The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-02-24

- tiny. This hour is full Of interest 10
those who are concerned with ques-
lions affecting the welfare of the people and the
future of the republic.
80 lt Is not my purpose today TO attempt 70 ex.
teHd the fame or add to the renown Of Washing
TON Ills faine is secure even to the earth's remot-
eS' pounus; MS renoWn will grow as the centuries
UNFOLD the scroll of the ages. While men care for
wisdom and honor and patriotism and APPRECIATE
the achievements of those who have served man.
klhd, Washington will have a place in the minds
ana hearts of men in all countries and in all ages.
NApIlauSe.) l snail therefore take occasion on this
anniversary of his birth to note the government
established by the fathers, the achievements made
uhder 1t by the American people and its benefits
TO mankind, and at the same time consider the de-
partures that have been made from its funda.
mental principles and purposes that endanger it's
perpetuity.
1t is safe to say that the creation and adoption
of the Constitution of the United States mark the
worlds greatest achievement in the art of self
government. The fathers under the leadership of
washington undertook the delicate and difficult
task or creating a government with such endur-
Ing principles az would make 1t susceptible Of be-
ing perpetuated. 1t was provided that each citizen
who lived under 1t should for all time be the politi-
cal equal Of every other citizen ard that every man
should have the opportunity Of obtaining individu-
al reward for individual effort. The government
80 " t"S ptoBiNy ny thC DCOplt, ahu lOI
the people. It's purposes and powers are simple,
plain, and direct. 1t offers protection to the citi.
zen in his right to life, liberty, property, and In the
pursuit Of his happiness. The powers granted are
enumerated with such other powers as may natur-
ally be implied from the written instrument.
These powers impose upon the government Gre
ated the duty of dealing with national and
international questions affecting the life, the char
acter, and the honor of the republic and it's people
in their national and international relations. The
right and duty Of dealing with such questions as
affect the individual citizen are left to the states
and the smaller political subdivisions. Under his
division of political authority and duty the people
of the United States have through a hundred and
thirty years enjoyed the freest and best govern
ment in all the world. Under the simple guaran.
ties OF government that make the individual secure
in his natural rights the American citizen has been
developed. He is self-reliant, resourceful. cour-
ageous, inventive, ambitious, patriotic, and appre-
ciative Of his heritage of freedom. There runs
through his veins the best blood of every people
north OF the Mediterranean sea. From the days
of the fathers every generation has offered and
freely given life and property for the maintenance
Of the honor, the preservation of the integrity, and
the advancement Of the glory of the republic. 1t
is ours. We must preserve 1t. We must not i'm
pose duties upon it that it cannot perform. We
must not ask the exercise of functions for which
1t was not created. We must not indulge in the
hope of things from it that 1t cannot give. We
must not invite disappointment I'm the operation
of it's activities. 1t is enough that 1t shall always
offer protection to all that man holds dear and
shall continue to afford opportunities to the In.
dividual citizen to obtain rewards according to his
individual ambitions and efforts.
This leads me to call attention to the important
duties Of this hour that require us TO take our bear
ing and TO ascertain how far we have already been
beguiled to depart from IL and divert and multiply
the activities of the government In matters foreign
to it's original purposes, and to contemplate the
effects Of such departure on the life of the govern
ment and on the opportunity of the individual citi.
zen.
1t would be difficult to enumerate oil the de-
partments, bureaus, and commissions of the govern
ment at Washington that have been created to ex.
ercise bureaucratic authority and %paternal guardi-
anship over the people in every part of the re.
public. There is no activity, business, social. or
domestic condition that is not the object of their
supervision, their solicitude, or their authority.
Over 100000 civilian employees make up the army
that oversees and directs the affairs of the people
and assumes guardianship over them. Govern.
riety Of authority, are found on every Pullman
out of and into Washington. Government reports
on every subject from adenoids to rat traps fill the
files of offices that cover acres of floor space In
Washington. The mahogany and quarter-sawed
oak office furniture already installed has cost many
millions Of dollars, and more Is being purchased.
If a yearling dies OF blackleg ON q farm In
Kansas, the government Mt Washington acts on
the case. If a hog dies of the cholera In q hog lot
In Iowa. the government at Washington takes
charge. IL a weevil bores through a boil of cot
ton ON a plantation In Texas, the government at