TheAmerican Formof Government

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The AmericanForm of Government

At first thought it would seem unnecessary totell American citizens of the type and form oftheir own government. The immediate reaction tothe suggestion that this is necessary is thateveryone knows about the origin and type ofgovernment established in the United States; thatall are acquainted with our history, and know thatthis nation came into being with the successfulconclusion of the War of Independence, after whicha Constitution was written and adopted by theStates; and yet, to know all this does not nec-essarily give the possessor of this knowledge anunderstanding of our form of government.

One of the evidences of general slipshodthinking today is the present tendency to divideall governments into two classes, totalitarian anddemocratic. With this division as the premise,men then reason that because we are not a totali-tarian state we must, therefore, be a democracy.Thus, in starting with a wrong premise, theconclusion becomes faulty. Yet this conclusionhas been accepted by the unthinking multitudes andeven expressed as a fact by public speakers,leaders and businessmen in general.

Because it has been accepted that our nationis a democracy, for any man to express a distrustof such a form of government immediately classi-fies him as un-American by those who have acceptedthe conclusion as reasoned from the above falsepremise, with the result that the misinformed and

unthinking label everyone who recognizes thefallacy of calling this nation a democracy asunpatriotic. This attitude on their part inreality, though unknown to them, is a publicdeclaration of their ignorance of true Americanhistory and the fundamental principles whichguided our forefathers in writing the Constitutionof the United States.

Sincere and earnest students of Americanhistory thus become the target of smear-mongerswho immediately undertake to make their declara-tion of facts the statements of anti-Americans.The majority of people, who are unfamiliar withthe question so ably discussed in the Consti-tutional Convention, are readily deceived by suchtactics.

Most Americans are as yet unaware of theviciousness of the attacks being made upon ourConstitution and upon our form of government bythose who would sabotage our way of life. Thatsuch attacks have been remarkably successful isclearly evident by the general acceptance todaythat this nation in reality is a democracy. Thosewho, knowing American history and the purpose forwriting the Constitution of the United States andwho are trying to sell the American people theidea that they are a democracy are the realenemies of this nation. While some are doing thisintentionally there are many more who, in theirignorance, are trying to make a democracy out of anation whose founders never intended to establishsuch a type of government over our people.

After the damage has been done the nationwill awaken to find they have been but the toolsof subversive interests who have laid carefulplans to destroy our form of government andnullify the working of the Constitution of the

Upon turning to our Constitution one of thefirst things that strikes the reader's attentionis that the framers of the Constitution endeavoredto establish a government of checks and balances!Three great departments are provided: the legis-lative, the judicial and the executive. Each isgiven power to defend itself against the encroach-ments of the other two, and each acts as a checkon the others.

Channing, in his History of the UnitedStates, writes:

"The Constitutional framers had good reasonto attempt the accomplishment of this difficultpurpose: in the old Colonial days, which most ofthem remembered, the governors of the royal prov-inces had exercised all three functions, greatlyto the dissatisfaction of the colonists; and thelegislative body of Great Britain held the supremepower. To avoid establishing a government whichwould develop into either of these forms, theframers of the Constitution sought to give eachdepartment its due share of power, and to preventanyone department from making itself supreme.

"For instance, the executive power is vestedin the President; but he also exercises importantlegislative functions in his veto, and judicialpower in his right to pardon. The legislativepower is lodged in Congress, but the Senate actsas an advisory council to the President--withoutits consent no important appointment can be madeand no treaty ratified. The judicial power isentrusted to the Supreme Court and inferiorcourts; but, as no law can ~e enforced which theSupreme Court declares to be unconstitutional, theSupreme Court, in fact, exercises supreme legis-

lative functions. Finally, the House of Repre-sentatives, by means of its initiative in taxa-tion, exercises a most effective control over theexecutive department."

