling the conviction that human nature has a very unstable and fluctuating quality, sometimes seeming to descend to the depths of total depravity and at others rising to admirable moral heights, when in reality there has been no change in its nature, only the removal of a governmental or social restraint, or by some inducement, reward or bribe by the same powers, or perhaps the opening of new avenues for the employment of his fac- ulties, one or all tempting him from the normal or accustomed way. Saying nothing further of the governments in aristo- cratical and monarchical countries than that they are the residuum of ages of conflict between the people and those who aspired to rule them; in other words, that it is the art of tempering robbery to the robbed, in such a way as to avoid a conflict threatening the stability of the system, we should consider government under our equal rights system, as tho art of social correlation with the intent of establishing justic3 as promised by our Constitution. And though, so far, we have signally failed, and fallen below the results in countries where no promise of equality was ever made, we should know- that republicanism is not to blame, that human nature has noc changed, but that our spoils system of politics with its bribes and rewards for partisan service, were too much for the average politician to bear.