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A Famous Name and an Evil Idea
Now listen to the great Montesquieu
on this same subject: "To maintain the spirit of commerce,
it is necessary that all the laws must favor it. These laws, by
proportionately dividing up the fortunes as they are made in
commerce, should provide every poor citizen with sufficiently
easy circumstances to enable him to work like the others. These
same laws should put every rich citizen in such lowered
circumstances as to force him to work in order to keep or to
gain."
Thus the laws are to dispose of all fortunes!
Although real equality is the soul
of the state in a democracy, yet this is so difficult to
establish that an extreme precision in this matter would not
always be desirable. It is sufficient that there be established a
census to reduce or fix these differences in wealth within a
certain limit. After this is done, it remains for specific laws
to equalize inequality by imposing burdens upon the rich and
granting relief to the poor.
Here again we find the idea of
equalizing fortunes by law, by force. In Greece, there were two kinds of
republics, One, Sparta, was military; the other, Athens, was
commercial. In the former, it was desired that the citizens be
idle; in the latter, love of labor was encouraged.
Note the marvelous genius of these
legislators: By debasing all established customs—by mixing
the usual concepts of all virtues—they knew in advance that
the world would admire their wisdom.
Lycurgus gave stability to his city
of Sparta by combining petty thievery with the soul of justice;
by combining the most complete bondage with the most extreme
liberty; by combining the most atrocious beliefs with the
greatest moderation. He appeared to deprive his city of all its
resources, arts, commerce, money, and defenses. In Sparta,
ambition went without the hope of material reward. Natural
affection found no outlet because a man was neither son, husband,
nor father. Even chastity was no longer considered becoming. By
this road, Lycurgus led Sparta on to greatness and glory.
This boldness which was to be found
in the institutions of Greece has been repeated in the midst of
the degeneracy and corruption of our modern times. An occasional
honest legislator has molded a people in whom integrity appears
as natural as courage in the Spartans.
Mr. William Penn, for example, is a
true Lycurgus. Even though Mr. Penn had peace as his
objective—while Lycurgus had war as his objective—they
resemble each other in that their moral prestige over free men
allowed them to overcome prejudices, to subdue passions, and to
lead their respective peoples into new paths.
The country of Paraguay furnishes
us with another example [of a people who, for their own good, are
molded by their legislators].*
*Translator’s note: What was
then known as Paraguay was a much larger area than it is today.
It was colonized by the Jesuits who settled the Indians into
villages, and generally saved them from further brutalities by
the avid conquerors.
Now it is true that if one
considers the sheer pleasure of commanding to be the greatest joy
in life, he contemplates a crime against society; it will,
however, always be a noble ideal to govern men in a manner that
will make them happier. Those who desire to establish similar
institutions must do as follows: Establish common ownership of
property as in the republic of Plato; revere the gods as Plato
commanded; prevent foreigners from mingling with the people, in
order to preserve the customs; let the state, instead of the
citizens, establish commerce. The legislators should supply arts
instead of luxuries; they should satisfy needs instead of
desires.
Clark Simmons, Webmaster
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