Never in our history has it been more neces-sary to study our Constitution and the principlesof government established in this land by itsadoption than in this day of confusion and uncer-tainty. The Constitution of the United States didnot establish a democracy; it did not establish anautocracy; it did establish a Republic!

The flag salute is known to every boy andgirl attending our public schools, "I pledgeallegiance to my flag and to the Republic forwhich it stands, one nation indivisible withfreedom and liberty for all." To those who accuseothers of being un-American because they declarethis nation is not a democracy but a Republic werefer them to this flag salute, for the Stars andStripes stand for a Republic and not a democracyas every boy and girl who has pledged allegianceto our Flag fully knows.

Harry E. Atwood in Back to the Republic hasthis to say:

"One of the serious aspects of the present-day tendency is the reckless and inaccurate use ofgovernmental terms. Almost daily Russia is spokenof as 'the new republic.' That phrase is asinaccurate as it would be to speak of a drunkenman as a new example of temperance. To speak ofMexico as a 'republic' is as inaccurate as itwould be to speak of fanaticism as a new form ofreverence. To call China a 'republic' is asfar-fetched as it would be to speak of insomnia

as a new form of rest. China, Mexico and Russiaat the present time are all types of democra-cy...•These countries are not· republics."

As the writer of the above book declares (adeclaration we have verified) one finds thought-less inaccuracy in dictionaries and encyclopediasregarding the meaning of the terms republic anddemocracy. What is true here is also to be notedas so in the political speeches of politicians andstatesmen and in their use of these terms as theymake them appear synonymous. The offenders inthis respect include the highest of officials inour government who are continually referring tothe United States as a democracy and yet ourforefathers had no intention of forming such atype of government and did not establish it whenthis Republic was born. The proof of this isclear from the statements of Hamilton and Madisonwho were the spokesmen for--and interpreted thework of--the Constitutional Convention.

The foundinglished a Republicof which were fullyfied in the bloodyrule.

fathers of this country estab-and not a democracy, the evilsrecognized by them as exempli-French Revolution with its mob

"Democracies have ever been spectacles ofturbulence and contention; have ever been foundincompatible with personal security or the rightsof property, and have in general be~n as short intheir lives as they have been violent in theirdeaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patro-nized this species of government, have erroneouslysupported that by reducing mankind to a perfectequality in their political rights, they would, atthe same time, be perfectly equalized and assimi-

lated in their professions, their 0p1n10ns andtheir passions••••A republic, by which I mean agovernment in which the scheme of representationtakes place, opens a different prospect, andpromises the cure for which we are seeking••••Thetwo great points of difference between a democracyand a republic are, first, the delegation of thegovernment, in the latter to a small number ofcitizens elected by the rest; secondly, thegreater number of citizens and extent of territorywhich may be brought within the compass of repub-lican than of democratic government••••The effectof the first difference is, on the one hand, torefine and enlarge the public views, by passingthem through the medium of a chosen body ofcitizens, whose wisdom may best discern the trueinterest of their country, and whose patriotismand love of justice will be least likely tosacrifice it to temporary or partial conside-rations. Under such a regulation it may wellhappen that the public voice, pronounced by therepresentation of the people, will be more conso-nant to the public good than if pronounced by thepeople themselves, convened for the purpose•...Hence, it clearly appears that the same advantagewhich a republic has over a democracy consists inthe substitution of representatives whose enlight-ened views and virtuous sentiments render themsuperior to local prejudices and to schemes ofinjustice••••In fine, it consists in the greaterobstacles opposed to the concert and accomplish-ment of the secret wishes of an unjust and inter-ested majority ••••If we resort for a criterion tothe different principles on which different formsof government are established, we may define arepublic to be, or at least may bestow that nameon, a government which derives all its powersdirectly or indirectly from the great body of thepeople, and is administered by persons holdingtheir offices during pleasure, for a limitedperiod, or during good behavior ••••The truedistinction between these forms is that in a

democracy the people meet and exercise the govern-ment in person. In a republic they assemble andadminister it by their representative agents ....The first question that offers itself is whetherthe general form and aspect of the government bestrictly republican? It is evident that no otherform would be reconcilable with the genius of theAmerican people."

