“Those who are ready to exchange freedom for security are not worthy of either freedom or security” (primary source)

I first heard this phrase when I was a violent revolutionary student from Major General Petrov in a video lecture about DTOT (Enough General Management Theory), since then I often use it as the “last argument of the king” in discussions of worldly affairs. But as the world entered the active phase of post-truths and fake with metastases, I decided to dig into the original sources and figure out the context in which old Ben used the phrase, and what he wanted to say / prove to the reader.

I propose to read the original source and discuss exactly the essence of the phrase, the limit of its applicability. (And not Petrov’s personality, the census center or the quality of translation.) If there are experts on history, I will be grateful if you outline a wider context of what is happening at that time.



Pennsylvania Assembly: Official Letter to the Governor

Published in the minutes of the meeting of the House of Representatives, 1755-1756. (Philadelphia, 1756), p. 19-21.

[November 11, 1755]

May the governor please
At present, the House of Representatives has gathered with the most sincere intentions, if possible, to avoid a dispute with the governor on any account. Deeply worried about the current plight of the border areas, she is determined to take any measures for the sake of public safety and well-being that could be expected from the loyal subjects of the British crown and the patriots of their country.

Therefore, during the reading of the message of the Governor from the third day of the current month, a bill to increase the amount allocated for the maintenance of His Majesty, to increase the issue of paper money and to allocate funds to repay the debt within five years was immediately introduced along with the accompanying documents, according to the recommendations of the Governor .

At the same time, since this colony was based on the principles of peace and has so far maintained friendly relations with the local population, strictly observing the terms of the agreements, bringing benefits to them from time to time, and also always giving them their due, it couldn’t surprise us that our old friends suddenly became our cruel enemies. And since the governor told us that “the French were located around Delaware and shawnee under the pretext of returning their country to them,” it seemed to us quite justifiable and appropriate to find out if the Indians complained about any damage caused by this province. with their lands or for any other reason; and express our readiness to restore justice (in the event that complaints were substantiated) before hostilities resume, and the harm will be even greater. For more detailed information and without the slightest intention to insult the Governor, we asked him to provide us with the latest contract, concluded in September. The corresponding letter was sent to him on the second day after we familiarized ourselves with the case. But the governor has not yet given us the answer and seems extremely dissatisfied with our appeal.

Due to the immediate refusal of the governor to adopt a bill that is so important, because he “only received it” and that “it is the same as the previous one, which he had not previously approved,” we assume that the refusal arose due to the lack of sufficient time for the Governor’s consideration. Indeed, all bills on taxation for public use have so far been of a similar content; but this bill is significantly different from all the previous ones that were presented to him earlier, and all the amendments he made (of any significance) to the bill, which he last refused, were taken into account here, except for the complete exemption of real estate from tax. We, like the governor, in an effort to prevent any dispute on this matter, so developed a bill that the decision on the need for property taxation entirely belonged to His Majesty. The bill provides enough time for the will of the King to become known even before the first gathering; but it is also provided that at any time of the continuous operation of the law, if His Majesty deems it appropriate to declare the property exempted from taxation in the given province, the tax ceases to be levied, and if any part of it has already been levied, it will be subject to return to the owners she and the additional tax imposed on the people to fill the deficit. We can not imagine anything more fair and reasonable; and they couldn’t admit that the Governor could object to this draft law, and all the more so that he did it, because we didn’t find a direct objection in his words, and don’t think that anyone else is more objective, could find him. If this is one of the “fair rights of government”, it will serve as a basis for exempting property from paying tax and protect property rights in the province as a whole, such fair rights are well known in England; and if such a right is obtained, the owners, being in their possessions, will be able to settle the matter faster and realize their property right; and if they are as far away as we are, then, nevertheless, they can safely rely on the well-known wisdom of His Majesty and impartial justice that all their rights will be properly protected. In this case, the procedure of fair taxation of real estate in this province, even to their best friends here, would be so simple that they would voluntarily enter into a contract and pay only for the share that would constitute their tax, being sure said that the very presence of the owners would be completely unnecessary, and they could freely repay what they were thus presented; and for security, a signed contract would be handed over to the Governor. If the owners voluntarily accept such a duty, without submitting a petition for the complete exemption of real estate from the tax, this bill, if it is still approved with the generous approval of His Majesty, will be an excellent opportunity to carry it out. And since the Governor or the Assembly cannot act on behalf of the owners, the bill will finally determine the proper place of this right to exemption from payment, and no disputes will arise in the future.

