- "Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps,
the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every
other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes.
And armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing
the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary
power of the Executive is extended. Its influence in dealing out offices,
honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the
minds, are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same
malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes,
and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war...and in
the degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by both. No nation could
preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
-
- --James Madison, April 20, 1795 (Works. Vol. 4, Pp.
491-2)
|