James Madison, a careful thinker, had fittedhimself to take the leading part in the Consti-tutional Convention. "In the management of everygreat question," wrote a delegate from Georgia,"he evidently took the lead in the Convention."

We follow Mr. Madison's clear-cut statementsas to the type of government intended for theUnited States, all of which is fully substantiatedby a careful reading of our Constitution. Tothose who would label as un-American those whotake a stand with Madison and recognize the evilsof a democracy, our advice is to read Americanhistory and the Constitution of the United States.As they read, let them take special note of thestatements made by the founders of our country andthe writers of our Constitution, for the inten-tions of those founders are found in the writingsof Madison and Hamilton who have emphaticallydeclared the type of government intended andfinally established. Then the fog of ignorancewill be dispelled and the bright and luminous orbof the Republic will be seen to shine forth as theform and type of government established in thisland.

Unfortunately for our national well-beingthose who are at present raking in the muck andmire of democracy are but deluding themselves intothinking that through mob rule they will findperfection in government. In reality, they are

but turning to ways of violence that will bringultimate and inevitable disaster and destruction,for pure democracy is as surely destined todisintegrate under the weight of its own incompe-tency as is the totalitarian state. Must we passthrough violence and trouble before Americaawakens to the evils of democracy and recognizesthe blessings of a Republic? When the governmentestablished by our forefathers is recognized andappreciated in all of its fullness the wisdom ofshunning the evils of democracy will be acceptedby the people who will then denounce those who aretrying to convert this great Republic into ademocracy.

Alexander Hamilton wrote on September 18,1803:

"The plan of a Constitution which I drew upwhile the Convention was sitting, and which Icommunicated to Mr. Madison •••was predicated uponthese bases:

"l)people ofrepublican

That the political principles of thethis country would endure nothing but

government.

"2)country itrepublicantrial.

That in the actual situation of thewas in itself right and proper that the

theory should have a full and fair

thatgivewith

"3) That to such a trial it was essentialthe government should be so constituted as to

all the energy and stability reconcilablethe principles of that theory.

"These were the genuine sentiments of myheart, and upon them I acted."

For one to agree with Mr. Hamilton today isto bring into question his loyalty and patriotismas the muckrakers of democracy undertake to labelhis stand as un-American. Such an accusation iseither through malice, or in ignorance of thepurpose for which our Constitution was written.

At first we departed little by little fromthe strict observance of the original requirementsof government as established by our forefathers.Then there came the day of acceleration in thatdeparture and, with the establishment of commis-sions and boards to control and govern us, we aretoday in the full grip of all the evils of demo-cracy in a government of bureaucracy that fails torecognize individual rights and in which there areno checks and balances by which those rights canbe protected. With this acceleration our nationis rapidly moving towards an inevitable crisisthat brings those who warn of the coming judgmentupon democracy into disrepute with the presentspirit of the mob and its ruling demigods.

In DESTINY for February 1941 we wrote: "Thedictators will not only be defeated but democracywill -be destroyed. The present'conflict, withdictators in the ascendancy is, in the plan ofGod, for the purpose of completely smashingdemocratic forms of government for all time! Thedictators are instruments in His hand being usedby Him for this purpose. When the present con-flict ends, democracies will be a thing of thepast, never again to be restored as a form of gov-ernment."

The above was written over two years ago andwe are more than ever convinced through subsequentevents that every form of democracy is ultimately

doomed, even that type of democracy established inRussia. Men today intuitively sense this impend-ing judgment upon the entire democratic system asevidenced in the repeated words of w~rning weoften hear regarding the deadly perils confrontingthis form of government.

