Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-08-10

Minneapolis, Mimi. Aug. fI0s-At-
,torney J.asF. n. O,Connor of&Grand
/ Forks, N. d. was the principal speak
sef today b the National Convention
sGi the Commercial Law League Dt
Anaerica. He spoke on: various prob.
lsnds pertaining to government. His
addresssfoilows
6MN:ssIt Is pleasure to, speak before q
national convention s3Of lawyers on
problems Pertaining 70 government.
Rrobably no group OF men more
thoroughly understand and more
sincerely appreciate the necessity OF
aconstttution than do lawyers.
Our federal constitution was adopted
Iii s1787, and comparatively few
changes have been made during the
Intervening 1874 years. The history OF
our nation is Short. No long ago, ]
saw a maj who was born before
George Washington died. The his.
tory of the nation that can be written
within the confines Of the life OF one
mar can not be said to be a long
history. This great experiment in
representative government has beer
successful. Whether 1t will be sue
cessful in the future depends upon
federal constitution was the first
written constitution. 1t contained
the bill of rights. provisions for the
organization of the government and
the powers delegated by the various
states. The states in drafting their
constitutions have largely followed
the machinery of government recon-
n1ended at the time of the adoption
pf the federal constitution. Under
lying all Of our constitutions. is the
separation of the powers of govern
ment, executive, Legislative and ju-
dicial.
Few Consider Change.
While many reforms have been
advocated and some adopted, few
have considered changes in the ma
chinery Of government. A represen-
tatfve government is established to
carry out the ideas of the people.
More than a century and a quarter
ago. our people adopted a certain
s machinery OF government to accom-
purpose Of protecting life, Sc
curing liberty and attaining happi-
ness During the past century, ths
economic and commercial life Of our
nation has been revolutionized. In
business the corporate form has sup
planted the partnership as the part
nership did the Individual. Ameri-
can business has largely eliminated
waste centured responsibility and
reached a high degree Of efficiency.
This has been accomplished through
organization. The great agricultural
interests of the nation has suffered
because of lack Of organization.
No Government Alterations.
To-day, business. industry. agricul-
tura inc labor are all suffering from
II the, extravaganza, ineficiency and
lack of responsibility of state and ma
tionaIo governments. While business
methods have been standardized and
the forms of business associations
utilized 100 years ago have been
with governmental machinery sane
toned q century ago as the business
maj of vision does not wait until
failure threatens his organization be-
fore adopting new methods so the
leaders in public thought should not
wait until revolution raises it's ugly
head before recommending changes
From Washington comes the, wore
that 1t will require over $4.500,000,'
900 .toErun our government next year
Senator Reed Smoot Of Utah said
W. have not begun to feel the stinl
Of taxation for 1t is my opinion tina
federal taxes In the future must g
up instead Of down.. Tne fedora
government has laid a mortgage o
$1,135.00 on every family in the Unit
ed States. Our public debt amount
to approximately $24,000.0 00, 90
J, D this liability is exclusive bf stat
demands.
Where there is duplication Their
is added expense and less efficiency
Honorable James W. Good, speaking
as" chairman of the house of appro
pirate committee. said:
To-day, duplication in the govern
ment service abounds on every hand
For example, eight different depart
ments of the government. with larg,
overhead organizations, are engaged
In engineering work in navigation, ir
rigation and drainage: II diferen
bureaus are engaged in engineerin.
research; II different organization
= engaged in road constructive
while IL. with large overhead organi
cations are engaged in hydraulic con
strnction. anda16 are engaged in sur
veying and mapping. Sixteen differ
ent bureaus exercise Jurisdiction
e water power development. Min,
different organizations are collectin,
7 information on the consumption 0
coal. Forty-two different organiza
: lions with overhead expenses are deal
Ing with the question of public health
b treasury department, the war de
partnent. the interior department
and the department of ~laborseach ha
q bureau dealing with the question 8
general education. These depart
ments operate Independently. in
stances OF cooperation between Their
38 are exceptional. Each OF these de
partments is manned at all time
with an organization prepared to car
~ the peak OF the load. and main