Have faith in Massachusetts; 2d ed.: A Collection of Speeches and MessagesCoolidge, Calvin
History
Have faith in Massachusetts; 2d ed.: A Collection of Speeches and Messages
Coolidge, Calvin
Massachusetts
This Commonwealth is one. We are all members of one body. The welfare of
the weakest and the welfare of the most powerful are inseparably bound
together. Industry cannot flourish if labor languish. Transportation
cannot prosper if manufactures decline. The general welfare cannot be
provided for in any one act, but it is well to remember that the benefit
of one is the benefit of all, and the neglect of one is the neglect of
all. The suspension of one man's dividends is the suspension of another
man's pay envelope.
Men do not make laws. They do but discover them. Laws must be justified
by something more than the will of the majority. They must rest on the
eternal foundation of righteousness. That state is most fortunate in its
form of government which has the aptest instruments for the discovery of
laws. The latest, most modern, and nearest perfect system that
statesmanship has devised is representative government. Its weakness is
the weakness of us imperfect human beings who administer it. Its
strength is that even such administration secures to the people more
blessings than any other system ever produced. No nation has discarded
it and retained liberty. Representative government must be preserved.
Courts are established, not to determine the popularity of a cause, but
to adjudicate and enforce rights. No litigant should be required to
submit his case to the hazard and expense of a political campaign. No
judge should be required to seek or receive political rewards. The
courts of Massachusetts are known and honored wherever men love justice.
Let their glory suffer no diminution at our hands. The electorate and
judiciary cannot combine. A hearing means a hearing. When the trial of
causes goes outside the court-room, Anglo-Saxon constitutional
government ends.
The people cannot look to legislation generally for success. Industry,
thrift, character, are not conferred by act or resolve. Government
cannot relieve from toil. It can provide no substitute for the rewards
of service. It can, of course, care for the defective and recognize
distinguished merit. The normal must care for themselves.
Self-government means self-support.
Man is born into the universe with a personality that is his own. He
has a right that is founded upon the constitution of the universe to
have property that is his own. Ultimately, property rights and personal
rights are the same thing. The one cannot be preserved if the other be
violated. Each man is entitled to his rights and the rewards of his
service be they never so large or never so small.
History reveals no civilized people among whom there were not a highly
educated class, and large aggregations of wealth, represented usually by
the clergy and the nobility. Inspiration has always come from above.
Diffusion of learning has come down from the university to the common
school--the kindergarten is last. No one would now expect to aid the
common school by abolishing higher education.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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