Recently, at our assemblies, a lot of different kinds of draft laws on additional appropriations, but rejected for various reasons, have been considered. Some of them did not comply with outdated individual provisions (although some other similar laws under these provisions still passed and received royal approval); Some of them did not correspond to the alleged spirit of parliamentary law, when the law did not concern us in any way, but applied to other colonies; Some of them, as the Governor liked to say, were of "extraordinary nature", without telling us exactly what this extraordinary nature consisted in; while others did not pass because of their contradictions to the new values ​​obtained and the need to interpret their positions in the Owners Commission; so now we are really at a loss and cannot predict whether the bill will be passed. Provisions protected by property rights are secrets to us; and we can spend a lot of time and a large part of state funds on the preparation and execution of a bill on additional appropriation, which ultimately fails on these provisions. If we are thus forced to reject bills one by one to the other, without any valid reason; and we cannot find funds for the King’s needs, for providing assistance or for maintaining security in our country until, fortunately, we stumble upon the only bill that the Governor will adopt, or until we agree to do so as dictated by the Governor or the owners; in this case, we see little benefit from the Assemblies, and we believe that then we could give the governor or the owners the right to make laws according to their own understanding, and thus save us and the country from unnecessary expenses and problems. All disputes and all reasoning are in vain, when situations that are protected by the right to property are fair or unfair, right or wrong, must be strictly observed. We only need to find out if it is, of course, possible what they are, and then obey and obey. But undoubtedly, the behavior of the owners, whether they are the founding fathers of our country or the subjects of their King, is unusual, since they not only officially refused to take on any part of our large annual costs of developing and maintaining friendly relations with the Indians, although a huge they benefit from this friendship, but also, under the influence of their lieutenant, refused to take any part in preventing the invasion of His Majesty’s colony given to them to take care; at the same time, requests for exemption from the decisions of their sovereign were not received.

In general, we are most concerned about the poor and disadvantaged people in the border areas. We have already done everything in our power, in accordance with the legal rights of free citizens of Pennsylvania, having helped them, but we have reason to believe that in the midst of unrest, they themselves do not want our participation. Those who are willing to sacrifice essential freedom for short-term security are not worthy of either freedom or security. (Those who wanted to get a little temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.) As far as we know, those who were going to protect themselves, but could not get weapons and ammunition, were supplied with both of them as how weapons were purchased with funds allocated to the last Assemblies for royal expenditures; and the large amount stipulated by this bill would allow the Governor to take any necessary measures to ensure the further safety of the population if he nevertheless found it expedient to pass the bill. His assumption that “if he had enough influence, he would have prepared the province for such a defense that all present misfortunes would have been prevented,” causes us to doubt; since a recent experiment in our neighboring colony of Virginia (which was the best fit for this) suggests that it is almost impossible to effectively protect an extended border inhabited only by single families located two or three miles apart and protect them from cruel raids; but at the same time it is quite obvious that, periodically rejecting the bills for which, respectively, large sums were allocated, he thereby refused from the power that this money could give him; and if his position is still weak, he should blame only himself or those who weakened him for it.

If the Governor continues his journey with his quorum, then we hope that he will keep our bill, and he will be taken seriously and properly considered; and we hope that the attitude towards social welfare, which prompted everyone to vote unanimously for the start of the journey, will also encourage them to vote unanimously for the bill. Therefore, we agree that the Governor will keep it at home, and we kindly ask you to reconsider it carefully; We will be ready at any time to meet with the Governor to enact the law.

Translation: Maria Krikunova

PS

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