The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-10-15

would necesslld'e thorough KnoWI-
edge of the past history of this and
other civilized countries, perfect fam
iliarity with present day politics (us-
ing the term in the broad sense) and
a fair ability to divine the future
from experiences of the past and
present. As l am neither historian,
statesman nor prophet, it may safely
be assumed at the outset that the
treatment here accorded the subject
will fall somewhat short of its posi-
bilities.
When this government was organ
lied, and because of conflicting opin-
ions. a compromise was affected be-
tween true federation and a national
government. From that time to the
present there has generally been a
tendency to deviate from that COM
promise position, sometimes toward a
weakening of the power of the Union
and strengthening power of the
component parts, and at other times
the reverse.
In the early thirties, De Tocque
Vile in his admiral work on "Democ
racy in America" predicted that the
union is to subsist, but to subsist as
a shadow. He sees it gradually los
ing strength and prestige and says.
"The change will therefore go on, and
it may be predicted that unless some
extraordinary event occurs, the gov
eminent of the Union will grow weak
er and weaker every day. l think,
however, that the period is still re-
mote at which the federal power will
be entirely extinguished by its inabil
fly to protect itself and to maintain
peace in the country" Again he says,
"As long as it is only indirectly as
sailed by the Interpretation of it's
laws and as long as its existence is
rot seriously altered, change of
opinion. and internal crisis, or a war,
requires. The point which I have been
most anxious to put in clear light
Is simply this; many people, especial
~ in France, imagine that change
of opinion is going on in the United
States. which is favorable to a CEN
tralization of power in the hands of
the president and the congress. [ hold
that contrary tendency may be dis
tinctlv observed So far is the federal
government from acquiring strength
and from threatening the sovereignty
of the states. as it grows older, that
I maintain it to be growing weaker
and weaker. and that the sovereignty
Il
are the facts which the present time dis
close The future conceals the final result
of this tendency, and the events which may
check retard, or accelerate the changes
which | have described; but | do not
affect to be able to remove the veil
Undoubtedly these views We're held
not only by foreigners but by many
of our own countrymen.
However one of the contingencies
suggested by De Tocqueville, namely,
an internal crisis, great war, inter-
vened. Whatever the previous ten
denotes were, this great internal crisis,
resulting in victory for the union, re-
moved all doubt as to the future and
from that day to the present the
tendency has been toward the develop
ment of stronger nationality. This
tendency has been accelerated by the
increase in means of communication,
the development of the railroads. the
telegraph and the telephones. These
instrumentalities have brought all parts
of the country closer together, and
generally speaking have made the in
terest of one section the interests of
ALL These same instrumentalities also
tend to give national Importance to
many questions which hitherto have
been regarded as wholly within the
jurisdiction of the several states. I
refer to such matters as marriage and
divorce, hours of labor, bankruptcy,
common carriers, liquor traffic, and the
regulation of corporations.
For a specific example take the mat
ter of the regulation of child labor.
PROFESSIONALLY this is a matter wholly
within the jurisdiction of the several
states, and yet it is a matter which
can not be adequately handled by the
diverse regulations of half hundred
different jurisdictions. Drastic notions
in one jurisdiction would have ten
dency to place the manufacturers of
that particular jurisdiction at a dis
advantage in competing with manu-
facturer of another jurisdiction pur-
suing more liberal policies. In fair
ness to those most concerned, the
conditions imposed upon any particu-
lar industry should be as nearly equal
as possible, in view of the fact that
practically all large concerns do an
interstate business and plan has
been suggested and earnestly advocated
by some public men, notably Sena-
tors Beverage and Lodge, to regulate
child labor by forbidding the trans
portation of the products of child
labor in the channel of interstate COM
merce. For reasons which / will not
now take the time to discuss, I be-
lieve such proceeding would be held
unconstitutional l merely cite this
as one example to show the desire
and the efforts to call in the national
government IN regulating and control
ing certain matters which have be-
come national in their extent and i'm