Every form of rebellion to God is coming tojudgment and just as those individuals who are inopposition to God are to face judgment so also isdemocracy facing judgment. Democracy is a form ofgovernment .that is definitely in rebellion torighteousness, for a pure democracy establishesthe desires and wishes of the people as the finalcourt of appeals. Public opinion, or the desireof the majority in a democracy becomes the guidingspirit of the nation, and its desire transcendsthe law of the land.

God never intended that public 0plnlon, orthe voice of the majority, should in any way havean influence that would be detrimental to the law.His commandments, the "Thou shalt nots," must takeprecedence over every opinion--either public orprivate. His statutes, governing administrationin the nation as well as the economic life andwell-being of His people, were never intended tobe subjected to popular referendum or amendment.His judgments were to be kept more scrupulouslythan any judgment rendered in a court of law andwere certain to take precedence over any popularjudgment rendered by the majority at any electionor in any action by the mob.

TheIsrael atgovernmentaffairs of

type of government which God gave toMount Sinai was a representative form of

with men picked to administer thethe nation. These men were chosen in

"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all thepeople able men, such as fear God, men of truth,hating covetousness; and place such over them, tobe rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds,rulers of fifties, and rulers of ten. And letthem judge the people at all seasons." (Exodus18: 21-22.)

These representatives administered theaffairs of the nation, judging the people anddeciding issues in accord with the requirements ofthe law.

Our forefathers modeled the Constitutionafter this perfect Israel system and, while it maybe contended they did so unknowingly, yet theywere certainly guided by the Spirit of the God ofIsrael and thus a Constitution was written whichwould bring justice and equity to all. But thoughwe patterned our Constitution in accord with theperfect Israel system of administration we failedto make mandatory the administration of the lawsgiven to Israel at the time God organized theworld's first great Republic when He establishedHis Kingdom at Mount Sinai. Because of thisfailure there was left in the hands of the peopleof the United States the power to enact legisla-tion that could destroy the Republic. Wreckingcrews have been busy during the past years andnever have they been so active as at the presenttime. They are moving against the type and formof government our fathers established in thisland. The results are in evidence in the failureof what was once the most successful form ofgovernment in centuries with an administrationoperating for the benefit of all the people.

Butenduredoriginal

this perfection in administration has notas the result of tampering with thelaws of this Republic. We will in time

come to realize that the only lasting foundationon which can be built a permanent government--onethat will give stability to our Republic--is thebedrock of fundamental laws which must operate asthe law of the land. Those laws are the command-ments, statutes and judgments of the Lord. Theycomprise the only foundation for an enduring peaceand, under the administration of these fundamentallaws, all that is set forth in the preamble of ourConstitution will find complete fulfillment:

"Establish justice, insure domestic tranquil-lity, provide for the common defense, promote thegeneral welfare, and secure the blessings ofliberty to ourselves and our posterity."

Following the War of Independence our fore-fathers intuitively turned to that form of Govern-ment, the perfection of which had been demon-strated by God when Israel was organized into anation at Mount Sinai. It is the only true systemof administration in which the people have fullrepresentation and continuous justice with domes-tic tranquillity. With the birth of the Republicas set forth by the author of Back to the Repub-lic: "There began the first great era of progressgovernmentally that the world had ever known. Webegan to solve problems and to secure privilegesthat had baffled philosophers and statesmen forages ....We radiated over all the world the rays oflight, of hope, of progress, of justice." He thengoes on to say, "Gradually, however, we began tomodify our national government through the ap-pointment of boards and commissions, and thecreation of various governmental agencies thatmade it impossible for the government to functionin accord with the plan of the Constitution."

