The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1871-07-27
Governor HOffman's Letter.

W vi NEW loih, a. ZIG .ticoioeioAi ia $500
4th:
srAIs or NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE CHlHEER'
ALBANY, June ~, ISL
TO ne Council Of saehe"' Of ne la""''''S ~
have received your invitation TO be
present at the cele bration Of the coming
Fourth Of July, a. Tammany Hall. | re-
pret very much that other engagements,
entered into before l received your invita-
ton, put it out of my power to comply
herewith.
You do we'll in calling attention TO the
fact that again now, as on the great Fourth
of July of 1915, the vital question Is
pressed upon the American people wheth-
er they shall be governed by force or Will
govern themselves.
Our recent civil strife led to great con-
centration of administrative power IN the
Federal government; but as the war was
Temporary and out Of the ordinary course
of events, 50 this extraordinary exertlon
should have been temporary and promptly
abandoned 81 soon as the war ceased In
the revolutionary struggle of our fore
fathers, George Washington was Tor a time
invested with powers almost, If not abso-
lutely, dictatorial The moment actual
war ceased, this greatest of military chiefs
gave up his commission, Invested himself
of power, and left all political questions to
be settled by the free and peaceful dellber-
atoms of the people. The whole ciVlilzed
world, its monarcbs, its statesmen, itsschoi-
ars, lis people looked with awe upon the
simple grandeur of Americas hero. To.
day the world at large does reverence TO
his memory as t. no other name among
those who have controlled the political
destinies Of men. The human race takes
pride ia him; shall We, his own country
men, surrender our faith in his wIsdoms
Our great civil war ended six years ago !;
the deliberations of our people are not yet
free Powers have lately been conferred
under a law Of Congress, upon the Amer
lean President, which ought not to be in
trusted to any man, and which no man is
good enough or wise enough to WELD. At
his own discretion he may, under this
wicked law suspend, in any portion of the
county, North, South, East or West, all
the lawful rights of its citizens, and gov
ern it by military force, subject to no re-
straint but that Of his own villa power
less limited, less guarded, more absolute,
than that conferred on President Lincoln
IN the time OF actual war
The great political question now before
us is whether, III the future, we are to be
the subjects of what is commonly called
strong government, or shall continue to
be, as heretofore a strong people. All po
litical power pertains, of right, to the peO-
pie; whatever is conferred on the govern.
ment is 50 much taken from them. What
many men call strong government (mean-
ing one Of extended, unlimited powers),
necessarily implies a weakened people.
The two" a strong government " and d
nannlp -P4nnQt tnypth her
This question of whether we shall make
the government strong or keep the people
strong. is one that always underlies our
patty divisions, but is at times presented
more boldly and dl tinctly than at others.
1t WAS plainly presented at the revolution
Of 1916. The advocates of strong gov
eminent lost 1t was again sharply pre-
scented in the contest which brought Mr.
Jefferson into the Presidency, when also
the advocates of a strong government
were put down. 1t is again as sharply
presented to US to day; and whatever
questions of lesser and more temporary
importance may have divided the Ameri
can people on other occasions it is their
duty now TO consider, above all things
whether he absorption of all power into
the central government, which is going on
at fearful rate, is consistent with the per.
maneIt welfare of the people, or even
with the permanent strength and endu
rance OF the government itself
II has been proved that this great Union
of ours cannot be torn asunder Ii is
clear too that the rights Of States are
rights within the Union, safest in the
Union, best protected by the peaceful rem
edies provided by the Constitution Ii
however, we abandon the wholesome
principles which controlled in the con
struction Of our Union, decay more fata
than violence must supervene. This vas
continent can no more be we l-gOyerneC
III ali things by one central authority a
Washington, than was the whole of Eu
rope well governed from Rome in The
days OF the Roman empire. The result
would be, now as then, loss Of character
aud vigor in the people, and sooner O.
later the breaking down of the government
itself The Constitution OF the United
States made wise distribution of powers
between the Federal and the State gov
ernments The Federal government mus
fail to fulfil its proper duties if it under
takes to discharge, in addition to its own
the functions of the State governme nts
Having 100 much to do, it will do nothiDs
well
We have shining instance before Oul
eyes 10 day III the case of imperial France
In that great empire Capitalization has beer
complete. municipalities and provinces
were governed from the capital, not by
their own people. General and local at
fairs alike were administered by the one
central authority. For twenty years pssr
all this centralized power has been in the
hands of one strong able man. On The
surface things seemed to be going OF
smoothly and prosperously, so much 81
that some Americans not firm in theil
faith III our OWE system Of government
have heen weak enough to contrast oul
political condition uutavorably with thai
of France under NAPOLEON. The re,
worth Of this centralized administrator,
la recently been put 10 the test When
the day came for the French Government
ID exert It's utmost strength ii was found
TO b. weak and rotten, utterly incapable
Of protecting the people from the invader
while the people, unused to self reliance
We're equally incapable of defending them.
selves.
Contrast the helplessness of France in
this great crisis, with what we were capa.
Bile OF al the outbreak OF our recent war
We had always lived under what was
called weak central government, limited
III its powers, with few duties devolved
Iiitlt ~. bttNhIS the WAT inc mass OF CuY
people never saw an oifcial of the GENITAL
government, except in the person of the
vlilsge postmaster The So-cslled strong
governments Of Europe sneered at our
central authority as being utterly helpless
for any great crisis Our civil war proved
that ours was III fact the strongest govern
ment in the world 1t was strong because
il had not, by absorbing all power into
itself, weakened the people 1t had not,
BY undertaking to do everything for them,
rendered the people incapable of dom G
anything for themselves. On the con
trary, our people having been left to
govern themselves in their several neigh
borhoods, to take care of their local affairs
for themselves, Were perfectly selfrelispt
when The General Government was, for a
time a. the first outbreak of war. cut of
from all communication with the country.
PREPARATIONS 10 meet the crisis went on
Just as promptly without the orders of the
government. A committee of citizens in
your CITY raised some millions OF money
IT Immediate expenditure in war prepara-
TONS One distiRgni~ he'd citizen of our
S4'e N" lat"'renerai WsdS WORTH cps ned
l. "a a