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Rh by military instruction, is a safe vote for the country." And here Germany is called upon to furnish an illustration of the cherished object. It is seriously asserted that the military system there is worth far more than it costs, for the reason that the young men there, through the several years of military drill and discipline, are made "efficient citizens for all the duties and emergencies of life."

It would seem strange indeed that in a country as young as this, with its Revolutionary antecedents, the sophistry of such arguments should not be apparent to every one at first sight, did we not know that very few appreciate the fact that in all ages it is disobedience rather than obedience to existing laws which has made progress possible; that each age or generation, yes, each new decade, has its own requirements; as the poet says, "must have new men to determine its liberty." If love for country means the obedience to civil and political law which a military discipline inculcates, then let us have less of it. One need not be a student of history to see the results of that kind of loyalty. Already now practical men may be heard every day discussing absurd laws with their far-reaching results; but they will add that a law must be respected at any cost until it is repealed, and as it does not come within their province to repeal it, the law remains, a menace to the liberties and happiness of the people. What must we expect, then, when every one shall have been trained into a military—that is, blind—obedience?

And here it may be well to ask, What is law, that we should cultivate this filial spirit toward it? Let it be understood that the common law, that by mutual consent established respect for life and property, is not here under consideration. The industrial type of society, where voluntary association is the rule, owes its growth to the comparative absence of military discipline, and it is just such a state of society where we find the respect for common law best developed. Statute law, then, is what we have to consider. Is this the spontaneous expression of the will of the people or of the best elements among us? Hardly ever. Now, whether it is the will of one or a few, enforced upon the rest through intimidation or strength of arms, etc., or whether it is the will of that always uncertain quantity, the majority, enforced by hook or by crook upon the so-called minority, why should it be held as something inviolable or something holy? Even if we were to take the most optimistic view of law, should regard it as the expression of our own will, "the voice of the whole people," we would by no means be in duty bound to cherish it as something inviolable. That we erred yesterday is no reason why we should continue the error to-day. Or, to leave error out of the question, if we at a former occasion acted according to the light given us then, so, with the increased experience of to-day, let us