Checks and Balances

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism.

Source: George Washington

Topics: Power

The Test of Right or Wrong.

Are there not, in reality, underlying, universal principles with reference to which all issues must be resolved whether the society be simple or complex in its mechanical organization? It seems to me we could relieve ourselves of most of the bewilderment which so unsettles and distracts us by subjecting each situation to the simple test of right and wrong. Right and wrong as moral principles do not change. They are applicable and reliable determinants whether the situations with which we deal are simple or complicated. There is always a right and a wrong to every question which requires our solution. . . .

We cannot well lay claim to being a grown-up, mature, civilized people until we have come to the point where morality is the determinant, and we ask simply what is, in good conscience, right. The conclusion seems inescapable that the confusion and distraction and conflicts and antagonisms and uncertainties and bewilderment which plague the world today present mankind with what is at bottom a purely moral issue — the issue between right and wrong. That, then, should be the final test of the propriety of all courses of action.

Source: Jerreld L. Newquist
Prophets, Principles, and National Survival

Topics: Morality

Civil Liberty vs. Appetites

Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put chains upon their own appetites; in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity; in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption; in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon the will and appetite is placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be of it without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate habits cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.

Source: Edmund Burke

Topics: Self Control

Liberty and Human Evolution

The author of that remarkable book, Human Destiny, wrote: “To really participate in the divine task, man must place his ideal as high as possible, out of reach if necessary.” (Lecomte du Noüy, p. 154.)

Faith in high ideals is, indeed, the leaven of liberty. To aim at liberty as an ideal is as high as one can go. Why? Liberty is the means, the key, to human evolution! Unless a person be free to act creatively as he pleases, he cannot participate in the Divine Task; he will be unable to achieve those other ideals—virtues—on which evolutionary upgrading depends.

Source: Leonard Read
Liberty: Legacy of Truth

Topics: Liberty; Virtue

Our National Inventory

We might here profitably take stock of the position of the new nation when Washington took over, which was set up to secure the blessing of its people. This will suggest how precarious was our national life.

1.       The United States was a new nation, not a change of administration in an old one. By European standards, it was an illegitimate waif, because not possessed of a dynastic ancestry. It was founded upon principles that had never before been tried out as a governmental system. It began with an all-comprehensive, written plan that bound together great common law concepts and principles, in a relationship of operation theretofore unknown to the world. That it succeeded is one of the great political miracles of all time.

2.       Territorially, we were a narrow strip, some 1500 miles long, lying along the Atlantic seaboard, with an indefinite depth of perhaps not more than 300 miles at the wider parts-sea level plains ran back to the mountains. There was almost no intercommunication by land northward and southward. The roads were primitive, and, in winter and storm, largely impassable. Only three roads led over the Allegheny Mountains. Between 400,000 and 500,000 persons had crossed the Alleghenies.

3.       The total population is given as a little under 4,000,000 (one-fifth black), with few large towns. In 1790, Philadelphia had 42,520; New York 33,131; Boston, 13,503; Richmond, 3761; Charleston, S.C., 16,359; Savannah, Ga., 5166. These statistics show how militarily weak the colonies were, and how difficult would be the mobilization of whatever armed force they had.

4.       We had no navy, our army was virtually disbanded.

5.       When Washington took the oath of office, there was no money in the treasury and no tax legislation in operation to raise money.

6.       The country owed large sums to foreign countries.

7.       There were large quantities of Continental and Colonial paper money outstanding, much of which was next to worthless.

8.       There were many people who did not approve of the Constitution and the government set up under it.

9.       There were jealousies, some of them serious, among the different states; problems of trade and commerce were numerous and trouble-breeding.

10.       The inland border perimeter of the states was the abiding place of hostile Indians. The Iroquois within their borders, though broken in strength, were pro-British and anti-colonist.

11.       There was no governmental machinery, there were no civil officers, no funds with which to pay them if they had them.

We were starting from scratch in government, in industry, in agriculture, in commerce, in national defense.

I would like here to recommend to all of you that you read the first two paragraphs and the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, for the purpose of getting a view as to why this government was set up. It was not set up as an eleemosynary government to feed and clothe and nurture all the rest of the world. It was set up for the purpose of establishing a government which should bring peace and prosperity to the people of this nation, and when you have read those paragraphs, read the Preamble to the Constitution itself.

Source: J. Reuben Clark
Stand Fast by Our Constitution

Topics: America, History

Centralized Control

Those who would change our form of government would centralize all its powers and functions into the hands of a few. Let us refer to this man of God, Thomas Jefferson, who was raised up by the Lord to help establish this great republic. What did Jefferson say with reference to centralized government?

Our country is too large to have all of its affairs directed by a single government, and I do verily believe that if the principle were to prevail of a common law being in force in the United States, it would become the most corrupt government upon the earth. What an augmentation of the field for jobbing, speculating, plundering, office-building and office-hunting would be produced by an assumption of all of the state powers into the hands of the general government. The true theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best, that the states are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as to everything respecting foreign nations.

Over the years that have passed, the states have given up many of their rights to the federal government. As a result, we are becoming a closely supervised nation in many respects. This man of God understood this and warned us and forewarned us to protect our rights as states and as individuals.

