FOR WHAT DO THE MIGHTY FINE PEOPLE STAND? THEIR OWN INTEREST? OR THOSE OF FREE PEOPLE?

Henrietta Buckmaster, Deep River (New York: Book Find Club, 1944):

     'You haven't heard tell up here of Minute Men,' Simon answered slowly. 'Well, then I'll tell you. You can reason with God, maybe, but don't try any such foolishness with those fellers. They know they don't speak for the people, but they know how to make power talk. They figure that, in the end, it's the same thing. They figure that--give them twenty-five years--you won't know the difference. Shall we reason with tricksters and cutthroats who are afraid to trust the free ballot to Georgia men?'     'You've got no call saying' that! Guthrie cried out. 'I've supped and had bread with some of them mighty fine men.'     Simon was silent for a moment. Then he looked deeply at Guthrie and beyond him at the gallused the homespun, the hatted, the barefoot, who waited and spat and studied their minds. 'The day comes,' he said, 'when mighty fine men must be measured by only one yardstick: Which do they set first--their own interests, or the free will of the people?'

Id. at 423-424..