The chapter in his book on "Dangerous Experi-ments" is an indictment of the many and varied

moves and legislative enactmentssponsible for changing our form ofa democracy. The author says,very good definition of boardswhen he said: 'I think they arecheat the government.'"

which are re-government into"Lincoln gave aand commissionscontrivances to

Thetypes offollows:

definition ofadministration

the different forms andin the above book is as

"Socialism is that phase of democracy whichnegates property rights. Anarchy is that phase ofdemocracy which negates "law. The initiative isthat phase of democracy which makes it possiblefor the infuriated mob, under the leadership ofthe demagogue, to enact legislation. The referen-dum is that phase of democracy which assumes thatthe minority should rescind impulsively at aspecial election the deliberate action of themajority at a regular election. The judicialrecall is that phase of democracy which makes itpossible to take a case from the courtroom, whereit may be decided in accordance with the law andevidence, to the street-corners, where the agita-tors may appeal to passion and prejudice••••Weshould avoid the dangers of socialism and anarchyand government ownership as perils that threatento shake the very foundation of the republic•••.Our national government has grown weaker, moreinefficient, more ineffective, more chaotic andmore wasteful of public money than otherwise mighthave been, just in proportion as through thecreation of boards, commissions, dictators, excesslegislation, etc., we have departed from andfailed to adhere strictly and literally to thestandard form, the golden mean, the republic."

Presidentaddress given

Roosevelt said in his campaignat Sioux City in September, 1932,

that President Hoover's administration had beenthe greatest spending administration in ourhistory. He accused it of piling Bureau onBureau, Commission on Commission and stated thatBureaus and Bureaucrats have been retained at theexpense of the taxpayers.

If Mr. Atwood wrote of these dangers twenty-five years ago what would he have to say today?Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 was horror-strickenat the multiplied bureaucracies under the HooverAdministration and yet he has so out-HooveredHoover with alphabetical agencies as to cause onewriter to state that in time to come these yearswill be indexed as the goofiest period of Americanhistory.

Because there are those of us who point outthat we are now being ruled over by bureaucratsand crackpots who never were elected by thepeople, nor accountable to them, under a system ofadministration which has disregarded the republi-can principles of our Constitutional form ofgovernment we are labeled as anti-democratic andun-American. Unfortunately the American peoplehave been sold on the idea that democracy andAmericanism are to be treated as synonymous termswhen they are, in fact, at opposite poles inprinciple and administration. The real and trueAmerican salutes the Flag and the Republic forwhich it stands, despising democracy with its mobrule and violence. Under the present administra-tion, however, the floodgates were opened to allthe evils of a democracy that had not under formeradministrations been allowed to manifest itself innational affairs. This has enabled a type ofdictatorial power to rise in our midst, as it hasarisen in the lands across the sea, for truedemocracy is the predecessor of tyranny andoppression.

Democracy, itself, is the spawning ground ofevery kind of politicalism and from its midstthere arise those who would challenge our freedom.It permits tyranny through seizure of power andfoists upon a people all the evils of bureau-cracy.

Turning to the Bible and following thehistory of Israel, it will be recognized that thelaw was codified and given to Israel at MountSinai as their national constitution and thepeople were admonished to adhere strictly to itsrequirements. The first demonstration of thedemocratic tendency, when the people departed fromthese laws and their administration, was made bythe people when Moses was absent. The peopleassembled before Aaron and demanded that theirvoice be heard. Aaron acquiesced in the appealand the popular clamor for a democratic voice inthe affairs of the nation. The Golden Calf wasbuilt and democracy, the rule of the people, wasin full operation when Moses returned. Theconversation which took place between Moses andAaron is of intense interest. Moses stood for thekeeping of the law and adhering to their repre-sentative form of government, but Aaron gave wayto the desire of the people. Moses chided Aaronfor this weakness but Aaron gave the perfectdemocratic political answer when he informed Mosesthat "the people wanted it," so he gave it tothem. Thus, under democracy, what the people wantor desire they must have; whether God approves ornot!

