But if congress had put this prohibition distinctly in the form of a penalty, the usurpation would have been so barefaced--so destitute of all color of constitutional authority--that congress dared not risk the consequences.
Lysander Spooner: “But if congress had put this prohibition distinctly in the form of a penalty, the usurpation would have been so…”
Editor's note · Context
He suggests that if the prohibition had been labeled as a penalty, it would have been more easily challenged.
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They do not attempt to deceive us, or mislead us, or reconcile us to their doings, by any such pretences, impostures, or insults as these.
They do not tell us of the almshouses, hospitals, schools, churches, etc., which, out of the purest charity and benevolence, they maintain for our benefit, out of the money they take from us.
They do not carry their heads high, above all other men, and demand our reverence and admiration, as statesmen, patriots, and benefactors.
They acknowledge it to be our unquestioned right and duty to kill them, if we can; that they expect nothing else, than that we will kill them, if we can; and that we are only fools and cowards, if we do not kill them, by any and every…