But the falsehood and absurdity of your whole system of government do
not result solely from the fact that it rests wholly upon votes given in
secret, or by men who take care to avoid all personal responsibility for
their own acts, or the acts of their agents. On the contrary, if every
man, woman, and child in the United States had openly signed, sealed,
and delivered to you and your associates, a written document, purporting
to invest you with all the legislative, judicial, and executive powers
that you now exercise, they would not thereby have given you the
slightest legitimate authority. Such a contract, purporting to surrender
into your hands all their natural rights of person and property, to be
disposed of at your pleasure or discretion, would have been simply an
absurd and void contract, giving you no real authority whatever.
It is a natural impossibility for any man to make a _binding_ contract,
by which he shall surrender to others a single one of what are commonly
called his "natural, inherent, _inalienable_ rights."
It is a natural impossibility for any man to make a _binding_ contract,
that shall invest others with any right whatever of arbitrary,
irresponsible dominion over him.
The right of arbitrary, irresponsible dominion is the right of property;
and the right of property is the right of arbitrary, irresponsible
dominion. The two are identical. There is no difference between them.
Neither can exist without the other. If, therefore, our so-called
lawmakers really have that right of arbitrary, irresponsible dominion
over us, which they claim to have, and which they habitually exercise,
it must be because they own us as property. If they own us as property,
it must be because nature made us their property; for, as no man can
sell himself as a slave, we could never make a binding contract that
should make us their property--or, what is the same thing, give them any
right of arbitrary, irresponsible dominion over us.
As a lawyer, you certainly ought to know that all this is true.