Whenever the people of Israel departed fromthe strict observance of the laws of the Lord theyadopted in part, or in whole, the principles of agovernment by the people in opposition to the

observance of God's laws. Finally the time camewhen the northern Ten Tribe Kingdom of Israelturned away altogether from keeping the laws ofthe Lord and a democratic type of administrationbecame a permanent institution within the Kingdom:

"And they rejected his statutes, and hiscovenant that he made with their fathers, and histestimonies which he testified against them: andthey followed vanity, and became vain •••.And theyleft all the commandments of the Lord their God."(II Kings 17: 15-16.)

What was it that Israel did when they becamevain? They came to believe that they were ascapable of making laws for their guidance as GodHimself. They, therefore, legislated laws to takethe place of those which God gave to them fortheir administration. I Kings 16: 25 declares,"But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord,and did worse than all that were before him."Micah refers to the sin of Omri, and tells us thatthe people were following after what he had done."For the statutes of Omri are kept." (Micah 6:16.)

From the days of Omri and onward the House ofIsrael began to multiply their legislative enact-ments and followed the principles of a democracy.When in 1776 God called this nation to independ-ence He inspired our forefathers to write adocument that would restore to the people thepurity and simplicity of the representative formof administration and in the adoption of ourConstitution this nation, so long as we observedits requirements, prospered. As Israel of olddeparted from the simplicity of the original typeof administration received by them at Mount Sinaiso we, too, have departed from the simplicity ofthe Constitutional form of government given us byour forefathers who were under the direction andguidance of God.

Just as surely as totalitarianism is to passaway in the defeat of dictators, so also willdemocracy come to its full judgment in the periodfollowing the passing of the dictators. This willbe as a result of increasing maladministration andexcessive taxation, always found necessary tofinance bureaucratic spending in a democracy wherethere are no checks and balances to protect therights of the people.

Whether men will accept it as yet or not, thepresent war is sounding the death knell to demo-cratic forms of government as excesses of mob-ministration bring disastrous consequences to ournation in the rising dissensions of the "Peopleversus the People."

The vital need today is to recognize thesefacts and turn back to the simplicity of adminis-tration established by our forefathers and tothose laws, the fundamental principles of whichwere given to our earlier forefathers at MountSinai.

The chapter on "Organization and Adminis-tration of Government" in Digest of the DivineLaw* closes with the following statement which wewill do well to remember and heed if our nationwould solve the coming problems in a post-warworld:

"When it is understood that the basis of theIsrael organization is constitutional, with thelaws of the Lord as the law of the land, andregardless of whatever official title is borne bythe leader of the nation, that his task will beto administer the commandments, statutes andjudgments of the Lord in equity and justice, and,* $8.00 each postpaid. Destiny Publishers,

Merrimac, MA 01860-0177

assisting him in that administration, represent-atives chosen from among the people for theirvirtue and integrity, then--and then only--willour nation be on the way to restoring righteous-ness in administration. Then will have been laidthe foundation on which can be built an enduringand lasting government based upon the bedrock ofthe commandments, statutes and judgments of theLord operating as the law of the land.

"Following the writing of what Gladstonecalled the greatest document produced by man (ourConstitution) must come the awakening of men tothe realization of the need of restoring theadministration of the law of the Lord. It mustalso be accepted and recognized that there is noright granted man that enables him to make laws,for governments were organized by God to functionstrictly in an administrative and judicial capac-ity and refrain from entering into businessactivities which, under the law, are assigned tothe citizens of the Kingdom."

For a man to be "anti-democratic" in no waymakes him un-American but rather, if he subscribesto the tenets of our Republic, he stands foursquare for the principles of Americanism for whichour forefathers fought and died. It is, instead,those now trying to make of our nation a democracywho are the real enemies of our way of life.

The careless and thoughtless who root for ademocratic way of life are unconsciously, orotherwise, clamoring for the destruction of theRepublic, and the Constitution that made possiblethe liberty and freedom which has been a blessingto us and a beacon light to which the downtroddenand oppressed in every land have turned with ahope that they might also share in all our bless-ings.

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