Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-04

HIS is the first OF thirty-one
daily chapters of serial which
is to tell about the work Of the
federal government of the
United States Of America, the
most active and powerful ma
ton in the world: what is required Of the
servants Of it's people from the President
down. and how these officers perform that
service.
1T is not designed as a treatise on the
science of government, nor as an expo
s1tion OF the peculiar political structure
OF the United States. 1t is. rather, an eff
fort to tell in the ordinary language of
everyday life what the government does
and how it does it.
The United States is the largest nation
in the world. in population, area and
wealth. whose people speak one language
and enjoy the privilege of self-govern-
ment. The American people govern them
selves by means Of a complicated ma
chinery unlike that Of any other nation.
Things that are local in their nature. or
that were local at the time the Constitu-
ton was adopted, are under the control
Of the semi-independent governments Of
the several states. These states, in turn.
acknowledge certain rights OF local gov
cities and towns, counties and school dis
tricts.
The federal government. with which this
account is solely concerned. derives it's
powers from the states and the people,
and is strictly limited in its activities to
affairs concerning the whole nation, or
more than one state. as defined in the
Constitution of 1887 and it's amendments
Of subsequent dates.
Measured in terms Of receipts and ex-
government represents but little more
than q third of the business of the gov
eminent in this country. Yet in spite of
this limitation the national governmental
machine is in many respects the most
powerful and most active in the world.
The work of the government in this adj
vanced and advancing age is not confined
to the things usually denoted by the
word government No longer mere
collector of taxes and a wager of war. the
modern government must needs aid its
people in the creation of wealth and the
progress OF culture.
Our government is a builder 1t under
takes to construct almost anything from
a gun that will hurl two-thirds Of a ton
Of steel a distance of fifteen miles to
pair of scales so delicate that the balance
will turn sharply under the weight Of a
millionth part of a grain Our govern
ment is an operator 1t takes observa-
tons Of temperature with thermometer
SO sensitive that it will measure the heat
of candle five miles away. and it OPP
crates a gigantic testing machine that
will register a strain of 100000 pounds.
It performs functions ranging from the
conduct Of international diplomatic af-
fairs to the driving OF mules: from MAX
ing maps to feeding hogs: from coming
money to making ice cream; from dig
ging canals to flying kites.
The services of half million men and
women and the expenditure Of more than
a billion dollars a year are required to
keep this huge machine going.
This Is the same machine that was set
going century and quarter ago by the
Impoverished people of the Atlantic sea-
board, numbering altogether not 3,O00.OOO.
They established the government more in
hope than in confidence, and not the
wisest seer nor the most optimistic
dreamer among them would have dared