On the record
But the task of enforcing obedience to laws, when obedience is not in the hearts of the people, is the most difficult undertaking ever imposed upon the governing power.
Source
gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “But the task of enforcing obedience to laws, when obedience is not in the hearts of the people, is the most difficult…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine articulates the difficulties of enforcing laws when there is widespread resistance among the populace.
Share
More from James Blaine
Is any portion of the people bound to contribute their money or their blood to carry on a contest like that?
If this view of the subject be correct, as I think it is, then the Union must utterly perish at the moment when Congress shall arm one part of the people against another for any purpose beyond that of merely protecting the General…
But what if the feeling in any State against the United States should become so universal that the Federal officers themselves (including judges, district attorneys, and marshals) would be reached by the same influences, and resign their…
Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them.
Other voices in this conversation
