The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1872-03-20
Mr.. Dawes ON Capitalization

In the recent debate on the Euuca-
ton bill, Mr.. Dawes expressed, with
far more freedom than is usual with
him, the views of his party in respect
to Capitalization. His remarks were
"As to the charge that the bill was
a measure of Capitalization, there was
nothing that men were so slow to &C
knowledge as that the country was
becoming a nation, not only in name,
but in everything which goes to make
up nation. The gentleman on the
other side attributed that tendency to
political events, but in his judgment,
it was the result of force hidden in the
very growth and development ofthe
nation which nothing could hinder
and nothing could stay. The railroads
that traversed the country, the tele-
graph that made the man who spoke
10 the House speak to the whole coun-
try, the currents of trade running
from one end of the country to the
other, all of these made State lines
only imaginary lines, and the events
of the last ten years had only precipi-
tated results which were inevitable"
That railroad and telegraph lines
should have brought the States into
closer connection with each other was
as natural as it was inseparable from
their uses; but that they should have
the effect of obliterating State lines,
in political sense, is assuming fol
them power that does not belong to
them. Mr.. Dawes might as we'll say
that the railroads and telegraph lines
of Continental Europe have made the
boundaries of France, and Belgium
and Imperial Germany, only "imagira'
ry," and made of these different PEG.
pies "one people" and zone nation
and that it is inevitable that they
must all come under the jurisdiction o
one great overshadowing centralized
Government. There is a tail
amount of plausibility in his statemen
which, in the way he puts it, may de
ceive-perhaps was intended to de
ceive-the unthinking. Nevertheless
it is not true that the process of cen
tralization now going on is due t
railroads and telegraphs,. or to til
3 growth and development of "the ma
ton )" whilst it is true that everythin
3 that has been done to destroy Stat
i lines, repudiate State authority, an
q to vest in the General Governmer
the reserved rights of the States ha
been done by tho Republican major
ty in Congress in pursuance of tn
purpose which they undertook at I'll
: close of the war, and which they hav
: persistently prosecuted ever since.
: is scarcely necessary for us to recoul
q the steps by which the States ha,
+ been already subordinated by the ru
! of Congress in many things that a
: vital to their independence, or
y point out how often the Constitute
q has been violated, insidiously or ope1
IS ly by, these conspirators whenever
N stood in their way. 1t suits Mr. Daw
1t to say that the work of centraMatit
J. is the result of agencies which are,
l. point of fact, simply those of co,
Re preston. But compression is not ne
70 essarily Capitalization. Neither IN
le roads nor telegraph wires, can Dc
troy State Governments and clot
I'd Congress with supreme power ov
'e local as we'll as general legislation
OF That can only be done by polite
o. party whose fixed design it has be
" from the beginning to bring abe
ne those radical changes in our form
40 Government which are now in proc
of developments.