Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/484

480 souls. But when the cause of human freedom became linked with the preservation of the Union and was financed by the government, not only the patriotic and those of high principle enlisted in the public service, but an army of camp followers, cormorants of all kinds and the unscrupulous took advantage of a public calamity to feather their own nests.

"I attribute much of whatever I have accomplished," said a well-known social reformer, "to the fact that I have always been known as a conservative." In like manner, so long as the spirit of progress keeps within the bounds of moderation its future is assured, and neither the opposition of reactionaries nor hostile court decisions can do more than obstruct for a time its way. By the exercise of patience, two amendments have been added to the constitution. If these amendments had failed of adoption, practically the same ends could have been attained in other ways. In the matter of an income tax, the Supreme Court could have been given a chance to reverse itself, or a slightly different law could have been passed which the court might have upheld. More easily still, a substantial part of what was wanted could have been obtained by an excise tax upon corporate and certain other incomes. This device was actually used in passing the Corporation Tax. In regard to the popular election of United States senators, the battle had been largely won in other ways before the constitution was formally amended. If a workingmen's compensation act is held unconstitutional by the highest court of a state, it is possible to amend the state constitution or to pass a law after the fashion of some other state that may pass muster in the courts. If rebuffed by such a decision as in the bake-shop case, it is only necessary to wait and try again when death has recalled enough justices of the Supreme Court to reconstitute its membership. The right, nay more, the duty to criticize the decisions of the courts should, however, never be forgotten. Without criticism it is well-nigh useless to wait with patience. Neither should any one shrink from proposing ideas which may frighten timid souls if reasonably sure of his ground. Many a good suggestion has been rejected only to be accepted later when it is understood. Besides, the saving grain of truth in many an idea that appears crude can only be brought out by discussion, and this can never come about if the idea is kept in a closet and never advanced. The progressive spirit fails of one of its chief missions when it ceases to be educative.

It is sometimes argued that the power of judicial veto ought not to exist in a democratic country. In regard to an absolute veto, the argument is conclusive. Any court decision that for all time stands in the way of what the people want, or that needlessly hampers the popular will, is inconsistent with self-government. But a suspensory veto that can be overcome after due deliberation by amending the constitution is entirely