' ' ' I 4 Che Conservative *
FREE THOUGHT , FREE SPEECH , FREE
PRESS.
Free thought , free speech and a free
press constitute the inalienable and in
vulnerable necessities to individual and
national prosperity and an advancing
civilization. Civilization comprises all
customs , laws or institutions which have
tended to foster or are advancing man's
ability to survive in the struggle for ex
istence. The most civilized nation is
not that having the most cultivated
people , but the one the institutions of
which produce the greatest number of
individuals maintaining themselves by
their own efforts. Greek and Roman
culture attained its greatest ascendency
at the time that national degeneracy
was well advanced. Culture does not
make civilization. It may aid it , how
ever. A civilized nation is one which
produces and is ruled by the greatest
number of independent thinkers among
the people.
Free thought is the basis of free speech
and a free press. The tliree constitute
the only "holy trinity" known to man.
Here we have one in three and three in
one , free from mystery. He who com-
prehendo the nature and relations of his
own thoughts is made in the image of
God and is the very incarnation of
divinity. He is the mightiest , the most
subtle , the most profound manifestation
of the eternal and all embracing energy.
So vital is the "holy trinity" of free
thought , free speech and a free press to
individual prosperity and national soli
darity that the fathers felt impelled to
engraft them in the constitution as
"rights of the individual" beyond the
limits of government interference. It
should never be forgotten that Sam
Adams , "the last of the Puritans , " was
as doggedly obstinate in advocating
" " the "free-think
these "rights" as was -
ing" Jefferson , who was falsely maligned
as an Atheist , as was Paine also. Ac
cording to the constitution it is an obli
gation of the government to defend the
"free-thinker" in religion or politics ,
against the machinations or despotism
of the majority that may disagree with
him. Here is a case where the will of
the majority can only prevail to its own
injury or destruction. Cowardice is in
variably self-destructive. Never is it
more so than when manifest as fear of
the workings of the human brain. Fear
of ideas is social suicide. In the re
ligious , political and social sense the
majority is often false to the constitu
tion. Whoever persecutes or seeks to
limit the expression of opinion is guilty
of high treason. The mugwump is the
"voice of God. " The tongue of the
"back-slider" is often
- appropriated by
the truth.
Ecclesiasticism denies the right of free
speech and would , if it could , stamp out
independence of intellect in the people.
Robespierres would guillotine the inde
pendent in politics or strangle his life
out in the coils of the machine. The
boss denies the right of independent
citizenship to positions in the public
service. An ignorant and subsorvimit
majority pulls the cords of intellectual
strangulation at the bidding of the boss.
The ecclesiastical and political boss is
conceived in ignorance , begotten in sin ,
and born in corruption. The independent
is alone incorruptible. Society ostracizes
the independent and draws its pharasaic
and superstition-polluted robes about it
as he passes by. The press , which is
granted the utmost license and carries
abuse to anarchistic disregard of free
dom , lends its aid to guillotining the
intellectual independence of the nation.
It is the subservient tool of the ecclesias
tical , political and social magnates.
Fear of independent thought is the nurse
of humanity. Fear is the infallible evi
dence of self-conscious weakness. Truth
is the bete noir of the coward. Cowar
dice is the child of ignorance. The
greatest of all cowardice is
Th Fear f Fr Thought.
Free thought ! What is it ? What is
its nature ? Not possessing it the major
ity know nothing about it. For the
same reason they fear it. For like
reason the majority "fear God. " They
are not "made in the image. " Man
fears not that which he knows. The
fear of ignorance may be blissful but it
lacks the confidence of the wise. All
wisdom is self-knowledge. Ignorance is
weakness. To the majority free speech
and free thought are identical. They
are mistaken. Free thought and free
speech are not necessarily related. No
one speaks more freely than the liar.
No one is permitted more freedom in
speech. The truth speaker alone is
gagged. Free thought is a rare intellec
tual gem in individuals. Free thought
is not a right. Free thought is not only
beyond the control of others , but out
side of self-control. Nothing but death
can alienate it from him who is so born.
It is not even an "inalienable right. "
Even the despot has no power over the
thoughts of the imprisoned martyr.
The fagots of the inquisition may de
stroy the body but the thought of the
martyr is the eternal and indestructible
energy. Thoughts may be transient ,
but thought is eternal and unchangeable
as the truth.
Free speech ( not speech ) is a right
guaranteed by each individual member
tp a social compact to every other mem
ber , hence written in the bond , as self-
evident necessity to individual safety.
While several people have arisen to this
conception in the abstract sense , and re
corded it in the letter of their constitu
tions , not one is civilized enough to live
up to its spirit and give speech unre
stricted freedom in the practical sense.
The ecclesiastical and political boss in
the United States is as malignantly
dangerous to free speech as William the
bombastic is ill Germany. The social
tyrant is far less restrictive in Germany
and France than in England and Amor- \
ica. The people there do not fear speech > j
half as much as the bosses do. In the -1
United States the bosses have stampeded j j
the intellects of the people , who know 'j
not what wolves they are , though rnak- j
ing most lamb-like pretentious. j
As intimated but few know the ' '
nature of free thought Colonel Inger-
sell was generally looked upon as an
example of a free thinker. Free speaker , I
he certainly was , but he never arose '
beyond the dignity of a free thinker ,
"limited" to use a commercial ex
pression. But the most limited number
of those occupying chairs of philosophy j
in educational institutions are free intel
lectually. Scarcely one is a philosopher.
Most of them are students of philoso
phers. Philosophy is the study of the
reactions in one's own mind. Only
such as have "minds of their own" can
be philosophers. He who is but the
phonophonic repeater of the intellectual
reactions of dead ages cannot be a
philosopher. He may be learned ; he is
not educated. Thomas Paine was a i
free thinker par excellence. He cast <
tradition and precedent behind him as i
something polluting to the free and
independent mind. Thomas Jefferson
was another. Unrestricted free think- j ;
ers are the rarest gems among the ,1
Kosinic stars , even on the horizon of 3
science. Traditional limitation pollutes 1
the lustre of nearly all the most radiant
intellectual gems.
The Nature of Thought.
No one knows what thought is except
that it is one of the manifestations of
the universal force. It is enough if we
can understand the nature of our
thoughts. Thought is a phenomena of
mind , as mind is a complex of force
manifestations. There being no such
thing as freedom , in a personal sense , it
should be evident that free thought is
impossible. Freedom is an individual
istic condition possible only in the pres
ence of other individuals Freedom is a
mutual concession of people aggregated
together for self-preservation. When
the individual's actions do not encroach
on those of others , so as to necessitate
their limitation , he is said to be free.
Such freedom implies self control.
Self-control implies restraint. Restraint
is not liberty. Nevertheless self-control
is necessary to freedom in the social
state. Self-control implies consciousness
of power. Power gives freedom.
Weakness is slavery. In the individual
istic sense this is a very profound idea
of freedom. On the other hand there is
a far more subtle and profound con
ception. This may be denned as un
conscious subjectiveness ; unconscious
living without limitation ; the uncon
sciousness of consciousness. The last is
paradoxical ; nevertheless it is the only