The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-28
JOHNSON SPEAKS
 ON LANDMARKS Governor of Minnesota Is h
 Michigan METHODISTS SPONSOR HIM In Spite of Indictment Weather Two Thousand People Give Him an En- thusiastic Meeting-Part of
 Address.
METHODISTS SPONSOR HIM

Houghton. Mich., April Ex-Governor Johnson of Minnesota tonight addressed a large audience at Kerredge theatre, at Hancock. The meeting was held un- der the auspices of the Methodist church. The governor was greeted by an enthusiastic audience of 2000 per sons in spite of the inclement weather
 Governor Johnson spoke on Land marks of American Liberty" He said in part:
 "The progress of this republic as guided by the landmarks of constitu tional liberty is today opposed by two dangers. One is the tendency of the federal government to centralization of power and the assumption of sovereign powers not delegated to 1t by the con stitution and belonging to the states and to the people. The other is the power of centralized and predatory wealth fostered by special privileges and defiant of both the public welfare and the law of the land. The exist ence of tn csc two dangers is not only contemporary, but in measure CO., operative. Both threaten the liberty and power of the people and the un- tarnished perpetuity of our institutions Altho ough the profitable development of the great industrial trusts of today is largely due, first, to the special privi- leges of the federal government aud especially to unreasonable and unjust tariff laws, which those in control of the government refuse to abolish or amend, and second, to gross faveritism in administration and to lax interpreta- ton and enforcement of the constitu- tion and laws. The very existence of these trusts is today urged as reatson why still further powers should be centralized in the federal government, the states deprived of their constitu- tional rights and powers and the guar antees or the constitution encroached upon. evaded and broken doNn.
 Tariff Systems
 "In spite of statutes which declare in- dustrial trusts and combinations in re- straint of trade illegal, the government today maintains a tariff system avowedly for the protection and profit of the en- terprises in which these trust outlaws are interested and engaged. And whenever at any time the American people demand the reform of these tariffs and their ex- tortions, the answer is that the tariff must be revised by it's friends which be- ing interpreted means by the trust bene- ficiaries.
 An amendment of the United States constitution provides.
 !" The powers not delegates to United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by It to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people,
 Tn other words the inherent powers or this republic, not delegated to the fed eral government, reside in the states and the people. They are the original sources n Am ba 1 ministration maintains the doctrine of inherent sovereignty in the government. It claims that it possesses a jurisdiction broader than, and outside of the constitu- ton, the power to rule subject colonies and subject peoples, unrestrained by the constitution and beyond the territorial limits where the constitution and it's guaranties may go.
 Denies Constitution,
 Today the government of the United States denies the existence of the con stitution and it's immunities to our islanl territories. It is claimed that if the gov ernment at Washington is restrained in it's functions by the principles of the declaration and guarantees of the con stitution the American government can not assume among the nations of the earth it's proper station as a world power. My answer is, that if the people ol the tnlteu StdleS uo not continue To dwell under the principles of the doc Urine and enjoy the guarantees of the constitution to protect their liberties and sovereignty the American people will cease to be world power.
 "The present contest is on the issue plainly raised by the present govern ment. Does sovereignty in America re- side in the government or in the states and the people?
 "A government of unlimited powers means a people and states of dependent powers.
 "A people and states with sovereign powers imply government of restricted and delegated powers. No nation can have both. The American people must make their choice. Shall we have a SOW ereign government or sovereign states and a sovereign people?'