Dear Editor:
"We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy," a quote from Alexander Hamilton. Why do so many journalists, reporters, government officials, and worst of all college and university professors always refer to our government as a "democracy" when our founding fathers so carefully sought not to give us a "democracy." Let's quote some of them: Virginia's Edmond Randolph stated that the purpose for which the 1787 convention had gathered was "to provide a cure for the evils under which the United States labored; that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and trials of democracy..."
Samuel Adams, a signer of the Declaration opined: "Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself." He insisted, "There was never a democracy that 'did not commit suicide.'"
James Madison, rightly known as the "Father of the Constitution," wrote in The Federalist, No. 10: "Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they are violent in their deaths."
George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention, indicated during his inaugural address of April 30, 1789, that he would dedicate himself to "the preservation...of the republican model of government." Perhaps some of the elected officials in our governments should read some of the "Federalist Papers" and understand the difference between Republics and Democracies which are vast and extremely important. College professors particularly should know the difference. Much has been written that can illuminate those who will read.
James Jenkins
Altamont, IL
Altamont, Ill. —
