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VOLUME 7, NUMBER' 10
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(general government where a power Is neither
grunted nor denied.
The reservation of power to the state Ib all the
I stronger because It Is specifically net forth In the
, amendment. Had the language of the amend
ment been Inserted in the constitution Itself, It
would not have shone out so boldly. The const I
lutlon was ratlfl.ul Avith the understanding that the
amendments would be added at once, and they
were, In fact, submitted by the ilrst congress, and
in a short time were rntlllcd by the necessary num
ber of states. There can be no doubt that, those
who lived at the time of the adoption of the con
st It utlon favored the dual form of government,
and believed In the wisdom of and the necessity
for this division of power. Those Avho held to
the, strict construction of the constitution on this
subject obtained control of the government eleven
years after the constitution Avas framed, .and re
tained control for a quarter of a century.
Hut admitting that the framers of the constitu
tion and those avIio lived in the early days Avere
champions of the dual Idea, an Important question
presents Itself, viz.: Have time and events so al
tered conditions as to make It Aviso or necessary
to disturb this equilibrium between the state and
the nation? The framers of the constitution rec
ognized the possibility of error In themselves and
, the possibility of change In conditions, and there-
fore provided a Avay of amending the constitution.
If the time has come for obliterating slate lines
and consolidating all authority, legislative, judi
cial and executive, at Washington, It can be done
by constitutional amendment, whenever three
fourths of the states arc willing to ratify such nn
amendment.
Hut Is there any demand for a surrender by
the states of the powers reserved to them? On
the contrary, every reason Avhlch existed one hun
dred and eighteen years ago exists iioav, and Uio.se
reasons are even stronger than Uioy formerly were,
because of the Increase In the area and population
of Uie nation. Then, there Avere a few million peo
ple scattered along the eastern coast. The
thirteen states have groAvn to forty-six, and eignty
millions of people are hoav governing themselves
through the machinery set In motion by the con
stitutional convention of 1789.
The states arc even more needed than they
formerly were for the administration of domestic
niTnirs. As n matter of theory, that gQvern.T.wiit
Is best which. is .ii'vu'Cht to the people, if there Is
itftSrBoiiii(lnoss at all In the doctrine of self-government,
the people can act most intelligently
upon nut tiers avIUi which they are most familiar.
There iiron multitude of things which can bo done
better by the county than by state authority, and
there are a multitude of things which can be done
bolter by the state than by the fcdoral government.
An attompt to transfer to the national capital the
business now conducted at the state capitals wonM
be open to tAVo objections, either of which would
be fatal. First, congress could not transact the
business. The Work now devolving on the national
legislature makes It dltllcnlt to secure considera
tion for any except the most Important measures.
The number of bills actually discussed in a dellb---
,avuu Avay Is small; most of the bills that pass are
rushed through by unanimous consent, and a still
larger number die on the calendar or In committee.
Second, the members of congress could not In
form themselves about local needs. The Interests
and Industries of the naUon are so diversified and
the various sections so different In Uielr needs that
the members of congress from one part of the
country Avould bo entirely Ignorant of the condi
tions In other parts of the country. Whenever
congress attempts legislation hoav for a particular
section, the matter is usually left to the members
from that section, but more often Uie matter is
crowded out entirely by larger interests.
The farther the legislative body is from the
community affected by U10 InAV, the easier it is
for special Interests to control. This lias been il
lustrated in state legislatures when long-time char
ters have been granted to franchise corporations
by the votes of members whose constituents, not
being interested, do not hold them to strict account,
and it Avould be worse if congress acted on the
same subjects. "- s
OOOO
PANIC
The railroad speculators have been very busy
.df late predicting a panic and Uiey say Uiat the
people will not invest in railroad stocks because
of the "onslaught" against the railroads. If the
Investing public is alarmed, it is because Uie rail
road managers have exaggerated the effect of rate
reductions in a vain effort to terrorize the legis
latures, and they have only themselves to blame
if they have carried matters too far. If any other
explanation is needed for the hesitancy on the part
of investors, U10 investigations furnish it, for the
Inquiries have shown to Avhat extent railroad
stocks have been watered. But what is Uie al
tentative? Must U10 government refuse to inves
'tigato rotten management for fear the misinan-
The Commoner.
