Government Justice and Public Respect
Respect for government is secured by even-handed justice to all classes rather than by hasty and severe repression of some particular class. When government functions are used to support and promote wealth, when predatory and wealthy free-booters prey undisturbed upon the mass of the people, government is bound to lose the respect of the classes oppressed. Then the flag of the country is made to stand for that sort of thing, and is bound to become a matter of jest and jeer, of contumely and contempt. Who is responsible, the men who may be counted anarchists because of excited and indignant remarks regarding the symbol of the nation's principles, or those who invite such remarks by the acts of anarchy or utter lawlessness winked at by the government? These are questions which are worthy of more than ordinary consideration.