The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America - Percy T. Magan

New World have been wrong. From every point of
view,--religious, ethnic, commercial, political,--we
can not, it is now claimed, too soon abandon our
traditional position and assume theirs. Again,
Europe and Great Britain have never admitted that
men were created equal, or that the consent of the
governed was a condition of government. They
have, on the contrary, emphatically denied both
propositions. We now concede that, after all, there
was great basis for their denial; that certainly, it
must be admitted, our forefathers were hasty, at
least, in reaching their conclusions; they
generalized too broadly. We do not frankly avow
error, and we still think the assent of the governed
to a government a thing desirable to be secured,
under suitable circumstances, and with proper
limitations; but, if it can not conveniently be
secured, we are advised on New England senatorial
authority that ‘the consent of some of the
governed’ will be sufficient, we ourselves selecting
those proper to be consulted. Thus in such cases as
certain islands of the Antilles, Hawaii, and the
communities of Asia, we admit that, so far as the
principles at the basis of the Declaration are
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