Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-22
HORATIO SEYMOUR.

ACSS "a 0SA1bAsSAA@rAlAOA StA4CC tAAo NAOoC VI
the War.-RevuIsion OF Public Opinion
IN 1882.
IN an article on the political situation,
published in the November number of The
North American Reuie10, ex-Gov. HOratio
Seymour, Of New York, says:
The results Of this years elections have
excited much comment. At first view they
seemed to be due to the discussions in the
Republican ranks, but on closer study
their explanation is found to lie deeper; it
is ground swell,'' of which all surface
disturbances are effects, not causes. To
get an understanding of this subject it is
necessary that we dismiss from our minds
all partisan prejudices, for it concerns the
organic principles of our government, and
demands a thoughtful consideration.
The American people are divided into
two parties; these grow Out of the form
of our government; each is needed for its
preservation. All agree that there is a
division line between the powers of the
general and the state governments. To
enlarge unduly the power of the states en-
dangers our union. To extend unduly the
jurisdiction of congress leads to corrup-
ton.
For long time the Democratic party
had the direction of affairs. The division
of our country into free and slave states
led the latter, out of fear of federal inter
ference, to carry the doctrine of state
rights too far. Civil war was the result.
After the contest was over there was a re-
action against the doctrine of state rights
A feeling grew up that the stabil-
ity of the general government might be in
sured by giving to it larger powers. Juris-
diction was mistaken for strength. This
sentiment was carried too far, for, while
state rights have been unduly magnlfed,
they still exist, and are as sacred as the
rights of the general government.
Our Oldest political organisms are those
needed by local communities, and which
are designed for the preservation of the
rights of the respective localities. These
organizations have different names, but
they are substantially what we now call
towns. Notwithstanding the diversities
of language and lineage in our country
the people gave like powers and forms to
their local governments. Our union and
constitution grew out of these facts. Their
existence depends upon preserving the
boundaries between the diferat govern
mental functions thus established. At the
close of the civil war public feeling was
SO excited that prejudice grew up against
the term rights Of states"
At the last presidential election the Re-
publican party selected as its
candidate one who went very far in favor
of Capitalization" He expressed his
JOY that power grayitated more and more
toward the national capital.
4 member of the cabinet in 1880. speak
ing of our government in an address which
was circulated by the Republican organi-
cation, said: "It must not be forgotten
that this government is no longer the
simple machinery 1t was in the early days
of the republic. The bueolic age of Amer
lea is over. x x They are the inter
ests of nearly fifty millions of people,
spread over an immense surface, with oc-
equations of endless variety and great
magnitude, producing interests so push
ing, powerful and so constantly appealing
to the government, rightfully or wrong
fully, that the requirements of statesman
ship demanded in this age are far different
from those which suf6ced century ago."
To show how far recent administrations
have drifted from the positions held by the
patriots who formed the constitution, it
will only be necessary to refer to the warn
ings uttered by Washington in his farewell
address. It is remarkable not only for its
wisdom and foresight, but from the fact
that it aptly describes the condition into
which we have been drawn by the influence
of destructive currents: ''The spirit of en-
croachment tends to consolidate the pow
ers of all the departments in one, and thus
to create, whatever the form of govern
ment, a real despotism. A just estimate
of that love of power and proneness to
abuse it which predominates in the human
heart is sufficient to satisfy US
of the truth of this position. The
necessity of reciprocal checks in the
exercise of political power by dividing
and distributing it into different deposito-
ries and constituting each the guardian of
the public veal against, invasion by the
others has been evinced by experiments,
ancient and modern, some of them in our
own country and under our own eyes. To
preserve them must be as necessary as to
institute them"
The words uttered by Washington and
by General Garfield respectively, show
the difference between the policy now most
favored by the Republican party and that
advocated by the patriots of the Revolu-
ton.
have no intention to impeach the pa
triotism of those who hold opinions which
grew out of the excitements of civil war.
But, in their eagerness to extend the juris-
diction of the general government, they
went too far, and exposed the country to
unforeseen dangers. A review of the events
of few years past, as set forth by Repub-
Ecan journals, will make this clear.
The capital of our country is on one
side of this continent, at great distance
from most parts of the Union, without
commerce or manufactures, and ordinarily
no one has occasion to visit it except for
business with officials. Lavish expendi-
lures are as necessary for its citizens as
good harvests are for the farmers. Every
appropriation in favor of points however
remote is in some degree benefit to its
citizens; it make clerkship or some en-
ployment for resident. Hence Washing
ton has rapidly grown from small place
to city of 10000 inhabitants. It can
not be denied that the views of its people
regarding expenditures are affected by
4boir i,,Aa %bor- A. l.