only in a small community like ancient Athens or a modern New England town. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 1. What is a democracy? 2. What is a despotism? 3. What is anarchy? 4. What is an aristocracy? 5. What is a limited monarchy? 6. What sort of government has England? 7. What sort of government has France? 8. What sort of government had Germany at the time of the World 9. War? Who are the rulers in America? 10. What is a "pure democracy" and what is a republic? QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Can you name any other despots than the Czars? 2. Can you name any limited monarchies? 3. How many republics can you name? 4. Are there any monarchies in the western hemisphere and any republics in Asia? CHAPTER IV MAJORITY RULE Government by Majority. Like most of the long words of government, "majority" rule is a thing which every American boy is so familiar with that he takes it as a matter of course. If there is a dispute in your team over anything, who shall be captain, what team you will play next, where you will play, you all say what you want, and what the most of you want, that you all do. If eight vote one way and one the other, you all do as the eight wish. If seven vote one way and two the other, you all do as the seven wish. If six vote one way and three another, you all do as the six wish. If five vote one way and four another, you still, all nine of you, do as the five wish. Those who are outvoted swallow their ideas and do as the rest prefer. That is all there is to majority rule. ("Majority" comes from the Latin word "major" which means "greater.") I Won't Play. It is a simple idea, but it is at the bottom of all government by the people, and unless a people understand it and live by it they cannot possibly run a successful government. You know how it is in a group of boys too young or too tough to play fair. In such a crowd it is impossible to have a good baseball team or to play any game that is worth while. There is wrangling and fighting and sulking all the time. "I won't play unless I can have my way" is the talk of the boy who is outvoted. Or if he is a bully, he puts up his fists and threatens to fight those who disagree with him. There are certain young nations so unfitted for popular government that they behave exactly like these disorderly boys. Their people do not understand the first principle of majority rule. Every little while we used to read of a revolution in a Central American country. That simply meant that the side which was outvoted at an election had seized the government by force of arms. No great issue of right and wrong was involved. The revolutionists simply refused to "play" unless they could run things. As you can imagine, there is no happiness or comfort or progress or business success in a country thus given over to riot and bloodshed. The Right of Revolution.-There is one other point to remember. The time does come, once in a long while, when it is not only necessary but one's sacred duty to resist a government. This has been called "the right of revolution," and our own America was founded in just this way, as you have learned in your histories. Suppose in your crowd of boys the leaders tried to cheat you or steal from you. It would be your duty to resist and fight to the limit and break away altogether rather than submit. So in a nation the government is sometimes tyrannical and unjust, and when all peaceable protest fails of relief a courageous and self-respecting people must and will fight as did our ancestors in the Revolution. But in government, as in play, fighting is a last resort, and no people are fit for self-government unless they are trained to understand that, save where a vital question of right and justice is involved, the government must have its way and the people must peaceably accept its decisions. The Dangers of Revolution.-The American colonies were used to a large measure of self-government, and having declared their independence, quickly set up an orderly and secure rule. Aside from their war for freedom there was little disturbance or bloodshed. Other revolutions have not been so fortunate. The French Revolution of 1789 lasted through many long and bloody years, while parties rose and fell and one popular tyrant succeeded another. The Russian Revolution went through the same bloody confusion. The Bolshevist government originated as one of the most dangerous forms of despotism, rule by a class. Such a government is as much opposed to the American idea of rule by all the people as is a despotism like that of the Czars. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 1. What is majority rule? 2. Why should we do what the majority wishes? QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. How does a meeting find out on which side of a question the majority stands? 2. What reasons did our Declaration of Independence give for the Revolution? 3. What had the American colonists done to avoid a revolution (as set forth in the Declaration of Independence)? CHAPTER V THE LAWS OF FREEDOM AND FAIR PLAY American Liberty.-Liberty is in the air we breathe in America. It is so much a part of our lives that we seldom think of it. We take it for granted, like the sky and a clear wind and food and drink. But those who came to America from the dark countries of Europe, from old Russia before the Revolution and the downfall of the Czar, from Germany, from Austria, feel this liberty as something new and strange and wonderful. They feel that they are coming out of the dark into the light, from a house with low ceilings and narrow walls into the free and open air. We should all understand this liberty of ours, whence it came and how we can keep it, for it is the most precious gift we have. The Five Rights.-There are five chief rights belonging to every American, old and young, that make American freedom what it is. They are: 1. Personal safety and freedom. 2. Religious freedom. 3. Free speech. 4. Safety of property. 5. Trial by jury. 1. Personal Safety and Freedom.-In the little town of Zäbern in Germany, in 1913, a lieutenant, of noble |