' I;
aged railroads no longer avIII be able to fool Uie
public into buying inflated securities? The sooner
the railroads are put on an honest basis Uie more
secure avIII Uie investing public feel. A peculiarly
Interesting phase of Uie present situation is Uiat
the railroad managers are hoav clamoring for fed
eral regulation as a substitute for state regula
tion, and Uiis clamor answers the arguments re
cently advanced by the advocates of centraliza
tion. The latter have been asserting that Uie fed
eral government is the only competent regulator
of interstate corporations and that Uie predatory
Avealth of the country Is shielding itself behind
state legislation. The fact is that all of the great
corporations would raUier risk congressional leg
islation than state legislation because Uie state
legislatures are closer to the people, and more
clearly voice the sentiments of the people.
A great deal of noise lias been made and n.
great deal has been said about regulaUng the
big interstate monopolies, but little has been ac
complished except to educate the people as a avIioIo
to the evils of Uie trust system. Very few of Uie
big trusts have been interfered with. None of the
trust magnates haA'e yet been sent to jail. . The
hiAVs against the. trusts should be eiUier repealed
or enforced. The government cannot afford to re
tain useless statutes on 'its books, which are vio
lated flagrantly every day. When this is done It
breeds disrespect for the law, which all good
Americans should uphold in every Avay possible.
LaAVS Avh ich can bo laughed at by the monopolists
of a country are a detriment, rather than a source
of strength to a nation. The government cannot
afford to shield Uie big violators of Uie laAVS and
punish only the petty Uileves.
CLINTON BABBITT
Clinton Babbilt died suddenly March 11, at his
home in Beloit, Wisconsin. In chronicling Mr.
Babbitt's death Uie Boloit Dally Ncavs refers to
him as the "last surviving member of the first
common council of Uie city of Beloit, ex-congressman
from the First district, ex-secretary of the
state agricultural society, ex-postmaster, and
friend to everybody."
Mr. Babbitt Avas a personal friend of Uie editor
of The CowuiQuev astl Trie Commoner heartily en
uorsess the beautiful tribute paid by the editor of
the Beloit Daily Ncavs when he said: "Clinton
Babbitt is dead. He blessed the times in Avhlch
ho lived. He Avas a simple man, unpretentious,
lovable and loving. lie grappled avIUi no abstruse
problems, he did- not force radical opinions upon
others. His Avas a kindly nature and considerate
and the world arUficial as it is loves to honor
such a man. Mr. Babbitt had his struggles and
his sorrows and bore Uiem philosophically and all
the time lie helped his felloAVS to bear Uieir bur
dens. Like Henry George he recognized 'that the
true hnv of social life is the lnw of love, and laAV
of liberty, the Uiav of each for all and all for each.'
Foav men die more mourned by a community than
is Clinton Babbitt. His monument is erected in
men's hearts. To die tiius is to die great."
OOOO
MONARCHY SUGGESTED
The Chicago Record-Herald in collecting views
upon a third term for Mr. Roosevelt dreAv the fol
loAving from Richard Mansfield, the actor:
"Benjamin Harrison said to me: I am
just beginning to learn noAV when I have to
leave.' I am most heartily in favor of a third
term, and for the matter of that, of a fourUi
term for President RoosoA'elt. I do not see
hoAV any fnlr-minded or honest citizen can be
of any other opinion. I am furthermore in
favor of a constitutional monarchy for Uiis
country."
President Itoosevelt's friends will not thank
Mr. Mansfield for Uiis blunt disclosure of the
dangers Avhlch lie but half concealed in Uie per
petual presidency movement. For more than a
century the precedent set by Washington and
Jefferson has been observed, and the one man who
aspired to a third Avas defeated for the nomina
tion notwithstanding the fact that he Avas the
successful general in Uie Avorld's greatest civil
Avar, and made an effort to secure the third nomi
nation whcn most of his comrades in anus still
survived. Not only has public sentiment opposed
the third term but three presidents Jackson,
Hayes and Clevelandhave presented arguments
against a second term, pointing out Uie perils in
volved in Uie use of presidential patronage to ad
vance personal ambition. President Roosevelt
himself recognized the force and wisdom of the
precedent when on Uie night of the election he an
nounced that ho regarded this as his second term
and would not be a candidate again. He is not
likely to be moved from his position by such ap
peals as are now made to him. He knows that
his renomination would turn public attention aAvay
from the economicqucstions in which he is inter-
csted to Uie consideration of a governmental ques
tion supposed to be settled. If the issue thus
raised was decided against him Uie entiiusiasra
of his friends could not save him from mortifica
tion; it it was decided in his favor he could not
rid himself of the fear Uiat some less scrupulous
successor might use his example to establish him
self permanently in Uie office.
