New-York tribune., 1906-12-15
THE SENSE OF NATIONALITY.

We, the people of the United States" begins
the Constitution in its solemn preamble but
what a different import those words have for
Us to-day from what they had for the men who
Wrote them. We do not need TO 60 further into
the Constitution than those opening words to
SEE how that instrument has grown with the
growth OF the country; how the significance of
Its words has been enriched by the fulness OF
our national life. We refer not to the enlarge
ment Of their physical significance, to the mul-
uplcatlon of the people and TO the extension OF
territory, but 10 the maturing of the idea of
national unity. United States'-the words
We're written with the stress on the States
they are read to-day with the stress on the
United" To the minds of many, if not most
citizens to-day the states are merely territorial
SUBDIVISIONS OF the country for the convenience
OF local government, much as counties are sub
divisions Of the states for purposes of local adj
mlnlstration- And that is as far as possible
from the spirit Of the early days when the Con-
sttutiOn drawn up as a COMPACT between
states as Independent and as jealous as a lot
OF little Greek republics. The modern subor-
dlnatlOn OF state spirit did not exist in those
days, but the nation has far outstripped the
states IN the minds and hearts of the people
1t was inevitable that much of the old state
feeling should die out. Two-thirds Of our states
have not the tradition of independence behind
'iioAi- 'otI4CA4y iOI purposes or local govern
ment, they were carved out Of territory belong
ing to the nation, and so they are true TO their
origin in having that sense of subordination
which the original thirteen did not feel when
they formed the Union Then, too the great
accesslons OF population from foreign sources
nave broken down state feeling The immigrants
came here to settle not in Massachusetts New
York or New Jersey, but in the United States of
America They had no feeling for the local
subdivisions; they sought the opportunities DO
litical and industrial, which were offered to
them by the nation. As the bulk of our popula-
ton is descended from immigrants who have
come 10 this country since the formation of our
Union, it Is easy TO see why, if for no other
reason the state tradition has weakened and the
national sense has grown strong
Inc growth Of national feeling has kept pace
with our naturalization in a thousand other
ways Mr. Root pointed out In his speech on
Wednesday night how trade has become ma
lonaI, knowing not the boundaries of states
News is national We talk about the doings of
our neiGhbors in California as quickly and as
readily as our ancestors gossped about their
heighbors in the same village. It gives us a
feeling OF unity and nearness. Boston used to
hear from Philadelphia once a week perhaps
we cannot Imagine the isolation of those old
Gays DeioreN we had annihilated distance. an
Isolation which gave state boundaries an undue
ilnpor'ahce' The canal diggers on Mars are only
niue further away from us than Japan was
from our ancestors. and Japan is little nearer
10 Us lhhh charleston was to Boston. Railroads
are national Industries are national Cor
poratons have their branches, their sales and
purchasing agencies everywhere throughout the
Union The holders of their stock are scattered
over the land.
WIN thls growi,l Of nationality In Its thou
Sane manifestations have grown up problems
which are national In SO much as they exist
everywhere throughout the Union They are