Jefferson foresaw the time when, should we be regulated in our businesses, in all our endeavors, there would come a day of famine. I shall read to you one of his statements: “Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread.”

We are living in that very day. We have seen the need for bread; we have seen the need for meat; we have seen the need for sugar; we have seen the need for many of the necessities of life. I am sure this wise man of God enjoyed the inspiration of the spirit of prophecy when he made the above declaration.

There are those who would change our form of government, would regiment us in all of our endeavors. It would be only a short time when men would be called to perform work whether they were qualified to do it or not. They would be forced into the harness of labor without any opportunity to express their own desires. Serfdom would soon dominate the lives of the people.

And again, this wise man of God saw that if there ever came a time when we were regimented that we would lose our independence, that we would lose all the blessings that have come to us through the Constitution of the United States. He said this, in speaking of regimentation, which is nothing more nor less than nazism, communism, or fascism, which are the forms of government that have shackled the peoples of Germany, Russia, Italy, and other nations. Should we adopt foreign “isms,” . . . it will be as in Europe, where every man must be pike or gudgeon, hammer or anvil. Our functionaries and theirs are wares from the same workshop, made of the same materials, and by the same hand. If the states look with apathy on this silent descent of their government into the gulf which is to swallow all, we have only to weep over the human character formed uncontrollable but by a rod of iron, and the blasphemers of man, as incapable of self-government.

Source: Joseph L. Wirthlin
General Conference, October 1946

Topics: US Constitution, Threats to

“And to the Republic on Which it Stands”

In the Constitution the Lord set out wise principles for the governing of this great nation. He stated in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith that he brought forth the Constitution of the United States through men whom he raised up for that very purpose. Under it, a great representative form of government was set up, a republican form of government. If the principles set out in the Constitution of the United States were followed by all men who exercise authority in governments, we would have peace in the earth. This is true because by the inspiration of heaven that Constitution made provision for the best form of political government ever devised for the use of man.

Source: Marion G. Romney
General Conference, October 1947

Topics: Government

“God Governs in the Affairs of Men”

This country has enjoyed the blessings that it does, because of reliance upon the Lord. Only a year later—1787—our great Constitution was drafted. I wonder how many in this congregation have read the Constitution in the last ten years? I want to tell you, brethren and sisters, it is the charter that stands between us and slavery, and it would be well for us to think upon that. May I read what Benjamin Franklin said about it. He said this at the time when debate was acrimonious, and there was dissension in the Congress:

“I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. Arid if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?

“We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

“I, therefore, beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”

Source: Elder Joseph F. Smith
General Conference, April 1946

Topics: Citizenship; Responsibility

Since the beginning of time man has been counseled to earn his own way, thereby becoming self-reliant. It is easy to understand the reason why the Lord places so much emphasis on this principle when we come to understand that it is tied very closely to freedom itself.

On this subject, Elder Albert E. Bowen said,

“The Lord must want and intend that His people shall be free of constraint whether enforceable or only arising out of the bindings of conscience.... That is why the Church is not satisfied with any system which leaves able people permanently dependent, and insists, on the contrary, that the true function and office of giving, is to help people [get] into a position where they can help themselves and thus be free.” (The Church Welfare Plan, Gospel Doctrine manual, 1946, p. 77.)

Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of “helping people,” as opposed to “helping people help themselves.” Our efforts must always be directed toward making able-bodied people self-reliant.

I clipped the following article from the Reader’s Digest some time ago and have told it before, but it bears repeating. It reads: `In our friendly neighbor city of St. Augustine great flocks of sea gulls are starving amid plenty. Fishing is still good, but the gulls don’t know how to fish. For generations they have depended on the shrimp fleet to toss them scraps from the nets. Now the fleet has moved.

“The shrimpers had created a Welfare State for the . . . sea gulls. The big birds never bothered to learn how to fish for themselves and they never taught their children to fish. Instead they led their little ones to the shrimp nets.

“Now the sea gulls, the fine free birds that almost symbolize liberty itself, are starving to death because they gave in to the `something for nothing’ lure! They sacrificed their independence for a hand-out.

“A lot of people are like that, too. They see nothing wrong in picking delectable scraps from the tax nets of the U.S. Government’s `shrimp fleet.’ But what will happen when the Government runs out of goods? What about our children of generations to come?

“Let’s not be gullible gulls. We ... must preserve our talents of self-sufficiency, our genius for creating things for ourselves, our sense of thrift and our true love of independence.” (“Fable of the Gullible Gull,” Reader’s Digest, Oct. 1950, p. 32.)

The practice of coveting and receiving unearned benefits has now become so fixed in our society that even men of wealth, possessing the means to produce more wealth, are expecting the government to guarantee them a profit. Elections often turn on what the candidates promise to do for voters from government funds. This practice, if universally accepted and implemented in any society, will make slaves of its citizens.

We cannot afford to become wards of the government, even if we have a legal right to do so. It requires too great a sacrifice of self-respect and in political, temporal, and spiritual independence.

In some countries it is extremely difficult to separate earned from unearned benefits. However, the principle is the same in all countries: We should strive to become self-reliant and not depend on others for our existence.

Source: Marion G. Romney
Welfare Session of October 1982 General Conference

Topics: Socialism; Welfare

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