A Letter to Grover Cleveland: On His False Inaugural Address, The Usurpations and Crimes of Lawmakers and Judges, and the Consequent Poverty, Ignorance, and Servitude Of The PeopleSpooner, Lysander
Philosophy
A Letter to Grover Cleveland: On His False Inaugural Address, The Usurpations and Crimes of Lawmakers and Judges, and the Consequent Poverty, Ignorance, and Servitude Of The People
Spooner, Lysander
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908; United States -- Politics and government
If the people of this country knew what crimes are constantly committed
by these courts of injustice, they would squelch them, without mercy, as
unceremoniously as they would squelch so many gangs of bandits or
pirates. In fact, bandits and pirates are highly respectable and
honorable villains, compared with the judges of these courts of
injustice. Bandits and pirates do not--like these judges--attempt to
cheat us out of our common sense, in order to cheat us out of our
property, liberty, or life. They do not profess to be anything but such
villains as they really are. They do not claim to have received any
"Divine" authority for robbing, enslaving, or murdering us at their
pleasure. They do not claim immunity for their crimes, upon the ground
that they are duly authorized agents of any such invisible, intangible,
irresponsible, unimaginable thing as "society," or "the State." They do
not insult us by telling us that they are only exercising that authority
to rob, enslave, and murder us, which we ourselves have delegated to
them. They do not claim that they are robbing, enslaving, and murdering
us, solely to secure our happiness and prosperity, and not from any
selfish motives of their own. They do not claim a wisdom so superior to
that of the producers of wealth, as to know, better than they, how their
wealth should be disposed of. They do not tell us that we are the freest
and happiest people on earth, inasmuch as each of our male adults is
allowed one voice in ten millions in the choice of the men, who are to
rob, enslave, and murder us. They do not tell us that all liberty and
order would be destroyed, that society itself would go to pieces, and
man go back to barbarism, if it were not for the care, and supervision,
and protection, they lavish upon us. They do not tell us of the
almshouses, hospitals, schools, churches, etc., which, out of the purest
charity and benevolence, they maintain for our benefit, out of the money
they take from us. They do not carry their heads high, above all other
men, and demand our reverence and admiration, as statesmen, patriots,
and benefactors. They do not claim that we have voluntarily "come into
their society," and "surrendered" to them all our natural rights of
person and property; nor all our "original and natural right" of
defending our own rights, and redressing our own wrongs. They do not
tell us that they have established infallible supreme courts, to whom
they refer all questions as to the legality of their acts, and that they
do nothing that is not sanctioned by these courts. They do not attempt
to deceive us, or mislead us, or reconcile us to their doings, by any
such pretences, impostures, or insults as these. _There is not a single
John Marshall among them._ On the contrary, they acknowledge themselves
robbers, murderers, and villains, pure and simple. When they have once
taken our money, they have the decency to get out of our sight as soon
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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