breaking the laws it haa made V*

33



268

I do not say that tyrannical abuses frequently occur in Anierica ^t
the present day ; but I maintain that no sure barrier is established
against them, and that the causes which mitigate the government are
to be found in the circumstances and the manners of the country more
than in its laws.
.f



EFFECTS OF THE UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY UPON
THE ARBITRARY AUTHORITY OJF THE AB^ERICAN PUBLIC
OFFICERS. -

Liberty left by the American laws to public officers, within, a certain sphere. — ^Their
power.
i ,

A DISTINCTION must be drawn between tyranny. and arbitrary power.
Tyranny may be exercised by means of the law, and in that' case it is
not arbitrary : arbitrary power may be exercised for the good of the
community at large, in which case it is not tyrannical. Tyranny
usually employs arbitrary means, but, if necessary, it can rule without
them.
In the United States the unbounded power of the majority, which is
favorable to the legal despotisni of the legislature, is likewise favorable
to the arbitrary authority of the magistrates. The majority has an
entire control over the law when it is made and when it is executed ;
and as it possesses an equal authority over those who are in power,
and the community at large, it considers public officers as its passive
agents, and readily confides the task of serving its designs to their vi-
gilance. The details of their office and the privileges which they are
to enjoy are rarely defined beforehand ; but the majority treats them
as a master does hlu servants, when they are always at work in his
sight, and he has the power of directing or reprimanding them at every
instant.
