THE TYRANNY OF THE STATE. 623 



Thereupon the state becomes the accuser, the witness, and the 

 judge, and, without an opportunity to be heard or to call wit- 

 nesses in defense, the offenders are held to await trial. Should 

 any one become disgusted with his duties as a citizen and attempt 

 to end his misery, if caught in time, he may be punished as an 

 abandoned criminal. 



Amid this never-ending round of obligations the nature and 

 limits of the authority that imposes them is a question seldom 

 stated, yet it must be recognized as one of vast importance to 

 mankind. The axiom that the people do not need to limit their 

 power over themselves has been used to quiet all complaints, and 

 the patients have gradually become stupefied by their own wis- 

 dom. There would seem to be an ever-increasing inclination on 

 the part of the state to unduly stretch its rights over the individ- 

 ual both by careless legislation and by indifference to its solemn 

 obligations. 



It is true, that to read the Scriptures in English or to speak 

 against the Prayer-book is no longer a capital offense, nor are in- 

 nocent old ladies executed at Salem for witchcraft ; but personal 

 liberty and the rights of property are constantly violated, and the 

 citizen is utterly without redress. The comfort administered in 

 monarchies to those who complained on this score was that the 

 king could do no wrong ; but a few years ago the Supreme Court 

 of the United States declared that this doctrine had no place in 

 American jurisprudence. This enunciation of a democratic feel- 

 ing was, however, mere emptiness ; for, in other cases before the 

 same tribunal, it has been held as axiomatical that the sovereign 

 power is free from all legal duties. Law, it is said, is a rule of 

 action laid down by a superior ; and the state can not be said to be 

 in subordination to itself, excepting so far as it may choose to part 

 with its sovereignty. 



For many years the only redress against the United States 

 for wrongs done by it was by bringing the injuries to the atten- 

 tion of Congress. Latterly the Court of Claims has been estab- 

 lished, but has jurisdiction only to hear cases that arise out of 

 contracts made within six years from the time suit is brought. 

 For those older than this for all sorts and the vast variety of 

 claims that may arise, other than for mere money demands the 

 sole redress is still before the legislative body. It would take a 

 series of volumes almost as great as those containing the duties of 

 the individual to the state to recount the tales of robbery and 

 outrage on the part of the national Government that appear in 

 the appeals for justice now on record at Washington. Had these 

 same acts been committed by private bodies, the united wrath of 

 the people would have exterminated the offenders. 



For goods or lands wrongfully taken by the officers of the 



