Loyal Opposition (2)

(Wendell WilIkie)
Nov.11,1940

In Britain, some opposition party leaders are members of the government, and some say that a similar device should be adopted here. That is a false conception of our government. When the leader of the British Liberal party or a member of the British Labor party becomes a member of the Churchill cabinet, he becomes, from the British parliamentary point of view an equal of Mr. Churchill's. This is because the British cabinet is a committee of the Houses of Parliament. It is a committee of equals wherein the Prime Minister is Chairman, a lofty Chairman indeed, and yet but a Chairman. The other members are his colleagues. With us, the situation as you well know is different. Our executive branch is not a committee of our legislative branch. Our President is independent of our Congress. The members of his cabinet are not his colleagues, they are his administrative subordinates. They are subject to his orders. An American President could fill his whole cabinet with leaders of the opposition party and still our Administration would not be a two-party administration. It would be an administration of a majority President giving orders to minority representatives of his own choosing. These representatives must concur in the President's convictions. If they do not, they have no alternatives except to resign. Clearly no such device as this can give us in this country any self respecting agreement between majority and minority for a concerted effort toward the national welfare. Such a plan for us would be but the shadow, not the substance of unity Our American unity cannot be made with words, or with gestures, it must be forged between the ideas of the Opposition and the practices and the policies of the Administration. Ours is a government of the principles, and not one merely of men. Any member of the minority party though willing to die for his country still retains the right to criticize the policies of the government. This right is embedded in our constitutional system. We who stand ready to serve our country behind our Commander-in-Chief, nevertheless retain the right, and I will say the duty, to debate the course of our government. Ours is a two-party system, should we ever permit one party to dominate our lives entirely democracy would collapse and we would have dictatorship.--To you, who have so sincerely given yourselves to this cause, which you chose me to lead, I say your function during the next four years is that of the loyal opposition. You believe deeply in the principles that we stood for in the recent election, and principles are not like a football suit to be put on in order to play a game, and then taken off when the game is over. It is your constitutional duty to debate the policies of this, or any other administration; and to express yourselves freely and openly to those who represent you in your state and national government. Now let me however, raise a single warning, ours is a very powerful opposition. On November 5, we were a minority by only a few million votes, but let us not therefore fall into the partisan error of opposing things just for the sake of opposition. Ours must not be an opposition against.  It must be an opposition for, an opposition for a strong America, a productive America, for only the productive can be strong, and only the strong can be free.

adopt 及物动词 采用，采纳；正式通过。
wherein 副词〔关系〕在那里，在那一点上，在那时候。
lofty 及物动词 高尚的，崇高的。
concert 及物动词 协商；合订(计划)。
forge 及物动词，不及物动词 打造，锻制。

constitutional 及物动词 宪法(上规定)的；立宪的，拥护宪法的；法制的。

忠实的反对党 （2）
英国，一些反对党的领袖是政府成员，一些人建议美国也采用类似的作法。这是一个错误的想法。在英国，当自由党的领袖或一个英国工党的成员成为丘吉尔内阁的成员时，依照议会规定，其权力等同于丘吉尔先生。因为英国的内阁是一个议会委员会，委员会成员是人人平等的。首相是该委员会的主席，地位尊贵，但也仅此而已，其他成员都是他的同事。大家知道我们的情况与英国不同，我们的行政部门并不是立法部门的委员全。总统与国会各自独立，内阁成员是总统的行政下属，听命于总统，而不是总统的同事。哪怕内阁全部由反对党组成，政府仍然不会是一个两党统治的政府，而是一个代表大多数人的总统向由他选拔的少数党代表发号施令的政府。总统的意见与他们相左时，这些代表必须赞成，否则只能辞职。显然，在我们这样的国家，这样做不是真正的一致，而是虚幻的一致，不可能就国家安定的问题在多数党和少数党之间达成体现各自意见的共识。美国的一致不是由话语或手势构成的，而是由执政党的实践和政策与反对党的意见融合而成的。我们的政府是有原则的政府，而不仅是人的政府。少数党的任何成员，即使愿意为国捐躯，仍有批评政府政策的权利。这个权利铭刻在我们的宪法制度里，那些时刻准备听从总司令的命令，服务国家的人们，仍拥有评论政府方针路线的权利---用我的话来说是义务。我们的体制是两党制，一旦允许完全由一党执政，民主体制即刻土崩瓦解，专政统治将取而代之。所以，对于你们——为我们的事业真挚奉献的人们，你们选我当你们的领袖，我要说，以后的四年，我们要做一个忠实的反对派。你们对最近选举中我们主张的原则深信不疑。原则不像足球服，场上穿，场下脱。检讨各行政机关的政策，向所在州和国家政府充当你们所代表的人们自由地、坦诚地发表意见，这是宪法赋予你们的义务。现在，让我提醒大家，我们是一个强有力的反对党。11月5日，我们只得到几百万张选票，但我们不要因此而偏激，为了反对而反对。我们的反对不是要毁掉美国，而是要建设强大、富饶的美国，因为只有富饶才能强大，只有强大才能自由。

Loyal Opposition(2) mp3