Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-03-01

W " w '""Ao ouy tmhb ~''~ sH"" boe
! or silver or its equivalent a legal ten
erforhoncst debts. [Applause.] Thi
3 may seem very narrow creed, but |
7 is mine, and the more | thought upoI
: the difficulties that thicken around thu
pathway of our nations progress, thu
. greater my appreciation Of tho rcstric
tons upon power and the theories how
J power should be distributed, as fount
/ in tho Federal Constitution, are in
, creased. This idea of enlarging tn,
/ functions Of the Federal government Il
exceedingly unwise. 1t gives rise t.
misuse Of those powers, and Away
will increase the jealousy of variou,
sections. The less such powers arr
admitted the better for all and, low
T ing this Union and desiring its con
} tinuancc, would say to my fellow
} countrymen, do not allow the Fedora
= government to assume such powers al
may be exercised unequally or unjustly
by any combination of States or any
section of the country TO the disadvan
tage OF any other. Have you not seei
in the past the heart-burnings that
were created in the South bccaus,
they believed the power Of the Fedora
government over the tariff question
were unjustly exercised? DO you no,
see today another combination grow
ing? Do you r2t see between oul
brethren of the great West and the
citizens of the Eastern States n jealousy
in which each is striving to obtain
some advantage over the othcr-striv
ing to get possession of the Federal
government in order to carry out its
plans Of local and sectional aggrandize
ment2 [Applause.] All that we can
do, let US do, TO lessen the danger Of
disruption of our country by lesscning
the opportunities to do those things
which cause disruption. [Renewed
applause.J Let us each and all rejoice
in the success and prosperity of these
different members of the Union. All
that they have Of good let us initiate,
and all that they have which is not
good let us avoid. In New England,
or in the South, or in the West, or in
any and ell Of the States, wherever we
find bencfccnt feature in any Consti-
tuition, let us hasten to initiate il with
generous rivalry, but do not let us do
any thing to increase either our defects
or our misjudgments by using the pow
or which was created for the benefit
of a part of the Union. | submit that
there is in that feeling Of inequality, in
the use of the powers of the Federal
government for the benefit of one par
ticular section, a danger that should
make us see that the functions of the
government should be restricted rs
much as possible snd should be used as
sbaringly as possible. Inold timcs-no,
not in old times, butin some sad times
there was a cheap patriotism which
rejoiced in calling out on all occasions
something in favor Of the old flag. 1t
was absurd, and something rather in
sulting, in the way in which il was
used but there is now to-day some
thing even more dangerous than that,
which has found its way upon the
stage and is laughed at by the people
1t is not only the old flag but an APP
preparation. That is the idca-that
tho general government shall be used
for appropriations for sectional and
local advantage, and combinations Of
the States to gain the control Of the
Federal government, may, in this
way, be enabled to aggrandize them
selves at the expense Of the others.
Such policy is fraugbt with danger
such policy is not Federal such q
policy is not constitutional; such a
policy is not conducive to the per-
manence Of our Union, or to the
strength of our institutions. Let us
then, as wise men, not wait for the
evil feeling to grow, but let us do what
we can to prevent the growth of that
feeling.
1t seems to me that an ounce OF
prevention in this respect is worth ten
thousand pounds Of cure and lot us, by
simple adherence 10 our Constitution
and its limited powers Of Federal gov
ernmcnt endoavor to check the grow
ing tendency TO enrich one section Of
the country at the expense of the
Others
But il is not IN that direction alone
that the power Of the general govern
mcnt is sought to be enlarged for tho
purpose of aggrandizing, in the shape
of money or of influence, one section OF
the country over another. We see the
growth of more dangerous powers.
Nations may make mistakes in finance
and pay the penalty. Poverty, loss Of
confidence, bankruptcy, Generalization
-thesc are some of the evils of de-
preciatcd currency; but sim there may
be something worse. If Marion was
willing to SIT in the woods of Carolina,
thrcadbare and ragged, and eat his
potatoes from the birchbark, he did il
because he would rather be free in
poverty than rich under the rule of a
nation he dislilScd. [Applause.l The
functions OF the Federal government
have been unjustly extended over the
question of the money of the people
until we find today that the dollar
which belongs to the honest laborcr is
not that which is paid to the capitalist,
and, even in nation protesting equal
ity to oil men before the law, the
laboring men Of the country do not re.
ccivc the money that those who hold
the obligations of the country receive.
Is this just2 Is it equality before the
lawY Ten or twenty per cent. of the