The Washington herald., 1906-12-14
ROOTS ADDRESS
DRAWS CRITICISM
coNrINuEp FRoM FIRsr PAGE.

loR~h NAAN bADHDoAliDl AllllM AN9H -
nounced influences are constantly at thii
| time seeking to accomplish under cover
1t is we'll for the people of the country
to have il presented 10 them without dis
guise. OF course, the proper measures
required by existing conditions should b'
enacted into law by the States. but thei
failure to do so should be remedied b.
spurring them on 10 action In their legiu
| mate sphere, and should not be taken a
an excuse to destroy them IN the exercise
Of their legitimate functions.
Much as / admire Secretary Root,
said Senator Rayner. 'I detest the doc
tTine he has enunciated 1t is a grea
pity that a speech Of this sort should b'
made to the rising generation by a mar
of such signal ability ] deplore the fac
that he has proclaimed doctrines tha
would change the entire character Of oul
Institutions"
"WelcOme 10 Issue'-TeIIer.
Il have read the speech" said Senator
Teller, but ! have heard what Mr.. Roots
argument was. AS an issue, he Is vel
come to it. The people viii hardly accept
IL in this generation"
Representative John Sharp Williams
leader Of the minority in the House. had
been too busy during the day to read
the speech carefully. and therefore die
not feel inclined 10 make a detailed state
ment concerning It.
You may say for me, however" hC
remarked TO a representative Of The
Herald that this thing of holding the bis
stick over sovereign States. telling then
they can have their constitutional rights
If they are good. and threatening to take
away those rights If they are not good,
and that without the consent Of the rea
rulers Of the country-the peoples very
familiar federalistic doctrine 10 me-"
MOnstrOus"-Henry.
In my opinion" said Representative
Robert L. Henry. Of Texas. chairman OF
the Democratic caucus, the doctrine
onunciated by MIR. Root is more far-reaeh-
ing than any proclaimed by a statesman
Of any party since the days Of Alex
ander Hamilton. II carried into effect
1t would nuIlify many Of the conceded
rights Of the States. and make the Fed
eral government more powerful as a cen
tralized entity than the widest advocates
of Capitalization in the beginning Of our
history intended II Is but following "a
its logical conclusion the tendency in
dicated by such legislation as the Fed
eral pure food law and the national quar-
antine law. both OF which were enacted
at the last session.
Secretary Root boldly proclaims in
public what many Representatives and
Senators have Contended for privately
here in Washington. I am sure / am
not wrong when I say that there have
Haan Cangfnrr Pa ar7r~ q
recently who believed that the Consti-
tuition amounts to nothing whenever Con
gress desires to act contrary to it.
have heard some legislators say that Con-
gress is clothed with as ample power. re-
gardless of any written Constitution. as
Is lodged in the British Parliament. OF
course. ! contend that such doctrines are
simply mOnstrOus. and should not be en-
tertained for a single moment in re-
public OF self-gOveTning States"
Champ CIark's View.
"Nr. Secretary OF State Elihu Root Is a
master in the use Of our vernacular, said
Champ Clark, Of Missouri His style is
luminous to an extraordinary degree. AS
a rule, he is economical in words. but IN
his speech last night he was prodigal in
that regard. He might have saved time
and space in the papers by condensing his
elaborate Grafton into the one sentence;
'CenuaIlze all power in the Federal gov
eminent; reduce the States TO the conGi-
ton of mere provinces.
when Demosthenus was asked as to
What constituted the elements Of oratory
his reply was, Action, Action. Ac-
tion:,r Mr.. Roots panacea for all the
ills affecting the body polite Is 'Centrali-
zation. Capitalization Centralizatonl!p
His declaration In favor Of a splendid cen
tralized government IS the most candid
since Alexander Hamilton pronounced the
British constitution the best ever devised
by the wit OF man. and declared in favor
of king. lords. and commons Hamilton's
was the terser confession Of political
faith, Mr.. Roots the more ornate; but in
the long run they mean the same thing
When the poet wrote the famous line.
Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts
that beat as one.
he was not referring TO statesmen. Never
tbeless, that line expresses more fittingly
than anything I can say TO perfect tdenti-
calness Of the Hamilton and Root theories
of government
when Louis Napoleon. in preparing the
public mind for the coup detat, made his
famous Bordeaux speech the burden Of II
was The Empire is Peace From that
day to this nothing quite so imperialistic
has been uttered IN a republic as Secre-
taTy Roots speech. The elegance of his
language in no way impairs the force and
boldness of his declaration. On the con-
trary, it tends to strengthen them.
Through the Federal Constitution the
States delegated certain powers to the
general government. and TO themselves
those not so delegated In the
beginning all the States set much store
by State rights. and while the current
of events at one time made the South
ern States the stanchest Of advocates
of that doctrine they were not originally
one whit ahead Of the Northern States
in asserting those rights, as is demon
strated by the number and character Of
amendments proposed by
the various States about the time of the
of the Constitution. certain OF
which were adopted and which really
form our bill Of rights. Ny recollection
is that New Hampshire led in the num-
Der of amendments proposed. In this con-
nection it may be stated that in cur day
the doctrine of State rights has found no
ADLER defender than in the person Of Hon.
Samuel W. Mccall, a Republican Repre-
sentative from Massachusetts. 1t is also
pertinent to suggest that when q State
feels that the Federal authorities are
pOaching on her preserves, neither lati-
tUde nor longitude hinders her from the
assertion of what she considers TO be her
reserved rights
CaIifOrnfa's Example.
THE courageous way in which Cali
fornia raised her bristles when the Pres
ident intimated that he use all his power.
,ivil and military in certain unhappy con
tingencies, must still be fresh in the pub
lie mind, Notwithstanding the facts that
things move with lightning speed in this
era; that nearly two weeks have elapsed
since he sent to Congress his December