nas Uie republican party but one man avail
able for the presidency? If the president has done
so Avcll as to deserve a third term it is strange that
he has not developed at least one co-laborer to
presidential size.
Is his nomination necessary to save the repub
lican party from defeat? Why should he be so
solicitous about the party when its leaders have
refused to assist him to carry out the reforms
which" he has advocated? Will he sacrifice him
self in order to defeat the democratic party?
Why should he so dislike Uie democrats? Has
he not Avon his popularity by adopting their ideas?
And has he not received more loyal support from
the democrats in Uie senate and house than from
Uie republicans? And is it to save his country
Uiat he is urged to run? The democrats, if suc
cessful Avill inaugurate several reforms Avhich ho
hns tried to inaugurate but which Uie democrats
Avere advocating before he ever spoke in Uieir be
half? The believers in constitutional monarchy
and the advocates of a continuous performance m
Uie White House cannot advance any arguments
that will appeal to Uie president's ambition which
has been abundantly satisfied or to his love of
"party or to his devotion to country, but Uie dis
cussion may reveal that Ave still have a feAV people
in Uie country avIio prefer a life-term to the agita
tion involved in quadrennial elections.
OOOO
STATE VS. NATION
The discussion of railroad regulation is furnish
ing a conclusive answer to- Uie charge that the
"states rights" doctrine is a cover for the friends
of predatory -wealth. The federal congress after
great effort passed a bill that stopped rebates and
enabled the railroads to keep wliat they had form
erly returned in the Avay of rebates to favored
shippers. The railroads . weakened the bill as
much as possibie and no one knows yet how val
uable or valueless the measure Avill prove. But th-3
state legislatures Avent to work to loAver rates. A
number of legislatures enacted two-cent fare la'ws
and Some reduced freight rates. ,The. railroads in
stead of accepting these laws loudly proclaimed
that they Avould ruin the roads and noAV as a re
sultnot of Uie laws but of the wild language of
the railroad managers the roads find it difficult
to obtain loans for improvements. And Avhat is
the result? They Avant all regulation exercised by
the general government because Uie states annoy
them and scare the public.
No wonder the railroads want to get aAvay
from state legislatures. The state legislatures are
near to the people and quickly respond to public
sentiment, Avhlle the national congress is more
remote and harder to reach. But Uie people will
not have to consent to any proposition which weak
ens their control of Uie highways of commerce,
EA'ents are strengUiening the democratic position
and Uie Sun neAvs item published in this issue
supports the doctrine that the states should
be protected in Uie enjoyment of all Uie author
ity reserved to them by the constitution.
OOOO
WHAT THEY WANT
The New York Sun prints this statement con
cerning Uie efforts at centralization oil the part 'of
the railroad speculators:
"The report of the coming conference at Uie
White House between President Roosevelt and the
heads of some of the country's leading railroad
systems imparted to the stock market a stronger
tone Uiis morning. The standard railway shares
Avere up about a point at the opening.
"The railroad men avIio Avill take part in the con
ference are President Newman, of the NeAV York
Central, President Mellon, of the Noav York, New
Haven and Hartford, President McCrea, of the
Pennsylvania, and President Hughitt, of the Chi
cago & Northwestern. EdAvard H. Harriman said
today that about the proposed railway council he
knew notiiing.
"It is Uie belief in Wall street that the meeting
between Mr. Roosevelt and the presidents of the
roads named cannot fail to "bring about a better
understanding between the government and the
country's railway Interests. But as to the confer
ence being able to .accomplish any more than that
Wall street is skeptical.
"If they must have Uieir rates regulated at all,
the railroads would prefer a unified system. This
could only be achieved through a federal Statute,
which would fix a definite rate for the whole
country and supplant the, various state measures
which have recently been enacted. It is the opla-
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