The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-12-27
GROWTH OF NATiONAiisM.
State Jealousy and Pride Diminish.
Ing More and More.


ing More and More.
In his after-dlnner speech In New
York last Wednesday night Secretary
Root said:
The Intervention of the national
government in many of the matters
that it has recently undertaken would
have been wholly unnecessary If the
States themselves had been alive to
their duty toward the general body of
the country"
This is undeniably true. The In
stances to which Mr.. Root alluded
prove it. If no State maintained laws
fostering the overcapitaliZatiOn of cor
pcratiOns or designed to make easy the
formation of monopoly trusts or per-
hitting revolving conditions of child la
Dor or divorce laws which deranged do
nestle relations which the people of
most of the States wish to preserve
and protect there would be very little
need or demand for national legislation
on any of these subjects.
If the exceptional States would get
in line with the rest they would nomi-
nally retain their control over these
matters, because there would be no Sc
rious attempt to transfer the control TO
the national government. Their power
in these respects, however, would be
merely nominal. II they should at
tempt to exercise their power in a man
ner detrimental to the general well be-
ing or shocking to the general sense OF
justice and morality the demand for
NATIONAL control would Immediately be
heard and In the end 1t would be heed
ed.
But as to other matters and perhaps
greater number the demand for ma
tional instead of State legislation aris-
es not SO much from actual disregard
by the States of one anOther's rights
and interests as from a feeling that
the subjects to be dealt with are really
national in their character, that they
require uniform legislation and that
such legislation can not be expected
from forty-six or more State legisla-
lures.
1t Is undeniably true that the growth
OF national sentiment and of very
close intimacy of commercial and bust
ness relations under our perfect free
dom of Interstate trade renders it
more and more easy from year to year
to effect a transfer of legislative and
administrative power from the States
to the national government
AS the years 90 by we feel more and
more that We are one people and that
the laws made in Washington are made
by representatives Of the people as
much as are those made at the several
State capitols. State Jealousy and
pride are diminishing as the people Of
all sections mingle more and more and
change their homes from State to State
without any feeling of expatriation.
All this tends strongly toward an
enlargement of the powers of the ma
tional government and to correspond
ing curtailment of the powers of the
State governments. The tendency may
become too strong.
There is very large field In which
the States should retain their powers.
The invasion of that field by the ma
tional government. so far from strength
ening the national sentiment, would al
most certainly be productive of dissat-
isfaction and Irritation, and might be-
come even more dangerous than TIE old
feeling that the first allegiance of the
citizen was due to his State.
For this reason the tendency to en-
large the powers of the national gov
eminent by judicial construction and
the stretching of the power TO regulate
interstate commerce. to lay taxes and
other powers to cover every conceivable
subject should not be encouraged.
II we wish to enlarge the powers Of
our national government, let us do so
In the way provided by amendment to
the constitution. We may not get on
50 fast in that way, but probably we
can get On fast enough, and II we adj
here to 1t we shall be less likely to
have cause to regret lnconsiderate
haste.-Chicago Chronicle.