Ernest Crosby, Garrison the non-resistant

I can recall the case of a man who, following Garrison's example, refrained from voting upon the ground that government reposed upon force, and that force was the wrong method. But after a few years he found that he was trying to live on a plane that was too high for him. Militarism and monopoly were ensconcing themselves ever more securely in the stronghold of office, and his conscience smote him that he did not cast his ballot against them. So he changed his course and began to vote against the wrong, as he conceived it, and for the better — there being no opportunity to vote for the best. And straightway his conscience left him at peace. He was feeling his way, that was all. He did not deny the validity of the law of nonresistance; only he had not grown up to its full size. For him to masquerade in its livery, so far as voting was concerned, was a clear case of false pretenses. He was inconsistent, but, as we have seen, life is by its very nature inconsistent. The absolute logic of the law was qualified by his own personal contribution of common-sense. Logic and common-sense! Between them is stretched taut the throbbing web and woof of life! All controversy,