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14
THE COURIER
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AN ETHICAL VIEW OF AMERICAN POLITICS.
Localism and Nationalism.
NO. II.
The federal constitution is a grant of power to tho federal
government, and it is generally conceded that powers not expressly
granted or implied therein are reserved to the states, as indepen
dent sovereignties, so far as such powers aro concerned; consequently
the party contending for local power or stato rights .has, necessarily,
fought for the strictest possible construction of tho constitution,
while tho opposing or natioi.list party has generally favored a loose
or at least more liberal construction of the constitutional grants.
A clear alignment of tho parties upon these, or any other lines, is
not ut all times possible, for the reason that political parties aro
notoriously inconsistent; various measures aro often favored or
opposed purely as a question of political expediency; hence wo
frequently find tho localist party contending for nationalist measures
while tho nationalistparty, at the same time, may bo lighting for
localist ideas.
Notablo instances of party inconsistency abound in all political
history; among them might be mentioned the Louisiana purchase
accomplished during tho Jefferson administration. Jefferson was
tho foremost champion of state's rights; he believed "that the states
are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as to
everything respecting foreign nations.' He did not believe that the
federal government had power to acquire foreign territory by pur
chase or otherwise, and when tho purchase had been consummated
be wrote "Whatever Congress shall think it necessary to do, should
bo done with as little "debate as possible, and particularly so far as
respectB tho constitutional difficulty."
Tho necessities of the war of 1812 compelled the localist party, in
power at tho time, to adopt many loose construction or nationalist
measures, and the nationalist or as it was known, federalist party,
having no other issues distinct from the localist, opposed the war,
and it was tho unpopularity of this opposition that disrupted tho
party. The cardinal principle of the nationalists tho preservation
of the federal government, had finally been adopted by the localists,
while they had agreed to a proper limitation of the federal power.
In 1815 localist newspapers even went so far as to publish Hamilton's
argument in favor of a national bank with approval.
There can be no mistaking the fact that in the evolution of our
political customs and institutions, certain principles are sure to
triumph over any and all parties. Contrary to tho ideas enter
tinned by some politicians, it is not the part' that makes an issue
and wins a contest; but the principles of which tho party is merely
the exponent; temporary successes may be due to other causes, but
the law of the "survival of the fittest in the long run dominates all
battles waged for political principles.
A new party coming into power can never hope for a long lease of
life by opposing, for party reasons, all that the opposition has accom
plished, pernicious, or not; nor can it secure the confidence of the
.people by exploiting measures at variance with the political develop
ment of the constitution, or the constitutional development of sound
politics. Such measures may sound well on the stump but they
have always acted as a boomerang upon the party and the leaders
proposing them.
The localist idea has found expression in efforts of surprising
frequency to limit the federal power. The first conspicuous instance
resulted in the location of the nation's capital on the Potomac as a
sop to secure the necessary votes to authorize the government to
assume and pay the debts incurred by the colonies in carrying on
the revolution.
Guaranties of the states, under the articles of confederation, had
proven to be worthless, and no one will now dispute the wisdom of
the assumption of those debts; but so great was the localist feeling
that the measure could only secure the necessary votes as a return
for the location of the capital
The Kentucky resolutions drafted by Thomas Jefferson during
Adams administration were almost revolutionary in character, and
- Berved as authority for the secession doctrines of the eastern states,
Lack of vitality and color-matter in the bulbs causes the hair to
fall out and turn grav. We recommend Hall's Hair Renewer to pre
and for nullification procedings in South Carolina; and
yet when Jefferson's political opponents were talking secession ho
wrote in June 1793: "If on a temporary superiority of one of the
parties, the other is to resort to a secession of tho union, no federal
government can ever exist."
In 1832 JohnX. Calhoun, tho great champion of state sovereignty,
claimed that the states in their sovereign capacity had the right to
pass upon the constitutionality of an act of the federal government,
"as far as its citizens aro concerned, to declare tho extent of the
obligation," or to declare it "void and of no effect.' (See letter tq Gov.
Hamilton Aug. 28, 1832.)
In tho early days of steamboat travel New York state granted tho
cxclusivo right to navigate the Hudson river between New York
city and Troy with steamboats to Livingston and Fulton. Nevada
has attempted to tax every passenger traveling across tho state;
California imposed a stamp tax uion all steamship passage tickets
sold at San Francisco; Mar land required all dealers in foreign
merchandise to tako out a license and many of tho Mississippi river
states have imposed .burdensome regulations upon tho river
steamers, which by their variety tended to restrict commerce be
tween tho states.
It is, of course, needless to stato that all of these attempted regu
lations have been declared unconstitutional by the federal courts,
and the commerce and trade of. tho states have reached an un
precedented development under the protection of the general govern
ment. It is the innate selfishness of human naturo that has prompted
most of the unsuccessful attempts of tho localists to make tho in
terests of particular communities paramount to those of the nation,
to get some selfish advantage over a neighboring community, or to
refute to surrender some imagined right when for tho national good.
Tho nationalists have at times undoubtedly exceeded the proper
limits of their usefulness; the alien and sedition laws, tho threatened
secession of New England in 1808, the odious bank of the United
States, some of the measures incidental to tho reconstruction period
and the "force bill,' aro instances; and it is probable that party
greed would have led to even greater excesses were it not for
the restraining influence of the localists.
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