Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1920-06-23
THE GROWING MENACE
OF FEDERAL AID"
(By Hon. l.. l.. bennett, State Senator
Modesto, California;,

Wy HON. L. l.. bennett. State Senator, |
Modesto. California;.
The rapidly increasing extent of
Federal Aid" affords an enduring
foundation for an increasingly auto
cratic and irresponsible bureaucracy
and strikes an irresistible blow at ef
fective democracy.
Instead of the "corn and circus"
with which the citizens of ancient
Rome were corrupted and their liber-
ties destroyed, we have, with much
the same effect, the "fifty-fifty" diyi-
sion with the federal government for
beneficial" improvements.
This extension of federal aid' is a |
serious menace for several reasons |
Perhaps the least Objectionable is that |
it breaks down the moral stamina and |
initiative of the people by bringing |
them to do what they would not 9th |
erwise choose to do, with the decep-
tive bait of alleged aid from the fed
eral government.
Such aid, of course, involves federal
supervision and for this very reason
appeals to the unthinking and pOliti-
cally lazy. Naturally federal bureaus,
whose power and prestige is increas
ed, look with-favor upon this extern
sion of their authority Unavoidably
such increased activity involves in
creased expense, and causes congress
(not unwillingly) to extend it's taxing
power into fields heretofore occupied
exclusively by the state, and just as
unavOidably the taxable sphere of the
state is decreased. This causes in
creased taxation within a constantly
decreasing field and thereby automa-
tically limits the activity of the state
in every direction. It's inevitable ulti-
mate effect, unless restricted, will be
the absorption by the government at
Washington Of all activities now lodg-
ed in the state. I do not think it is
going too far to say that this would
mean the permanent destruction of
effective democracy.
Every dollar the federal government
contributes, of course, must be obtain
ed by taxation from the people. Every
dollar that the federal government
collects from the people of the state
and pays back to the state for roads,
irrigation. vocational education or the
peculiar fad that may happen at the
time to be in vogue costs for it's col
lection and return much more than it
would cost the state to collect from
the same people and disburse for the
same purpose the same dollar.
Portentious as is the financial side
of the situation and wasteful as it is,
this is not the phase that is most SER
ious. The really serious side is its
paralyzing effect upon democracy, or
upon that civil liberty which has been
defined as the effective participation
of the governed in the affairs of gov
| eminent, in the presence of which
| free government cannot permanently
survive
The geographical extent of the Unit
ed States and a population of more
than one hundred million people pre-
| clude an effective and popular express
sion of opinion on federal policy, ex-
cept in the most general way and upon
the most simple and fundamental CUES
tons. After a safe minimum is reach
ed, effective democracy must decrease
just in proportion as the population
and the size of the governmental unit
increases. Consciously or unconsci-
| ously the founders of our country rec
| ognlzed this in making the state the
unit OF government and attempting to
| limit the activity of the nation gov
eminent to such powers as would en-
able the various units to function ma
tiOnally
Each individual, for example, is con-
sclous OF some personal influence in
the affairs OF his county. His infiu-
ence in state affairs is less and in ma
tlonal affairs he feels it is negligible
The wishes of even an entire state
~,
tiss, so that except in a most general
way and upon questions of universal
| interest, where public sentiment NAV
be crystalized, no one imagines that
MS opinion upon national questions,
so far as effecting national policy is
| concerned, is of any moment.
When you exceed one hundred mil
| hon people in a governmental unit, the
autocracy of it's bureaucracy is infin-
| ltely less responsive than even that of
a hereditary monarchy
The autocrat is always under neces-
slty, to some extent, of feeling the
| pulse of public opinion; bureaucracy
protected by complicated political ma
chmery. that is unavoidable, is under
no such necessity. In an autocracv
! there is the possibility of effective hui
| man sympathy; in a bureaucracy we
are the victims of a remorseless ma
| chine.
The difficulty is that altho the legis-
| latOrs appreciate the menace they
not the courage, in the face of senti-
mental and ignorant propaganda, unit
ed with aggressive bureaucracy ambi-
ton on the one hand and public indif-
ference on the other, to turn down
apparently tempting federal offers.
The result is that for lack of an in
| telligent public opinion to support
them they fall victims to the bait of
"fifty-fifty" division, which really
means, in addition to the fifty per
cent which the federal government
| collects from the people to give back
to them, the amount almost equal
thereto retained by the federal gov
eminent for the privilege of collect
| ing and returning the money.
That federal supervision which as
just stated, always accompanies fed
eral aid, is more honest or efficient is
popular fiction. If it were so (and
to the extend it is SOY, democracy
would be confessed failure. It's as
sumed efficiency arises from the very
fact of its absolute separation from
the people who, if democracy means
anything, are the source of it's power.
That is to say, it is effective Just ex-
| actly because it is not democratic. It
appeals to the politically lazy and to
| those lacking civic conscience Just
because it relieves them of respon-
sibility.