Wednesday, April 18th, 2007

Daniel Webster on Conscription

I was reading through some archives of pieces by Ron Paul at Lew Rockwell.com. I came upon a particularly interesting one. This is one of several speeches against conscription delivered by Ron Paul in the U.S. House of Representatives, but I found that the value in this one went further than its argument on the single subject. The article includes a condensation of a speech given by Daniel Webster during the War of 1812. There are some real gems to be found here.

I especially like Webster's argument that it cannot be argued that the power of enlistment is one of voluntary enlistment, for we could not raise the needed army in such a fashion. He replies that such an argument proves too much. "If this reasoning could prove any thing, it would equally show, that whenever the legitimate powers of the Constitution should be so badly administered as to cease to answer the great ends intended by them, such new powers may be assumed or usurped, as any existing administration may deem expedient." Well, thankfully he was wrong about that one!

I also like his later argument: "A military force cannot be raised, in this manner, but by the means of a military force. If administration has found that it can not form an army without conscription, it will find, if it venture on these experiments, that it can not enforce conscription without an army. The Government was not constituted for such purposes." Again, I am thankful that we haven't seen this come to pass!

The entire piece is golden.

11:37 am Pacific Standard Time

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Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

What I Missed When My Ancestors Came to America

I recently discovered the glories of BBC radio, especially Radio 3. Man! What great programming!

Last night I was listening to a piece on differences between English and Scottish humor. It was a decent piece in its own right. But what I'm really thankful for was the mention of comedian Rikki Fulton. I had never heard of him. But their description of the terminally depressed Reverend I.M. Jolly was something I could not pass up.

Jolly is a dour Presbyterian minister if there ever was one. If Eeyore became a Presbyterian minister, he'd be the Reverend Jolly. Jolly was a favorite character on the BBC show Scotch and Wry. Another funny sketch is where a clergyman's water glass is filled with gin right before he goes on TV.

1:56 pm Pacific Standard Time

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